La Tarantella Macabre

The darkness had just begun to veil the streaks of light from the night sky, blending a palette of purples and oranges across its vast expanse. On the horizon, a flock of birds had started their journey south to dodge the cold of winter. 'Twas another beautiful day in Italy. Beautiful, yes, in all the glory of creation. However, a scattering of broken hearts left others feeling unmoved by nature's glory.

Squall drove his Ferrari back to his mansion, hoping that Rinoa and Nick would arrive earlier. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he DID NOT like Nick and DID NOT want him anywhere near Rinoa. When he arrived at his gates, he saw his father waiting for him at the front door.

Stepping out of the handsome sports car, he immediately approached the steps when he saw the alarmed look on Laguna's face. "Dad, what's going on?"

"Squall, I've been trying to contact you for the past few hours but…no one was answering your phone."

'Contact me? Why is he trying to contact me? And why does he look so scared?' Squall wondered as he opened the French doors to his mansion. "What happened?"

Laguna sprinted inside and led Squall to his laboratory, finding a very distraught, wide-eyed, and pale-looking Sophia and an unconscious Quistis on the couch. Selphie, Irvine, and Seifer were looking after the two women, and Sophia looked like she had been crying for the past few hours. A garbage bin next to her was full of used tissues.

Squall looked around worriedly. What had happened when he was gone? "What happened Sophia?"

Sophia wiped her tears with another new sheet of tissue and mumbled. "Si…sir…I…I do..d-…do not know what happened…"

He turned to his father and asked, "Dad…were they attacked earlier?"

Laguna turned around and started pacing back and forth. "No…no they weren't."

"Then what happened?" inquired Squall.

"…Squall…I found Sophia panicking in the kitchen and screaming. Seifer brought Quistis here and said she had been screaming too." Squall looked at the two blondes and saw Seifer guarding Quistis like a ready watchdog.

"How did this happen?"

Laguna paused with his brows furrowed. "That is what we are trying to figure out. I haven't made anything coherent out of what Sophia has been saying. Maybe you could understand her. After all, your Italian is much more fluent than mine."

Squall sighed and approached the maid who had taken care of them since they were little. He placed a hand on her shoulder and asked gently, "Sophia, it's ok. Nothing is going to hurt you now. But…can you tell us what happened?"

Sophia looked blankly into space and began quivering when Squall asked her to recall the incident. "D…De…Demonio."

"Demons?" Squall asked, his brow furrowed as he watched Sophia's pupils dilating every now and then.

Sophia averted her attention to Squall and nodded. "Si, Signore…Demonio. They attacked me!"

"What?" Squall asked, unsure of what he was hearing.

"In my dreams…signore…demons tried to attack me," she said, clasping her hands to her chest as her breathing became deep and shallow. "E strano…il questo sogno (How strange, this dream)," she whispered as if in a trance.

Squall tried to think of a suitable question. "What were you doing before this?"

Sophia looked down at her feet and mumbled, "I was making dinner for all of you. And then…" She tried to concentrate on the details of her dream when her eyes shot wide open. "La musica!"

Everyone stared at her when she uttered those two words. "Music?" Laguna asked her. "What about music?"

Sophie attempted to calm down, clasping her hands together while controlling her seemingly endless shivering. "There was a violin playing signore, and it was coming from the mansion. The music made me dream about those male succubus that tried to kill me sir. Il sogno…it was almost too real…"

Laguna calmed Sophie down and said, "It's alright Sophie, everyone's here." Turning to everyone, he asked them, "Is anyone hungry?"

Selphie and Irvine raised their hands, and so did Seifer. Laguna stood up, supporting Sophia's weight with his arms. "Okay everyone, Sophia wasn't able to make dinner tonight, so we're going out." When Laguna and Sophia were at the door, he turned to Zell. "Zell, we have a few veal shanks left out in the kitchen. I want you to place everything in the freezer so that nothing goes to waste."

Zell nodded his head and was out of the room faster than Rinoa could have played her violin. Laguna turned to Squall. "Where is Rinoa?"

"…she's with a friend who came to visit her."

"Do they know the way back?" Laguna asked his son.

"Yeah."

"If she hasn't eaten dinner yet, I suggest that you take her to the bistro when she arrives ok?" Laguna left the room afterwards to ready one of the vans.

Selphie and Irvine put on their coats and were just about to exit the room. "What about Quistis?" Selphie asked Seifer.

After Seifer put on a long, grey trench coat, he lifted Quistis into his arms. "I'm taking her to her room."

Squall suddenly stood up. "Seifer, I think it would be better for Quistis if she were rested and stayed somewhere where I can watch her. Why don't you take her to the living room instead?"

Seifer turned around and looked at Squall curiously. "Why, aren't you coming with us?"

Squall shook his head and replied, "I had a huge late lunch at work, so I'm not hungry. Besides, there's a lot of food in the house and I'm not very picky with what I eat so if you want to leave her here, you can. I don't think it would be very safe for Quistis to be left all alone in her room."

Seifer closed his eyes, nodded, and lay Quistis on the couch. "That, I would agree with you on." Softly caressing her sleeping face, he planted a kiss on her forehead. "Squall, if she ever starts screaming or mumbling, by all means do not hesitate to wake her up."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Squall helped Seifer again as they carried Quistis to the spacious room. They both lay her gently on one of the large, tapestry-upholstered couches. "Aren't you going to be bored?" Selphie asked Squall as he brought a large comforter down from one of the cabinets and placed it on Quistis.

"Bored? Me? Nah," Squall said when he pressed a button on the table. Suddenly, a panel on the wall turned around 180 degrees to reveal a large flat-screen TV. "There's a football game tonight between Italy and Portugal and I wouldn't want to miss that."

Irvine scratched his head. "Football? You guys play football here in Europe?"

Squall shook his head and answered, "Sorry about that, I mean to say soccer. I think I've gotten used to European terminology for sports so…just so you would know, soccer is called football and no we don't play American football as an advertised sport."

Selphie giggled for a moment, resting her head on Irvine's shoulder. "That's all you're going to do? Watch a game? And wait a minute! Where's Rinoa? You're supposed to be making out with her!"

Squall blushed a dark shade of crimson red and mumbled, "Well, she's out with a friend tonight so…that's how the story goes."

"A friend?" Selphie urged on even further. "What kind of friend? Girl? Or is it…a hetero…homo…or metro?"

"…He's a guy friend ok? They've been friends since childhood."

"Oooooh…a childhood guy friend! OH my GD! We have a love triangle here! Oh gosh this is soooooooo exciting! AH!" she screamed ecstatically while bouncing up and down. Irvine had to hold her to keep her from jumping up to the ceiling

"…Whatever. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be going out soon? If I'm not wrong, my dad's taking you to La Tratoria del Luna. The place gets packed around this time so if you don't leave, you'll be left out hungry," Squall told them irritably.

"Fine…fine…" Selphie drawled while flicking her hand up and down at him. "But anyways, tell me more about this when we get back ok?" She winked at him and they all exchanged goodbye's before leaving the room. Soon, Squall was left alone in the room with Quistis.

"Ok…so what am I supposed to do with you?" he wondered out loud. Seeing the large TV ripe for watching, he picked up the remote and pushed on the power button.

"Ah hell…you'll be alright anyways…" Switching the channels to the moment of the evening where the match between Portugal and Italy's football (or soccer) team was on the air, he began to relax on the couch, cheering every now and then when Italy would score a goal.

About a few minutes after he started watching though, his thoughts decided to drift elsewhere. 'I wonder how Rinoa's doing...'

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Rinoa was enjoying the breeze flying through her hair…or her hair flying as a result of a breeze…that didn't matter to her anyways. She was enjoying the Italian countryside again with the agility and the sexy roar of an Italian sports car…only thing was…it wasn't Squall's…it was Nick's.

"Rinoa, I had fun today," Nick told her with a grin while snaking across the highway.

"Yeah, me too," she said with a smile. Sighing contentedly, she rested her head on her friend's shoulder.

Nick suddenly felt uncomfortable…yet pleased in a sort of way. "Rinoa…um…I'm driving and it doesn't help that a genius like you with quite the brain mass is leaning her head against my shoulder."

"Oh," Rinoa remarked while giggling. "Sorry about that."

"Ehehaha…yah…you'd better be…wouldn't want to get into a car accident would we?" Nick grinned again.

"Oh duh…no I wouldn't want to get into an accident," Rinoa stated plainly with sarcasm in her voice.

"Hey, don't be mean…besides you have a boyfriend to go home to," he told her, his stomach lurching at the mention of 'boyfriend'…meaning Squall.

Rinoa blushed furiously and slapped him on the shoulder several times. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ouch! Youch!" Nick screamed out loud, laughing while trying to keep his grip on the wheel. "Okay! Okay! So he's not your boyfriend! Geez! If you weren't so guilty…I would have assumed that you liked him!"

Rinoa slumped back on her seat after her moment of fuming at Nick. "I like him but not in that way!"

"Ah, but who confessed to me earlier about a little infatuation with the director?" he smirked at her. "I believe that was you."

Rinoa rolled her eyes and put her hand in front of Nick's face. "What—ever!"

"Yeah…whatever…you're blushing," Nick stated while chuckling, still keeping his eyes on the road when a vintage Alfa Romeo suddenly passed them by. "Whoa! What a cool car!"

"I'm not blushing!" Rinoa defended herself. "Just because my cheeks are rosier than your pale, almost vampiric ones it doesn't mean I'm blushing."

"Ah…rosy cheeks. You do have rosy cheeks, but keep in mind that your rosy cheeks are even rosier now. Either you have a fever or you went crazy on the make up."

"You know…you're starting to tick me off. If you don't shut up about me liking boys, I will…"

"OHHH…so you don't like guys! Are you lesbian?" Nick asked her again, emphasizing his last question.

"YOU SON OF A….AAAGH! I hate you!" She crossed her arms and looked away from the passenger's side. "You are the biggest jerk I have ever met!"

"Ok, ok…sorry," he sincerely told her. "Ok fine, let me make it up to you."

"Yeah? How do you plan to do that?"

Nick suddenly stopped his car, and leaned towards Rinoa. "Rinoa…you don't know how long…"

Rinoa inched away from him and said, "Nick…no…"

Nick put both her hands in his gently. "Rinoa, please hear what I have to say. I've always liked you. In fact, I think that the more I see you, the more I…I fall in love with you."

"Nick…" Rinoa sighed. "Please…"

"Will you be my girlfriend at least? Just give me a chance," he almost begged her.

Rinoa closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. "I don't know Nick. I have to see if my feelings are of friendship or more for you. I don't want to lose the friendship we have."

"Then can I kiss you at least to confirm if these feelings are real?" asked her friend, now staring her intently in the eye.

Rinoa paused, sighed and nodded her head. "Go ahead."

Nick inched closer to Rinoa's face, his heart thumping harder and harder while Rinoa remained hesitant. When their lips touched, he gave her a soft tender kiss. Soon enough, he was on his side of the car, breathing heavily. "I guess we're just friends huh?"

Rinoa's stomach lurched when Nick had kissed her. It felt different from Squall's kiss. This one felt genuine yet dry…as if something were missing. "Nick…don't feel bad…please. I mean, you have something more than any guy could ever want…and that is my friendship. I don't want to lose that."

Nick stared into the purple horizon as he continued to drive the rumbling car across the highways. "Yeah…I guess you're right."

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Squall had decided to play darts after the match was over. He was annoyed by the fact though, that he couldn't get the darts where they were supposed to land.

'Damn darts…I used to be so good…' He threw the last one and it missed the bull's eye only by a few millimeters. "…whatever."

He slumped back on the couch and checked on Quistis. She had been asleep all this time but somehow…he knew that her sleep wasn't caused by some nauseating feeling which inflicts nearly everyone who had dizzy spells and collapses of this sort. As he drew closer to her, he attempted to open one of her eyes with his fingers.

'…she looks unconscious…but her pupils are dilating…how odd…'

Grabbing a flashlight, he directed the beam of light on her pupil to see if it would respond. It did…and not a moment to soon, Quistis was screaming.

She shot up the couch and began sweating heavily and panting. "SEIFER! NO..oooo!…oh…Squall?"

"…" Squall was speechless. Never before did he have to deal with a screaming female…well…he dealt with women who sang notes higher than Quistis' scream but this was different.

"Where am I?" she wondered out loud, taking in her surroundings. "Is this the mansion?"

"Yeah."

"Oh gosh…I had a dream…and…" Quistis proceeded to tell Squall about the vivid dream she had just experienced. When she had finished narrating her nightmare, she looked into Squall's eyes. 'Whoa…he does have nice eyes.' "It felt almost too real…but wait a minute! Wasn't I in the woods with Seifer?"

Squall remembered everything his father had told him earlier. "Well…you were in the woods and then Seifer found you unconscious. You were out for a few hours until I tried to wake you up just now."

"Oh…" Quistis mumbled, scratching the back of her head. "So where is everyone?"

Squall stood up and picked up his darts. "Sophia had a similar experience to yours. She was cooking at the time she had the dream…but she wasn't able to continue because of the emotional trauma." He threw a dart at the target. It was only about a millimeter away from the bull's eye this time. "So they all went out to eat. I'm not hungry and I'm afraid that you might get the dream again."

"Why?" Quistis asked him, obviously confused.

"Call it a hunch, but I'd like to think that there's more to these dreams than mere coincidence. I'm beginning to imagine that the vio…never mind, I don't think it matters but…" He threw another dart, and this time it hit the target.

"…you are fine right now so that's all that we should be pleased about. And…don't think about that dream anymore. It's over now and you should probably be enjoying yourself."

Quistis stood beside him and looked at the target. "You know, I used to be an expert dart thrower at high school."

"Yeah? Well why don't you give it a try?" he suggested, handing her five darts.

Quistis gave him a smirk and threw a dart. It immediately hit the bull's eye.

"Lucky," Squall muttered.

"Luck is always on my side…" Quistis said while hurling another one and hitting the red dot once again. "…Cause I'm good!"

Squall rolled his eyes and threw a dart at the bull's eye. "I was warming up."

Quistis chuckled and threw another one, hitting the center again. "I didn't need to."

Soon, they held a dart-throwing competition and about 10 minutes later, Quistis declared herself the winner. She was laughing when she fell back on the couch. "Oh Squall…you know, sometimes I find it hard to believe that your memory is such a wuss."

Squall gave her a confused look and mumbled, "I don't get you."

Quistis waved a finger at him. "But…you don't remember me? Or Irvine? Or Selphie? Or Seifer even? I even remembered Zell!"

"…Are you alright? Maybe that dream warped your head." Squall told her again, ruminating everything that she had just told him.

"Alright…since you are so forgetful, maybe I should remind you that we all went to the same preschool. We attended the first few years of elementary together and went on our separate ways. I could even remember that when we were little, while all of us were playing ball or other silly kiddie games you were in that little corner of the music room playing Mozart or something."

Squall looked blankly at the space before him, trying to recall his preschool days. "How do you remember all this?"

"You're famous Squall. It's not everyday that a childhood friend of mine becomes a director of one of the world's greatest theatres. Our parents knew each other too, and when you became famous, they told me about you and it all came back to me."

"Why didn't you tell me then when you first arrived?"

Quistis looked down at her feet and said almost in a whisper, "You've gone so far in life Squall. I was afraid that it would hurt if I tried to remind you and you just forgot. I'd thought you would be a snob. Thankfully, I was wrong."

"Well…you are about me being a snob but…my memory's still drawing a lot of blanks. Do you have a photo at least?"

Quistis perked up. "Do I? I carry it everyday!" she said enthusiastically while grabbing her purse. Fishing out her wallet, she picked a photograph out of the case and showed a black and white picture of six children with their parents all smiling goofily save one—Squall.

"Then why doesn't Zell remember any of this?"

Quistis giggled and sighed. "Same case as you probably. But don't you remember Zell from your preschool days?"

Squall shook his head. "Zell's hairdo is totally different…and he has that ugly tattoo too…so I never recognized him. When he first applied for a position with my dad, Laguna was still teaching in Princeton as a music theory professor and a chemist. He decided to come back to Italy to pursue his passion (making violins, that is), and his business expanded and became a well-known violin artisan worldwide. He got rich making violins for the greatest, and he also makes some for concert halls and orchestras. He owns another business too…one that involves chemical engineering I think and Zell was intrigued about that position. He also wanted to work in Italy so my dad invited him and that's how the story goes. Now, he just does some stocks business and does most of his work at home."

Quistis listened in awe at Squall's story. "You are very fortunate Squall. But try to remember something significant at least."

Squall did the Thinker pose and began recalling all his memories. "Well, I do remember playing Turkish Rondo once and some little girl…I think it was Selphie, began banging on the keys and I lost my way in the piece."

Quistis laughed out loud. "Yes, that was Selphie. She wanted you to come and play with us but all you would do is give attention to Mozart."

"Ah…and I'm guessing you were the blonde crushing on me and staring dreamily at me while I played the piano?" Squall told her with a smirk.

'What? HE NOTICED ME LOOKING AT HIM?' Quistis blushed furiously and said, "Squall! I didn't have a crush on you! Maybe that was…"

"Xu? She wasn't blonde. Besides, I remember she resembles you in a way."

"OK FINE! That was me but don't get any thoughts in your head! I'm with Seifer now!" she screamed at him with her hands at the side.

"Whoa! Why are you mad? That was years ago!" Squall blurted out.

"Because you're being…a kid!"

"Who's acting pissy?"

"…you…Squall Leonhart…agh!"

Squall suddenly heard someone come in the front door. "They must be back."

"Let's just wait here. I don't want to go out just now to be bombarded with questions," Quistis said, leaning against the comfortable couch. She looked at Squall and smiled. "It's been so long Squall. I'm glad you're back." She moved closer to him and gave him a warm, friendly hug.

"Yeah, we have um…12 years or more of catching up to do right?"

The door suddenly opened and Rinoa entered the room. "Oh, I thought everyone had left the house and…" She suddenly stopped when she saw the both of them hugging. "Oh…did I interrupt something? I…I…I'm sorry…" she said softly, closing the door behind her.

Quistis and Squall looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "Maybe you should go to her Squall…I think…"

"I understand." With that, he left the room and ascended the stair to Rinoa's quarters. When he had arrived, he found the door slightly open, Rinoa standing on the other side of the room as she looked outside the window.

"Rin?"

"Yes Squall?" she said, her voice shaky.

"Is there something going on?" He was behind her right now, and when he looked at her face, he saw a few tears begin to form.

"No…nothing's going on…" Her body shook upon Squall's touch.

"Why are you crying then?"

She looked away from him and wiped away the salty liquid from her eyes. "I'm not crying. I just have something…"

"…in your eyes? That's what they always say." When she didn't say anything, he continued explaining. "If it was about Quistis and me earlier, please don't think that way about us. I just discovered that we had attended school together when we were younger."

Rinoa turned around, her eyes beginning to puff up from her tears. "Really?"

Squall held one of her arms and pulled her closer, wiping off one of her tears with a thumb. "It's ok…"

She leaned against his chest, feeling the familiar warmth of his body as his arms wrapped around her.

"I'm sorry," Squall suddenly told her.

Rinoa looked up at him. "What about?"

"For…you know…proposing. I wasn't thinking right," he confessed.

Rinoa smiled and rested her head on his chest again. "No," she laughed. "You weren't…but honestly, do you really love me?"

Squall looked up, his face sporting a smart-thinking look. "I might love you…but then again doesn't love last forever?"

Rinoa was enjoying their proximity, relishing the firmness of Squall's chest. "Of course it does."

"So maybe you cou…never mind…" Squall said, pulling away from the hug and walking towards the door. As he was just about to leave, Rinoa grabbed his hand.

"Squall? If there's something on your mind, please tell me," she asked him sincerely.

Squall gazed into the pools of chocolate eyes that seemed to lure his senses like a magnet. He wanted her, but he could never have her. After all, if this whole thing was over, didn't she have a career to return to? He was being selfish. He closed his eyes and said, "Rinoa…I don't know how to say this but…after all of this…are you really leaving for good?"

Rinoa led him to her bed and they both sat on one side. "I've been thinking about that…but as much as I want to stay…I have a career. But who knows? Let me just say one more thing."

"Hmmm?"

"If you really love someone, no matter how great the distance that separates you, your love will remain strong…if that is true love, it will. My mom told me that once," she said to him with a smile.

Taking her hand gently in his, he kissed her eyes and hugged her lovingly again. "I love you Rinoa Heartilly."

"And I love you too Squall Leonhart."

They both held each other in their embrace until Squall asked, "Have you had dinner yet?"

She shook her head and said, "I didn't bother to have dinner with Nick tonight."

"Why?"

Rinoa gracefully glided towards the door. "There are people who are friends…and there are those who are special."

Squall felt his heart leap. "Um…so I was thinking, maybe…maybe I should cook dinner for you and Quistis."

Rinoa abruptly stopped and looked back at Squall with her bewildered look. "You cook? You can cook?"

Squall gave her a smirk. "Watch me."

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WOOHOO! FINISHED! By the way, this story was once in the M section but because of lack of reviews, I decided to transfer it to the T section. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please check out my other story, Secrets in the Dark. Oh! And Please read and review! The next chapter: Aria of Silence