It was evening, and again, pouring heavily. I saw Bel approaching the cave.

"They're looking for me." He said. "The royal guards. The police."

I stared at him.

He continued. "They just started searching the forest. They'll probably be here in a couple hours or so."

I said in a low voice, "so what are we going to do?"

Bel looked up into the sky. "We either leave now or stay. But it looks like there's going to be a storm again...so..." He looked at me, "I think we should stay. They might cancel the search."

"Okay."

(About three hours later)

Bel had been right about the storm coming, but staying was the wrong choice.

The guards hadn't canceled the search. We could hear the voices of multiple individuals. We couldn't see them, but we knew they were close. They'd find us here in about ten minutes. Bel and I sat in the deepest corner of the cave, hiding. It was scary. We were shaking.

Bel had identified them as the guards; he could recognize their voices and their strategy. There was no escaping them.

"Hey Bel?" I whispered, nervously.

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"It's okay." He said, but he looked nervous.

The voices were getting louder, even amidst the thunder booming outside and the heavy rain. Suddenly, we heard a gunshot. The voices stopped. I looked at Bel.

"What was that?"

"I don't know."

Another gunshot. A thud to the ground. What are they doing? Fighting amongst themselves?

I could hear people talking, although I could only hear some words.

"What are you doing here...some kid...recruit...CEDEF...what...you too...just...stay...out...my way..."

Thunder boomed and revealed a two people standing in the cave entrance.

My eyes widened. There was a man with insanely long, white hair. He was wearing a uniform. Wait, a Varia uniform. I gasped. The man was holding a sword, and it was covered in blood. Standing next to him, looking extremely irritated, was a baby. Or a really small person. I wasn't sure, but she was wearing a pacifier. She had blue hair and a red cape. Slung around her shoulder was a gun.

One thing I was sure of was that they weren't the royal guards.

"VVOOOIIII" The man yelled. Me and Bel flinched.

"Be more quiet Squalo!" said the baby.

Squalo darted his eyes around.

"IS THERE A BELPHEGOR HERE!" He continued, stepping inside the cave.

The baby scowled. I looked at Bel. His face was pale. He stared straight forward, and shakily, stood up slowly.

What are you doing Bel?

He stepped out from the shadows.

"I'm Bel."

Squalo looked at Bel. "YOU'RE BELPHEGOR? A LITTLE KID? YOU THE ONE YOU KILLED YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY?"

I was still frozen in shock. I stared at Bel. He didn't look back at me.

"Yes."

"Well, BELPHEGOR, ON MY BOSSES ORDERS, I'VE COME TO INVITE YOU TO THE VARIA, AN ORGANIZATION OF THE VONGOLA FAMILGIA."

Bel looked shocked for about half a second, glanced back at me, then to the man.

I was in shock. Bel. Invited to the Varia. I ignored those thoughts, and nervously stood up and too stepped out from the hiding place. Perhaps the man was there to invite me too?"

Squalo saw me. "VOIII! WHOSE THIS LITTLE GIRL?"

God, can you be a little quieter?, I thought.

I cleared my throat. "I'm-"

"Wait." The baby walked past the man and peered up at me. "Are you Melody?"

I nodded.

"You saved that bank from being robbed a few days ago, killing all of the thieves?"

"Yes."

"VVOOIII! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" shouted Squalo. " FIRST YOU DANG ARCOBALENO GOT IN MY WAY AND THOSE GUARDS ARE GOING TO BE BACK ANY SECOND AND I'VE GOT TO GET BACK TO THE BASE OR ELSE OUR BOSS IS GOING TO KILL ME!"

The baby looked up at the man and sighed. "I don't understand you Varia." She looked back at me, "but that's right, they'll be sending reinforcements soon so I'll get to the point. I'm Lal Mirch, I'm here to invite you to join CEDEF."

I'm pretty sure Bel gasped louder than me.

"WHAT?" We both exclaimed at the same time.

The baby looked a bit bewildered at our synchronized reactions but said, "er, yes."

Me and Bel looked at each other. My mind was racing. Varia. Belphegor. Invited. Me. CEDEF. Vongola. Wait. That means we'll be separated.

We heard a shout from outside the cave.

"VOOII! LOOK KIDS, THE GUARDS ARE ALMOST HERE AND I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO FILL OUT SOME FLIPPING PAPERWORK FOR THEY'RE DEATHS SO" He looked at Bel, "YOU COMING OR NOT?"

Lal Mirch said, "Yes, Melody, if you want to come with me you'll have to answer pretty quickly."'

But I was still frozen.

She continued, trying to convince me, "All I'm saying is if you don't come, the guards will find you and kill you. Both of you."

Bel and I looked at each other. His face looked severely strained and was pale as the moon. I was trying not to cry, and choking on the tears. I knew we were thinking the same thing. We don't have a choice. Plus, we knew how much each other wanted to get into the Vongola. Even if it was breaking our one condition of staying together. It was this or death.

We nodded. He turned to the man and I turned to Lal.

"Okay. I accept", Bel said.

At the same time, my voice cracking, I said. "I'm coming to CEDEF."

Lal smiled.

"ALRIGHT. LET'S GO." Said the man." He nodded to Lal and started to walk out of the cave.

"I'll wait for you outside." Said Lal, and she too trotted out the cave.

I looked at Bel, and burst into tears. I nearly collapsed, but he caught me.

"I-It's okay Melody." He said, but his voice was trembling. Holding me, he said, "Look, just...look on the bright side, we got into the Vongola right...?"

He was desperately trying to get me to stop crying. I sniffled. "I g-guess..."

I looked up at him, and for the first time, I saw his eyes. I stopped crying and blinked. They were a stormy grey. Mysterious, but friendly looking. Magnificent. I wondered why he wanted to cover them and stared. I just saw his greatest kept secret, I thought.

And then I noticed that his face was also wet. He was crying.

I choked on my tears and gave him a hug, burying my face in his chest.

"I'm going to miss you Melody." He whispered.

I smiled. "We'll meet again, don't worry."

"You've got to promise me something."

"What?"

"That you'll always be my princess."

I peered at him, still studying his magnificent eyes. "I promise."

And then, hearing a "VOII, YOU COMING?" from outside, we stood up, still looking at each other. It was the last image we would be seeing of each other for a long time, after all.

Bel reached up and took his tiara off. "Here."

He handed it to me. I peered at it.

"I'll be coming back for that in the future," He said, smiling.

I smiled. "I'll take care of it."

And then we walked, side by side, out of the cave. Lal was waiting to the side, tapping her foot. Squalo was on the other side, looking annoyed.

"Let's go." The man said.

"Alright." Said Bel, and he looked at me again and said, "I'll miss you Melody."

I smiled and wiped the tears off my face. Bel started to walk away with the man,

"Wait." He turned around. "Laugh for me Bel. Just one more time." I said. I needed my last memory of him to be a happy one.

He smiled. "Ushishi of course."

I half-laughed. "Thank you...Farewell, Belphegor."

And then he walked away with the man, and I turned to the opposite side and walked away with Lal.

OH MY GOD. I've been delaying this chapter for SO long. Phew, I've finally done it!

AND I'M SORRYY! AHH DON'T KILL ME FOR THIS! I PROMISE THEY'LL MEET AGAIN!