A/N: Okay so...this was actually a more...explicit chapter before. But I didn't feel like setting the rating as M. So I cut out about...three or four paragraphs.

If I still need to change the rating...tell me please ^^ it would be much appreciated. And yes, I know, why the heck am I typing a new story up when I still haven't finished my other ones. Truth is, I've been obsessed with Katekyo Hitman Reborn! recently. It's just so much fun to read.

So, moving on, enjoy my much edited and cropped prologue to Chains and Rings: Our Fates

~Ciaossu~ K-chan

Pain. That's all she could feel, it blinded all of her senses. Yet, she endured. With a final grunt she managed to curl up in the dark corner, away from any searching eyes and cried silently to herself. How had it come to this? Tragedy really did strike at the most unexpected times…

She was instantly jerked from her thoughts by the sound of glass crashing into a wall, the glass shattering and landing all over the hardwood floor making her flinch. Loud crunching filled her ears as heavy boots moved across the floor, stepping over the glass, towards her corner. A scared whimper escaped her lips; it was pathetic really, the way she was acting, not like her normal self at all. Yet, it wasn't that easy to retain her normal behavior anymore.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here…?" a dark husky voice asked. She didn't have anywhere to run. She was trapped and he seemed to find that even more amusing, hand reaching out and wrapping around her thin neck, heaving her off the floor and slamming her back into the wall. The breath was knocked out of her and her smaller hands tugged uselessly on the thick wrist that was attached to the hand that was half strangling her.

"Aww…is the little Principessa scared?"

"N-not a chance." She spat out, glaring defiantly at the much older male. In the next moment her head had been forcibly turned, one cheek stinging, the other throbbing, having just collided with the wall. Her head was then forced into its original position, his rough fingers wrapped around her chin, "You will not disrespect me like that." He hissed.

"Why not? You have done nothing to earn my respect."

She should have known to hold her tongue she realized as she was flying through the air. She crashed into the opposite wall a moment later and crumpled to the floor, the glass piercing her skin and causing a pool of blood to form around her. "Such a pity to waste such a beautiful face…" he cooed, picking her up again. To her horror he dropped her onto something soft. A bed.

He crawled onto the bed after her, capturing both her wrists with one hand and holding them above her head so she couldn't move her arms. Then he started to kiss her along her jawline, leaving saliva on her skin as he trailed down her neck to her collarbone. He growled in annoyance when he was stopped by her shirt. He shifted so that his weight was pressing on her lower body to prevent any movement from her legs and reached up the other hand to unbutton her shirt. It was taking too long so instead he tore the shirt off of her, causing her to cry out. Tears streamed from her eyes, no, she didn't want this, she didn't want this at all.

In the next moment he was across the room, groaning, with a sword at his throat, the metal gleaming in the dim light. Somebody covered her up with their coat and broke the handcuffs holding her quickly, before scooping her up. She cried again, this time from relief. "I-I was…s-scared…" she sobbed out, wrapping her arms around the neck of the one who held her. "I know Principessa." His tone was softer and much kinder than the previous man's had been. "Get that scum out of here." he commanded. His orders were immediately followed. "Let's get you cleaned up and out of here." He left the room with her in tow, the scent of a lotus lingering only briefly in the room after he had left.

*+*+*+*

That was a few years ago, back when he had still been around. Back when he and the others could still be around. I heard that they've been taken to prison now; he probably knew that was going to happen and so had gotten me out of harm's way first. But I've been training since then, and I don't want to brag, but I've gotten stronger. A lot stronger. Maybe one day I'll be able to repay the favor. If he let's me. For now, I've got some packing to get done. The Ninth is sending me to Japan first thing tomorrow morning, better go tell the Varia guys that they won't need to baby-sit me anymore. They'll get a kick out of that.