Remember me, though I have to say goodbye
Remember me, don't let it make you cry
Cause even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart
I'll sing a secret song to you each night we are apart

Subhadra had taken a long bath, rubbing her skin a little too hard, to remove the dirty touch of that devil, and had reapplied the ointments. After all that, she felt a little odd, a bone breaking weakness spreading in her veins.

"Sakhi, can you possibly send for the Ayurvati, I don't feel too well. I think I need to sit down."saying so, she thumped down onto the mattress.
Her heart was erratic in its beat, as if
trying to escape out of its rib cage.

Soon enough, the elder lady entered her chamber and started checking her vitals. She did a little test on her, an came back half an hour later, a kind and sad look on her face, "Dear one, you are going to become a mother. But there is something different about your conception, I can't quite figure it out. But I can assure you that it's nothing to worry about."

Subhadra's breath hitched in her throat, her slender fingers instinctively over her womb, as a gasp fell out of her lips.

She blinked at the old lady, her long lashes breaking her view, who have her an assuring smile.
"Take this potion dear, it'll help with the dizziness."

She sat down by the bay window, and smiled tearily. Motherhood, she'd never thought of it much, but now that it was here, she couldn't wait for it. The thought of a tiny little one, growing inside her, filled her with a new feel, one of protectiveness, of love, of belonging.

But then the thoughts of the day, hit her like a brick wall, and her irises glossed over, "I am so sorry, my child that you had to see that. I am so sorry."

The next moment, she was called for in the common room, apparently Bhratshree had been successful in calming Draupadi and all of them were to be gathered for a deliberation.

She entered the room and was engulfed by Draupadi, "My brother is awesome, ain't he?"

"No doubt at that, no doubt."smiled Draupadi, completely besotted by the unique ways of her Govind.

She seated Subhadra down, for the latter still limped due to the gashes, and stood beside her, an arm around her shoulder.

Subhadra, was about to tell her of the fresh hot discovery she'd made, but then Krishna entered, and so did the all the brothers, a grave look mirroring their faces.

Arjun's eyes were bloodshot, like he'd just shed a lot of pain, and was still refusing to meet her eyes.

She felt a void forming in her soul, a deep dark pit, when she saw the way Sahadeva was looking at her, pity in his eyes.

She tuned to Krishna, who gave her a warm smile, though his eyes betrayed him.

The very next moment, Bheem spoke out, "The Kauravas have set us free, but not completely. There is a condition, we've been exiled for fourteen years, the last year to be spent incognito."

Draupadi's hand tightened around her shoulder, and she looked up to see the pained expression on her face.

All the brothers shared an eye lock with each other and with Vasudeva, before Yudhishtira proceeded towards Subhdra and bent down on his knees, coming to the level of her face, "I have no right to ask you this, dear sister. Not after what happened today. Forgive me, please."he joined his hands and her immediately covered them, "Jyesth, I do forgive you, you need not apologise."

"I do, I have to apologise for what I'm about to ask of you."
Her hands felt down on her lap.

"Arya, speak clearly. What do you want her to do?"prodded Panchali, having never seen Dharmraj this distorted before.

"Subhdra..."he uttered, a few tears leaving his eyes.

She looked up to see, Arjun facing the other side, his hand of Bhrata Bheem's shoulder, Sahadev's arms slung around his twin, who looked at the moonchild devastatingly, and Bhai simply looked grave.

"What is it?"she asked Yudhisthira.

"I want you to refrain from accompanying us in the exile, I wanted to exclude Kalyani too, but Vasudeva insists she must go, she is the only one who can keep the fire of revenge lit."he stopped, wanting to see how the girl had taken the news, however Subhadra looked expressionless.

He continued sighing, "I request you to shift to Dwarka for the time period of the exile, along with all our kids. I want you to parent them, and nourish them in our place. I want you to raise them, into lawful, morally true and brave young men, with a righteous heart. It's hard for kids to be separated from their parents, as it is for us, but I've seen how they love you, and I know that you won't let them feel our absence. I place the future of the Pandavs in your hand, YadavKumari. Will you be able to mould them?"he asked why teary eyes.

Druapadi's hands slipped down from her shoulder, the woman's eyes pained at the mere thought of staying away from her boys.

Subhadra thought of the elder Prativindhya, her sensible one, who took complete care of his brothers. She remembered how he awed at his dad, "Maa, I'll grow up to be just like Pitashree, I'll make him proud."

Then came Sutasoma, the chirpiest of them all, who hung around his father all day, swinging on his broad biceps, while listening to Bheem tell him about numerous accounts of brave warriors. "Maa, I'll be the bravest kid in the whole world."

Then came the cutest of them all, Shrutkirti, who glimmered at how calm his dad was with the animals, how loving was his nature, yet how fierce he was as a warrior, "Subhi maa, will the horses love me like the love daddy? Will I be a swordsmen too?"

Followed by Shrutakirti, who had barely learnt to walk, and still roamed around with the little wooden bow Arjun had made for him, "Mata, imma deafest all the enemies."he said cutely.

She could practically hear the giggle of the four months old Shatanika, who only settled down in Sahadev's lap. The poor guy spent the entire night, shushing his baby and humming to him.

"Subhi maa, is it true, that mother stepped out of the fire?"asked Sutsoma.

"Mhmm, she did. All grown up too."

"She's a fire born, our mom."smiled Prativindhya.

"Fire Princess."giggled Shrutakirti.

"Brave Princess"clapped Shrutkarma.

"Indeed."smiled Subhadra.

Then her thoughts ended at the unborn one, the one who won't be able to see his father, the one who won't be able to see his family, the one who was budding inside her.

No, there was no way in hell, that she was going to let these kids wander astray, no way. She'd do anything it takes, to make them into what they aspired to be.

She wouldn't let those eyes cry on being snatched away from their parents at such a tender age. She'll  groom them into the finest young men, such that their fathers would be awestruck by their valor.

" I will raise them, I will raise them with the Pandava values. And when you return, you'll be awestruck to see your kids. I'll give them all the love I own."she resolved, a new promise in her eyes.

Arjun looked at her for the first time, taken aback. He didn't want her to agree, he wanted her to protest and come along, after all he couldn't bear being away from her.

But, the Gandivadhari couldn't do a thing, their fate shone with only one word, separation.

We are getting into it, finally.
How do you guys feel?
I am hyper excited to tell you the entire story, really.
And yes, I extended the time period of the exile, for a reason though.
And yes the next chapter will be even more heartbreaking, hope you all carry your tissues along.
This is gonna be a hell of a journey.