Broken Hearts and Strange Girls || Shivika AU FF

𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈

Shivaay scrunched up his face in confusion. "What?"

Annika shrugged. "You're over Mallika. It's been three years of your 'depresso espresso' scene. And it would also really help out Meera with her whole family situation. I think it's a great idea."

"What was the last good idea you had?"

Annika thought for a good few moments before shaking her head. "That's besides the point. Just tell me. Would you do it?"

Shivaay looked at Annika's eager eyes and exhaled reluctantly. "Alright, fine. But on one condition."

"Why didn't you tell us she came back?" Disha asked, sounding hurt. Aishwarya looked down, blinking back tears. "She asked me not to. She wasn't ready to meet you."

"She didn't seem ready to meet us right now either, did she," Suresh grumbled. "How long has she been here?" Disha questioned again. "Almost a month."

"A month?" Disha gaped in disbelief. A few tears fell from both Disha and Aishwarya's eyes. "You didn't do the right thing, Aishu. You should have told us," Disha said in a broken voice. "But I couldn't!" Aishwarya sobbed out.

"Do any of you have the remotest idea what the past five years of my life have been like? Always caught in the middle of Papa and Anni's big fight. Knowing where Anni was, but not being able to tell Maa, because Papa didn't like talking about Anni. Convincing my in-laws that nothing was wrong with my family, telling them everything was perfect. Having to deal with their questions about why my own sister wasn't at my wedding. I fed my other family lies so that I could protect this family," Aishwarya confessed, letting out all of her heart's secrets.

Aishwarya turned to her mother, her tears flowing freely now. "Do you remember when Anni got a mini red camera for her eighth birthday? She never let that thing out of her sight! It would hang around her neck all hours of the day, and she would snap pictures of it for hours at a time without ever getting bored. Remember, Maa?"

Disha nodded, chuckling. Suresh's gaze softened just a little as the image of his tiny Anni with her red camera fluttered into his head like a fresh memory.

"Do you remember when we were moving, and 12 year old Anni kept telling you you had asked Anni what that camera meant to her, and she had said, 'That's my storyteller'? Because I do," Aishwarya continued, looking over at her father.

"Papa, the other kids and I all heard and saw our stories from the pages of books. Our Anni didn't ever process words or numbers. She saw everything like it was a story. She could never describe the places her imagination took her through simple words on a sheet of paper. So she told her stories through her pictures.

"And you were all set to light those pictures on fire, the minute she said something you didn't like. I always supported you, Papa. I always thought Anni was mistaken, and that you always meant well. That might still be true today, but I realized in the last five years that Anni was right."

"Aishwarya—" Disha started, only to be stopped by Aishwarya's hand. "Maa, please! Annika was right. You two have no right to march in with your decisions and refuse her the choices she deserves. She owes you nothing!"

"Aishu! Apologize to your father right no—"

"Let's go, Disha." Suresh's voice was firm, and it was only then that Aishwarya turned to see her father's crushed eyes.

"I came here to meet one of my daughters, saw two, and am leaving with none," he laughed humorlessly. "We should leave before I lose you, too."

"Suresh, stop it. Aishwarya didn't mean it—"