The Dark Before The Dawn - A Nazar/PiyAnsh FF (Completed) - Page 6

Chapter- 03

Adi was anxiously looking at the door. Almost an hour had passed but Pari didn’t wake up. Neither did Piya or Ansh had returned. He was on the verge of crying. “Did I make some mistake? Otherwise why isn’t Pari opening her eyes?” Suddenly, the elevator door opened and PiyAnsh rushed to the hall. “Mumma!!! Papa!!!” Adi came running towards them and clutched onto Piya. “It’s okay! We are here now. Everything’s gonna be fine.” She assured Adi while stroking his hair. “Mumma! Pari hasn’t woken up yet.” “Don’t worry beta! It’ll take some time.” The trio moved towards Pari’s coffin. After sometimes, they noticed slight movement in Pari’s eyelashes and finally their little angel woke up!!! “Pari!!!” Piya hugged her tightly. She was afraid that if she had loosened her grip, Pari would have left them forever. But the nightmare was finally over. Pari was awake and smiling. She hugged both of her parents and exclaimed, “I knew you and papa wouldn’t let anything to happen to me.” “Not just us beta.” Ansh broke the hug. “Your brother fought equally hard to bring you back.” Piya pointed towards Adi and signaled him to come closer. She embraced both of her kids again. Ansh was smiling brightly when Piya looked at him and said, “Do you need some special invitation Mr. Rathod?” Ansh didn’t reply anything but squeezed them all in a bear hug. Other family members were smiling looking at their reunion and later joined them.

After a long time, the entire family was relieved. They couldn’t believe their ears when PiyAnsh informed them that Mohana was no more. Although Vedashree was happy that finally her family was freed of the evil eye of Mohana, a part of her was devastated as she lost her sister. But she didn’t let that sadness ruin the moment. She decided to celebrate the moment by offering prayer to Devi Maa with her entire family. Once everything was done, the entire family dined together and Piya took the kids to their room.

“Even we should leave now.” Nishant smiled and bade goodbye to everyone. Piya came downstairs and was looking for him. “Where is baba?” “He just left with Saavi.” Before Vedashree could complete her sentence, Piya rushed out and hurriedly pressed the elevator button. “Let her go maa! She needs sometime with her father.” Ansh told her.

Nishant was about to start his car when Piya came out running. “Baba!!!” He got tensed. “What happened Gudiya? Is Pari alright?” “She is fine baba. I wanted to apologize to both of you.” Before Nishant could say something, she hugged him and burst into tears. “I am really sorry baba!!! I never should have blamed you for Pari’s condition.” She continued sobbing. “It’s okay Gudiya! I am not mad. In fact, whatever you have said, it’s all true. I should have turned the world upside down and I should have been there when you were all alone. But I didn’t.” Nishant tried hard to control himself but his tears betrayed him. “After your brother had died, I went to a dark place. I had no sense of anything. But when Divya’s truth of being a Sarpika came out, I lost it. The grief of losing all my family members became fresh and the fact that Mohana was her friend - it just blinded me. By the time I started to let go off all those bitter memories and thought of bringing her back, she called me and the next thing I knew was you and your mother were dead.” Nishant broke down completely.

“Every morning I used to wake up and remember how I had failed my entire family and lost my way. I thought, I didn’t deserve to be called a Reevavanshi when I couldn’t protect my own family.” Nishant paused for a moment. “But then you came back! You completed our family again.” He looked at both of his daughters and smiled proudly. “Both of you have time and again encouraged me to do the right thing and I didn’t want to let you down. Which is why I kept my feelings aside and did what I had to do as a Reevavanshi. But once again, I failed you. When my Gudiya needed me the most, I showed belief on an outsider and believe me, I haven’t been able to forgive myself for that either. Forgive me, if it’s possible.” Nishant folded his hands in front of Piya. “Baba please!!! Don’t!!!” Piya hurriedly stopped Nishant, “To be honest, I never even got the chance to be angry with you.” She had a faint smile.

“I could never understand why on a fine day we were mourning bhaiya’s death and why my baba - whose world revolved around me just refused to look at me and threw us out of the house.” Piya pursed her lips in an effort to stop her tears and looked at another direction. “Before I could process those things, I lost maa too. At that point, I didn’t have the luxury to become angry or frustrated. The loneliness was soul-crushing. All I ever wanted, was to reunite with maa and that hope kept me alive.” She paused for a moment. “When Ansh and I got divorced, my world crumbled down. Each moment I yearned for Adi. I wanted to take him in my lap, to play with him, to hug him one last time. But somewhere deep down, I knew he would be alright even if I wasn't there because he had Ansh and the entire family with him. But the moment I had held Pari for the first time, I saw my reflection in her - abandoned by everyone when she didn’t even know what her fault was. That moment I had decided, I will do everything in my power to protect her from the pain and loneliness that I had to endure. But that moment when we worsened her condition and Mohana was mocking us, all I could think about was how I had failed her. And all the pain and anguish that I had hidden from everyone, probably from myself too, just found their way out. I know everyone is somehow justified from their point. But that moment I couldn’t just control my emotion and blasted you and Saavi. I am sorry! Please forgive me!” “It’s okay Gudiya! We are your culprits and you had every right to vent your frustration. Now stop crying.” Nishant smiled and wiped Piya’s tears.

“Stop it now you two!!! It seems like you both have been taking classes from Vedashree auntie on HOW TO CRY WITHOUT ANY REASON!!! If you continue like this, the area will be flooded soon. If not for me then please think about all those people who live in this area and show mercy on them.” Saavi rolled her eyes. Piya laughed hearing her comment and twisted her ear. “Ouch!!! It hurts!!!” “Really???” Piya raised her eyebrow when Saavi made a puppy face and burst into laughter. “Thank God you have smiled!!! Otherwise I was worried about the poor people living here.” She laughed a little and continued, “But seriously di! You don’t have to apologize. It was my mistake that I poured the wrong energy into Pari’s body and worsened her condition. In fact, you had only screamed at me. I would have done much worse if I had been in your place. I am sorry! And I promise, from this moment on, I’ll try to react more calmly. Now go! Spend some time with your family. You all have been through hell and you deserve some alone time.” Saavi hugged Piya and bade her goodbye. After Nishant had left with her, Piya returned to her house and went to the kids’ room.

Ansh was lying beside the kids, stroking their hair. For a moment there, Piya didn’t want to disturb him. He looked so serene after all these days and the smile on his face - it emitted peace. “Why are you standing alone there Piya? Come on in.” Piya got startled. She lied beside Pari while Ansh continued, “Never realized when our Adi grew up so much!!! Ready to take on the supernatural world!!! It feels like yesterday when you gave him to me and I held him for the first time!!! How I wish, I could be there for Pari too!!!” Ansh became sad but tried to hide it from Piya, but in vain. She could easily detect the change in his tone. “They look so peaceful when they are asleep.”

He continued gazing at their kids. “Sometimes I wish they hadn’t grown up at all!” Piya told Ansh with a smile. “I wish time had stopped here itself and I could spend eternity looking at their faces!!!” “Me too! It’s a shame they have to grow up.” Ansh looked at Piya. “You know, I always used to fantasize about Mridul papa. Kajal and I had lost him when we were really young and I can’t even remember his face properly. I used to look at him and Mohana’s photo for hours and tried to be like him. I joined our school’s football team because chachu told me he was really good at playing football. I let my hair grow because he had long hair.” Ansh tried to hide his sadness behind his smile but Piya could still feel his pain.

“The day you told me that you might be pregnant, that must have been the most overwhelming moment of my life. All I could think about was how I was gonna be a father and would get to experience every little thing with my kid that I had missed out during my childhood.” Ansh had an apologetic smile. “I know it sounds foolish, even selfish may be. But in that one moment I had dreamed of everything!!! In which hospital I was gonna admit you, how we were gonna welcome the little one, how we would take care of him or her - everything!!! So when you finally confirmed that you were pregnant, I became the happiest person of the world!!!” A tear escaped Ansh’s eyes but he didn’t try to hide it.

“Did you expect our first kid to be a boy?” “No! Not at all! I became mad in joy just by thinking about our baby. But yes, when Adi was born, I did feel relived thinking it would be easier for me to bond with him and in future, I would have a better understanding of his issues being a boy myself. But I definitely wanted a girl later as he had always been more attached to you.” Ansh looked at Pari intently. “At the camp, I was angry with you for moving on while I was still very much in love with you. But a part of me was devastated when I had seen Pari for the first time. She reminded me of my dream of having a daughter who would be a replica of you and Pari - she just made me realize what I had lost.” Ansh wiped his tears.

“I can never ever forgive myself for distrusting and abandoning you when you needed me the most; for not being there for my little angel when she took her first step or said her first word. But when she was lying lifeless in front of me and you became a living corpse - the guilt of letting you two down yet again became much bigger than the pain of losing her. Everything could be averted if I had just listened to you that day. May be that’s the reason I reacted differently than you. Protecting you became more important than mourning Pari or punishing myself. I feel even more horrible now that I didn’t listen to you when you kept telling me she was alive. Probably then we could have revived her sooner. I know, I don’t deserve your forgiveness but can you give me another chance one last time?” Ansh was waiting for Piya's answer eagerly.

Piya was awestruck after listening to Ansh’s confession. She had always known Ansh couldn’t express his feelings like others did. She knew behind that intense gaze of his, he had hidden his insecurity, his fear, his inhibitions. Which is why she herself became an open book to him; to assure him that there was at least one person who would always be there to stand by him. Who would never leave him alone and accepted him with his vices and virtues. But she never knew how much Ansh missed his biological parents and how badly he wanted to have a family of his own. How could she shatter his world when he was finally this close to fulfilling his dream?

“Ansh! I need to tell you something.”