Glossary:

Terms:

*Maang Tikka – piece of jewellery worn by Indian women on their forehead

*Nandhan – another way to refer to a 'son'

*Nandhini – another way to refer to a 'daughter'

*Surya Putra – son of Lord Surya (another name for Karna)

*Maha Yodha – great warrior

**for other terms in this part – please refer to glossary section in previous updates!

Characters:

*Vrushali – wife of Karna and mother of Mitra

*Duryodhana – eldest Kaurava Prince and best friend of Karna

*Bhanumathi – wife of Duryodhana

*Princess Lakshmanaa – daughter of Duryodhana and Bhanumathi

*Prince Lakshman Kumar – son of Duryodhana and Bhanumathi

*King Dhritarashtra – father of the Kauravas and elder brother of King Pandu (father of the Pandavas)

*Vidura – was the Prime Minister of Hastinapura kingdom. He was the younger brother of both Dhritarashtra and Pandu, and the uncle of both the Kauravas & Pandavas

*Queen Gandhari – wife of Dhritarashtra and mother of the Kauravas

*Uttara – widowed wife of Abhimanyu and the daughter-in-law of the Pandavas

*Parikshit – son of Abhimanyu (born post Abhimanyu's death)

**for other characters in this part – please refer to glossary section in previous updates!

Other names for Arjuna used in this part:

*Dhananjaya – meaning 'the one who conquered wealth and gold'

*Vijaya – meaning 'always victorious or undefeatable'

*Madhya Pandava – the middle (third) Pandava among the five brothers

*Mahabahu – the one with the strong/mighty arms

*Vibhatsu – the one who appears fearsome in wars and always fights fairly in a terrific way

*Gandivadhari – wielder of the Gandhiva bow

*Indra Putra – son of Lord Indra (according to the Vedas – Indra is the King of Heaven and the Devas; also the deity of lightning, thunder, storms, rains, river flows and war)

*Mahanayak – the great hero/protagonist

*Anagha – one who is sinless with a pure heart

As the late afternoon sunlight streamed in through the dove white-curtained windows of her royal bedroom, the Kuru Princess lay in a prone position on her plush bed, bordered by various silk pillows, as her dainty fingers fiddled once again with the leather-bound possession of the late Kuru Prince.

As her fingers lazily ran over the intricately embroidered patterns on the cool surface of the diary, her mind travelled back to the morning hours, reflecting on the other half of her conversation with her Arjun Baba.

"Something else is troubling you, Mitra," Arjuna spoke up, putting an end to the companionable silence that filled the room between the two of them. Seated near the top of the bed, with his head resting back against the plush pillow, he glanced down at the apple of his eyes seated soundly beside him. The side of her body and petite back pressed against his torso, as she held his hand in her own, playfully measuring the length of her slim feminine fingers against his long masculine ones.

"You told me that you never once considered that I would think to show any partiality in my love between you or Abhimanyu. Then what made you utter those words in the sitting room last evening?"

Arjuna silently observed the soft fingers that were absentmindedly tracing the rough lines on his own, come to a halt, as her small, yet perfectly sculpted ears registered his question. Unable to bear the prolonging silence any longer, Arjuna gently coaxed, "Tell me, Putri. What was bothering you?"

Mitra heaved a deep sigh, as she let her head tilt back to rest against Dhananjaya's chest, just below the point where his muscle-dented shoulder met his collarbone. Arjun Baba had voiced his insecurities to her, and it was high time she did the same. A small smile rose on her pretty pink lips, as Arjuna's met the smoothness of her forehead, just below the stubborn baby hairs framing her hairline, in a comforting kiss.

"Insecurity, Baba. The insecurity that not only grips the heart of an adoptive parent, but also the heart of the adopted child," she murmured with her eyes closed.

When her statement was met with a prolonged silence, her petal-soft eyelids fluttered open to meet the confused, yet sharp gaze of the Madhya Pandava staring down at her.

"Baba, will you answer something truthfully?" she questioned in a shaky voice, causing worry to fill in the leftover spaces of his orbs, not already tinged by confusion.

"What is it, Putri?"

Mitra swallowed back the throbbing ache that began to build with much intensity at the back of her throat, as she forced herself to maintain the gaze of her father and prodded the question to escape her parched lips.

"The life I'm living right now. As your child. The niece of my uncles. The child of Draupadi and Subhadra Maa. The grandchild of Grandmother Kunti. Is this really my life to live? Is it rightfully mine?"

Mitra cautiously observed the turmoil of emotions clearly depicted in the sharp eyes she was staring up intently into. From her upside-down view, she saw a variety of emotions flicker by. From confusion, she observed worry, then devastation flit by. Before finally a look of understanding settled in them.

"You filled our void lives with a sense of happiness and love beyond imaginable, Putri. You've become our saviour. Our angel. The sole reason for our happiness, joy, and existence post the eternal-peace snatching war. You've become the child, hope and dream of the Kuru Dynasty. When you yourself have become all this, how could you even possibly believe that this life is not rightfully yours to live, my dear?" questioned Arjuna, as he wrapped his arms around her front, holding his young one closer to himself.

Mitra dropped her gaze, as she fidgeted with the shimmering diamond stones on the armlet wrapped around his well-sculpted bicep, unable to hold his gaze as she prepared to shoot her next ground-breaking question.

"I understand, Baba. But, anyone could have taken my place, right? It didn't have to be me. Any orphaned child would have been able to fill in the emptiness in your lives. Any child could have taken my place in your life. Like how I managed to take Brother Abhimanyu's?"

Mitra felt her breath catch in her chest, as she sensed the stiffening of the stone-hard body beside her and the tightening of the mighty arms around her. It didn't take long for her intelligent mind to acknowledge that she had once again struck a nerve. She gasped, as she felt the strong masculine fingers, she was playing with just moments ago, roughly grasp her chin and tilt it upwards, once again making her head fall back against Mahabahu's chest. Her doe-shaped eyes enlarged on their own accord as they fell upon the upside-down view of Vibhatsu's sharp eyes, currently filled with a fearsome aura which can cause foes to drown in pure fright, as he looked down at her. Mitra gulped, completely terror-stricken, as she now observed the preview of the side of the Arjuna, the mighty and fearsome warrior, whom the enemies alone encountered on the battlefield. Unable to bear the chilling aura in the room, provided more by the indignation in his eyes than by the breeze flowing in through the open window, Vijaya Nandhini parted her lips to speak, only to fall silent again immediately, with one challenging upraise of Vijaya's arched eyebrow.

Arjuna struggled with every nerve of his being to keep his frustration in check, as he cautiously put forth his words with much strain, while intimidatingly holding his little Princess's fearful gaze.

"Let me make this plain and clear, and drilled into your lovely, yet overly imaginative brain once and for all. First and foremost, I never ever want to hear you refer to yourself 'as' or 'was' an orphaned child again. You were never an orphan and you will never ever be one. I would have to be dead for that to even partially be a reality, but as you can very well see with your own pair of beautiful eyes, that I'm seated here right beside you. If you ever want to voice this heart-shattering thought again, make sure that I'm dead and cremated, with only a jar of ashes remaining as my memory in your hands, before you do so. Is that clear?"

The stilled tears that feared to escape the confines of her blurry vision on their own accord, rolled down without much of a choice, in response to her small head bobbing up and down in a fearful nod, acknowledging her father's strict words. Arjuna sensing that the angle her head was currently tilted against his chest was bound to cause an ache in the back of her neck, and realizing that his fingers grasping her chin roughly was not adding any comfort, turned her around in his embrace. Now with her front leaned against his torso, she clutched on to his dove white angavastra, loosely draped over his shoulder, as she speechlessly maintained the chilling eye contact. Arjuna drew in a deep breath, attempting to draw with it the control he required at the moment to erase the fear in his little one's eyes, while providing him the patience to tackle this sensitive conflict in a more calming way. He cupped her soft, and naturally rose-tinted cheeks, in between his rough palms, as he pressed a kiss on the small forehead that dazzled in brilliance like the star-filled horizon.

"I'm sorry," he whispered against her forehead, as a lone tear escaped the confines of his burning eyes. "I did not intend to lose my control like that before you. I lost all sense of calmness the moment you linked yourself to the identity of an 'orphan.' Never call yourself an orphan when I'm here with you, okay? It's as if though I'm dead and no longer by your side," his pleading voice fell on her devastated ears as some more tears leaked down her tear-stained cheeks in response.

"I won't. I'm sorry, Baba," she murmured, as Arjuna's thumbs hastily ran over her moon-like cheeks, wiping away the pearls of guilt streaming down.

"And secondly, when and how did this insecurity regarding you somehow having taken Abhimanyu's place in my life come up? Something must have happened yesterday in between breakfast and the evening to have triggered this uproar of misunderstandings, right?"

Arjuna watched curiously, as Mitra disentangled herself from his embrace and got out of bed. His weary eyes followed her every movement as she walked towards one of her large rosewood almirahs in the room and pulled open the intricately designed door. The confusion in his gaze turned to one of curiosity, as he watched her pull out a leather-bound object from its residence in between her neatly pressed and folded shawls. The curiosity, now tinged again with a slight bit of confusion, only grew stronger as she walked back towards the bed, and settled back in her original position, now clutching the object tightly to her chest.

"This was where it all started, Baba," she murmured as she gently deposited the object, which Arjuna now saw to be a leather-bound book of some sort, in his lap with quivering hands. "I came across this diary belonging to Brother Abhimanyu while going though old artifacts in the storage room yesterday."

A small sad smile played on Arjuna's strikingly handsome features, as his fingers shakily ran over the name, gracefully embroidered on the cover of the book. He shut his eyes for a moment as the face of his loving son came before him, with the ever-familiar and heart-stopping grin stretched ear to ear on his charming features.

"I never knew he had the habit of maintaining a diary," came out Arjuna's strained voice, failing to conceal the choked tears he struggled to prevent. "Must have been a habit he picked up during his days in Dwaraka."

He drew in a deep breath before gently placing the diary on the mattress before them, and softly pulled Mitra back into his arms, while the latter eagerly wrapped her slender ones around him.

"Okay, now tell me. What does this diary have to do with everything?"

Arjuna watched closely as the young Kuru Princess maintained her averted gaze, while fiddling with the golden threads of embroidery on his dove white angavastra, loosely covering an old scar on the left side of his broad chest – a treasured reminder of the battle. While completely oblivious to what was written in the diary that could have instigated an emotional reaction as such from his daughter, he did know that he needed to maintain patience to slowly coax her insecurities out of her. So, he waited to hear her speak, while gently caressing the back of her head in an act of providing soothing comfort.

"When you first brought me to the Hastinapura palace, Baba – I barely knew anyone or anything around me. It had just been some days since I began to live with you all in your camp, set up on the Kurukshetra fields. Within a blink of an eye, I was brought here. And that was it – I was expected to start my life anew here as the princess of the same kingdom, in which I had lived as a commoner for the first 10 years of my life. No longer did I have the relations I had grown to respect and love, as they had all been snatched away from me by the outcomes of the war – Karn Baba, Vrushali Maatha, my dear brothers, Uncle Duryodhana, Aunt Bhanumathi, my dear friend Lakshmanaa – who was married off and I've never seen her since, and Brother Lakshman Kumar. I was not able to see my grandparents (Karna's parents) as often as well – as I was no longer living in the childhood home of my father. All were taken away from me, and in return I was given a brand new set of family members to form relationships with. I received an amazing father in you, loving and supportive uncles in the Pandavas, affectionate mothers in Maa Draupadi and Maa Subhadra and a doting Grandmother Kunti. In addition to you all, I received three more grandparents – Grandfather Dhritarashtra, Grandfather Vidura and Grandmother Gandhari. And my ever-loving Uttara and sweet nephew Parikshit. I began to start anew and live every moment of my life in this newfound joy, Baba. I lived in my own little bubble, completely oblivious to the place I've filled in the lives of you all."

Mitra's fingers, absentmindedly fiddling with the golden threads of the angavastra, quivered for a moment, which did not go unnoticed by Gandivadhari. He gently caressed her cheek which had slightly paled in colour, losing its usual rosy tint, as he murmured, "Tell me, Putri."

"And... and then I came across this diary in the storage room, Baba. While beginning to read it, I came across some thoughts that burst the small bubble I'd been living in for the past four years of my life. I came to know about Brother Abhimanyu's dreams and hopes he'd housed in his heart, which he wanted to live post the battle, and felt my heart tear apart when I had to accept the bitter reality that he was and would never be able to do so. My heart went out to him when I accepted the harsh truth that he was no longer able to live his dream life, which was a life lived with you all together under the same roof. But that same heart, which had cried out for the lost hopes of his dreams, itself shattered to pieces once I realized that it was I who was living them now. It was I who was living the life of Brother Abhimanyu here now – as your child, the child of Draupadi and Subhadra Maa, the niece of the Pandava brothers and the dear grandchild of Grandmother Kunti. The one who dreamed to spend more quality time with his father post the war to make up for the lost 13 years of his life was Abhimanyu, yet the one who is happily living that dream as a reality is Mitravinda. Have I stolen Brother Abhimanyu's place, Baba? Have I replaced my brother?"

Endless tears were now streaming down the face of Mitra, each one further cracking the broken heart of Vijaya, as he watched the princess struggle to regain control over her breath competing ferociously against her sobs. Despite wanting nothing more than to wipe away her tears and pull her into a tight embrace, Arjuna maintained the stillness of a statue – fearing that even a slight movement on his end would prevent her from voicing any leftover insecurity that needed to be verbalized. With a tear choked voice, she finally let slip the question which had mercilessly been eating her from within since the previous afternoon.

"Baba...suppose the outcomes of the war did not turn out the way they did. Suppose Brother Abhimanyu were still here. Would you have wanted me still? If he were still here, would there ever have been the need for a Vijaya Nandhini?"

Arjuna vaguely registered that his insides were beginning to freeze, but he was unable to react as his entire being numbed in response to what he had just heard. Yet, seeing his dear one sob uncontrollably before him was enough to partially crack the frozen portion of his brain in control over his movements, as he pulled her into a tight embrace. He pressed soft kisses on the top of her head, which was dampening with the endless flow of tears that rolled down his cheeks. Dear God, what kind of an insecurity had his child been housing in her mind? How could such a question even emerge in her mind? Had she not been able to read the emotions in his eyes, four years back by the Kaurava tents? His thoughts carried him back to that magical afternoon, which unconsciously placed a small sad smile on his face, despite the tears escaping his blurred vision. Was she never able to see the desperation and love in his eyes, wishing to have her near him for a lifetime? Yet, he chose not to disclose anything about the incidents of that day at the moment, as there was another pressing issue that needed more immediate addressing right now. Arjuna's thoughts from that afternoon by Mahamahim Bhishma's tent, the first time he ever laid eyes on Mitravinda, will be a tale for another time. The fatherly instincts in him advised that this current insecurity needed to be handled calmly without any hasty mischoice of words.

"Putri, before I answer your question...will you answer one of mine?"

The gentle nodding of a head sandwiched securely between his chest and arm provided the consent he needed to begin tackling this sensitive topic.

"I know you miss your father beyond words. You must have loved him and continue to love him dearly. Suppose, just suppose the outcomes of the war could be changed now. Imagine what it would be like if your father, my eldest brother, would come back to us now. As painful as it is to imagine something as such, I know you are strong, my child, and I want you to think about it for a moment. What would you do? Who would you choose to live with? Who would you choose to address as your father? Would you leave me?"

Mitra pulled back, allowing her face which was buried against Dhananjaya's chest to stare at him, completely taken aback by his question, which was least expected at the moment. Arjuna, observing the spark of shock and confusion in her doe-shaped eyes, smiled in response as he cupped her cheek in his palm.

"Will you not answer me?"

Mitra held his gaze with her own utterly confused one, as a chill evaded each and every nerve of her being, in response to her mind recalling the words of her father in her dream. 'What if I say I can rewind the time to four years back and completely change the outcomes that resulted. No war. No death. I would be here. Abhimanyu would be here. But... you would never have seen Arjuna either. There would be no relationship between you both. Would you agree to take up that offer?' She vaguely registered a ticklish sensation in motion down her cheeks, which she attempted to remove with the back of her palm. That was when Mitra realized that the sensation had been the endless tears that had once again continued to stream down her cheeks, re-hydrating the dried stains left by the older ones, in response to her Arjun Baba's question. How could he ask such a question? Did he not know that he meant the world to her? How could he even in his worst dream, ever believe that she would consider leaving him? The words reached the back of her throat, but she was unable to guide them to her lips. She silently stared at him, with tears of pain escaping her beautiful eyes, pleading with him to understand the unspoken words of her heart.

"You'll leave me, won't you?" he questioned in a strained voice, just barely above a whisper, as a lone tear escaped those ever-sharp warrior eyes, and rolled down to disappear in the stubble shielding his lower cheeks. "You'll-

The rest of his unforgivable words were prevented from escaping his lips, by the small fragile hand that covered them, while the owner of it offered him a pained look of utmost disbelief.

"You've easily underestimated your value in my life, Baba. Did you believe yourself to be so replaceable?" came Mitra's soft voice, filled with accusation and pain.

Arjuna held her gaze, without flinching at her tone. He closely observed the ragged breathing, the redness of her eyes and tear-stained cheeks – indicating the hidden pain, sorrow and frustration she was currently experiencing.

"You both are my fathers. I love you both so much," she whispered.

"You're right, my dear. I'm your father. And my eldest brother, Karna, is your father as well. We are both your fathers. The same for you, right? Why would it matter then if one of us is not present in your life? If Karna comes back, then he can easily replace me without a second thought. Cause he is your father too," Arjuna stated bluntly, struggling to ignore the ache in his heart, berating him for his cruel words.

Mitra stared right back, completely broken by his idea regarding his position in her life. She briskly wiped at her tear-stained cheeks with the back of palms and drew in a deep breath to steady her breathing.

"Yes, you both are my fathers and I love you both so much. More than anyone or anything else in this word. But, just because you both are my fathers, that does not mean you are the same or become one for me. You both are different in your own senses, and that's what gives me two loving fathers, rather than one. I find solace in the scorching heat of the sun rays falling directly on me, as I feel my Surya Putra's presence in them. Likewise, never do I fear the rumbling of thunder in the darkest hours of the night, as I subconsciously feel comforted by the unspoken presence of my Indra Putra in them. 

Yes, the pain of losing my father will always remain, but that does not mean having Karn Baba back in reality would be able to replace your position in my life. I would never be able to leave you. I love my Karn Baba, but I love my Arjun Baba just as much. I've told you before, I was born a Daanveer Putri, but that will never make me any less of the Vijaya Nandhini I've become – as that is my blessed fate," she whispered, as she remembered her father's words to her in her dreams.

"I'm just like the plant that requires both the warmth of the sunlight, along with the hydration from the cool rains to live. If Karn Baba is the sunlight that provides the warmth my heart desires, you are the rains that follow a thunderstorm – providing me the coolness and rejuvenation my parched soul craves. You both are fathers for me, but will always remain your own separate entities no matter what. One will never be able to replace the other, and one will never become the other. Yet, I require both my warmth and rejuvenating coolness. I need you both to live – Karn Baba's loving memory and Arjun Baba's loving embrace."

Arjuna, completely spellbound by her words, pulled his dear one into his embrace and held on to her. Yes, he knew she loved him dearly, but never did he realize the extent to which that love was. He realized that while trying to coax Mitra to overcome her insecurities, he had been trying to overcome his own lingering one as well – which still unconsciously circulated between the mixed emotions he felt towards his eldest brother till this day. Yes, he had accepted him as his brother and developed love for him over the past four years of his life. But they had spent a major portion of their lives holding nothing but enmity for one another. He would mentally never be able to completely overcome the resentment they held for one another for the vast majority of their lives. And as if that were not sufficient, ever since he had been blessed with Mitra in his life, Arjuna had to brawl against his own insecurity regarding Mitravinda being the biological daughter of Karna, and not his. And this had paved way to the fears that she would never see him as much of a father as she had seen Karna. For the past four years of his life, Arjuna realized he had been fighting a self-draining battle within himself – regarding the mix of emotions he felt towards Karna – love, insecurity and a tinge of competitive nature- stemming from the fear of his unconditional love for Mitra not being as two-sided as he desired.

Yet, today he felt ashamed of himself for the tinge of competitive nature against his eldest brother, he had subconsciously let grow in his heart, for securing the love of Mitra. Without any trace of hesitation today, he was led to accept that unconditional love had no room for selfishness or any sort of competition within it. With Mitra's words today, Arjuna felt an unbearable load being lifted off his chest, as he consciously registered the diminishing of un-vocalized insecurities housed by his isolated heart for far too long. Yet, would the Mahanayak Arjuna ever be able to completely look past the pure resentment he held for his eldest brother, Maha Yodha Karna, in his heart for so long? Only time could provide the answer to that question.

"I love you, my dear," he whispered against the top of her silky soft head, as he pressed a kiss on it.

"You're just as much a father to me as Karn Baba. How could you think that you were so easily replaceable..."

Mitra's voice caught in her throat, as she swallowed back the rest of the words in response to the realization that dawned on her. Suppose Brother Abhimanyu were still here. Would you have wanted me still? If he were still here, would there ever have been the need for a Vijaya Nandhini? Through answering her Arjun Baba's question posed to her, she realized that she had unknowingly answered her own as well.

"So, I'm not easily replaceable, but I suppose you are then?" the quiet voice of Arjuna questioned, causing the princess to dig her face further against his chest, unable to face the knowing look in his eyes.

Arjuna wound his arms tightly around his reason for existence, as he pressed the side of his face against her downy hair parting. His lips moved against the chain of the maang tikka adorning her forehead, as he provided the answer, which her mind now acknowledged, to the question which was the root cause of the insecurity that had begun to branch itself in her heart.

"Putri, you asked me whether if Abhimanyu were still here, would I have wanted you? If he were still here, would there ever have been the need for a Vijaya Nandhini?"

Mitra, despite now knowing the answer to the heart-breaking question she had the audacity to pose, could not help but tighten her hold, further fisting the portion of Anagha's angavastra which had already crumpled from her constant fiddling.

"You both are my children and I love you both beyond this world. But, just because you both are my children, that does not mean you are the same, or become one for me. Just as how, both Karna and I being two separate entities – gives you two loving fathers, you and Abhimanyu are both separate entities as well. This difference between you both has given me two different children. If Abhimanyu is my pride, you my child are my hope. If Abhimanyu is my heart, you my love are the beat to that heart. Can the individual continue to live if either the heart or it's beat ceases to exist? One can never become the other, or take the other's place, and one can never replace the other. Just as the individual requires both the heart and it's beat to live, this Arjuna will always require both of you to live– my Nandhan in my memories and my Nandhini in my arms."

The silent tears wetting his chest, tugged at his heartstrings. Slowly unwinding his arms from around her petite frame, he lifted her head off his chest, holding her face cupped securely between his palms. A small smile formed on his face, in response to the one present on hers from hearing his words. He gently brushed the lingering tears on her cheeks away with his thumb as he spoke, "The pain of losing Abhimanyu will always remain etched in my heart as a devastating memory, but his presence or lack of will never replace your position in my life. It will never dictate the need for a Vijaya Nandhini in this Vijaya's heart."

Mitra wiped away the lone tear that had slipped past Arjuna's eye with a flick of her finger, and held his stubbled cheeks between her petite hands. Lowering his head to her level, she pressed a featherlight kiss, on the light scar remaining from what looked to be a bruise caused by a rather sharp-edged arrow, right above his eyebrow. As Arjuna hugged his child closer with all his love and adoration, he felt the morning rays of Lord Surya now fall with a stronger, yet oddly pleasant intensity on them both, through the large curtain-drawn windows of the room. As if attempting to assure them both that Dhananjaya's words would always remain true. As he rested the side of his face against her now ruffled hair, Arjuna could swear he felt the words being drifted through the rays of the sunlight and into his heart, "Always your Vijaya Nandhini, Brother."

The chiming of a temple bell near the palace filtered in through the open windows, shaking the Kuru Princess out of her reflections of the conversation with her Arjun Baba, as she once again found herself back in the present – laying on her soft bed with the diary clutched securely in her hands. A soft smile adorned her face as she played Arjuna's words in her mind, and experienced immense joy as she felt herself dwelling in the love they held. "Always your Nandhini," she whispered.

Despite the overwhelming happiness that surged to depths of her soul, she never knew possible, one obstinately persistent doubt remained etched at the back of her mind. Arjun Baba had mentioned that Abhimanyu's presence or lack of would never dictate the need for a Vijaya Nandhini, and that he required her just as much as he did Abhimanyu to live. But, didn't he only develop affection for her post her father's death? Yet, the surety in his voice when he had mentioned this statement convinced her that something else, even before her father's death, had affected the conflicting emotions leading to this declaration. But what was that?

As if on cue, the slightly hefty diary slipped out of her clutching hands, and toppled facedown and open on her flat and petite stomach, causing Mitra to let out a yelp of pain. Grumbling, she picked up the diary, still open on the page it fell on, while sitting up and massaging her hand over the dull ache on her abdomen. And at that moment, she discreetly remembered the words mentioned by her father in the dream – regarding her brother's message for her. 'He'd like you to read it completely before coming to any more hasty conclusions. Apparently, the diary holds some important thoughts which he was never able to convey to you in person.'  What other thoughts did the diary hold that she was to be made aware of? 'Could it possibly hold the answer to her doubt regarding the reasoning behind Arjun Baba's statement?' she thought as she stared at the upside-down diary in her lap, open on a random page. With quivering fingers, she flipped the diary over, as her curious eyes scrolled over the heading of the entry....

To Be Continued...

And that is Part VI of Abhimanyu's Diary - hope you all enjoyed it! Arjuna and Mitra have finally cleared up their insecurities regarding their position in each other's life with one another. And the most awaited diary moments will be coming up in the next part of the chapter - stay tuned!! 

In the meantime, please do comment your thoughts on this part and what you think might be coming up next - I'd love to hear them :) And please do vote if you feel it's worthy! 

Thanks again for all your love and motivating support! Excited to continue this beautiful and eye-opening journey of DaanveerPutri with you all :)

Loads of love,

Geitha