Disclaimer: Don't own Huntk: Secrets and Seekers or any of it's characters

Rating: T

Takes place in-between that month where they defeated The Betrayer, and when Dante became the newest member of the Huntik Council. Otherwise, what the summary said XD Enjoy the one-shot

"Listen to the truth and despair. Dante Vale is no more."

"No!" she cried, anguished, tears falling. "Dante..."

Just as suddenly, Dante appeared before her, reaching out a hand toward her. She tried to take it, but he fell backward before she could - and even as she watched, he fell down toward the Red Comet. Then the light overwhelmed her senses, and the Red Comet exploded, The Betrayer laughing-

/

She gasped, eyes snapping open, breathing heavily.

As the seconds passed, she managed to slow her breathing, but her hands were clenched over the covers.

Breathing out, she let go, looking at her fingers. "Why is this happening?" she thought weakly. "It affected me, I acknowledge that, but he isn't dead. Why am I still afraid?"

Slowly, she just slumped; why was she trying to kid herself?

Knock knock

"Zhalia?"

She gave a little start. "Dante?"

"I- I heard your gasp. Are you okay?"

"Uh" she faltered, heard beating faster, despite her best efforts. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

A little pause, then: "Can I come in?"

Her heart started pounding, and she didn't think she'd felt more nervous in her life - how could she say no to him? Even if she did say she was fine, he might still come in anyway, because he was worried about her. Also compounding the issue was how lightly dressed she was; while nowhere near indecent, it was a bit more form-fitting than what she usually wore. How would Dante react if he saw her like this?

"Why am I asking such a stupid question?" she thought after a moment. "He'd be... well, a little surprised, but he'd play it cool. Maybe a mention or two, but his focus would remain on me."

She blushed faintly.

"Uh - sure."

The knob clicked slightly as the door opened, Dante entering slowly, even as she sat up.

His eyes soon found her, lingered for a moment, then slowly closed the door behind him almost all the way. Aside from the missing trenchcoat, he wore his usual get-up.

He turned toward her, smiling slightly. "Normally at this point, I'd ask 'are you sure you're okay?'" he said mildly. "But I think we both know it's not that simple, Zhalia."

Her lip curled a bit, and she swung her legs over the side of her bed. "Fine, you got me" she said, hands held up in mock surrender. "I just wonder, is this the part where I'm supposed to say that I'm having nightmares, and need a little comfort?" she continued mildly. "Well, I haven't said that."

He chuckled a bit, but his expression remained fairly concerned. "Actually, you just did" he stated gently.

She slowly glanced away. How was it that Dante could see right through her so easily?

Well okay, she kinda set herself up on that one, but it was still a question she'd asked herself frequently.

"And I think I might know exactly what's troubling you" she heard, from slightly closer.

Blinking once, slightly confused, she looked back at Dante (who had moved closer to her). "Dante, I-" she breathed, but not knowing what to say next.

"Nah, you don't have to say anything" he said gently, surprising her even as he sat down on her bed, at a respectable distance to her right. "I know you, or I prefer to think I do (her lip curled again). It's troubling you, and you don't like that, end of story."

He glanced at her, everything about his expression faintly amused. "Am I right?""

"Maybe not as well as you think" she snarked, crossing her arms.

Dante merely chuckled.

After that, she slowly breathed in and out. "There's another reason why you're here, isn't there?" she asked, very faintly.

He looked at her, his expression really soft. "Well, I really was worried when I heard you gasp" he said gently, touching his hand to her shoulder (which didn't help her beating heart). "It's not something heard often from you."

Then he tilted his head, smiling. "But then I thought that, since I'm here, why not hit two birds with one stone?" he asked softly.

Even if she had tried to stop it, her cheeks turned slightly pink. "I- I'm not sure what you mean."

His smile remained soft, but he didn't answer - instead, his hand began to move slightly. It went from her shoulder to her arm, then just past her elbow, down her forearm (leaving a chill wherever he went), then hovered just around her wrist. All in very slow, gentle movements.

She gasped a little, and began to feel a rush of warmth. "Dante" she breathed, looking at him.

Even as they looked at each other, Dante still smiling, his hand did not attempt to move from his spot. In addition, she could feel his fingers beginning to lightly stroke the top of her hand, where the nerves gathered, but no more than that.

He would not make an official move, not unless it was okay with her.

The depth of his affection, of his respect for her wishes, it was overwhelmingly... good.

"I'd like to hear about what's troubling you, Zhalia" he said, perfectly gentle.

She didn't speak for awhile, just repeatedly glanced at the way his fingers moved, but he was patient. "What The Betrayer said, about you being no more" she whispered. "Is there any chance he was... twisting the truth?"

He glanced down at his hand, where she distinctly felt him pause, then slowly touch her knuckles now. "I wouldn't put it past him" he said faintly, looking back at her. "But unfortunately for all of us, he didn't."

She slowly sighed.

"I knew he wasn't" she breathed, glancing away. "I knew it, so why did I allow myself to entertain the notion that it was otherwise?"

"Because you were deeply affected" he explained gently. "It's not an uncommon reaction, and certainly not one that's easy to deal with."

She made a sound, slowly looking down, just feeling Dante's hand work on her knuckles - then pause at some point.

"Zhalia-"

She gasped.

"-are you gonna give me an answer soon?"

She looked at him, cheeks heated, trying not to let his smile melt her heart, and failing.

This little arrangement continued as her hand unconsciously moved, just enough that his fingertips touched her knuckles, and hers could touch the gaps between his fingers. Her hand hesitated several times, then with a blush, it started moving - interlocking her fingers with Dante's.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" she asked, rather shakily, but she managed.

He slowly chuckled. "Only a little" he said mildly, sitting closer. "But Zhalia, if you're as affected as I believe you are, then it isn't entirely my doing."

The rush increased rapidly, simultaneously freezing her to the spot and giving her an instinct to move away, but neither prevailed. "Dante" she breathed, feeling the subtle bits of his breath. "I-"

She stopped; Dante's free hand gently caressed her hairline, lightly toying with the one strand that hung down the middle.

He was very close to her, and she could swear she was quivering.

"Zhalia."

By instinct, she moved - her lips touched his.

Dante easily returned the kiss, sending thrills through her system, and her other hand touched his cheek. He might have been surprised by that, the way his hand paused slightly - however, it could have been her imagination. And despite how hesitant she was, his lips did nothing but caress hers - it was just so right. And when his hand touched the back of her head, holding her against him, she actually shivered.

After what seemed like five min- seconds, Dante gently pulled back two inches, which resulted in her breathing out.

Oh wow.

When she opened her eyes, he was hovering inches away from her, breathing slowly. And when he noticed this, he managed an open-mouthed smile.

"...do you ever not play it cool?"

Inside, she was both relieved and kicking herself; wasn't everyone supposed to say 'Woah' or something like that? And she had felt that urge coming, before her mouth opened, at least.

But Dante was not surprised at all: "You know me too well, Zhalia" he breathed softly, moving forward just a little, making her breath out. "You know what my answer would be."

"Yeah" she whispered somehow, seeing him inching ever closer, and wanting it but unable to move. "With a- a..."

Dante kissed her this time, and she liked that even more. Still, she was surprised at the stronger sensations, something she silently marveled over. Every book, every source said it was very good, that it couldn't be described well with words - she'd been skeptical, to say the least, thinking they'd been overdoing it. But now? Now she only wanted more of it, of the warm tingle she felt go through her system, despite or perhaps because of the embarrassment.

This kiss lasted considerably longer, enough that she was about to unconsciously open her mouth a little, but Dante pulled away again. And for awhile, all she saw was him looking at her with a smile, a finger lightly tracing a spot on her chin.

"Well" he whispered gently. "I wouldn't want to overdo it this early."

Still breathing rather fast, she couldn't answer, even as Dante gently got up. He smiled at her, turning toward the door-

"Wait."

Faintly surprised, Dante turned back toward her.

Her heart was pounding now, and she hesitated, standing up. She couldn't possibly embarrass herself in front of Dante, right? He knew her, as effortlessly easy as he seemed to make it, so did she need to hide her instincts? She wasn't sure, but it was still hard...

All this passed by in a split-second, then she moved forward, step-by-step until she was inches away. For his part, Dante didn't say anything, merely watched her carefully, with a gentleness she'd rarely seen (even from him). She remained hesitant as her hands slowly moved, brushing against his shirt, then touching his shoulders - and she stepped even closer.

The moment she (hesitantly) kissed him again, Dante easily returned it, and gave her a small chill the way his hands lingered by her hips.

This time, she ended it, both of them looking at each other.

"So" she breathed, feeling awkward, and kicking herself for it. "Uh-"

Dante merely smiled. "Goodnight" he whispered, surprising her.

It also made her relieved, even as she breathed out. "Goodnight" she whispered back, after a moment.

He nodded, gently turning toward the door, and opening it. He was fairly slow about it, but he never took his eyes off hers, right until the door closed with a click.

She glanced down, her cheeks red, fingers unconsciously brushing her lips.

I prefer LokXSophie, but ZhaliaXDante is just as cute imo, definitely XD And I thought that time-skip from the ending of Season 2 might be a prime opportunity for these two to share a moment ;) But this isn't just a one-shot for you to enjoy; I also have an announcement hehe.

One of the reviews for my last Huntik fanfic, Training, mentioned that I should do a multi-chapter Huntik book... well, I've been working on one :P Essentially 26 'episodes', with 12 completed chapters and just over 75k words as of this time - no, I am not kidding about any of that XD

No planned release date at this time though, sorry. And for anyone wondering, I'm not releasing the completed ones yet because I REALLY want to avoid inflicting that common long-wait-between-chapters bit :/