Chap­ter Thir­teen of “The Bread­win­ner” unfolds the chal­lenges Par­vana faces as she deals with sig­nif­i­cant changes in her life, par­tic­u­lar­ly regard­ing her sis­ter Noo­ri­a’s upcom­ing mar­riage and depar­ture to Mazar-e-Sharif for a new life away from the Tal­iban oppres­sion preva­lent in Kab­ul. The chap­ter begins with Par­vana query­ing Noo­ria about whether she tru­ly wants to leave their home and fam­i­ly behind. Noo­ria express­es her frus­tra­tion with the cur­rent sit­u­a­tion, reveal­ing her hopes for an edu­ca­tion and a brighter future in a place where girls can attend school with­out fear.

As the fam­i­ly pre­pares for the wed­ding, Par­vana feels exclud­ed and anx­ious about her father’s where­abouts, fear­ing what might hap­pen if he gets released from prison and can­not find them. Despite her protests, Moth­er insists that Par­vana must accom­pa­ny them to Mazar for the cer­e­mo­ny, high­light­ing the author­i­ty of par­ents over chil­dren and the com­plex­i­ties of famil­ial respon­si­bil­i­ties dur­ing tumul­tuous times. Par­vana’s rebel­lious spir­it is evi­dent as she express­es her dis­sat­is­fac­tion and stamps her feet in frus­tra­tion, to which her moth­er responds with author­i­ta­tive grace.

Even­tu­al­ly, the deci­sion is made to leave Par­vana in Kab­ul with Mrs. Weera for her safe­ty, as tak­ing her along could risk expos­ing her gen­der due to her boy­ish dis­guise. Par­vana feels con­flict­ed; while she is relieved to stay behind, she is sad­dened that her sis­ter is leav­ing. As Noo­ria pre­pares to depart, Par­vana gifts her a pen, a sym­bol of sup­port and con­nec­tion that would remind Noo­ria of her when she becomes a teacher.

The morn­ing of their depar­ture is bit­ter­sweet, filled with good­byes and emo­tion­al moments. Parvana’s world tem­porar­i­ly shrinks to just her­self, Mrs. Weera, and her grand­child in the days fol­low­ing their leav­ing, mak­ing her real­ize the empti­ness of their absence. She starts to recon­nect with her father’s books and her own iden­ti­ty, enjoy­ing new­found free­dom yet deeply miss­ing her fam­i­ly. After a rain­storm traps her in a bombed build­ing, Par­vana reflects on her iso­la­tion and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty but ulti­mate­ly falls asleep, only to be awak­ened by the sound of a woman cry­ing, sig­nal­ing a shift in her nar­ra­tive again. The chap­ter cap­tures themes of fam­i­ly dynam­ics, per­son­al aspi­ra­tions amidst soci­etal con­straints, and the strug­gles of grow­ing up in a war-torn land.