-is staring at the response to this story- OMG you guys…..In the first two hours I ended up with over 30 alerts and favorites. I wasn't expecting this!
Thank you so much! So how many of you read Wintertide? Isn't it amazing?
Some questions will be answered here! Also the person who I offered to write a One Shot and asked to find out how Ron killed Sirius, how Severus and Fia started bonding, or to just update this new chapter… All three ended up being answered here so Enjoy! ^^
Large paragraphs of Italics for THIS chapter signals a flashback!
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
When Fia woke up, she gave no indication she had done so. She had quite a few habits she couldn't quite get rid of from the war, and this was one of them. She could feel five small bodies pressed against her body, and she could sense three more people around her.
She recognized the five bodies pressed against her, but the three unknowns had her nervous. She was pondering how to move when her father's voice- his baby one- broke through her thoughts "Breathe Fia. It's okay. They're friends."
Reborn had woken up the moment his daughter had. He was pressed against her chest, heart to heart, and no matter how good she was at faking sleep, Reborn was a hit man and he recognized the way her heartbeat changed to signal her wakefulness. He felt a swell of pride for her skills at the same time he felt a swell of anger and sadness due to the way she had gotten them. When Reborn realized the reason she hadn't let anyone know she was up- about thirty seconds after she woke- he breathed into her ear "Breathe Fia. It's okay. They're friends." He was utterly gratified to see her instantly calm, and her bright green eyes open. It was a sign of how much she trusted him that she let herself relax near unknown people just because he told her she could.
"Hey Papa." She breathed to him.
"My Flame." He breathed back.
"What time is it Papa?"
Reborn let his eyes flicker to the clock before he answered "Six O'clock in the morning."
"Hmm…" Fia's eyes flickered around before she turned her hands palms up. With a small bit of wandless magic she lifted Colonnello, Lal Mirch, Skull, Fon, and her father off her body. Fia stood up, and lay everyone back down except her father who she placed on her shoulder. She frowned at all the blood she had left on the Arcobaleno, the couch, the floor, and on the three other people, two of which she now recognized as Shamal, and the boy who had answered the door. She waved her hand and the blood stains on everyone and everything disappeared. She walked to the kitchen area- she could see it- and asked "Papa, who is the lady with brown hair on the couch and the boy in the chair closest to her?"
Reborn, who had been staring at his dress shirt where his daughter's blood had been, snapped out of it to answer and ask "The lady is Nana Sawada, but she insists on everyone calling her 'Mama'. The boy is my student and future Boss of the Vongola Family Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada. My Flame…you can use wandless magic?" Fia knew about the Mafia, having been involved in a disagreement between her father and a cocky hit man that thought he could take out Reborn.
Fia tensed a little, but nodded "Yes Papa. It was a necessary skill. I had been working on using it ever since I found out it existed, because I knew it would be a good advantage to have in general, but I needed it for the war, and then Dumbledore so I had to learn fast. I can't use my wand for another year because it can be tracked. I've only used it in emergencies since I started running, so that was another reason to learn wandless magic. "
Reborn nodded with the same mix of pride, anger, and sadness swelling for his daughter's skills. She should not have had to fight on the frontlines of a war as the General of the whole army. It was atrocious to Reborn that she had been forced to lead an army and fight on the front lines of a war with no professional training.
Reborn was…well not ok with females fighting on the frontlines, but he accepted that there was nothing he could do about it. There was always going to be a female that dove head first into the fray. He preferred that females worked from the shadows if they worked at all in the fighting and killing business. He was adamant that if they did fight on the frontlines-if anyone fought on the frontlines male or female- they were trained to do so and to deal with the choices they would have to make. It was one of the main reasons he was so hard on Tsuna. Tsuna was going to be in charge of Vongola- the most powerful Mafia Family there was- and he would have to be the General if war came up. It was Reborn's mission to make sure Tsuna could deal with that responsibility, and he took that job very, very seriously.
The thought that Fia had been forced into the position of leader and soldier, of killer without any training what so ever to be in any of those positions much less deal with any loss of life her actions would cause both to enemy and friend…
There was a reason people quaked with fear at the mention of his name.
Reborn had been the one to talk her through the night terrors that resulted from the mess she had been forced to clean up. Reborn had been the one to talk her through most of her guilt. Reborn had been the one to wake her and wipe tears away. Reborn had been the one to give her the tools to deal with everything she had done. It was these actions that had won him his daughters unwavering trust and love.
He was drawn out of his thoughts by his daughter asking "Do you think they'd mind if I made an American breakfast?"
"No. It's fine."
"Oh good. How does…" Fia rifled through her available ingredients "chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, toast, and eggs sound?"
"Very good my Flame. Do you need help?"
Fia shook her head no, and pulled everything out. She placed a spell over everyone in the living room excluding the Arcobaleno so they would remain asleep and began making breakfast. She was sure she was going to use magic, and she wanted to make sure only people who knew about magic could walk in. Reborn watched with a content look in his eyes, ducking the eggs Fia had levitated out of the fridge. Fia was happy in the kitchen. She was a natural. She flowed from task to task and managed to keep everything from burning at the same time. She started humming as she moved and Reborn was content to watch.
The Arcobaleno all stumbled inside and took places around the kitchen a few minutes later. Fia glanced at them, and smiled. With a wave of her hand everyone had coffee exactly as they liked it, except Fon and Reborn who got their favorite tea, and espresso respectively. Soon enough everything was made and she released the people in the living room from her spell. They came in to find breakfast laid out for them.
Fia spoke up in fluent Japanese "I woke up early, and thought I'd make everyone an American breakfast as a thank you for yesterday. I hope you don't mind. I also cleaned up the…mess… I left behind."
Nana was the first to say anything "Oh you didn't have to do that, dear! I would have done it!"
Fia smiled and replied "I wanted to. The only thing I didn't do was get something for everyone to drink since I wasn't sure what anyone liked. No one has any food allergies right? I can make something for them if they do." When she got a 'no' from everyone she relaxed a bit "Oh good. Well…dig in?"
She leaned against the counter with her Arcobaleno family and enjoyed her own plate and a glass of orange juice. It was still a novel experience for Fia to be able to eat her own cooking, no matter how long it had been. Reborn could see his daughter unconsciously shielding her food from everyone and felt a fresh wave of bloodlust for his daughter's abusers. "I will kill them. Painfully. Or I will give them to Mukuro. He hates abuse, especially female abuse because of Chrome…and no one would be able to pin it on Vongola that way…"
When everyone was done Nana insisted she be the one to do the dishes since Fia had cooked, and nothing Fia said changed her mind. Eventually Fia just nodded, and Tsuna helped his mother by drying and putting everything away.
Fia sat herself down in the living room with Shamal and answered his questions after ensuring all Tsuna and Nana would hear was soft mutters they wouldn't understand. For added insurance they all switched to English. "What did Reborn mean when he said you told him I couldn't stop the bleeding? You weren't even conscious when I got here much less long enough to say anything to him."
Fia sighed "I used my Sun Flames to talk to his mind."
Shamal stared "That shouldn't be possible. The only flame that could do that is Mist and that would be a one way communication unless the target was another Mist User."
Fia shook her head "In most cases that would be true. In my case my mother's abilities let me talk to him. The only reason I could do that while I was unconscious is because Papa's flames were inside my body. My own flames responded to their father's flames and…reached for him. The moment they connected I could talk to him."
Reborn listened with just as much careful attention as the others. "Can you communicate with anyone like that?"
Fia nodded "Anyone with Flames. I can only communicate with Papa while I'm unconscious and there is a limit to how far away someone can be, but I can communicate with others." Her eyes snapped to the kitchen and with a discreet wave of her hand the spell was removed. She switched back to Japanese. "I'm fine. Everything is fine. Papa and the others healed everything up. Thank you."
The others took the hint and went along with the subject and language switch. "If you're sure you're alright, I'll be going now. If anything comes up, call me." Shamal bowed out as he left. Reborn gave a sharp nod to show he would.
"Little Flame…" Fia turned to Fon as he spoke. She tensed as she saw his face. She knew what was coming. "What happened?"
Fia clenched her eyes shut and whispered "Can we go somewhere else? I don't…Tsuna and his mother…."
The five Arcobaleno stood and Reborn told Tsuna he would be back later today. They walked out just as Mammon and Verde were about to knock on the door. They looked at each other and Colonnello just made a 'come on' gesture. The only remaining seven Arcobaleno walked along with their daughter, adopted sister and niece.
Fia followed the instructions Reborn gave her to the closest park and a wave of her hand made sure no one would hear or disturb them. She sat on the ground under the shade of a tree and waited.
Fon was the first to break the silence "What happened to you Little Flame? The last time we saw you was a month ago when Remus was running out the door with you."
Fia tensed at the mention of Remus, and drew in a sharp breath. "I…" she took in a deeper breath "Papa, you remember me telling you Remus and I were on the run? That you had to stay out of it, because of magic?"
Reborn's eyes narrowed at the reminder that he couldn't help his daughter "Yes." As Vongola's top hit man Reborn knew about the magical world, and through Reborn the other Arcobaleno found out, the only problem was Reborn had been forbidden to interfere, and the Vongola had made sure he stayed away.
"Okay…you know I am known as the girl-who-lived there, right? And the whole Wizarding War with Voldemort?" Fia waited until each of the Arcobaleno nodded. "I defeated Voldemort. All of you know this. It was right after I defeated him that everything went wrong."
The Arcobaleno watched as Fia leaned her head back against the tree they were under and closed her eyes while her left hand flew up to clench around the silver charm on her necklace that was a duplicate of Leon in a nervous habit . She took a steadying breath as she continued to explain where it had all gone wrong.
Fia leaned on the closest wall she could find as she stared blindly at all that remained of Voldemort… a pile of ash that even now was blowing away on the wind. It was over. Five years of fighting Voldemort at least once a year in some form or another…and he was being blown away on the wind.
Fia almost believed it was all a dream, or that Voldemort would rise out of the ashes like a phoenix and try to kill her again, but the lacerations, bruises, cracked ribs, and throbbing head all indicated she was awake, and Voldemort was still dead so Fia didn't see any resurrections happening again.
She could hear the cheering as word spread that Fia had defeated the Dark Lord, and that all loyal Death Eaters had died with him, when Voldemort had tried to use his minions' life force and magic to survive. Instead he had killed them all. Severus, Fia knew, was fine; she had used the soul fragment in her scar to get into Voldemort's head long enough to find a way to sever any bonds they may have shared before destroying the fragment with the Goblin's help.
Fia ran her hand through her hair, and started to laugh softly. It was over by Merlin she had done it! Voldemort no longer existed in any form spiritual or otherwise. She heard and recognized running footsteps coming her way and turned to meet Remus and Sirius as Sirius picked her up and spun her around in a circle and Remus babbled about how proud he was. Everything seemed perfect to Fia, but she should have known better.
Dumbledore walked up to the only three people left in the room other than himself and a hidden Ronald Weasley, everyone else had rushed out to spread the word that Fia had won. Dumbledore was quick to place a relatively powerful silencing charm on the room and a powerful Notice Me Not spell so no one would hear or see anything he was doing. The three happy people turned to him with a smile that quickly disappeared when he sent a stunner Fia's way.
"Albus! What are you doing?! Are you insane?" Sirius yelled throwing up a powerful shield charm.
Albus smiled "No my dear boy. I'm perfectly fine, but I need Fia's body now. She's served her purpose."
Remus and Sirius snarled lowly in synch. "You will not touch her!" Remus growled his eyes bleeding a bright gold.
"What do you want her body for?" Sirius was horrified and so very, very angry right then, but he wanted to know why Dumbledore was going traitor on them.
Dumbledore saw no harm in telling them his plans, after all they were all going to die anyway. "I need her body to destroy her soul. Fia was supposed to die fighting Tom getting rid of the Soul Fragment that was in her scar, instead she went to the Goblins and then she survived her bout with Tom. I must admit my girl, you surprised me…but alas…Now I will have to destroy your soul myself and replace it with my own!" Dumbledore's eyes were gleaming in a mad way as he watched the dawning horror in their eyes "Once Fia becomes me for all intents and purposes I plan to take over all her positions in the political world as heir to the Potter family. I've also recommended Fia take my positions in the Political Wizarding World meaning I will also keep my current power in the world. When I take over your body I will get your power on top of my own and your money."
Sirius, Remus, and Fia were becoming more and more horrified as Dumbledore continued to lay out his plans even as they continued to duel with spells. "You plan to take over the Wizarding World using Fia's body?!" Sirius gasped.
Dumbledore laughed. "I do, and they will let me, after all…Fia did just kill Lord Voldemort. The best part of all of this is it won't end with you my girl! I will be able to raise your children up to replace your body when it dies and I now have an Immortal foothold in the Wizarding World! Thanks to the efforts of Molly, Arthur, Ginny, Ron and Percy Weasley molding your image the transition will be all the more believable!" Dumbledore was laughing as he watched Fia break a little piece at a time as she discovered most of her "friends" had been working for him. Having her break would make it easier for him to remove her soul and take over, but Fia was stronger than that. She was battered by their betrayal, but she was not broken.
Sirius and Remus were furious and immediately began firing killing curse after killing curse at Dumbledore declaring they would never let that happen, that they would die first. Dumbledore worked quickly and managed to push Sirius across the room towards the Veil of Death. Ronald, waiting in the shadows knew what he was meant to do as Dumbledore glanced at him. He would get his reward money. He would earn his fame. So as Dumbledore expertly fought Remus, Sirius and Fia, all the while herding them towards the veil, Ronald waited. When Sirius was close enough Ron fired a condensed blast of magic at his chest. Since Sirius didn't expect nor see the attack he fell into the veil. Remus roared as one of his best friends was killed in front of him, and Fia, who has seen the attack and reached for her Godfather missed by inches, turned and lunged for Ronald. Her mind went cold, and calculating as she saw and categorized each weakness in Ronald's stance and then she used them to kill the boy. (Later Fia would find out the way her mind calmed and set to what she referred to as "Kill Mode" was something she got from her father, but at the time she assumed it was the rage, betrayal, guilt and sadness exploding out of her violently at the cause of it all) Ron hadn't really been Fia's friend since fourth year during the Tournament. They had only drifted further apart since then, and while Fia knew she would never be his friend again, the straw the broke the camel's back was Ron killing Sirius. At that moment, Ronald Weasley became someone she would kill.
Shortly after the death of Sirius Dumbledore noticed the spells he had placed on the door break, and turned slightly to see who came in. Severus rushed inside to his Goddaughter, and Remus holding a throw pillow. As soon as he knew Remus and Fia were touching the throw pillow he barked out "Home" and the three of them disappeared via portkey.
The last thing they heard was Dumbledore roaring "NO!"
Severus, Remus, and Fia landed in the living room of Snape Manor. Fia pulled herself up off the ground and buried her head into Remus' stomach. "They betrayed me Mooney. They were willing to help Dumbledore kill me and have him masquerade as me." Fia's breath hitched.
Remus got angry all over again, but his cub's comfort was more important than his anger. He started a rumbling growl that he knew comforted her as he soothed "I know cub, I know they betrayed you, but there are still people here who love you, and he didn't mention all of the Weasleys, so not all of them are betrayers. They probably don't even know about this. Do you want to write them letters and have Dobby take them out?" He could see Severus over Fia's head making a "We need to talk" motion so he gave her something to do.
Fia nodded into his stomach and took a deep breath as she moved to her room while she was in Severus' home. As she entered her room she was never so glad for the Occlumency lessons she had taken with Severus, which is where she had accidently discovered he was her Godfather chosen by Lily. When the shock had worn off, she had found Severus staring at her, just as surprised as she was. Severus had sat down and gone through his memories then and there, only to discover the fight he had with Lily was staged and he had been her spy not Dumbledore's, he had actually gotten along with James and Sirius after they had sorted their differences, Lily had made him Fia's Godfather alongside Sirius, and just before they went into hiding Lily had sealed the memories away after telling him Fia would get a letter telling her how to break the seal on his memories- by attacking his Occlumency Shields which would break the seal no matter how powerful his shields were. She had also placed the idea of spying for the Order of the Phoenix in his head.
It had worked.
Fia shook the memories away and sat down to stare at the parchment she had gathered. What could she put? How did someone go about telling their friends that their family was full of backstabbing traitors? She took a deep breath and figured she might was well just write out the truth.
So she did.
She wrote out everything that had happened and everything she had found out. Fia even signed the letter using a blood quill for its original purpose- to sign your name in blood. By signing her name in blood after swearing on her blood everything she wrote was true, she proved she wasn't lying because her blood had remained a bright crimson rather then turning a pitch black color. She then duplicated the letter and called for Dobby. She had him deliver the letters to the Weasley twins, Charlie and Bill. Once that was done, she curled up on the bed with the black stuffed raven that was Severus' Animagus form and went to sleep.
The next time she woke up, it was to Remus standing over her, shaking her awake, as the house around them shook. She could hear Severus yelling at them to run, yelling at Remus to get her and go. "Remus, what's happening?! What's going on?!"
"Time to go Cub. Dumbledore followed us here and Severus is buying time. We have to leave!"
Fia jumped to her feet and dashed after Remus silently glad she was still in her clothes and not a set of pajamas. "What about Severus?"
Remus didn't glance at her as they moved towards the Floo. "He'll be right behind us cub, don't worry. He can take care of himself."
Fia could see Severus exchanging spells with Dumbledore as they approached the Floo, but she said nothing, scared she would break his concentration. She slowed for a moment, but Remus wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards the green flames waiting to take them away. It was a good thing Remus had her, because it was that moment that Dumbledore managed a major blow to Severus.
Fia cried out and lunged forward, but Remus' arm kept her from getting far. Both of them could tell Severus was going to die, his throat was sliced open, and even now he was bleeding out on the floor where he had fallen. Dumbledore made to approach them and fire off a set of stunners, but even in his last minutes Severus fought to allow his Goddaughter to escape. He fired a tripping Jinx at Dumbledore and he fell, his spells hitting the wall rather than his targets. That was the last time Fia saw Severus as Remus pulled her into the flames, yelling a destination Fia couldn't hear as she stared in horror at Severus' dying body, and Dumbledore struggling to rise, his beard covered in Severus' blood.
When they fell out of the Floo at their destination- the Three Broomsticks- Remus immediately Apparated out of there. They ended up at his apartment. Remus quickly summoned two duffle bags and some necessary belongings and money for both him and Fia. A lot of her clothes had ended up in his apartment, which Remus was glad for. Everything was packed quickly and Remus was quick to cast illusions over the both of them. His hair lengthened just enough to notice with a slight curl, his hair became a dark brownish red rather than his normal blondish hair, his eyes turned a normal, dull green and he lost a few inches in height. Fia on the other hand had her hair changed from messy jet black hair with two slightly curly pieces on either side of her face to strawberry blonde straight hair that lengthened from mid back to her hips and her blazing emerald eyes changed to grey-blue. Remus added a few inches onto her height and some freckles on the both of them right across their noses. As soon as he had the illusions applied he Apparated again.
This time they ended up at an airport. Remus got them through and up to the counter. He used some quick magic to get the both of them tickets and then wipe the memory from the lady's mind. Their flight was boarding so the both of them rushed over and boarded the plane. As soon as they were sitting down Fia turned to Remus and buried her head into his shoulder and cried. Remus turned in his seat to comfort her, and he rubbed her back and whispered to her until Fia managed to wrestle her feelings under her control and ask "Where are we going?" Remus told her they were headed for Japan, and he had some very important news for her when they arrived. Fia nodded and went to sleep against the window of the plane.
Fia turned to face her Arcobaleno family. All of them looked murderous. "The man you're running from…wants to destroy your soul and take over your body?" Fon hissed.
Fia nodded "Yes. When we got to Japan I found out about Papa, and Remus brought me to him. Severus had given Remus Mama's Will and told him to read it. It was shocking for me to find out James wasn't my father, but as much as I had been told James was my father, I had never met him, and Papa was alive, even if he was unaware of me. I had a chance to have a real family with him. Mama's Will explained she had dated Papa before James. It explained that they both broke up mutually and a month later she started dating James, who agreed to help Mama raise me. James even made me his heir and both of them decided not to tell Papa I was his because they knew his job was very dangerous even though they didn't know what Papa really did. Mama's Will said you remained close friends with her, James, and Remus and visited often. She said the last time she saw you was just after you were cursed with your current baby form. I was supposed to go to you when Mama and James died if Sirius couldn't take me, but Dumbledore stopped the Will from being read. He knew I was not, under any circumstances, to go to Aunt and Uncle's home."
"Mama also started working on a counter to your curse, she came really close, but she didn't finish it before she died. I'm working on it now, but I'm not telling you about it until I'm sure it will work." Fia shook the thought away to focus on her father's question.
Reborn's eyes narrowed. He didn't know Fia was supposed to go to him in the very beginning. His eyes narrowed further. This 'Dumbledore' was going to die. "Fia, Does Dumbledore know I am your father?"
Fia shook her head "No. Thankfully the Will was sealed against anyone opening the Will if they weren't keyed into it. Dumbledore doesn't have access to the will. The only people other than me that could open the Will were Remus and Severus. He doesn't know about you. He doesn't even know to connect Japan to me. That's why Remus and I left so suddenly a month ago. He was getting too close to finding us here. I especially didn't want him to find out about you guys so we left."
"You mention some letters you sent to some people, and you used past tense referring to Remus. Did something happen?" Skull wasn't wearing his helmet as he stared into Fia's eyes.
Fia flinched and clenched her eyes shut at the mention of Remus, but she answered "R-Remus is…Remus isn't…" she took a deep breath "Remus died to protect me. He covered my escape. We were caught, and ambushed. We fought Dumbledore and the Weasleys that betrayed me at first…but we were getting overwhelmed. Remus told me to use my Portkey to Papa and then he covered me so that I could get away…he didn't make it."
The Arcobaleno all moved closer to her, placing comforting hands on her legs or in Reborn's case jumping onto her shoulder and running a comforting hand through her hair. All of the Arcobaleno had met Remus, and all of them had liked the calm man. They were sad he had died, but they knew it was worse for Fia.
Fia shook her head once sharply and finished answering Skull's question. "Bill, Charlie, and the twins Fred and George magically Disowned themselves. They are no longer attached in any way to the Weasley family. They even disappeared off the family tree. They told me they had no idea about what the others had done, and that they had disowned themselves completely. They signed the letters with Blood Quills and swore on their blood what they had written was truth. Their blood stayed red, so they were telling the truth. They sent me their contact information and told me I could call on them for anything."
The Arcobaleno nodded, glad some people remained loyal to her. Everyone looked up at the sky as it darkened. They had been there awhile. It was dinner time now.
Reborn turned to his daughter "Let's go back. Mama will have dinner for us."
Fia stood with Reborn still on her shoulder and looked down at the rest of the Arcobaleno "Are any of you coming back with us?"
The Arcobaleno told her they wouldn't be going back, but they would be close by and all she ever needed to do was call for them and they would come back. Fia smiled at them all and basked in their love for a moment before telling them bye and walking off. She got a goodbye from them as well as she headed for the Sawada Home.
She arrived twenty minutes later and pushed the door open calling "I'm back!" to anyone inside.
"Ah! Fia-chan! I made you and Reborn-chan a plate!" Nana called to her from the kitchen.
Tsuna walked down from his room and stared at her worriedly. He knew something emotional had happened though he didn't know what had happened exactly. "Are…are you ok?"
Fia smiled at him "I'm fine Tsunayoushi-san."
Tsuna's eyes widened and he waved his hands at her "Just Tsuna Please!"
Fia smiled at the blushing boy who reminded her of Neville when he first met her. Shy, clumsy, stuttering and blushing. "Alright than Tsuna. You can call me Fia."
Tsuna blushed a darker shade of red and tripped over his feet as he headed for the kitchen. "Ah…Ok."
They sat down as Nana served everyone with a smile. Dinner was a comfortable affair and Fia headed for the couch afterwards.
Tsuna grabbed her arm, and Fia flinched the slightest bit, a leftover reaction from her abusive childhood. Tsuna let go as if he had been burned and stuttered "Ah…W-we have a spare b-bedroom you can use."
Fia smiled at him, a little sorry she had flinched. She knew Tsuna wouldn't hurt her, but it was an automatic reaction when someone she didn't really know or trust touched her unexpectedly. "You do? Thank you."
Tsuna nodded and led her into the plain room. The walls were a pale blue, the bed was done up in white with a set of darker blue throw pillows on top. There was a wooden dresser off to the right and a matching end table by the head of the bed.
Fia bowed a little and thanked him again. Tsuna waved her off and tripped his way out. Fia sat on the bed and sighed, rubbing her head. Reborn hopped onto the bed next to her, asking "Do you want me to leave?"
Fia shook her head. "Not tonight. I'm going to have nightmares."
Reborn nodded and settled in a sitting position by Fia's head as she lay back onto the bed. He began running his little hands through her hair in a comforting motion.
Fia slowly slipped into sleep under the comforting, familiar motion, and Reborn stayed awake, ready for the nightmares.