Chapter 4: Flickering Flames
Jean sat outside the door, his fingers twiddling with his ring in his grip. By then, he had become a little less flustered from his run from the river to the Vongola tenth's home and back, but his heart still thumped frantically against his chest. He was worried for his boss even thought he knew that she was alive inside the room and had a doctor at her side. All the stress and the emotions that he had been feeling the past few days had really been taking a toll on his heart, and he was lucky that he remembered to take his medicine, or he would be in pretty bad condition. He was lucky to have made it to the Vongola boss's doorstep and still been able to plead their help without passing out even with it.
A frown set onto Jean's lips, and he clenched the ring tightly in his grip as the feeling of uselessness washed over him like a cold wave. His hazel eyes were trained on his right arm where the scares tore up the skin and left a permanent reminder of his disabilities. He didn't mind them being there most of the time, and he even sometimes thought that they were pretty sexy, but he didn't like when they leered up at him mockingly. He wrinkled his nose in distaste, but shot up when the door opened and he was instantly up in front of the doctor. "How is she? How is she? Is she okay?" he chattered worriedly as he looked up into Gabriel's eyes. The tall boy ran a hand through his now dry and wild brown locks and pursed his lips.
"She seems to have gotten a bit of a fever, and a few bruises, but otherwise looks okay. She should make a full recovery as long as she's kept warm and we keep her temperature down," he said, then offered a small smile to the younger teenager in front of him. "If you would like, then you can go see her. I need to get something to drink though, so be extra careful with her while I'm not here.." With that, he walked off, his lab coat flicking at his heels as he walked away. "You should join me downstairs when you're convinced she'll be okay…."
Jean watched him as he walked away, then peeked in the room quietly, afraid to disturb her in her sleep, but when he heard he short, raspy breaths, he had to inspect her closer. As he slunk closer, he noticed how pale she was at first, then the soft pink tinge of her skin became visible and he could see the droplets of sweat on her forehead and how pained her expression was even in her sleep. Jean instantly felt worse that he hadn't jumped in after her instantly, but the thought of such heights made him shiver even when he was nowhere near them. He turned and was about to go downstairs, but he heard her squirm a bit under her blankets and suddenly produce thump, and panicked when he saw her curled up on the ground in her ball of blankets. He slid over to her side and gently gathered her up the best he could in his arms, but it proved to be a difficult task seeing as she was a bit bigger than him. Eventually, he managed to get her back into a relatively comfortable position and tucked her gently in. "Stay," he chuckled lightly as he got up, but before he left, he took a few extra pillows and tossed them by the bed so she would land on something soft if she was to roll off again. "Sleep tight, Princess," he whispered softly as he closed the door behind him.
"Lasaro...What is there to live for in my life?" Avrilina started, her face buried into her arms and her green eyes watching the grass that swayed with the soft breeze that tussled her short chestnut locks, "You're all dead…I never met my mother or father, and the rest of my family is dead because of the mafia business…"
"You're blinded by your sadness and rage, boss…You cannot see the lure of living anymore," came a smooth, soft voice, "I cannot tell you what you live for, because I am not you and cannot read your mind as you seem to so often think I can." Beside the girl was a shimmering shapeless blob of gold. Its two kind eyes stared at the girl next to him. The Spanish woman gave a hiss and curled up tighter, and with a chuckle, the blob placed its hand on her back and rubbed gentle circles in between her shoulder blades with a soothing rhythm. "Relax, and think of what's around you."
"I see nothing around me that's worth living for."
"You're blind then."
She looked up at the flames beside her and watched it with narrowed eyes, trying to decipher its words. "You could help me and tell me what you mean."
"If I did, you would never find the real answer…" It removed its hand and pet her head gently, "Right now, you are sick with a fever, but the Vongola have taken you in while you're ill. Relax and think…Allow yourself time to heal both physically and mentally, then you may find your answer."The golden blob rose on its thick legs and held its hand out to the woman below it. She gave a sigh and took its hand.
"Very well…Your words always made sense in the end…It should be no different now." Avrilina locked eyes with the creature's brown human like eyes and watched the smile spread across its face.
"Your trust in me even in death is something I'll never forget. Thank you for such a great experience in life. I'm glad I died protecting something I love."
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Lasaro…Your death will be avenged…" The blob pressed its hand to its forehead and heaved a sigh.
"Hate will get you nowhere Avrilina. Should you murder who took my life, you will only be taking the life of another, then someone else will be after your life, and the cycle of revenge will begin and wipe out everything. There is a difference between murder and killing, and somewhere inside you, you know what it is…Be the better person in this situation…," It said gently as the light began to fade. Avrilina panicked and grabbed its arm tightly and hissed.
"You're too vague! I don't understand!" It shook its head and gently pried its hand out of her grip and disappeared. "No! Stay! I'm not done talking to you yet! Come back! Lasaro!" She cried after it for a few more moments, then growled and looked at her hands. They were covered in sticky crimson liquid that reeked of metal. "How can I be the better person when I have nothing but death in my future…?"
"…She may be struggling with an illness I can't cure as easily as I hoped," Gabriel said as he swished the water in his glass around thoughtfully. Jean blinked, than growled at him in annoyance.
"You just told me moments ago you expected a full recovery!"
"And I do, but I have no idea how long it will take her to get to that point though. She took a great fall into the river. She was a little beaten up before, and the rough current only worsened her bruises. She also got this fever she's sick with because she stayed cold and wet just a bit too long. She seems to be having some mental issues, such as stress, that is preventing her from recovering quickly, even with my flames to help her," he started, "but it seems much more deeply rooted then simply stress…I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's not helping her heal faster…"
A scowl worked its way across his face, and he got up from his seat and stared the doctor straight in the eye. "Well find some way to fix it. You're a doctor, and doctors are supposed to help their patients heal quicker."
"And I am, Jean. I'm not a miracle worker. Her body will not let her heal until she's ready to accept the process of healing."
The two boys watched each other, their intense glares nearly making sparks between their eyes, when someone's snarky remark caught their attention. "Oh just shut up and kiss already, idiots. Arguing over that stupid woman in the tenth's home is rude enough without your sexual tension flying all around." Their heads swiveled towards the silver haired bomber, who was doing his homework on the couch next to Tsuna and Yamamoto. He glared at the from behind his glasses. "We're trying to concentrate on our homework and help him learn, so if you morons would shut up, it would help Tsuna." Jean's eyes narrowed for just a second, then his expression lightened, and he went over and plucked the Biology book from the boy's hands and took a peek at the chapter he was on, then snapped it shut with a thump.
"Geeze, I took this crap like four years ago," Jean started, "Evolution is basically the process of change in a species that takes place over long periods of time. It's not something easily observed in action seeing as it takes BILLIONS of years. Any old idiot can learn this easily as long as you dumb it down and quit using all of your fancy terms that I keep hearing you babble out." Tsuna's cheeks grew red in embarrassment. He was always having trouble with schoolwork, and here was someone his age that was apparently already knowledgeable on the subject saying it was easy. He really was no good…
"Hey! Don't insult him like that!" Gokudera hissed and rose to confront the boy that was so casually insulting his boss, but Jean gently shoved him back.
"Don't be so hasty. If you're having such trouble learning this, then I'll be glad to offer my assistance~
"Yeah right! Like an idiot like you could really know anything," Gokudera snorted and again made a move to advance, but Tsuna diffused him before he could rise too far off the couch.
"G-Gokudera! Maybe he has a point. He knows his stuff apparently, so maybe he can help…?" Gokudera looked at him, and then smiled softly at him.
"Alright! Whatever my boss says!" He chirped and took up his homework again, but that didn't stop him from throwing a nasty look at the smirking Espinoza lightning guardian.
"Now then, let's start with what you know."
On the side, Gabriel was chuckling as he took a drink of water, and then looked down at the arcobaleno beside him. "This certainly is an amusing bunch of kids you have here." Reborn looked up at him and cocked one eyebrow up slightly.
"You're nothing but a kid yourself, Gabriel."
"Yeah, I know, but still. I'm out of school at least and studying to be a doctor. It's my dream, you know?"
Reborn's facial expression didn't change, but his tone did to indicate his seriousness. "Your dream may not come true the way you want it to be…You've gotten yourself mixed up in the wrong place if you want a calm life. In the mafia, it is rarely as calm as it is right now." The brown haired boy chuckled a bit and glanced over at the group of kids who were still listening to Jean.
"I think I can handle it. I don't know if she's going to give me this ring you talk of, though. It would certainly take a lot for her to give up something so special to her."
"You won't be the only one involved. Your whole family will get dragged in one way or another, whether you like it or not." Suddenly, the doctor froze, his amber eyes widened with the glass halfway to his lips, but after a second, he regained his composure.
"I've kept my involvement hidden from my family, so hopefully, they'll never find out or get involved."
"Don't keep your hopes up. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The Espinoza family has unwanted enemies, and with her so vulnerable, they may attack the moment they catch any information regarding her condition and use your family as hostages-"
"They will not!" he snapped at Reborn," I'll kill them before they have the chance." Reborn looked away.
"At least you have spirit. I hope you can hold onto it for a long time…"
It had been three days, and Avrilina's condition had barely gotten any better. She was still bedridden and hadn't woken up for more over a minute yet, and her wet rag had to be changed often. Gabriel, as her self appointed doctor, had been doing an excellent job keeping her in a stable condition and making sure that she hadn't gotten any worse, but the fact that she was still asleep had been bothering him constantly for the past few days, and he had been reading up on any medical condition that he might have had, and there was nothing he could uncover in all his text books that he had gotten from his mother.
He was on the couch and flipping through one of his books, his lab coat discarded over the arm of the couch, when he had seen the red light flash out of the corner of his eye and heard the upstairs window shatter. He sprang to his feet and scuttled up the stairs messily as he went to go check on his patient, but someone had already gotten there before him, and was cursing up a storm.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing with her?! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" Jean was screaming out the window, but he soon opted for just jumping out the window and chasing after the culprit when he didn't turn back. Gabriel went to the window after him, and shouted after the boy.
"Get back here! You can't just jump into something! Come back here!" But his protests were pointless; the lightning guardian had already made up his mind as he sprinted down the street. Gabriel hissed and made his way downstairs, and past Tsuna, who was just emerging from his bedroom. "There's a slight problem, so we'll be back soon. I'll pay for your window when I get back!" He said as he snagged his lab coat and slipped on his loafers before darting out the door. Tsuna blinked his eyes and glanced down to where Reborn was. The disturbance had managed to wake him up, but he didn't seem too angry with anyone.
"Well, Tsuna? Are you just going to stand here when a potential comrade is in trouble?"
"She made it pretty clear she didn't want to be friends, but…I don't have much of a choice, do I? I'll go help!" The adult in baby form smirked a bit and held out his cell phone, which already had one of his student's guardians dialed up.
"I don't get why I have to do the dirty work for that asshole," a blonde boy growled as he sprinted down the street while holding onto a bundle of cloth in his arms. "I mean, he's just as able to do this as I am, but our stupid bosses wanted me and my team to do this crap! It's not right, huh?" he continued as he ran down an alleyway and his in the shadows as his pursuer passed him by. He let out a deep breath and allowed himself to continue on slowly, his feet dragging slightly. "And it's so late at night. I'm tired. So I'll finish my business with you, Espinoza bitch, and go back to bed…That sounds nice-" He was cut off when a knife flew past his face and sliced his cheek open and drew blood. With a snarl, Cyrille drew his sword and let his flames dance on the blade of the broadsword while keeping a firm grip on the Espinoza leader. "For fuck's sake. What now? Last time it was the Vongola, so WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
"Your worst nightmare," the person said as they charged the storm guardian seemingly recklessly. The blonde boy turned on his heel and spun away from his attack, but the brown haired boy didn't even attack him. Instead, he snatched the scalpel he had thrown at Cyrille's face earlier and twirled it in his nimble fingers so that he was holding it horizontally, and he grinned widely, displaying his white teeth, and again, he went for the boy. Cyrille frowned and again jumped away, but this time, he jumped on top of some fence boards and scuttled away.
"I don't have time to play with you, so I'll be taking my leave. Until next time," he said and turned, but a sudden pain caught him in his lower back and he stumbled a bit in pain, but the anger that surged through him helped him ignore it and turn around to block the boy's scalpel blade from hitting skin. With a snarl, he swung his blade messily, making the doctor back off from him. "Don't you listen?! Fine! You're making me be the asshole here!" he said as he pressed his blade close to the brown haired girl's neck and singed her skin, making her squirm and squeal in pain as he did so, but she still remained unconscious through the sting. The cry of pain from his patient brought the dark clad teen back to his senses, and he narrowed his amber eyes.
"What a cowardly way out of a fight. To use a hostage, a sick woman at that, is just gutless. Congratulations, you're a wimp."
"Hey! Don't be an ass! I have my job to do, so deal with it!"
"You're still a spineless bastard."
"All is fair in love and war," Cryille spat as he backed off. He stumbled a bit, the pain from the wound on his back making it a bit harder for him to walk properly, but when he was far enough away, he turned tail and ran, pulling out his cell phone as he did and sending a mass message to his squad and telling them to attack anyone who might get in their way, and to meet at the nearby park. Quickly, he jumped down from the fence boards and into the lush grass and sat down, his back stinging in pain. He released the woman in his grip and let her tumble onto the grass, her form swaddled up in the blanket he took with her. With a frown, he pulled the blankets over her reddened face and tended to his back.
After a few minutes, most of his wound was patched up, and he was lucky it barely cut father then his dark hoodie, or else he wouldn't be able to move from the waist down. He heard footsteps, and he brushed his sandy locks back. "It's about fucking time you guys got here. I'm ready to head home. So let's go…," he said as he picked up the girl on the ground, but as soon as she was safely in his arms, he glanced down, his black eyes caught sight of some lit bombs under him, and he was forced to take the hit. He went flying through the air, his back singed and his wounds re opened and accidentally let Avrilina go as he did. While he landed roughly on the ground, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the same boy that had interfered with his first attempt at killing her had caught her and fallen back with her safe in his grip.
"Gokudera!" Yamamoto whined, "You need to be more careful around her right now! She can't defend herself from all of your bombs!" The silver haired bomber scoffed and flicked his cancer stick before readying another round of explosives.
"It's her fault for being so weak. She could have defended herself and not disturbed the boss if she hadn't gotten sick."
Yamamoto pouted and gently laid her down and inspected her for any visible wounds, which he didn't find. "You know, she beat you pretty badly earlier. It was kind of funny that you got beaten up by a girl! I bet that still hurts your pride!"
Gokudera's eye twitched and he considered throwing a bomb at the Japanese boy, but didn't because that would be disobeying his boss's orders, and that was something he simply couldn't do, so he settled for yelling at him. "Idiot! I wasn't on guard! It won't happen again!" Yamamoto simply laughed and covered her up gently.
"I'm still here!" Yamamoto barely had time to draw out his wooden blade and block the attack coming for him before the flurry of red flames was upon him. He blinked and stared into his opponent's black eyes, then cracked a grin and shoved him off.
"I remember you! You were the one who decorated the Espinoza Family's home! It's nice to see you again!" Cyrille twitched and scowled and the flames on his sword doubled in size as his agitation grew. On the sidelines, Gokudera pressed his palm against his face despite the fact that he Yamamoto was an idiot. He wasn't surprised, but it still baffled him that anyone could be that stupid and still be breathing.
"I didn't decorate the place! I slaughtered them all! What is so difficult to understand about that?!" He said as he slashed at the rain guardian. Yamamoto nimbly brought up his wooden sword to defend himself, and looked around for a way to use his Shigure Souen without the use of water, and without leaving Avrilina on her own. Cyrille's scowl flipped into a grin, and he pressed forward and forced the lanky teenager back a bit so that he was standing over the girl that they were protecting. "And I'm about to make you the next victim!" he snarled as he drew his sword away and threw it up into the air with a flick of his wrist, and flung his fist at Yamamoto roughly. The boy caught it with one hand, but the sword came back down into his opponent's hand, and he was forced to awkwardly defend himself against the blade. With both of his hands occupied, Cyrille was able to shove his shoulder into the baseball player's sternum and knock the breath out of him, then successfully flip him over his shoulder so their positions were reversed and he was hovering over the girl.
Yamamoto's back slammed into the ground, and he grunted softly with the sudden force, but that didn't stop him. He tossed his sword up slightly so that the tip of the now metal blade was pointed at his enemy's chest, and kicked it. It whistled through the air with a direct course towards Cyrille's stomach. He drew up his blade and blocked the attack, but failed to notice that the rain guardian had gotten up. He caught his katana and pivoted on his foot so that he was pointing his weapon at the storm guardian's neck. Cyrille hissed and didn't dare move in case the dumb boy did have the intent of ending him. "Game over, mister," Yamamoto chirped.
"Watch out, Vongola!" yelled a familiar voice, and Yamamoto turned his head to the source, but was meet with Lightning class flames blocking his field of vision, but they didn't stay for long, and when they were gone, he heard the soft thump of bullets falling against the grass. Cyrille took advantage of his lapse of attention, and slammed his sword against the back of his head, knocking the boy down and making him groan. He crouched down to gather up the girl, but before he could, he had to dodge a smaller blade and green flames by rolling away. With a snarl, he flung his blade up to meet the electrified one of another boy that he recognized. He smirked and twisted his blade about to knock him off balance, and slammed a fist against his nose, making the blood gush from it and successfully knocking the boy back.
"You stupid people don't know when to stop. You're outnumbered here." He hissed and kicked up his foot, knocking it into the boy's jaw while he was off guard. When he fell back, Cyrille twirled his blade elegantly, the flames lighting up the silver and gold designs on the hilt and making the large red gem on top glimmer with a deadly light. Just as he was about to slam it down and end the one underneath him, the Espinoza Lightning guardian summoned his static flames and shocked the one above him and made the blonde boy roll around in pain on the ground, giving jean a chance to get up and wipe his bloody nose off. He was taking great breaths, and his hazel eyes were wide as if in pain. After a minute of struggling with the pain, Cyrille was up and panting, his sword in hand. "Having problems, huh?" he sneered and dug in his pocket, then produced a small, transparent orange pill bottle from hoodie, "Couldn't find your medication this morning, could you? It's such a shame to see you die this way, with such little blood, you know, but I guess not everyone can die such a dramatic death."
Jean couldn't do much without straining himself too much and further injuring his already damaged heart. With his scarred hand, he grabbed at the cloth of his jacket, and tried to stabilize the beat himself, but it proved too much and he collapsed on the spot, his breathing shallow and his eyes hazy. Cyrille tossed the pills aside and stalked over, and slammed his dark shoe into his back roughly, making the drab dressed lightning guardian cough up a bit of blood with the force, and raised his sword, a sadistic grin on his face. "Ciao, Espinoza~" he cooed almost playfully as he swung the final blow.
A ball of light in the distance caught his attention though, and he stopped, the tip just an inch away from the back of Jean's brown locks, and he narrowed his black eyes. The orange color was something he couldn't miss, but he knew it wasn't a flame from Sawada Tsunayoshi, since he could see the flashes of his flames off in the distance fighting his squad members. He hadn't seen any information about him being able to make such a large flame, and his sky guardian was back in Italy with the rest of the guardians, so it wasn't their own. That only left one option, and it wasn't an option he liked. He glanced behind him just as he saw a flash of green. He parted his scarred lips to curse, but a fist had already met his face and had sent him flying into the ground and made him bounce with the force. As he arched up from the impact, a hand had snatched the strings from his hoodie and yanked him up, but another fist met his face and he flew back once more, but he was ready for the third impact, and drew his sword up in time to protect himself. His assailant had grabbed the blade instead of him, and had sliced and burned themselves on the flaming blade.
"You've cause enough damage in my life," she said lowly and tightened her grip, injuring herself further, but moment later, her own flames exploded from her hands and the sword's shining metal and lively flames became nothing more the useless rock. Cyrille blinked, then his dark eyes contracted in fear and panic, and he released his weapon as he turned tail and ran, but before he could, she was upon him and pinning him down by his back, her flaming hand poised for the kill, but she seemed to hesitate, her emotions conflicted in her green eyes.
This boy had injured her, both physically and mentally, and had nearly tried to murder her, and had attacked her when she was bed ridden, but she couldn't bring down her hand on his throat to end him. She knew he deserved every ounce of her hatred, and that it would bring her such satisfaction to turn him to nothing more than dust, but, she couldn't bring herself to strike. With a hiss, she delivered a rough kick to his face, making the skin split with the impact, and sent him flying into the side of the building. "Get out before I change my mind." Cyrille didn't waste a second and he got up and hobbled o as fast as he could. A few fleeing figures followed him quickly, guns and weapons flung over their back and cuts on their bodies from fighting with the Vongola.
Avrilina wrinkled her nose and curled her lip slightly before turning on her heel and returning to her lightning guardian, only she misjudged her strength and her knees buckled under her and she fell to the ground, her face slamming into the dirt painfully. The brunette hissed and sat up, clutching her bloody nose with two hands. "Some assistance would be very much appreciated…" she snapped as she tried to rise to her feet again, but only fell once more, but without injury.
"I'm sorry Avrilina. I need to make sure Jean is in stable condition before I tend to you… One moment," said Gabriel's calm voice from the side. She frowned and sat where she was, her eyes on her lightning guardian, who was now barely awake, but breathing a little easier then he was when she first woke up. He even glanced at her and smiled softly before relaxing and closing his eyes, which made her scowl and make an advance to the boy, but she was plucked up from her position on the ground by her upper arms and held just above where her tip toes could touch the ground.
"I'll just help you then!" chirped a familiar happy voice from behind her. Avrilina glared into the air and squirmed a bit, but it only made the baseball player chuckle. She could feel the vibrations through her green hoodie and orange camisole and in her bones, and she didn't like it.
"Put me down…" She muttered as she thrashed in his grip, but he didn't hear her low voice, and she was forced to raise it to a level the chatty boy could hear from a mile away. "PUT ME DOWN!" She hissed and flung her foot into his abdomen and knocked him onto his back, and made him release her. Yamamoto landed on the ground with a thump and the air left his lungs with an 'oof!' as he collided with the earth. Out of some miracle, she landed on her feet while still clutching her bleeding nose, though a little ungracefully. The baseball player pouted at her from his splayed position on the ground, then reached up and pulled her down next to him as gently as he could.
"You just recovered a few minutes ago; you're lucky you could even walk earlier. So relax a little with me here! It'll be nice!" He said as he wrapped an arm tightly around her in an attempt to keep her restrained so she didn't hurt herself. She wasn't too pleased with that, and she pressed her orange heels against his chest and pushed, but he only wrapped his second arm around her. "Stop squirming. I won't hurt you…I'm actually trying to help." She scowled at him and slammed her head into his, making him loosen his grip enough she could make her escape.
"Don't touch me," the Spanish woman snarled and stalked away, her mind off her injuries. "I will need to take up one of Tsunayoshi's sleeping areas tonight. I'll pay him back tomorrow morning…I can find my way there myself…Gabriel, I will need you to bring Jean to there as well, and keep an eye on him…but talk to me when you have a free moment…" The doctor blinked and looked at her, his eyes portraying his surprise.
"Oh, so you remember me from all those years ago?"
"I'm not stupid enough to forget a face that has helped me. I'll prepare him a space where I was. I remember from when I regained consciousness for a few seconds every now and then…," Avrilina murmured as she left the scene. Gabriel gave a sigh, but returned his attention to his patient.
"I don't believe there's any changing your mind now…I'll be right on it…"
This chapter wasn't my favorite, but it had to be done. I'm already starting on the next installment, where I'll be exploring more of Avrilina's personality off the battle field and introducing another guardian or two, so stay tuned in!
I have a few quick questions for you guys though. Do any of you like to roleplay? I'd totally love to have a group on Deviantart with this story, if anyone is interested. So throw me a PM. Also, do you think I'm setting a good pace so far with this story, or should I change it and go slower/faster?
Also, A BIG THANK YOU to OwOTunaFishAndPineapplezzOwO for offering to draw a cover sheet for this story and helping me with the Espinoza family crest. Hopefully, you'll be able to see the drawings by the time the next update is up.
Well, thanks or reading! Review, favorite and PM me, and you'll get your update faster!
