Colonello was adorable. So much so Alicia couldn't help her reaction by immediately hugging the stuffing out of him while Fon snickered...and took multiple pictures.

"So you're the rookies the Varia sent, kora! You don't look like potential Quality!" said Colonello once he got over being hugged. He didn't make Alicia put him down though.

"We're not recruits. Xanxus-nii said he wasn't going to train Hayato since the Varia doesn't really do explosives that much and it was too risky for him to join us in Uminari until he learned to calm down," sighed Tsuna.

Because right now Hayato (for that was the Storm kid's name) was acting like a typical hot headed Storm. One made even more volatile by the way his family treated him and determined to prove himself for a potential Sky if it meant being free of his father's influence forever.

The silver haired kid scowled, but said nothing.

Colonello looked at Fon curiously.

"I'm with him," said Fon, patting Tsuna. "At most I'll be training the children in how to fight since Tsuna-kun has a real knack for it."

"And them?" asked Colonello, pointing at the Wolkenritter.

"We're their minders slash chaperons. We'll join in on any exercises, but for the most part this is to get them into proper shape until Alicia's sister returns," said Signum.

"Don't expect me to take it easy on you because you're kids, kora."

Tsuna rolled his eyes.

"Just keep it within the reasonable limitations of children under twelve with two active Flames and one Inactive who've been around the Varia for a few months that have to do homework," he replied. He pointed at Hayato. "We're mostly hoping that once he figures out we're not going to abandon him he'll calm down enough to be safe around civilian life without blowing Omerta."

Colonello grinned viciously.

"We're going to have fun, kora!"

"Oh, and don't tell Lal Mirch about anyone by the name of Tsuna training under you. The less chance of that man showing up on the basis of a rumor, the happier we'll all be," said Tsuna flatly.

"Not going to ask why, kora," said Colonello.


Three months later...

It was quiet in Uminari. Nanoha was rather bored, since Tsuna was still off in training with Alicia and Fate hadn't come back. Things were so boring without the chaos Tsuna attracted!

As if in response to her 'wish', the entire room was encased in a barrier meant to keep civilians out.

Nanoha stood in alarm.

She rushed outside to try and find out what was going on, only to be attacked without warning.

Fortunately, her training with Mammon and Belphegor at avoiding sudden attacks kicked in and she defended.

However it was the 'attacker' that told her something was up.

Why would Vita attack her like that? She knew it would upset Tsuna, and her magic was already absorbed by the book right after Fate left for her trial!

Nanoha narrowed her eyes, unconsciously drawing on her irritation and releasing a controlled dose of KI.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking me?"

'Vita' shivered for a moment before sneering. She released more of the balls at her and the fake Graf Eisen only looked like it moved as the real one did.

But the magic felt wrong, and more importantly the 'Flame sense' Mammon showed her said that this was definitely not Vita.

This felt more like a Mist user trying to pull a fast one.

"Raging Heart, set up!"

Stand by Ready. Set Up.

Armed for a fight, Nanoha glared at the obvious fake.

"I don't know who you're trying to fool, but since you're not the real Vita I'm sure Xanxus-nii would love to have a word with you," she said scowling.

The fake blinked in surprise that Nanoha had identified who they were pretending to be so fast. And that they knew they were a fake.

A second attack came from behind, looking like a fake Zafira.

Nanoha rolled her eyes.

"Really? If you're going to pretend to be Vita and Zafira, you could do a better job at it," she said flatly.

The two didn't speak, but went on the assault. In the hands of 'Vita' was a copy of the Book of Darkness.

No way in hell was she going to let them damage Reinforce's reputation more than it already was for something she didn't have control over! The Wolkenritter and Reinforce had suffered enough!

Unseen by Nanoha, her eyes began to glow from an internal light. Red, violet and gold flames covered her hands. The violet was the predominate color, while the red and gold were more of a wisp than anything.

The moment Nanoha registered the fire on her hands, she blinked before recognition hit.

"So I'm an inverted Cloud. Weird."

She knew about the Flame types, mostly through Tsuna and joining him in learning about them from Xanxus.

Clouds were able to multiply things...like her Starlight Breaker. However they were the second rarest because most of them didn't like being around people that much.

Inverted ones, on the other hand...

Nanoha's grin was vicious. Time to play with these two fakes and teach them a lesson in attacking the wrong people.

If anyone saw the look on her face, they'd immediately claim she spent far too much time to be healthy around a certain Prince. The only thing missing was the bangs covering her eyes and the sinister laughter.

Raging Heart was sharp enough to double as the knives Belphegor favored.

'Vita' looked at 'Zafira'.

"Do you get the distinct feeling..."

"That we are totally boned and are only realizing our mistake now?" 'he' replied. 'He' looked at the grinning Nanoha and flinched. "Let's just try and take the core and get the hell out of here before that grinning White Devil tries to kill us."

There was a sudden blast of purple fire tinged with pink energy.

"I heard that! I am not a White Devil!" Nanoha said irate.

The two shared a look. She scowled and looked even more irritated.

Why did that stupid nickname keep cropping up?!


Outside the barrier...

"Fate-nee!"

Fate was promptly tackled by a very enthusiastic Alicia. She heard someone snickering.

"So that's her 'little' sister?" said the snickering one.

"It's complicated, but yeah. Good thing Reinforce picked up on the Arthra coming," said Tsuna snickering.

"Hello, Alicia," said Fate. It was awkward, but she could tell her sister was genuinely happy to see her. She looked over to see Tsuna with a new 'toddler' on his shoulder. "So who's he?"

"This is Colonello, the Rain Arcobaleno. We've been training with him for a few months since Xanxus-nii accidentally dumped a new Storm Guardian on me," said Tsuna.

"Nice to meet you, kora!" said the cheerful blond with the white bird on his helmet.

"Trouble! There's a barrier over Uminari!" shouted Amy.

Any humor in their meeting dropped.

"What," said Signum crossly.

"Any chance Nanoha isn't in middle of it?" said Yuuno hopefully.

"No bet. You know she'd never let this go lying down and would investigate if only out of boredom," said Tsuna.

"Alright, we can warp you outside the barrier limits, but I can't send anyone official with you," said Lindy.

"Fair enough," said Signum, sighing.

"Actually why don't the Wolkenritter stay outside the barrier. Just in case we need someone to bring it down in a hurry," said Tsuna. His Hyper Intuition was telling him that it would be a bad idea for the Knights to be seen this early.

"I can hold onto the actual book, and you can Unison with Reinforce to throw people off. Stick to Flame attacks though," said Signum.

"Agreed. The less people realize I'm the current Master, the better off we'll be in the long run. It's going to be bad enough with Alicia, if whoever is doing this realizes who she is," said Tsuna.

Three months with Colonello and learning battle tactics from him and Signum had resulted in a marked change in the pre-teen. It was hard to believe he had been sealed for a few short years, because his Flames burned so brightly.

Colonello definitely didn't regret harmonizing with the kid. Especially when he got a taste of inter-planetary teleportation. Being able to blow things up without having to hear someone bitch about it was totally worth the price of losing his neutrality!

He was going to get along far too well with Nanoha, considering her habit of "big" spells that caused so much collateral damage they required barriers to keep things from getting out of hand.

The Rain couldn't wait to finally get his favorite weapon upgraded to a Belka-device, mostly so he could carry it around and not have to worry so much about the weight. Even if using magic was really weird.

Fon had left for China, mostly because an old friend of his was having a child and they wanted him to train the little one once they were old enough to handle the basics.

That, and he really needed to stock up on some of the more...local spices...since it was nearly impossible to get them from Italy or Japan. And he needed to get some new clothes as most of his were rather worn at this point.

Once outside the barrier, it was a simple matter for Hayato to melt his way through using his Storm flames.

As they had hoped, he had calmed down considerably when he realized Tsuna wasn't going to abandon him and was more than happy to treat him like a friend.

Besides, he was being overrun by girls. He needed a guy friend to balance them out... though he had to accept the head slap from Alicia when he said that in her hearing.

She was really picking up way too much from Xanxus who made a point to visit, or at least call through Reinforce often. He seemed to take the role of 'father' well, considering who his role models for the task were.

Tsuna took one look at the cackling Nanoha, before face-palming with a horrified look.

"Oh god. We have got to keep her away from Belphegor for a while. She's having way too much fun playing hide and seek with those fakes!"

Because all that was missing from the image were the knives, crown and sinister laughter.

"Agreed," said Fate.

"I don't know, she looks like she's having fun!" said Alicia with an evil grin. "Shishishi..."

"You are not allowed near him alone ever again," said Fate flatly.

The fake Vita and Zafira almost looked relieved to see the newcomers, since it meant the girl would be distracted from attacking them.

Tsuna flew up to his sister and noticed something.

"Hey, you awakened your Flames!" he said happily.

"Yup! I'm a Cloud with Storm and Sun!" she said grinning, showing off the violet with streaks of gold and red.

"An inverted Cloud, maybe," agreed Tsuna.

With the sudden arrival of the others, Nanoha allowed her Flames to die off...only to be caught by Tsuna and Yuuno.

"It happens to all first time users. Too bad there's no Cloud Officer we could call to train her," said Tsuna.

"Could always ask the Lackey to do it. He's an inverted Cloud and he might do it for free," offered Colonello.

"Lackey?" repeated Tsuna.

"The Cloud Arcobaleno. Goes by the name Skull and has an armored octopus as a pet. Bit of a braggart, but a total coward," clarified Colonello. "Works as a stunt driver for a circus."

"No bullying him if he agrees to train Nanoha-nee," said Tsuna sternly. Colonello pouted.


"Tsuna! You're home!" said Miyuki smiling.

Tsuna accepted the hug from his older brother and sister. In celebration of him more or less completing his training with Xanxus they were having a big dinner with his favorites. It was good to be home.

"So who are your new friends?" asked Momoka happily.

"The names Colonello, kora!" said the Rain.

"I'm Alicia, Xanxus' adopted daughter," said Alicia smiling happily.

"Sooo cute!" squealed Momoka.

"Hayate's going to have fun shopping with her," said Miyuki, before a mischievous glint came to her face. "Speaking of..."

"I haven't told them I'm back yet, so if you want a good spot to get a picture I'll give you time to set up the camera to get a good one. Or Nanoha could take their surprise for you," said Tsuna.

She grinned.

"So are you by any chance like Mammon?" asked Momoka to Colonello.

"Yeah. There are eight of us cursed like this, but so far Tsuna bonded with only me and Fon. We never really got along with the Sky Arcobaleno that well, and it didn't work out when we found out she knew what was going to happen, kora," said Colonello.

"You're welcome to stay in Tsuna's room along with Zafira. Alicia, if you like you can stay in one of the guest rooms or share with Nanoha."

"I'd rather stay with Nanoha-nee-chan," said Alicia.

"It will be fun!" said Nanoha happily. Like a permanent sleepover.

"Good thing we bought those bunk beds," said Kyouya.

Miyuki nodded.

"And who is this cutie?" asked Momoka.

"This is my official Storm Element, Gokudera Hayato. He's a bit rough around the edges but he's got a good heart," said Tsuna.

Hayato blushed.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," he said.

Momoka squealed and hugged him, causing his blush to get worse.

"Definitely a good thing we bought those bunk beds," said Kyouya. Obviously Hayato would stay in Tsuna's room.

Hayato would have an odd time adjusting to being considered part of the family. All of whom would happily challenge his father if he dared show his face or give Bianchi a telling off if she came anywhere near them with her "poison cooking".

Considering the family ran a bakery/cafe and took cooking very seriously (Hayato was a bit hesitant to take Momoka up on her offer to teach him to cook for himself), it was pretty obvious why they were somewhat offended by the notion of wasting food to poison someone.


Hayate was the first to react when she saw the familiar face.

"Tsuna-kun, you're back!"

She damn near tackled him with joy. She missed him, even if he did make a point to call at least twice a week.

"I finally finished my time abroad, so I won't be leaving Japan for a while," said Tsuna, happily catching up with his friends.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to two new transfers..." said the teacher.

Hayato looked uncomfortable in the uniform, but Fate looked pretty happy because she would be in the same class as Nanoha.

"That reminds me... Who is Fate staying with?" asked Tsuna.

"She said Lindy offered to adopt her, and she's unsure about separating from Alicia."

Tsuna snorted.

"I'll have a chat with her during lunch. Even if Lindy does adopt her it doesn't make her any less Family," said Tsuna.

Nanoha grinned at him.

"Going away to train with Xanxus-nii was good for you," she said happily. He seemed a lot more confident and happier.

"Family is family. Even if we're on opposite sides or split apart in different homes, it doesn't mean we'll ignore our bonds," said Tsuna nodding.

Which sounded exactly like something Xanxus would say.

"You're not going to start using foul language regularly are you?"

"Alicia started throwing things at Xanxus-nii when he started that around her. He's been using obscure languages to swear in around her," admitted Tsuna snickering. "It's become something of a game between them."

Nanoha giggled.