AniRi OS. ft. RiKara - Jiji ki Chutki

Gauri stood in the middle of the living room, staring at those papers in her hand. Except that, they weren't any ordinary sheets of paper. Those papers contained one of the darkest secrets that the Oberois had tried suppressing all these years. Pin drop silence fell in the entire room. After what seemed like ages, a broken-Shivaay took a step ahead, and like a loving brother that he had always been, placed his hand on her head, and patted her, "It's true. Yeh tumhari behen hai. Annika is your Jiji..."

Gauri still refused to look at the woman sobbing bitterly in front of her. Her hands were numb, but refused to let go of those papers from her grip. Slowly, her gaze moved from the object in her hands to the woman in front of her. What was she to call her? Bhaujaai? Or Jiji? It all felt weird. More so, it felt unbelievable. She had already assumed she would never be able to find her Jiji, yet fate had its own design.

Her eyes looked down at the papers again, and she had to blink twice to clear her vision blurred due to her tears. Various pictures printed on paper, showing various pictures of Roop Bua grinning as she buried the man. The man who was her father; the man who was her Jiji's father. Harshwardhan Trivedi. As if the truth had suddenly sunk inside of her, her fingers loosened on the papers, and they fell down by her feet.

She looked at her Bade Bhaiyya. The man who seemed more like a father-figure than a brother to her. He looked so broken; the truth of his own family member being the murderer of his father-in-law had shaken him to the core. He had announced his decision of parting ways with Annika, which had left her broken beyond repair too. Despite her million pleas, which fell on his deaf ears, he had decided that she did not deserve to be a part of a family whose foundation is built on murders, deceit and lies. Shivaay had spoken and had retired to his room, leaving the rest of them in the living room.

Gauri walked to Annika, who had sunk into the cushions of the sofa. Placing her hand on her shoulder, she ran her hand on her hair. "Jiji..." she whispered softly, yet her voice echoed in the mansion. Annika gasped and looked at her. Those hazel eyes! The very same ones she had looked into when her mother who was dying a slow death due to her complications at labour, handed over the newborn baby in her hands. The very same eyes that had stared at her when she had first held her close to her, rocking her in her arms to shush her. The very same eyes that looked at her when her Chutki had taken her first step. The very same eyes that pleaded her not to let go of her when the cruel woman from the orphanage had separated her from her.

With no words said, Annika wrapped her arms around her baby sister and wept. For minutes, she kept weeping. "Papa ne hum dono ko nahi choda tha, Chutki... Unhone humein koi dhoka nahi diya tha. Papa ko maar diya gaya tha!" Annika said in a muffled tone, while hugging her sister. Annika had grown up believing that her Papa had left her and her chutki to fend for themselves after their mother had passed away; a reason why she never wanted his surname, and a decision of "sirf-Annika" stayed. Annika felt her chutki's hand run over her head, "Bade Bhaiyya ko aapki zaroorat hai, Bhauj... Jiji... Jaayiye unke paas..." she said, and Annika looked at her selfless sister with a pain-filled smile. How had she not recognised her own reflection in this little woman, whom she thought was her sister-in-law! Who would've thought she was her own flesh and blood?

Nodding, her head, Annika wiped her own tears and stood up to head towards the room, where she had already heard the phone crashing the floor. Before she took another step, she turned around and pulled Chutki in her arms. "Main pehle apne baagad bille ko manaaloon? Uske baad tujhe aur mujhe dhair saari baatein karni hain. Thik hai?" Gauri nodded with a soft smile, and as she parted from the hug, Annika said in a shaky voice, "Kahin mat jaana, Chutki..." Tears welled up in Gauri's eyes, and she shook her head in a no, "Itne saal baad humein apni Jiji mili hai. Hum yahin hain, aap jayiye Bade Bhaiyya ke paas..." Annika cupped her face and placed a kiss on her baby sister's head, like she used to do when Chutki was an infant.

As Annika ran up the stairs to calm her billu ji down, Gauri turned to watch Omkara standing in the opposite end of the living room, his eyes being bloodshot and teary. She walked to him, tired and weary, and his heart broke at the sight of his chiraiyya. It was all too much for her little being to bear. First the accusations on the Senior Oberois, then the truth about Roop being the traitor, and then the secret that Harshwardhan Trivedi, the foreman, was none other than her own father. Gauri looked at Omkara, and looking at her as if she would break apart at any moment, he walked to her in four quick, long strides and pulled her into his arms. "Zindagi ne humein aise doraahe pe laake khada kar diya, ke samajh nahi aa raha kahan jaayein..." she whispered, tired. She felt him tighten his grip on her, "Jahan bhi jaaogi, jis raah pe bhi chalogi, mujhe apne saath paogi... Yeh Omkara ka apni Gauri se waada hai..." She fell against him, with nothing to say in response, neither hugging him nor pushing him away.

"Gauri..." he called out to her after a few minutes. Once. Twice. Thrice. When he cupped her face and slightly pulled away from her to see her face, his heart felt like it was ripped to pieces when he saw fresh tears streaming down her cheeks through her eyes that were shut tight. "Chutki..." he called her and she opened her eyes, staring at him. Slowly, he felt her hands go around his waist and that was when she leaned against his chest. As he picked her in his arms and carried her to their room, so she could vent it all out in the privacy of their four walls, he let her weep bitterly against his chest. As he made her sit on the edge of the bed, and wrapped her protectively in his arms, he heard her mumble, "Sab thik ho jayega na, pehle ki tarah? Aap hamaesh hamare saath rahenge na?"

Omkara's heart broke to hear her say that. When he bent his neck to look at her, he saw her looking at him while her eyes glistened with a fear of losing something very precious to her. It was as if he could see that little four-year old Gauri, looking at the big, bad world, as they took away her everything, one thing at a time. He could see the ten-year old Gauri, weeping at the loss of her foster father. He could see the eleven year old Gauri, taking the beatings of her uncle and aunt while defending her mother. He could see the twelve year old Gauri letting go of her school books forever, and picking up that needle-thread to stitch clothes for the idols at the temple, so she could make some money for her ailing mother. He saw the twenty year old Gauri being sold off to Kali Thakur, who treated her worse than an animal. He saw the Gauri in a bridal attire, whom he married and then thrown her away like she was a piece of garbage. He saw Gauri Thakurain, and the heap of troubles and miseries she effortlessly hid behind the facade of being the beast's landlady. He saw his best friend Chulbul, with whom he pledged to be best friends with forever. He saw the helpless Gauri, who so very often kept pleading him to trust her. He saw Gauri Omkara Singh Oberoi whom he fell in love with. Pulling her in a tight grip, he kissed the top of her head, "Sab pehle ki tarah thik ho jayega... I promise..." She leaned against him, and wept again, and this time, he wept with her too,

"Tum mujhse naraz nahi ho?" he asked, sniffing between sobs. She looked up at him, "Hum aapse naraz kyun ho jayein?" He looked away from her in guilt. "Mere parivaar ne tumhare aur Bhabhi ke saath jo kiya..." He felt her tiny hands hold his cheeks, making him look at her, "Yeh Hamara parivar bhi hai..." she corrected him, and then continued, "Ismein aapke ya badon ki koi galti nahi hai, Omkara ji. Galti shayad unn haalaton ke the jisne hamare badon ko majboor kiya hoga ke who sacch ko chupaayein..." He smiled weakly, "Tum itni acchi kaisi ho, Gauri. Itna kuch hone ke baad, itni taaqat kahan se laati ho..." She returned his weak smile, "Zindagi mein humne itna kuch dekha hai, bachpan se, ke himmat rakhne ke alawa koi aur chaara hi nahi tha..."

Omkara held her hands in his. "Lekin kabhi kabhi kamzor padna thik hai, Gauri. Har baar tumhe honsla rakh kar doosron ko dilasa dene ki zarurat nahi hai. Kabhi kabhi, kisi aur se dilasa lena, kisi aur ka sahara lena, kisi aur ke kandhe pe sar rakh kar rona allowed hai." She looked at their interlocked hands, not knowing how to respond to that. Silence was a perfect response right now. "Maine ek faisla liya hai..." he whispered, and she looked up at him in question. "Hum iss ghar se, iss shehar se, iss desh se kahin door chale jayenge..." He knew she would protest, and so he had an argument ready, "Waise bhi, Germany mein khud ka art gallery shuru karne ka mauka baar baar nahi aata..." She looked up at his face, and saw genuineness.

Gauri smiled, knowing his intention very well. She knew him way too much, and that often posed as a threat to all the white lies he sometimes spoke. She could read him through and through. She knew he wanted to shield her from the pain that his family had caused her by wrecking her family and by ruining her childhood; he wanted to take her far away from the hurtful memories. Yes, he was being selfish. But he was always selfish whenever it came to her.

Holding his face in her tiny hands, she said in a softest whisper, "Hum itne bhi kamzor nahi hain, Omkara ji. Aur humein iss parivar se koi shikayat nahi. Hum yeh nahi keh rahe hain ke humein aap par bharosa nahi. Agar aapne humare anewale kal ke baare mein socha hai, Germany jaane ke baare mein socha hai, toh humein yakeen hai ke apne sahi socha hoga. Lekin agar aap yeh sab hamare liye kar rahe hain, toh mat kijiye. Parivar se door rehna kya hota hai, usse kitni takleef hoti hai, yeh humse behtar koi nahi samajh sakta. Aur hum yeh bilkul nahi chahenge ke aap bhi usi takleef se guzrein..."

Omkara pulled her into his arms, and hugged her. How did this little girl, who was eight years younger to him, grown into this woman of wisdom? His heart ached at the way she consoled and comforted him that she was perfectly alright. "Aap hamare saath hain, hamari taaqat ban ke, toh hum bhala kamzor kaise pad sakte hain?" And then she chuckled, "Aur waise bhi, abhi abhi toh humein hamari Jiji mili hai. Abhi toh humein unse dhair saari baatein karni hai..."

"Bilkul sahi kaha!" came the voice from the door. A smiling-yet-teary Annika stood at the door, with her hand clasped in a visibly-emotionally-drained Shivaay. One look was all it took for the two brothers to know that they both had shared a similar conversation within their respective rooms with their respective women. "Jiji..." Gauri said in a whisper and rose from where she was seated, while Annika stepped forward, with her arms wide open, causing Gauri to rush into her arms, as the two brothers watched with a bitter-sweet smile.

It all came rushing back. The way Annika used to hug her chutki and sleep, the way chutki always demanded a tight kiss before Annika left for school, the way Annika used to hug chutki when there was a severe thunderstorm while chutki used to shiver as the bright lightning lit up the dimly-lit room... "Chal... aaj tu mere saat soyegi. Dhair saari baatein karni hai tujhse... Mera baagad billa aur tere jatadhaari nandi bhi aaj hamari baaton ke beech nahi aa sakte..." Annika said against her baby sister's forehead as she grinned.

Shivaay and Omkara chuckled as the two sisters ran out of the room, hand in hand, already chattering animatedly about something they found amusing. "Who would have thought ke hum dono, inn do behno se shaadi kar lenge? Woh bhi, dono ke dono, drama queens!" Omkara grinned and was about to reply when they saw the two of them settle by the pool, with happy tears and clasped hands. Omkara smiled, "But I'm glad ke kismet ne, apne atrangi khel se hi sahi, hum do bhaiyyon ki zindagi inn do behno se jod diya..." Shivaay placed an arm around his brother, while they watched the two sisters hug each other. Two stars from the sky twinkled brightly. Maa and Papa smiled from above as Chutki and her Jiji found each other in a warm embrace.

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