"Ready?", Aditya asked Zoya whom he was holding tightly in his arms. She just nodded her head in reply.

AdiYa's journey together began as Aditya carefully took the first step to his destination. Aditya slowly started climbing the stairs taking one step at a time. Zoya clutched the collar of his kurta with one hand snaking the other one tightly around his neck. Their faces were close to each other. His close proximity sent her heart racing. She could hear his heartbeats.

Soon Aditya was drenched in sweat owing to the scorching weather. He let the water ran down his forehead as he was holding Zoya with both the hands. Zoya noticed only now that he had a slight smile on his face.

Now she had the moment to admire him as he was not looking at her. He had a baby-like face, clean-shaven, unlined and perfectly sculpted with fine features making him as attractive as a man could be. His skin was fair and hairs silky covering half of his forehead.

Aditya's eyes flickered to her and Zoya quickly took away her eyes from him not wanting to get caught. Aditya again shifted his eyes to front smiling broadly this time clearly revealing his dimples. He knew Zoya was staring at him until he caught her.

It was around an hour and they had covered more than half the distance. Aditya thanked God in heart that he is a fitness freak and his stamina helped him a lot. He was sweating badly though but didn't even complaint once. Infact he made sure Zoya was comfortable. He kept asking her every few minutes if she was ok.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Harsh & Anjana had already reached the temple along with Arjun and were waiting for them. Anjana re-checked all the arrangements for the Pooja and made sure that they could start as soon as AdiYa reach the temple. She was little worried for Aditya as he had not eaten anything since morning and being his mother she knew that he can't stay hungry for long.

There were only around 70-80 steps left to climb. But Aditya was feeling tired as his hunger started playing off him. His stomach was empty & arms were hurting. But he maintained his composure securing Zoya safely in his arms. He decided to take rest for few minutes and sat on the stair with Zoya in his lap.

"Tum theek ho?", he again asked and Zoya hummed in the answer.

Zoya roamed her eyes everywhere so as not to look at him. It was silence and sunny. Aditya's one hand was still holding Zoya and from the thumb of the other hand he wiped the sweat off his forehead. And more sweat ran down his face because the sun was as bright as ever.

"Chale?", he asked Zoya getting up.

And he started the rest of the journey with determination to complete it so that he can start a new one with his would-be partner for life. And once again sweat trickled down his face. She took him by surprise when Zoya held out her saree pallu and wiped his face. For a moment, his eyes got locked in hers as he felt her touch. Though he didn't slowed down & kept going. Zoya didn't know how to broke from the eye contact since he was so close and the gaze was so intense, so unexpectedly to both of them she smiled and shying away withdrew the eye lock.

AdiYa soon completed the first part of their journey as Aditya touched the threshold of the temple. He carried her inside the temple where everyone was waiting for them. A sudden wave of happiness struck Anjana as she watched her son & bahu together. Aditya gently put Zoya down from his arms and Zoya set her saree properly.

"Adi-Zoya aao, pandit ji tumhara hi wait kr rhe h", Anjana called them.

Aditya-Zoya took their respective places in the centre in front of the idol of Maa Durga. On their left were standing Harsh-Anjana and Arjun was onto their right.

"Pandit ji bachche aa gye h. Aap Pooja shuru kr skte h", Harsh informed the old priest of the temple.

"Anjana ji, aapke parivaar me yeh parampara saalon se chali aa rhi h. Aur sabhi naye jode ne iss parampara ko nibhaya h. Dekh kr achcha laga ki ab aapke bete ne bhi parivaar ki parampara ko kaayam rakha h", the priest proudly declared.

He looks at Aditya and spoke, "Beta yeh rasam ko poora kr ke tumne yeh saabit kr dia ki tum dono ek dusre ke liye hi bane ho".

His attention then caught Zoya who was standing next to Aditya. He looks at both of them and with a kind smile spoke again, "Jo jodi yeh rasam poori krti h Maa Durga unhe saat janam tk saath rakhti hain". AdiYa looks at each other from sideways at his words.

"Zoya, hamare parivaar me har shubh kaam inke aashirwad ke bina adhura h. Tum bhi pandit ji ka aashirwad le lo", Anjana told her. She then gestured Zoya to take her pallu on the head.

Zoya caught up what Anjana said and immediately covered her head with her saree pallu. Zoya and Aditya together bow down and touched the priest's feet. He humbly put his hand on their head showering the couple with his blessings.

The priest put 'teeka' on everyone's forehead followed by the aarti. As everyone sang the prayer, he passed the grand 'diya' to the would-be couple first for doing Aarti. While Aditya held the deepak in his hands, Zoya automatically placed her hand on his and together they did the Aarti. Then they passed it to Harsh-Anjana to do the same followed by Arjun. After the aarti gets over, the priest served 'Prashad' to everyone and gave a flower straight from Maa Durga's feet to Aditya-Zoya.

After they ate the prashad, Pandit ji turned to Anjana. "Anjana ji, jaisa ki aapko malum h rasam ki ek aakhri aur ssbse vishesh vidhi abhi baaki h. Usske baad hi yeh pooja sampann hogi", he reminded her.

"Jii Pandit ji! Mujhe yaad h!", she told him politely.

"Maa, ab konsi rasam baaki h?", Aditya asked curiously as soon as Pandit ji went inside the small room where the idol of Maa Durga was kept.

"Adi, jaisa ki Pandit ji ne kaha iss pooja ki sabse zaruri rasam abhi baaki h. 'Sindoor Rasam' ke bina yeh pooja adhuri h ", Anjana told him.

Before Aditya could ask anything, Pandit ji came back with a small circular golden box in his hand. It was filled with vermilion of Maa Durga. He held it before Aditya.

"Beta ise apni patni ki maang me bhar kr yeh vidhi poori karo", he asked.

Aditya stood at his place surprised and unsure. He looked at Anjana who gave him an encouraging smile. He took the vermilion box nervously from Pandit ji.

"Adi soch kya rha h? Chal jldi se Zoya ki maang bhar de", Anjana pushed.

Aditya turned to Zoya only to find her more shock than he was. He could tell that she wasn't comfortable. But didn't say anything & kept her eyes down waiting for him to do what was asked. His hands trembled as he took a pinch of vermilion and applied it to her forehead. Zoya closed her eyes as soon as his hand touched her.

"Pooja ji vidhi sampann hui", Pandit ji concluded with a relief.

Zoya opened her eyes realising what had just happened. A lone tear formed in her eyes when she touched her forehead and found her maang filled with red. Surely she hadn't seen it ever as a rasam in any of her family weddings as she belong to a different religion. But she knew what it means and what value it holds in a girl's life.

Meanwhile, Harsh-Anjana themselves touched Pandit ji's feet taking his blessings. Harsh then presented him with the 'Dakshina' and some money for 'Daan Peti' of the temple. He then got busy discussing something with him. And Anjana moved to Zoya.

Zoya quickly wiped her tear as she saw her coming. Anjana saw Aditya talking to someone over his phone behind Zoya near the pillar. She face-palmed Zoya and planted a kiss on her forehead showing her love.

"Aaj main bahut khush hu. Ab tum officially hamare parivaar ka hissa ban gyi ho. Ab tumhe aur Adi ko koi bhi alag nhi kr skta", Anjana was in a jubilant mood. Zoya stuggled with the last words of Anjana.

"Saara pyaar aaj hi lutaogi apni bahu pr?", Papa Hooda teased Anjana from behind.

"Kyun na lutau? Meri Bahu h hi itni pyaari!", she replied side-hugging Zoya.

At that moment Aditya joined them finishing his phone conversation.

"Adi tu kis se baat kr rha tha?", Anjana interrogated as soon as he came.

"Maa-Paa, Airport se call tha. Mujhe ek week mein hi join krna hoga", he bursted the news.

"Pr Adi tune to 2 weeks ki leave li thi na?", Papa Hooda asked.

"Haa Paa, pr abhi abhi promotion mila h. Isliye jldi join krna padega", he told.

"Pr Adi teri shaadi h. Ek hafte me kaise", Anjana was complaining but Harsh interrupted her. At that moment Arjun who was also busy on his phone until now joined the group.

"Anjana woh keh rha h na usse join krna padega. Aur phir hum bhi to yeh hi chahte the. Hai na?", Harsh tried to calm her down.

"Pr Harsh itni jldi sb kuch kaise hoga? Aur hum Waseem bhaisahab se kya kahenge?", Anjana argued.

"Tum uss sb ki fikar mat kro, sb ho jaega. Aur Waseem se main baat kr lunga", Harsh said concluding the discussion.

"Arjun", Papa Hooda called.

"Yes Dad", Arjun alerted.

"Tu janta h tujhe kya krna h", Papa Hooda hinted.

"Don't worry Dad, sb ho jaega", he assured.

"Anjana ab hume chalna chahiye. Phir tumhe tayaariyaan bhi to krni h", Papa Hooda said and left. Arjun left with him too.

"Adi, main aur tere Paa Arjun ki gaadi me ja rhe h. Hume kuch shopping krni h. Tu aur Zoya dusri gaadi me aa jana", saying that Anjana too went from there leaving behind Aditya-Zoya alone.

They looked at each other with a blank expression on their faces. Aditya then gestured Zoya with his hands towards the stairs. Without wasting time Zoya quickly led the way with Aditya following her.

Usually, there was this nervousness and shyness between them, but now there was awkwardness too after the 'Sindoor Rasam'. Zoya had taken the stairs from where Anjana, Harsh and Arjun had earlier come. And fortunately, the steps of these stairs were broader allowing them to walk with enough space between them.

After walking down few steps, Zoya started feeling dizzy. The sun was still hanging up the sky bright and warm. Unaware to Aditya's knowledge, Zoya too hadn't eaten anything since the morning and was feeling dehydrated by now. She felt weak with her stomach empty and was about to faint when Aditya caught her in time. She fell in his arms and he prevented her from falling holding her tightly from her waist.

"Are you okay?", he asked concerned.

"Yeah! I am fine", Zoya answered trying to regain her balance.

Aditya only left her when he was sure she could stand on her feet by her own. They started running down the stairs again and this time Aditya stood close by her so that if she might faint again, he would be there to catch her. Zoya, oblivious to the sudden decrease of gap between them, kept descending.

Finally they reached the foot of the stairs and walked to the car which was parked just opposite the road. Aditya unlocked the car and held the door open for Zoya showing his gentleman side. After Zoya sat properly on her seat, he shut the door and walked to his side taking up the driving seat.

**********

Hello guys! Here's the next update! I hope you'll like it.

Are you liking AdiYa's increasing closeness? What are you expecting from the upcoming chapters?

Answer me all the questions and your views regarding this chapter in the comment box.

Well I have an announcement to make! You'll be soon hearing AdiYa's wedding bells. Plus there are much more exciting things coming your way post their marriage. So gear yourself up!

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Keep reading, keep loving :)