Dhruv Tara: An End To a Long Wait

Chapter 8 - The last straw

The next morning, as Tara was performing her morning rituals, Kanhaji's Pooja in the temple of the palace, she saw Bhabosa enter the room.

"Kyu kar rahi hai aap ye sab. Iss tarah se Shaurya ko galat raste pe jhokna. Kya milega isse aapko. Shaurya banna ko Dhruv ke viruddh bhadka ke kya karna chahti hai aap?"
"Shaurya banna humare Pratap banna ke putra hai. Bhadka aap rahi hai unhe. Uss Dhruv ke paas dena chahti hai na aap unhe, humare Pratap banna se chheenkar. Parantu hum aisa hone denge koni."
"Bas Bhabosa. Ab hum Dhruv ke bare me ek shabd nahi sunenge. Hum koi bhadka nahi rahe Shaurya ko kisi ke viruddh, kisi se door nhi kar rahe unhe. Chetavni de rahe hai hum aapko. Aap humare putra ko koi galat paath nahi padhaengi. Bas."

As Bhabosa was about to answer, when Dhruv came in there, to offer prayers to Kanhaji. Tara saw him and ran towards him.

Although he looked better than last night, he looked nowhere near fine, as Tara had hoped. He still looked quite dull. He was pale and had dark shadows under his eyes. But she had a plan, that would make things better.

"Dhruv, humara kuch kaam hai tumhare paas."
"Boliye Ranisa. Ab kya karna hai mujhe?", he asked, sounding tired.
Tara was taken aback by the way he addressed her. But she let it go.
"Humne Shaurya ko tumse baat karvane, tumhare kareeb laane ke liye ek yojana banayi hai. "

"Ye sab yojanae banake kuch fayda hoga bhi? Shaurya ko ab sahi dhang se samjhane, aur sach batane ki zaroorat hai."
"Haa Dhruv, hum mana nahi kar rahe. Par abhi iss samay hum keval Shaurya ko tumhare paas laane ki koshish kar rahe hai. Tum bas, abhi iss samay bhandaar griha me jaao."
Dhruv was still hesitant about it, but Tara left before he could say anything.

Tara started going towards Shaurya's room.
On one hand she was nervous, but positive about her plan, but on the other hand, she was nervous about Dhruv. She had been so sure he would be back to normal by this morning, once he calms down a bit and gets some sleep. He always does. Dhruv never holds onto these things. Of course yesterday's events were worse than usual. And then the fact that he had thought of committing suicide. He wouldn't have actually done it, would he? But Dhruv always bounced back. She had even expected him to come to her, positive about the whole situation, with some plan. But this time, it seemed different.
But she was positive once her plan got into action, everything will be fine. And then they'll leave. She just needed to wait for that. It's Dhruv, he'll be fine. In no time he'll be coming to her, happy, and will be showering her with love as usual.

As she reached Shaurya's room, she found him getting ready, with Meenakshi. And to her surprise, or not, Bhaiji. Shaurya seemed in a much better mood this morning. Meenakshi was telling him story while getting him ready, which she caught the tail end of.

"Isiliye hum keh rahe hai Shaurya banna, humesha jo humare saamne ho, wahi sach ho aisa avashyak nahi. Kabhi kabhi, jaisa hume dikhta hai, waisa nahi hota, uske peeche kuch aur kahani bhi ho sakti hai."

Shaurya was listening carefully as Meenakshi talked to him, and thinking of something, but then saw Tara standing at the door, so did the other two. The atmosphere in the room became colder at that. It was awkward. Tara was still not sure where her and Bhaiji stood with each other, after last night's events.
Before any of them could say anything, Shaurya ran towards Tara and wished her good morning. And Tara's mind was brought back to why she was here.

"Shaurya banna, aap kal hume koi chitra dikhana chahte the na?"
"Haa Maasa, bohot avashyak hai wo. Aap chalengi humare saath?"
"Avashya, aap jaiye waha bhandaar ghar me humari pratiksha kijiye, hum bas ek kaam khatam karke aa jayenge."
"Shighra aaiye Maasa", he said, and then ran towards the room.

Tara hoped Dhruv would have gone there already, and that Shaurya would not react too harshly after seeing Dhruv.

"Taru...", Bhaiji called her. She turned towards him.
"Chikitsak Dhruv ka swasth kaisa hai ab? Umeed hai aapko uski to jaankari hogi."
"Bilkul swasth hai wo Bhaiji. Hum unke saath hi the abhi.".
Bhaiji looked somewhat unconvinced, but nodded.
Meenakshi asked Tara where Dhruv was, and that she wanted to meet him, see for herself how he was.