The moment Kiara's fingers slipped from Yuvaan's, a shudder ran through the entire family.
Bhoomi was the first to fall to her knees with a strangled cry, her hands pressed to her mouth. "Kiara… no… no, beta…"
Angad wrapped an arm around her, but even he was shaking violently, his sword dropping uselessly to the ground. He pressed his forehead into Bhoomi's shoulder, hiding the tears that kept pouring no matter how tightly he shut his eyes.
Aakash staggered backward as if his chest had been struck. He hadn't cried in years—yet now tears streamed silently down his face, falling onto the dust, darkening it. "Kiara… our Kiara…" he whispered, breath breaking.
Riddhi sobbed openly, clutching at Vinod's arm for support. "She… she can't die… she can't…"
Vinod, whose stoic face rarely cracked, held his stomach as if stabbed. Tears dripped down his beard as he looked at Kiara like she was his own daughter. "This is not her time," he muttered, voice trembling. "Not like this… not my girl…"
Susheela cupped her shaking hands over Chandrika's head, pulling the widow close as Chandrika hugged little Kiaan tightly to her chest, tears falling onto the boy's hair. Even Kiaan whimpered, confused but sensing fear—his tiny fingers reaching for Kiara with a soft, broken sound.
The battlefield, moments ago roaring with war, had gone silent.
Only grief remained.
Only her family's cries filled the air.
Only Yuvaan's world was shattering.
---
Yuvaan Breaks
Yuvaan held Kiara's cold hand between his palms, staring at her with hollow eyes.
Then… something inside him cracked.
Completely.
Utterly.
Beyond repair.
"This… this is my fault," he whispered—then louder, voice breaking, "THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!"
He gripped her shoulders, shaking with violent regret. "If I had controlled the darkness… if I hadn't let myself fall again… if I hadn't let those monsters use me—Kiara, you would be alive… whole… safe!"
His tears soaked her hair, her forehead, her lifeless fingers.
"I have lived seven lifetimes," he choked, "seven! And in all of them… in every shadow, every curse… your love was the only pure thing I ever had." His voice collapsed into sobs. "And what did I give you? Pain… danger… wounds… and now…"
He looked at her wound.
He broke again.
"I am not worthy of your love," he whispered, voice barely holding its shape. "I was never worthy. And yet… you loved me anyway. You sacrificed yourself for me." His chest convulsed, breath hitching. "Why, Kiara? Why would you give your life for a curse like me…?"
His fingers curled around the dark sword hilt.
"If we can't be together in this world… then we'll leave it together."
He lifted the blade—point trembling, tears flooding his eyes.
Bhoomi screamed, "Yuvaan, NO!"
But Yuvaan didn't hear the world.
He only saw Kiara.
And he wanted nothing beyond that.
---
Kiara's Final Strength
Her fingers twitched.
Weak… barely alive… but enough.
She caught his wrist.
The sword froze mid‑air.
"Yuvaan…" she whispered, her voice shredded, breath fading. "If you die… who will protect our son?"
Yuvaan's heart stopped.
Kiara's eyes—bleary, unfocused—shifted to Kiaan being held in Chandrika's trembling arms.
"That… little miracle…" she whispered. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. "He is the symbol of us. Of everything we are. Everything we could have been."
Yuvaan's grip loosened, the sword falling from his hand with a dull clang.
"Kiara…" he sobbed, collapsing over her again. "Don't do this to me. Don't say goodbye. Not when I just got you back… not when we still haven't lived the life we promised…"
Kiara gently cupped his cheek with a shaking, blood-soaked hand.
"I won't get to see him grow," she whispered, voice breaking. "I won't see his joys… or his heartbreaks… or his first day of school… or the day he comes to you excited because he found someone he likes… a boy, a girl, whoever his heart chooses…"
Her breath stuttered.
A tear slid down her cheek.
"And it breaks me, Yuvaan… it breaks me more than dying."
Yuvaan bowed his head, crying so hard he shook.
"But you will be there," Kiara whispered, her thumb brushing weakly against his cheekbone. "You will fill every space I leave behind. Every warmth, every guidance, every love… you must give it to him."
She inhaled painfully, chest rising slowly.
"And Yuvaan…" her eyes softened into a faint smile, "…our love wasn't a curse. It was my blessing."
He cried out—a raw, broken sound.
"No… don't say goodbye… please…"
Kiara pressed their foreheads together.
"Promise me…" she whispered. "Promise me you'll protect him. Promise me you'll give him a mother. Someone kind. Someone who will love him like I do."
Yuvaan shook his head violently. "I don't want anyone else. There is no one else after you—no one—I can't—"
"Promise me…" she breathed.
Her voice was fading.
Her heartbeat faltering.
Her life slipping through his fingers.
Yuvaan sobbed so hard he could barely form words. "Kiara… you know what this means… if you die by your own weapon… you won't reincarnate… you won't exist again… I'll never find you… in any lifetime…"
His tears dripped onto her lips.
"You'll be gone forever."
Kiara smiled, eyes shimmering.
"For you… I was always here."
Yuvaan's cry tore from his chest—an animal, shattered, agonized sound as her hand slipped from his cheek—
—and fell limp.
To be continued....