A/N: KHR! does not belong to me in any way possible. I simply claim the characters that I create.


I leaned against the side of the car, staring blankly out at the scenery we passed. Uncle Damon decided that our visit to the church was over. He drops that little treasure on me and then we just leave to go to some distant relative's house. Some old family that's been around forever. I dunno. We're related by a marriage some 300 years ago or whatever.

"So she got engaged to some guy." I shifted my eyes to the front seat. Uncle Damon insisted I sit in the back even though I called shotgun.

"Correct."

"And her dad broke off the marriage and hitched her to my great-great-something-or-whatever-grandfather. Steven?"

"Stefano."

I rolled my eyes. "Same difference. And she just let him? Break off the marriage I mean?"

"Back then, daughters followed their father's decisions. He decided that Stefano would make a better match than the man she chose." I drummed my fingers on the seat next to me. The radio wasn't even on. Why was he acting all weird anyway? All sneaky-sneaky and stuff. Maybe he had a fever… "It wasn't uncommon, Alessia."

"Whatever. How come you're telling me now?"

And he smiled.

My acting-slightly-deranged-whilst-driving Uncle smiled.

"Better to hear the true story than the one my mother will tell you." I glared out the window. Aha. So Grandma would even go so far as to mix up my family history, hmm? Well. I'll show her a thing or-

"EEEKK!" the car screeched to a halt and I clung to the arm rests for dear life.

"Aha. It always sneaks up on me. We're here, Alessia. Well, not yet. We still have another mile or so." He turned in his seat to look back at me. His brow furrowed at my interesting seating arrangement. "Alessia. What are you doing? Sit properly or you're gonna go flying through the windshield."

"Yes, Uncle Damon. Try to drive properly and I'll sit properly," I hissed, slowly lowering my knees from the back of the front seat and scooting back on the seat. To sit properly like normal people do. He started the car moving forward and we were driving down a tree-lined lane. You know, that old road that you always see in movies? Where the couple drive down and toward their new house to start their new life together? Yea. That kind of lane. And it's totally not awkward at all that I'm thinking this while driving with my Uncle, my dad's older brother. Nope. Not weird at all.

"Alessia, what're you thinking about? You have a weird look on your face. You aren't going to be sick, are you? If you are, just shout out and I'll stop the car." I slumped my shoulders, sliding down in my seat a little, to be out of sight. "That is not making me feel better." I glowered out at the trees that we passed, just wishing we were at this cousin's house already.


"Just stay in the car." Uncle Damon slid out of his seat, opening his door and closely it sharply behind him. In-front of the doors to the house/mansion were security. Like the kind Grandma has. But… these one had bigger guns. Even though I'm not religious, I prayed to every God and Goddess I knew about, asking them to keep him safe. Of-course he would walk into something like this! And drag me down with him!

He walked up to them, speaking. I couldn't hear what he was saying of-course, but the men lowered their weapons. I took that as I good sign.

And the door right next to me was flung open, a pistol right in my face. The guy holding it didn't look much older than Tsuna's brother, Dino. Young, like twenty. "Don't move."

Psh. He wasn't as nice, I'll tell you that.


Damon cursed under his breath, turning abruptly to where the young man was currently holding a gun to his niece's head. Actually, he was surprised she hadn't screamed yet. She seemed like the type to do that in the face of extreme danger. "Hey, son, hol-"

"How dare you." That was most definitely not his niece. "How dare you point a weapon at me." The man moved back a step, both hands holding the pistol steady.

"Lady, don't move." The Head of Security, Fiorino, started down the steps.

"Attilio, hold up. She's safe. That's his niece." The gun was lowered immediately and locked away. Attilio bowed his head to the girl.

"I apologize, Miss. My mistake."

The woman that stepped out was most definitely not his niece. Similar, but it wasn't her. They could have been twins and anyone would have guessed that was the case.

But he knew better.

He knew exactly who it was.

Sky blue eyes gazed at Attilio's form for a long moment. "See that it doesn't happen again, Attilio." The man didn't straighten until she had turned her gaze away from him. "This is…" Her eyes gazed at the building before her, shifting to take in it and the area itself. "The Critolli manor…" Damon looked back at Fiorino, who was frowning at the woman.

"Your… niece?" he saw the confusion in his eyes. Damon let out a small breath.

"Yes. My niece. Alessia Cappello." Fiorino's frown immediately turned into that of a smile.

"Miss Capello. So it's finally come to pass… Please, come this- Ah, Miss, that's to the stables." Damon massaged his temple gently.

"I'm aware, Sir." And she continued walking.

He cursed all the Gods and Goddesses that he knew of. Why today and why now? Was it because Alessia had been in possible danger? Was that it? This whole thing was connected to her safety? He could understand that she was a better fighter than his own niece, but… Really? "Alessia, we can visit with the horses later. Come on now." Damon called out, attempting to possibly bring her back.

She spun around, the pout on her lips a dead-give away of who she was. "But I wanna go see them, Uncle Damon! How come I can't? That's not fair! I wanna see the horsies!"

"Alessia. We're in the presence of other people. Behave yourself." And she stamped her foot on the ground, crossing her arms over her chest, frowning. "Alessia. Don't throw a tantrum." And Fiorino was gazing at her in concern.

"I am not moving from this spot and you can't make me, so there." And she stuck her tongue out for good measure.

Laughter and she turned her head the other way, not making eye contact with the offender. Damon smiled at his extremely distant relative. "If she wishes to see the horses, let her. It's of not matter to me. I'm just glad someone has taken an interest in them. Damon, this is your daughter? Charming, I must say."

"Don't start that again. I'm not a natural rider like Gian." Damon stepped up the short flight of steps to clap his cousin on the back. "It's good to see you again, Mattia."

"Daddy's ridden horses before?" Alessia turned her head to look on curiously at the stranger. "I didn't know that." The new-comer, Mattia Belladionso, blinked at her in-turn. Curly dark brown hair, tanned skin, and pale gray eyes.

"'Daddy'? Gian is your…" Alessia softened her look so she didn't look like she was glaring. "Would you like to see the horses now? I actually just bought a black stallion. We're trying to break him now. He's strong-willed. Come on then, Miss Capello." He gestured with his hand down the dirt path.


I was skipping and he was eyeing me cautiously. "So. What do I call you?"

"Call me?"

"Yea. You aren't my Uncle, but neither it Uncle Keichiro, so, do you want me to call you Uncle?" He looked over at Damon. It wasn't that hard to figure out that he was real confused. "Awesome. I dub thee Uncle Mattia." Uncle Damon rolled his eyes. "Hey, how come I didn't know about ya'll before now? Grandma made sure I knew all our family and stuff like that. I didn't know we had family so close by." Uncle Damon shook his head. "Hey. Wait. Is it like with Sofia?" The slightest bit of a nod. "Jeez she's cruel. Just cause two hundred years have gone by doesn't mean we ain't still related." I paused, thinking about that. "Ah, scratch that. We are pretty distant. No matter~! Hey, where's this horse?" and I spread my arms wide, flying like an aeroplane down the path.

"Is she… always like this, Damon?"

"Yes."

"I… I see…"

"UNCLE DAMON I'M BORED!" Uncle Damon frowned at me, his eye twitching lightly. I grinned. "Love you~!" I continued on my merry way, running down the road toward where I heard the voices of horse friends.


I stared in awe at the beast pacing agitatedly around the enclosure. A pure black stallion with untamed beauty. The wild coursed through his veins. There was no way he would ever listen to people. "Beautiful, isn't he?"

"Isn't he beautiful, Alessia, my dear?"

"Wild and untamable, his last Master couldn't control him. My brother, Leon, has a rather amazing ability with horses, but he can't seem to get through to this one." Uncle Mattia was saying. I was focusing more on the voices that were swimming through my head.

"He's wild, Alessia, but Gavino will get through to him eventually. He doesn't seem to like people because his last Master wasn't very kind to him."

"It seems he doesn't prefer the company of people yet, but all horses like Leon. He'll be a fine stead. In time, though."

"Does he have a name, Father? It seems cruel to simply call him 'him' or 'horse'."

"Alessia, my dear child. So caring. No, I don't believe he has a name, Little One. What do you suggest?"

"Ebony, Father."

"Ebony, hm? Yes. It suits him. Ebony is his name."

"Does he have a name, Uncle Mattia?" I interrupted whatever he was saying.

"Wha? A name? No, not quite yet. I want to get him broken so he'll at-least understand that it's his name. Ah, Leon! Here you are! Come and meet this young lady." I looked over blankly at the young man walking toward us, wiping his hands on a rag that he shoved back into the pocket of his jeans. Mattia's twin, that was obvious. He too had curly brown hair but he was tanner. They both had the same gray eyes though. "Leon, this young lady is Damon's niece. Gian's daughter." I was staring at them, I knew that. Leon, the apparent horse whisperer, raised a single eyebrow at me.

"Something I can help you with, Missy?"

"I've seen you before… Now that I think about it, I've seen the both of you before. Long time ago, it seems… Which can't be possible because the two of you were children." Leon raised a brow. "Whatever. Carrying on. What name were you thinking about, Uncle Mattia?"

"Name? Oh, for the horse. Not sure yet. He's got a temper and he's as black as the night…"

"Alessia, daughter, come back here at once! Ebony is dangerous!"

"Don't worry, Father. He won't hurt me."

"Alessia!"

And I was ducking under the rails of the fence before either of them could grab me, to stop me. "Alessia!" Uncle Damon sounded mad. The horse was watching me calmly, not stamping his hooves or shaking his head like earlier. He acted like he was tame. Or he knew me and that I wouldn't hurt him, whichever came first. "Alessia Rebecca Capello, get back here at once in that name of all that is Holy! That horse is-"

"Uncle Damon, he won't hurt me."

"Alessia!" Something dropped a few feet behind me and the horse shrieked, rearing up. Arms around my waist and I was lifted off the ground, carried to the side as the beast charged toward where I had previously been.

"Idiot girl! You could've been killed!" Leon hissed at me.

"You just ruined everything!" I growled. Leon glared down at me. "Let go already!" And I was out of his arms, moving toward the center of the ring. "Stay out of my way!"

"Hey, get back here! He's gonna trample all over you!"

"Alessia! Listen to him!" I didn't stop walking until I reached the center, turning about to glare at Uncle Damon. "Alessia, get out here at once!" I sat down, crossing my legs and resting my hands on my knees. Leon stayed near the fence, giving a wide berth to the stallion. "Leon… Get out of the ring."

"Damon, are you mad? She's just a kid! She's gonna get killed! What would your mom say if she died?" Ha. That's a laugh. As if grandma actually cared about me. Apparently everyone but me knew how useful I was to the conniving matriarch of the Capello Family for all these years. And no one even clued me in.

"I know what she'll say! Get out of the ring, Leon!" Leon hissed, grabbing hold of the fence and climbing up and over it.

"Damon, this is a mistake." Uncle Damon didn't say anything and when my new horse friend calmed, I stood up.

"Don't worry, Uncle Damon, Uncle Leon, Uncle Mattia. He won't hurt me. Ebony just doesn't like you guys. But he likes me, so it's cool." Uncle Mattia smiled slightly while Uncle Leon glowered at me. I looked back at the stallion, Ebony as I so dubbed him. It suited him and he doesn't have a name, so, yea. It works. "Ebony, settle. I'm not here to harm you."

"I do not wish you harm. Perhaps we could be friends, Ebony. I don't have many friends. I think we would get along splendidly."

"I don't have any friends here in Italy. You can be my first, okay?" I held my hand out to him as he started toward me. He towered over me by at-least half a foot and weighed more than twice my size. He could cripple or kill me easily. But he wouldn't. I don't know how I knew, but I just knew.

He stared at me with warm brown eyes, my reflection clear in them.

And then he snorted in my face, grabbing a hold of some of my hair and pulling.

"HEY! That's hurts! Go eat some grass, you big cow!" I swatted at his face and covered my head with my hands, glaring. "You ain't eating my hair! It's not straw! Uncle Damon! He's trying to eat my hair! Uncle Damon!" And I ran around in circles, all the while my new best friend followed me at a trot, picking his legs up high like he was at the parade grounds.


"Damon! Where were you? Your telephone was turned off!" Grandma was at the door when Uncle Damon stopped the car. I rolled my eyes. "She's late for her studies and I don't have time to waste on her! This party is hard enough to plan without her traipsing all over Italy!"

"I apologize, Mother. It won't happen again." I smacked my hand to my face. Way to stick up for yourself, kid.

Grandma sniffed in disdain. "I promise it won't. Alessia, you're not to leave this house for the next week. You will be busy with your studies and as such will not have time for foolery. You will complete all your assignments, you will complete your studies every day, and you will attend the Capello Family Annual Holiday Celebration without complaint. Do I make myself clear?"

"Nope. I refuse all of those terms. And I refuse to wear a dress." Grandma's face started getting red.

"Don't push me, Alessia."


And so ends this chapter~

Kay, if ya'll have any questions 'bout this so far, I'll be happy to answer them as best as I can and without giving away like the rest of my story. I know that some of you read the previous story, 'Il Nostro Amore' and were wondering why Alessia Critolli was… uh… how to say this…? Special? Well, as I did state her mother had the gift of foresight, so, that right there explains a lot.

Onward to the next chapter~!

Which will, I promise, be a Christmas chapter.