'fulon ka taaron ka, sabka kehna hai...

Arohi woke up from her so-called one hour sleep as the alarm rung in a cruelly loud volume. Groaning loudly, she parted away from her blanket and stretched a bit, to wake up.

"I need to drink some coffee" she murmured and went to the bathroom to get ready.

In the adjacent room, Akshara was sitting beside the window, lost in her thoughts. Her favourite three people were sad, and she couldn't keep calm about it.

"Akshu" Abhimanyu called her, and Akshara turned towards him. His early morning energetic voice was replaced by a dull, gloomy demeanour, his voice was literally inaudible if it wasn't for the silence in their room.

"Bolo na Abhi, you need something?" (What happened Abhi, do you need something?) she asked, going towards him, and Abhimanyu faltered a bit.

"Uh..yeah, I-I can't find my wallet, did you see it anywhere?" He asked.

"Uhm I don't remember, I'm sorry" she gave an awkward smile to Abhimanyu who nodded, and continued searching for it. Akshara looked at her husband, he looked like a lost little child. She went and back hugged him. Abhimanyu was taken aback, but he quickly relaxed in Akshara's hold. He kept his hand over her intertwined palms, and took a deep breath in and exhaled, making way out for all the negative thoughts.

"Thanks Akshu" he said, breaking away from her and turning to face her.

"You don't have to thank me, Abhi" she said with her beautiful smile.

"No, I do. I do need to thank you. You-you're everything. I am so thankful for you. I love you so much" he said, circling his arms around her, lifting her a bit.

"I love you too, Abhi" she said. Abhimanyu leaned in, as the two kissed.

-

Arohi descended down the stairs and she really wanted someone to praise her for getting up, getting ready and leaving for work. A little part of her was also scared about how the family would behave around her.

But, no one was present at the breakfast table.

Is it because of me and Neil?

"GOOD MORNING AARU!" Arohi heard her sister's chirpy voice.

"Tu itni subah subah itni enthusiastic kaise hai?" (How are so enthusiastic early morning?) Arohi asked, sitting down.

"Kyunki aaj mujhe school late Jana hai!" (I have to go to work late today!) she answered with the same grin.

"Kiss khushi mein?" (What's the occasion?)

"There's some programme in school" Akshara replied and Arohi nodded.

"You need to rest anyway" Arohi said, as Akshara went in the kitchen to bring food. Even though it was a normal little comment, Akshara was touched by Arohi's words.

She brought the containers and kept them on the table.

"Aaru, I have made your favourite breakfast- sandwiches and strawberry milkshake!" Akshara said happily, she was so pleased with herself, and Arohi smiled at her, touched by her sister's gesture.

"Thank you so much Akshu" she said, grateful for Akshara.

"You're welcome Aaru" Akshara said in a playful tone, and pinched Arohi's cheeks, who frowned playfully.

"Chall, let's eat" Arohi said softly and Akshara nodded and sat beside her sister.

The two gleefully had their breakfast, chatting and gossiping about mundane things.

-

Arohi was surprisingly in a good mood for the entire day.

The cases in the e.r. didn't bother her much, she calmly did her work. She wasn't annoyed because her lunch break was delayed. She wasn't angry when one of the interns didn't do their job as expected.

For some reason, she maintained her composure and worked her way through the day.

"Not a bad day" Arohi muttered as she packed her things, ready to go back home.

-

On the other hand, Akshara had a pretty eventful day. The annual gathering of her school was in two months, and the preparations had started. She had spent her day taking auditions of the students willing to participate in the drama which she was going to put up.

Being a history teacher, Akshara was going to put up a historical drama- portraying the life of the great Indian king- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. She had many students reading passages from their English textbooks so that she could listen to their voice modulations, their ability to emote, et cetera.

"Thank you Khushi." Akshara said to the little girl who bowed and went away.

"Next"

"Hello ma'am, my name is Tara. I am going to read a paragraph from the lesson- Gulliver's travels." The student started.

"Okay, go on"

Tara read out the paragraph and Akshara wrote pointers.

"Thank you ma'am" she concluded and Akshara smiled.

"Thank you Tara, you may head back to your class" she said. "Others, come tomorrow. Right now, go back to class- you have your next period" she said and the remaining students walked away dejectedly and Akshara felt bad for them.

"Chalo Akshu, you have a class" she talked to herself.

While she walked through the school corridors, she heard a sweet, melodious voice. Akshara took steps towards the sound, as if it was the most obvious thing to do. The class, the students, the lesson she was teaching, all was forgotten as she felt the music call to her.

She reached the music room where the auditions for the choir and individual performances were taking place. There stood one of her favourite students- Nihira Saptarshi singing in her angelic voice.

"Arey Akshara ma'am" the teacher got up, and Niharika stopped and Akshara frowned, but maintained a soft smile on her face.

"Hello ma'am" she greeted the teacher.

"Did you have work here?"

"Oh, uhm....not really. You should select her, she sings well" Akshara said and the teacher nodded.

"Yes, she's selected already. We're choosing a song for her to sing in the function"

"Oh, that's great!" Akshara said. "Uh, I'll get going now" she said awkwardly, taking off for her class.

Focus, Akshu.

-

Arohi returned home and as expected no one was in the living room. Everyone would mostly just sit in their rooms, or they would be out. It was if everyone except Shivu would consciously avoid the Birla House and Birla family. Arohi freshened up and sat comfortably in her room, thinking about what she should do to spend her time. And then, an idea popped up in her mind.

Let's bake a cake for Akshu.

Happy at her idea, Arohi quickly ran to the kitchen to get to work.

"Chaaachiiiiiiii" Shivansh followed her as he happened to be playing on the stairs.

"Yes Shivu?" She asked.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm thinking of baking a cake. Do you want a cake?" She asked, crouching down to his height. The kid nodded eagerly, happy at the prospect of eating his favourite dessert.

"Should we go and get the ingredients?"

"YES CHEF!" he answered and Arohi grinned.

"Wait here, I'll talk to your mom"

Taking permission from Shefali, the two went out, got the necessary ingredients, came back and baked a cake. The two had a gala time and they finished making the cake in an hour itself. They also decorated it with icing and 'lots of sprinkles and many chocochips' for Shivu.

"Now let's keep it in the refrigerator, and eat if after dinner" Arohi said.

"Arey Arohi, tum kitchen mein?" Manjiri asked.

"Haa Maa, I baked a cake!" Arohi exclaimed, expecting a delightful response from Manjiri.

"Okay, serve it after dinner" she instructed and went away, and Arohi couldn't help but feel disappointed. Of course, she cooked- which was a very normal thing, but Manjiri always expresses so much excitement in every little thing regarding Arohi.

Why do I screw up so much?

-

Surprisingly everyone was present at the dinner table except for Neil and Akshara. Neil, who was in Mumbai, and Akshara who was at a friend's place for a party. Arohi couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, but shrugged it off, happy that Akshara was actually enjoying herself.

Dinner was done, and everybody retreated to their rooms, and so did Arohi. She played a movie, and watched it with not much interest, her thoughts occupying her mind.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in" she answered mindlessly.

"Aaru" Akshara greeted her in a sing-song voice.

"Arey Akshara, you're back?" Arohi said, as the tray in her Akshara's hands caught her eyes.

"What's in the tray?"

"Yesss, I am back and I want to eat this cake with you!" She answered, sitting comfortably on the bed and Arohi smiled.

"But didn't you already have dinner?" Arohi asked, raising a brow. She was aware of her sister's eating habits.

"Yes, but if my baby sister who doesn't know shit about cooking has bake a cake, I will have it. Understood?" Arohi nodded, "Now sit here" Akshara patted on the bed and Arohi sat there.

Both the sisters had their own inner conflicts which were trying to bury themselves deep down. And in times like these, the only person they could resort to was each other.

Despite the troubled yesterday, the tense present and the hesitant future- it was them against the world.

ek hazaron mein meri behna hai'

Heyyy, how was this part?
Akshu walking towards the music room following the sound of a song was EVERYTHING for me, she loves music so much and music loves her so much too!

Also, Arohi is trying to stay happy and cheerful to distract herself from negative thoughts, which is like putting on a mask if that makes sense.

Anyway, I love you all for the love and support y'all shower on this story. Asking for a lil favour- could you all please read my other ongoing story too? It's called 'Lilies and Pansies' and is based on ShiVi (Pandya Store).

Thank you!