In A Fight

Summary: She didn't look like much, but there was more the petite woman who arrived to fight on Skull's behalf than first appeared.

Author's Notes: Again, remember that all of these little one-shots are not connected, unless otherwise stated. In this one, Holly was/is a Sky, but the removal of the Horcrux from her scar broke her Sky flames until she can only use Lightning/Cloud flames.


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Enma met her first.

After agreeing to represent Skull in the battles, it had occurred to him that he might be in over his head if he were the only person fighting on the Cloud Arcobaleno's behalf, so even though the woman didn't look like much, he was grateful for the help all the same.

She had introduced herself simply as 'Holly' and gave off a friendly, open air that quickly had Enma relaxing and opening up to the older woman.

.

The Varia met her next.

She was an unknown and looked harmless. She was small, actually shorter than Belphegor, with pale skin, dark hair, and green eyes behind a pair of wireless frames. She wore jeans and a pair of worn sneakers, and while it was possible she was hiding a weapon beneath her loose, bulky sweater, the Varia as a whole rather doubted it.

In fact, they thought this would be a relatively easy fight, no matter that they were going up against the Cloud Arcobaleno and the Shimon brat.

So, as soon as the fight timer started, they'd dropped in with every intention of wiping the floor with them and being one step closer to breaking Mammon's curse.

Except that the unknown female literally disappeared into thin air and the only hint to her location was the direction that attacks were thrown at them from. Not that an invisible target was an issue, they'd dealt with things like that before; an invisible target that seemed capable of instantaneously moving between locations – one second, she was attacking from Squalo's left, and the next an attack would be coming from the other side – was a bit more difficult.

It didn't help their pride any that rather than the woman put them out of their misery quickly, she seemed to take pleasure in making them look like idiots; the wires attached to Bel's knives tied themselves in knots, or would either trip or trap other Varia members; their bootlaces would mysteriously tie themselves together at random; anything aimed at Skull or Enma would change course and shoot back towards the member who threw it; at one point, out of nowhere, eggs were launched at them quickly followed by bags of flour upending over their heads.

Needless to say, the battle was a draw and the Varia came out a little worse for wear.

.

Basil did not meet her so much as observed her meeting the Vindice.

While he had heard rumors that Skull's mysterious representative had played with the Varia when they attacked the Cloud Arcobaleno, he found himself doubting their validity simply because who the hell plays practical jokes on the Varia in the middle of a battle?

He could safely say here that Skull's representative was not playing.

When the Vindice had warped in, the female representative was nowhere to be seen and Basil was unsure whether that was because she wasn't there or because she was invisible. But as soon as the Vindice had begun their attack on Team Skull, as soon as they had plucked the Boss Watch from Enma's wrist, a woman appeared from thin air smack in the middle of the Vindice.

There was no amusement on her face. Not even a hint of playfulness.

There was an eerie silence. The calm before the storm.

Then the woman's flames exploded out from her in a halo of power that was tinged with death, which left a shiver of dread caught in Basil's spine.

Two of Bermuda's men were killed within seconds as the rest of them scrambled to warp away.

Bermuda may have taken Team Skull's watches, but he paid dearly for entering the fight.

.

Tsuna met her next.

From the moment the idea had first popped into his head, his intuition had been nudging him to seek out Team Skull, that he would need the help of Team Skull almost more than anyone else. So, while in-between fights, Tsuna wanders, following his intuition until he reaches an abandoned warehouse where it appears Skull and his mysterious representative have taken up temporary residence.

He lingered outside for a moment, old insecurities coming back: would they laugh at his idea, would they turn down his offer, call him an idiot? What if they didn't want to help? Were they really as important as his intuition insisted they were?

He shook off his doubts and entered the warehouse.

It was a surprisingly comfortable set up inside, for being abandoned. When he found them, Skull and the black haired woman are setting on a couch before a fireplace – why the hell is there a fireplace in a warehouse? – sipping tea.

Skull is clearly recovered from the attack, but…

There was something different in Skull's eyes, something protective and Tsuna wondered if there was more to the pair of them than any figured. But he ignored the other questions building in his mind and instead asked the one he'd come all this way for.

"Will you help?"

"Explain everything."

Skull clearly saw Tsuna's reluctance, but the Cloud Arcobaleno's expression only hardened.

"You love your mother, Sawada, right? Would never want her hurt or have her dragged into something potentially harmful?"

"O-of course!" Tsuna had agreed defensively.

"Then you understand how I feel. Explain everything, or we will not help."

Tsuna stared, uncomprehending for a long moment, then – and he would swear up and down later on that Skull's eyes flashed green – he realized: his thought earlier was right, but not in the manner he had thought.

The woman by Skull's side is his mother.

Tsuna sat down and explained everything.

.

The Arcobaleno met her at the same time as Checker Face.

All of them were gathered after the battle against Bermuda was won, the return of a seemingly healthy Skull and his mysterious representative forgotten in the face of Checker Face appearing and revealing his identity as Kawahira.

At least, they were forgotten until Kawahira released his flames and all but the ebon-haired woman were forced to their knees in the face of his flames. When his attention turned fully to the woman, a noise of wistful regret escaped him.

"Oh," Kawahira sighed. "If only I had found you before you were broken. You would have held the Sky for a century."

"Two centuries, if we're being honest," the woman said mildly, as if she wasn't revealing just how strong of a Sky she had been before she was broken, how she would have lasted decades beyond the usual handful of years Sky Arcobalenos were capable of.

"Why did you have to be broken?" Kawahira lamented, reaching out and tugging almost playfully at a lock of the woman's midnight hair. "Such a powerful Sky, shattered."

"Don't touch my mother," Skull snarled into the stunned silence of Kawahira's revelations.

The quiet before had been almost loud compared to the silence that enveloped the group now.

Then…

"YOUR MOTHER!?"

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This will be the last posting for the day. Just wanted to get a couple out so you weren't left hanging for weeks with only the introduction to Teddy-is-Skull to read. :]

These likely aren't and won't be my best written pieces, as a warning. Mostly these are just scenes I have written out in my notebook that I have no idea how to incorporate into other stories, nor do I actually have other stories to use them for at this time.

As I mentioned in the author's note of the first chapter, it's always a possibility that one of these scenes could eventually grow into its own separate story/universe, but currently, they're just pieces thrown together for your reading pleasure.

Thank you to everyone who is already enjoying this little series of stories. Your reviews, favorites, follows, hell, just your views on this story and the others make my day.

-D.