After some delayed flights the Huntik team finally gets to Dante's house. There will be some surprises waiting for them, not all of them very pleasant for a certain female seeker... Hope you like it :)


Dante's house, Venice, Italy

3rd person's POV

"I can hardly believe were home." Lok said. They were standing at the door of Dante's house while he tried to find his keys.

"Six delayed flights! Can you believe it?" Sophie exclaimed.

"Dante, hurry up." Zhalia said, impatient.

"One sec." Dante answered.

When the door opened, the lights suddenly turned on by themselves. Their eyes widened with the surprise of finding a bunch of people standing in the hall, waiting for them. Santiago, LeBlanche, Montehue, Scarlett, Tersely, Clease, Lady S., Peter, Guggenheim and finally Metz.

"Welcome home!" they said.

"Metz? You're okay!" Dante exclaimed with surprise when he saw his mentor.

They hugged and Zhalia smiled widely, happy for Dante.

"I'm feeling better than ever." he said smiling widely. He then winked at Zhalia that gave him a questioning look. He just laughed softly.

"You came through wonderfully. History may very well remember you as the greatest seekers of your time." LeBlanche said proudly.

"I always knew you had it in you." Montehue laughed, punching Lok's shoulder a bit too violently.

"Lok was very impressive. He truly has become a seeker worthy of his father." Dante said to Guggenheim.

"That's right. Lok was the one who lead our mission against the Professor." Zhalia agreed. Dante smiled to her.

Lok sighed hearing that and started thinking: 'My father. I know he's still out there. Maybe there's a clue in what the Professor said. And maybe one day, I'll bring dad home.'

Sophie brought him back from his musings and lead him to the center of the group.

"I knew this boy had potential the moment I laid eyes on him." Cherit said following them.

"Hey, maybe Lok should be team leader from now on." Sophie said. Zhalia frowned hearing that. Dante noticed and laughed softly. She replied with a sharp glance.

"Sure, I'm a master seeker now. No matter what happens, I've got it covered." Lok exclaimed.

"Oh really? Because, you know, school starts on Monday." Sophie laughed.

"What? Summer vacation's over? Already? Oh!" he screamed.

Everyone laughed loudly and then started to chat happily. Sophie got some music on and some people started to dance. Dante kept talking to Metz for a long time until Scarlett found her golden opportunity and reached him.

"Hey, Dante! I wanna congratulate you for your massive victory!" she exclaimed.

"Well, it was a team effort, Scarlett. And this time I wasn't the leader. But thank you, anyway…" he answered politely.

Scarlett didn't seem to pay any attention to what he said and continued to talk.

"Don't you want to dance a bit, Dante? Have some fun?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

At that moment, Dante realized that Zhalia wasn't around anymore. He didn't say anything and started to look around searching for her.

"Dante?" Scarlett called, impatient.

"Oh, sorry, Scarlett. I have to leave for a while now… See you later! Amuse yourself!" Dante finished and after that he left the room.

Scarlett was really upset with that failure and became even more furious when she noticed who was missing too.


After searching the whole house, Dante found Zhalia in the balcony staring at Venice lights. She didn't notice him so he moved very slowly and hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist. At first she shuddered, now knowing who was grabbing her.

"Dante…" she said as she recognized his perfume. Dante noticed the sadness in her voice. She just laid her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Is there anything wrong?" he asked in her ear.

"No, everything's ok." she lied quickly.

"Are you sure?" he insisted, unconvinced. She just nodded as they parted and he continued to talk. "Zhalia, I'm sorry, I was so distracted talking to Metz that I didn't give you any attention…"

"Dante, it's alright. You should enjoy the time with your mentor now that you have him back..."

Dante smiled hearing that. At that moment all that happened with Klaus was crossing her mind again. Unlike Dante, she knew she couldn't get her dedicated mentor and father back… Dante looked deeply in her sad eyes, she could tell he was worried. She tried to shake off the sad memories but her eyes weren't able to hide anything from Dante's ones.

"Don't worry." she said. "I'll be fine."

Dante didn't say anything. He just caressed her face and kissed her lips tenderly. A little smile appeared in Zhalia's face when they broke the kiss. Dante was still worried with her but that made him a bit more satisfied. He could guess what she was thinking but he thought it would be better trying to get her mind of those things.

"Don't you wanna go downstairs and dance a bit? Or you think I'm not good enough for your lightness?" he asked smiling widely.

Unfortunately that invitation didn't have the effect he wanted. Instead it made the sadness come back to her face as it reminded her of the reason that made her leave to the balcony in the first place.

"Uh, I think I'd rather stay here watching Venice at night. But you can go. Scarlett got her eyes on you the whole time. I think she wanted to dance with you." she said a bit more sharply.

"You want me to go?" Dante asked with a puzzled looked.

"What do you think?" she exclaimed. Her voice was now much more angry than sad. That made Dante finally understand where that conversation was going and what was upsetting her in the first place. He realized he shouldn't have asked that last question.

"Ok, I'm sorry." he started. "I'll stay here if you want. Besides, if I wanted to dance it would be just with you." She shrugged so he continued. "Listen, Zhalia, you know… Scarlett can be a bit of a pain sometimes… I don't know what she thinks or feels, but I'm trying to make her understand that I don't really want anything from her. It's with you that I want to be and always will. I love you. Never doubt that."

A tear started rolling down Zhalia's face and Dante wiped it away, glancing at her worriedly.

"Zhalia? Come on, what's wrong now?" he asked, wondering if he said something wrong.

"Don't worry, Dante. I'm ok. I just… I love you so much!" she said, leaning her head on his chest. Dante wrapped her arms around her, as she continued to talk. "Dante, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to think I doubted your love. It's just… Scarlett… I don't know, I can't avoid it, it bothers me so deeply… Maybe that's because I love you so… I'm so afraid to lose you for someone that could be a much better match than me…"

"That's ok, sweetheart, I understand" he said, caressing her back. "But, listen, there's no reason for you to be afraid. There's no better match than you, Zhalia, of that I'm sure. Not Scarlett nor anyone. You just have to trust me a bit more, ok?"

"Thank you, Dante." she said pulling back. "You're right. I'm sorry I didn't trust you. Actually I'm not used to it, having people I can trust…"

"I know, my love, it's ok. I just have to win your trust. And I'll be very careful with Scarlett, I promise. This is just one more thing we will get through together." She nodded.

"I love you." she said with her eyes glimmering.

"I know. And I love you too." he answered smiling.

She smiled too and kissed his lips passionately.

"And shouldn't I be worried too?" he asked as they parted. "I mean, certainly most men will crave such a perfect beauty like you are…"

That made her blush immediately but she rapidly composed herself. Dante noticed that and laughed softly.

"Well, you know I'm pretty good at keeping people away." she said winking.

"Not all of them." he said hugging her from behind again and kissing her cheek gently.

"True." she agreed smiling. "But come on, let's go downstairs then, for you to finally show me your dance steps."

Dante at first was surprised about that sudden change of mind. But then he just nodded and grabbed her hand smiling widely. They went back downstairs, finally ready to enjoy the party without any worries or fears.