At last it was time for them to go.
It was time for her to go too.
A number of chariots lined up outside
the Ashram for the princes to take them to the palace,their home.
She stood leaning on the door of the kutiya watching them take blessings from Drona and Kripi.
It was decided that the kalpradarshan would take place after four days.
Today was the day Ashwatthama was going to drop her to Panchal.
She bid farewell to everyone and said special thanks to Drona and Mata kripi for letting her stay there and for their kind service.Slinging the backpack on her shoulder and a potli full of ladoos which Mata kripi had made for her in her left hand, they started their journey.
She would have to find someone else to teach her since Ashwatthama can't teach her anymore.
He had already told her that he would teach her as much as she could take in that one month but after that she would have to find someone else afterwards.
The first day of the journey was so silent that one could hear the footsteps on the path.All Anne could think about that day was what to do after reaching Panchal cause she knew no one there.
It resulted in her being real tensed all day and Ashwatthama have seemed to notice it too but he didn't bother asking since she frequently did strange things,like the one time she was doing tiktok dances at night near the river and the poor boy thought she must be possessed and rushed towards her.
The next day they started their journey a little earlier so they could reach there before sunset.
She decided that she would think about the problems after reaching there since worrying about it now will only result in a headache.
Why worry now when you can worry later.
" Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you" She started singing feeling bored cause the journey was long and the dude beside her won't even talk
"Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you"
"What are you singing?" He asked
" Just a famous song from my place"She told while humming to the lyrics
" What language is it ? I haven't heard a language like that anywhere"He asked
She realised that she had been acting suspicious all the time.
What if they knew she was lying?
" It's a language I created" She made an excuse.
" You created?" He said
" Yeah I did, by the way what's your favourite colour?" She tried to change the topic.
He stared at her for a sec and looked at the path in front of them again.
" I don't have a favourite colour, All colours are beautiful to me. Every colour is unique in its own and adds beauty to this world" He said
" That's nice, Mine is Black" She told
"Why do you like that colour?"He asked.
"I don't know,I just kinda like it"She replied.
There was silence again and he seemed to be thinking something.
"What happened" Anne asked.
"I was just expecting something else, like a deep philosophical reason behind why you like that colour since you asked it all of a sudden but- Nevermind just leave it" He said.
"Well I actually like it because it is the colour of nothingness."
After some thinking again he started the convo.
"How many people are in your family ?" He asked ,his face still towards the path.
"I have my parents and three older brothers"
"What does your father do ?"
" He's a merchant " She lied not knowing how to explain social media to him. Her parents were social media influencers on tiktok and instagram.yeah.
Their conversation went on an they talked about many things.
"They did many years of penance to beget me"
"That's cool"Anne said and he flashed a smile at her.
"Iam never having kids,they are too much for me to handle"She said
"Don't you want to experience motherhood ? Isn't it a woman's greatest joy ? " He asked
"Maybe but not now. I don't wanna get married so soon."
"I wanna earn money, be a billionaire
ya know."
"Money doesn't provide happiness" he said.
"Yeah but it does provide food" she said and he seemed to agree.
"Also, when I become a billionaire Iam gonna buy a ball made out of ruby an play catch-catch with it" she continued.
"Your father is a merchant.You should ask him for that"He said
'Now how am I to tell him that my parents won't give me money for things like that since they wanted me to learn the value of money. I had to wait tables to earn pocket money.'
"He won't buy me that"She made an excuse and he didn't seemed to bother
delving deeper into that topic .
Soon after some minutes they reached their destination,Panchal. Now it was time for him to go.
They were standing face to face now.
"Safe journey dude, bye "She said turning back to proceed.
"Wait a minute"He said and put forward a gajra made of jasmines towards her.
A smile adorned his face.she never saw him smiling like that.
"It's for you, this is my farewell gift to you." He said
She took it and wore it like a flower crown.
"That's not how you wear it" He said coming closer.
"I like wearing it like this, makes me feel like royalty"
"I have a farewell gift for you too" She said and held her bag pack, tearing a page from her notebook.
She made a stick figure of them holding hands and wrote 'Besties forever' in English on the paper and gave it to him.
"Here,take it." She gave it to him and he took it.
"Thank you" He smiled
"Well bye then,take care"Anne said and walked away.
He looked at the drawing then watched her walking away and later fading away into the crowd.Standing there a little more he finally turned back and proceeded back to his home.
There were two days left for the kalpradarshan now.
The kuru brothers were now practicing in their training area inside the palace. Kunti approaches the pandavas,she brings kesar milk for them.
" My sons, You all have grown so much. This mother had missed her sons so much" She said as tears formed on her eyes.
"We all are here with you Mata now ,
Don't be sad" Yudhistir said and the brother nodded.
"I heard Vasudev was coming for the kalpradarshan too" Yudhistir asked as she looked up at her eldest son and smiled.
" He was but he will just be dropping his sisters off and return back since he had some important work" Kunti explained to them.
The brothers were kinda eager to them. The man whose miracles they had heard of while growing up.
"Sisters? Didn't he have only one sister, Mata ?" Arjun chimed in joining the conversation.
"Yes I too thought that but later I got the news about Subhadra's twin sister which they had sent away for education from a young age, that's why not many people knew about her" Kunti explained further.
Here in Panchal, It has been two hours since she started walking. She was confused as what to do since she didn't knew much about here and where to find a guru. She didn't bother asking people since for she just wanted to chill some weeks, All the training with Ashwatthama had left her body sore.
For the whole month He was just giving her physical training since she had a weak stamina according to him.
What did he expect then ? Sitting all day with her PC and eating cup noodles everyday did weaken her stamina and strength capacity.
Well also because She was from a different yug and the people here in this yug had far more better strength and stamina than her even the woman. She saw some women near the village carrying multiple water filled pots on their heads,hips and hands and walk miles.
Getting tired of all the bustling in the market she retreated into a nearby forest and sat under a mango tree.
She took out the laddoos Mata kripi had packed for her and started eating it. Nearby, a monkey was sitting on a tree branch and watching her eat those delicious laddoos. The monkey came down and sat beside her.
" Hey little guy, What's up ?"She greeted
The monkey pointed his towards the laddoos like he was asking for some.
'What's up with all the animals here taking my food since the day I made my entry here?.'
She offered the container of laddoos toward him for him to take one or two but the monkey finished the whole container in like a minute.
She just sat there wide eyed watching him finish off her laddoos. She was really bad at reacting like she won't even flinch when some danger happens but instead would be frozen there like ice.
"🥲"
"🐵"
" It's okay little guy, since you ate all my ladoos go and pick me some mangoes from this tree" She said
Soon he climbed the tree in an instant and plucked a dozen mangoes for her and went away.
"Bye monkey"She said
The mangoes were unlike she had eaten before in her yug. It was sweet like sugar and it's aroma had a certain appeal to it.
She finished all of it but it was so delicious that she wanted to eat more. So she started climbing the tree which was kinda difficult since that tree was huge and Anne has weak legs.
"Kya kar rahi ho? gir jaogi."A voice came.
She turned around to find a man and you all know who that was.
Lord Krishna stood there with a girl.
Anne quickly climbed down the tree and stood in front of them.
"Hey God can you please pluck some mangoes for me? " She asked
" Didn't you just finished eating fifteen mangoes ?" He said smiling.
"It's okay, I'll pluck them myself later" Anne said
"Praneepat Rajkumar subhadra" She greeted to the girl beside him.
It has to be subhadra since he wasn't married at this time of the part of the story that Anne had read about.
" Iam not subhadra " The girl beside her spoke.
" Yes Anne,She is not subhadra. She is Avantika from the future just like you" He explained leaving Anne puzzled
"So I was not the main character afterall , This sounds like a Wattpad story."
Anne said
" No it is not. This is all real" Krishna said with a smile.
" What are you guys doing here"She asked rolling her eyes
"We were taking a rest here since we are leaving for hastinapur for the kalpradarshan" Avantika said
"WHAT!!?? I KNEW IT" Anne exclaimed.
" Now if you fall in love with Arjun or Karn there then I'm gonna lose my mind " Anne said knowing what was to come.
" I know that bestie " Avantika said sighing.
" So let me guess, you're like Krishna's sister here?" Anne said
" Yes she is,more specifically Subhadra's twin" Krishna explained with his signature smile.
" We can have more talk about it later but now I have to tell you something"
" Sometimes things seem like they are under our control but it is not,Everything happens for a reason,for a greater good " He explains
" Is this the part where you tell me my purpose here ?" Anne asks
Krishna looks at her an smiles.
" No. How would I know that ?You came on your own will with your device, didn't you ? " He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes and his smile adorning his ever beautiful face.
" Just leave it, What am I supposed to do now ?" Anne ask
" Far away in Kalinga lives a Maharishi, his name is Maharishi Vishwa. Give this letter to him from my side and he will teach you" He said giving her a letter.
There were sparkles in her eyes. She thanked him.Now it was time for her to continue her journey.
But she didn't know the way.
" Follow the wind" He said without even Anne having to ask him.
" What?" She asked
He took down the morpankh from his crown and gave it to her
"Follow this morpankh. It will lead you to your destination. This is your journey Sakhi, you may encounter many obstacles on your way but remember to stay strong.Obstacles and hurdles builds one's character" He said
" I will remember that"
" Take care Sakhi "
" You too my friend"Anne said
" And you too bestie " She said to Avantika.
" I'll wait for you and when you return we'll do karaoke on Taylor's songs alright" Avantika said to her.
She took his blessing and left for her journey. They stood there and watched her dissapear from their sight.
" Does she have a role in here, Kanha ?"
" Maybe, how would I know"
" Well, aren't you god?"
" Iam your brother. Now let's go back to our tent. Subhadra must be waiting for us"
They left for the tent as well.
______________________________________________________________________________
Hi guys 💕💕
Did you like the plot so far?
Both Anne's and Avantika's journey will be told here.💕💕
Do vote and comment, it really makes me happy and gives motivation.
I love you all 💋💋
Respect to that monkey for plucking fruits for her 🫂🫂
Ciao.