Wiping his tears away he told himself, he would never leave his kids and just go off like that without any solid reason. If he were to retire, he'd made sure the juniors understand why he's retiring, he would make this decision with his best friend.
They went an year without talking to their Mahi bhai. Virat had come to the conclusion they'd both been blocked. Even Sakshi bhabhi didn't want to talk to them. Sonu apologized to them for abruptly dropping the retirement post and also tried to convince the 2 kids that their Mahi bhai just needed time and no he wasn't mad at them.
Come IPL, everything seemed to be going right and wrong for Virat, he had a daughter who he loved to bits, but he couldn't share his happiness with his big brother, public slammed him mercilessly for leaving his team after Adelaide, questions over his form were starting rise again, his mental health hit a new low, then there was covid, WTC, IPL again and then WT20 all of which ended in heart breaks for him and his team(s). The only good thing was that he and Ro were able to get SOME kind of closure with Mahi bhai and outwardly it was fine. Winning the IPL seemed to have put him in a good space and it almost seemed like the old times where Mahi bhai would cheer them all up after a loss.
But through it all Virat still kept his distance. Yes, Mahi bhai reached out to him himself when he hit an even deeper low giving up test captaincy as well, and supported him when he was down, but through everything Yuvi and Hazel were the constant source of support for both him and Anushka.
So it wasn't that surprising that they were both the ones helping Virat and Anushka with the whole retirement plan thing, they helped cover up tracks too and Virat was eternally grateful for their help. Virat knew, pulling a Mahi bhai-esque move on the team will hurt them. It will hurt RO more than anyone, but it was for the best if he left them with notes explaining his departure.
*****
After countless searching the team would give up looking for him. None of Virat's RCB teammates looked willing to tell them where he was all they had told them was that Virat was fine, he was somewhere safe and happy and even they didn't know where exactly he was.
The juniors would be heavily reliant on Ro to cheer them up after a bad match, Shubman and Rah never fully recovered from him leaving, both still holding onto hope he'll return one day and they can ask him where they went wrong, why did he leave, so many unasked questions.
They wouldn't be ready for Ro to do much the same. A couple of letters assigned to each of them. An older, weary Jinks with Jaddu would break the news again to the same furious lot of kids with a few new faces added to the mix, it would again be Mahi bhai rushing down to the team to try and get answers from the senior members of the team, he'll try the phone of his first kid only to hear an automated message say the number isn't available anymore. It'd be deja-vu for him all over again.
This time Yuvi doesn't even bother denying he knows exactly where Virat is, and that he'd known all along. And now he knows where he's sent Rohit to too. Mahi bhai would yell at Yuvi screaming how he had every right to know where his kids were! Yuvi would scream back maybe that's exactly how the other boys felt when he left the team with nary a word.
Ishan would quietly just curl up into a corner with Rishu, Jassi, Surya and Yuzi wishing all this was a dream and he had both his big brother's by his side. Hope that he only had a nightmare that Virat stopped being on field hyping every run, every wicket, every catch or just stand with him and talk. Hope that the nightmare ended up twisting into a scene where even Rohit left them all alone. Ishan wanted to wake up and find both his brothers fighting at the breakfast table over what is a healthy choice for breakfast and why avocado shakes and kale smoothies are important.
I don't want to say goodbye- II
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