There are battles no man is prepared for.
War.
Love.
Family WhatsApp groups.
But even beyond those—
There was one challenge feared by gods, villains, and emotionally unstable men alike.
Meeting grandmother is...
Not just any grandmother.
His grandmother.
The woman whose opinions shaped bloodlines.
The woman who could detect lies through phone calls.
The woman who had already unofficially approved Mira and spiritually adopted Nysera.
And today—
She was arriving in person.
From Jaipur.
With luggage.
And judgement.
Aarav stood in the living room at 8:03 AM, staring at the clock like it was counting down to execution.
Rohan sat nearby with tea and entirely too much happiness.
"I have cancelled all plans."
A pause.
"This is premium mythology."
Traitor.
Professional traitor.
His sister was cleaning for no reason except emotional intimidation.
His younger cousin had been assigned "station duty", which meant opening the gate dramatically.
His father had entered silent survival mode.
Wise.
Anciently wise.
His mother?
His mother was calm.
Which meant everyone else should panic.
Across the room sat the future women.
Aelina looked politely prepared.
Mira looked like she was preparing for verbal combat.
Selene stood like she was about to attend a military inspection.
Nysera somehow looked like she had been born approved.
Unfair.
Cosmically unfair.
And then—
Orion.
Former Null Sovereign.
Destroyer of timelines.
Currently holding a box of sweets and looking more nervous than during the collapse of reality.
That alone was worth historical documentation.
Aarav stared at him.
"You fought my alternate self and rewrote existence."
Orion nodded.
"Yes."
"And this scares you more?"
He looked at the front door.
"Your grandmother has a stronger presence."
Correct.
Painfully correct.
Even Selene nodded.
"She radiates command authority."
Finally.
Someone understood.
Then—
the car horn.
Silence.
Everyone straightened.
His cousin ran in screaming—
"DADI HAS ARRIVED!"
And just like that—
The final boss entered.
The front door opened.
His grandmother walked in like royalty returning to inspect her kingdom.
Elegant saree.
Sharp eyes.
Zero patience.
Infinite emotional power.
She didn't walk.
She arrived.
Everyone stood.
Even Orion.
Instinct.
Ancient survival instinct.
She looked first at Aarav.
Then his mother.
Then the girls.
Then Orion.
And then—
without greeting anyone—
She said:
"Which one kissed him first?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Rohan physically left his body.
His sister hit the wall laughing.
Aarav considered becoming mist.
Gone.
Spiritually gone.
Mira, to her eternal and terrifying credit, raised one hand.
"I did."
His grandmother looked at her.
Long.
Careful.
Then nodded once.
"Good."
A pause.
"Never trust a man who takes too long."
Approval.
Legendary approval.
Mira had officially conquered the final kingdom.
His mother looked proud.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Then Grandmother turned to Orion.
The room changed.
Because this was different.
This was the former apocalypse meeting with the elder authority.
She narrowed her eyes.
"And you."
Orion stood straighter.
Like a schoolboy being called by the principal.
Yes, the former Null Sovereign was now experiencing consequences.
Beautiful.
She pointed at him.
"I heard you tried to destroy time."
No one breathed.
Orion, with the honesty of a man who had lost every argument with fate, replied—
"Yes."
A pause.
"I was going through something."
Silence.
Then—
Rohan screamed into a cushion.
Even Selene looked away to hide what might have been laughter.
Nysera, traitor goddess, whispered—
"Technically accurate."
Grandmother stared for exactly three seconds.
Then—
"Good. At least you admit it."
What.
No dramatic judgement?
No ancient condemnation?
Just accountability?
She nodded.
"Men become stupid when grieving."
His grandfather, somewhere in the afterlife, probably felt attacked.
His father coughed into his tea.
Personal trauma triggered.
Grandmother continued—
"Did you apologise properly?"
Orion blinked.
"…To reality?"
"No. To your father."
Ah.
There it was.
The real battlefield.
The room softened.
Because suddenly—
This wasn't funny.
Orion looked down.
For the first time since arriving—
truly uncertain.
"Yes."
A quieter pause.
"But I do not know if it was enough."
Grandmother's expression changed.
Still strong.
But softer.
Older.
Wiser.
She walked closer.
And said the kind of sentence only grandmothers could make sound like law.
"Good apologies are never enough."
Silence.
Even Rohan shut up.
She placed one hand on his shoulder.
Warm.
Certain.
"You do them anyway."
Orion stood there like someone who had crossed centuries and still needed exactly that.
Not judgement.
Permission.
To keep trying.
His voice was quieter now.
"…I understand."
And somehow—
that mattered more than any cosmic battle.
Then—
Balance returned.
Grandmother turned to Nysera.
And immediately asked—
"Why are you so calm?"
Nysera blinked.
"I have had five thousand years of perspective."
Grandmother nodded.
"Suspicious."
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Then Aelina—
"You are the responsible one."
Aelina, polite and doomed, nodded.
"Yes."
Grandmother approved.
Good.
Then Selene.
Long silence.
Finally—
"You would bury bodies if needed."
Selene answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
Grandmother nodded.
"Useful."
Highest compliment possible.
Then—
Aarav.
At last.
She looked at him like a woman reviewing years of disappointing decisions.
"Why do you still look confused?"
He answered honestly.
"Because this became my life."
She sighed.
"Yes. And somehow you are still underdressed."
Cruel.
True.
Cruel.
The room laughed.
Warmly.
Loudly.
Humanly.
And just like that—
The impossible became ordinary.
Future wives.
Former villains.
Grandmother's approving emotional development.
This was life now.
Ridiculous.
Messy.
Beautiful.
As lunch began and everyone moved toward the dining table, Rohan whispered beside Aarav—
"Bro."
Aarav already knew.
"No."
"Yes."
He smiled like a criminal prophet.
"Mira won grandmother's approval."
A pause.
"Brother… that is basically destiny signing documents."
Aarav looked across the room.
At Mira.
Talking quietly with his mother.
Not uncomfortable anymore.
Not distant.
Here.
Staying.
And for the first time—
That future didn't scare him.
It felt like home.
Terrifying.
But home.