Diclaimer: I don't own the characters or the series. Amano Akira does. I'm just playing with them for a bit.

A/N: Sequel to Blood-stained Feathers, Clipped Wings, Death of the Skylark, Expectations on the Entertainment Value, and Falling Sky.

Night Time Knight

First thing Grazia realized was that someone picked her up from her bed and started carrying her.

At first she was too sleepy to think any further on this. Rubbing her eyes, she managed to see the blonde hair of the one holding her. "...Dino-papa?"

"Shh, Princess." Dino-papa gave her a smile, though he didn't look very happy. Maybe he was sleepy, too. It looked like it was night when she looked out of the window.

"Where are we going?" Grazia blinked, trying to get awake. "It's not morning..."

"We're going to play a little game." Another grin as Dino-papa walked quickly down the hallways away from the bedrooms. This wasn't the part of the mansion they were usually in. "Don't you worry about anything."

Something flashed outside. At first Grazia thought it was the garden lights, but it was red. Next, there was something green. "...Are those fireworks?"

Dino-papa walked even faster. "I told you, don't worry about it. Just do as I say so the game will go well, all right?"

Grazia gave him a hesitant nod. She wasn't sure she understood, but it was always good to do as her parents said. They always knew best, after all. Still, she wondered what those lights were. There were some weird noises from outside, too.

As Dino-papa finally came to a stop in front of a door, Kyou-papa was waiting for them there. They nodded at each other but didn't say anything. Kyou-papa opened the door and Dino-papa carried her in.

The room smelled of dust and not much air, making Grazia crunch her nose. There wasn't a lot of furniture there, just an old desk and a couple of armchairs in one corner. Dino-papa set her down in one of them, crouching down in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen closely, Princess." Dino-papa looked her seriously in the eye. "I want you to sit here and be quiet, all right? You have to stay in this chair, and you have to be really, really quiet. Even if you see or hear something scary, don't say anything, just close your eyes and think about something else. Can you do that for me?"

Grazia nodded quietly. She didn't really understand what was going on, but she could tell her parents were worried about something. And when her parents were worried, she had to do exactly as they said so she wouldn't make them worry even more.

"Here." Kyou-papa gave her two apples and her favourite doll. He then took out a box and opened it with his darker flame, taking out a cloak of some sort, then wrapped it around her. It was warm and soft and smelled just like Kyou-papa, so she supposed it was all right. "Don't take this off no matter what."

"As long as you keep this on, nobody can see you." Dino-papa gave her a grin. "It's like hide-and-seek, right?"

Grazia managed a small smile and nodded again, even though she wasn't sure if he could see her. "I'll hide real well," she promised.

"Just remember. Once we leave, you'll be quiet even if someone comes in. Even if it looks like me or Kyou-papa or Tetsu or Romario, you have to be absolutely quiet until they say the password, okay? You do remember the password, don't you?"

"Hibird." She wasn't sure what it was, it sounded like a name but she didn't know anyone called that, but as long as she could remember, that had always been the password.

"Good." Kyou-papa nodded, then glanced at the bird perched on his shoulder as always. "I'll leave Fog here, so I'll see you even if nobody else does."

"Grazia!" said the bird, then flew to the desk, looking at her with his head tilted to the side. "Wait!"

"Okay." That was good. If Fog was here, then she wasn't all alone, even if she had to stay quiet. "I'll wait."

"You do that." Dino-papa patted her on the head one last time, though his hand was a bit off. "Be brave now, Princess. We'll come get you once things calm down." Then he blew her a kiss and turned to Kyou-papa. "Let's go." Kyou-papa just nodded in return, glancing at Grazia one last time before they walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Grazia wondered why she had to be brave if it was only a game, but she didn't say anything. She just curled up inside the cloak, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging her doll close. The sounds from outside were louder now, and there were more flashes, but since they were on the third floor she still couldn't really see what caused them. A part of her wanted to go to the window and see, but she'd been told to stay in her chair, and Kyou-papa would see it since Fog was there.

Maybe she should just sleep, she thought. It was still night and she was still sleepy. If she shut her eyes really tight and thought about something else like Dino-papa had said, she could probably forget the sounds from outside. Something else like... flames. Her parents had said that she'd get a box of her own as soon as she could light a ring. She should really train hard to light her ring, she wanted a box, something small and cute that could keep her company and play with her. Maybe a bird like Fog, or something big and strong like Scuderia, or maybe...

She wasn't sure when she dozed off, really. All she knew was when she was woken up by a loud noise. Startled, she quickly sat up, though she remembered to stay quiet. The door to the room was open, and there were strange men walking in. They looked kind of scary, though she knew Kyou-papa wouldn't want her to be scared. She inched further into the armchair and made sure she stayed under the cloak, hugging doll close. Who were these people? They were all loud and they had weapons, and she was sure she'd never seen them before around the mansion so they couldn't be Cavallone. But then why would they be here?

"Nothing here, either." The man who spoke sounded annoyed. "Let's go."

"Not so fast," another one said. "You know what boss said. We've got to check for everything. One of the perverts has mist."

Grazia wasn't sure who they were talking about, though she knew Kyou-papa had something he called mist. It was his darker flames if she remembered right. But what did they mean by perverts? She'd heard the word once and asked Romario, and Romario had said they were bad people and now where did you hear that word, anyway. There were no bad people here in the mansion, surely. Well, nobody but these strange men.

Someone else walked into the room, too. He had somewhat similar clothes to the others, so she supposed he was from the same group, though he was much younger than any of them. He had a ring on his hand, with the same kind of flame as Kyou-papa's darker flame, and he was looking around the room.

The youngest man looked at her for a second, and for some reason, Grazia was sure he could see her, even with the cloak. She stared right back at him, her eyes wide, holding her doll close. Dino-papa had said nobody could see her... right?

Then, though, the man just shook his head. "Nothing of interest here," he said, turning to the rest. "Let's check the next room."

"You sure?" The first man frowned. "Something doesn't smell right here."

"The only thing that smells here is you," the second one growled. "Come on, let's go. The boss will have our hide if we dally; there's a lot of rooms to check and not much time."

"We'll find the princess eventually," the youngest one said. "They can't have gotten her out of here."

They were looking for her, Grazia realized even as the men walked out of the room. These scary men were looking for her for some reason, and he was sure one of them had seen her, but he hadn't said anything. Why hadn't he said anything?

It was all confusing and strange and scary. Reaching for one of the apples Kyou-papa had left her, she bit into it, hoping it would make her feel better. It wasn't until she tasted tears on it that she realized she was crying.

No. She shouldn't cry. Kyou-papa would see it, she couldn't see Fog anymore but she was sure it was still there and he would see it, and she didn't want to upset Kyou-papa by being such a baby. She chewed, swallowed, and took another bite of the apple.

Hopefully, someone would come and say the password soon.

The sounds were all louder, now, and she could hear them from inside the manor, too, not just outside. Still, she somehow managed to stay quiet. She'd promised her parents, after all.

At some point she must have dozed off again, apple still only half way eaten. She was startled awake by the sound of someone entering the room again, the apple rolling out of her hand as she moved. Her eyes flew wide as soon as they opened as she realized the person who had come into the room was the young man from earlier. He was... an enemy, right?

The half-eaten apple rolled out from under the cloak and onto the floor, tracing a curved line across the floorboards until it came to a stop at the man's feet. That he could definitely see. The cloak only worked if she stayed under it. Grazia shivered and tried to press herself further into the armchair.

The young man bent down to pick the apple, looking at it for a moment. Then he looked at her, and again, she was certain he saw her, cloak or not.

"Don't go dropping your stuff, Princess," the man said softly, stepping closer and dropping the apple in her lap. "You might get hungry."

That definitely meant he saw her. Grazia couldn't help but nod mutely, quickly sneaking her hand out of the cloak to grasp the apple, then hiding both of them again.

"Pretty bird you have here," he then said, glancing at the desk. Grazia couldn't see anything there, but she was sure Fog was there because Kyou-papa had said he would stay there. "Now keep quiet, all right? I'll close the door, but mind your apple anyway. And your doll. You wouldn't want it to fall, would you?" He smiled at her. He had deep violet eyes, Grazia noticed. Violet eyes and a smile that kind of reminded her of Dino-papa and what looked like a nasty wound on his arm.

She hesitated, then nodded again. Yes, she'd keep quiet.

"Oi, Uccello!" It was one of the men from earlier, calling from somewhere further in the corridor. "Where are you?"

"Over here," the man shouted in response, turning around and walking to the door. "Thought I sensed someone here, but it was just a flame flaring outside." He drew the door closed behind himself. For a moment Grazia stared at it, still tense, until she managed to relax.

Calm down, Grazia. Fog is still here, the man said so, and he may be an enemy but he didn't hurt you so everything is all right. Calm down, now. And be quiet.

She shut her eyes tightly and tried to think of something else.

The next time someone came into the room night had long since given way to dawn. Grazia didn't dare sleep anymore, forcing herself to stay awake even as the sounds got quieter around her, but it was getting difficult. She hadn't really gotten that much sleep all night, after all, and thus she had dozed off momentarily a couple of times, still. The sound of the door getting opened, though, startled her well and wide awake.

Someone walked in. Someone familiar, she realized as she finally dared to look. It was Uncle Ryouhei, one of Uncle Tsuna's guardians. Still, she stayed quiet, putting a hand in front of her mouth. Her parents had told her to stay quiet until someone said the password.

"Oi, Grazia-chan? I was told to get you." Uncle Ryouhei looked around the room. "Grazia-chan? ...Oh, right." He snapped his fingers as though suddenly remembering something. "HIBIRD!"

Grazia practically jumped at the sudden yell. Then, however, she reached up to throw the cloak off herself before she scampered off the armchair, running towards him. "I'm here!" It was safe now, right? He said the password. It was safe now.

"Grazia-chan!" Uncle Ryouhei picked her up and flung her high into the air before catching her again. It made Grazia giggle a bit even though she was starting to cry again, fear and worry making way to a giddy kind of relief. "There you were! Woah, you really were brave, weren't you?"

"I was really brave," Grazia said, nodding as Uncle Ryouhei settled her on his arm. Uncle Ryouhei was really strong. "I didn't say anything! Not even when some strange men came here!"

"That was good of you." Uncle Ryouhei frowned and nodded. "Well done, kid. Want to go to your parents now?"

"Yeah. I'll just –" Grazia turned back to look at the armchair, then frowned. The mostly-eaten apple was still there, as had her doll which she'd dropped when running to him, but... her other apple was gone. "Did you take my apple?"

"No, I didn't." Now, Uncle Ryouhei frowned even more. Suddenly, he stepped back, looking around warily. "Is someone else here? I'll protect Grazia-chan to the EXTREME!"

Someone had taken the apple. But you couldn't take something if you didn't know it's there. The only ones who knew about her apples were her parents and... and that young man. Grazia blinked. "...Uncle Ryouhei?" she said. "I think I know who's here."

"Oh?" Uncle Ryouhei looked at him, a bit puzzled. "Who is it?"

"Uccello."

Even more puzzled, now. "Who's Uccello?"

"...That would be me." The voice made them both look towards it. Where had previously been just bare floor, right next to her armchair, sat the young man from earlier. He looked really hurt, now, bloody and pale. "Sorry about the apple, princess. You were asleep so I thought you wouldn't mind."

"...A Trucco." Uncle Ryouhei quickly set Grazia on the floor and stepped between her and the man. "I won't let you get at Grazia-chan!" He raised his fists for a battle.

"No, Uncle Ryouhei!" Grazia tugged at his pants. "Don't!"

Uncle Ryouhei looked at her seriously. "He's an enemy, Grazia-chan," he said seriously. "I know he's hurt, but he heard your password, and he might still try to hurt you."

"He won't hurt me," Grazia said insistently. "He saw me earlier and he didn't say anything to his friends! He even gave me back my apple and closed the door. He was hiding me, Uncle Ryouhei!"

"A weakness of mine, I'm afraid," the man said, giving her a faint smile even as he leaned heavily against the wall, one hand pressed against a rather ugly wound on his side. "Didn't want any part in hurting a kid." He shook his head, looking really tired. "'S okay, Princess. He's right, I'm an enemy. Better get rid of those early on."

"You can't, Uncle Ryouhei!" This just wouldn't do. She couldn't let Uncle Ryouhei hurt the man who had helped her. "I – I forbid! I won't let you!" This was her house, right? Her and her parents'. And Uncle Ryouhei was just a guest. She could tell him that, right?

"Grazia-chan," Uncle Ryouhei started, then sighed. "...Fine. I'll let your parents decide what to do with him."

"Thanks, Uncle Ryouhei!" Grazia beamed at him. Then, however, she frowned. "...Can you heal him? A bit at least?"

Uncle Ryouhei murmured something about insane and stupid, shaking his head, but walked somewhat warily closer to the man. He then took out his healing box and knelt down next to him. "One wrong move," he said, "and you'll regret it."

The man didn't say anything, just shook his head with a tired smile. He still stayed quiet as Uncle Ryouhei started healing his wounds. Grazia watched them, fascinated, though not enough so that she wouldn't have noticed as Fog suddenly flew past her, visible again. "Kyouya! Kyouya!"

"Good morning." Kyou-papa appeared in the doorway, giving her a small smirk as Fog landed on his shoulder. He looked tired, too, and had scratches and bandages here and there, but for the most part he was all right. "Fraternizing with the enemy, hmm?" He glanced over to where Uncle Ryouhei was healing the man.

"He didn't hurt me!" Grazia hurried to tell him, only to fall quiet as Kyou-papa picked her up.

"I know, Grazia. I saw everything, remember?" He raised his eyebrows, glancing again at the man. "Including the part where he crept back half-dead and stole an apple from my sleeping daughter's hand."

"It was about to fall," the man said, still smiling. "If it had, someone might have seen it."

"Certainly." Kyou-papa hugged her close briefly, then set her down again. "Sasagawa, would you take her to Dino? I suspect I and this... Uccello... have things to discuss."

Uncle Ryouhei stood up, nodding. "Got it. Let's go see your Dino-papa, Grazia-chan!"

Grazia hesitated, then ran over to the armchair, grabbing her doll. Instead of holding it to herself, though, she handed it to the man. "Here," she said firmly. "It'll make you feel better." Then she ran out of the room, not waiting for his response, not even looking behind her to see if he accepted the doll. She wasn't sure she dared.

The entire manor looked like there had been a fight going on there, she noted, rushing down the hallways with Uncle Ryouhei at her heels. There were dents and scratches and broken things, and splatters of what she was pretty sure was blood. She didn't care about that, though. All she cared about was finding Dino-papa.

He was in the grand ballroom, she found in the end, though nobody would be holding a ball there right now; there were plenty of people laid down with bandages and band-aids and whatnot, people with bright flames like Uncle Ryouhei's walking around hurriedly. This made Grazia a bit worried at first when Uncle Ryouhei told her this was the right place, but then she saw Dino-papa and forgot all about her worries. He looked a bit worse for the wear, yeah, and had bandages around his chest and looked really serious when she saw him first, but when he saw her he smiled and reached his arms towards her and suddenly everything was all right again.

"Morning, Princess," Dino-papa said, hugging her close as she ran to him. "Were you really scared?"

"I was a bit scared," she admitted. "But I was brave and I didn't say anything! And a young man helped me hide but Uncle Ryouhei says he's an enemy and now Kyou-papa is talking with him."

That made Dino-papa frown. "Ryouhei?"

"A Trucco illusionist," Uncle Ryouhei said. "Apparently he saw right through Grazia-chan's disguise but stayed quiet. The kid even demanded I heal his worst wounds," he added. "Kyouya's talking with him now, I told Grazia-chan the two of you would decide what to do with him."

"You can't hurt him, Dino-papa!" Grazia said pleadingly. "He helped me hide and he was nice to me! You wouldn't hurt him for that, would you?"

"Calm down, Grazia," Dino-papa said, his tone soothing as she ran a hand through Grazia's hair. "I'm sure Kyouya'll do what he thinks is for the best. He probably knows what happened better than either Ryouhei or I, anyway." He hugged her again. "Now, how about we get you out of those pyjamas and get you some breakfast?"

"Yes!" Breakfast. She wanted breakfast. Being scared made her really hungry and she'd only gotten to eat one apple.

She had already changed her clothes and was almost finished with breakfast when Kyou-papa walked in. She didn't see the young man anywhere, and frowned. She hoped Kyou-papa hadn't been mean to him.

"Kyouya." Dino-papa gave him a smile, standing up from the table where he'd been sitting opposite to Grazia and kissing Kyou-papa briefly when he got close enough. "So who's this Trucco who apparently has Grazia so enamoured?"

"Ciro Uccello," Kyou-papa replied. "Not even sixteen, as it turns out, but a damn good illusionist. He saw right through not only the cloak I charged for Grazia, but also Fog." He shook his head. "I was careless. I never thought Trucco would have someone of his calibre."

"That is worrying," Dino-papa agreed, frowning. "So what did you do with him?"

"You – you didn't hurt him, did you, Kyou-papa?" Grazia bit her lip, looking at him pleadingly. The man had helped her!

"I don't make a habit of harbouring enemies in my house, Grazia," Kyou-papa said with a level tone, his expression not changing one bit. "Not even if they just were unlucky enough to be born on the wrong side or have a cute smile."

Dino-papa nodded slowly, looking serious. "I... see."

"So I figured that if he could keep my daughter safe once, he can do it again," Kyou-papa continued as though it hadn't been surprising at all. "He's currently with the other injured, getting treated. Oh, and he thanks you for the doll, Grazia. He says it really helps, and he'll give it back to you when he's better."

Grazia's eyes widened. "But you said..."

"I said I do not tolerate enemies in my house," Kyou-papa said, perfectly calm. "Which is why I hired him into the famiglia. Congratulations, Grazia, you've got your first guardian."

Dino-papa's lips curled a bit. "You're going soft, Kyouya."

"Never, darling. I'm just sticking with what works." Kyou-papa smirked. "And now, I believe I need a shower." He stretched himself, yawning. "I stink."

"I wasn't going to say anything." Dino-papa laughed, then gave Kyou-papa a small smile. "...Thanks, Kyouya."

"As though I could break the girl's heart like that." He glanced at Grazia. "Just remember, Grazia... I do trust for now that he's not going to hurt you, but if he does anything suspicious, you will never see him again."

"I'm sure he won't!" Grazia beamed at him. Kyou-papa was so nice!

"Now, finish your breakfast, Grazia," Dino-papa said gently. "After that, we can go see this saviour of yours. I'm getting quite curious, myself."

"Okay!" Grazia turned back to her almost-finished breakfast, hardly even noticing as Kyou-papa left, doubtlessly to take a shower. The sun was shining quite brightly outside, she noted. It rather matched her mood.

Maybe everything was kind of banged up and broken, maybe people were hurt and Dino-papa winced when he moved too quickly and there was something funny with the way Kyou-papa held his arm, but everyone would surely get better and the scary night was over and she didn't have to be quiet anymore.

She almost wanted to shout, she was so happy that it was morning and her parents had found her again, and then she did shout and Dino-papa just laughed.

Things would surely turn out for the better.