The day of Aakash and Rachna's wedding soon arrived. Rachna had declined the option of having any pre-wedding functions, saying she simply wanted to have their marriage solemnized so they could begin the rest of their lives together.

Accordingly, they arranged a simple ceremony at the house. As Abhi watched the young couple go through the rituals, he wished his brain would bring forward some memories of his own wedding. He glanced at Pragya, trying to picture her in bridal red. His brain refused to supply the image, because she was looking too damn gorgeous in sheer pastel green.

He had left their room before she got dressed. It was a total shock to him when she came down in a sari that was so see-through, she might as well have been wearing a sheet of water. The heavy gold embroidery did little to hide her delicate curves from him. Her blouse seemed especially designed to torment him, with a snug band of satin hugging her bust and transparent full sleeves showing off her soft skin while covering it up so he couldn't actually touch it.

If he looked at her too long, his heart might stop.

For his health and sanity, he tried to focus on the mandap. No memories surfaced as he watched the pheras. It would be rude to ask Pragya questions while the ceremony was ongoing, so he made a mental note to ask her if there was a video of their wedding. It would not be as good as remembering it himself, but at least it could help fill the blank space in his mind where the memory should be.

Finally the ceremony concluded, and Aakash and Rachna were married. The way they smiled at each other sparked an answering joy in Abhi's heart. Witnessing their happiness filled him with hope for their future and the future of the whole family.

He was surprised that he felt this way. He had never gotten emotional at weddings before, in fact he used to consider them a waste of time. But something about having his very own wife, who he had grown to like very much, made him feel differently about the whole concept of marriage.

It seemed like a good thing, after all. To have someone to love and support you, to share your joys and your sorrows, to be there for you no matter what....it was incredible. Pragya had shown him that all of this was possible, and he could not be grateful enough.

He spared a thought of thanks for Daadi. As soon as she was back he would bow at the budiya's feet, in gratitude for choosing him the perfect wife.

"Suniye?" Pragya whispered up at him. "I have to go check on the catering, ok?"

Abhi nodded, doing his best not to look directly at her so his heart could keep beating.

As she brushed past him, her aanchal caught on his watch. She jerked against him as the pull halted her stride.

He glanced between them and started to laugh. "I thought this only happened in movies." He turned to tug the material free so she could move again.

She did not share his laugh, and when he looked at her, her face was twisted with...fear? He followed her gaze and saw that she was trying to give signals to a young man coming out of the kitchen.

The lad looked between them in confusion, and then met his eyes. Abhi watched in confusion as the colour drained from the younger man's face, and he turned swiftly back to the kitchen.

"Thank you," Pragya said quickly, starting to follow the boy. Abhi held her wrist to stop her, suddenly sure that something important was going on here.

"Who is that?" he asked in an undertone. A hundred suspicions jumped to mind, an uneasy undercurrent of jealousy in all of them. The boy looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't think of why someone like that would be afraid of him...unless he had a guilty conscience, for eyeing his wife?

"It's my cousin Puneet," Pragya pulled free of his hold. "He's helping my uncle in the kitchen, I just have to go check -"

"I'll go with you," Abhi said, sliding his arm around her waist instead. Logically he knew he had no reason to be possessive in relation to her cousin, but something about the whole situation felt unsettling and he was not willing to let her go away from him.

"You don't need to, it's really not -" she started to protest, but as he walked them both in the direction of the kitchen she couldn't stop him.

She fell silent, but agitation still radiated off her. Her body had gone stiff, as if she didn't want his arm around her. The thought annoyed him, and he spread his palm flat on the curve of her waist.

Which turned out to be mistake. The sensation of her bare skin under his hand created havoc in his brain. He wanted to pull her behind a pillar and kiss her senseless, and it was a struggle to remind himself that he couldn't. Because she didn't want to, and because they were actually in the middle of something that might be important.

When they made it to the kitchen, they found Mamaji and Puneet busy filling the dishes for the small buffet that would be put out after the wedding ceremony. Puneet kept his head down and avoided looking at them, but Mamaji looked up with a smile and greeted them heartily.

"Damadji! Glad to see you well," he said, not pausing for Abhi's response before he turned to Pragya and continued, "Pragya beti, we are running short on the paneer, we can make a refill but it might take some time."

"That's ok, Mamaji," Pragya said easily. "Just take the dish away when it's empty. I don't think it will be a problem."

Abhi watched quietly as Pragya went forward and reviewed the food arrangements. None of the family members spared him a second glance, completely engrossed in their work. Puneet was still avoiding his eye, and the more he watched the more a nagging feeling developed in Abhi's brain that he needed to remember something about the boy.

He could not for the life of him guess why Pragya's young cousin would have anything to do with the secrets in his life. Pragya had never even mentioned Puneet to him, although she had told him all about how her Mamaji would be catering the wedding. Seeing how both Pragya and Puneet had not wanted Abhi to meet him made Abhi curious.

What was going on that would make his wife hide her cousin from him? And what was the young lad so afraid of, that he was doing everything in his power to dodge Abhi's gaze?

Pragya returned to him after concluding her review with her uncle. "It's all sorted," she said. "You didn't have to wait for me." She smiled at him, but there was a strain at the corners of her mouth. It was a completely different sight than the genuine smiles that he'd become familiar with in the last few days.

"Where you go, I go," he said, keeping his voice light. He would dig into this later, but now was not the time for an argument. He led her back to the main hall.

The rest of the wedding passed without incident, though Abhi noticed Puneet never came out of the kitchen again.

Whatever the mystery was, Pragya seemed to put it out of her mind. She led all the rituals for Rachna's grih pravesh with a warm, laughing smile.

Abhi liked watching her in her element. She fit so well into his family, her genuine care and attention to everyone's needs obvious in everything she did.

It amazed Abhi that he'd never thought about this before, that if he married someone she should want to be a part of his family and play her own role in it. Pragya seemed to take these responsibilities naturally, like she didn't even mind it.

Had Daadi seen that in her? A horoscope and a biodata could not tell you that much about a person. How had Daadi known that Pragya would be such a good bahu for their family, and such a good wife for him?

He supposed maybe that was the magic of Daadis. Someday he would ask her about how and why she'd chosen Pragya. But for today, he was grateful enough that she had.

***

Pragya was relieved when Rachna and Aakash's wedding went off without a hitch. Taiji was still unhappy, but now at least the deed was done, and Rachna and Aakash were together as they should be. Aakash was determined to take good care of his wife and coming baby, and Pragya truly believed that he would.

When she'd first learned of Rachna's pregnancy, she had thought that Aakash and Rachna's poor decisions were just due to age and impulsiveness. But she had come to see that they truly did love each other. She was thankful that they would get the chance to build a life together despite the difficulties they had faced to get to this point.

And, whether he acknowledged or not, the person most responsible for their second chance was Abhi. Pragya was deeply proud of Abhi for standing up for the right thing. Before his attack, he had washed his hands of the whole matter, saying it was not his problem. But now, with a few simple conversations, he had changed everything. His support was all that had been needed to fix a hopeless situation.

She was amazed to think that he could have so much power. It made her sad, thinking that when he was back to his normal self, he would go back to the selfish decision-making she had always seen from him.

But...that was the real Abhi, and there was no point being sad about it. He had the right to live his life however he wanted. Just because she didn't agree with his choices and judgments did not mean she could wish for him to just...not come back.

Finally, to herself, she could admit that a part of her just did not want the old Abhi back. It was an absolutely horrible, unfair thought, but this new, post-attack Abhi was so kind, so sweet, so fair...she didn't want him to disappear when Abhi got his memories back.

She wished there was a way to have both. The bold, brash rockstar who had no fears in the world. And, this responsible, loving man who followed his heart.

She was more aware than ever that the current Abhi was growing too attached to her. He was constantly looking out for her welfare, asking if she had eaten or rested. He loved touching her. He never crossed the boundaries but more often than not, he would find an excuse to put an arm around her shoulder, or set his hand on her waist. He'd even started kissing her forehead and the top of her head multiple times a day. It was hard to feel like she should tell him not to do that, because it was never anything romantic or sexual. It was affectionate, friendly, undemanding.

She thought it was enough that she wasn't doing anything to encourage him. But if he was growing more attached to her, did she need to start doing something to actively discourage him? When he got his memories back, Abhi would be unhappy to think that he had "made a fool of himself" over her. He would blame her for allowing these casual caresses. He would surely tell her that it was her fault for not keeping better distance between them.

Pragya didn't want to face those accusations. She didn't want Abhi, in his restored health, to have anything to blame her for.

When he got better, she wanted to just go back to the way things were, quietly finish their divorce, and move on with the rest of her life.

And it was no use thinking that maybe they could go on this way, maybe he'd never get better and she could stay in this marriage.

Sooner or later Abhi would have his memory back. And she needed to be prepared for that day.

And that meant that no matter how bad she felt doing it...she had to create distance between Abhi and herself, starting now. She had to stop the attachment and affection in its tracks.

Abhi might need to believe, for now, that she really was his wife. But she could not make the mistake of letting him care about her and be close to her.

And so that night, after Aakash and Rachna's wedding, after leaving them in the room she and Mithali Bhabhi had decorated for their suhaag raat, Pragya went to bed before Abhi, and she slept on the couch.

She was awake when he came in, but she pretended that she was asleep and didn't notice his entry. She could feel him standing there, watching her, for what felt like forever. To her surprise, he even straightened her pillow and spread out her blanket to cover her better. Then, finally, he went to bed.

As they lay in the dark together, she could almost pretend it was like the old days, when Abhi had preferred her to stay on the couch instead of next to him on the bed. She could almost pretend that nothing had changed, and that very soon her life would be back to normal.

She just couldn't make herself believe it.