Mahabharata OS

Revealed

A/N: Somewhat like an aftermath of the previous OS but can also be read as a stand alone.
The bottom line: What if the Pandavas had known that Karna was their brother beforehand but kept it a secret, even from each other?

The war had finally come to an end. Duryodhana was dead and his last words still rung in their heads. They'd won... but at what cost? They'd lost a huge chunk of their soldiers, mothers lost their children, wives their husbands, sisters their brothers and the children, their fathers... was the war worth it?

Two days passed and then came the funerals. A mass amount of pyres were built, the battlefield now turned into a cremation ground for all the dead soldiers. The painful wails of the children, mothers, the old fathers and widows was all you could hear with some silent condolences that people offered them. Families were destroyed, innocents were killed and all of this because there was a fight for the throne.

Kunti approached their sons, who were standing next to Karna's pyre, just staring at it with a blank look on their faces. And Kunti just couldn't keep it in any more because they deserved to know. At least before they burned his body like he were a stranger.

"He was your brother. A pure soul who endured a lot of suffering just because of one innocent but grave mistake I'd committed" she said, waiting for the reprimands and shouts of outrage to come but was surprised when she heard a collective "I know" from all of them.

The brothers then stared at each other in surprise at their admission and stared back at their mother, who was equally shocked at their admission.

"You... knew?" she asked hesitantly and they all nodded. "Before Varanavrat. You definitely didn't do a great job hiding your emotions whenever I confronted Karna. Your look always gave it away because you looked at him like you look at all of us. The pining and guilt... you were transparent mother" Arjuna explained.

"Sometime after marrying Panchali. When we were living in the forest after the whole lac palace incident, you had this look of longing in you. I knew it wasn't from missing anything material so it should've been something personal or emotional, like you were missing someone. And it vanished when you saw Karna. And your later interactions with him... It just proved my theory" Yudhisthira said.

Sahadeva just tapped his forehead and said "Astrology is vague but I joined the dots together when it said that one of our brothers were to die on the 17th day."

"Brother Karna was mumbling deliriously when I was treating him... It was a boon that no one was there at that time" Nakula said with a shrug.

"I walked in on him cursing the gods while I was taking a stroll on the day when Abhimanyu died... It didn't make much sense that day but... I knew it was the truth" Bhima said with a shrug.

"But then...?" Kunti asked, not knowing how to word it. "I was afraid brother Yudhisthira will take some... drastic measures and he usually doesn't lie." "Didn't feel right to reveal it when you yourself kept it a secret" Yudhisthira said. "War time" the twins said with a shrug. "It was too late, I thought there was no need for guilt trips" Bhima said.

"I am sorry" she said, feeling guilty for putting them through this. "This is not the time for this talk. And this will stay between us. No one else is to know about it. This is how he wanted it to be and therefore, this is how it will be. Karna's son will do his final rites. We don't have the right to do it" Arjuna said, his words weighing tons on each one of them.

"Arjuna is right mother. In everyone's eyes, we were his enemies. If we suddenly proclaim him to be our brother then... it will cause a whole new level of ruckus that no one needs right now. And I am talking about the people here. So please don't" Yudhisthira said, cutting off whatever his mother was trying to say.

"Yes mother, let us honour his last wish and let it stay between us. We were silent spectators before and are silent spectators now. Nothing will change. It is the least we can do after what we've done." Bhima said and the twins nodded in agreement.

And therefore, the six of them stood afar as they witnessed Karna's pyre being lit up, heads hung in what seemed to be respect to the others while in fact, their heads hung low in regret, shame and respect. The regret of not approaching him before, the regret of floating him away, the regret of killing him. 

The shame for hurling abuses at him, for not respecting him as they should've and for their behaviour towards him. And the respect, respect for his sense of duty, respect for his unwavering loyalty and the respect for everything he has done.

A/N: Ooook, again didn't end up as expected but... I guess it ended up ok? Hope you all like it! All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated! Prompts are welcome!

Thank you all for reading!!!!!!!!!

Rasnak signing off :) ;)

UPDATED ON 28 JULY 2020