Warning - contains slight description of self immolation.

Important : I request all readers to read the author's note at the end of the chapter.

Abhijishya didn't think twice before breaking into a short run careful of the baby inside her. Her heart was hammering hard against her ribcage while her mind kept coming up with scenarios that might have caused the child to scream. Did he get burned by mistake? She had heard a woman's voice too. Did that mean something happened to her? The edge of the forest drew nearer as the trees thinned. Sahadev had caught up to her. Before she could step into the field, Sahadev yanked her aside behind a thick tree.

"What are you- " She didn't get a chance to finish her statement as a hand was clamped over her mouth shushing her from speaking further. With his eyes, he gestured to someone behind her to the right. Turning her head sideways, she peeked to see an elderly man standing beside another boy who seemed to be in his early teens. They all looked extremely familiar. Some distance away there were soldier stationed at intervals all carrying the insignia of the Kurus on their shields, armours and flags.

A surprised gasp left her parted lips as she saw her mother-in-law standing off to the side crying while clutching a young boy who was struggling in her grip. Her eyes sought out the other people. It was a much younger Vidur standing beside Kunti trying to calm the young boy. The familiar person standing beside a lanky looking boy was none other than Pitamah Bhisma. If she was not wrong then the teen boy was Yudhisthir who was standing eerily still. Only his face held an aghast expression as his eyes flickered between the kid Kunti was holding and the burning pyre.

"How-" Abhijishya tried to string words together to make sense of the situation but her mind was blank. She looked closely at the fire. Surrounded by priests and sages, the pyre burned high. On top of it lay a toppled figure of a burning woman twitching as the flames hungrily devoured her whole. Tears flew freely down her face. Her anguished eyes were stuck on the crying child. The determination to not scream was evident from her strongly clenched jaws yet the acceptance she exhibited as she tried to not move from her position sent chills down Abhijishya's spine. What could possibly drive a woman to accept such a painful death when clearly her family is still alive? Why wasn't anyone doing anything but watch her finish herself?

Finally the resistance left her body. The women screamed out loud unable to bear the pain silently anymore. It broke out Abhijishya from her daze. "We must save her," she muttered as she moved out of Sahadev's hold. This time her movement alerted Bhisma who turned their way.

"Who is there? Show yourselves," his voice gave away a tone that demanded immediate compliance. Sahadev gestured her to stay quiet. They went completely still willing their frantic hearts to make less noise lest it reached Pitamah's ears.

"Pitamah?" the boy in his teens looked at Bhisma in confusion.

"Go stand beside your Kakashree Vidur, putra. I'll be back soon," Bhisma said softly before taking long strides towards them.

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"Really? Here again? Why do we come here every afternoon Madhav? I wanted to see the new gardens of Indraprastha today," Parth complained while sitting down under a shady tree. For the past few days, Madhav would bring him beside the banks of Yamuna at this very spot, talk in a distracted manner as if looking out for someone then drag him back to the palace.

"Why? Don't you like spending time with me?" Krishna said in a mock hurt tone plopping down beside his friend. "Fine go then. Leave me alone in the big dark woods."

"Wha- No, no. I did not mean it like that. Of course I like spending time with you," Arjun tried to make up for his previous words. Getting no answer from Krishna, he hesitantly added,"And it is not even a proper forest but the edge of the Royal orchard."

Krishna chuckled out loud. "It is so amusing to see you, a Prince who remains so composed always, fumble badly," he grinned at Parth's glowering face. Getting up, Arjun stomped away feeling irritated which only egged on Madhav's laughter.

Looking back, he yelled without stopping,"You always do this with me. Now sit there alone. I am going back to the palace to help sister Abhijishya. At least she is more appreciative of me."

Trying to get a grip on his laughter, Krishna tried to warn Arjun but it was too late. The later tripped on a rock and fell rather comically into the river. Almost immediately a fuming Arjun resurfaced hacking and coughing with a lily pad on top of his head.

The sight sent Krishna in a renewed feat of laughter wheezing from the effort to make a proper sentence.

"It is not funny. Stop laughing damnit," Arjun shouted, smacking away the leaf from his head while dragging his drenched body to dry land. The only answer he got was his friend laughing even harder. "You could have warned me of the rock, Madhav," he whined while wringing the edges of his angavastra and dhoti to get rid of the excess water. "Satyaki would have-" he yelped at being pushed from behind.

Somehow he managed to break his fall by his hands saving himself from getting his face smashed on the ground. He looked up at his attacker to find a maiden in soaked clothes glaring murderously at him. Forget decorum, Arjun was ready to chuck her into the river as his ivory garments were muddy now.

"Why did you push me?" He gritted out.

"You deserved it, you self absorbed nuisance. You pushed me first. Do you know what you did? You ruined everything," the woman yelled until her face was red.

"I did not even see you before this moment. When did I push you? Look woman, whoever you are, it is unbecoming of you to go around pushing people," Arjun retorted heatedly as he stood up. "I am Rajkumar Arjun, son of late Maharaj Pandu, of Kuru clan. This land is now under the rule of Maharaj Yudhisthir, my Jyesth. So have some decency and introduce youself."

"Sure. Pranipaat, Rajkumar. I am Kalindi, daughter of Surya. Do you mind if I drown you in the waters because you spoiled my years of severe penance?" Kalindi replied with joined hands and fake smile but her eyes filled up with tears quickly. Swiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she continued,"Today was the last day of my penance. For seven years, I have immersed myself into these waters chanting the name of Lord Vishnu in my mind everyday from sunrise to sunset with only the wish to have the illustrious Krishna, the one who wears peacock feathers in his hair and has defeated the great Kaliya naag as my husband. But look at my cursed fate, you fell on the spot I was meditating in and broke my penance." Kalindi covered her face with her hands and sobbed hopelessly.

Meanwhile, Arjun was caught between relief and guilt. Relief that this woman's person of admiration was none other than Madhav and guilt because his actions had caused her such distress. He turned back to where Krishna was sitting and found his friend flicking around grass blades. So he wasn't getting any help from him anytime soon. Letting out an inaudible sigh, Arjun folded his hands," Forgive me devi. It was an accident. I did not mean to cause such disruption but I believe your penance has been fruitful. My friend will surely marry you once he comes to know of your devotion-"

"How dare you suggest such a thing! I said I have already surrendered my heart to Vasudev Krishna and wish to marry only him. Self entitled princes like you won't ever understand a woman's heart," Kalindi seethed out before walking away.

Arjun was flabbergasted. What had he said wrong? "Devi wait," he called after her. "Madhav will surely marry you if you speak to him of your heart's desire."

Coming to an abrupt halt, Kalindi turned back and replied furiously,"Why would I want to marry your friend when my heart already belongs to Vasudev Krishna?"

"But Madhav is Krishna," frustration was clear in his voice. Arjun never knew women could be this difficult.

Kalindi blindly dumbly for sometime before stuttering,"You mean to say your friend Madhav is actually Vasudev Krishna?"

'Thanks to Devi Saraswati. You aren't a complete idiot,' Arjun thought while gathering the last of his patience. "Yes, he is. And he has been sitting right there all this while." He gestured towards the place Krishna was sitting but he wasn't there anymore. Glancing around, he tried to spot him. A hand landed on his shoulder startling him badly. Placing a soothing hand on his chest, Arjun breathed deeply. "Madhav, had your fun? If yes then please spare me for the rest of the day or find someone else," he said pitifully.

Krishna placed an arm around Parth's shoulder and grinned. "Don't be like that, Parth. I didn't do anything. It was you only who didn't mention to this fair lady that I am Krishna. How is she supposed to know you call me Madhav?"

Arjun slumped a little and glanced at to Kalindi,"I apologise for my behaviour, Devi. I should have been more clear instead of losing my cool."

Kalindi was more conscious now that Krishna was standing before her. She softly said," It is alright Rajkumar. I should not have pushed you." She flushed recalling her impulsive action.

"I say it was an extremely entertaining afternoon," Krishna chuckled slightly at Arjun's indignant huff. Joining his hands, he looked at Kalindi,"Pranipaat Devi. Pardon me but I couldn't help but hear your conversation with my dearest friend Parth. It is me whom you wish to have as your husband and I admit my heart has taken a liking for you in this short while. But I must inform you that I have three lovely wives back home in Dwarka. So if you are still willing and if I have not disappointed you, my lady, I propose you be my wife."

Her cheeks pinked as her heart swelled in joy. "I have already considered you my husband and wished you consider me as your wife. I will think of your wives as my sisters and your family as my family. I feel blessed to have your approval." She bent down and touched his feet. "Arya," she shyly said with a brilliant smile on her face.

"Arise, Kalindi," Krishna gently urged her to get up. "Kalyan ho."

Arjun stared at the duo; cold, muddy, his hair and clothes in disarray. "Wait. Did you bring me here every afternoon so that I could trip into the river and you could find Bhabishree?"

Krishna took Kalindi's hand in his and started walking away. "How would I know when you were going to trip, Parth?"he said without turning back at him. "Now come quick. Abhijishya might require my assistance."

"How would he know. . ." Arjun mumbled trying to make sense of what Madhav just said. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?" His eyes widened in realisation. His question was met with Kalindi's smirk.

"Madhav wait!" He jogged after them while the couple gracefully ignored him.

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A.N. - Why I asked all my readers to read my A.N - I have a small request. I want all of you, yes ALL OF YOU to comment in any chapter with a emoji or random alphabet or whatever so that I get to see who are my readers. It is an earnest request to all, silent readers included. Why... well I have something planned for the future. *winks* or pm me if u r not comfortable posting comment. No need to do in all chapters. Just any one... anywhere you want. It doesn't have to be a review or even hi. I would be grateful if you comment a dot. (No it's not for increasing the number of comments. That's why I said dms are also welcome)

Dhi hit 60K views and 7.75K votes today AND it is back as #1 under #mahabharat among 590 stories. 🤩🤩🤩🤩

This is dedicated to my dubjed nerd_positive and my Paarth Ava_2312 🤧💓 (am I gonna dedicated all chapters with Arjun to Ava - Yes.)

Infact all Kalindi and Gandhari chapters are dedicated to my dubjed. 😌😌💓💓

Moving on, what did you think of this chapter? Spare some time to let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

Please vote as well.

Next update : After 18th December because I have to judge plenty of books for various awards :"3

Fun fact : I wasn't going to make Abhijishya and Sahadev end up where they are right now but one of my readers commented ???? at my reference to Nakul's comment- You act like I have passed your death sentence... or something was the line... so I knew I had to explain. But I have never liked straight up explanation and bam, new story idea created. The same happened with Gandhari's bead lesson. I think I haven't made my story boring so far.

Until the next time,

Byeee ;")

P.S. Does my story (not just this chapter) make you laugh like ever? Or am I sh*t at writing humor?