One Shots on Mahabharat

2. Author- @h_o_neyco_ves

                       Loss

Ever since she was a child, Uttara had always been pampered, being the younger sibling, being
the youngest cousin-she had been pampered even by someone who wasn’t much into
pampering, her dance teacher, Brihannalla.

Ever since childhood, Uttara had felt the sense of loss. First, it happened when Uttar had accidentally broken her doll. Then, this continued for some
time, broken toys, broken friendships-

Uttara remembered how she had cried when her pet rabbit had died of old age. She had
screamed and screamed, and a proper funeral was held for the rabbit, at her behest. One day of
state mourning had also been declared, for the beloved princess was heartbroken.
She had not felt this for a long time after that, and then Brihannalla arrived. Strict Brihannalla, who would not speak much, but was kind. Strong but understanding, firm but gentle, who walked as if she were….a man.

Uttara had felt the fear of losing Brihannalla, her favorite companion, when her mother’s
Sairandhri had been thrown into the hall by her uncle Keechak. Everyone knew that Brihannalla
and Sairandhri were close, perhaps even friends.

She had apologized, no, begged in front of Brihannalla, to forgive her, on behalf of her mother.
What if Brihannalla got angry? What if she refused to teach Uttara? What if she-Oh God, what if she decided to leave Virat nagar altogether?!

But Brihannalla, whose face was drawn in a very tight expression, like the calm before the
storm, had softened, and then hardened again, taking Uttara to teach her a specific form of
dance.

Her uncle was found dead the next morning.

Uttara always knew that Brihannalla had something to do with it. Maybe it was the way she had not been shocked on seeing the body, or maybe it was the way she had just patted Uttara’s
back when she had sobbed about the death of her uncle. Despite being a bad human being, Keechaka was a good uncle, after all, albeit only to the two
children of his own sister. Uttara had kept quiet, out of fear, that Brihannalla would be punished, and decide to convince herself, that she had nothing to do with it, what could she do, probably the weakest person in Matsya desh after Uttara herself. And then, a war happens, and Brihannalla turns into Arjun.
Uttara felt scared, that Brihannalla-no, Arjun, would shun her away. After all, she had been rather clumsy with her words, and her dancing, and her actions-

The fear melted away when he called her daughter. And then, despite The upcoming great war, Arjun promises to bring Uttara a gift from Dwarka, transparent glass bangles, which shine when light hits them. And then, everything changes altogether, when in the dead of the night it is decided that Uttara will now be Arjun’s daughter-in-law. At least it is better than being his wife.

Uttara inquires about her future husband’s likes and dislikes, but finds no answers. There is no
one here who knows what he will like, not even his own father.
And then, she meets Abhimanyu.
He is handsome, and tall, notices Uttara, his face all too similar to his father and Mamashree
Krishna, and the brief eyelock they held during dinner was not supposed to give her this much
butterflies in her stomach.
They do not talk before the wedding, or even meet in private, only seeing each other from afar, once in the rain, sometimes amongst the family, and Uttara notices, Abhimanyu’s piercing brown eyes are on her.

Always on her.

Their wedding is something she will never forget, and her wedding night even memorable, the first time they ever talked to each other. He kissed her hand, and all the fears Uttara had, of her husband being ignorant, faded away.