All of them were sitting at the bank of ganga.

After trekking through the tunnel for hours, it opened up at a dense forest. The emotional trauma and the trekking, made Kunti exhausted. Bheem carried her through the forest while the rest of them walked. Drisana was able to keep up the pace with Pandavs even though she was tired.

Now after hours of walking through the forest, they reached the bank of the river. After eating the fruits Drisana had packed earlier and freshening up a bit, they were resting before starting their journey again.

Yudhisthir thought about which direction they should go and what they should do now that they had to remain hidden. Also their mother and Drisana was with them. Even though he and his brothers were used to difficulties, they weren't. He had to make sure they were taken care of.

Bheem was still angry at the earlier happenings. It was one thing to attack him or his brothers, but this time their mother was involved. If it weren't for his mother's order, he wouldn't have let Duryodhan breath a second longer after he reached Hastinapur.

Arjun was thinking about how he and his brothers who were known as mighty warriors, became so helpless at the hands of Purochan. No doubt they wouldn't have let any harm fall upon their mata and somehow got out of the situation, but still for a moment, he was afraid for his mata and brothers. For the first time in life, Arjun had known real fear.

Nakul couldn't forget the moment when the two most important woman of his life were held with a weapon at their necks. One was his mother, who gave him life and another was Drisana with whom he wanted to spend his life. If anything would have happened to either of them, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself and continue.

Sahdev, as the youngest pandav, had always received the most, be it love or facilities. His brothers always tried to shield him as much as they could. Even Nakul acted protective towards him in spite of being his twin. Not that they excluded him on anything. Still it was an unwritten rule that as the youngest, he had to be spared from the troubles if it could be helped. He knew Duryodhan didn't liked them, he knew Maharaj Dhritarashtra loved his sons, he knew Pitamah was just. But what he didn't was, Duryodhan hated them so much that he would try to kill his brothers and mata, that Maharaj loved his sons more than justice and even though Pitamah loved them, his hands were bound by his righteousness. That his righteousness was not only his strength but weaknesses too.

Drisana was thinking of the time since she came in this yug. All the happenings and Krishnas words. She had selfishly only thought about herself. She thought of it as another one of her trips that would end soon and she'd be gone with some cherished memories. She never wanted herself to get involved in whatever happened ahead with the Pandavs and Kunti, only thinking she was stucked here and how Krishna left her. She wanted to keep herself aloof from their life. From the same people who saved hers. Who gave her shelter, looked after her when she was helpless and alone. She didn't feel helpless and alone because of them. But what would have happened if they let her be without help, what if they let her go when she wanted to find a way back home instead of following her around and saving her when she messed up things.

Then there was Krishnas words that she chose to ignore.

'Every questions answer lies within the question itself. '

Why Krishna didn't send her back or with him?

Because he wanted her to remain with the pandavs.

'There is nothing out of my knowledge '

Then he must have known what was going to happen and still let her stay with the pandavs.

'Yoh sab to etihas ka hissa hain or tumhe to etihas rachna hain'

The incident that happened earlier was nowhere in history and she had already changed a part of it. However small it was, It still wasn't supposed to happen.

'You've reached where you should be'

That's not Kaliyug or Dwarka. Her destination was Pandavs. But why?

'How are you sure that it was an accident behna '

Was she really there by accident or was she brought here deliberately?

'Kuch manusya apna vagya khud cunte hai behna. Aur usa badalne ki takat bhi rakhte hain. Tumhare takdir mein kya hoga ay tum soyam cunogi'

(Some people chooses their own destiny sister. And they also hold power to change it. Destiny will hand over whatever you choose.)

What the Pandavs not returning to Hastinapur meant for her? If Krishna wanted her to go to Kaliyug or Dwarka, she would be sent there long ago. Now that she had found herself in this predicament, what should she chose?

"Now? What is next?"asked Arjun breaking the silence.

"To remain hidden, we have to leave Kuru kingdom. If we could cross the river, we'd be in Guru Drones kingdom. But there is no means to cross the river, so we can either go to Maharaj Drupad's kingdom walking by the river side or Maharaj Sahaja's kingdom across the forest. No one would be able to recognise us there." Yudhisthir said.

"Maharaj Drupad will recognise us, but Maharaj Sahaja won't. There'll be less chance we'll cross his path as he remains at Chedi and we'll be at Matsya." Sahdev added.

"But crossing the forest would be difficult for mata and Drisana." Said Nakul.

"I won't have any problem, putra. I've lived in forest before too." Kunti said.

"And I won't have any problem too." Drisana added.

"Drisana, forgive us. Because of us, you're in this situation. After we reach Matsya we can continue towards Dwarka. We'll take you there to Vasudev."said Yudhisthir.

"No, jyesth. Don't ask forgiveness. You've no fault in it. As for going to Dwarka. What will I answer when they ask how I escaped the palace? Do you want me to tell lies?"asked Drisana knowing Yudhisthir would never do that. "I'll remain with you only. Wherever you go, I'll follow, just like you've done when I was injured."said with a smile. Then on a serious tone said, "You all had saved my life, gave me support, shelter and protection. I won't leave my mata and you all."

"But putri-"Kunti started.

"Mata" interrupted Drisana. Kunti knew that look in her eyes. It was no use arguing. She smiled at last and nodded towards Yudhisthir.

"Okay then." Yudhisthir took a deep breath.

Everyone fell silent again. To lighten the mood Arjun spoke.

"By the way, I've realised Drisana was really saying the truth. She is capable of taking care of herself. Kya pachara tumne purochan ki admio ko, maza agaya. (How you beat purochans men, i enjoyed it)"

And just like that everyone chuckled.

"One more thing remains. What about our clothes?" Nakul pointed at them. The golden jewellery and expensive clothing was a clear indication of their high stations.

"Ab jungle mei kele ke patto ke alaba to kuch milaga nahi. Ha agar tum caho to mata ki saree owr sakte ho.(only banana leafs are available in forest. If you want you can wear mata's saree)"said Arjun to Nakul. Before he could reply Arjun, Bheem said,

"Nahi nahi, hum aisa e thik hai. Saree mata or Drisana k liya hi rahne do. Aur kele k patte bakri kha gayi to? (No, no. Let saree remain for mata and Drisana. And what if goat eats banana leaf?)"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Nakul slapped his forehead realising Bheem took Arjun seriously. Arjun contained his laugh with Yudhisthir and Kunti chuckling. Drisana and Sahdev were outright laughing out loud.

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Maharaj Dhritarashtra was waiting anxiously for the return of his sons from Varanavat. They had gone to check the burned palace in Varanavat and find out about Pandavs and Kunti. Shakuni had also accompanied them.

He didn't know what to feel about this. He loved his sons, but he was a king. He had to be just. He knew Duryodhan had something to do with this. If Pandu putra returned, they would ask for justice. Shakuni assured they wouldn't.

Before when he had felt his sons anger and jealousy towards Pandavs, he had understood that. After all who better could understand than him. In spite of being the eldest son, he wasn't given his right because of being blind. Then when he became the King, it should have been his son who became Yuvraj. But alas, the fate decided something else. He only wanted to see Duryodhan happy. So he asked Shakuni to do something. But he never thought something like this would happen. He thought Yudhisthir would be removed from his son's path. But he hadn't wanted Pandavs and Kunti to die. If this led back to Duryodhan, Pitamah wouldn't rest until Duryodhan was punished. No. That wouldn't happen. He had to trust Shakuni.

One das came with the news of Shakuni and Duryodhans arrival.

Whole Hastinapur was mourning with the news of Pandu putra's demise. Pitamah felt like he has lost his limbs. Even standing was a great task for him. He couldn't bear to see the parts they brought in the name of bodies. Mahamantri Vidur remained skeptical as the bodies were unrecognisable and what about the girl that stayed with them. There was no trace of another female body. And also the bodies were 17 in numbers. Where the rest came from. Shakuni was thinking the same. The only evidence of Pandavs being there was their weapons. But if they escaped somehow, then why they hadn't arrived at Hastinapur yet.

Angraj Karna was in the practice area when a messenger came to deliver the news of Pandavs demise with their Mata. He was shocked to hear the news. He left Hastinapur the same day Pandavs left for Varanavat. He suspected something was going inside Gandharraj's mind. But he let it go thinking if he needed to know his Mitra Duryodhan would tell him. Now hearing the news he was sure it had been their plan all alone.

It was true he had never liked Pandavs. But that dislike started from defending his Mitra against those Pandavs. He knew Duryodhan was angry at the pandavs for taking away his rights but murdering them all along with their mata was unacceptable. Till now he had only wanted respect which he got from Duryodhan only. That's what compelled him to give his loyalty to him.

Till now, he had been fighting for honour. But could honour be gained by siding with the dishonourables?