Veda opened his eyes to nothing.
An endless dark void stretched in every direction. No floor. No sky. Only pure blackness that felt alive, breathing. He floated weightlessly, still wearing the hospital gown, bandages wrapped around his chest, arms, and head. The fabric drifted around him like pale ribbons in deep water.
He turned slowly. Nothing. Just infinite darkness.
"Where am I?"
His voice disappeared into the void the moment it left his lips.
It was peaceful here. Dangerously peaceful.
The constant pain in his ribs had vanished. The weight of two souls, the memories of blood and screams, the guilt that never slept, everything felt far away. He let his body go limp, sinking deeper into the darkness like a man surrendering to warm oblivion.
"I feel so light," he whispered. "I don't remember anything."
For the first time in years, he wanted to stay. To dissolve. To forget the Ghost of Death. To forget Gita's cold hand. To forget the thousand corpses he had created.
The darkness welcomed him. It wrapped around him gently, pulling him deeper.
Just rest.
Just disappear.
Then, far above, a single point of warm golden light appeared.
Soft. Blurry. Beautiful. Like something he had lost long ago.
Veda slowly raised his bandaged hand toward it. His fingers trembled as he reached out, desperate to touch that warmth.
His vision blurred.
His eyes closed.
---
"WAKE UP!"
A thunderous voice shattered the void.
Veda's eyes snapped open in shock.
He was floating near the ceiling of a chaotic hospital delivery room. Bright lights. Beeping monitors. The sharp smell of antiseptic.
Below him, a woman screamed in raw agony.
It was his mother, but heartbreakingly young. Sweat drenched her face, dark hair plastered to her forehead as she gripped the bed rails.
"Push, Priya! One more time!" the doctor shouted. "Breathe! Push!"
Veda's chest tightened violently.
"Maa…"
The word tore out of him.
He tried to move toward her, but his body wouldn't respond. He could only watch helplessly.
Priya screamed again, a guttural, soul-crushing cry as she pushed with everything she had.
Young Veda appeared beside him, floating calmly.
"This is a time illusion," he said softly. "You are watching the past of the body you now wear."
Veda's eyes never left his mother. "Why show me this?"
"Your soul wanted to see," Young Veda replied. "To understand the boy whose skin you stole."
Priya let out one final, shattering scream.
The doctor's voice rose with excitement. "There he is! It's a boy! A big boy, strong and healthy! No doubt she was in pain!"
The doctor laughed warmly as he lifted the newborn, a healthy, crying boy covered in blood and fluid. "What a fighter!"
A newborn's loud, angry cry filled the room.
The doctor gently placed the baby on Priya's chest. Her exhausted eyes filled with tears as she wrapped trembling arms around her son and kissed his forehead again and again.
"My child…" she whispered hoarsely, voice full of wonder and love. "My Veda…"
She held him like he was the only light left in her broken world.
Young Veda glanced at the assassin. "Congratulations, Veda. You were born."
---
The scene shifted.
They were now in the waiting area outside the delivery room.
Arjuna Raj Das, young, handsome, in his early thirties, paced frantically like a caged lion. His face was pale, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.
Three comrades sat nearby.
The purple-haired woman burst out laughing. "Buhahaha! Look at his face! He looks like he's about to explode!"
The bald man smacked the back of her head. "Shut up!"
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"I don't like your voice right now."
The red-haired man sighed deeply. "Brother, calm down. Sister in law is one of the strongest women alive."
But Arjuna wasn't listening. He kept pacing, muttering, "What if something goes wrong? What if the baby doesn't breathe? What if Priya…"
Young Veda chuckled softly. "Look at your father. Acting like a nervous student waiting for exam results."
Veda watched silently.
This Arjuna looked nothing like the cold Commander he knew. This man looked human. Vulnerable. Terrified of losing everything.
The door finally opened. The doctor stepped out, smiling.
Arjuna rushed forward and grabbed his collar. "My wife?! My child?!"
"They are both perfectly fine," the doctor said warmly. "Congratulations, Mr. Das. You have a healthy, beautiful boy."
Relief crashed over Arjuna. Tears filled his eyes as a huge smile broke across his face. His friends immediately surrounded him, shouting congratulations and slapping his back.
Arjuna ran to the glass window. Inside, Priya rested against the bed, gently holding the sleeping newborn.
He stared, lips trembling.
When he finally stepped inside, Priya looked up and smiled tiredly. "Come here."
Arjuna sat beside her, pressing his forehead to hers.
"Thank you…" he whispered, voice cracking. "Thank you so much, Priya."
Priya laughed softly. "Stop crying already."
"I'm not crying."
"You absolutely are."
She lifted the baby. "Hold your son."
Arjuna panicked. "What if I drop him?!"
"Stop acting like a crybaby. Take him."
Arjuna carefully received the baby into his large, battle-hardened hands. The newborn slept peacefully. He stared at the tiny face, completely mesmerized. Slowly, he touched the baby's hand with one finger.
The baby grabbed it.
Arjuna broke.
"He grabbed my finger!" Tears streamed down his face as he laughed and cried at the same time. "He grabbed it… He's so strong already…"
His friends crowded around, laughing and teasing him. But Arjuna only had eyes for his son.
In that moment, he looked happier than any king on his throne.
Veda watched everything from above in heavy silence.
He saw himself in that scene, not the baby, but the man holding him. The way Arjuna looked at his son with tears and wonder… it was exactly how he had once looked at Gita's belly, dreaming of a future that would never come.
This Arjuna was not a dead stone.
He was a father. A husband. A man who once loved with everything he had.
Veda's voice came out low and heavy.
"…Then what happened to you?"
He stared at the joyful father below.
"What turned you from this man… into the cold stone I met?"
Young Veda said nothing. He simply watched Veda with that ancient, unreadable smile as the scene slowly began to fade.
But the question lingered in the air like smoke.
Heavy.
Unanswered.