IPKKND SS: Cracks in Perfection (Chapter 2, pg. 13) - Page 8

Originally posted by: manikka

will u continue this one...??????

"MAMU!" Payal smiled as she watched her husband catch the little girl and spin her in the air. Her infectious laughter reminded her so much of her sister, a sister she had not seen in a decade. Her smile faltered at the thought but she forced herself to concentrate on the beautiful sight before her. There were still things worth being grateful for.

Anjali walked over to Payal and the two woman silently watched Akash and Asha, before Payal spoke up. "How are you Di?"

"I'm fine, Payal. And you?"

"I'm fine as well Di."

This was how it always was. The same questions, the same lies. Payal smiled, a self-deprecating smile, before she noticed Anjali's bandaged hands.

"Di, what happened to your hands?!"

"It's nothing Payal. Just a small accident. Nothing to worry about."

Normally, Payal would let the blatant fabrications slide. But not this time. "Di, what happened to your hands?"

Anjali sighed. Payal seemed determined to wrest the truth out of her, and she did not have the energy to keep up the pretense any longer. "The portrait... it fell yesterday. Asha... she accidentally threw a ball at it and it cracked. And Chotte... he was more broken than the shattered glass. I've never seen him like that Payal. He just seemed so hopeless, like there was nothing left to live for. And that scared me more than anything else ever has."

She still had not explained what happened to her hands. But Payal did not question her further. She had said enough. The rest Payal could deduce for herself.

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"Mami?" Payal looked up from the sari on which she had been embroidering. The gotti work had always been Khushi's area of expertise, and her own stitching seemed sorely lacking in comparison. Yet, it was the only way to be close to her lost sister, to do the things she loved to do, to eat the food she loved, to somehow try and embody her. If only that were enough to make up for the hole in her life that Khushi had once so effortlessly filled with love, light, and laughter.

"Mami?" At the repetition, Payal managed to drag herself out of her thoughts and looked up at her niece, a questioning smile adorning her face.

"What is it Asha?"

"Mami, I wanted to ask you something. But you have to promise to answer me, and to tell me the truth."

The little girl had never requested something of her in so somber a tone. Intrigued, Payal could only nod her assent.

Asha took a deep breath. The moment had come. "Mami, who is the woman in the portrait?"

Payal did not need to ask which portrait. There was only one portrait Asha could be referring to. This was the one question she did not want to answer. This was the question that would open up the gates of the past, a gate that had firmly been bolted shut for ten years now. But she had promised, and so she answered, saying as little as possible.

"She is my sister. Khushi Kumari Gupta."

Asha's eyes widened, not failing to understand the implications in those seven words. Kumari. She had been named after this woman. This woman who was her aunt. And yet, there was more.

"She is more than just your sister, hain na Mami?"

Her niece was more astute than she had given her credit for, Payal now realized. She had forgotten that this little girl was a Raizada too. And that made Asha see more than what she should, with a mere ten years of experience under her belt.

"Yes, she is more than my sister. She is... was... your Arnav Mamu's wife."

Asha felt as if the world under her feet was spinning. The woman in that portrait was her Mami, just like Payal. And yet she had never met her. Her mind reeled with question after question, but before she could ask even one of them, Payal interrupted her.

"Please, Asha, don't ask me more. This story is too much for me to tell. And it is too much for you to hear. You are still a child, and the horror that happened should not cast a shadow over your life."

Before Asha could respond, Payal walked away, carefully picking up the gotti work she had been occupied with earlier.

But there is already a shadow over my life, Mami. A shadow over all our lives. But I will not force you to tell me what happened. I will find out on my own.

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"Asha?"

The little girl looked up from where she was sitting on the swing in Shantivan's garden.

"Yes, Amma?"

"Do you know why I named you Asha?"

She did not know what she was expecting her mother to say, but it was not this. Silently, she merely shook her head, unable to decipher where this conversation was going.

"Asha means hope. And to me, to all of us, that was what you were. After all the mistakes, the sorrow, the guilt, you were born. And I allowed myself to hope again, that one day we would once again be what we used to be. A family. And today, I have never been more sure of naming you Asha," Anjali continued.

"You heard me talking to Payal Mami?"

"Yes, I did."

"So, will you tell me what she refused to?"

"Yes. But not today. Your Payal Mami was right, Asha. You are too young. But, I promise you I will. When the time is right."

Asha did not argue, but allowed Anjali to pull her into her embrace and the two remained on the swing, together, both thinking of a brighter future, in which there was no gloomy shadow hanging over the turrets of Shantivan. They both allowed themselves to hope and it seemed as though the cracks were finally beginning to heal.

*THIS IS ENTIRELY MY OWN WORK. PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE.*