Drisana sat at the balcony looking at the beautiful view of Dravida. It had been four months since she came here. Her new family was amazing and more laid back. Since going back to Hastinapur, there was always tension. They had to watch their every step. But here everyone was free. No tension, no animosity between families.

Her family had arranged for a grand welcoming ceremony that lasted for almost one month. Two days after she arrived, there had been a purification and announcing ceremony where she was introduced officially to the Raj sabha and the common people of Dravida. Krishna left after that saying his work here was complete. He hadn't said anything else to her. There had been frequent donation and feast going on with puja aarchana since then. No one apart from her parents and brothers knew about her being from Kaliyug. Not even her sister-in-laws. She came to know from Shubhaprada that Maharaj Drishadvat had ordered not to speak of her past to everyone.

Maharaj Drishadvat was a firm and just ruler, but also a loving and caring father who motivated his children's and also joked and laughed with them. She remembered her father from Kaliyug. Though he always took care of her, he was rather aloof. He wasn't the talking and joking type. Her childhood spent with her mom mostly.

Her Mata, Maharani Mangalya had become a constant shadow of her since she came back. She understood her concerns and let her shower her with love. She wore the clothes and jewelleries chosen by her Mata, ate from her hand, did prayer and all the ceremonial stuffs her Mata wanted and slept in her lap at night hearing stories of her brothers childhood. She also took all the gifts Mangalya reserved for her all these years. She had also reserved the clothes and toys of Drisana that she used in those first few months she had been here. Her love and affection was precious to Drisana. But a little suffocating too. It's only human nature. As children's grow up they need their own space. Maharaj Drishadvat understood that well. It was only a few days since Mangalya eased a little, thanks to her Pitashree.

Drisana had decided Dheemant was right. Her brothers were indeed some characters including Dheemant too. Dwijendra was quite like Yudhisthir, managing the responsibilities and guiding his brothers. She wondered if it was the side effect of being Yuvraj. Aanandini stood firm beside him and ran the Palace like a small country. Though Mangalya held the position of Maharani, Aanandini was the ring master and she was damn good at it. She had helped her a lot in settling down here and Drisana was thankful to her. She bonded well with her sister-in-laws. They welcomed her in their girls gang and did all sorts of things that girls normally did.

Himani & Poornima were sweet and caring. She had spent a whole day with them and the next day woke up with pain in neck. They divided everything among them. Poor Dheemant. Daiwik had told her the swayamvar of these twin sisters were held together. Dheemant went intending to impress one. The next words of Daiwik she would never forget. He said,

"Dono paat gaye,

Aur bhrata Dheemant baat gaye."

(Both of them got impressed,

And bhrata Dheemant got divided.)

After meeting Dheemant, Drisana understood from where she had gained the unique quality of feeding people bullshit. He was a master at that. She watched as he convinced Priyala that her handmade Grapes curry was so great that he needed to offer it to God first. No one saw him after that. Devajyot was the only one who not only tasted but ate the whole thing his wife made as the rest looked sympathetic. Dridhaksh only whispered,

"What was the need to fight with Rajkumar Dussasan? Bhabishree ke hat ka byanjan khila dete to waise hi vag jata. (If he ate food made by bhabishree, then he himself would have ran away.)"

Now her brother Dridhaksh, the second youngest, he creeped her out when a few nights before he suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of her. He seemed to do that often. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere. For the life of Drisana, she couldn't figure out from where he came or how such a large man could move without making a single noise.

Devajyot, the middle one was another character. Dheemant wasn't joking when he said she would have to learn sign language to talk to him. In these past months he had said three words in total to her. One was 'welcome' when she first arrived. Another was 'courtyard' when she asked one day where Priyala was. Third was 'keep' when he gifted her a necklace made of rare rubies and she refused to take. She felt there was some story behind his silence. From the stories of their childhood, he didn't seem the same person.

Dhritimat was the one she underestimated the most in her life. He was such a bookworm. It was difficult to find him without a book. But the man was as deadly as a panther. Drisana got to know that when one day while giving donation he killed a man right in front of her eyes. One moment the man was standing before her and her bhrata stood at a distance with a book, the next moment there was a knife lodged in his neck as Dhritimat twisted the handle. She got to know that the man belonged from the rebel group that resided in Malyavat mountain and came to kill the royal family members.

His wife Shubhaprada on the other hand could uproot mountains with her endless energy and talks. No one would ever trust Shubhaprada with a secret. In fact if you wanted everyone to know something, just tell her and she would spread the news.

Her bhrata Dhikshit was hell impressed with her after watching her moves and the way she handled a sword. But he had grown quite when she said it was because of Nakul. In fact everyone did. No one seemed to want to talk about Hastinapur or the Pandav. She suspected they were hiding something from her. She tried to ask Daiwik if there was any news from Hastinapur. But he avoided her question, only saying it was a closed chapter.

That scared her. In these four months seventeen days not a single day passed when she didn't remember Nakul. She missed the others too. But him the most and it hurt her terribly. When her Mata made her ready with her chosen clothes and jewelleries, he was there telling her how beautiful she was looking. He was there telling her which colour would look the best on her when she was with her sister-in-laws. He was there when her brothers teased her. He was there to sympathise when Priyala brought her weird foods to taste. He was there assuring her when Dheemant pulled a prank to scare her. He was there shaking his head when Dhritimat out of nowhere would ask some question. He was there being proud of her when Dhikshit practiced sword fight with her. He was there laughing with her when Daiwik whined and complained about being the youngest brother.

He was there staring at her intensely at nights when she couldn't sleep and stood at the balcony looking at the moon.

He was everywhere but nowhere.

Yudhisthir sighed. Not knowing how to deliver the news to his brothers, specially to Nakul.

The past few months had been quite. With Gandharraj gone and Maharaj Dhritarashtra calm and collected. Pitamah had also sent Duryodhan and few of his brothers to his Palace in Pramanakoti for vacation. The same place where Bheem was poisoned as a child.

But the problem was Dravida. This was the fifth time in the past four months he had sent message to Dravida. The first time with a peace offer and a letter for Drisana asking her wellbeing. The offer was denied with the letter. They weren't interested in keeping any relation with Hastinapur and the letter to Drisana was returned stating her family was there for her, they needed not to be concerned for her. Every time his messages and peace offers were rejected. With Duryodhan's behaviour and Maharaj Dhritarashtra's treatment of Drisana, Hastinapur had made an enemy out of Dravida and they were not interested in listening anything. He had also reached out to Vasudev thinking he might talk on behalf of them to Maharaj Drishadvat. But Vasudev refused to meddle in between.

This time he had straight out sent the proposal of marriage for Drisana. Maharaj Drishadvat replied that he was surprised by Hastinapur's audacity. There had been a warning for them to not even look at Drisana or they would be forced to meet in battlefield.

Nakul wouldn't take it well.

He thought about the possibilities on how to bring Drisana back without ensuing a war. Sadly there was no way remained to bring her back and end Nakul's suffering.

Nakul petted the horse. It's coat was black like the midnight sky. He was Drisana's favourite. She had named him 'Chapal'. As the horse was very restless. Few could calm him enough to ride on his back. Drisana had been one of them. He remembered how she liked to pet his coat.

A sigh escaped his mouth as he remembered his Hridaya. Not that he forgot her even for a moment. It had been four months twenty-one days since he last saw her. Every single day without her he struggled to live, to breathe, to act normal. To act like he was fine, like it wasn't hurting him so much, like this pain was nothing. But the truth was this pain burned his insides, leaving him gasping for breath. He missed her with every fibre of his being. Her smiles, her talks, her glances, her gestures, her eyes, her laugh, her touch, he missed everything to his very core. But he did as she asked in her later. He pretended to be normal. He helped Yudhisthir in his works, so he wouldn't be idle to think. He helped Bheem at night, wandering with him, but Bheem didn't need to seek him out anymore as sleep eluded him and he himself went to help his bhrata. He teased Arjun at times, but Arjun never teased him back aware of his brothers pain. He spent more times with Sahdev than before concentrating on bovine veterinary as Sahdev was more knowledgeable in it than him. He asked his twin once if he had any indication when Drisana would be back. Sahdev looked away saying she would be, eventually. He didn't know either to be relieved that she would be or to be anxious as Sahdev didn't said her return was in near future.

Kunti was indeed worried for Nakul as Drisana had predicted in her letter. Her son's struggle and pain didn't escape her eyes no matter how much he assured her that he was fine. Nakul had the rare quality of altruism. Caring for others selflessly. Among his brothers he was the one who would help others even at his own expense. He never took something for himself if it could brought happiness to someone else. Even as a child he had never been possessive or strubbon for anything. She remembered, one time there had been a beautiful parrot that he caught with much dificulty. He even got hurt and Kunti scolded him for it. He trained that parrot and played with it. Sahdev liked it too, but as Nakul found it, he didn't say anything. After a while when Sahdev said he wanted that parrot, Nakul gave him without a word though he had grown very attached to it. She remembered Nakul hiding his face at her lap so no one would notice his tears. Now, it hurt her to see her son in so much pain for the only thing he had been possessive and stubborn for. His love.