"Where were you, Hira? When we needed you, when your family needed you and Yash both, where were you?"
Shanti asks in a trembling voice as she cups Hira's face with her shaking hands, tears flowing from her eyes.
Her voice didn't carry any anger or blame; it only have relief and worry for his grandson.
"I come back home, Dadi."
He replies softly as he wraps his arms around her, his eyes also fill up with tears.
Seeing her grandmother in this state, Hira realises that something has happened…something bad.
When even after five minutes, the grandson-grandmother duo didn't separate, Shweta came forward.
Cough cough
"Dadi I think we should continue this inside the house."
Hearing a somewhat familiar voice, Hira shifts his attention towards her.
"You are…Shweta?"
"What, you forgot me?" she asked amusingly.
"Heh, I am just confirming…you looked a little different from before." Hira gets a little awkward.
"So did you. I didn't even recognize you at first."
(Since they both have gone through evolution, they have changed a little from before.)
A mention of their changed appearance reminds them of the harsh reality they are going through.
As Hira opens his mouth to ask something, Shanti interrupts him.
"Let's go inside… We have many things to share." She drags him inside the house. Shweta follows them in silence.
. . .
Shanti guides Hira to the sofa, her wrinkled hands trembling as she pours him a glass of water.
He looks around – the home feels familiar, yet hollow, stripped of warmth.
She sits beside him, her eyes fixed on his face, afraid that he might disappear if she blinks.
Suddenly, she realises that Yash is not with him.
"Where is Yash, Hira? Why is he not with you?" She asks nervously.
The question hit him like a knife.
His mind went blank. He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out.
Seeing the silence, Shweta heads to the guest room, allowing the family some private time.
At first, he thought of lying to her about the Yash disappearance, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to her Dadi.
So he tells her what he wants to believe has happened to Yash.
"Dadi, Yash is… He is among the ones who… vanished on the Vicyuta day."
Seeing Hira alone before, she got the hint that something like this had happened. But she refused to believe it.
Now, his confirming that Yash has disappeared made it impossible to deny it.
"What harm have we done to anyone that our family has to see all this? First Kapil, then Virat and Jyoti, and now even my grandson…sob"
Upon hearing the news of losing her grandson, she, who was trying to hold herself together, breaks down completely.
It took her a few minutes to stabilize her emotions.
All this time, Hira just sat beside her with his head down, blaming himself for what had happened to Yash.
'Only if I haven't forced him to go with me.'
When Shanti sees his expression, she understands what was going on in his head.
'Deep breath'
Taking a deep breath, she assumes the role of his Dadi.
"It was not your fault Hira." She speaks softly.
"But Dadi…if I haven't taken him…" he couldn't bring himself to complete his sentence.
"Shush child, you have this bad habit of overthinking since your childhood."
"But-
"No buts, I don't want to hear anything about this, and…It's still not clear what happened to the ones who vanished that day, maybe," she pauses, then lightly shook her head.
"No, I know he will come back to us. Like your parents."
Hearing her mention his parents, He asks the most important question that troubled him the entire way.
"Where is everyone, Dadi? Dada, papa, and maa, where have they gone?"
His question reminds her of the grief of losing her life partner, the loneliness that still haunts her in the night.
But she knew that she had to tell him everything.
"Hira… everything has changed." Gathering her strength, she begins.
"It started with the loud sound, heard all over the world on 3rd August…"
Her words came slowly, each one carrying the weight of months she had spent in silence.
She told him about his grandfather's death, about his father slipping into a coma, about Jyoti and the others being taken by the government for treatment and never returning.
She spoke of the soldiers, the medics, the deserted roads, and the months she spent all alone—watching the world shrink to the walls of her house.
Hira listened in stunned silence. Every word struck deeper than any wound he'd received in the snow.
He couldn't bring himself to believe that his Dada is no more, that his parents are in a coma, and, while all this was happening, his Dadi was all alone.
"Dadi, I am sorry. You have to go through all this alone. I am so sorry."
Seeing that he again starts to blame himself, she gives a sad smile and hugs him warmly.
"You are here now, it's all that matters Hira."
The two remain like that for a few minutes.
"Dadi I want to go see Maa and Papa." Knowing their condition, he can't wait to see them.
"I know, but today's visiting hours should be over by now. We will go to meet them tomorrow.
For now, you go freshen up. While I will prepare dinner for you.
And please tell Shweta that I need her in the kitchen, she might be in the guest room."
Without giving him a chance to speak, she stands up and moves toward the kitchen.
Not knowing what to do, he decides to follow his Dadi's order and stands up to go to his room.
His room and the guest room are on the first floor, along with Yash's room.
As he was going to knock on the door of the guest room, Shweta came out on her own, in an urgent manner.
Before she could notice that Hira was standing in front of the room, she collided straight into his chest.
Instinctively, he manages to catch his balance and prevent themselves from falling. "Why are you in such a hurry? We could get injured right now."
He wanted to reprimand her more, but when she looked at him, he saw tears in her eyes.
"What happened Shweta? Why are you crying?"
. . .
"Hira, just now I received a call from the hospital, they are saying that my father…
A.N. - What happened to Shweta's father? we will know in next chapter.
Samagama - Reunion