Michael gulped. "I guess we should…," he replied to her.
Normally, eating with Yuna shouldn't be that big of a deal. After all, they normally ate together during lunch and sometimes even dinner at their headquarters back in Angora City.
But this time, they're alone with each other. Zion wasn't here to liven up the place. Sheina wasn't here to arrange everything. Even Fudge wasn't here, who usually sat beside him and Yuna.
Not only that, but the candlelit dinner and the atmospheric surroundings made this even more romantic than it should be. Michael would even mistake this for a date.
"Ummm…this is good. Try it, Michael."
Yuna didn't seem to have any problem with the awkwardness as she continued to eat the full course meal.
Michael eventually shook his head.
This is just a normal dinner with friends, he said to himself. No need to overanalyze.
Once he was in that mindset, he found it much easier to pick up the spoon and start eating.
But just then, Yuna accidentally dropped one of her knives to the ground, just in front of Michael's feet.
Since he was closer to it, Michael decided to be a gentleman and pick it up for her.
But what he didn't expect was that she would also pick up the knife.
As he reached for the knife, his hand bumped into hers, making him feel the warmth of her touch.
Once Yuna got her knife back, they both returned to their seats.
"Michael, are you alright?" she asked him.
"Yeah. I'm cool," he replied. But she could plainly see that there was an obvious blush on his face.
Yuna covered her mouth, giggling to herself. A slight blush also appeared on her cheeks as she stole glances at Michael.
However, he didn't seem to notice this as he was too busy trying to act aloof and nonchalant at this dinner date.
No, this is not a dinner date. It's just dinner. It's not even the slightest bit romantic, he thought to himself just as the rose petals from Bart and Lylia's table got swept up by the wind and slowly went over to their table.
Okay, weird coincidence, but still, this is not romantic at all.
It was in that moment that Michael felt a cool feeling in his hands. He looked down and saw a single speck of white powder that landed on the back of his hand.
But upon closer inspection, he realized that this was not just a powder.
It was snow!
Both he and Yuna looked up at the same time, witnessing as numerous beautiful and unique snowflakes rained down from the night skies.
Michael raised his hand, letting some of it fall onto his palms. And with his Supreme Talent, he knew without a doubt that this was snow.
After all this time, the special clouds that he had planted in the skies had finally grown large enough to change the very climate of the desert.
These special clouds that he got from the Dwarven Kingdom consumed smoke from the ground and transformed them into all kinds of mana. This meant that if it had grown large enough, these clouds could even bring rain or even snow in this 'desolate' desert.
And with their factories constantly billowing out smoke from production, it had finally grown large enough to produce snow. It was a miracle.
"Snow in a desert?" Yuna said, smiling. "Is there anything you can't do?"
Michael shook his head.
Okay, this is pretty romantic, he admitted.
And it was at that moment that they suddenly heard a branch cracking to the side.
Michael quickly turned around only for him to see his worst nightmare.
"Oh my god! Look hon! They're having a date too! It's a double date!" Lylia said, wiping a tear in her eye. She looked up at the skies as if the goddess herself had finally intervened and made her dreams come true.
"Our boy has grown up," Bart said, tapping Lylia's shoulders.
Michael glared at him with a look of betrayal, as if saying, really? After all that I've done for you tonight?
"It's not what it looks like," he said to them to quickly solve the misunderstanding.
"My boy here is quite the responsible man," Bart said, approaching Yuna. "He'll take care of you."
"Oh, how wonderful! I hear church bells ringing! I knew that this would happen," Lylia said, clapping in happiness.
"Mom, this is not a date. And we're still too young to even think about marriage!"
Yuna backed him up. "We're not together yet," she said.
Lylia and Bart paused for a moment before turning around to have a quiet conversation with each other.
"She said…'yet'," Bart whispered.
"Our son still has a chance. She clearly is interested too, he just doesn't have the courage, I tell you!"
Michael coughed. "Guys, we can hear you."
But they didn't seem to care. They turned around and slowly backed away from Michael and Yuna.
"Well then, we'll let you continue your friendly date," Bart said sarcastically.
"Bye bye!"
And before he could even catch up to them, Lylia suddenly manifested two giant vines in the ground that wrapped over them both and slowly lowered them down the cliff and back to the Nation of Reborn.
Michael sighed. Why can't they all just act normal?
"Sorry about that," he apologized to Yuna.
"It's okay. They're fun."
"Let's go back. I don't want to give them any more ammo."
Since Yuna couldn't fly, Michael used the tablecloth from the table and summoned his Diva. He took out the switch from his pocket and attached it to the cloth, making it freeze in place. Now, the tablecloth acted like a solid piece, which made it easier to use a [Flight] spell on.
He hopped on to the floating tablecloth and held his hand out for Yuna to grab.
Yuna looked at the tablecloth and couldn't help but remember the iconic animated movie with a magic carpet. That was a pretty romantic movie as well.
But from the look on Michael's face, he didn't seem to notice the similarities.
"You coming?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, prince ali," she replied with a hushed voice.
"Did you say something?"
Yuna chuckled. "It's nothing. I just said that the scenery looks pretty."
Once they were both on board, Michael flew the 'magic carpet' on the snowy skies, returning to the Nation of Reborn.
Yuna couldn't help but take a sneak peek at Michael, with his golden hair flowing from the wind.
This is a very memorable first date, she thought to herself.
…
…
…
On the very next day, the Nation of Reborn was in a complete uproar as they walked out of their hotels, their inns, and their houses only to see a pile of snow in the streets.
Both tourists and Rebornians alike rejoiced at this unexpected miracle. Who knew that they could play snowball fights in the middle of a desert?
This seemed to symbolize what the Reborn company could do. They could bring snow to the desert. They could bring life to a desolate place!
The day that Reborn made snow in a desert would be something that they would remember forever.