On their way to Karena's house, Zacharias told her in thrilling detail how his duel with Nero went. "He has great potential to become a Knight of the Inquisition." He finished. "But it is a shame that he spends a great portion of his time trying to court women…"

"He is as skilled as you then?" Karena asked curiously as the two of them walked down the path to her house.

"Very much so…" Zacharias trailed off in thought as the two of them came to a stop at the front steps. "Has he…perhaps become the target of your affections?"

"No of course not Zachary!" Karena answered quickly. "He might be very flattering and yet enjoyable to spend time with, but he is not the kind of man I want to be with in a romantic way."

Instantly Zacharias felt the urge to ask what kind of man it was that she did want, but decided against it, for he did not want to pressure her. This in turn caused an awkward silence to fall between them, which Zacharias broke by wishing her a goodnight. He then turned away and made a move to leave, but Karena calling out, "Wait Zachary!" brought him back to her.

"What is it Karena?" he asked with concern.

"Ah, um…could you…close your eyes for me?" she answered with great difficulty, blushing a deep red.

"What for?"

"I want to give you something, but I cannot do it while your eyes are open…"

The knight gazed at her silently for a moment, confused at her words. But he decided to consent to it, closing his eyes with expectations and ponderings about what her gift was going to be.

In the meantime, Karena was thinking that she was utterly crazy for trying to pull something like this. But she quickly cleared her mind and gently cupped Zacharias' chiseled face in her hands before pulling it closer to hers.

This made him blush a little, as he could feel her soft breath on his lips. He wanted to open his eyes to see what Karena was up to, but only shut his eyes tighter. Suddenly he felt a peculiar pressure of softness pressing up against his lips. As soon as it was there, it was gone, as he opened his eyes to see that Karena had pulled away from him. The two gazed at each other blankly, before the realization set in. Eyes widened and cheeks went bright red, as Zacharias stumbled over his words.

"I closed my…and then you…Did we just…?" he managed to utter as Karena began to realize what just happened.

"Oh, what have I done?!" she said with great distress as she turned away from Zacharias to hide the teary eyed embarrassed look on her face. "I just thought about what Rouge said and before I knew it I was…" – she trailed off into sobs – "Zachary, I'm terribly sorry but please don't expect to see me ever again!"

She was about to run up the stairs and isolate herself again for a few more years, when the knight quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Karena, you know I wouldn't be able to live if you disappeared from my life once more…" he said softly.

She stopped and gazed back at him with wide eyes, tears still threatening to pour down her cheeks. She said nothing in protest, nor did she struggle against his gentle grip, so he continued. "What I truly want to say though…is…" Zacharias told her, being quite serious about the matter. "Karena…if you would permit me, I would like to reply to your kiss…with my own."

"You actually want to…kiss me back…?"

"Yes Karena…very much so…"

She turned her gaze away, thought for a long time, and then finally gave a small nod in reply before turning her whole body to face his.

Zacharias then let go of her wrist, and brought her closer to him by wrapping his right arm around her waist. Then, after raising her chin ever so gently with the other hand he closed the gap between their lips. Instantly Karena tensed up at the contact, but after a moment relaxed into it, letting her tears flow down her cheeks, thus making the kiss a little salty. He was about to pull away out of concern for this, but she stopped him by deepening the kiss while resting her left hand on his cheek. He immediately reciprocated this, and moved his left hand to the back of her head, enveloping her in his arms.

This went on for a while, before the dark clouds in the sky poured down on them as suddenly as it had done at the beginning of their date. The couple pulled apart in surprise before taking cover under the porch, then got caught in a surprising fit of laughter, as they both looked hilarious – like someone had dumped a bucket of water on them.

Once the laughter had died down, Zacharias turned his loving gaze to the woman standing beside him and said, "I love you, Karena Edwards…"

At this moment, everything became clear to Karena, as she now knew exactly how she felt about the loving knight in shining armor standing before her, and expressed them in six simple, life changing words…

"I love you too, Zacharias Barnham."

-The Next Day-

"So nothing really interesting happened last night?" Espella asked, making sure that her friend hadn't left out any details of her first date.

"Apart from the sudden downpour and the events at Rouge's tavern, nothing really happened." Karena answered normally.

"What a shame." Patty commented. "I would have liked to see you so sure of your feelings for the Inquisitor…"

"Same here." Espella agreed, pouting a little.

Karena didn't say anything, but blushed a little while flashing them a warm smile, just as Zacharias stepped into the bakery.

"Good morning ladies!" he greeted quite happily with a charming smile.

"Good morning Sir Barnham." Patty replied as she moved to her place at the counter. "Will it be the usual for you then?"

"Yes ma'am, but add on a slice of your finest walnut bread." The knight said to her while she got his order ready to go.

After he paid for it, he turned to face Karena, placing the slice of her favorite bread into her waiting hands. "Thank you Zachary," she said, grateful for the gift. "But you really didn't have to."

"I felt that I did…for the woman I love." He then gave her a quick peck on the cheek, before saying farewell.

Unfortunately as he was heading towards the door, his soft gaze was still trained on Karena that he came dangerously close to running into the doorframe.

"Oh, Zachary watch out!" Karena warned him just as it happened. "Oh dear…are you okay?"

"Not to worry. It was just a little bump." Zacharias answered, still in a good mood.

"Do you want me to take a look at it?"

"No need. I shall see you later Karena." He then disappeared out the door, leaving Karena giggling and shaking her head at what just happened. She then turned her to the two women there with her, and that's when she saw their surprised expressions.

"You are such a fib Karena!" Espella exclaimed, upset with her friend.

"What?!" her friend uttered with shock. "I lied about nothing. I just chose not to tell you that part yet…"

"Well you've got to now!" Patty told her. "You can't just let a scene like that go without an explanation!"

Karena thought for a long moment, before flashing them a playful grin, as she gave into their begging. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you!" she said with a smile while starting to blush. "Zachary had just walked me home, and he started to leave after wishing me a goodnight. That's when I remembered what Rouge had told me to try earlier…"