"It was my mistake, wasn't it?" Dau sadly looked at Kanha, as they stood at the entrance of Palace, waiting for Dhriti and Satyaki to arrive.

"No Dau, its just the fate. We need a staircase to reach the top, in the same way, these little turn of events take us towards the destiny, which let me assure you, is always beautiful." Kanha smiled.

"How do you manage to smile even on the worst days, Kanha?" Dau turned his head, focusing on the sounds of the chariot at a distance in the middle of the night.

"My other half is devastated, a piece of my heart is helplessly sick and in all of this, I have to smile and be there for them." Kanha gave a sunken smile.

"Woman, I hope you aren't sleeping." Satyaki partly shouted, approaching the gates of the palace.

"When you're driving the chariot at this speed, I'm surely not going to close my eyes, putting my life in danger." She replied.

"I know you more than this Dhriti." He chuckled.

".....My eyelids won't shut themselves until they see Vaishu being alright." She grimely smiled, speaking the truth.

"Now now, don't make me worried than I already am. I'm sure Vaishnavi will be alright, now that her Maa is here." He smiled back.

"I'm glad atleast I have one place where is feels like home." She sighed, getting down her chariot, not forgetting to take her bow along with her as Satyaki kept quiet, finding absolutely no words to pacify her anxiety which she was hiding since the start of the day.

"Glad you're back." Kanha looked at her puffed face. She placed her bow and sword in his hands, without even lifting her face.

"Dhriti...." Dau slowly began.

"How is Vaishnavi?" Satyaki interrupted, knowing that Dhriti isn't the best person to have a conversation with.

"Hasn't opened her eyes since you both left." Kanha replied, unsure if Dhriti really needed to hear this.

Her lips reactionarily pursed against each other as she took a deep breath, trying hard to hold back her tears.

"Say something Priya." Kanha worriedly looked at her emotionless face.

"Vaishnavi!" Dhriti hastily entered the chambers as the other three ladies tiredly got up, walking towards her.

"Dhriti! She isn't opening her eyes and-and now she isn't even moving." Devki cried in her arms.

"No no Mata, there's-there's some misconception. How can she not open her eyes and not even budge?" Dhriti stuttered, walking towards her bed.

"Maharani, you can't touch her. It might turn out harmful." The Raj Vaidya cautioned her.

"I'm her mother!" She exclaimed, sitting near her.

"Open your eyes Vaishu. I thought you would create a havoc in the palace to find me missing, but you didn't even wake up for once." Dhriti smiled through her resurfacing blur of tears.

She slowly touched her forehead only to gasp and immediately withdraw her hand in a reflex.
Her welled up eyes immediately darted towards Kanha who gave a knowing yet helpless nod.

"Vaishnavi..... I have no strength left inside me dear. Wake up." Her soft whisper inaudible to everyone else but Kanha.

"Mata Rohini, Mata Devki, I think you all should take some rest. You've been here since the morning." Kanha suggested, knowing that the two of his mother's couldn't withstand the coming conversation with his wife.

The mothers nodded, taking a leave not before gently running a hand over Dhriti's head, assuring her with the warmth she already needed.

"Don't you have even the slightest idea, why is she like this? Answer me, Kanha!" She almost shouted at him, completely crying, as soon as her mother-in-laws left the chambers.

Kanha slowly sat down beside her, engulfing her in his tight embrace as she finally gave in, sobbing hard with loud cries.

"Why! Just why?" She cried, weakly resting her pounding head on his shoulder.
Kanha kept quiet for a while, carassing her head before he decided to answer.

"Because no one knows the strength you hold. Not even you." He cupped her
chiseled yet stiffened jaw, wiping her beads of hot tears just rolling down her zygomatic bone.

She lifelessly looked deep into his lotus eyes, only to find her exhausted self staring back at her.

"I-I'm the......I'm the reason?" She looked horrifyingly shattered, hoping that Kanha won't nod a yes, but seemingly he did.

"No! No this can't be. You're just trying to divert my attention, isn't it? Tell me you're joking Kanha. I'm not up for any joke." She sarcastically laughed, looking away.

"Mother's love is both nurturing and destroying.
Things would've been different in a sorrowful way if this would've not been your credible resolve at that very moment." He stopped nodding.

"My descision? What resolve?" She looked surprised.

"Yes, to fulfil your allegiance as a mother, trying to protect the growing child at all costs." He reminded as Dhriti reflected back to that day when, on Shakuni's advice, the evil sorceress had summoned Mahakali to kill the child growing inside Dhriti.

"My judgement and resolve just put this part of my own soul in this physical torment. She's– she's just a child and already exposed to all this.
Mata Rohini was right. I had never followed the right way the in this aisle of motherhood. I'm terrible." Every inch of her body ached, but she felt numb now.

"You risked you own motherhood for the greater good.
Never forget, you're not just the mother of Vaishnavi. You're the mother of each and every being ever existing in this Trilok. You have to nurture them all. And that's what you did back then.

Dev lok was terrified with Mahalakshmi's rage.
Your sudden transformation had that dense energy building up inside you, holding the power of annihilation.
Bhudevi was helplessly pleading, for she never wanted you to open your burning eyes and shower the rage on her abode.

You took all the consequences upon yourself to save the extinction of this ungrateful human race.
You contained that energy inside yourself, but―" Kanha kept on explaining until Dhriti suddenly cut him with her own sentence.

"But I failed to realize that I was carrying a child inside my womb. Those cosmic intensities affected my child, making her vulnerable to all my emotions, slowly taking a toll on herself.
Yagyaseni's curse angered me, but I didn't materialize my exasperation just because Devarshi stopped me from doing so.
Tell me, do you still think I didn't fail as a mother?" Her misty, wailing eyes already knew the answer.

"There's a reason why Shri is the mother of the three worlds. There lies a fond thought behind why you are Mata Lakshmi more than Devi Lakshmi, and you have left no void, not filled with your endearment.
Do not blame yourself for being silent. Because your silence is enough to cause an eruption in Aryavart.
You are far more than this, Chanchala." Kanha wiped her tears.

"If her mother is the reason of her agony, she should be inflicted with a punishment for this." She drew herself apart.

"Priya, No!" Kanha held her hands.

"Trust me, I can cure her." She pleaded.

"At what cost?" He stopped her.

"Mother's love can't be measured, Kanha." She smiled, slowly loosening the grip of his hands and touched Vaishnavi's body with both her hands.

A small whimper escaped her lips as the rising temperatures burned her tender palms but she didn't flinch.

"Vaishnavi....." She repeatedly kept calling her name, watching her little one slowly shifting on her sides.

"Don't do this to yourself, Shri." Gauri pleaded, looking at the increasing scorches on her hands.

"This is nothing compared to what I've just been through.
Noting will happen to me until my Vaishnavi is safe." Dhriti assuringly smiled.

"Maa....." Vaishnavi's soothing yet tired voice traced both Kanha and Dhriti back to the day when she had uttered her first word.

"Vaishu!" Dhriti smiled, blinking away her tears as her arms tightly embraced her daughter, forgetting all the burns that were previously caused by the strong heat.

Vaishnavi snuggled closer in her mother's embrace as Dhriti opened her eyes, her sight immediately falling on her palms, lightly resting on her lap far from grabbing Vaishnavi's attention.

"May I join? I'm all alone here." Kanha piped in, making his two girls chuckle.

"You are too dramatic, Pitashree." Vaishnavi smiled at him as Dhriti got up, walking towards the little mirror in Vaishnavi's room, leaving the two of them with their proper antics.

She stood there, quielty taking in her changed appearance.
Her braided hair being called disheveled was an understatement.
Her set of heavy crowns, now on the verge of falling down and breaking into small pieces.
Her eyes trailed down her entire figure, weakly managing to stand without a support.
Her prominently clenched jaw, as she forcefully removed her shringaar, only relaxed when she satisfactorily stared at herself only left with her mangalsutra and a bindi, lowly hanging down her forehead.
Her eyes kept repeatedly glancing at her hands, now hurting more for there was nothing to distract her from it.

"Maa, what's wrong with you?" Vaishnavi's concerned questioned pulled Dhriti back to the stimulating surrounding as she quickly put her hands under the dupatta, effectively trying to hide them.

"Nothing, Vaishu." She managed to pull a smile.

"Priya! Why are you punishing yourself?" Kanha looked him her hollow eyes.

"Do not even try to justify Panchali and her husbands' behaviour." Her sight pierced back, but immediately softened as the flashes of the curse overtook her thoughts.

"Daasi, go call Rajmatas, Pitashree, Dau and Revati bhabhi." Dhriti shook her head, walking out of the chambers.

"Maa! Where are you going at this hour now?" Vaishnavi tired going behind her.

"Give her some time dear. She'll be fine." Kanha gave an assuring smile, picking her little one in his arms as she nodded, but still concerned.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Maharani, the coast is not the safest place to be right now. The sea waters will be at their highest levels due to the high tide." A soldier stopped Dhriti from nearing the shore.

"Perfect." She mumbled under her breath.

"I need some time. Alone." She replied, as the soldier took some time to nod a yes, leaving the scene.

The sands she set her foot on had the mild luster of the moonlight shining upon it.
The sea looked dozy, yet gloomy as it rested in the midnight glow.

She slowly drew her hands out of the dupatta, carefully looking at the burns.

"I just don't belong here. Here on this land." She uttered to no one. The heavy breezes rustled, drying up her tears.

"I'm searching for a life that I have already left behind." She snickered as her eyes fell on the waters, now perfectly reaching her waist.
She was far away from the shore, just aimlessly going deeper inside the sea.

The high yet mildly powerful tiers continuously kept hitting her face, welcoming the Sagar Sujata in the warm embrace of her own home.

An effortless smile immediately crept on her hushed lips as she slowly felt the leverage of moving sands, losing its place.

"Pitaji, I seek refugee....." Were the last words leaving her lips as she closed her eyes with a smile for a happy reunion, away from the air with had been tormenting her ever since.

_________________________________________

Okay now,
Zygomatic bone = Cheekbone. Don't kill me but there was no other synonym for cheekbone.

Anyways,
Hope you like it.
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Thanks.
xx.