Vrishaketu was regretting this already and he hadn't even reached the archery arena yet.

The last time he and Rajkumar Arjun had met in the archery arena over six months ago.... things hadn't gone so well, to put it lightly.

Now, he astoundingly no longer hated the man but.... still.... he was apprehensive.

If he was entirely honest with himself... it was at least in part because Prince Arjun with a bow made him nervous. Now he knew that the man (probably) wouldn't hurt him but try to explain that to his stupid brain.

He reached the arena to find Rajkumar Arjun waiting.

"Am I late?" He asked.

The older man smiled at him. "No, I'm just early."

"Right." There was an awkward silence. "So, now what? Like, what are we supposed to do?" He asked.

"Well, you could tell me everything you've learned so far?" 

Vrishaketu squinted at him. "What, am I just supposed to recite everything I've learned so far in life?! Like, you know, specify something or should I tell you what I've learned in bhūgōḷ and itihās or perhaps gaṇit and vigyān?"

"Tell me what celestial weapons you've learned so far." Rajkumar Arjun huffed, rolling his eyes.

Vrishaketu smirked. "You're never clear. Anyway, so, uh.... there's Agni Astra and Nagapasha and Yama Astra and Bhumi Astra and Manav Astra and Indrajala and Jotyska Astra and Ulka Astra and Varun Astra and Surya Astra and--" He went on for a while wondering what was the point of this was.

"And there's Shalia Astra," he continued, "And Garuda Astra and Anjalika--" He abruptly stopped.

Anjalika Astra.

It suddenly occurred to him with greater clarity than it had over the past month or so that he was talking to his father's killer. His brothers' killer. 

It was war, voices whispered in his head. He knew it was war! But, but-- Vrishaketu bet that if one of Prince Arjun's brothers had been killed in battle, he would not have been able to stand and talk to their killer. 

So what if Prince Arjun had always been nice to him? So what if he had always had a kind word ready? So what if they were suddenly related? Would Prince Arjun have been able to talk to his father if he had killed one of the other Pandavas? Would Prince Arjun even have been able to talk to Vrishaketu if his father had killed one of the Pandavas? If Vrishaketu himself had killed one of Prince Arjun's sons?

When he raised his head, Prince Arjun's eyes had gone wide.

"Vrishaketu--" The man started.

"No." He said, feeling a headache coming on. "I--I can't. Please, lets not talk about archery."

The dark forest clearing and the shadowed silhouette seemed to loom once more and Vrishaketu stumbled back.

"We can absolutely do something else." Rajkumar Arjun said, sounding desperate. "Whatever you want. Just say it, we'll--"

"I need some time away from you." Vrishaketu said and watched the man's face fall. Somehow he felt really bad seeing that. Which made no sense. Why should he feel bad about upsetting the man who was singlehandedly responsible for killing almost half his family?

But he did feel bad. Regardless, merely staying in Rajkumar Arjun's presence was suddenly starting to feel suffocating.

"I have to go." He repeated and fled.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He slumped into Uttara's quarters later.

"Weren't you supposed to be with Pitashree today?" She asked him, looking up from her book from her position on her favourite settee.

"I can't." Vrishaketu sighed and collapsed into the cushioned couch across her and buried his face into his hands.

Uttara kept her book down and leaned forward, frowning. 

"What happened?" She asked quietly. "You both were doing so well."

He snorted. "Doing what so well? Pretending that he didn't kill almost half my family?"

His friend recoiled. "What happened today, Vrishaketu?" She asked again, after a pause.

Vrishaketu didn't reply. Instead he asked a question in return.

"Tell me, if I had killed Uttar, would you, could you still sit and talk to me like this? Be my best friend?"

Uttara flinched.

Vrishaketu didn't say anything else. He just waited for her answer.

"I would like to say that I would." Uttara sighed. "I would like to. But..... I can't say for certain that I actually could."

"Gods, am I glad someone admits that!" Vrishaketu exclaimed. "It was war, yes it was war! I know it was war. I don't even hate Rajkumar Arjun anymore!"

It was the first time he had said that out loud. Uttara looked like she wanted to say something but she didn't.

"But how can I be expected to suddenly be fine with Prince Arjun? I understand now that he's not a terrible person. He's persistent and kind and he cares for his family like any other man. But he also killed half my family. Yes, it was during war, but that doesn't change the fact that he did it. And I can't suddenly forget that, when the smallest things set me off around him." He finished, chest heaving.

He looked up at Uttara, hoping she would understand.

"I even felt so bad today when I left the archery arena." He added in a whisper. "But I couldn't force myself to stay around him for another minute."

There was a rustle as Uttara suddenly made to get up.

"Sit down!" Vrishaketu scolded, going over and plopping down next to her.

"Ugh this is so inconvenient sometimes." Uttara grumbled, patting her belly. "My friend won't even let me get up and sit next to him by myself."

Then sobering she said, "I understand, Vrish. I asked you to try and you did. And simply by the things you've said in the past two minutes, I can already tell that your opinion about Pitashree has changed. In fact you even admitted it yourself."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she continued, "If you no longer want to try, that's alright. You don't have to, not just to keep me happy."

Vrishaketu looked away. There was no relief at that thought. He just felt dissatisfied.

I shouldn't feel bad, he thought. Yes, Rajkumar Arjun had been kind to him now, but what had he ever done for Vrishaketu except ruin his life? 

Of course it wasn't out of malice( by now he was certain that Rajkumar Arjun didn't have a single malicious bone in his body), out of hatred or ill intentions, but it was true nonetheless.

But for some reason, his insides seemed to coil.

It was as if something, someone familiar seemed to say, this isn't how it should end.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Arjun felt defeated. Everything had been going so well. He and Vrishaketu had almost been getting along. He had held no grudges about the whole 'going to Anga' debacle and had even kind of joked about it 

The boy had even agreed to come to the archery arena with him.

Of course that ended up being the problem. In hindsight, Arjun should have remembered what happened the last time they came across each other in the archery arena. He should have remembered how afraid  Vrishshaketu had been of him in the forest. But he had been so excited that everything was going so well that he had invited Vrishaketu for archery, which was what he loved most, what the Angaraj had loved most and so Arjun had thought that they could.... bond over that, he supposed. He had thought that if they got used to this, then maybe once Vrishaketu trusted Arjun, he could have continued the boy's education, maybe make him into a Maharathi one day as well.

And perhaps had it been anyone but Arjun, the plan would have worked.

But no matter what he did, even when Vrishaketu was willing to cooperate, it seemed that nothing could ever bring him truly close to his nephew.

He cursed himself. He should have thought for a moment before just asking Vrishaketu to tell him everything he knew! He should have considered that Anjalika Astra might have been included in that list, since it wasn't exactly amongst the difficult celestial weapons.

All Arjun had succeeded in doing was bring back the boy's trauma right to the surface. And Arjun had once again seen the fear in Vrishaketu's eyes that he had seen that night in the forest. It wasn't as bad as it had been then, but it was there. Fear of him. And then Vrishaketu had practically fled from him.

The worst part was that the hatred for him that used to be thrumming in the boy's eyes had not shown up even once through the whole thing. But fear had. Arjun would so much rather that Vrishaketu continue to hate him than ever be even a little afraid of him.

"Arjun!"

He startled and looked up.

He was in the midst of an important meeting about the commencement of the Ashwamedha Yagya for their Kingdom but he had been so lost in his thoughts that he had not been paying attention at all.

His brothers, mother and Draupadi were all staring at him. It was clear that it was not the first time his name had been called.

"I'm sorry.' He mumbled, embarrassed.

"Where were you lost, Bhrata Arjun?" Nakul asked.

"None of your business." Arjun said a little defensively, which led to raised eyebrows. 

"It's obvious though." Sahadev pointed out. "It's obviously Vrishaketu."

Arjun glared at him.

"I thought things were going well?" Draupadi enquired. "Why do you look so down in the dumps then?"

"Especially when you were practically jumping in joy yesterday night." Bhrata Bheem added, because of course he did.

"It's fine. It's nothing." Arjun said. There was no way he was going to tell his brothers what happened. He had not told them what exactly had happened in the forest and he was not going to tell them this either. He would respect Vrishaketu's privacy that much.

(You told Madhav, though. A voice whispered in his head. That was true and Vrishaketu probably would not appreciate it if he ever got to know, but Madhav was Madhav. Arjun couldn't not tell him something that bothered him so much.)

"If you say so." His Jyesht said indulgently and hushed the rest of their brothers when they protested. 

"Alright so, what we were talking about is that before we actually anoit a Shyamkaran white horse and map which Kingdoms we will send it to and in which order, first the Pre-Ashwamedh Puja and other rituals will need to be completed."

"Right." Arjun said. He knew that his role would only come in after all the formalities were completed and it would take almost six months for all the preparations to be completed because of the state even Hastinapur was in, post war.

"So Panchali, next week, you go to the Shiva temple right outside the city and--"

"Actually..." Their mother's soft voice interrupted.

They all turned to look at her. She had been so quiet so far that her presence in the room had almost slipped Arjun's mind.

"Yes, Mata?" Jyesht asked and now, surprisingly enough, Mata looked highly uncomfortable.

This was unusual because.... well.... Kunti was never uncomfortable. Not in front of whole courts and yet now she seemed uncomfortable in front of them.

No, Arjun corrected himself. Their mother was never uncomfortable except for when it had anything to do with their eldest brother.

"The Puja before the commencement of the preparations of Ashwamedha is--" Here, Kunti hesitated again. "Well.... it's traditionally done by the eldest wife of the family in the Emperor's generation....."

Oh. Right.

"And while usually said eldest wife is also the Empress, in this case...." Kunti trailed off.

Realisation dawned on everyone else's faces.

"Yes, but Panchali is the Empress!" Bhrata Bheem protested. "Shouldn't that automatically override anything else?"

"No, it does not." Kunti sighed.

"Alright." Jyesht Yudhishtir said, frowning. "So.... we will have to request the Queen of Anga to do the Puja for us then...."

"But she is literally the queen of another kingdom!" Bheem exclaimed. "Won't that be strange?"

Which, yes, that was true.

"I don't know...." Yudhishtir sighed, sneaking a troubled glance at Draupadi.

"We can just request her." Draupadi said. "If she agrees, well and good, we fulfill the tradition of the eldest wife in the family doing the Puja. If she doesn't agree, I'll obviously do it. There's no problem either way. But for the sake of fulfilling tradition we should ask her."

"Now the question is, who asks her?" Nakul said and immediately everyone in the room turned to look at Arjun.

"No." He said. "No." Gods it would be so embarrassing having to face the Queen of Anga after the whole debacle that happened the last time he went to speak to her.

"You know her best, though." Sahadev said.

"Know her best?!" Arjun exclaimed. "I don't know her at all! "

"I mean, you've spoken with her the most." Draupadi said.

"I think you should be the one to tell her." Arjun told her. "After all either she does it, or you, so you should definitely be the one to tell her."

"No. She might think I'm only asking her as a polite gesture and don't actually want her to accept if I ask, because I might want to do it instead." Draupadi pointed out and what? What was this mental gymnastics?!

"You should do it, Arjun." Mata said and Jyesht nodded at him, and well. That was that, wasn't it? He had never been able to go against her or Jyesht's words after all. 

"Do try to convince her properly." Jyesht said and Arjun sighed.

"I'll start making the arrangements for the Puja anyway, whether or not she agrees." Draupadi said.

"I didn't know you would be so keen on maintaining traditions." Kunti said softly, smiling.

Draupadi looked away. "There's been a big overhaul. So much has changed, so much has been lost." Her voice cracked at the end and Arjun felt pain well up in his chest as well.

"If we can keep something as it should it should have been," Draupadi said, turning to smile at everyone else with glassy eyes, "we should at least try, shouldn't we, even if it doesn't work out?"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once again, Arjun was in the position of knocking on the doors of the Queen of Anga's quarters. This time he would definitely have to assure her that it wasn't something that had occurred to him out of the blue and that this was properly planned and the message was from the Emperor himself and that they were definitely not going to back out at the last moment.

And what if Vrishaketu was there in his mother's chambers right then? Arjun wasn't sure his presence would be conducive to their conversation. 

"Come in." The Queen of Anga called and he shuffled in awkwardly. Thankfully Vrishaketu wasn't in the chambers, but Bhanumati was.

The two women had been reclined on the cushions but straightened at his entrance.

"Arjun." Vrushali stated.

"Um, yes, I'm sorry to disturb you again Maharani. And you as well Bhabhi." He said, tilting his head towards Bhanumati at the last part.

"And how can I help you this time?" The Queen of Anga asked and Arjun hurried to say, "I promise I'm here on the Emperor's order this time. I'm not going to bother you again with some half baked plan." He mumbled the last part, slightly embarrassed.

"What has the Emperor commanded, then?" Bhanumati asked, with just a little bit edge to her voice.

"Nothing! There is no command." Arjun was quick to say. "Only a request for you, Angarani."

"That's what you said last time." She remarked dryly, but her lips twitched upwards, so Arjun considered that to be a good sign. "But go ahead."

"Well, we have taken the decision to perform the Ashwamedha Yagna to ensure that peace prevails in Aryavarta." Arjun began.

"You realise," Bhanumati cut in, "that almost no kingdom is even in a state to wage war right now?"

"Yes, bhabhishree." Arjun said. "But eventually, hopefully even, that will change within a few years as all the Kingdoms slowly get back to their feet. And after that, we must maintain peace."

He waited a moment to see if the women would say anything about how they were at fault for the current state of Aryavarta, but even though Bhanumati did narrow her eyes at him, thankfully neither of them said anything. Vrushali merely gestured at him to go on.

Now came the hard part. How was he supposed to say it? 

Maybe he shouldn't actually mention any familial relations specifically, even though it was obvious in the request.

"Well according to tradition," Arjun began haltingly, because he couldn't really think of any other way to say it except being straightforward, though he was sure Madhav would have found one(wait, actually, maybe they should have asked Subhadra to do this, but that was not an option anymore), "the eldest wife in the Emperor's generation has to perform the ritual and...." he trailed

Realisation had dawned on both women's faces.

"Emperor Yudhishtir wants me to do it, then?" The Queen of Anga asked carefully.

"Yes."

"I see." The older woman frowned for a moment before asking, "And is the Empress happy with the decision?"

"She said she is fine with whatever you decide. It really is a request." Arjun emphasised.

There was moment of silence after which the Angarani sighed. "Fine." She said. "I'll do it." She even smiled at the end.

Arjun beamed. "Thank you so much, Maharani!"

At least, something had gone well.

And by this point Arjun was sort of confident, that Vrishaketu wouldn't really mind, even though once again they hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once Arjun left, Bhanumati turned to Vrushali.

"You're really going to do it?" The younger woman asked.

"Do you not think I should?" Vrushali asked, brows furrowing.

"No that's not what I mean." Bhanumati said. She placed a hand on Vrushali's shoulder.

"You know I've considered you a sister for decades now, Vrushali di. And I considered Bhrata Karna a brother for decades as well." She looked down. "I'm only too happy to learn that we're part of the same family."

"But you wish it had happened earlier?" Vrushali asked softly.

"Yes!" Bhanumati shook her head. "So much could have been avoided. But that's not the point right now."

Taking Vrushali's hands in her own, she said, "This...this puja will kind of be a public acknowledgement, won't it? That you are part of this family? And that would mean acknowledging the Pandavas as your family, Vrushali di. Are you ready to do that?"

"What family?" Vrushali chuckled dryly. "I don't even know them. I've spoken to Draupadi, Subhadra and Rajmata Kunti only once and out of the brothers, Arjun is literally the only one I've ever spoken to, and not many times at that."

"Then why did you agree?"

"I don't know." Vrushali sighed. "There just didn't seem to be a reason to deny. Well no other reason except all of our history, which is a lot," she amended, "but.... we're all trying to move on, aren't we? This is just a puja in a temple. What does it matter really?"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ok, so I promise that this time I actually like, have a plot with the whole Vrushali thing, unlike the last time where it just..... yeah.

Also after last chapter's ending did you guys think you were going to get a cute chapter with Arjun and Vrishaketu and archery? Ha. Haha. Hahahahahaha.

ANGST GALORE.

No but the coming plot will kind of change the whole "What has he ever done for me, but ruin my life" for Vrishaketu which is.... very unfortunately true at this point in time as much as we love Arjun.

Anyways, tell me what you thought of the chap! Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked it!

okay so for real now... updates will REALLY slow down.

Anyways, bye!