Note: Here's the chapter where you find out what Rona's answer is.
Santuary of Darkness: You'll get to find out in this chapter. I hope you like it.
magusanubis: You surprised me. I didn't really expect to see you review. But thanks. You'll get to see a bit of Virgil's plan in this. So I hope it kind of gives you an idea of what could happen.
BloodyDemonEmpress: You can stop shaking me now. And here's what you asked for.
LadyKadaj: I'll save your reply for after the chapter. I don't want to give anything away.
Okay, please enjoy and review. I can't wait to see what you think.
Trish waited on the couch. She had warned Dante that Rona's answer could be no. But he wouldn't listen. He was always so confident that things would go as he had planned. She knew he hadn't considered the fact that Rona had a mind of her own. Trish wanted to know what Rona's answer would be but waited patiently for Dante to come in with either a depressed look or a look of excitement.
Rona looked at the ring, not knowing what to say. She never expected Dante to propose to her again. She never expected him to be so serious. Could she break his heart? Could she answer honestly?
"I-I don't know what to say." She whispered.
"Say yes." Dante took the box from her, took out the ring and gently slid it onto her finger. "It's a start for our new life."
She smiled. "Dante, I—"
"Shh." Dante placed a finger over her lips, stopping her before she could continue. "I love you." He whispered. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"You're going to live a much longer life than I will." She looked into his smiling eyes. "Why do you want to spend it with me?"
"I can't imagine not seeing you every day." He answered, looking down at her small hand.
She felt like her heart was going to burst. She didn't want to hurt him but knew that it would happen no matter what she wanted. Taking a deep breath, she spoke, "I don't know how to say this but could you give me some time to give you an answer? There's something I need to find out before I decide on this." She hesitated when it came to taking the ring off. "Please, understand."
He took the ring and put it back in its box. "I should have known." He muttered. "You still love my brother."
"It's not that." Rona assured him. "It's something else." She quickly grabbed the box and took out the ring. She then pulled out a string out of the blanket and threaded it through the ring.
Putting the string around her neck she said, "I'll wear it like this until I've decided. If the answer is yes, I'll be wearing it on my finger."
"And if it's no?" Dante asked, holding the ring gently.
She hesitated. "I'll give it back to you."
Dante nodded and stood from the bed. "Trish is waiting." He walked to the door, pausing to look back at Rona. The look in his eyes was enough to make her wonder if he truly did love her. There was hope and fear, love and a strange tenderness she had never noticed.
He left the room and went to tell Trish what Rona had said. He found her sitting on the couch, her eyes wondering everywhere. He could see she was anxious to hear the result of his proposal. She had been wringing her hands so much that they were now red. Dante almost wondered if she had been hoping Rona would say no. Trish was never this nervous.
"So?" She asked; her eyes focused on Dante.
"She's going to think about it. She said she had something she needed to find out… She's going to say no, isn't she?" His voice took on a depressed tone.
Trish, for the first time, realized how important this human was to Dante. He had never seemed to worry that he was going to lose. He had never shown more to her than a cool and sarcastic exterior. Now he was something different from what she had always seen.
"I don't know." Trish answered. "She might and she might not. What does she need to find out about?"
"I didn't ask." Dante turned towards the kitchen. Grabbing a slice of pizza, he sat down and lazily ate.
Taking this as a sign that she had to learn the truth, Trish went to Dante's room to see Rona standing in front of the window. "What are you watching?" Trish asked, hoping to start a conversation where she could get some answers.
"Nothing." Rona slightly turned her head, watching Trish through the corner of her eye. "He told you?"
Trish joined her at the window, looking out at the street where she had first seen Devil May Cry. "He told me that you wanted to wait to give him an answer." She answered.
"He didn't tell you why?"
"He told me. But I wanted to know the real reason." Trish's blue eyes left the scene of the street and to Rona. "Because I know you wouldn't be telling him lies unless you were hiding something serious."
"You're right. And I can't let him know the real reason until I can give him an answer."
"What is your reason?" Trish was slightly annoyed with Rona's procrastination. "Is there someone else?"
"You could say that, but not that I'm in love with another man. He isn't a man and I don't know if I can love him now. Not since he wants me dead."
Trish went from slightly being annoyed to being curious. "Who?"
"Virgil." Rona whispered, seeing his dark figure in the shadows of the buildings.
"He's dead." Trish said, almost praying she was right.
"No. He's alive." Rona seemed to be too calm about the subject. "I've seen him several times. I think he's been testing me to see if I still feel the same way about him as I did before."
"Do you?"
"What an enlightening conversation." Rona turned from the window. "But only for one of us. I still haven't found the answers I want."
"And that is?"
"If I tell Dante I'll marry him, will it be worth it? Will I live long enough? Or will I die before the wedding could even take place? That is what I want to know and Virgil is the only one that can answer. He's the one that knows when I'm supposed to die." She turned back towards Trish, her eyes burning with tears.
Trish could only show that she understood. She had nothing she could say to her. Not after hearing that a man she had loved was now out to kill her. Did she even know the reason why?
"I need to get dressed." Rona reminded Trish. She left and went back to see Dante was waiting several feet away from the door. She hoped he hadn't heard, but there was no way to tell if he had. He hid his knowledge well.
"How is she?" Dante asked with a hint of concern revealing itself in his voice.
"She's okay. She's just getting ready for the day." Trish went back to the couch and sat down. She knew she couldn't tell Dante about his brother. It would bring too many problems that he didn't need. But he would have to find out sooner or later. Why should he have to wait to know? Because Rona was concerned about what could happen if he knew? Could it be because a new war would arise between the two brothers, one that could destroy them both? Or was it because it was Rona's place to tell him when she was the one keeping him secret?
"You're thinking a lot." Dante commented, interrupting Trish's questioning thoughts. "What's on your mind?"
"Nothing." Trish answered calmly.
Rona walked in just before Dante could attempt to get an answer from Trish. She was wearing the clothes Dante had always wanted to see her wear willingly, especially his little joke she had hated.
She walked up to Dante, the ring settled against her skin that once held the Devil's Tear. "I thought I'd ask you if you wanted to go out somewhere." She said to Dante, her eyes focused only on his.
Gently caressing her shoulder and neck, he whispered, "Where did you plan on going?"
"I don't care. Somewhere that you want to go." She answered.
"I know just the place." He smiled and lightly kissed her forehead.
Much to Rona's distaste, Dante took her to a club. She gave herself a mental note to never ask Dante to choose where they go again. But then she admitted that she needed to try new things.
Dante had made sure she wore a jacket while she was out. He was proud to see her wearing something more daring but didn't want anyone else to see it.
The club he had taken her to was actually calmer than most. There were less people and those that were found in the room were usually people that didn't want to be known, earning the club a name of "Shadow". It was where the loners could go and relax without worrying about someone trying to gain a date for the evening. Everyone knew each other and didn't mind the company of their comrades. Dante had seen this as the perfect place to take Rona. She wasn't used to a lot of people and could find people she might get along with. They also served the best drinks Dante could afford.
The lights were blue tinted, giving a cold glow to the room. The black walls had pictures of different customers, none Rona could recognize. "I'm surprised you aren't on their wall of fame." She joked.
"These are the human customers." Dante told her casually, ignoring the questioning look she gave him.
They weaved their way to the bar, occasionally running into someone Dante knew. He always introduced Rona the same way, as his girl. This was something she had never expected to be called and almost seemed to like it. Her mind began to imagine what it would be like to hear him calling her his fiancé. But the memory that it could never happen stopped it immediately.
Dante ordered a beer for himself and water for Rona. "You don't want the lemonade here." He told her.
She snickered, remembering a random memory of a movie. "Sickening?" She asked.
"Lets just say it's close to being poison." He answered with a grin.
She nodded and watched the few people who had chosen to dance. A song suddenly came on that she recognized. It was With Or Without You, by U2. She looked to Dante to see a look that gave it away. He had asked for the song. She didn't know how but it was obvious he had.
"Here's another surprise I had prepared for you." He whispered as he led her to the dance floor. "I remembered that you like this song."
Humming to the song, she listened to the words and remembered the last time she had heard it. She was with Dante then too. They had been talking about what had been happening to her. He encouraged her to fight with him as a demon instead of against him. She never realized how badly she had screwed that up, but she hadn't killed him when she could have. She let him live and was almost killed herself, if it wasn't for the demon keeping her alive. What would she do without her?
"Is something wrong?" Dante asked.
"No." She whispered, laying her head against his chest and finding that she felt safer with him now than she had before. She even came to believe she belonged close to him. "Everything is just fine." She closed her eyes and slowly danced with Dante.
The room almost seemed to disappear until she was in darkness with only Dante to hold onto. She heard a voice calling to her. A voice she wasn't sure if she wanted to forget or not. A hand suddenly took a hold of her arm and pulled her out to the alley behind the club.
Her vision cleared and she saw it was Virgil. She looked down to the ground, suddenly ashamed. She saw his hand drift to the ring and lift it from her chest. She looked into his eyes, catching a tear sliding down his cheek. "What did you tell him?" He asked, holding back the pain.
"I asked him to wait for my answer." She took the ring out of his hand and let it drop back against her skin. "I wanted to ask you something." Her eyes went back to the ground. "How long do I have to live?"
"That depends on you." Virgil turned away from her. "You can either come with me and live or refuse and die."
"A choice between life and death, that's the best you can do?" She answered.
"Have you been considering marrying him?" Virgil couldn't hide the hurt and fear in his voice.
Rona thought of the tear she saw. "I don't know." She answered.
The door suddenly opened and Dante came running out, pushing Rona behind him protectively. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead."
"Never assume I'm dead, brother." Virgil growled, taking a fighting stance. "You should ask Rona how long she has known about me. Better yet, if she's been spending her nights alone when you weren't around."
Dante turned to Rona. "Is that true?" He asked, his voice breaking a little. The look in his eyes almost seemed to be that of a wounded puppy.
"I didn't have a say in it." Rona answered. "I didn't even expect him to be there."
"But she didn't tell me to leave the second time." Virgil added.
Dante suddenly punched his brother, knocking him back a few paces. He walked past Rona without looking at her.
Rona looked back at Virgil who was gently rubbing his bottom jaw. With a pain filled heart, she turned and followed Dante.
Note: Okay, for LadyKadaj, here's your brownie. You pretty much were right. Great guess. And I'll be sure to try putting the next chapter up soon.