MIRAGE OF HEARTSTRINGS

PLACID SHORE

Although the ongoing day went smooth, Arjuna still couldn't been able to comprehend about the previous interaction of him with Duryodhana.

He might seem normal from outside but inside, it felt like burning ashes that are coming back to life. As if a painting has started forming in his mind without colors.

He exhaled thinly before glancing up at the sky for a moment of relief that didn't even last a moment as he encountered another person in the corridor.

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The youngest Pandava found his third elder brother where the palace corridors thinned into quiet—where the stone no longer echoed with courtly footsteps and the lamps were fewer, placed for guidance rather than grandeur.

Arjuna stood by the open lattice, arms folded, watching the sky darken into a deep, bruised blue. He did not turn when Sahadeva approached. He already knew.

Sahadeva hesitated.

That alone told the third Pandava this was not about duty.

"I didn’t mean to make it.........uncomfortable" Sahadeva said finally, his voice soft, careful. "The other day. With him"

Arjuna closed his eyes for a brief moment before exhaling "I know"
He knows cause he has always known his youngest brother and Sahadeva isn't someone who can do such things. Unlike him, who rather than making awkward, has started doing sin.

That answer must had surprised Sahadeva enough to make him look up.

Arjuna turned then, his expression unreadable—not guarded, not cold, just........tired "You didn’t do anything wrong"

No, infact, Sahadeva didn't even do anything. It is everyone's right to spend time with anyone they want to, whether it is a guest or........Duryodhana himself.

However it seems, the youngest Pandava isn't ready to take it as he shook his head slowly "I did. Not in action. In intent." He clasped his hands together, fingers tightening. "I wasn’t aware of it until after. The way I stayed. The way I didn’t move when you, Bhratashree, came. I told myself it was coincidence but—"

"And it wasn’t" Arjuna said quietly.
"No" Sahadeva’s gaze dropped. "It was habit. Or maybe instinct. And that worries me"

There was no accusation in his tone. Only honesty—bare, almost uncomfortable in its openness.

The Archer studied him for a long moment.

"You’re allowed to exist near him. Anyone is cause he is our—guest" Arjuna said at last. "So am I. That’s all it was"

Sahadeva let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding "You didn’t feel pushed aside?"

"I noticed" the third Pandava admitted "But noticing isn’t the same as resentment"

That earned a small, uncertain smile from Sahadeva.

"I don’t want to become someone who takes without realizing," Sahadeva muttered lowly "Especially not from you"

Arjuna’s brow furrowed slightly. "From me?"

"Bhratashree. That's what you are. To me you all are my second parents, so........" Sahadeva replied simply. "That matters."

And that loosened Arjuna completely.

That's his youngest brother. The boy who has always given rather than taking, even when ordered to take. The boy who would rather stay at front to protect others first before protecting himself. The boy who always notices others discomfort rather than acknowledging his own. And he third Pandava does not want to loss him.

“"It matters to me too," Arjuna said. "Which is why I didn’t want silence to turn into assumption"

They stood there for a moment, the quiet between them no longer tense—just thoughtful.

Sahadeva spoke again, hesitating only briefly. "Bhratashree, Do you ever feel like things have........shifted? Since that night?"

Arjuna’s gaze drifted back toward the sky "maybe". Not yes but not No too. Cause this isn't something to be pointed directly.

"It wouldn't ruin anything between us.......right?"

"No" Arjuna said, knowing fully well that he would rather ruin himself than dragging their youngest brother himself.

Sahadeva nodded, murmering a soft Thank you in the silence of calm.
Neither of them realized how much they had just confessed.

Not really.

They were speaking of atmosphere, of imbalance, of something unnamed—but beneath it lay currents neither was ready to follow to their source.

The youngest stepped back first, giving his elder space without being asked "I am glad we spoke"

"So am I" Arjuna replied. Suddenly aware of the relief he is feeling in the core.

As Sahadeva turned to leave, Arjuna added, "For what it’s worth—you don’t need to disappear for my comfort. Sometimes—choose your own comfort first"

Sahadeva paused, then smiled faintly. "Ji bhratashree. And you don’t need to become invisible for mine"

They parted without another word.

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Later, when Sahadeva found himself sitting beside Duryodhana again—Lakshman laughing somewhere ahead—he was more aware of his stillness. More deliberate in when he stayed, when he stepped back.

Not because he had been warned.
But because he had chosen to be careful.

And Arjuna, watching from the above corner of window, felt something tight but steady settle in his chest.

Not complete relief.

Balance.

For now, that was enough.

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