It's my humble request to please leave some comments, as it gets difficult to understand if you all even like the future plot, and make sure to comment your opinions about the other characters from the future too. It helps me improve so much! 💕

***

"Where did Duryodhan and his brothers go?" Bheem raised a question, looking around.

Several days later, after fighting their first battle against King Drupad and winning, the Pandavas were headed back to Hastinapur, in fact the five brothers rode just along it's borders on their stallions. They still could not believe it.

From not being included in the battle by Duryodhan, who had reasoned that every student's participation wasn't necessary in order to provide gurudakshina and that he wouldn't let anyone older than him fight alongside, they had won against such a powerful army alone when given the chance later. Arjun had defeated Drupad with the help of those stones, finally figuring out their meaning. The Kauravas had tried and failed to do the same and were unfortunately imprisoned by Shikhandini. Naturally, Duryodhan had felt the burnt of the situation deep inside, which got more distressing when he came to know that his cousins had won the war.

"They left for Hastinapur long back bhrata shri. They didn't even attend Ashwatthama's coronation." Replied Sahadev, breaking the silence.

"Maybe they didn't have the to courage to accompany us to Hastinapur." Nakul mused, smoothing down his hair which flowed gently in the breeze.

"Nakul, we should rest for a while. I'm completely famished! Had I known that fighting in a battle makes one so hungry... I would have fought a battle everyday." Bheem laughed, clutching his sides, feeling jovial after their victory.

"One doesn't feel hungry after a battle bhrata Bheem, one feels hungry after winning it." Arjun stated as he stretched his arms luxuriously, waking up from the back of his horse.

"Are you awake? But weren't you asleep Arjun?"

The sun glowed languidly through the trees, indicating the arrival of the mellow evening, casting light shadows and patterns all over Arjun's chiseled torso. "Well, as guru Drona says, the smaller the time period between sleeping and waking up, the greater is the success of a man." He smiled pleasantly, in good spirits.

"You know, even I know a person who is the same, irrespective of whether he's asleep or wide awake. He keeps dreaming day and night." Bheem joked clearly making fun of Duryodhan, laughing, while all his younger brothers joined in.

"Bheem, quit talking about Duryodhan in this manner. When one is agitated, trying to calm him with soothing words is the most appropriate." Yudhishthir, who rode a few steps further, reasoned with his anuj. He didn't want his brothers to talk bad about anyone, if not for maintaining the courtesy, then for their own peace of mind. After all, these empty words did nothing but spoil everything.

"But jyeshth, do you truly believe that Duryodhan will ever be at peace? Now that we've won the battle, will he accept his defeat? Will he ever accept you as the crown prince?" Arjun questioned his elder brother, he knew it in his heart their dear cousin wouldn't be happy with their achievement.

"No one can have such a weak heart where righteousness cannot dwell, Arjun." Yudhishthir sighed trying to explain, and yet he couldn't help but question the truth of his own words.

"Do you think tathshree will make the right decision jyeshth?" Asked Sahadev, doubting whether or not the king would choose Yudhishthir, who was the rightful heir over his own beloved son. But just as these words left his mouth, a heavy burden of uncertainty lingered in the atmosphere weighing them all down with it as the grand palace of Hastinapur came into view.

***

Aarohi stood in front of the mirror in her room, smoothing down her effortlessly tasteful black evening wear. She was going out for dinner tonight! Now you might ask, why?

Did she have a date?

Well... yes!

A dinner date with her aunt of course, because the moment Aarohi returned, she had rushed to the kitchen for her untasted ice cream. Sadly she found it all melted, the spoon that had clattered to the floor had made a sticky mess all over. Heaving a sigh, the poor girl slid down onto the floor hugging her knees for several moments just staring at the mess of the delicious butterscotch icecream. She was already so disturbed because of all the incidents that happened in the past and now she had no choice but to clean up and throw the ice cream away, so she did so, frowning.

She had wanted the comfort of that cold ice cream so bad, but now the only alternative was to go sulk and bury herself under her bed sheets. But before she could, her aunt noticed her and suggested they go out for ice cream. One thing led to another and they decided to go out for dinner and ice cream in their favourite Michelin Star restaurant the day after.

Aarohi let out a merry sigh as she spritzed on her favourite mysteriously dark yet sweet scent and tied up her hair into a sleek ponytail. She was feeling pretty relaxed after catching a break from the events of the past for a while, even though her days remained busy nonetheless with continued stress and work. Despite that, she couldn't help but wonder if the Pandavas were back to Hastinapur or not. Her bracelet was turning white pretty fast this time, which made her worry, yet she shivered with anxious excitement every time a bead turned, it would be a privilege to witness the Pandavas' first victory.

After a while, as the driver went to park the car, Aarohi and Manmeet stepped out and headed inside. While her aunt went on to check in for their reservation, Aarohi trailed slowly behind, face buried in her phone as she checked for some work emails, but instead was met with the most corniest of medical jokes being cracked in the group chat with her three colleagues and couldn't help but shake her head, smiling slightly as she looked away from the screen.

Her dark eyes scanned the rich ambience of the place looking for her aunt, reminding her she wasn't at home. But as she walked forward and looked around, her eyes spotted two familiar faces, who seemed to be whispering...? No, arguing in hushed tones.

"Wait. Aakriti and Rudra? What are they doing here? And why do they look like they're having an argument?" She muttered under her breath, curiosity taking over her senses.

Knitting her brows together in thought, she decided to inch closer to the duo, pretending to take a look around... just a little closer to find out what that was about. Yes, she was being nosy, but who was going to stop her? She deserved to know why Aakriti had lied to her, or was it Rudra who'd bluffed?

As she sneaked closer, looking in the other direction, she succeeded in hearing parts of their angry whispers. "I'm not trying to pick useless fights goddamnitt- I just want to know why you said that!" Said Rudra.

"So what? Can't I just brag about my relationship? Why did you even call her? I cannot believe you!" Aakriti responded, scoffing at her boyfriend.

"Aakriti... of course you can, I love it when you do! But not if it's based on lies! Why did you say that to her anyways? You confused us both."

"You seem a little too concerned about her. Now I see how it is." Aakriti hissed, grinding her teeth while she furiously nodded her head repeatedly. "Okay, what does that even mean now- -"

Wait- - Were they talking about her by any chance?

Abruptly, Aarohi moved away from them, afraid of what she might find out if she heard any more of the conversation, feeling a strange sting deep inside her heart. Maybe she should just avoid the couple for the night, yes, that might be for the best. They were already on edge and she should not interfere.

Abandoning a chain of endless thoughts spinning her head in circles, instinctively Aarohi's eyes frantically darted around to find Manmeet, aching for her warm presence. Finally, she found her, but to her distress walking right towards Rudra and Aakriti, smiling.

Was she about to invite the pair to join them for dinner?

Oh hell no.

Aarohi took a deep breath to regain her bearings, then walked right towards her aunt before she could reach Rudra and Aakriti's table, even if she felt it would be of no use she attempted to stop her nevertheless. "Massi? What are you doing...? Where are we dining?" She asked, acting clueless.

"It's right there with your best friends." Manmeet answered, leaving Aarohi speechless. She had to make her aunt repeat herself once again, because that definitely took an unexpected turn, for the worse.

"Surprised? Well, that was my plan! I've noticed you kids don't hang out as much as you wanted to so I took the liberty of inviting Rudra and Aakriti to dinner! Now, what are you waiting for? Let's go join them." She said, clapping her hands as she took Aarohi's arm and led her to the table.

"But- I thought it would just be the two of us, honestly I'd prefer it that way tonight."

"Of course you would, wouldn't you?" The sharp voice of Aakriti cut in, announcing her presence as she and Rudra came forward to greet them.

"Wait, Aakriti I didn't mean to- -" Aarohi tried to clarify, but Aakriti cut her off. "It's fine."

Rudra chuckled, nervously loosening the buttoned up collar of his shirt, trying to take a breath in the suddenly heated environment and gestured everyone to sit down all while Manmeet gave a dazed Aarohi, her signature wide eyed glare that every mother would give her kids when they misbehaved in public, clearly telling her she shouldn't have said that out loud.

As they sat and ordered waiting for the dinner, the conversations started getting light-hearted and frivolous. Everyone seemed to forget whatever was said before and although Aakriti still didn't look too happy, she tried while Aarohi wasn't as uncomfortable as before.

"Look Aarohi, even Rudra and Aakriti are in a relationship, why don't you find someone too? Or has that special someone found you instead?" Manmeet laughed, patting Aarohi on her back as she took a sip of her water and sputtered, looking away. She shrugged taking a sip of the water again to hide the blush of heat that came to her cheeks as she remembered all those moments with him.

Arjun.

"From the looks of it I think he has found her..." Aakriti teased, laughing. Her eye brows knit together as she glanced over at Rudra, who was looking off into a distance, he hadn't said a word or joined in on the joke.

"There's no such thing as that. If there was, you'd all be the first ones know." Aarohi shrugged rubbing her nose and then put a spoonful of the creamy mushroom soup into her mouth to act normal as the women laughed. But Rudra shook his head smiling at Aarohi as if he was trying to make her feel less uncomfortable and it wasn't left unnoticed by his girlfriend.

After a long night of tidbits about useless odds and ends, only one thing was left to devour, the dessert. A lemon meringue cheesecake was ordered, and of course Aarohi could not forget about her ice cream, which was also cheesecake flavoured, but with blueberries.

While they waited for it to be served, Aarohi decided to use the restroom to see if she was as flushed as she felt. Aakriti followed along, which was alright for Aarohi as she wanted to apologise for before.

"Aakriti, listen I'm really sorry for saying that before. I actually noticed you guys were having an argument so I just thought- -"

"Yeah, we got into a little spat... all thanks to you." Aakriti hissed, trying to keep her anger at bay, yet she couldn't help but throw that remark at her.

"Me? But- -"

"Oh stop acting so surprised, I know what you did." She uttered, in deep frustration while Aarohi sighed and waited for her to elaborate, raising her eyebrows in show of concealing the hurt that she felt, as always using that seething hot anger as her shield, but in contrast it felt as if her body had been doused with ice cold water. It was disappointing to think that such a misunderstanding could ruin everything.

"You called Rudra, didn't you? And told him what I told you?"

"What do you mean? Oh, that part when you lied about Rudra urging you to go to the hospital? Which was halfway across the city from your law firm? And by the way, he was the one to call me. I never wanted to get involved. Not once." Answered Aarohi, lifting up her chin almost arrogantly, but her strength was disappearing every other second.

"Whatever! I can't believe you told him! You've ruined our relationship." Aakriti sneered, suddenly getting too close to Aarohi's face, grabbing and squeezing her arm, but Aarohi was no less furious at this point. She wasn't the one who did something wrong, in fact she never knew Aakriti had lied to her.

"I'm not the one who lied Aakriti. Riddle me this, hmm, what possessed you to say completely different things to two different people who've known each other since forever and have wished nothing but good for you?" Aarohi glared at her bestfriend, her breathing getting erratic. Aakriti's long nails dug deep into the soft skin of her arm, leaving red marks that would soon turn into bruises serving as reminders as long as they persisted. Never had she thought their friendship would see a day like this.

"Ugh- you are just so immature and selfish Aarohi. You're always right aren't you? You know, you'll never be happy with this self absorbency and ego clouding your mind." Aakriti screeched, clutching her head, sweeping her hair to one side. She then picked up her purse from the counter and stormed off, loudly shutting the door behind her.

Aarohi took some deep breaths, attempting to suppress the overwhelming feelings. She steadied herself against the counter. Her cold hands trembled as she quickly wiped away some stray tears that had streamed down her face. "This sucks. This- - really, really, really sucks. Maybe I should have stayed quiet- maybe- - if I could have just listened to her then maybe- -" Aarohi's quivering voice rang out through the empty restroom. The poor girl couldn't stop talking to herself as the last of her anger left, leaving behind a shaking mess of her body. This hurt even more than her one sided breakup. Was their friendship over? A feeling of dread creeped up inside her chest, making it hard to breathe.

She was panicking.

Aarohi purposefully unzipped her purse, grabbed the small bottle of her anxiety medication and shoved some pills into her mouth, coughing as she tried to swallow. They made her feelings numb, a numbness she welcomed gladly tonight. She wasn't as strong as she pretended to be and... that disgusted her.

Waiting until they did their thing, she wiped her eyes and cleaned up the mascara that had smeared along the side of her face, now strangely calm, all colours drained from her face. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was red. But she couldn't care anymore as she walked back outside. She felt numb.

So comfortably numb...

"Aarohi, what happened in the restroom? They both left so suddenly and Aakriti was on the verge of tears." Her aunt questioned, drawing her out from her distressed state. But Aarohi just walked on, not wanting to explain that it wasn't her fault, leaving anyone to assume anything they wanted to. She was tired.

She only wanted to go home and sleep.

But her aunt just sighed as she noticed the bright red cuts on her niece's arm, she wasn't that dense to not put together what might have occurred, nor was she blind to not notice Aakriti passing her looks throughout the night. Being older and a parent figure, she had only refrained to intervene, after all they all weren't kids anymore. Their ice cream was left untouched as they left, again.

Manmeet simply let Aarohi doze off against the window during the car ride home. She gently kissed her forehead as she slept, a part of her almost wanted to go and confront that Aakriti. Her heart knew whatever might have happened wasn't Aarohi's fault.

Not this time.

Aarohi woke up feeling really dizzy, almost stumbling out of the car as her groggy eyes registered she was home. She slowly made her way to her room, still breathing hard as she wished good night to her aunt. Deprived of all sensations thanks to the medicine, she didn't even notice her bracelet burning on her wrist as it turned and she began disappearing once again.

She recognised where she was, only when the moon crept from behind the clouds and illuminated the hallway of Hastinapur's palace. This was the last thing she wanted to happen right then. She only wanted to curl up in her comfortable bed, but now she was deprived of that too.

A cacophony of loud noises that seemed like cheers of victory were added to the atmosphere. Looking around, Aarohi found the palace glistening with glowing earthen lamps. She looked down into the gardens from a nearby window and found the Pandavas being welcomed back.

Arjun looked up at that very moment, his heart skipped several beats and his joyful eyes collided straight with Aarohi's strangely lustreless ones. She looked so deathly pale, even in the bright fire lights.

Was she sick by any chance? She definitely looked like she wasn't well. And why wasn't she downstairs welcoming them with everyone else? Several questions clouded his mind. Just as he was about to glance over to her once again, Aarohi had disappeared from there and he was left there concerned. Should he send someone after her? No, it would be best if he went himself. Every other thought left his mind, Arjun just waited for the right moment to excuse himself from the ceremonies to go check on her.

Meanwhile, as Arjun tried to free himself from the celebrations, Aarohi had already walked away before anyone else noticed her, especially Dushala. So, like a ghostly, inconspicuous figure, she walked aimlessly along the empty hallway, trying not to run into anyone. Her heart was beating so loudly that she almost couldn't hear all the celebratory rituals going on anymore. She reached the end of the passage and stopped, just staring into nothingness.

Was her presence in Aakriti's life so marginally low that she could afford to discard her anytime she wanted to?

Was she that... insignificant?

Aarohi tried not to think about that, but her brain did not obey. She touched her tattoo, trying to find some comfort.

"Well don't you look like a dream." A familiar voice of the man she despised from her very core rang out, right behind her. At this point, even Vrikasura's appallingly pathetic words served as a good distraction from her own thoughts that ate her heart out, this made her realise how far gone she actually was.

"Then go back to sleep." Aarohi mumbled back vaguely stiff as she wiped away an unshead tear.

"Oh no. What was that? Did someone make the poor thing cry?" Vrikasura mocked, his hands creeping towards her.

Aarohi had no more strength to deal with that so she started walking away, only to be stopped by an unyielding grip on her arm, right where Aakriti caused those bruises and she winced. She angrily dug her nails into his face with her free hand, drawing crimson blood that stained her fingers and stomped on his foot, but he payed to mind to it and twisted her arm painfully. He looked like a filthy beast ready to tear her apart.

"Oh, I liked that broken sound you made. Not so tough and unbothered now, are you?" He sneered as a cruel smile appeared onto his face.

But Aarohi was fed up with everything that had happened with her today. This was nothing in comparison to the emotional pain she had experienced. So, she wriggled, twisting her knee and bending it backwards she sent a hard kick straight to his shin. A terrible sound of a crack was heard and Vrikasura immediately fell backwards, groaning in pain.

Aarohi took the opportunity and ran, as fast as her legs carried her until she got so dizzy that she stumbled right into someone. It was Arjun, who had come to look for her thinking she was unwell. Aarohi's legs gave out as she struggled for air. Arjun managed to catch her before she could fall.

"Aarohi... please tell me you're alright..." He whispered, shocked at her disheveled state, wrapping her up in his muscular arms, firmly, as they sank down to the cold marbled floor together, holding on to each other. He noticed her bruises and gently blowed cold air on them. As if that would help heal her.

"Arjun..." She murmured softly.

"Who did this?" He asked, infuriated, taking a hold of her frail hand as he wiped a bead of cold sweat from her forehead. She just blinked her eyes and shuddered, not being able to utter a single word as her vision grew dim with spots. Her fingers unconsciously tightened against his hand as the daunting darkness took over. Her head swirled as her eyelids drooped close and all she saw was black.

***

Is it over for Aarohi and Aakriti's friendship? Will Aarohi tell Arjun who did that to her? Will Yudhishthir be crowned King?

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