It was very annoying to move in secret. It all seems cool when one's watching ninja movies, but doing that in real life is painful.

AJ and Yudhishthir, having combined their brains resulted in the result being someone I did not want to cross.

With Sulo back in town, things finally started to seem a bit brighter. Maybe it's because of her absolutely childish nature, but it was true. Her optimism made us happier.

" Karali! Mano!" She squealed, running in to hug us.

" Sulo. How are you? " AJ asked, pulling her into a hug.

" Just fine bhai. " She answered and I looked at him.

" Bhai? You asked her to call you bhai? " I asked and he grinned.

" Why Saag? Jealous? She addresses me with respect? " He chortled.

" No, just wondering what spell you put on her to call, you bhai. I would assume she'd say bhrata. "

" Yeah, it made me sound too much like baingan ka bharta. " He mumbled, inciting a laugh from all of us.

" I missed you so sisters. You have no idea the amount of intel I've been collecting over the past two months in Vajji and around. The idiots have figured out where to go, their armies are headed towards Vajji. I'd say they will reach in nearly three months. "

" Three months? " Yudhishthir asked, eyes hardening.

" Ji jijashree. Three months. We have to have Sphulingini, Karali, Kaali, Mano, me, Vishvaruchi and Sudhumvarna together for this to work. "

"But where are the other two? Who are the other two? " I asked, mind grappling with the possibilities of who they are.

" I haven't found either of them. It was said, that to hide her flame's brilliance and brightness, Vishva hid somewhere where no man has been able to go. It's truly impossible to know where she is until we all sit and call her, at the same time. And Sudhum? Well, I heard that she hasn't even been born yet. " She answered, eyes frustrated as for the first time we saw true anger in her eyes, reminding us, that she might have a heart of gold but her flame is enough to melt even tungsten if need be.

" So we'll find them. I assume, that Sudhum has to be born as a new born princess. But there is truly no kingdom where there might be new births now. " Devi added.

" There might not be -hold on! What if she's not born as a princess! We need to spread out to be able to cover that ground. " AJ concluded.

" That's seems fair. But we don't know where in the world they are! Who knows if they're even in Aryavart. " Sulohita tried.

" But we can try contacting them? We are sisters. We can trace their locations somehow. " Devi put in.

" Well, even if that works, what if it's near a place we shouldn't be in? Like Hastinapur, or Panchal or some such place? " Yudhishthir asked.

" Then we send AJ. He's not supposed to be hiding anyway. He can go. " Sulohita said.

" I? I -I can't leave Devi alone! " He exclaimed, one arm circling her shoulders protectively.

" So you take her along.. " Sulohita said, in a tone that said, 'isn't that obvious'.

" But with Rudra -"

" We can manage Aaju. It's fine. " Devi answered calmly.

" How can we manage? They'll be on the lookout for us! "

" We'll figure it out. It's more important to know where it is. Why are we creating such a hullabaloo over a problem that might not even exist? " Yudhishthir answered, ever calm.

" Alright, come sisters. " Devi said, handing Mowgli over to AJ as she sat down, while we formed a triangle, holding each other's hands.

We closed our eyes, calling upong the flame that ran in our veins. I could see the heat being wmanated from our body, Mowgli's cries piercing the room in the heat.

With closed eyes, we held ourselves above the earth, our eyes roaming to find our sisters. There was no sign of Vishvaruchi, but I could feel heat from some part of Bharat.

" To the South. " I spoke to my siblings as they nodded, eyes roving over the southern peninsula when we felt a certain call towards Kerala.

" There! " I said, while they agreed, as we zoomed into the plains, the Western Ghats and then, the Periyar Lake.

" There she is." Sulo whispered, as we saw our dearest sister, surrounded by trees and the lake in front of her.

Her lips were dry, parched from the meditation, her skin nearly showing her bones. Yet she held her patience, eyes closed in deep meditation.

As we opened our eyes, we agreed on one thing.

" I'll go. " Sulohita volunteered.

" But -"

" No Mano, you and Karali need your rest. You need a stable environment. I'll go. It'll be easy. " She concluded, standing up.

" So? You'll leave now? " Devi asked, eyes tearing up as they mirrored mine. I wish for a day where we didn't need to part just as soon as we meet.

" I must dear sister. We need to help our Karali prove anyone who dared to challenge her wrong. We must save the world. It's our responsibility. Narayan has trusted us with it. We must be strong. " She said and these were one of the moments we knew, she was just as fiery and passionate as the colour of her flame.

" We'll see you soon. Go now. " I whispered, as we both pulled her into a hug.

" Mausi will be back soon Mowgli. I love you so much! " She said to the now curious child, who's eyes roved over her form.

" Leave now. We just have the window of these few days to leave undetected. " Yudhishthir said, bidding her a farewell.

^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•

" What do you think? How shall we leave? " I asked Yudhishthir as we lay in our rooms. He had my hand in the air as he played with my fingers, interlocking and moving them with his own.

" I think we need to send two different convoys. Mamashree knows that we can change the two of you, so he needs to believe that we've left separately. He needs to think that we've gone in broad daylight, catching some others while we make our way out in the twilight," He said, plucking at my hands.

" But, what about the path? There is a set path between Vajji and Pragjyotishpur. If we chose to leave directly, there is a chance we'll be caught. " I added, pulling his arm to rest on me as I pulled myself closer to him.

" I know, that's why me and Ajatshatru have been searching alternative routes. He says that in every 'history' book he read, there were always passages in and out of kingdoms that few knew about. That's our goal for tomorrow. To look for that passage between Pragjyotishpur and Vajji. " Ge answered.

" Alright. " I murmured, eyes downcaste.

" What is it Priye? What troubles your mind? " He asked gently, notching his hand under my chin to raise my eyes to meet his.

" I am worried for you. This is a dangerous game we'll be playing. And mamashree has already tried to injure you once and I don't want ro loose you again! I lost you in Agnilok, I can't loose you here as well! " I cried and his eyes softened.

Shifting to his back, he pulled me onto his chest, my ears lying just above his heart.

" Hear that Priye? This is the heart that beats for you. It won't die down leaving you alone. I know I shouldn't promise this, it's one of the biggest mistakes of humans to promise anything, knowing death can come anyday. But I will promise you this, this heart won't stop beating till you ask it too. I won't abandon you alone in this world, when you clearly didn't abandon me in yours." He whispered, pulling my hands to rest on his cheek.

" You do realise I had no choice right? " I giggled and he laughed, heartily, it had been a long time since I heard him laugh this way.

" My sweet, darling, beautiful wife. It was your compassion that made me love you, far more than any responsibility that you took to care for someone who was unknown to you. " He said, trailing his hands up and down my back.

" That tickles. " I said, giggling.

" Oh? Does it? " He asked, eyes sharp as he flipped me onto the bed.

" How about this? " He whispered, hands running all over my sides as I laughed and tried to escape him.

Damn him and his strong arms. H
They held me with a death grip.

(INTIMACY AHEAD. READER DISCRETION ADVISED)

" How about this? " He asked, moving down as he blew raspberries onto my stomach.

" No! Leave! Your father has captured me dear! Tell him to leave!" I giggled, panting for breath, for more reasons than his tickling, because he had taken his mind off teasing me with tickles to, teasing me in other ways.

" What are you upto?" I asked, shaking with silent laughter as he made his way up, trailing the path with his nose.

" Your bath oils. What have you been using recently? " He asked, face burrowning in my neck as he landed soft kisses there, igniting a newfound passion in me.

" Uhm. " I tried, barely resisting throwing him off of me, for his touch, soft and gentle as it was, brought about a new heat in me, one which wasn't controlled by my flame.

" Come on dearest, I asked a question. " He murmured against my lips, just a hairs breadth away as he teased me, not giving me the satisfaction of being list in his arms.

" It's -it's -" I broke off, before calming my breaths, " It's lilies. " I whispered and he sighed.

" Beautiful. Absolutely truly beautiful. I'll drench you in lilies if I can. " He answered, pecking at my jaw before raising himself back up.

" You are a vision. A true flame. I am honoured to be your partner. " He whispered, before finally giving me the peace of joining him lips with mine, sending my mind off to another land. He ran his hands through my hair, gently cradling my face with one hand as he deepened the kiss, eyes closing and opening to track my responses.

" And you are one of the most charming men I've met. You're Yudhishthir. But for me, you're my Dharma. You're my lover, my friend, my partner and my home. I never knew what I was missing till I could her. " I said to him, closing my eyes as we finally shifted, hands resting as they were in his original postion, back towards the door, one hand over our child while my own rested on his. Life was peaceful, at least in the present.

I would never fall in love again until I found him,

I was lost within the darkness until I found him

I found him....

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

I am really sorry at how late this is... I know many of you might be asleep.

I hope the love and care in the chapter among the different relationships will makenup for it..

Much love
Radhekrishn ♥