WHEN THE STARS ALIGNED / A Mahabharat AU

20. Turmoil

It has been weeks after the news of their death.
Niyati sat on the small bench kept in the balcony of her room, overlooking the river and the royal garden.

She had a feeling that they couldn't have died but ...Kanha crying, the necklace and everything else. It just was so damn confusing. She stared at mango tree in the garden, a fond smile riding up her face as she remembered her childhood interactions with the Pandavas.

"Shivanya?" The five brothers stared up at her weirdly.
Niyati, who was half-way through devouring a mango, froze.
"You...have the wrong person?" She tried, evident innocence of a child.

"Right." Nakul smiled. "We must be blind."

"Don't be rude." Sahdev nudged him although he too looked amused.

"Shivanya, you can get hurt-"

"Oh don't worry, I do this a lot." She turned towards them sheepishly. Residue of the mango all over her mouth. The brothers couldn't hold their laughter anymore.
Shivanya frowned, "what's so funny?"

The brothers looked at each other and then burst out laughing again.

Huffing, Niyati plucked eight mangoes from the tree, four for Bheem and one for each of the other brothers. She secured them in her uttariya before looking down.

"Can someone please catch me?" She said, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy, her fear of heights overbearing her fun.

"I thought you said you have experience." Arjun mused.

Shivanya glared at him, "well I can jump and hurt myself in your presence and then tell Choti Maa—"

"I was joking, Shivu."

She slowly got off the branch she was sitting on, swiftly caught by Bheem's large arms.

"You're literally an infant." Bheem laughed.

"YoUr'E LiTeRaLLy aN iNfaNT. Okay, grandpa." She mocked.

"With no manners." Sahadev muttered. Shivanya ignored him and dropped the mangoes before turning to leave.

"Hold on, behna." Yudhishthir smiled, kneeling down to match her height, holding her chin gently and rubbing of the traces of mango from her face with his uttariya. Shivanya's eyes softened at his display of affection. The ten year old girl, ever so fond of affection, instantly hugged her newfound older brother. Seventeen year old Yudhishthir was startled initially but then wrapped his arms around her softly, patting her head. Somewhere in him it felt like they had met before, somewhere, someday.

Shivanya looked up and spread her arms for the rest of them to join, her tiny hands stretching out as much as it can. The rest of them grinned and joined the hug.

"Never leave me please."

"Never." They promised.

They will keep their promise won't they?

Prakriti sat under the tree, feeling quite useless as she watched the brothers roam around the area to make a proper place to spend the night in. Some of them were breaking branches or sharpening them, Bheem was moving have boulders. Arjun and Nakul have gone off to find food.

She had been awake for a while now unlownst to the rest of them. Her consciousness now back and strong, although her eyes were still a bit droopy. She found her injury covered with a clean safron piece of cloth, her body still clad in her previous clothes, or what was left of it. She found a set of ascetic cloths wives of sages used, beside her.
On her left sat Kunti, dazed and caught up in her own thoughts.