| Kat then went to visit Clara in her quarters, eager to talk to her. "Clara, I must ask you," Kat said. "You are still my friend, but could you ever love me and be romantic as well?" Clara sighed deeply. "Kat, not this again," she groaned. "The last time you brought this up, I had to question what I believe." "And what is the problem with that??" Kat asked, arguing for herself. "I love you very dearly, much more so than anyone else, and I would one day love to marry you." Clara suddenly jumped up from her chair. "Listen to me!" Clara shouted. "I love you, too, but I am a friend, not a romantic lover. I will always be your friend, but I fear that I will be sinning if I marry you." "It is love, Clara!" Kat snapped. "Love, as pure as it can be. I would rather spend the rest of my life with you, and I think that S'Allumer would be pleased with our behavior, because we would love each other and cherish one another." Clara raised her hand to her head. "You're giving me a headache, you know," she said. "You seem to be forgetting about what our objective really is. We are supposed to be returning the world to a utopia, the way it used to be." "I've forgotten, perhaps," Kat said, raising a finger, "but so have you. We've been sitting here in Trillan for weeks, distracted by our duty as Guardians and our service to the kingdom. The sword still needs to be constructed; you seem to be forgetting that we still need the other half of the blade and the jewels for the hilt. I hope you were still concerned." Clara sighed very deeply; she almost began to cry. "We have failed ourselves, Kat," she said. "We have put so much energy into our own interests that we have disregarded ourselves. Even Salem would be ashamed of us. We may be Guardians, but just because we are doesn't mean we have to stay here to play the role. We may take our chivalry elsewhere and you may love me still, all the while completing our quest." "We are horrible people," Kat said, her head dropping. "I feel so guilty." "Don't feel bad, Kat," Clara said, holding Kat's hand. "We may be vastly different in many respects, but if we set aside our differences and cooperate as we always have, we will overcome our guilt and sorrow and be happy once more." Kat hugged Clara and cried a little. "Thank you, Clara," she sobbed. "I will make sure that we stay on task once more. Together, as the representatives of opposites, we will finish what we started." A day later, Kat returned to an enervated Jervin to tell him to call off his desperate research. She told him of her change of heart, that she would rather love Clara as a friend instead of being wed to her at the moment. Jervin was pleased with her selflessness and her desire to complete a worldly task. A great lesson was learned in their lives that day, that when differences are disregarded within a group, a task can be accomplished. Such was the way of the world, and that was something that Kat, Clara, and Jervin could all mutually agree upon. Back to Stories Back to "TAOK&C" Back to Home |