Infidelity in Eternity

“If you loved me half as much as that fish…” Lakshmi said, pouting.

“What does that even mean?” asked Shiva.

“Nothing.  It’s just the way you look at it--”

“You mean, Pedro?”

“No, I mean, ‘it’.” said the goddess.  “Sometimes I want to flush it down the toilet.”

“Lakshmi, you’re being serious right now, aren’t you?” Shiva said, and laughed, true amusement dancing behind his infinite eyes.  

“You’re always looking at it, cooing at it, and then you look at me like I bore you,” Lakshmi said.  “Why don’t you talk to me that way?”

Shiva looked at her.  Petulant and childish as her expression appeared, he could see the hurt in her eyes.  “Trust me, Lakshmi,” Shiva crooned.  “You hang the moon and stars in my heart of hearts.  You are my goddess, and Pedro is just a fish.”

Her eyes flashed, “Trust you?”

“What can I say that will convince you?” Shiva asked.  

“I don’t know if there’s anything you can say.”

“What can I do, then?” he asked, filling the role of a supplicant.  Like any other demigod, Lakshmi was in need of constant validation.

“You know what you can do,” Lakshmi said.

Shiva sighed.  “You know I can’t do that.”

“And why not?  If you don’t love Parvati anymore, then why are you still married to her?”

“It’s complicated,” said Shiva.  “You know I love you.”

“I know you love your fish,” Lakshmi said.  

“Yes, I do love Pedro, but that doesn’t mean that I love you any less,” Shiva said.  

“Then why can’t we be together?  Just you and me.”

“Well, there’s Vishnu, your husband, and you know that the universe and existence in the material realm would cease to be if he found out about us,” Shiva pointed to the obvious.  

“So?” Lakshmi said.

“So?” Shiva asked, and guffawed.  “Lakshmi, sweetie, I love you, but I can’t abolish all creation for you.”

“I’m going to tell Vishnu,” Lakshmi said.  Shiva’s deep blue skin turned a shade lighter.

“No,” he said.  “Absolutely not.”

“Then at least let me flush that stupid fish,” Lakshmi said, pointing at Pedro.

“What?”  Shiva asked.  “You sound like Kali..”

“Please,” Lakshmi said, and rolled her eyes.  “You sure do seem to be pleased by the hundreds of thousands of sacrifices being made to you, Mr. ‘I’m the destroyer of illusions’, but the second you’re asked to make a sacrifice, just a small token of your devotion, you get all high and mighty about it.”

“Lakshmi, those are mortals down there,” Shiva said.  “There’s a difference.  They owe me their existence, but Pedro is eternal.”

“We’ll see who’s eternal,” Lakshmi said and dipped her hand into the fishbowl.  

“Enough!” Shiva bellowed.  Lightning and thunder filled the room.

Lakshmi smirked, bemused, but she withdrew her hand from the fishbowl.  

Pedro was visibly flustered.

“Why won’t you believe that I love you?” asked Shiva.  “Why is my love of Pedro a threat to you?”

Lakshmi burst into tears.  “You don’t love me.  Vishnu doesn’t love me.  It’s only the incarnation of Radha that he loves.  Not me.”

Shiva couldn’t help but notice that not all of the tears of the goddess were falling for him.

“Do you still love Vishnu?” he asked.

“I just hate your fish,” Lakshmi sobbed.  

Shiva saw that this couldn’t go on.  “I think you need to reconcile with Vishnu,” he said.

“What?” Lakshmi said, wiping away a tear.

“Pedro is nothing but a projection of your betrayal of Vishnu.  You feel like you need to kill him because--”

“Did you just peer into my soul?” Lakshmi asked, outraged.  “You promised me!  You promised you would never do that!”

“But you said you were hiding nothing,” Shiva said.

“That doesn’t give you the right to use your powers.  That wasn’t consensual.”

“But you still love Vishnu.”

“But I love you,” Lakshmi said, weeping like a monsoon in India.  

“And I love Pedro,” Shiva said.

Lakshmi met his eyes with a look of surrender.  She sighed as he twirled his trident, and then she felt herself fading.  What would she tell Vishnu?  Did he ever need to know?  He trusted her, implicitly--the fool.