A/N: Bwahaha, I finally get something 8096 written. XP Well, not really 8096, just the early hints of it. Something to get me into the KHR fandom, finally. Anyways...I hope I didn't wreck anyone's character. Especially Chrome's, since she's the central one. Also, fail title alert. :P Enjoy! (?)

Fighting for Peace

There are times Chrome wonders if she is selfish. It is an unpleasant thought for anyone to entertain, and she wonders if wanting bliss is such a selfish act. But then, as always, he breaks her train of thought--

"Ah, chocolate or vanilla, Chrome-chan?"

"Oh...vanilla, please, Yamamoto-kun."

He smiles that infectious, goofy smile of his, and Chrome smiles a bit as well, though hers, she knows, is far more awkward and uncertain. It would take much too much time for that to change, and time is a thing Chrome had never considered caring about before.

They walk, chat. Baseball. Schools. Current events. Takeshi will smile, every once in a while throwing a compliment toward Chrome, and she'll blush and stutter for a moment, like the teenage girl she is. They'll finish their ice cream, they'll finish their walk, and they'll part ways. Chrome knows Ken will probably ask why she has a content, idiotic smile on her face, and she'll try to explain, only to stumble over her own embarrassment...

And then the fighting will start again, defending the Tenth Vongola, fighting the enemies with the bloodlust in their eyes, and the blood, the blood everywhere, the illusions of her own organs always so precarious, her "family" getting beaten down, down, until things are completely hopeless...

And she just wants the peace to come again, to go on a walk again with Takeshi, and it is in these instances she wonders if she is selfish.

What had he'd called it? A mafia role-playing game? She'd searched his eyes when he'd said that, searched his face, and behind his cheerful exterior was a careful poker face that made her stop her search and enjoy her vanilla ice cream.

Weeks later, he had still commented on it as such as they stood by a familiar ice cream store...with bandages and an eyepatch. And he'd look at her for a moment, an almost solemn glint in his eyes that was so anti-Takeshi that her head and heart hurt. Then it was gone.

"Years, though..." she mutters.

He looks towards her with an inquisitive look in his eyes. She was silent for a moment before continuing.

"Yamamoto-kun...Mukuro-sama tells me that Reborn-san is training Boss..." She hesitates for a moment, opting to be vague. "...Years of fighting. A lifetime..."

He brings a hand to her shoulder, a warm smile on his face, but one more serious. "It's scary," he says, almost quietly, but firm, "but...I think that all of us keep fighting so that we can enjoy the peaceful times, Chrome-chan."

Chrome looks down for a moment, another awkward smile creeping onto her face, and she's filled with warmth, as if she was talking to Mukuro-sama. But...it's a different feeling with Yamamoto-kun...

She frowns again, though, after a moment. "I just wish that things were always peaceful..." Her voice quiets slightly. "So the family could spend more peaceful time together...we could...walk more..."

He looks up towards the sky, enjoying his own ice cream, and when Chrome starts to wonder if he's going to respond at all, he interrupts her thoughts. "Well, I think that's an ideal everyone wants, but sometimes it's really hard. Like when you're trying to get a home run so you can get a grand slam, but a pitcher keeps throwing you curve balls." Chrome almost laughs at the absurd yet oh-so-Takeshi analogy, and he smiles as well. "Stuff like that happens...but after it, it's worth it to enjoy the peace. Life's kinda hard, but it's great at the same time, y'know?"

She looks down at her ice cream, thinking of her life as Nagi, then of Mukuro and her new "family," and of these little walks that started by coincidence with Takeshi. She thinks of vanilla ice cream. "...There are things worth fighting for," she decides, licking the chilly dessert.

He laughs, sounding satisfied. "Maybe I could teach you baseball sometime. We could all play."

She glances at him, taken aback for a moment, then tries to smile in a way that she prays could be at least half as sunny as Takeshi's: "I think that I'd like that..."

Chrome stands in the field, swinging the bat a few times for practice, looking around expectantly for Takeshi. It's rather early in the day, and the sun makes the dew on the grass sparkle. She stomps the dirt a bit, watching it get kicked up as dust.

"And what are you doing today, Chrome-chan?"

Chrome jumps a bit in surprise, but then smiles widely at the familiar voice that echoes in her mind. "Oh, Mukuro-sama! Um, Yamamoto-kun was just going to teach me baseball..."

It's silent for a moment, then Mukuro laughs lightly, bemused. "Baseball with the Rain Guardian, eh...?" he remarks.

"I wish you could play, too," she adds fondly, and he only laughs.

"Mmm...I hope you have fun, my little Chrome-chan."

And she feels his presence grow more faint, swinging the bat again. A shadow suddenly envelops the ground she is standing on, and she smiles a bit, looking upward. "Ah, Yama...moto-kun...?"

It...is Takeshi, she knows, but...a Takeshi after a growth spurt, with added years to his face, and a suspicious scar on his chin. "I figured I'd find you here," he says, his voice deeper. He still smiles, but it's different. Older, and a bit sad. She blinks, confused. "I think you're going next, to go fight in the future."

She drops the bat, still looking up at him for a moment before she looks down. "Another time, then..." she mutters. It was time to fight for peace, again. She was torn between laughing or crying at the irony.

Chrome looks up at him, a slightly hopeful, yet despondent look in her eyes. "But, the family can play another time, right...?"

The older Takeshi can only try to smile reassuringly. "...I'd like that as well, Chrome-chan."

Chrome huddles slightly by the wall, in the home that Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa returned to, confused and alone. Her grip on her trident-like spear tightens, and she jumps up when a figure breaks through the window with a loud crash, shattering glass everywhere.

"Who...?" she breathes as the man strolls through, an owl following him.

"I am Glo Xinxia." The extravagently dressed man gives a twisted grin, eyes twitching behind his glasses. His voice is slimy and predatorial. "From the look on your face, I see you aren't very used to time travel...almost like Alice finding her way into Wonderland..."

Chrome backs up a bit, swallowing and gripping her weapon, somewhat-numbed dread in the pit of her stomach. And so it would begin again. Fighting for peace...? she muses.

Was it so worth it? Had it not been for Mukuro, as Nagi she would have died. Had it not been for her new family, for Takeshi, she would consider throwing in the towel now. Death seemed like a pleasure. Maybe she could be a spirit, and watch over Mukuro and Takeshi and the rest of her family. It would be peaceful.

But she lunges from the man who tried to tackle her, something so primal that she had barely noticed she'd done so. Chrome rights herself on her feet and readies her weapon. Another time, perhaps, she could mull over her motives. Now was the time for self-preservation, because she wants to keep on helping Mukuro, wants to take walks with Takeshi, and wants to be the Vongola Guardian of the Mist. It was the stark difference between Nagi and Chrome. Chrome had something to fight for.

A/N: Feedback always appreciated!