Oh giggle! This is possibly my MOST favorite chapter.

A Tale of Devoted Vigilance
Eleventh

It happened.

The event wasn't planned; it wasn't even completely desired. It just happened.

It was a few days before Christmas, and as a tradition they recently started, Clopin and Semmary went to Notre Dame and re-enacted their meeting. Of course, the church was closed for the afternoon on the few days before Christmas, which was in favor for the two of them since they had a tendency to get quite silly in their reminiscing. Once Clopin landed several feet away from Semmary instead of right in front of her, and he had to frog-hop over to her. Semmary had broken into heavy bouts of hysterical laughter.

This year was different.

Clopin entered the cathedral first from where he'd come in three years ago.

Semmary waited a few minutes, then entered through the front door, walking at a brisk pace. She was going through déjà vu.

Clopin dropped from the ceiling, but instead of landing right in front of her or even a few feet away, he landed right on top of her. They fell, and after a few seconds of laughter and horseplay, Semmary found herself lying on him, their faces centimeters apart. They watched each other, their laughter dying down considerably.

Without warning, they both pulled their heads together and their lips met. It was more of an experiment than anything else; they wanted to see how it would turn out with each other.

Clopin pulled away and frowned. "Did you—?"

Semmary shut him up by kissing him again, and Clopin returned the kiss, holding her face in his hands. After a few seconds, however, Semmary pulled away sharply and sat up.

"Damn!" she cursed, standing up. She covered her face in her hands and turned her back to Clopin, who sat up, still frowning. She didn't notice that he didn't chastise her for swearing in the cathedral.

Clopin was confused. "There was…." He stared at the stone wall. "I felt…nothing."

"You too?" Semmary asked, distraught.

Clopin rubbed his forehead and stood up. "I don't understand."

"Maybe we're just supposed to be friends."

Those words stung both of them slightly.

"Let's," Clopin stammered. "Let's forget this whole thing."

For the first time since they met, Clopin and Semmary refused to look at each other.