//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: The Sun of My Heart 2: Love's Flames // by BlueSun52 //------------------------------// Reigniting the Dazzle! Sonata was whistling a tune along with the music she had on as she was driving her car, which incidentally was a Sonata. Riding along was Soul as he was enjoying the song and Sonata’s whistling. After the incident with having his lightsaber hitting her in the head and making her watch the Star Wars movies, it had occurred to both of them that they hadn’t hung out as much together after the Friendship Games. Sonata suggested that since she always came over to Soul’s house, he could come over to her home and spend time together as friends. Sunset was at first against the idea, but after thinking about it, she decided that it was fine as long as she came along. Sunset was in the back seat listening to Sonata’s music and tune and smiled as she enjoyed it. Just as the song had ended, Sonata spoke up. “I’m so happy that you guys decided to come over!” she said. “We’re going to have so much fun at my place!” “We’re glad to come over, Sonata,” Sunset said. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think any of us have ever been to your place.” “Well, Aria and Dagi’ wanted it to be secret, but since we’re all becoming best of friends, and also I begged really hard, they decided that I could bring anyone I wanted!” Sonata explained, “As long as it’s okay with them.” “And they were okay with us coming over?” Soul asked. “Just you, they said Sunset couldn’t come,” Sonata replied. “Wait, what?” Sunset asked. “If they didn’t want me to come, why am I coming? And why only Soul?” “Since Soul couldn’t come unless you came, I thought it would be okay. And I don’t know why, but Dagi’ was the one that wanted Soul to come over,” Sonata answered. Sunset looked at Sonata with suspicion. “Um, why me?” Soul asked. Sonata shrugged. “I don't really know,” she replied. “The moment I said your name, she was just saying yes over and over again. It was really weird.” “I don’t know why, but I feel a little uncomfortable about this,” Soul commented. “So do I,” Sunset said. Just as they were driving, Sunset noticed the beautiful houses and mansions they were passing. She looked around the neighborhood and concluded that this was where most of the wealthy citizens of Canterlot were living. “Hey Sonata, is your home somewhere near here?” Sunset asked. “Or do we still have a long way to go?” Sonata snickered. “What you talking about?” she asked. “It’s just up there.” Sunset arched her brow and looked to see Sonata was driving towards the driveway of a large mansion. Both Soul’s and Sunset’s jaws hung open when they saw it. The front of the mansion driveway was large and circular and in the very center was a statue of a seahorse streaming water into the fountain. The mansion was large and had several windows and balconies. In the front of the mansion were large gardens and flowers neatly planted in rows to complement the building. Sonata took the car around as she slowly went up to the side of the mansion towards a parking garage. She pressed a button on the car and the garage door opened. Inside the garage were different brands of cars and motorcycles parked inside as they sparkled from obviously being cleaned recently. Taking the car in, Sonata parked it and climbed out while Soul and Sunset were still sitting in the car in shock from seeing that mansion. “Babe?” “Yeah?” “Am I dreaming, or is Sonata living in a mansion?” “I was going to ask you the same question.” “What are you guys still doing in the car?” Sonata asked. “We can’t do much of anything if you two sit in the car all day, and trust me, I’ve tried.” Soul and Sunset shook their heads before looking at Sonata. “Sonata, we've been friends for a while, right?” Sunset asked. “Yep.” “And friends usually tell friends about certain things in their lives, right?” “Like how I have a homemade doll of Soul?” “Wait, what?” “I mean, yes!” Sunset blinked a few times before continuing on with her questions. “So, how come you never told us that you lived in a gigantic mansion!?” she asked. “I just thought it was never important,” Sonata replied. “I guess when you live in a place like this for hundreds of years, it’s just not that special anymore.” “What you mean not that special!?” Soul asked. “You live in a mansion! How can anyone not think it’s special?” “Soul, she just said she lived in them for hundreds of years. It would make sense that she would not see it as being as awesome as it is,” Sunset explained. “But how is it that you’re living in a mansion? Did you trick someone into giving it to you when you still had your powers or something?” “What? No, me and my sisters are billionaires,” Sonata answered. Soul’s and Sunset’s eyes widened with shock. “What?” the two said in unison. “Well, we did live in this world for a thousand years. Most of the time before we lost our voices, we would sing as different bands in different eras or one of us would make a successful business a decade ago and we would still get some of the money through secret means that no one would be able to notice,” Sonata explained. “..... It was Taco Bell wasn’t it?” Soul asked. Sonata gasped. “How did you know?” she asked with amazement. “Just a guess,” Soul replied before he rolled his eyes without Sonata noticing. “Come on, lemme show you guys around. You really are going to like it here,” Sonata said as she walked off and led the way. Soul and Sunset followed Sonata towards the front of the mansion. As they were walking, Sunset looked around the front of the mansion and the garden. “Wow, this place is so beautiful,” Sunset commented. “I never realized that Sonata would live in such a place like this.” “I thought that same, but like she said, she and her sisters lived for a thousand years. It would make sense for them to have an abundance of money and a place like this to live,” Soul said. “Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, I always did imagine they would at least live in a rundown apartment like one of those fallen villains in the shows.” “I just hope Sonata doesn’t try anything funny while we’re here,” Sunset said. Soul arched a brow. “Are you still thinking that she’s going to try to trap me and have her way with me?” he asked. “She’s a friend and I trust her. Besides, I can easily get out of any situation that I might get into.” “Soul, you had your hand stuck in a peanut jar last week,” Sunset retorted. “That was one time!” Soul countered. “And I got it out of there.” “Because you accidently smashed the jar and we had to get you to the emergency room,” Sunset said. “Let’s just head inside already,” Soul said while Sunset had a smug smile on her. The three made it to the front door and Sonata rang the doorbell. It made a small jingling sound and Sonata was humming the tune to herself. After a moment, the door opened to reveal an old-looking man wearing a fine suit. The man was bold, having a small twirly moustache and grey skin. “Hi, Bittermen, I’m back!” Sonata said. “Miss Dusk, it’s good to have you back again at the mansion,” Bittermen said. “Are these the guests that you mentioned, miss?” “Hmhmm,” Sonata nodded. “This is Soul and Sunset.” “Ah yes, This is the young man that you’ve been so fond of and one of your closest friends,” Bittermen said. “Welcome to the home of the Dazzlings.” “Wow, uh, thanks. To be honest, we never really thought Sonata and her sisters would live in such a place as this,” Sunset said. “I always kinda thought they’ve been living in an apartment or maybe a trailer.” “I can see how that can be misinterpreted, Miss, but I assure you, that is not the case,” Bittermen said. “Is there anything you or your guests may need, Miss Dusk?” “Nah, we’re good right now,” Sonata replied. “Oh, but can you make us some popcorn for later? I was planning on show them the theater room in a bit.” “Theater room!?” Soul and Sunset said at the same time. “Of course, I will get right on it, Miss. I hope you all have a wonderful time here at the mansion,” Bittermen said before taking a small bow and walking away. Soul and Sunset looked at each other in confusion before looking at Sonata. “You have a theater room?” Sunset asked. “For realzies,” Sonata replied. “We also have a bowling alley, a bunch of music rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, a tennis court, a boxing arena, dining halls, a ballroom, all of the guests’ rooms are master bedrooms and a large media room.” “Wow, that’s…. a lot for a mansion,” Sunset commented. “And the only thing that was interesting about them was the theater and the media room,” Soul said. “All the other stuff I don’t mind very much.” “Oh, I forgot that we also have a gigantic game room and a spa,” Sonata added. “I know Rarity would love to try out the spa. We have our own hired staff and everything.” “You have a spa with your own staff?” Sunset asked. “You have a game room!?” Soul asked with excitement. “Why didn’t you mention that?” “Well, usually Aria uses it most of the time. I mean, yeah, I like to go in there to play some games, but she’s the one that loves to play all kinds of video games,” Sonata explained. “And Adagio always loved going to the spa, so she decided one day to hire our own staff and built a spa room for them.” “So, she has an entire spa staff ready to do anything for her?” Sunset asked. “Yep.” “I think I would like to try that out,” Sunset said. “Soul, would you like to come along? We could have a lot of fun together.” She winked at Soul. “Nah, I want to check out the game room,” Soul said, oblivious to Sunset’s suggestion. “You can go on ahead.” Sunset looked at Soul with half lid eyes before changing them to bedroom eyes. “Maybe you don’t understand,” she said. “I would really like you to come and have some real fun with me.” “Maybe later. So Sonata, can you take me to the game room?” Soul asked. “Uh, yeah, I can show you the way,” Sonata replied. “Awesome, let’s get going,” Soul said. Sonata led the way while Sunset walked alongside her and Soul was walking behind them with an excited smile plastered on his face. “Okay, even I was able to catch those signals,” Sonata asked. “I don’t like to ask this, but did Soul get dumber?” Sunset let out a sigh. “No, apparently video games are much more important to him than me as of late,” she replied. “Wait, as of late?” “Look Sonata, we’re here to spend some time together and relax. I’d rather not talk about some things going on right now between me and Soul,” Sunset explained. “Let’s just stop by the game room and you can take me over to the spa.” “Oh… Alright,” Sonata said with concern in her voice. The three continued down the hallways towards their first destination of the Dazzlings’ home. After walking down the hallways for a while, Sonata walked up towards a large door and grabbed the doorknob. She twisted it and flung it open to show what was inside. Soul looked into the room and his eyes went wide and his mouth hung open with amazement and shock. Inside the room were several old arcade games against the wall, where a large plasma tv was mounted. Below it was a cabinet of every game console that had ever existed along with the current game consoles. There were beanbag chairs laid in front of the them, and Aria was sitting in one of them as she took a sip from her drink while playing Halo. Aria was only wearing a simple cyan t-shirt and comfortable shorts while she had her hair down. She paused the game for a moment before looking back to see the three at the door. “Sonata, what did I tell you about coming in during my private hours?” Aria asked. “But your private hours are all day, everyday,” Sonata replied. “How am I supposed to come in here without upsetting you?” “You don’t, that's the point of it,” Aria said. “So what are these two doing here?” “Well, I invited Soul over and Sunset ended up coming along with us and Soul wanted to check out the game room before I take Sunset over to the spa,” Sonata explained. “Ah huh, I see,” Aira said before looking at Soul with a raised brow. “Is he going to be okay?” Sonata and Sunset looked over to Soul and had worried expressions when they saw him still in shock and awe of the room. His mouth was hanging open and he was drooling. Sunset waved a hand in front of him and snapped her fingers a few times to get his attention, but nothing worked. “I think we broke him,” Sunset said. “Give him a nudge, that might help,” Sonata suggested. Sunset nodded and slightly pushed Soul before he collapsed on the floor with a loud thud. Soul got back up on his own and patted his jacket before shaking his head violently. “I’m sorry, I was suddenly overcome with joy. My body couldn’t handle it,” Soul said, earning an eye roll from Sunset. “So Aria, you play Halo?” “Yep, playing Halo Five right now,” Aria replied. “The game is pretty good, but it sucks that it doesn’t have any splitscreen.” “I know what you mean. I couldn’t get Sunset to play the game because of that. She basically has to sit there and watch me play it. It’s not as fun without having your girl play with you,” Soul said. “Good thing too, because I am not that good at it,” Sunset whispered over to Sonata. “Sonata and I are going to head up and go over to the spa. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us right now? Could be a lot of fun.” “Too late, I’m already into watching Aria play Halo,” Soul said as he sat down on one of the bean bags next to Aria. “Look out for that Elite!” “I know! I know!” Aria cried. Sunset let out a sigh. “Let’s just go,” she said. Sonata and Sunset left the room, leaving Aria and Soul alone in the game room. “Look out on the left!” “Dude, shut up!” After walking around the mansion, Sonata and Sunset were in the spa room. True to her words, the Dazzlings did indeed have a staff of workers in the spa. There were only two working at the time. One was a girl with bright pink sink and sky blue hair while the other had sky blue skin and bright pink hair. The two settled in the room as they removed their clothing and only wore towels to cover themselves. Soon the two were being given massages on their backs and were in a blissful state. After the massages, the two were escorted into a hot pool and went in it as they soaked in the mineralized water. For a while everything was silent between the two as time went by. Sunset was enjoying her time in the bath like she had with Rarity when they went to a spa. Sunset also remembered that was a couple days before Soul and she were about to have their special moment together for the first time but felt that it was too early to attempt it. Sunset frowned a bit as she remembered her times with Soul before the school trip to the paintball game and how attentive and sweet he was to her. But after the game, he was being distant with her and wasn’t calling her Sunny as much as he used to. Sunset lowered herself deeper into the water until her nose was just above the water. Sonata looked over to Sunset and picked up that she was upset about something. She wanted to say something but remembered earlier that Sunset didn’t wanted to talk about anything bad and just wanted to relax. She fidgeted in place as she was conflicted on whether or not to say anything. After a moment, her better half won and she looked over to Sunset before opening her mouth to speak. “Sunset, are you okay?” Sunset’s eyes widened with realization as she forgot that Sonata was with her and sat up. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied. “I was just really enjoying the water a lot.” Sonata stayed silent for a moment. “Look, I know you said that you didn’t want to talk about anything bad, but I’m here for you and I want to help,” she said. “So, if you want to talk about any of your problems, I’d like to hear them and help out.” Sonata reached over and placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. Sunset looked up to see a small smile on Sonata. Sunset looked down at the water to see her waving reflection. Despite what she said to Sonata earlier, she really wanted to talk to someone about her problems, but she wasn’t sure who to turn to. She let out a sigh as she came to the conclusion that perhaps Sonata was the person she needed to talk to. She looked over to her and spoke up. “Soul and I have been… having some problems,” Sunset said. “Ever since the paintball game, he’s been acting distant as of late. He hardly wants to spend time with me as much and he’s just been calling me Sunset. He doesn’t really use the nickname anymore. I don’t know why he’s been acting like this.” “That does sound weird,” Sonata said. “I mean, Soul is like one of the nicest guys I know. There’s got to be a reason why he’s acting like this, right?” “I just don’t know what to do. I want to talk to him about this, but I’m afraid that I might just push him away further,” Sunset said. “Sonata, when I wanted to come along, I wasn’t coming here just to make sure you or Adagio weren’t going to do anything funny with him.” “What!?” “I also came to see if there was any way I could spend time with him.” “Wait, then why did you decide to leave him in the gaming room with Aria instead of staying with him?” Sonata asked. “Well, the spa sounded really good and I’ve been under a lot of stress with Soul and all of the school work I have,” Sunset answered. “Also with what everything that had happened in the last few weeks, this was just something I needed.” “Okay yeah, I’ll give you that,” Sonata said. “But I think you should go talk to Soul about this. Whatever is going on between you two, I’m sure he’ll listen to you.” “I don’t know…” Unexpectedly, Sonata reached out and held Sunset’s hands with hers and drew Sunset’s attention. Sonata looked at her with an earnest expression as her eyes narrowed down at Sunset’s. “Sunset, do you love him?” “Well yeah, but-” “And does he love you?” “I like to believe he does, but what does-” “Then why are you so hesitant about asking him what’s wrong?” Sonata asked. “He’s your friend, your boyfriend, your lover, your soulmate and the very person that has, on more than one occasion, been there for you whenever something bothered you. So go out there, find him, talk to him and make him start calling you Sunny again!” Sunset looked at Sonata in shock with her mouth hanging. She had never thought that Sonata would be the one person to talk this much sense to anyone before. She had a feeling talking with her would help in some way, but never really thought she would be getting this much advice from a girl that has so little experience in romance. “Sonata… When did you start to make sense of things?” Sunset asked. “I’m not trying to be rude or anything, it’s just… Not the kind of advice I was expecting.” “Oh, I’ve been reading a lot of romance books,” Sonata answered. “That, and when you live for a thousand years, you tend to pick up a few things every now and again.” Sunset looked at Sonata for a moment before giving a determined grin. “You’re right. If there’s something that’s troubling Soul, I need to be there for him,” she said. “He’s my man, and I’m not letting him go so easily.” Sunset got out of the tub, wrapped herself with a towel and walked out of the room with the determination to find Soul. “You go get him!” Sonata cheered. After Sunset had left the room, Sonata’s smile slowly began to fade away before her face became blank. She then made a pout when an idea had popped into her mind. “Dang it! I should have convinced her to break up with him! CURSE YOU, CONSCIENCE!” One of the spa girls came into the room with a smile plastered on her face. “Would you like your bath to be filled bubbles, Miss Dusk?” she asked. “Yes! I would like a lot of bubbles!” Sonata replied keeping her pout. “Right away, Miss Dusk,” the spa girl said, still still with a smile, walking out of the room. Sonata lowered herself down into water until her nose was just above it. While she was like that, she muttered something under the water and said she wished she had a boyfriend as the water bubbled with every word. “...And that’s what the problem is with me and Sunset,” Soul said. “She abandoned me just so she could get out of that ambush and basically used me as bait. She said that she was coming back, but I don’t see how she would have. It felt like she just stabbed me in the back and left me on my own. I know it was just a game, but it had me wondering if it was just that one time or there will be other times that could be much worse and she would leave me. I just don’t know how I could talk to her about this without upsetting her, and that’s why I’ve been trying to avoid her a bit. I know that it sounds wrong of me to do, but I just don’t know what to do. What do you think, Aria? Should I talk to her about this or I should just pretend this never happened?” Aria’s eyes twitched with annoyance as she was trying to play her game. From out of nowhere, Soul started to talk about his problems with Sunset, which agitated her greatly and was ruining her concentration. She glared over to Soul and stared daggers at him, which made Soul’s skin turn pale out of sheer fear. “Look, I don’t care about your problems. I don’t care about the world’s problems. As far as I can tell, you just need to go talk to her about it or get over it. That’s your problem, not mine,” Aria explained. “Now, if you’re going to go, I’d do it now. Otherwise, shut. The. Hell. UP!” Soul sat there nervously until he got up and slowly backed away from Aria. “I’m uh… I’m just going to-” “Yeah, I would,” Aria said before leaning back on her bean bag and going back to her game. Soul let out a sigh and walked out of the room with the door closed behind him. He walked down the hallways on his own. As he walked, he was thinking over all that he had said to Aria about Sunset. A part of him wanted to believe that he could just talk to Sunset about it and then everything would be back to normal, but the other half was afraid that it might make her mad and, worse-case scenario, they would have a fight and break up. Soul didn’t want that to happen, and he wanted to be with Sunset no matter what. “Maybe I’ve just been overreacting about this whole thing,” Soul said to himself. “And maybe I should talk to Sunset about this. She needs to know how I felt about that. It’ll be unfair to her if I keep on acting like this. You know what? I’m going to go talk to her about this and get this whole behind us… But first things first, I need to find out where the heck I am.” Soul looked around his surroundings to see that he was lost. There were multiple hallways crossing each other and his eyes were beginning to spin in circles. “Augh, I know I should have gone with Sunset and Sonata to the spa,” Soul said. “What was I even thinking? Especially with all those hints Sunset was making. I mean yeah, I was still having problems with her, but come on, that was still a sweet deal. Curse you conscience!” In the corner of his eye, Soul spotted something. When he turned to see what it was, he saw something move out of sight around a corner. “Hello?” Soul called out. “Anyone there?” Soul didn’t get a reply, so he walked forward to see who it was. He heard some footsteps up ahead of him and looked around the corner. He saw that there was someone there, but they quickly turned around another corner before Soul could see who it was. He hurried over to the other corner hoping to see who it was, and when he turned to the last corner, he looked over to see a door that had been opened. He slowly approached the door and stood in front of it. He gulped as the thought that something was wrong crept up his spine. Soul reached towards the door and pushed it slightly. The door made a low creaking sound as it opened. He was able to open it fully and walked inside the room to see that it had no light. Just as Soul walked in the room, music started to play and and candle lights popped on their own when the snap of a finger was made. Soul pursed his lips when he saw a heart-shaped bed in the center of the room with several red and black designed pillows and covers. He let out a yelp when he heard the door close behind him and looked to see with wide eyes Adagio. She was wearing a lingerie outfit that was colored in purple and most of her from the waist up could be seen through the fabric. Soul gulped and started to sweat as he stared at Adagio’s outfit for a moment before keeping his eyes on hers. “A-A-Adagio, w-what a surprise!” he said nervously. “I-I-I-I was wondering where you were……. How are you?” “Why, I’m doing quite well, Soul, thank you for asking,” Adagio replied. “I hope you’ve been having a wonderful time here in my lovely home.” “It, um, was a very unexpected surprise to see you and your sisters live here, to say the least,” Soul said. “Eh, I was actually kinda lost, so I was wondering if you would be kind enough to tell me where the spa is? I was looking for Sunset and-” “Oh, but why are you in such a hurry? I was really hoping that I could see you and spend some alone time with you,” Adagio said. “I could really use the company. Would a gentleman like you deny a request from a simple lady like me?” “Well, eh-” *Click!* “Not that it matters anyway,” Adagio said while holding the key to the locked door behind her. “Because momma wants to have some fun here.” She held the key over her chest and slipped it in between her ample breasts. She slowly walked towards Soul as she swayed her hips back and forth seductively and looked at him with hungry eyes and a deviously sly smile. Soul felt the color of his face go away as he took a step back every time Adagio would take one towards him. He looked around the room cautiously while keeping his distance. There were no windows and only three doors. One clearly led to a bathroom, another towards the closet, and the last was the door Adagio had locked. Normally for a single boy that wasn’t tied down to a relationship or had a mother with a very high standard of moral teachings, this would be the greatest moment in Soul’s life. However, he had both things, and this was just another terrifying disappointment. Soul kept on moving backwards while keeping an eye on Adagio until the back of his legs hit against the bed and he was cornered by her. Adagio stopped as she leaned in close to Soul and looked at him for a few seconds before she slowly licked her lips. “I’m just going to say that whatever your Sunny gives you every night, I’m going to make you want me more,” Adagio commented before she pounced at Soul and the two hit the bed. -Outside of the Room- Soul’s girlish screams could be heard through the door as noises of struggling were being made. The sounds of clothes ripping could be made out while Adagio was laughing maniacally. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle,” Adagio’s voice said. “You don’t have to- WHAAAA!” A loud thumping noise was made and the rush of footsteps could be heard as it headed straight towards the door. A clicking sound was made, and bursting through the door was Soul only his boxers as he was puffing for air. ‘OH GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE!?’ Soul screamed in his mind. ‘I really need to make this up to Sunset when this is over!’ Soul ran out towards the hallway and attempted to find anyone in the mansion. Adagio came rushing out of the room and skid across the floor before aiming her sights at Soul with a determined expression. “Oh, if you want to have a fun little game of cat and mouse, you better be ready because I’m going to catch you!” Adagio ran after Soul at high speed which encouraged him to go faster. After running for several minutes, Soul burst through a door before he had to skid to a stop at the edge of a swimming pool. Soul let out a sigh of relief as he had almost fallen in. However, his relief was short lived as Adagio burst through the doors as well and rushed over to Soul with her arms out. “I GOT YOU NOW!” Soul panicked, but quickly used his wits to move to the side where Adagio was teetering on the edge of the pool. Adagio flailed her arms around as she struggled to keep her balance on the edge before she was able to find it and let out a sigh of relief. But Soul lightly tapped the back of her bottom with his toe which was enough to push Adagio into the pool. “AAAAAAAHHH-” *SPLASH!* Soul snickered for a moment before rushing out of the room and heading back in the hallways. Adagio came out of the pool and let out a sneering growl as she climbed over the edge. Walking down the hallways, Sunset was looking around trying to find Soul. She had memorized the path Sonata and she had taken and found the doors to the gaming room. She opened the door and walked in to see Aria still sitting in her bean bag like she did before, but Sunset raised a brow when she noticed Soul wasn’t in the room with Aria. “Hey Aria, have you seen Soul?” she asked. “Don’t know, don’t care,” Aria bluntly replied. “He was looking for you earlier.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the help,” she said sarcastically. “Never wanted to anyway,” Aria said. Sunset let out a sigh and walked out of the room. When she closed the door and started to search for Soul, something wrapped around her and pulled her in tight in a bear hug. She wheezed as she was struggling to get free and find out what was happening until the voice of a familiar person spoke up. “Oh Sunny, thank god I found you!” Soul cried. “S-Soul! You’re crushing…. ME!” Sunset said as her breathing became more difficult. “What? Oh, sorry.” Soul let go of Sunset and she took in a few deep breaths. After that, Sunset looked up at Soul and raised a brow, blushing slightly when she saw him with only his boxers on. “Soul….. Why are you in your boxers?” “Well, it’s a very funny story-” “Oh come out, come out wherever you are~” Adagio sang. “You only make me want you more.” “Oh god, she’s here!” Soul panicked. “We have to get out of here!” Sunset pursed her lips for a moment before she was able to put two and two together. She let out a sigh and walked in front of Soul and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about her, babe,” she said. “I’ll take care of this.” “Wait, what are you going to do?” Soul asked. Sunset cracked her hands. “I’m going to start laying down some ground rules about people trying to take my man,” she answered. “This will only take a second.” Sunset walked around a corner and Soul could hear Adagio speaking up. “Oh, uh, Sunset, what an unexpected surprise,” Adagio said, acting nonchalantly. “I was just looking for your boyfriend and wanted to-” *Snip.* *Snip.* “....... Where did you get those scissors?” “I brought them here in case something like this happened,” Sunset replied. “Now, like my boyfriend, I can be a reasonable person. But if someone is even going to lay a hand on him and think I’m not going to do anything about it, you better be ready to face your own nightmares because I’m sure as hell am going to do something about it.” “W-What are you talk about? I have no idea-” “Oh, don’t even try to lie to me, I know you took his clothes off and were just chasing him down,” Sunset accused. “You have to be an idiot not see that.” “Fine, so I wanted to have a little fun with your boyfriend,” Adagio admitted. “What are you going to do about it?” “You try to take something precious from me, I’m going to take something precious from you,” Sunset answered as it was followed by a few more snipping sounds. “What are you-” *Snip!* “NNNOOOOO! NOT MY HAIR!” *Snip!* *Snip!* “AAAAAAAAHHHH! STOP!” *Snip!* *Snip!* *Snip!* “NNOOOO! YOU'RE MAKING IT TOO SMALL!” *Snip!* *Snip!* *Snip!* *Snip!* Soul stood there paralyzed with fear as he could hear Adagio scream while the sound of scissors cutting through hair could be made out. After a few seconds, all he could hear was Adagio crying. Coming out from around the corner, Sunset had a satisfied smile as she held up the scissors and a lock of Adagio’s hair. Sunset let out a contented sigh. “Well, that was more satisfying than I thought it would be,” she said. “I guess this would make us even for the Battle of the Bands and trying to get you at the beach….. But she still has a lot to pay for today.” Soul gulped. Sunset threw away the lock of hair and put the scissors away before she looked up to Soul and hugged him. Soul smiled and hugged her back as well, but didn’t smile because he could still hear the muffled cries from Adagio. “Um, I know she tried to have her way with me and all, but is she going to be okay?” Soul asked. “Don’t worry, she just has a shorter hairstyle. She’ll get over it in no time,” Sunset said. “I could have made her bald, but I think just losing one strand of hair would be enough for her.” The two were silent in each other's arms for a moment before the two separated and gazed into each other's eyes. “We need to talk.” “We need to talk.” Soul and Sunset pursed their lips when they had said the exact same words to each other at the same time. There was an awkward silence between them until Soul spoke up while he rubbed the back of his head. “You go ahead,” he said. Sunset nodded. “Soul, is there something wrong?” she asked. “You’ve been acting different after the paintball game and… If there was something that happened to you or there was something I did wrong, I want to know.” Soul looked at Sunset with surprise. He let out a sigh and held her hands. “Yeah, there was something that has been bothering me,” he said. The two went to the same room Adagio tried to get Soul at as they wanted to be alone while they were sorting out everything. Soul had confessed why he was acting the way he was and the reason why he didn’t bring it up so soon. Sunset felt her heart break when she realized that she made Soul feel betrayed, and for not realizing that her decision that day hurt him so much. Tears developed around her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him as the two sat on top of the bed. “I’m so sorry, Soul,” she whispered, her voice cracking up. “I didn’t know that you would have felt that way. I don’t know why I did that. I thought I was past being selfish and stopped looking only after myself, but it just keeps on coming back to me. How can I be your girlfriend if I treat you like this?” Soul wrapped his arms around her while he stroked her hair. “Look, I’m just as bad at this as you are,” he said. “I haven’t told you about this in a while and I’ve been avoiding you like a prick just because of that. I was talking to Aria about this, and though she ignored me and threatened to kill me, she did say either I told you about this or get over it. So, I want to get over it and get back on track with our lives, because you’re the most important person in the world and I want to be with you.” Sunset wiped away her tears and sniffed. “Soul, would you forgive me about what happened?” she asked. “It would make me feel better.” Soul smiled. “Of course I forgive you,” he said. “You’re the best thing to have ever happened to me, and I love you, Sunny.” Sunset smiled. “I love you too, babe,” she said. The two leaned towards one another and locked lips as they made out passionately. After a moment, their lips separated and Sunset had bedroom eyes as she rubbed her hand on Soul’s chest. “You know, we did lock the door and we do have this whole room to ourselves,” Sunset said in a sensual tone. “Think we could have our own little fun here?” Soul tapped his chin. “Hmmm, tempting offer, but I think we should wait on that,” he replied. “You already cut most of Adagio’s hair and it would be salt on the wound to do this on her bed.” “True…… We should try to find some of your clothes.” “What’s left of them.” After finding what was left of Soul’s clothes, they were able to rejoin with Sonata, who showed them the rest of the mansion. Adagio was nowhere to be seen, but Bittermen did hear her crying in her room for a while and informed them that she wasn’t in the mood to come out. Sunset and Soul acted nonchalantly about it and Sonata and Bittermen didn’t understand why she was like so. Later on, Sonata had taken them to the theater room and the three of them were watching a movie together. Sonata was watching the movie while she was stuffing her mouth with popcorn on her lap and Sunset leaned up on Soul as she laid her head down on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. Sunset looked up at Soul with a smile as she gazed up to his eyes and saw that he was doing the same. “So, how was your time with Aria anyway?” Sunset asked. “Kinda boring,” Soul admitted. “Now I know why you get so easily bored when I play Halo by myself. How do you stand that?” “Simple. Because it’s you that I’m watching, not the game,” Sunset replied. Soul smiled before he made a small frown. “Listen, I’m sorry that I’ve been avoiding you,” he said. “That was wrong of me to do, and I should have talked about this from the start.” Sunset made a small smile and placed her hand on Soul’s cheeks. “We’re both sorry about it,” she said. “We don’t have to worry about it anymore. We just move on and we don’t let it happen again, alright?” Soul smiled and nodded. “Alright,” he answered. “Love you, Sunny.” “Love you back, babe.” Soul and Sunset leaned in for a kiss while Sonata looked at the two for a moment before making a pout. “Curse you, conscience.”