Zhalia

It was summertime in Venice. After acquiring the last legendary titan, we all decided to take a break. Lok and Sophie were back to their daily routines. School was something Lok hated, and he would say that at least ten times a day. My relationship with Sophie didn't improve that much. She, however, trusted me. That was enough for me. As for Dante….he was a different story altogether. Something stirred inside me every time he appeared in front of me.

Summers in Venice were hot and extremely humid. If there would have been no AC in my room, I would have died drowning in my sweat. I decided against taking a nap. Every time I closed my eyes, Dante's sweet face appeared, making me restless. Thoughts about him were torturing. The feeling grew inside me constantly. I was afraid to spill it out.

I decided to take a walk outside, in spite of the sun heating the area mercilessly. Frequent wandering often helped me a lot. As I stepped out of room, I felt a sudden desire to go to Dante's room, just sit and look at him while he was busy doing some other work. However, I walked past his room, much against my heart's wish. I was completely lost in my own thoughts when suddenly a heavy hand pulled me inside the store room, which was not far away from Dante's room.

"Montehue!" I almost screamed at the man. We both were in that small, stinky store room, with a boltflare right above his head.

"Shhhh! don't scream!" he said

"What are you doing here?" I enquired him.

He looked a bit disappointed, rather sad.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him again.

"Zhalia, you've to help me!"

"What help?"

"There's this girl…"

"Wow, wow…..hold on! If it's about something to do with romance or love, then I'm sorry, I won't be able to help you!"

"Zhalia, please! You're the only one I can ask for help!"

"Why not Lok, Sophie, or Dante?"

"Lok and Sophie are kids. And, I can't even think of asking Dante for help!" he said, rather shouted at me.

Much against my will, I decided to help him. After all, he was a good friend of mine.

"There's this girl, Candace….." he started.

"Candace Cole?" I interrupted.

"You know her?"

"She's a good friend of mine."

"That's even better!"

"So, what about her?"

"I think I'm in love with her."

"And, you want me to go and talk to her, right?"

"Yes, yes!"

"But why don't you do it yourself? Surely that would be more effective, right?"

"I wanted to do it myself. You think I'm such a coward."

"Then, why not?"

"Actually, yesterday, we had a big fight about a thing, and she's extremely angry with me. She didn't even attend my call today. I'm afraid that she may throw her shoe at me if I even go near her!"

I was really bad at solving problems related to love since I never experienced it myself. Even then, I decided to help him out, feeling pity over this condition of his.

"But, what will I get if help you?" I asked him, purely out of habit.

"You'll never change, Zhalia!" he chuckled. "I'll give you a treat at the most expensive restaurant in Venice!"

"So, it's a deal!" I said.

He moved a step back. Not knowing that there were some empty boxes behind him in that small store room, he accidentally stepped into one and tripped over a torn armchair. To keep up his balance, he grabbed my hand. Unfortunately, I was unable to handle his weight I went down with him.

"Montehue!" I screamed as I landed on him.

"Ooooouchhhhh!" he screamed.

"What's going on?" another deep voice (but not as deep as Montehue's) came up behind me.

As I stood up, I saw Dante at the doorstep of the store room. He was looking confused, and shocked. My heart started beating loudly, as if trying to come out of my chest. This usually happened whenever I found him close to me.

"Dante!" I and Montehue said together.

"What's the problem?" he asked in his gentle voice.

"What are you doing here?" Montehue almost screamed at him.

"Well, I hope I do possess freedom to check out my nice, beautiful house whenever I can!"

"Oh, Dante…..actually….." I started, but Montehue kept his thick finger on my lips, thus making me quiet.

"Dante, it's something private. I'll tell you once we're done with it. Come on, Zhalia. I think we should start now.

Montehue grabbed my wrist and led me out. It was surprising to note how a huge man like him held my wrist gently. I rather liked it.

Dante opened his mouth to say something, but eventually closed it. For the first time, I wasn't thinking about him at all.

Montehue led me to a café near Dante's house. We both greeted tersely and Scarlet, who were standing outside the café. He ordered a coffee, much against my wish.

"This one is for you, because you're helping me." He said, offering me a cup of coffee.

"I hope you don't forget your promise." I said, referring to his offer for the treat.

He chuckled, softly.

Dante

"You're the only one I want. Don't go away from me, please."

"I won't, Dante. I'll always be there for you."

"Oh, Zhalia! I want you…..I need you!"

"Shhhh…don't say anything or this might not happen….."

We both sealed our lips softly. I held her close to me. Everything seemed like a fairy tale.

"I…..I love you!"

CRASH!

I woke up suddenly, and looked around myself. The dream seemed to be so real, so beautiful. I was damn sweaty, thanks to summer of Venice. I was breathing hard. I had been having dreams about her ever since she joined our group, officially. The dreams, however, were becoming more and more romantic each day. And, I liked these dreams every day.

As I got up from my bed, I notice a broken holotome near the bedside table. It had broken into two pieces. Maybe, I hit it while I was having that sweet dream. The crash that made me woke up was because of this.

"Oh no…." I murmured to myself.

I quickly picked the holotome, and was grateful to find that not much of damage had happened to it. It was repairable quite easily. I decided to wash myself first, so as to avoid the smell of the sweat incase I get a chance with Zhalia…..

I quickly took a refreshing bath, and went straight towards the store room to get my stuff to repair the holotome. As I stepped out of my room, I found myself getting pulled gradually towards Zhalia's. I tried her door knob, and surprisingly, the door was open. That was very unusual of her as she always kept her door closed no matter what happens. She was, however, not in her room. That made some sense. She preferred to remain outside most of the time.

As I went towards the store room, I heard some kind of noises coming from there. Who the hell was in the store room? Was it a suit, trying to sneak into my house? There were several questions wandering in my mind when I finally decided to check. I was ready to attack incase there was any trouble waiting for me.

I received a big shock when I opened the door. I never expected this…..Zhalia on top of…..Montehue! He was holding her by her delicate waist, her head was buried in his buffed up chest.

I was confused, shocked at what I saw. Zhalia and Montehue, together in the small, suffocating, dark store room, with Zhalia almost on his lap. No, wait! This is so not possible!

"Dante!" they said together, as if they had been caught by me.

I didn't know what to say. I had been spending my days thinking how to deal with my feelings for her, and there she was, fooling around with none other than Montehue!

"Dante…" Zhalia said in her sweet voice, as if trying to explain something.

I was still very much in shock, when suddenly Montehue roared, grabbed her, and went out of store room, out of the house eventually.

I should have told her about my feelings to her before. I never really hated him, but this time, I couldn't stop myself.

I went straight towards the window, where I saw Montehue and Zhalia talking to tersely and Scarlet, who were standing outside the café. Are these two dating each other? I wondered how come Zhalia got interested in someone like…..Montehue. The pair looked extremely disproportionate!

"Dante…Dante….DANTE!"

It was Sophie, who made me nearly deaf by screaming into my ears.

"What's wrong with you? I've been calling you for so long. Didn't you hear me?"

"Ah, I'm fine." I said, after I got to know that I was so lost that I didn't even hear her.

"Anyways…." She said, not completely satisfied with my reply, "Metz called and said that he was willing to meet you today afternoon, if you have no prior commitments."

Metz…I had completely forgotten about him.

"Yeah…I will…."

Sophie looked at me, and then looked out of window, then back to me.

"Are you sure everything is fine? You're staring too hard at her!"

So, now I was spilling out my feelings so much that everybody saw it?

By the time she looked outside the window again, Zhalia and Montehue were gone, leaving Scarlet and Tersely behind. I kept looking outside at the point where Zhalia was previously standing.

"You like her?"

"A lot!"

I took me a minute to realize what I had actually said. Sophie giggled and said, "Why don't you tell her then?"

"I can't. I don't know…"

"How to say it?" she completed my sentence.

I remained quiet, and kept looking outside.

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

Making Sophie talk to Zhalia about my feeling would be like creating a major blunder.

"I think I can handle this." I said.

"Awww…..come on! You'll keep looking at her while she'll make out with someone else!"

She's already. I thought.

"All right, have it your way. Just make sure you don't end up killing each other!"

She raised her eyebrow, as if she didn't understand what I had just said. She, however, went on her own way.

Sophie

"Ah, man…..I'm going crazy!" Lok said, pointing towards his history homework.

"Get over it! We've only an hour left before we leave for the school!"

"I hate school so much! I just can't believe that the holidays are over!"

"Well…..it was over three months before, and you're still complaining!"

Suddenly, the phone beeped loudly. It was Metz, and he sounded quite well and sound.

"Who was it?" Lok asked.

"Metz. He wants to meet Dante."

"I'm sure he'd be sleeping now. He'd been sleeping like he hadn't slept for years!"

"He always slept less than us during missions. So, it's all right!"

"Okay, let's go and find him!" he said, as he got up.

"Only me! You sit here and complete your homework! Cherit, keep an eye on him else you'll be a dead meat!"

"Aye aye, my lady!' the furry white titan said, in his weird voice.

I went around the house, searching and calling at top of my voice, until I found him standing near a window. He was observing something very carefully.

"DANTE!" I screamed in his ears, and finally got his attention.

As I looked out of the window to see what he was seeing, I saw Scarlet and Tersely standing outside a café, talking to each other. Dante continued to stare at them, until I realized that he was actually staring at Scarlet as she played with her hair.

Dante and Scarlet? Not bad, after all!

I was still confused about all this. This confusion, however, was gone when Dante finally agreed to my offer to go and talk to her from his side. He even said that he didn't know how to experience his feelings to her. My god! I always knew that Dante had an interest in her! He even remarked how beautiful she was during our trip to Ireland.

I was so excited that I went outside to meet Scarlet that very moment. She was still talking to Tersely, but greeted me as I approached her.

"Hi…Scarlet!"

"It's so nice to see you! How's Lok?"

Somehow, I hated her for bothering about Lok.

"He's fine. Ah….."

"Do you want to say something?"

"Yeah, if you're free…."

"I'm, go on."

"Not here. Somewhere alone."

I told her everything about Dante's feelings. By her expressions, I bet she was shocked at what I had said.

"You are sure about this?" she asked me, hesitantly.

"I heard it myself from Dante!"

She looked disappointed, much against my wish. She looked as if something has been bothering her a lot. She finally spoke.

"Dante is a guy every woman would love to be with. But, I'm afraid, I love someone else…"

A bolt of shock struck me. She was in love with somebody else!

"Who's it?" I asked her, finally.

"Oh, you must've met him earlier. Davis Montero. He's a nice guy!"

I remembered meeting Davis Montero in one of the Foundation meetings.

"I hope you'll be able to handle Dante on this…." She said her final words before leaving the area.

"I hope so….." I murmured to myself.

I found Dante in his room, completely lost in his own thoughts. I hesitated at first, but finally decided to tell him.

"Did you meet her?" he asked me, in a low tone.

"Uh….yep." I said.

He turned to me, with his auburn eyes looking into my green ones.

"What happened?" he asked me, as if desperate to know the answer.

After a lot of thought, I finally spoke out.

"She loves Montero." I told him, hoping that he knew Davis Montero.

He was shocked, completely dumbstruck at what I said. I bet there were tears in his eyes, but he blinked fast in order to avoid them. He just sat on his bed, facing towards the window.

I was feeling bad about him. I'd never seen him so sad, broken-hearted. He was truly in love with Scarlet, and was really hoping to win her heart. I felt bad about the fact that I was the one who told him all this.

"Where were you? We're getting late for the school!" Lok said as soon as I entered the living room. I, however, didn't answer his question.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, in his sweet voice.

"Never mind, Lok."

Dante

Zhalia, Zhalia…..Zhalia…..

I couldn't get that name out of my head. She was the only one I thought about day and night. Did she even know that I was so mad about her? She and Montehue…no chance! It's just a nightmare…

The nightmare, however, came out to be true. Sophie, true to her words, reported to me that she admired me a lot, but was actually in love with…Montehue.

And the worse part? My feeling for her grew even more. Montehue has always been a friendly competitor to me. Little did I know that one day he'll win a big battle against me; a battle of love, a battle for Zhalia…

No sooner I was in front of Metz's county. He had recovered quickly after we discovered all the three legendary titans. I saw him playing golf, his favorite game.

"Do you want to join me?" he asked me.

"I'm fine, thanks."

He played several beautiful shots, and kept on telling me about how good it feels to be able get out the bed. Little did he know that I wasn't listening to anything he said.

"You seem to be lost, Dante."

I was wrong. He was very observant, as usual.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, Metz."

"Is it about Miss Moon?" he asked me, with a smirk.

I knew I wouldn't be successful in hiding away from him. Hence, I told him.

"Its okay, Dante." He said, while consoling me, "You'll get over it after some time. Moreover, there are many girls waiting for a guy like you!"

"But I'm waiting for a girl like Zhalia….." I said.

The sun was setting when I left the county. Time spent with him really helped me to some extent. It became absolutely dark by the time I reached home. I didn't feel like entering, knowing that Zhalia would be inside.

As I entered the living room, I saw Zhalia, who was wearing a little black tube dress. She looked so stunning, so beautiful that my heart skipped a beat. It felt a bit odd; peeping like this into my own house. But, I didn't want to spoil the moment. I kept looking at her, wondering how she would feel in my arms. I started to sweat heavily.

Just then, I saw Montehue, smartly dressed up in formal style. I'd never seen him like that before. Were they going out for a date?

He slowly approached Zhalia, taking each step carefully before setting up right in front of her.

"I don't know how to do this…." He said, in a nervous tone.

"Just go on!" she pleaded.

He took a few steps back, before kneeling down on one knee.

"I know that we always fight with each other, whether it is about who'll win the football match or which pair of shoes to buy…"

Zhalia chuckled at this, something she rarely did.

"But, I know that even thought we keep fighting, somewhere we do have a feeling for each other. Let's get it to the other level…" he continued.

Zhalia remained silent.

"I know we can do this. I can see us happy in the future. Will….will you marry me?"

I was shocked at what I heard. I didn't know how to react to this. What was more shocking was Zhalia's answer. That, she agreed to the proposal. So now, Zhalia in future will no more be called Zhalia Moon but Zhalia Montehue!

I couldn't see her wearing that engagement ring. So, I just closed the door softly and went to the backyard, where I was trying hard to control myself from bursting out.

"There you are! Why did you just leave like that?"

It was Zhalia. And, she was standing right behind me…close to me. She had seen me closing the door.

"I….I….was…."

"Never mind…" she said, before I could finish, "…..Anyways, I just want to tell you that I may not come home today. So, don't prepare my dinner."

I just nodded. So, she was planning to spend a night with him?

Lok

Sophie looked quite worried after I found her outside Dante's bedroom. I even tried asking her, but she didn't say anything to me. The day at the school was pathetic, with Sophie lost in her own thoughts.

I decided to stay with her in her mansion for a while, hoping that she would let me know about her problems. I started on with my history homework, something which I hated a lot. I had nearly flunked in my last history test. I asked Sophie for her help…but she wasn't listening.

"Sophie, anything wrong?" I asked her hundredth time.

There was no answer. I was losing my patience. I really wanted to know why she was behaving like that. However, she looked at me and finally spoke.

"Have you ever seen tears in Dante's eyes?" she said.

It was hard to imagine Dante crying. Man, it would then be a good joke for me!

"Uh…..no!" I said, finally.

She looked out of the window, and simply said, "I've, Lok. He's heart-broken, Lok! She broke his heart!"

How did Sophie know about Dante's interest for Zhalia? I asked myself. Dante had forbidden me to share this with anyone, not even Sophie. How come she got to know all about this?

"You know about them?" I finally asked her.

"Got to know just today. You already knew?" she said, looking quizzically at me.

"Uh…kinda."

She told me all about her meeting with Zhalia, and what she confessed to her. I decided to confirm this from Dante. It was almost impossible for Zhalia to like somebody else. She liked Dante, I saw it in her.

"This is very much true, Lok." Dante said, when I asked him about it. He was as calm and controlled as usual. Maybe, he was trying hard not to show off his emotions.

"Who's he, Dante?" I asked him, as Sophie refused to tell me his name.

Dante hesitated, but finally spoke, "Montehue."

I couldn't believe my ears. Was it really Montehue? Zhalia really fell for him? Montehue?

"There has been some mistake, Dante. Don't you think so?" I said, trying to restore his hope.

"Not after I saw him proposing her!" he almost screamed at me. I could see that his eyes were wet, he was nearly crying. He just got up, went straight towards his bedroom, and slammed the door. I was left alone in his huge living room.

Zhalia

The night had been quite tiring. Playing a matchmaker was something I wasn't proud of at all. I had my own problems of my growing feelings for Dante to deal with, and here was Montehue, who gave me such a terrible treat. Goddamit! He even called Candace to join us! He was never comfortable with dating, but dating like this made it even worse. I stayed at Candace's apartment, trying hard to tell her about Montehue's feeling. It was just so exhausting!

As I reached home, still wearing that sexy little black dress, I saw Lok and Sophie coming out of his house. Lok just ignored me, while Sophie looked as if something terrible had happened to her.

"Hey people!" I smiled and waved at them, but none of them answered. Lok's eyes were sad, while Sophie didn't bother to answer.

I grabbed Sophie's wrist gently, while Lok continued walking with Cherit. She looked up at me, her eyes equally said like Lok's.

"What's wrong, Sophie?" I asked her.

She looked away from, trying hard to ignore my question.

"Sophie…everything's okay?"

She shook her head, and looked away from me.

"Dante…he….." she tried to speak.

"Yes….what with Dante?"

"He's…crying…heartbroken completely!"

"What are you saying? Heartbroken?"

She told me how Dante had an interest in Scarlet, who loved another seeker, Davis Montero.

Little did she realize that it was not only Dante, who was heartbroken. My heart started aching when I heard all this. I had been fantasizing about a man who happened to be in love with somebody else. I happened to dream about a man who was not meant to be mine at all. I did suspect that he really liked her as he often complimented about her. But…

I was now nearly in tears. Maybe I should just forget about him. His heart belongs to Scarlet, and always will, even if I try my luck on him. He'll never truly love me he would have loved her.

I quietly went into my room, locked the door, closed the curtains down and did what I had not done for past ten years. I cried.

Dante

I wanted to lose myself in those sweet dreams I used to have about her. The reality was terrible and worth avoiding. Every day, I tried to hide my pain from everyone, except Metz. Maybe, I should just stick to seeking titans.

I saw Zhalia in the morning, running towards her bedroom and then slamming the door hard. She was still wearing that little black dress, which suited her a lot. She didn't look happy from where I saw her. Did she have a fight with Montehue? Were they splitting up?

She came out of the room after an hour, wearing her normal blue shorts and white tank top. She somehow looked appealing even in those normal clothes. We both met each other's eyes as she saw me standing right in front of her room.

"I…I…was just passing….." I tried to explain her. But she didn't say anything. Instead she kept looking at me.

"Hey, Dante!" she said, trying hard to hide her sadness.

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked her.

She hesitated for a while, but finally said, with a slight giggle, "I think I should be asking you that!"

I really didn't understand what she meant, but then she spoke again, "Dante, you'll find someone better, don't worry."

So, she got to know about my feelings for her!

"Ah…..Zhalia…..I…"

"I can understand it is not easy to deal with heartbreaks."

She knew I love her!

"You'll definitely find someone better than Scarlet!"

"Scarlet?" I asked her, quizzically.

"You like her, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you have a feeling for Scarlet. Remember Scarlet Byrne?"

Great! I'd a feeling for Scarlet and I didn't even know about it! I was already disturbed by that Zhalia-Montehue episode, and now this!

"I don't like Scarlet, I love YOU!" I almost screamed at her. It took a moment for me before I realized what I had actually said. Zhalia's eyes were ready to pop out of her skull. She looked like a she had been struck by a lightning bolt. She kept staring at me before she spoke out.

"Say that again?" she demanded.

"Zhalia….I…..I…..didn't…."

But, before I could finish my explanation, I felt her soft lips touching mine. She pressed her body on mine, making me lean against the wall. No sooner, my hands grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to me. Her soft fingers played with my russet hair. We switched our positions, with Zhalia pressed between me and the wall. The kiss became more and more sensual.

However, I soon realized what was happening, and pulled back, feeling ashamed of what I'd done to her. She belonged to Montehue, not me.

"I shouldn't have done this. I'm so sorry!" I said.

She gave me a quizzical look, as if she failed to understand what I had just said.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked me.

"You belong to Montehue…I shouldn't….."

"What! Are you mad?" she screamed at me.

I was quiet shocked at this. Why the hell did she say that?

"Me and Montehue? Don't be stupid!" she said, angrily.

"But….but…that day in the store room…..and then he even proposed you! I saw it!"

She stared at me before she started laughing loudly. I'd never seen her like that, and somehow I didn't like it now. Did I say anything wrong?

She then told me about Montehue falling for her good friend Candace Cole, a name I'd never heard of. He was basically practicing how to propose her with Zhalia pretending to be Candace. That night, she stayed with Candace and not with Montehue, as I thought.

It was a great relief to know all this. What I was happy about was that I finally confessed to her about my feelings, and that even she loved me as much as I loved her. But there was still one question I had to get clear about.

"Why did you think that I liked Scarlet?"

"That's what Sophie told me."

"Actually, even I had a doubt before about you and Montehue. But Sophie said she'd talked to you and that you confessed about your love for him!"

"Wait a minute; Sophie never talked to me about this!"

"Then…who was the one she…."

"Better ask her!" she said, and kissed me again.

Lok

Sophie and I decided to keep Dante accompanied as much as possible so as to distract him from that entire 'heartbreaking' episode.

We were sitting in his living room, trying to solve a difficult puzzle Sophie had bought for me as my birthday gift.

"Lok, it's too difficult for me to solve this!"

Even I was tired of solving it.

"I don't think anybody can do this…." She said.

"Except our dear Springer!" I said.

We both were trying hard to solve this when I saw Dante entering the hall. Just behind him was Zhalia.

"Dante!" I and Sophie said it together.

There was some change in him. He was no longer sad, or heartbroken, according to Sophie. Instead, he was smiling faintly. Zhalia too, looked quite calm. Maybe, Dante had talked to her.

"Sophie, we need to talk!" Dante said, his eyes showing that he was now serious.

I sat back, with Cherit resting on my shoulder.

"Why did you say to Zhalia that I like Scarlet?"

"Why, didn't you?" she asked him, innocently.

"NO! I don't! Not in the way you took it!"

"But, you were staring at him…you said I should go and talk to her."

"I didn't mean Scarlet. I meant ZHALIA!" he almost screamed at her.

There was a brief silence for a while. Was Sophie talking about Scarlet? That means that she didn't know about Dante and Zhalia.

"You like her?" she finally said, pointing towards Zhalia, who was giggling.

"So, even Scarlet likes Montehue?" Zhalia said.

"Ah, no! She likes Davis Montero!"

"But….but you told me that she likes Montehue, which is why I thought that you'd talked to Zhalia!"

"I SAID MONTERO AND NOT MONTEHUE!" she screamed at top of her voice.

There was again a brief silence, which was broken when Dante started laughing out loudly. Zhalia joined him, and soon, all of us couldn't control ourselves too.

"I guess this Montehue got on my nerves so much that I misheard Montero as Montehue!"

Dante

Finally, finally I was with my love. This misunderstanding only deepened my love for her. I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. This feeling was something special; something I'd never experienced, until now.

I found Zhalia on the roof of my house, or rather our home. She looked stunning in the faint moonlight showering on her. For an instance, I forgot how to breathe. She looked at me through those beautiful chocolate eyes and smiled at me.

"Are you planning to stay there for the whole night?" she said.

I understood that she was inviting me to be close to her. No way was I going to let go of this chance.

I buried my face in her midnight blue hair and kissed her nape while my hands caressed her arms. The heat which evolved between us was something I'd been hungry for a long time. I turned her towards me and soon we were kissing each other. Her tongue roamed softly inside my mouth, trying to touch mine. She shivered as soon they touched. She pulled me even closer to her so that my legs were settled between hers now. She held me as if she wouldn't let me go away from her.

"So, what are you planning tonight?" she asked me, with a smirk on her lips.

"It's up to you." I answered her.

"I was thinking that maybe we could play with each other for a while!"

"Really? I thought we would end up sleeping together!"

She looked at me, as if I was an idiot. Then she began to laugh, but softly, like peels of little bell. This was something I rarely heard but loved a lot!

"I did mean that, Dante Vale. Gosh! You need everything to be so precise!"

Without another word, she kissed me again. I picked her up, without breaking the kiss, and went towards the darkness of my room.