The door to Arjun's quarters burst open. He was startled, before looking up to see his brothers and wives storm into his bedchambers.

Subhadra had a sort of mild expression on her face while Draupadi's was... well... fiery. 

Bhrata Bheem looked stormy and Nakul and Sahdev looked upset and Jyesht had a frown on face.

"Is this an intervention?" Arjun tried to joke, feeling nervous. 

"This is not funny Arya!" Draupadi glared.

"What did I do?"

"What did you do?!" She exclaimed in outraged. "Did you not request to spend the Vishwakarma Puja in Anga instead of Indraprastha?"

Arjun felt himself flush. "I--I did."

"How could you do this Arjun?" Bhrata Bheem asked, scowling. "I understand that you've been trying to make progress with Vrishaketu and I've heard that you've succeeded to some extent, but this is too much. You are not even planning to spend Vishwakarma Puja with your family!"

"But Vrishaketu is family too!" Arjun protested, conveniently choosing the one part of the accusation he could actually confidently respond to.

There was a brief silence.

"Yes, alright, but you don't even know him that well and you're going to spend Indraprastha's most important festival in Anga?!" Nakul exclaimed hotly.

Arjun's thoughts felt jumbled and not even completely clear to himself. Just how would he even begin to explain? And unlike Madhav, he had never been the most eloquent.

He took a deep breath and braced himself before turning his gaze back on his family. 

"I love you all. And I know you love me. We've been through so much together and I know that no matter what we'll always be together. And of course I want to spend time with you. I always want to spend more time with all of you. But we already do. And we can do it whenever we want. We can celebrate next year's Vishwakarma together as always too. But here's the--"

"Arjun!" Bhrata Bheem burst out. "Yes, we can and will spend next year's Vishwakarma together, but we must spend this year's together as well. Don't you see, this is the first festival since the War. We should be together. Our people at Indraprastha will be happy seeing us together!"

"Bheem--" Jyesht Yudhishtir started but Bhrata Bheem said, "You know I'm right!"

And yeah, he was, but Arjun was starting to get a little annoyed now. They didn't even let him finish speaking.

"Alright listen," He started again but was interrupted by Sahadev now.

"Listen, Bhrata Arjun. Why don't you go to Anga for the celebration next year? This is the first festival being celebrated since the War. You should definitely be with us!" Sahadev said, clearly trying to reach middle ground.

"But--" He began again but Panchali had perked up at Sahadev's words.

"Arya Sahadev is right! That's what you should do. Or maybe, next year too, you could stay in Indraprastha like Arya Bheem said, and instead invite Vrishaketu and Angarani there!"

"Will you all please just let me finish!" Arjun exclaimed.

Yudhishtir sighed. "Yes, we're sorry." He looked pointedly at the others.

Arjun took a deep breath again and started from where he left off.

"It's not about Anga. I thought that would be fairly obvious. I don't want to go to Anga for sightseeing! And... what's the point...the King is dead." Arjun whispered the last part, shuddering.

"Then why, Arya?" Subhadra asked quietly, speaking up for the first time since entering the room.

"Well. I. You know how hard I've been trying to make things up with Vrishaketu. And I'm glad to say that it seems to working to some extent. He's spoken to me of his of his own volition a few times which is a big improvement from before. And he even..." Arjun trailed off before he mentioned the whole awkwardly comforting thing, realising it probably wouldn't be the best idea to say that he had kind of seen traces of Abhimanyu in Vrishaketu. It might come across as especially insensitive to Subhadra.

Waiting a moment to be certain that he wouldn't be interrupted he continued, "It's just that over the past few months I've grown really fond of him. And I would like it if... he might one day return that fondness to some extent. And all this time we've been Hastinapur. It kind of feels to me that everything is happening on my turf, if that makes sense. I want Vrishaketu to know that I truly do care and that if he agrees, then I am willing to uh.....go to his turf."

So Arjun really wasn't sure if he managed to explain that. Especially that last part. He immediately moved forward.

"Like I said, I can be with you lot all the time, whenever I want, but...with Vrishaketu I must snatch any opportunity to ...well, you understand, I'm sure."

He looked at his family beseechingly. 

"This is important to me. Please just. Don't feel bad about me going? And don't ask me to not go?"

"Wait a minute." Draupadi suddenly spoke up. "What do you mean 'if Vrishaketu agrees'? You asked him before you took permission of Angrani and made plans, right?"

Arjun found himself flushing in horror because oh dear god, he hadn't done that! 

All this time he had been going on about how he wanted Vrishaketu to be comfortable and... he hadn't asked Vrishaketu. Yes, the boy didn't hate or dare he say, didn't even dislike him very much anymore, really, but.. but.... oh god.

Everything must have shown clearly on his face.

"Well, you didn't ask him! So what if he doesn't want you in Anga?" Bhrata Bheem asked. "That would kind of defeat your whole uh... convoluted reason of wanting to go, right?"

"Maybe he won't disagree?" Arjun asked and Oh Lord he was an idiot, how did he forget the most important thing, how did he not ask Vrishaketu--

"I've spoken to him Arjun." Panchali said and wait, when did that happen? "He's very prickly. It's understandable, but... he is prickly and stubborn and we're mostly unknown entities to him and you can't deny that. It's very likely that he won't accept you going to a festival that must be dear to his heart."

"What if he did, though?" Arjun asked desperately.

"Why are you setting yourself up for disappointment, Bhrata Arjun?" Nakul asked. "Weren't you the one who was complaining last month about how no matter what you did, nothing seemed to be right?"

"Yes, but its completely different this month!"

"Arjun." Jyesht finally interrupted. "I understand your position, I really do. But this is the first festival since the War. And its not even here in Hastinapur. Had it been, it might have been fine because we're all staying here now. But Vishwakarma Puja isn't a big enough deal here to be a national festival. It is Indraprastha's though. It was the Kingdom we built from nothing. It was the Kingdom we ruled for years. And we won't be ruling there now. Don't you think the people there would be happy to see us there all together, at least once a year? Especially the first year since the war?"

Arjun sighed and looked away. He knew what his Jyesht was saying made sense. But....

"But I spent so much time talking to Angarani. And she finally agreed and now if I say that I won't go, she might feel offended."

Subhadra snorted. "Honestly, Arya, I don't think the Angarani cares about you enough to be offended by your absence. She'll just think you're weird probably. Besides, her opinion of you, whatever it might be, can't get worse than it already is."

Arjun flushed deeply and scowled.

"The whole point is to improve the opinions!"

"Bhrata Arjun." Sahadev said. "You're doing your best regarding that. And besides, you don't even want to go to Anga for the sake of visiting the place. And whatever reasoning you gave, you could just visit some other time! But going to Indraprastha now is important."

Arjun swallowed hard and looked away. What they were saying made sense, but he couldn't help but think... what if Vrishaketu was alright with him going to Anga. Perhaps it was too much to hope, but... if that turned out to be the case and then he didn't go.... Arjun really didn't want to risk ruining whatever little of their relationship he had so painstakingly built.

"Arya, listen to me." Panchali sat beside him and grasped his hands. "You were the one among us who had the maximum contribution in building our Indraprastha. The people there will be happy to see you!"

"She's right, Arjun." Bhrata Bheem said and for a moment Arjun wanted to snap back that he always agreed with Panchali but he didn't because she was technically right.

"We have been planning this occasion for while Arjun. And you have been too. You can't just suddenly leave it."

When Arjun still frowned, Yudhishtir spoke again. "You went to invite the Angarani, Vrishaketu and Adhirat Mahoday and Radha Mahodaya and when you learnt that Vishwakarma Puja also had great importance in Anga you made a spur of the moment decision. Just say that."

"But that makes me seem terribly irresponsible."

"You were irresponsible." Jyesht pointed out and Arjun felt his face burn again. It always felt the worst when Jyesht said he had done something wrong. Well, second worst next to Madhav saying so.

"We have to make arrangements according to your decision Arjun. We have to leave by day after tomorrow. You can't make these sudden changes. And you must make your decision now. I know you have come to care for Vrishaketu but you can't let your decisions hang on a teenager's temperament. Are you really willing to take the risk right now? When you know that you have been irresponsible and when Vrishaketu will probably not agree. And the people in Anga probably won't love to see you."

Arjun looked down. "Uttara will be so disappointed." He whispered. She had been so happy when he had told her. "She had actually been excited to visit Anga and while I absolutely trust Vrishaketu and the Angarani, I can't leave Uttara alone in an unknown Kingdom."

"We'll explain to her." Draupadi said. "She'll be upset, but she'll have to accept it."

Arjun didn't look up. His decision was made obviously. He couldn't not obey when Jyesht wished for something. 

"Alright. I'll come to Indraprastha."

It was the sensible decision. It was the responsible decision. It was something that had been planned and wasn't spur of the moment. 

Arjun didn't know how he was supposed to now go and tell the Queen of Anga 'Oh I'm not coming now!' after spending all that time telling her why he should go. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Sometime later, a manservant knocked on the door of his bedchambers.

"Yes?"

The manservant  announced, "Rajkumar Vrishaketu is seeking permission for entry to your quarters."

So on one hand Arjun was kind of elated that Vrishaketu himself had come to seek him out in his own room! On the other..... Well, he still hadn't gone to the Queen of Anga, so a confrontation was bound to happen.

"Let him in." Arjun said, walking to the outer room of his quarters, glad that at least he was alone now.

Vrishaketu walked in awkwardly, but the anger Arjun had expected to see on his face when he confronted him about why he had suddenly decided to go to Anga was... absent.

"Hello Vrishaketu. It's good that you're here, because I ...er... need to talk to you."

"About coming to Anga?" Vrishaketu asked, with a raised eyebrow. "What a coincidence! I came to inform you about that as well Rajkumar!"

"Right, er... you go first." Arjun said, hoping that once he'd gotten his rant about why Arjun should not come to Anga out, once Arjun said he would not go, everything would be fine. It would seem like Arjun just agreed to him and things would not be too awkward.

But of course, nothing could go right.

"We have to leave early tomorrow morning, a couple of hours past sunrise. Then we'll reach Anga a little past midnight the day after tomorrow. Uttara has already gone to sleep."

Oh no. Arjun felt a lump in his throat. It seemed Vrishaketu had, against all odds, accepted him going to Anga. And now.... he wouldn't be going. And he would have to tell Uttara that she also couldn't go to Anga. Yes, Uttara would eventually understand, but she was going to be upset.

He stared at the boy. 

"So.... you're fine with me coming?" His voice pitched embarrassingly higher at the end.

Vrishaketu snorted. 

"Oh no, please. I would love to have Uttara there though, so I am going to tolerate your presence for her sake. Mind you, my mother had to convince me."

But the fact that Vrishaketu was willing to accept his presence at all proved his point that their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds over the past month. And had Vrishaketu truly absolutely hated the idea of his presence, he would not have been convinced otherwise by his mother, or even if he had been, he would have been a lot angrier. Right now, the boy seemed awkward and well... huffy, but not truly angry.

It almost seemed like an olive branch from his side. And now Arjun would be refusing it. He wanted nothing more than to be able to shake his head in exasperation and say, 'alright, we'll be ready in the morning!' and 'Thank you!' but... he couldn't.

He wished so terribly now, that he had spoken to Vrishaketu before talking to the rest of his family. But... he knew what they had said was right and he had agreed because it made sense and because his decision to suddenly decide go to Anga after planning for days the festival in Indraprastha had been honestly irresponsible.

What if by refusing this olive branch, he broke what little of the relationship he had formed with his nephew?

Apparently he had been silent for too long because Vrishaketu asked, "Uh.... did you get a conniption?"

Arjun cleared his throat. Here goes nothing.

"Vrish...uh Vrishaketu, um, you must have realised that me deciding to suddenly go to Anga was very abrupt?"

"We had noticed, yes." Vrishaketu said dryly.

Arjun bit his lips. "You're really fine with me coming to Anga?" He asked, actually hoping that he was not because then it would give Arjun some measure of relief. "And I'm serious. Don't joke about it please."

Vrishaketu looked away. "I'm not exactly jumping in happiness at the thought of you in Anga, but I won't mind it entirely. Like you know. I won't be disgusted or anything."

Arjun immediately latched onto that. "If you're not happy with me there, which is quite natural obviously, I'll not go. Like I said, it was a very sudden spur of the moment decision--"

"I just said I wouldn't mind it too much." Vrishaketu said, frowning. "Especially since its not like we'll be spending much time together. And Uttara will be there, so I'll be fine. She'll cancel you out." he added.

"But you should be completely happy in this festival." Arjun insisted. "I don't want to come and ruin it for you. Although I was the one who proposed this idea, I was irresponsible. Especially since I need to be in Indraprastha as well."

Vrishaketu stared at him. "So after you spent all tham time convincing my mother out of nowhere, you're saying that you're not coming? And therefore neither is Uttara."

Arjun winced. "Yes."

Something flashed in Vrishaketu's eyes, but it was gone too fast for Arjun to be able to decipher what it was.

The boy's jaw clenched for a moment before let out a breath in a rush.

"You should be more decisive." He said, a little bit of disdain slipping into his voice, the kind Arjun hadn't heard over their past two meetings. He felt his heart sink. There was so sign of that disdain on his face though, so Arjun chose to hold on to hope that Vrishaketu didn't actually think that Arjun was refusing the olive branch he had offered. That would be ridiculous right, especially since he had been the one making an effort since the beginning?

"You're very inconsistent." Vrishaketu said, before twirling around dramatically and swiftly walking away.

"Vrishaketu!" Arjun called out but the only response he got was, "You're going to be the one telling Uttara that she's not coming. I hope you know she'll be upset."

And oh, did he know.

This whole thing left him feeling confused and unsatisfied and trepidatious.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well. Arjun's thought process is basically a reflection of mine in this chapter. While writing the last chapter, I suddenly got the idea of 'hey what if Arjun went to Anga!' It was pointed out to me that it seemed out of character and when I sat down and considered it, I realised the ramifications that arose from Arjun going to Anga and now I had two options. Delete the last chap or try to correct it in such a way that forwards the story. I'm doing my very best to do the latter because I couldn't bring myself to delete a chapter I've written.

You might think that Arjun and Vrish's relationship has taken a couple of steps back and you would be right. But they had moved about 5 steps forward before, so they are still about 3 steps ahead from where they started and there are not really going to be any other drops in the relationship.

I swear, writing this chapter was honestly so tough because I had no idea what I was going to do with it at the end and until a couple of days ago I was still meandering on whether or not Arjun should go to Anga. I hope I've managed to patch up the thing in a way that makes sense and doesn't read too awkward.

This chapter was really tough for me, so I'd love to hear what you all think of it. Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked it!