Aditya did not speak anything, it was not because he was too emotionally excited but for the mere fact that he did not want words to adulterate this moment. He only wanted to experience this feeling of being together with his elder sister Maahi as all restraints were torn away from his heart one by one.
He wanted this action of his to herald the start of the transformation of the relationship he had with Maahi. Aditya was still not clear about the nature of his dreams. He did not know if they were just visions of the future or if they were something else. He did not want to think about these things now as he immersed himself in the peace that surfaced in his heart as he securely held the delicate frame of Maahi in his hands.
The pain, that his heart had experienced in the dream world, slowly faded away like how a human body cools when we are bathing with cool water after a heavy workout. He felt his heart become steady as he held Maahi. As long as he held her in his arms, it helped him come out from the agony and torment he experienced in the form of the 'other' Aditya.
When someone is immersed in a dream, he does not realise that everything that he had experienced was a dream until he wakes up. So it was not like Aditya was seeing the dream from a third-person point of view where he was aware of the fact that it was all a dream. He was the 'other' Aditya in the dream and everything he felt was real, like how one experiences the reality.
For the first time, Aditya was able to strongly reject the usual lingering notions or doubts he had about dream and reality. Aditya looked at the woman in his arms, who had closed her eyes and leaned on his chest, with eyes filled with affection. He was now sure that the world, where his parents were not missing, was a dream because his elder sister Maahi was safe in his hands and not dead.
He was still not sure about his feelings for Maahi but that did not stop him from being together with her any more. Some might say that he was not being true to his heart and that they may face problems in the future. To them, Aditya would say, he would rather stay together with Maahi even if they can't achieve perfect happiness. It's not like every other couple who had followed their hearts stayed happy forever. He and Maahi would just remain as one of those unhappy couples and grow old together.
Aditya steadied himself once again before releasing the petite, charming woman in his arms. He had to explain himself and also put forward his proposition. But to his surprise, Maahi did not seem to have any ideas of releasing him as she held his waist tightly. A small smile could be seen on her lips as she inhaled Aditya's scent which was sweet and pleasant. It calmed down her mind as she immersed herself in this moment of blissfulness.
Maahi did not know what had motivated Aditya to come to her and act this way but she enjoyed this, just the same. No one but Maahi knew the pain she had inflicted upon herself by staying away from Aditya. Since she had known life, she was first introduced to fear, abuse, unhappiness and tears. Even though she finally experienced happiness and found solace in Aditya's family.
But still, she was not able to truly integrate into his family as there was sympathy and pity mixed in the care and affection shown by Aditya's parents. It somehow made her uncomfortable as if she was not been treated normally like how a real family member is usually treated.
But then, she came to know Adi who was just a five-year-old kid. He used to play and live in his world not having a care about anything else. This kid suddenly discovered that he had an elder sister who was a few years older than him. He suddenly felt a feeling of crisis as his parents seemed to pay more attention to her. This automatically placed this elder sister opposite of him. He would oppose her in everything and fight with her. He would try to bully her but failed miserably in the end.
Maahi felt the presence of Aditya as a breath of fresh air in her life. She was amused by this little brother of hers who was very mischievous and active. It was like he never got tired of playing around. Slowly, but surely this kid became a crucial part of her life. Slowly, Aditya also warmed up to her and both became the best friends while Maahi took care of Aditya.
But what bothered the young Maahi was that Aditya had many friends. Wherever he went, he would come back with a bunch of new friends. So, as time passed, Maahi found that Aditya was not spending as much time with her as he was supposed to be. This led to her attempt of forcefully occupying a part of Aditya's mind by scaring him with horror stories. Horror stories were the kind of stories which even if you were afraid of them, in the end, you want to listen to them, especially if the narrator was Maahi.
Slowly Aditya grew addicted to these horror stories and would bug Maahi to narrate some ghost stories. Though, in the end, he would be scared and run away, he would always come back for more. Maahi usually did not like horror stories but just for the sake of Aditya's undivided attention, she had made a habit of reading these stories.
So, one could imagine the pain that Maahi experienced these two years because of her decision to stay away from Aditya. But still, she endured because she did not want to hurt him. Sometimes, she would wake up in the middle of the night feeling cold, isolated and desperate. She hated herself for as she spent sleepless nights alone and confused. All these years, she had naturally formed a cover around her real self. So, even if she looked strong and happy to the outside world, no one, not even Qaima, knew her true self. In truth, she was still the same little girl, who was alone, waiting for her little brother to come to her and ask her to narrate stories to him.
But Maahi did not think, even in her most optimistic moment, that Aditya would come back to her in just two years and in this way. She opened her eyes and looked at Aditya with her chocolate coloured pupils as she asked with a blush of pink, "What happened?"
Aditya looked in his elder sister Maahi's eyes and was reminded of her last words in the video. His heart felt as if it was twisted forcibly, he held Maahi's small face with his two big palms as he stated, "I want us to be together forever."
Maahi's pupils trembled as tears started forming in her eyes. Her voice shook as she asked, "Why? What changed?" she wanted to confirm Adi's words again and again as her heart refused to believe that all that was happening was true.
Aditya's eyes blurred a little as he said, "a dream or rather a nightmare where I saw a future without you."
Maahi's heart constricted when she saw Aditya's eyes which seemed to be hiding pain and relief at the same time. She did not ask anything else as she nodded. She closed her eyes again as she rested her head on his chest. Aditya smiled at last as he led her to sit on a couch.
Maahi struggled a little before asking, "What if I end up hurting you?"
Aditya's pupils trembled when he heard the same words from the dream. He held Maahi tightly as he said, "Elder sister, I will willingly bear any kind of pain that you might inflict on me. Just like how I used to be scared by your stories but in the end, I would come back to you. But you have to know that I am not perfect either, it might end up with you being hurt instead of me. Are you willing to take the risk?"
Tears started flowing when Maahi heard these words. These were the words that she wanted to hear but not those honey-coated promises where one would say like 'Even the pain is happiness to me if it comes from you.' she nodded with a tear-stained face as she muttered, "I have taken that risk long ago when I had decided to tie up my happiness with you.". Aditya smiled as he nodded and remained calm.
Maahi calmed down a little as she asked with a teasing expression, "What about your girlfriend?"