सुखान्तः - A Happy Ending

||CHAPTER 5||

"The first time you touched me, I knew, I was born to be yours"

~•~

Near the outskirts of Hastinapura

The sun rose, bringing a new beginning for Rajkumara Duryodhana. He stared at the sky wishing himself good luck for the day. His brothers were still not up. He had to wake them up too, which was an absolutely tough task in itself. He missed Dushala everyday, who used to help him wake up their brothers, when all of them were at Hastinapura.

Many years had passed by now. When they all met with Dushala last time, she was 7 years old. They went to gurukula and she went to kanyakula. He always wondered, how would his sister's face be now. Still that little nose? Still those small small round shaped eyes? Still those puffy cheeks whenever she pouts? Overall speaking, a cute little face of a cute little tiny girl. Would she still be that tiny and short heightened?

He wondered, did she even remember them well? The only contact they all could have with her was through letters. Dushala always used to write about her friends which she made at her kanyakula. But since the 3-4 letters, she had not mentioned anything about them which worried her eldest brother. Duryodhana wondered, was everything okay with his little sister? Weren't her friends treating her good anymore? That she stopped talking about them in letters.

He wondered, if that was the reason, then she might be feeling so alone. The brothers have each other, but she... she has none. She went there all alone. He remembered how much adoration she has for her gurumata. The one who teaches all the female students. He knew Dushala loved her gurumata really a lot. And her gurumata would never let any injustice happen to her.

While he was busy thinking about all these, he felt a pat on his shoulder. He turned to his right and found his friend, Ashwatthama, who was still not satisfied with sleep. "What were you thinking, mitra?", Ashwatthama asked in a sleepy tone.

"Nothing. You tell me first, you slept for so many hours. Still your sleep isn't over?", Duryodhana asked, annoyed with Ashwatthama's continuous yawns.

"No, I think I need an hour or two more. Which I'll surely get when we reach Hastinapura. You don't have to worry about my sleep, my dear friend", Ashwatthama gave him a cheeky smile. Duryodhana did nothing except just mimicking him under his breath.

Ashwatthama again yawned before asking, "speak up, what's there in your mind? What were you thinking oh-so-deep in this early morning".

"I was thinking about Dushala", replied Duryodhana, his face turning more upset.

While Ashwatthama just sighed, pressing his temples with his index finger, "You're going to meet her in a few hours. You should be happy. Still, why are you so tense right now?"

"Actually, in the last few letters I got from her, she didn't mention anything about her friends like the Yadav princess or Kashi princess. In every letter there has to be at least two-three lines about her friends. She loves them very much. So I am confused, why hasn't she been talking about them anymore for a few days?". Ashwatthama wanted to laugh out loud at his best friend's tension regarding such a timid matter. How did such a thought even stroke his best friend's ever-empty mind? But yeah, he could understand a brother's stress for sister.

Ashwatthama caressed Duryodhana's shoulder. Smilingly, he said, "You're stressing yourself over nothing, mitra. Now you're going to meet her.. right? So you ask her directly yourself. As much as I know her, I know if there's any problem, she wouldn't be able to hide from her eldest brother for much longer. I'm sure she'll tell you. Now, let's go and wake those idiots up. Hmmm??".