Still very American, still don't own KHR. The cover image was, as always it seems, created using Rinmarugames' Mega Avatar Creator

Macario breathed in deeply, held the breath, and released it. He rested his face in his hands as he repeated the process over and over, hiding from the mirror over the sink. "Calm. I am calm. I am tranquil. I am calm, tranquil, Rain." His calloused fingers dug into his sun blond hair. His next breath shuddered. A stray tear dampened his right palm.

The young soldier bit his lip and stood there for a moment longer. He released a shuddering breath. "Damnit." Taking his hands away from his face, he used them to prop himself up over the sink. He stared down the drain, watching the tears rolling off his cheeks fall into the sink.

Three harsh knocks on the door broke through Macario's stupor. He quickly wiped his face dry with his sleeve. "That you in there, Delafosse?"

"Sì, Capo."

Silence. "This is because of earlier."

Macario turned his head away from the still closed door. His commander sighed from the other side, and he heard scuffling sounds. "Sit down, Delafosse. Lord knows I'm not standing for this conversation."

Macario slowly shuffled over to the door and sat down with his back against the cool metal. "What conversation, Capo?"

"Flames." Macario stiffened. "Omerta, Delafosse."

"Vindice," Macario replied instinctively.

"I'm no idiota. You're a Rain, just like me." His commander sighed. "And you're supposed to be a tranquil negotiator. We're supposed to be tranquil negotiators. The ones who keep the Family calm."

Macario glared down at the tiles in front of his feet. "If that's all you have to say, I'd rather not hear it."

"Idiota," his commander's voice lowered in her anger. "Rain isn't tranquil. Rain rages. Rain screams. Rain destroys. They're wrong because Rain isn't always tranquil, but it is always steady, always needed, always reliable. It's impossible to stop, and impossible to cage." She fell silent before continuing, calmer now. "Rain isn't always a soothing drizzle that washes the Earth clean. The rain in a storm can never be called soothing and tranquil. There's a wildness about it. That same wildness is in you, and it's in me." She gave a short bark of laughter. "An old man once told me that he would rather have the Rain of a storm at his back than the Rain of a soothing drizzle because he at least knew that the former would fight with their fists first if he needed them too."

Macario let his commander's words settle between them for a moment. "Rain flames aren't tranquility. They're steadiness," he said. "Yes, they calm someone, but that's so that their mind is clear and able to make decisions. They steady hearts, so the injured don't bleed out as fast. They are there because they always will be."

"Now, you've got it, and don't you dare forget it. I haven't spent the last few weeks remaking everything about you for nothing. If I'm not calling you, Colonello by the end of my career, I will be taking it out of your hide. Understand me, Sottocapo?"

Macario smiled. "Sì, Capo."

"Good, now get out of the head."

Y'all can thank my creative writing teacher for this- I wrote this for a quick write assignment. So we have, a pretty young Colonello here- probably just turned 19-21-ish cause he would already be out of bootcamp and probably served and applied for COMSUBIN after that (Based on what little I know about becoming special forces in the American military) Sottocapo is the equivalent of a seaman (E3 paygrade which is Private First Class in the army)