They both woke up with a smile. She looked at Paladin and gave him a gentle smile. Penny then decided to sit up. Paladin sat up right after her, but pulled her close into an embrace. She turned her reddened face away, but Paladin turned her head back towards him and smiled. "So what's this you need to tell me?" Paladin spoke with a gentle voice that calmed her nerves, yet made her even more nervous. "I... um... I have to tell you something important... well not really important, but it's something I need to get off my chest," her face turned even more red. Her nerves were so tensed up from the situation that she started to shake, but Paladin only tightened his grip on her and began to hum her favorite lullaby. She mindlessly whispered "I have a crush on you," which made Paladin stop humming completely. Did he hear right? "What was that you said, Penny?" "I said something?" "Apparently. In fact, I think you said you have a crush on me." Penny just sat their quietly. Paladin looked at her and her face was beat red as if she said the most embarrassing thing in the history of Amara. "Penny, my dear, please tell me the truth. Do you honestly see me as possibly more than a friend?" And with that Penny immediately ducked her head down. He grew concerned about her. "Are you okay? Are you sick? We can go home if you do not feel well." "... Paladin..." "I'm not going anywhere. Please say you are okay." Paladin was growing worried and thought that she got poison while she was away earlier in the morning. "... Either this is a normal feeling or I really am poisoned like you are thinking..." She then turned towards him with her face still beat red, but she was smiling. "Don't get mad at me for this," and with those words, she grabbed Paladin's shoulders and kissed him. Paladin was in total shock from the sudden gesture, but quickly recovered as he lifted her up and pulled her closer to him. They both refused to stop the simple kiss until at least five minutes went by (what felt like five minutes was really one minute). They broke the kiss. One looked into the other's eyes to see if both shared the same feelings. They were. Paladin kissed Penny gently on the forehead and whispered into her hair, "You are no longer my child, are you? You are... My lover?" "I guess I'm just that then," and they both began to laugh. "So, I must ask, how long have you felt this way for me?" Paladin asked playfully. "Actually, you should thank Wulder for this," "And why is that?" "Because... When I was just born... I met Wulder for the first time," she paused with Paladin stunned at what she said. "He told me every night for many years that if I became your servant and walked with him to make peace, that I could get a reward. He always said that. That was around the time Risto found out my abilities and was trying to recruit me willingly. But I wanted nothing to do with him. I wanted as far away from there as I could get. Then, the night before you came to take me from that, Wulder told me that you were going to save me and turn me into a powerful wizard. He also told me that night that we were meant to be together. At first, I saw it as a joke. But I guess I can't say that now, can I?" She snuggled herself close to Paladin's strong chest. He kissed her forehead once more and said "That explains it then." "Explains what?" "The feeling I had for you." It was his turn to blush. "When I first met you, I thought you were going to be a wonderful apprentice, my child, my friend. But when you were ten and you were, um, changing, you were always dating any random guy you could get your hands on. For some reason, I would get upset; like I wanted to lock you up and keep you to myself. I was always confused about that. Then today, a realization finally dawned on me. I couldn't believe that I had a crush on my student. But then I kept thinking and realized that I should have expected this to happen since we have grown so close. I guess I fell in love with you before I even realized it," and he looked up at the stars. Penny smiled at him and snuggled him even closer. "So does that mean we're dating now?" Penny thought to herself. "I guess this does, My Little Love." Paladin responded knowing that she was thinking to herself. She relaxed completely in his arms. They kiss one more time, but then notice it was getting brighter outside. They broke away and looked straight in front of themselves.The sun was coming up.
