Arjuna and Subhadra - The Chariot Ride Away

The chariot flew across the plains, dust rising behind them like a golden curtain. Behind that curtain, the Yadava army pursued—though whether to catch them or to maintain appearances, neither was sure.

Subhadra: "You can slow down, Krishna convinced them to chase slowly."

Arjuna: "You're very calm for someone who's just been abducted."

Subhadra: "I'm very calm for someone who planned her own abduction. Did you think I didn't know you were in Dwaraka? That your 'mendicant disguise' fooled anyone?"

Arjuna: "It fooled your brother Balarama."

Subhadra: "Balarama sees what he expects to see. I see what's there. You've been watching me for weeks. Did you think I couldn't feel it?"

Arjuna: "And you didn't mind?"

Subhadra: "I minded at first. Then I started watching back. The Arjuna I'd heard about was an arrogant prince. Perfect archer. Cold heart. The Arjuna I watched was... different."

Arjuna: "Different how?"

Subhadra: "You practiced alone, at dawn. No audience. No applause. Just you and your bow, over and over, working on the same shot until it was perfect. That's not arrogance. That's devotion."

Arjuna: "To archery."

Subhadra: "To mastery. There's a difference. Arrogant people stop when they're good enough to impress others. You kept going. Either you're insatiable or you're chasing something that isn't about impression."

Arjuna: "What do you think I'm chasing?"

Subhadra was quiet for a moment.

Subhadra: "Stillness. You practice until your mind goes quiet. I recognized it because I do the same with weaving. When my hands move without thought, when the pattern emerges without planning—that's when I feel most myself."

Arjuna slowed the chariot. They were far enough now.

Arjuna: "Why did you agree to this? The abduction, the scandal, leaving your family?"

Subhadra: "Because Krishna suggested it."

Arjuna: "That's not an answer."

Subhadra: "It's the most important answer. Krishna doesn't manipulate for no reason. If he arranged this—if he convinced you to take me and me to go—he saw something worth creating. I trust that."

Arjuna: "You trust your brother's matchmaking more than your own judgment?"

Subhadra: "I trust that my brother sees futures I cannot. And I trust my own judgment too—I spent weeks watching you before I agreed to anything. Krishna planted the seed. I decided whether to water it."

Arjuna: "And you decided yes."

Subhadra: "I decided you were worth a kingdom's worth of scandal. Worth my mother's tears. Worth Balarama's rage. Was I wrong?"

Arjuna looked at her hand in his. Small, capable, calloused from the loom.

Subhadra: "I already have a wife. Draupadi."

Arjuna: "You have a shared wife. You share her with four brothers, and she shares each of you with whatever duties pull you away. That's not the same as having a wife."

Subhadra: "It's enough for her."

Arjuna: "Is it enough for you?"

The question hung in the air. The chariot stood still now, horses breathing heavily, dust settling around them.

Arjuna: "I don't know, I love Draupadi. But there's always this sense that I'm... scheduled. This much time, this many days, then I pass her to the next brother and become alone again."

Subhadra: "I won't schedule you. I'll have you fully or not at all. And when you're with Draupadi, I'll weave. When you're at war, I'll weave. I don't need you every moment. I need you when you're here to be actually here."

Arjuna: "That's very clear."

Subhadra: "I've had weeks to think about it. Now it's your turn to think. You've abducted me—you're committed to the scandal regardless. But whether this becomes a marriage or an embarrassing mistake that's quietly undone... that's still a choice."

Arjuna: "It's not a mistake."

Subhadra: "Prove it. Not now—over time. Show me you can be present. Show me the stillness you chase in archery is something you can bring to a home. If you can, we'll have something rare."

Arjuna: "And if I can't?"

Subhadra: "Then we'll have something ordinary. A political alliance that looks like love. I'll survive it. So will you. But I'd prefer rare. I've never been interested in ordinary."

Arjuna lifted her hand to his lips.

Arjuna: "Neither have I."

Subhadra: "Then let's go meet your family. And hope they don't kill us both."

He laughed—really laughed—for the first time in longer than he could remember. And started the chariot toward Indraprastha, toward a future neither of them could fully imagine.