This separation was very much necessary for both of them to realise from where the other party's fear/insecurities was stemming from. Otw, both of them had kept the other person on a pedestal and that was really turning boring because at the end both are human beings with raw emotions and a couple being lovey-dovey & so understanding 24/7 can never be realistic. So one day the insecurities and flaws that was getting subdued in their love and selflessness, had to be addressed and what better reason than loss of Cheeku can make the conflict look real. Because, only loosing Cheeku could lead to both having equal stand in the conflict. If it was Gudiya, Aryan would have been at the receiving end while Imlie would be receiving all sympathy including Aryan's. Also, Gudiya was needed to be kept alive to show Aryan the mirror that you don't need a particular relation to feel for a helpless kid.
For Aryan to understand that it's not because Gudiya was AKT's child that Imlie was fighting Gudiya and for the insensitiveness he showed in the last track when Imlie voiced out how the word Najayaz triggered her past, he has to see it in front of his eyes what Meetti & Imlie had to suffer during her childhood and he will witness it through Imlie & Cheeni's story when he reaches PD post leap. He himself will jump into defending them and only after that he will come to know Cheeni is Gudiya, so that he will realise Imlie too was just doing the same thing when she was fighting to save Gudiya from Malini. Only then he will realise that he was wrong in bringing up AKT's name in today's fight. And once he realise, I want to see him whacking some sense into Imlie on how she is robbing Cheeni of her childhood by using her as an accomplice in her sting operations, as if she didn't get a grown up person from her village to do the same. Where has Madhav vanished?
Coming to Imlie, she always knew about Aryan's fear of loosing his dear ones and has been assuring him of not letting it get repeated. But has she ever tried to understand from where his fear is stemming up? I will say never. If she did, she would have been more careful w.r.to Cheeku. She has always seen a strong Aryan who goes weak at times and her thought process was, now that I am here I will not let it happen. So, for Imlie to understand from where Aryan's constant fear of losing her aroused & why he didn't want it to be repeated, she has to witness with her own eyes how pain & loneliness has crumbled an otherwise strong & shrewd Aryan into a laid-back person & being a pawn in Malini's hands. Only then she will realise why she shouldn't have left Aryan for the foolishness he said/did today. And I am hoping to see a more matured version of Imlie dealing with Malini in the upcoming track; not the same Imlie jumping onto another 'Save Aryan from Malini' mission.