Hey everyone!

I am so so so so sorry! I've been having a pretty rough year and quite honestly, I just lost interest in this story for a while. But here's the next chapter! I promise I'll be trying to update again by the end of next week, and I should be updating consistently while I'm on break. So, I can't apologize enough for not giving all of you a head's up, but I really hope you enjoy. And to those who were loyal readers before I went on my year-long hiatus... I'll try to find a way to make up for it as long as you give me a hint of what you want to see. Thank you so much!

Also, I do not own the Gondola Song; that was taken from Watase Yuu's Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, nor do I own The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare!

~Hanieya Okudashu


Chapter 19: Truth

I couldn't remember what happened next; it was all in a huge blur. The ambulance came and took my friend away. Daniel disappeared somewhere in the mess. Arsenio stayed by my side through everything, even going with Winsey and I to the hospital. He stuck close to me, fending off all the police who sought to ask me questions, particularly since blood covered my entire body. I could never tell him how grateful I was for that, and when I moved to thank him for all of it, all he did was smile and shake his head, telling me I never had to thank him until I did something really worth thanking him for. Well, I certainly found this definitely worth thanking for!

But still, he stayed with me, told the officers I was tired and such, but I knew he knew. I knew he knew I couldn't remember anything from what had happened, and his look promised me he'd tell me later. I wanted to thank him for that too, but he turned his attention to Winsey in that moment, and his eyes softened. Arsenio looked truly worried for Winsey, almost as worried as I was. For a moment, I felt a stab of envy, but pushed it down immediately; I had no right to be jealous while my best friend was lying in a hospital bed on the verge of dying! What sort of friend did that?! I swore it wouldn't be me.

Once we got to the hospital, the nurses wouldn't let us in any further as they rushed my friend to the emergency ward. I hoped and prayed that she'd be all right. She had to be all right. I shook my head, dispelling it of all the horrible thoughts; she had to be all right! She was Winsey for goodness sakes! The girl who never stayed down. This time would be no different.

All that time, Arsenio stayed with me. Finally, when he sensed like I might have calmed down a bit, he spoke. "Do you want to know what happened?"

I nodded. So he began.

"As you probably figured out, Alana came into your body again-"

"She what?!" I yelled. What?! Alana had come into my body again!? Ah, well that explained the memory loss, but still! That was just so wrong! Seriously?! Who invaded another person's body?! It was the worst kind of invasion ever!

"Elena, mio amore, please, calm down; others will hear you, and we will attract unnecessary attention."

I sat down obediently, full of restless energy. I had to calm down; if people came over to find out what was wrong, it'd take even longer to find out the problem, and boy would that suck, for everybody, especially the poor sucker who'd have to deal with a pissed off Elena for interrupting a hugely important conversation.

Again Arsenio opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes seemed to spark, and his mouth snapped closed again. Shaking his head, he hid a grin. "I know you've never believed me when I told you what happened between Alana and Davi-Daniel, every time you get taken over. Perhaps this will convince you some."

I gave him a wary look; I wasn't sure anything could convince me that Daniel was trying to kill me.

"I know you're probably wondering what I was doing when Winsey was getting hurt. I apologize, truly, for allowing her to get hurt so badly, but you had to know the truth. I cannot allow you to go back to Daniel while you are unaware of his true intentions." Arsenio said Daniel's name like it was such a dirty word. Maybe to him it was.

He pulled out his phone and held it out to me. What in the hell was he taking his phone out for? After a few quick swipes of his fingers and connecting earphones to the phone, he handed it over to me. I took it warily, unsure of his intentions, but my questions died away as the film began.

My words completely dried up as I watched Alana attempt to kill me, and Daniel… My heart was weeping as Daniel, golden boy Daniel, swore he would kill me for the love of his life. I dropped the phone with shaking fingers as my vision began to blur from tears. This couldn't be real, but damn it… it explained so much.

Vaguely, I heard Arsenio let out a suffering sigh and pull me into his strong arms. He smelled like leather and pine trees. It was kind of creepy that I was smelling him at all, but hey. I had my body snatched away by a psychopath intent on killing me and my best friend was hospitalized because of said psychopath. I think I'd earned the right to be creepy just for a bit.

Arsenio's warm breath ruffled my hair as he finally spoke. "I'm so, so sorry to have to tell you such harsh news, mi amore, but you had to know. Had Davide succeeded in harming you… well, I had to give you some sort of warning. I cannot lose you. Your life is more important to me than your pain."

Well that wasn't exactly romantic, but it was sweet in a…horridly morbid way. I turned my tear-streaked face towards him. I was sure I looked like a complete mess, but with the way he was looking at me, I could believe I was the most beautiful woman in the world. "Thank you. Thank you for telling me the truth."

"Anything for you, mi amore." He pressed his forehead to mine and placed a small kiss on the tip of my nose. It warmed me up right down to my toes.

"What does that mean? Mi amore?" My words were soft, breathy, as I stared into his impossibly green eyes. How could I even manage to think around this amazing, beautiful man? He wasn't just sex on a stick, though there was a hefty amount of that too, but he was like perfection manifested. His personality and looks alone could get him any girl in the world, and honestly, a lot of men too. But for him to love me, for him to choose me, of all people, was a blessing I could never have forseen.

The corners of his lips tipped up in a soft smile. "It means 'my love' in Italian."

Tears welled up in my eyes. How long had he been calling me that? Even longer than I could remember. When I was still with Daniel, he'd already been on my side. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my face into his chest. "I love you too, Arsenio."

"Then may I make a small request?"

He must have felt my nod, but he pulled away, out of the circle of my arms. His face softened when I made a small whimpering sound, needing him back with me. Even though he pulled away, he didn't lose contact with me once. His hand came up to cup my face, making me tilt my head to place a soft kiss on his palm. A deep, rumbling sound came up from his throat, sending tingles down my spine. Now that was a hell of a sexy sound.

"Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Emil Abandonato, and I was the illegitimate son of Leonardo da Vinci." A small smirk tilted his lips. "My name means 'rival', and my last name implies 'forsaken', both which were often true because of circumstances surrounding my birth and my father's relationship with Michelangelo, whose son was, coincidentally, my best friend, Davide."

My eyes widened until I was sure they were the size of saucers. "You're… the son of Leonardo da Vinci? But you don't take his last name."

"My mother gave me her surname instead, because she and my father never officially married." Once more he touched my forehead with his own and placed a soft kiss at the corners of my lips. I wanted him to kiss me properly. "And you, precious, are my saving light. Elena means 'light' in Latin. You are my light."

My heart swelled at the sweet words. Turning my head, I captured his lips in a searing kiss that sent fire through my veins. Kissing Daniel had never been like this. His lips always been comfortable, sweet, but never fiery. Arsen- No, Emil's kiss, seemed to burn me from the inside out, and consume everything I was.

It was the best kiss I'd ever gotten.

It was over far too soon. Pulling away, he kissed my eyelids tenderly. "I love you, my light. I love you so very much."

Those words spoke to me. Everything he did spoke to me. I finally saw the difference. Daniel's words, though pretty and romantic, lacked a certain emotion that I finally found in Emil's. He'd had a way of saying exactly what I wanted to hear, but a lot of the time he seemed to not be saying them to me, but to someone of the past, Alana. But it wasn't only that. Being in Emil's embrace now, feeling his arms around me, I finally got it. Daniel's arms had been stiff, and his body unyielding. He'd never been in love with me, but only saw the form I was in, and how it resembled his lost love.

But I couldn't find myself to care anymore. I knew what real love was now. I'd found it in the arms of the man holding me like I was the most precious thing in the world.

"Life is brief. Fall in love, maidens,

Before the crimson bloom fades from your lips,

Before the tides of passion cool within you,

For those of you who know no tomorrow."

The soft song fell from my lips as he held me. It seemed to ring so true, especially now when my life was being targeted. Life was so short, compared to Emil's long existence. I only had so much time. I couldn't squander any of it with the wrong man.

"Life is brief. Fall in love, maidens,

Before his hands take up his boat,

Before the flush of his cheeks fades,

For those of you who will never return here.

"Life is brief. Fall in love, maidens,

Before the boat drifts away on the waves,

Before the hand resting on your shoulder becomes frail,

For those who will never be seen here again.

"Life is brief. Fall in love, maidens,

Before the raven tresses begin to fade,

Before the flame in your hearts flicker and die,

For those to whom today will never return."

The last words faded off into the silence of the room. Emil's arms still kept me close to him, but I had no idea what he was thinking. "I think that's just a glorified way of saying yolo," he commented at last.

The thought, and the truth of it, made me laugh softly. Beautiful, kind, and funny. Who could ask for more? "I guess it is."

"But it's a lovely song, sung by an even lovelier woman."

I blushed softly at the compliment. "Are you flirting with me, kind sir?"

"It depends. Is it working?" I laughed again, making him flash me a devious smile that made my heart beat unnaturally flash. So. Sexy. Was it hot in that room or was it just me?

"I'd say so, yeah."

"Good, then you won't slap me for this."

Before I could ask him what 'this' was, his lips were covering mine again, capturing my lips in a searing, life-changing kiss. I swear I'm not over exaggerating when I say that. That kiss alone could have stopped the Cold War. Okay, so maybe I am over exaggerating… It was just an awesome kiss! Don't judge me.

This time, I was the one to pull away from the kiss. I leaned against his chest and relaxed into him, content. He wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me into his lap.

Neither of us spoke for a long time, but it wasn't an awkward silence like it had been with Daniel. We didn't need to speak; we simply existed together in harmony. It was a wonderful feeling. After about maybe an hour or so, he began talking again about things that made absolutely no sense, but I liked hearing him talk, so there was no reason to stop him.

"This is going to sound insanely nerdy to you, but I love the history of words. I like knowing how words have been transformed over the years, how words that mean different things have suddenly become the same word. Like the word 'love'. In Hebrew, love is described in three different words: ahab, which means spontaneous, impulsive love, hesed, which is used to describe affection and kindness, and raham, which is for compassion and brotherly love. But we've taken all those words and just placed them under the single word 'love'. Now, we only add adjectives and adverbs to them to describe what we mean. Not many languages outside English do this. I'm quite sure a lot more are like the Hebrews. Greeks do it too, you know."

I looked up at him as he spoke. I didn't really understand his fascination, but it was nice to listen to him talking, and watch the ways his face and lips moved as he spoke. His facial expressions seemed to come alive when he described something he was particularly passionate about, but other than that, he seemed to take on a semi-permanent mocking and arrogant expression. It was odd to say, but it was super hot. Like Jace from Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments. It was funny how Jace looked like Daniel, but he was so much more like Emil.

"And while I'm on the topic of words, did you know that Davide was named after King David? His name means 'beloved', and Alana's means 'attractive' or 'peaceful'." Emil snorted. Hell, how could even that sound sexy? I just couldn't understand it. When I snorted, I sounded like a pig. "I can't say I agree with any of those."

Even while he said that, his face softened at the mention of Alana and Davide, and it sent a pang to my heart. Even though he insisted against it, a part of him still loved his past love and best friend. But now they were trying to kill me. I was forcing him to choose between me and the two people who had once been the most important beings in his existence.

He could go on and on all he wanted, but I knew the truth. He still cherished them. And how could he not? Daniel, despite the many years that had passed, was still his best friend, and Alana his first love.

The realization sent an uncomfortable pang through me. How could he be with me if being with me meant keeping me alive, and keeping me alive meant destroying Daniel and Alana? My hand began twitching. There had to be a way around this. It wasn't fair to make him choose one or the other.

I opened my mouth to speak, but at that moment, a single voice rang into the near silence. "Not to interrupt, but ya know, I am kinda broken over here. I'd appreciate the help."

My head whipped around so fast I swear I heard my neck crack. My eyes widened as I leaped out of Emil's arms. "WINSEY!"