"Do you remember when you first came here?"

The young man from a distant land smiled at the memory. "I fell to my knees in the doorway," he recalled. "The light from above blinded me; I could only see those magnificent pillars, the ornate carving above them, the silent, motionless figures along the walls."

"I came over to you," the girl said. "I had to ask what you were doing."

The young man dropped to one knee and pressed a hand to the cool marble of the floor. "I looked up at you, like this," he said, "and I couldn't think of anything to say but: 'I'm praying'."

"I thought that you thought it was a temple," the girl said with a grin. "That you saw our readers and imagined them the images of gods... I know better now."

"So do I," the young man said. "I will never be ashamed of my love for the library again."