Melody and Kurapika are in a luxurious hotel room of Choua, in the Kakin Empire. After escorting Queen Oito to the center of Choua for a discussion with other heads of state, the two rest for a few hours, before continuing on their way to the imperial palace.
Kurapika is lying on a daybed with fine capitonné padding, and covers his eyes with the back of his hand. The soft light of that opulent room dimly illuminates his angelic face, and Melody can see the tension between his slightly furrowed eyebrows. She approaches him, worried:
"Kurapika?"
The girl's voice is low, as if she doesn't want to disturb the thoughts that are stirring inside him.
"Is everything okay?" she continues, and doesn't understand if her friend has finally fallen asleep or is simply mulling over his plan for revenge.
After a few minutes, Kurapika opens his eyes and looks at the musician, with a serious expression:
"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about our return to the palace." he replies, calm and composed as always.
Melody nods.
"You know you can confide in me about anything." she says, sitting on the daybed.
Kurapika shakes his head with a hint of a smile.
"Thank you, but for now I'm fine. Thanks for your kindness, anyway."
Melody smiles in turn, and the two remain in silence, enjoying the quiet of the evening, which is broken not even half an hour later, by music coming from another room.
Melody listens to it with fascination:
"It's such a beautiful piece… So intense… An angelic melody contaminated by the majestic and threatening sound of the organ."
The music seems to come from a record player, perhaps used by one of the imperial guards, someone with an unsuspected passion for classical pieces.
The harmonious sounds of the fugue Melody is listening to are harshly contrasted by the organ, which makes the piece beautiful and complex, evoking contradictory feelings in her, pleasant and disturbing. Kurapika notices his friend's rapt expression:
"Do you know this piece?" he asks her.
"No… But it makes me feel… strange."
"It's music that fits our situation well…" the blond boy murmurs, continuing to listen to it together with his faithful companion.
"This melody seems to have been written especially for Kurapika… Angelic and demonic at the same time…" thinks the musical Hunter.
She has known him for two years, and from the very beginning she was struck by his determination and his readiness to face difficult situations. Even though he was seven years younger than her, she saw him as a boy forced to prematurely become an adult, a complex person, an angel with black-dyed wings, who carries both light and darkness within him.
"Sometimes he seems like the friend next door, other times he is more impenetrable than a diamond…"
Kurapika dozes off on the daybed, unaware of Melody's thoughts, lulled by the musical notes, his face relaxed.
The young woman, on the other hand, cannot fall asleep, between the music and her ruminations, however the silence that now lies between them doesn't weigh on her, it's comfortable.
Suddenly, a figure makes its way into the woman's mind.
It's a tall and handsome young man, with shiny brown hair and a proud look.
Close, the brother of Melody's friend who lost his life during the performance of the Dark Sonata.
Close wasn't interested in music, but he enjoyed Melody's company and had courted her discreetly.
Until the curse…
Three years before, the young woman lost her graceful beauty and Close rejected her contemptuously:
"That stuff has already torn Artie to pieces, I wouldn't want it to be contagious. And anyway, forgive me, I'm too young to resign myself to living…"
The look from head to toe he had given her in that terrible moment had been as quick as it was eloquent, something more stinging than a thousand pins, more offensive than a thousand insults:
"… Like this."
Melody didn't want to remember Close. How much pain and resentment she had harbored inside herself! She had loved him, and he, with his rejection, had hurt her deeply. In Close's chocolate-colored eyes there was no trace of the warmth she had so appreciated, that warmth that had caressed her many times like a soft blanket, but coldness, disgust, repulsion. The curse of the Sonata of Darkness was seen by her ex-boyfriend as a sort of festering wound, and instead of consoling the one he professed to love, he retreated into a mental closure that was already there, but that she didn't want to see until the very last moment.
And so, from one day to the next, Melody found herself with nothing: her friend Artie, her boyfriend, her beauty. Only music accompanied her, the entity that took her and then gave her. She had to rebuild her lost self-esteem from scratch, and thinking back to herself as fragile, abandoned, crouched makes her burst into unexpected sobs.
Kurapika wakes up with a start, and immediately his eyes stop on his friend with a worried expression:
"Melody, what's wrong?"
The young woman tries to control herself, but her eyes are red and swollen from crying.
The boy gets up from the daybed and approaches the armchair on which she is sitting; he places a hand on her shoulder:
"What happened?" he asks her, in a soft voice. She shakes her head, trying to hold back the tears:
"Nothing…" she replies, in a trembling voice, "… Bad memories."
"Do you want to talk about them?" he asks, taking a seat next to her.
The bodyguard hesitates, then shakes her head.
"It's all water under the bridge now, it's not important anymore."
Kurapika doesn't insist, he simply takes her hand and squeezes it to comfort her.
"I'm here for you, Melody. Whatever happened, I'm here to listen to you."
She looks at him and smiles, her eyes still shining:
"Thank you…"
After a few minutes, Melody takes a handkerchief out of her purse and wipes her eyes.
"I had a boyfriend three years ago. I was twenty-three, he was one year older. I thought we would get married, that we would start a family… But then… There was the curse that killed his brother Artie and reduced me like this. He didn't want me anymore, in fact, I'm convinced that he almost holds me responsible for his brother's death. I heard such a symphony of resentment in him that I had no doubts. It was one of the first pieces of music I heard after I gained my supernatural ear. I felt an excruciating pain. For the death of my friend, for Close's rejection, for the looks of pity or mockery from people…"
The plump-faced woman lowers her gaze and her voice, already flute-like, fades like the faint flame of a candle.
Kurapika listens to all this with attention and compassion.
He was aware that his friend, like him, must have suffered, but he didn't imagine such a chain of injustices.
"Her ex-boyfriend blamed her for the accident, even though she was a victim herself. Pain brings out the worst in us..." thinks the nineteen-year-old, feeling implicated.
"I'm sorry... I know what it means to live with such pain..."
His mission companion looks at him, with a late tear still rolling down her cheek.
"It's as if music has become my life, her and her alone. Now I feel everything: every emotion, every thought, every heartbeat. Sometimes, however, it's too much to bear..."
"Yes..." he says, with a serious voice.
"You know... Your resentment for the Spider makes your heart scream with such intensity that it scares me. But I know that you are a golden boy."
Kurapika seriously reflects on his friend's words. He is always amazed by the millimetric precision with which she is able to give a name and an adjective to his feelings, a truly rare capacity for empathy. He is surprised, however, by the fact that she considers him a golden boy. He hasn't considered himself such a good person, not since the destruction of his clan, since when his path was stained with blood and his innocence stolen. A golden boy wouldn't devote himself entirely to revenge, he is more than certain of it. Those two simple words, despite everything, warm his heart.
"Thank you, Melody…" he tells her, with extreme sincerity, "… It's true, I feel a deep resentment, but it's a powerful engine that allows me to fight for what I think is right."
"I know. I think that's why you're so strong."
Kurapika is grateful for Melody's understanding words, who has lost herself for a moment in his beautiful eyes. It's just a moment, but it's enough to make her blush imperceptibly.
"What's wrong with me?" she asks herself, while the boy doesn't seem to have noticed anything.
Silence falls between the two and Melody tries to sound cool:
"It's late, it's almost midnight. I think we should sleep and not let these emotions distract us too much."
"You're right, let's try to get some sleep."
Not even two hours later, however, Melody is already awake. She feels like a weight pressing on her stomach. She gets up and goes to Kurapika, who is sleeping soundly. Theirs is a double room with single beds.
The young woman watches him sleep blissfully and gently moves his bangs aside.
"Oh, Kurapika... If only you knew what you did to me... You gave me back my faith in love." she whispers, before kissing him softly on the cheek.
Immediately after, she moves away, with a sense of inner peace. Kurapika hasn't noticed anything and continues to sleep, unaware of the turmoil that is stirring in Melody's heart. She, for her part, looks at him with tenderness and affection. She looks at those features of a boy who has grown up too quickly, those lips curved in a smile, despite the tiredness and tension.
Then, with a stealthy step, she returns to her bed.
The next morning, the two are accompanying Oito to the imperial palace. Kurapika is driving and Melody is watching him from the interior mirror. She can no longer deny it to herself: she is deeply attracted to him, perhaps she loves him. Having realized her feelings for him fills her with happiness, makes her sigh, makes her feel joyful trepidation.
The queen, sitting next to her, hasn't noticed the emotional tension of her bodyguard and continues to talk to Kurapika about palace affairs and her daughter Woble. He doesn't take his eyes off the road for a single moment.
Upon their arrival at the imperial palace, the two bodyguards are invited to have lunch with the other guards. Melody is melancholic and the blond boy notices it.
"Is everything okay?" he asks her, and she seems to wake up after having stared a point mindlessly. Immediately, she pastes an unconvincing smile on her mouth:
"Yes, I'm fine."
Her voice is not convincing either and Kurapika scrutinizes her carefully.
"Are you sure?"
His insistence makes her uncomfortable, and she looks away. She would like to tell him what she feels, but she is afraid of ruining everything. She almost doesn't notice that the boy has taken her hand and is now squeezing it lightly.
"As I told you yesterday, I'm here for you."
His voice is warm and gentle. His smile is welcoming. It would be so easy for her to let go...
"Have a seat."
That moment bursts like a soap bubble: it's time to eat and the chatter of the other guards, combined with the clinking of cutlery, definitively distracts them from the conversation.
Even during the meal, Melody is not very brilliant and limits herself to a few brief interventions and to observing Kurapika raptly every time he speaks. He notices it, feeling a certain embarrassment, but also a pleasant satisfaction. He wonders how a person like him, full of anger and resentment, could have attracted the attention of a gentle soul like his friend's. Even while he is talking with his colleagues, Kurapika searches for her with his gaze, and suddenly, he feels it.
A shiver. A special connection.
It's as if they were alone in the middle of a table of twenty people.
Lunch ends leaving them uncomfortable, suspended and waiting.
That same evening, it's their turn to go patrol the corridors of the building. Their torches illuminate the decorated walls and the high ceilings. They don't speak to each other, but they feel perfectly at ease, even though Kurapika would like to understand why Melody hasn't been very talkative during the day. He wonders if it could be his fault, if he did or said something that could have upset her.
"How can I tell him? How can I resist any longer?" she asks herself, her heart racing.
"Now we're alone. I'll ask her."
Kurapika is determined; after turning the corner, he turns his head slightly towards Melody, who is walking a few steps behind him.
"Are you sure you're okay? You seemed absent today."
"Here we are…" she thinks, while a crazy orchestra rages in her heart. "Yes, I'm fine." she tells him, but her voice is barely audible.
The boy, of course, isn't convinced.
At that point, the musician decides to plunge into the matter:
"Kurapika… What do you see in your future?"
The young man stops for a moment, and his expression becomes intense. His future, as long as the Spider has a head and legs, will always be uncertain.
"For now, I see revenge… I see justice for the Kurta. I see a future where I can finally close this spiral of blood and find the peace I long for."
Kurapika's heartbeat reaches a very high peak that Melody sadly picks up on.
And in that moment, everything changes.
Kurapika looks at her with a different intensity, as if he wanted to read his friend's thoughts with the same effectiveness she uses.
"Lately, however, I'm starting to see other things too. Things I hadn't foreseen."
His beautiful eyes, without colored lenses, are hypnotizing.
"What will you do when you are at peace?" she asks him, her heart full of expectation.
Kurapika's gaze softens.
"When I am at peace, I would like to be able to live a normal life, without the shadow of revenge haunting me. I would like to be serene, or even happy and… And share my life with someone."
Brown eyes fixed on amber eyes. There is a silent message that winds between them.
The young woman feels emotional like never before, not even Close had managed to make her feel this way. Close is very far away, a ghost from a parallel Universe.
The blond takes a step towards his friend, as if he wanted to completely eliminate the little distance that remains between them.
"Melody… I…"
His voice is barely a whisper.
She, grasping the meaning of those two simple words, turns around suddenly, barely holding back her tears:
"I can no longer hope for anything like this! Not with this appearance!"
Kurapika, worried, approaches and gently takes her chin, making her look up at him:
"Melody, what are you saying? Your appearance doesn't matter to me. It's your soul that matters, as well as your intelligence and your humanity."
Melody listens to Kurapika's heartbeat and understands that he is sincere, that he is not lying solely to comfort her.
The woman feels moved and begins to cry; the young man hugs her, holding her tightly and she lets go, finally free to express herself.
"Never doubt your beauty…" he says, stroking her hair.
"I… I've been in love with you since Yorknew, you're the only one I want!"
Kurapika stops, surprised by Melody's words. The two break away from the embrace and the young blond man looks at her, as if he didn't expect to hear those words. A sweet smile forms on his lips.
"I… I didn't imagine. Even though… I've started to feel something for you too. You've always been by my side in difficult times and you've shown an understanding that very few have."
"He's sincere. He's sincere! How is that possible!" Melody thinks, widening her eyes.
"I want to be with you too, Melody. It doesn't matter what you look like, it's not important at all. It's you the one I want."
At that point, with no more barriers to break down, the young woman stands on tiptoe and kisses him. It's a moment of pure bliss for them.
"I'll help you find peace." she promises him, sweetly.
The words of the musical Hunter are a balm for his soul corroded by hatred for the Phantom Troupe.
"Thank you… With you by my side, I feel like I can face any challenge." he says to her, gratefully.
Kurapika feels relieved like he hasn't felt in a long time. Frankly, he always believed that there was no hope for him, that even after avenging the members of his clan he would have nothing but gray and moveless days, alone, until old age and a merciful death.
He was convinced that no one would want to be by his side, share a home with him, a bed, because of his soiled soul.
And instead… Destiny has promised a light for him too.
"Together we can face the future and write our story." he concludes, and the two hug each other tightly, sealing a pact of love and mutual support.
