Drisana sat alone at the seashore, looking at the setting sun. The gentle breeze soothed her raging thoughts. Even knowing there was danger, she didn't aware Pandavs of it. She knew what was going to follow at Vrikasthala. Nakul was going to be at the middle of it. She trusted on his skills. He was a seasoned warrior. But still there was a restlessness in her that refused to go away.

"Mata must be looking for you." Rajkumar Dridhaksh said from behind.

"I will leave after sometimes. What are you doing, bhrata?" Drisana asked.

"Just watching out for you." Dridhaksh said. He knew what she was asking. He had known for a long time that Drisana contacted Rajkumar Nakul. And he remained silent because Drisana cared for him and Dridhaksh didn't want her to turn into a zombie again. He was impressed by Nakul though. Using penguins and sending letters by water was unexpected. They had kept eyes in the sky while he used water.

"Thank you for trusting me." Drisana said looking at her brother.

"You don't need to thank. You're our sister and we all care for you. I hope you know what you're doing Drisana." Dridhaksh said. Drisana nodded after a while.

Drisana had been determined to get answers from Krishna when she went to Dwarka. Why didn't he help her? Why he didn't want her to go to Hastinapur? He was the one who wanted her to remain with Pandavs at the first place. So why was he silent when she was being separated from them? Everyone greeted her warmly when she reached there. Balaram was there to introduce her. But she didn't see Krishna anywhere. Finally after two days, Krishna returned from wherever he had been and came to meet her.

"What a surprise, behna! Seems you missed me too much." Krishna said smiling at her.

"You know I did. But the question is why didn't you?" Drisana asked.

"Seems like someone finally seek me out for answers." Krishna said.

"Why? Why didn't you help Jyesth Yudhisthir? Why didn't you solved the matter between Dravida and Hastinapur? Why I'm being separated from Nakul? Why?" Drisana asked furiously, impatient to get answers.

"Calm down, behna. Anger reduces our capability to think. You seem to lose your cool when it comes to Rajkumar Nakul. You need to learn patience and that needs time." Krishna said.

"I don't know anything. If you don't help me, I will run away with Nakul." Drisana said angrily as her eyes turned teary.

"And then what? Let me tell you. Duryodhan is ready to strike and you'll give him the perfect opportunity. He'll kill you both and then Hastinapur and Dravida will be at war. Your brothers and Pandavs will kill each other and Duryodhan will be crowned King. Is that what you want?" Krishna asked her.

"Then what should I do? Pitashree won't let me go back to Hastinapur and you're not helping either. Why???" She shouted, her tears slipping free. Krishna kept a hand in her shoulder to steady her.

"Because this is not the right time. Your family is right in their assumption. Duryodhan's full focus is on you right now and Gandharraj is not there to knock sense into him. Even as we speak he is sending assassins to kill you and as soon as you reach Dravida, there's going to be an attack. Either you return to Hastinapur or run away with Nakul, both of you will die and there'll be war between the two kingdoms. The only way to prevent your death and war is to bide time." Krishna said in a grim voice.

"What's the solution?" Drisana asked again after composing herself. She was finally understanding the whole picture as the clouded emotions started to clear.

"You know it." Krishna said as he stared at her.

"Indraprasht." Drisana sighed. She would have to wait for the establishment of Indraprasht.

"Yes." Krishna replied.

"What am I supposed to do till then? How am I supposed to live without him?" Drisana asked looking helplessly at him.

"When we love someone truly, we don't need to be beside them to feel their presence. They reside inside us. You just need to wait behna. At least you have hope. Not all are so lucky behna." Krishna said with a sad smile.

"Till then you need to prepare yourself. Maharani Gandhari crossed her limit, but if you had handled the situation with a clear head, it would have been in your advantage. But you let anger consume your mind.

You need to rid yourself of the six enemies of the mind, kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), Mada (pride), moha (attachment), and matsarya (jealousy).

Anger has already taken up residence in you. Your love is becoming your attachment which will eventually make space for jealousy. You have started to take pride in being the exceptional one and greed will follow too.

You need to cleanse yourself, harden yourself, so these enemies fail to control you. You need to think with a clear mind without their influence. If not, then you'll be the reason of Pandavs downfall. And with them, the whole Aryavart's." Krishna said. Drisana was contemplating his words. It was true. She was losing her capability to think in anger. In past months she had not only hurt her family in anger, but also shouted and screamed at servants unnecessarily. She lost her temper in front of her nephews too. She needed to compose herself.

"You need to recognise yourself. You need to remember you're in Dwapar yug where every action has to bear consequences, where every word counts. You've to complete what you started at Hastinapur. When the time comes, all the pieces need to be at place. So know your past, act in the present and prepare for the future." Krishna finished smiling at her.

Drisana wiped the rest of the tears that slipped free. She nodded determinedly. It was better to wait than get killed. It wouldn't be easy to stay away, but as she herself once said in ignorance, 'Jis prem mei tapasya na ho yoh prem kaisa.' (What love it is without penance.) So she would do this penance to safeguard her love. She would suffer, but prepare also for a better future.

So Drisana followed Krishna's words. She got control over herself and prepared. True to Krishna's words, Duryodhan's assassins had attacked her soon after coming back to Dravida. But her brother Dhikshit slaughtered every single one of them and at Drisana's insistence refrained from attacking Hastinapur.

After that incident, Nakul also understood it wouldn't be safe to bring Drisana to Hastinapur or take her somewhere else. Though he was capable of protecting his love, he wouldn't put her in danger in arrogance. If they could reach her inside the protection of Dravida territory, he alone wouldn't be enough to protect her. He agreed on waiting for the time being, trusting her and Krishna.

In Hastinapur:

Nakul was standing with his brothers to welcome the guests. Maharani Gandhari welcomed her brother, Gandharraj Shakuni. Maharaj Dhritarashtra and his son's were looking too much pleased at his arrival while Pitamah stood with a stoic expression. So did the Pandavs. After greeting his sister and Maharaj, he came towards Mahamahim Bhismeh.

"Parnipat Mahamahim." Gandharraj Shakuni said showing his teeth.

"Parnipat. Hope you didn't face any trouble in the way Gandharraj." Mahamahim Bhismeh said.

"I did actually. This journey was not at all pleasant for me. But you don't worry. Now that I've reached here, I'll rest for a long time." Gandharraj Shakuni replied. Mahamahim Bhismeh understood which journey he was talking about.

"Then I wish your stay at Hastinapur would be pleasing, both for you and us." Mahamahim Bhismeh said.

"Let's leave that on time only, Mahamahim." Shakuni said with a smirk.

After a while arrived Draupadi's one and only brother, Dhristyadym. Nakul thought about getting his horoscope checked by Sahdev to know why all the brothers were after his misery, either Drisana's, Maharani Gandhari's or his bhabishree Draupadi's. Arjun stabbed his stomach with his elbow as he was glaring at Dhristyadym.

"Pranam, bhratashree. How are you? How is everyone at Panchal? How is Pitashree, Shikhandi jiji? Everything is fine there, isn't it? And -" Draupadi started questioning Dhristyadym without giving him any opportunity to answer.

"Relax, Panchali. He's here now. First let him come inside and take some rest, then talk with him as much as you want." Arjun stopped her.

"I'm fine. Pitashree and Shikhandi jiji are also fine." Dhristyadym replied with a smile.

After welcoming all the guests, they retired to their rooms. Gandharraj Shakuni was seated with his nephews at the living room of Duryodhan's chambers.

"Mamashree, I've missed you a lot. Finally you're here. Now no one can stop us." Duryodhan said.

"Mere bache, samay hamare anukul hain. Jald hi Pandav o ki kahani samapt ho jayega, aur uske paschat tumhare aur raj singhasan k bich koi nehi aa sakta. (My son, time is right for us. Soon the Pandav's story will be finished and then no one can stand between you and the throne.)" Shakuni said smirking.

"Bharata soldiers have spreaded their terror in Vrikasthala. Now what next?" Dussasan asked smirking.

"News of Vrikasthala shouldn't reach to Pandavs at any cost before time. Make sure of it." Shakuni said. It was all about time. They had to be careful to win.

"Are they ready for the journey?" Shakuni asked Duryodhan.

"Yes. But I don't understand why. This is suicide." Duryodhan replied. He couldn't understand why his Mamashree wanted to send valuable assets to die.

"Yagya ki aagni mein aahuti to deni parti hai mere bache. (You have to give offerings to the holy fire my son.)" Shakuni said. Duryodhan nodded. He didn't dare question his Mamashree this time.

Gandharraj Shakuni had been hell furious when he realised Duryodhan, even after his warnings, sent assassins to kill Drisana. He still wasn't sure why Dravida didn't attack Hastinapur after that. But was relieved. If that buddha Bhismeh got wind of this, everything would have been finished. He had to do something fast to make sure Mahamahim Bhismeh's weapon never raised against them.

Pandavs were sitting at the living room of Kunti's chambers. Kunti had just finished her prayer and was now distributing offerings to them. Angraj Karna entered just then. Kunti's face brightened at his sight. Yudhisthir greeted him with a smiling face, Bheem concentrated on his food ignoring him, Arjun was as usual relaxed but alert too, Nakul and Sahdev remained polite and silent. They knew why he was here. Over the past years they had gotten quite acquiesced with his presence.

Drisana was forbidden to contact Pandavs and Hastinapur. So, she chose to send letters to her bhrata Karna and Karna delivered them to Kunti and Kunti's to Drisana. It wasn't anything special. Just letters between Mata and Putri. But these innocent letters had done a very important work as Drisana deliberately chose Karna as her carrier. It had decreased the gap and tension between Pandavs and Karna.

Karna hadn't liked Duryodhan's colourful words for Drisana and opposed them. That combined with Pitamah's attempt to keep Duryodhan away for sometime had helped in keeping these two Mitra apart for long periods of time. As Duryodhan's concentration had been on throne and revenge, he had no idea his Mitra regularly met with Pandavs and Rajmata kunti. Also sensing his malice towards Drisana, Karna chose to keep silent about her letters.

Nakul was aware of Drisana's intention of getting Angraj out of Duryodhan's clutches and trusted her in this matter. So he didn't reveal even to his brothers that he had another way to contact Drisana. Also he played a major role in controlling Bheem. Though Bheem initially sizzled at the sight of Angraj Karna, he had shut his mouth getting a warning from Kunti and later Nakul had made him understand that Karna wasn't so bad afterall.

"How have you been Putra?" Kunti asked smiling at Karna.

"I'm good Rajmata. How are your health now? I heard the journey back from Dwarka was tough on you and you fell sick." Karna asked, concerned for her.

"I'm fine now." Kunti replied.

"How can she not when her sons are right here to take care of her?" Arjun said smiling at his Mata. Karna smiled watching them. Though Arjun was poles apart from him personality wise, their love and adoration for their respective mothers were same.

"How are your parents?" Kunti asked. She could never repay Radha and Adhirath for taking care of Karna.

"They are fine too." Karna replied.

"Liberating Hunas (People from a tribe called Huna) from chattel slavery was really appreciating. I'd like to congratulate you for your bravery and kindness." Yudhisthir said to him.

"I did what I thought was Dharma." Karna said. Karna was rather disturbed by the barbaric ways of Anga when he was made King. Their practices of slavery and administration were far enough to be considered civilised. Over the years, he had brought changes. But still the tribes surrounding it affected the system sometimes.

"Your Dharma seems to take a break only around Duryodhan." Bheem said earning a glare from two sides, Kunti and Yudhisthir. Karna chose to remain silent, not wanting another heated argument with Bheem as it upset Kunti.

"Like your brain takes a break around food." Nakul muttered to lighten the atmosphere and it worked as Bheem frowned at him.

"Don't you dare say anything about my food." Bheem said.

"Yes, Nakul. Say whatever you want to bhrata Bheem, but not his food. You can call him fat, overweight, heavy, but don't say anything about his food." Arjun jumped to say as Nakul's eyes widened.

"Did you just call me fat, overweight and heavy, Arjun?" Bheem directed his frown at Arjun.

"Nehi bhrata Bheem. Mai aaysa kaise bol sakta hu! Oh to Nakul aaysa soch raha tha. (No, bhrata Bheem. How can I call you such names? I was only saying what Nakul thought.)" Arjun said gasping dramatically. Nakul's mouth gapped open.

"Nakul!!!" Bheem shouted taking Nakul in headlock.

"Mata!!! Say something to bhrata Arjun." Nakul whined.

"Bheem release him right now." Kunti ordered him. After Bheem released Nakul, Kunti twisted Arjun's ear.

"Itne bare ho gaye ho, par ab tak sudhre nehi. (You've grown-up, but still not matured.)" Kunti scolded him.

"Hum to bigre hi acche hai mata. Aapka ek putra hai na sudhra huya. To bataiye Jyesth kya bhrata Bheem mote, bhajandar or vari hai? ( we're good like this only mata. Your have one son matured enough. Tell Jyesth, is bhrata Bheem fat, overweight and heavy?)" Arjun asked innocently to Yudhisthir as his eyes rounded.

Kunti glared at Arjun. Karna, Nakul and Sahdev were suppressing their laughter as Bheem looked at Yudhisthir expectantly.

"Tum-tum aapne hisab se bilkul vari nehi ho Bheem. (You're not heavy according to yourself Bheem.)" Yudhisthir said after clearing his throat.

"Yes. Heard you all what Jyesth said. I'm not heavy." Bheem said happily. Arjun was going to correct him but stopped as Kunti twisted his ear again.

Long chapter before the climax. 😅😅😅

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