Love Hidden in Plain Sight

Check out the theme here: A Retelling of Valli and Karttikeya’s Love Story

This post is a part of BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2026.

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A few days had passed with Skanda helping Valli in the millet field. Though he couldn’t change her mind or convince her that he was the deva she wanted to marry, Skanda enjoyed spending time with her. However, he also noticed that she didn’t let him meet her father or brothers. Either she sent him on random errands or shooed him away before they came every afternoon with a lunch basket.

He guessed it was probably because he would approach her father and ask for her hand in marriage. While she could deny giving her consent, he wasn’t sure how things worked in her village. He knew a stalemate situation when he saw it. This wasn’t going anywhere.

This tempted him to reveal his true form. It would solve the issue in a minute. No sooner than he decided, Narada appeared out of nowhere. They were in Valli’s field as the orange-gold sky turned azure. Valli wouldn’t arrive until an hour later.

“Narada muni! What brings you here?” Skanda asked in surprise.

“Narayana, Narayana! O son of Shiva, you give up so easily and ask me what brings me here? Is this all you can do to woo her?” Narada teased him.

“What do you advise, celestial muni? She only wants me in my deva avatar.”

With a twinkle in his eyes, Narada replied. “Maybe your hunter disguise is too much for her. Why not try to be someone gentler?”

Skanda thought about it. “Nothing intimidates her. But I will try something else, as you say.”

“Remember this, son of Parvati. The goal is to spend as much time as possible with her. Learn about her and let her know who Skanda is beyond being a deva to humans.”

Skanda felt that this idea indeed had merit. Though he got to know her, he didn’t know how much Valli knew about Tanikai, his followers, his mothers, Devasena, or life in the other world. When he married her, she would become immortal and join him in his world. He could help her prepare for it.”

“Ah, now I see you thinking clearly!” Narada laughed and added. “Don’t forget who Valli really is. Her awakening is in your hands, too!”

When Skanda thanked him, Narada vanished. A faint echo of the Narayana chant lingered for a while. Skanda knew the truth of Valli’s identity and incarnation from Devasena. Of course, he had spoken to her about his plan to visit Earth and marry Valli. She smiled in answer and asked him to bring her sister home soon.

“She is indeed my sister, Sundaravalli. We were Vishnu’s daughters in our previous birth. While I was reborn in the Himalayas, she was to take birth as a human on the other end of the same land. Her marriage to you would end her human form and reveal her divine avatar,” Devasena said, adding that she would make arrangements to welcome them in Tanakai.

Now, on Earth, on yet another morning in his wait for Valli, Skanda smiled, thinking about both women. In one life, they were sisters who shared a deep bond and had loved the same man. They had prayed to marry the same person in their next birth, too, so that they could be together always. He was curious to know how Valli would react if he told her this truth and realized it wasn’t the right time yet. Narada muni had given him the right advice. He had to prepare her for it first.

However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t continue to meet her. When she finally knew the truth, she would think back on these events and recognize his feelings for her.

Once Valli arrived, he greeted her, still in his hunter’s disguise.

“I’m leaving today to resume my travels.”

Valli smiled and nodded. “May Skanda keep you safe, Karttikeya.”

He gave her a rueful smile. “Are you sure your answer remains unchanged?”

She gave him a mock glare. “Don’t annoy me when you are leaving. Find someone else. You are a good man. It is not worthy of you to pressurize a woman whose heart belongs to another.”

“As you say, devi,” he replied and walked away, more for her benefit than anything else.

Once out of her sight, Skanda transformed into his new disguise.