The next week…

The guys have been on the battlefield for about fifty minutes, waiting for the enemy. Zachary and David were hiding in a trench, ready to attack. Every morning, Zachary had the intention to bring back all the guys he brought on the battlefield that day.

"They're here" David muttered. "Those motherfuckers" he added, holding his firegun.

"Wait until they're closer" Zachary whispered.

Someone probably moved too fast because the Germans started to shoot at them. Zachary held up his firegun and fired at them.

David shot at the Germans too, seeing them falling like flies around him. He used to play war with his friends when he was a kid but now, that wasn't a game at all.

Zachary heard a cry and turned around to see his friend in pain, a hand on his chest. Blood was flowing between his fingers, leaving his body. David's body felt numb and he started to get cold.

Zachary saw the enemy leave and looked around to see that two other guys had been shot. One in the leg, the other in the shoulder. He opened his bag and took his first-aid kit out of it. David was shaking in Zachary's arms.

"I don't want to die" he whispered, crying. "I just want to go home. I want to tell Catherine that I love her"

"HELP!" Zachary yelled. "PLEASE!"

He looked down at his friend. David's eyes were fixing him, no life in them. They seemed to plead for life, for help. He was surely dead in superhero. He had gave his life for his country.

The pain Zachary felt in his heart was so intense that he would've rather die. Fortunately, the others were alright, hurt but alright. Zachary just lost his first man.

Meanwhile…

Natalia had spent four hours per day in her room, trying to understand the English language, which seemed, at first, impossible. But now, she could use a few words. Salutations or simple stuff like that. The letters were in a mess and the verbs list was huge and full of different tenses. She was focusing on the present tense for now, which was more easy. What was tough was that she had nobody to help her. No one in her family spoke English and none of her friends understood. She didn't want to admit to anybody the reason why she wanted to learn English because they wouldn't understand. At night, when she couldn't sleep, she would study under her sheets at candlelight.

Three days later…

Zachary was walking in a certain neighborhood of Warsaw. The one where he met Natalia, twice. She wasn't at the general store 'cause he went in and asked. The man hadn't seen both of the girls in two weeks. He walked two hours and finally saw a brunette sitting in front of a house, reading an old book, all used up. The cover was ripped off and the pages were yellow-ish. The girl's hair were caught in the wind, which made her look even more beautiful. He didn't want to scare her or anything so he stayed on the sidewalk.

"Hi" he said.

She jumped and looked up to the sidewalk. When she saw him, she smiled big and put her book aside before walking to him.

"How are you?" Zachary asked, reading his notes.

He looked at her as soon as he finished his sentence.

"I'm fine, thanks" Natalia replied, blushing.

She opened the fence and motioned him to enter. They both walked to the house and they sat on the front stairs.

"I learn English" Natalia said, showing him her book. " I – "

She interrupted herself to look through it for what she wanted to say. Zachary smiled slightly, realizing what he looked like when he was searching his words to talk to her. The exception was that she was a hundred million times cuter than he was when he did so.

" I happy to see… you" she finished, looking up at him, as red as a tomato.

"I'm happy to see you too" Zachary said slowly for her to understand. "You are great" he added, talking about her learning skills.

Natalia looked through the pages of her book, searching for his last sentence. Zachary looked at her, slightly amused. God, she was cute.

Natalia finally found out what he had said and she smiled.

"Thank you" she said with an accent that could sweep you off your feet.

"You're welcome"

They talked for a while, mixing both their languages. They could, at least, understand each other a little bit since they've decided to learn the other language by themselves.

"You want to go for a walk?" Zachary asked slowly.

Natalia frowned. Now he was using too many words she didn't know. Zachary chuckled when he realized she didn't understand. He pointed at himself then at her and moved his fingers as if they were legs. Maybe it would be easier for her to understand. She looked at her house. She knew she couldn't leave without her sister or one of her brothers but nobody was home. She would probably be back by the time they would come back. She really wanted to go for a walk with Zachary.

"Yes" she answered.

She then nodded when she saw his confused face. He grinned and they walked away from Natalia's house.

After a while, Zachary took Natalia's hand in his as they kept talking in mixed polish-english, laughing at their own mistakes and helping each other in the pronunciation. Natalia didn't say anything and let her hand in his. The warmth of his hand was an amazing feeling. A boy never held her hand before and she didn't want to let go, she only wanted to enjoy the moment. Zachary's heart beat faster and he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. He looked at her and smiled. A boyish smile. Like a little boy who just had his first bike. He looked down at their hands to be sure he wasn't dreaming. But everything was so real.

Two hours later…

Zachary stopped walking when they reached her house.

"I hope I'll see you soon. I had a wonderful time."

She nodded.

"Me too"

She walked to the front door, looking at him one last time before entering the house. Zachary left after being sure that Natalia was safely inside.

Inside Natalia's house…

Natalia took off her shoes, letting them in the middle of the way like she always did. She walked to the stairs. Holding her book.

"Natalia Alicja Kovalska, come here right now" her father shouted from the living room as she was about to run up the stairs to her room.

The young woman stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes for a second, knowing she was in deep shit. She walked down the few stairs she had already climbed and went to the living room, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Where were you?" her father asked, mad.

"Outside" she muttered, looking down.

She knew she had broken a rule.

"With who?"

"No one" she lied.

"Exactly. You're perfectly aware that you can't leave this house alone. For the thousandth time, am I clear?" he lectured his daughter.

Natalia simply nodded.

"Up to your room, you stay there for the rest of the day, no dinner" he ordered.

She obeyed her father and went up to her room. She grew up in a household where the rules had to be perfectly followed. The only problem was that Natalia had the need to defy them. Her parents were severe, really severe, and she probably had skipped fifty meals in her fifteen years of existence.

She lied down on her bed, indifferent at her father's screams. She thought about the wonderful afternoon she shared with Zachary. She was sure now, she was in love with him. And she would defy her father a thousand time if she had to.