Hey guys, sorry this chapter took so long. I caught a bad cold that kinda made it difficult for me to even think properly. But I'm mostly recovered, still a bit snuffly. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'll be trying to get back into the rhythm of writing a chapter in a day, maybe two.

Tsuna opened her eyes slowly, looking around. She couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet, but she was held tightly in someone's arms. Looking up, she saw Mukuro holding her tightly, a frown over his face. Looking around, she couldn't see anything besides a terrifying darkness surrounding them.

"Mukuro… Where are we?" Tsuna asked, seeing Mukuro look down at her.

"It appears we've been transported into an illusion" Mukuro stated, making Tsuna look around in shock.

"An illusion? You mean… you didn't create this?" Tsuna asked, being let go from Mukuro's arms, but he kept her hand tightly in his. Mukuro frowned, seeing the black begin to morph into a scene.

"No, I didn't… But I don't know who's doing this, or what they're trying to show us either…" Mukuro answered, looking at Tsuna. Tsuna turned to look back at him, her eyes wide in slight fear. Mukuro managed a small, reassuring smile back at her, sensing her worry as he gave her hand a small squeeze. When the scene finally finished forming, Tsuna and Mukuro both gasped in shock. Before them was what looked like a little Mukuro, no older than five years old. He looked happy, running around his backyard while two people, who Tsuna assumed were his parents, watched with a smile on their face. They were absolutely beautiful people.

"Mother… Father… I almost forgot their faces…" Mukuro whispered, making Tsuna turn to look at him. She gasped silently, seeing tears beginning to fall down Mukuro's face. He was watching the scene in what looked like awe, but silent tears fell down his cheeks.

"Mukuro…" Tsuna whispered, giving his hand a squeeze to comfort him. Something must've happened to Mukuro's parents not long after if he forgot their faces. Tsuna could feel her hand being squeezed back, which made her heart pang with a sharp stab of pain. A sudden flash of red changed the scenery and Tsuna froze, seeing that both Mukuro's parents were leaning against the wall, large stains of deep, red blood behind them on the wall. Little Mukuro ran into the room, gasping when he saw them, then turned, freezing in shock at the men in black suits that saw him. They approached him, grabbing him as he begged, pleaded and screamed for his life. This was too horrible. Tsuna couldn't bear to watch anymore, closing her eyes tightly and looking away. She could hear screams of fear filling her ears, echoing in her mind. Mukuro was just watching in a stunned stupor. The tears had stopped for the moment, he was just staring, horrified. The screams suddenly changed to screams of pain, making Tsuna gasp and look up. Little Mukuro had been strapped to a table, lots of machinery around him and a person grinning as began cutting into him. Tsuna was frozen in horror, her eyes wide as she watched the scenes. Tears fell down her face. Mukuro had been through so much pain? They couldn't see much of what was happening to Little Mukuro, due to the man standing in front of them, but they could hear his screams and see his head rolling to the sides, see the looks on his face as he endured the torture.

"Stop it…" Mukuro whispered, looking down at his feet. Tsuna looked at him, seeing his shoulders shaking as his grip on her hand tightened to an almost painful strength. She winced, seeing tears falling down his cheeks and off his chin.

"Mukuro…" she whispered, not having the correct words to say. No words could comfort him, not after viewing something like this.

"STOP IT!" Mukuro suddenly shouted, looking up as Tsuna gasped, seeing the rage on his face as the tears fell down his cheeks. His rage didn't last very long though, for he collapsed to his knees, sobbing as his body shook violently. Tsuna's eyes widened, looking at Mukuro's collapsed, broken form as he was violently reminded of what had happened in his past.

"This is why I hate the mafia… They killed my family… They stole me… I hate them… But the Vongola family saved me… They took me in… They're different from the other mafia families… But still… I hate the mafia… I HATE THEM!" Mukuro explained, his voice trembling before he shouted, shaking his head violently as he let go of Tsuna's hand, clutching his head in his hands. Tsuna blinked in shock, seeing him having a breakdown.

"Mukuro!" she exclaimed, running to him and kneeling in front of him. He didn't respond to her, he didn't even acknowledge that she'd spoke. Tsuna frowned, hearing the scene happening behind her.

"OH ENOUGH ALREADY!" she shouted, turning to glare at the scenery as she felt a burst of something hot on her forehead. She paid it no heed, overtaken by her own rage. Mukuro was always so cool, calm and collected. Sure, he was a tease and he flirted a lot, but those were endearing traits of his. To see him broken down like this, she knew this had to end now! Standing to her feet, she lifted her hands, balling them into fists. The scenery morphed into a strange black shadow of what looked like a person.

"How interesting. It seems you've activated your dying will mode all on your own" the voice stated in a deep chuckle.

"Shut up!" Tsuna snarled, charging at the person and throwing her fist forward. Her eyes widened as she went straight through him, stumbling through him entirely. Turning, she growled, not even noticing her fists were on fire.

"You coward!" she snarled, her voice low and dangerous. The shadow only chuckled as he moved, now behind Mukuro.

"He's gone, no matter what you do or say, he's broken" taunted the voice, making Tsuna growl darkly. She charged forward, swinging her first over the top of Mukuro's head, making sure to avoid him. The shadow chuckled, stepping back a little.

"I give up…" Mukuro whispered. Tsuna's eyes widened upon his words, all her anger disappearing in an instant. The hot feeling left her as well as she looked down at him, her body shaking. Those words terrified her to the core.

"Mukuro!" she shouted falling to her knees in front of him and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pulling her to him as she held him comfortingly in a hug.

"It's not over! Don't give up! I wanted to give up many times when I felt my world get turned upside, but I managed to stay strong! I'm not asking you to pull a brave face and endure the world alone, but rely on me! I promise I'll be there for you! No matter what, you're not alone! Remember that! You have friends!" Tsuna exclaimed, making Mukuro slowly look up at him, blinking in shock. The tears had dried and the outside of his eyes were a little red, but this close Tsuna could see there was actual kanji written in his right eye. She formed a small smile, nodding her head to him, before glancing up at the shadow.

"And I swear to you, that if this is what the mafia stands for, then with the Vongola family, I WILL DESTROY THE MAFIA!" Tsuna shouted, standing to her feet as the heat returned to her head. All her anger had come back in one fell swoop, making it feel even hotter than before. Mukuro gasped in shock, seeing what was actually happening. Tsuna had activated her Dying Will Mode, igniting a flame upon her forehead as her fists glowed in bright, orange flames. It was another trait that the Vongola family got, but it didn't come to even generation. Generally the Vongola heads would have multiple children and only one child gained the Dying Will Mode, ensuring their succession, but this was the first time in over 200 years that both Vongola children had gotten Dying Will Modes.

"Is that so? I'd like to see you defeat me then, get that started" taunted the shadow. Tsuna growled, her instincts taking over as she raised one hand in front of her, the other behind her. Growling, the back one began to fire out a big burst of flames at a rapid rate. The other hand in front of her began to glow brilliantly. Mukuro blinked, not realising what she was trying to do. It suddenly hit him as he gasped, standing to his feet and summoning his trident staff. Turning to glare at the shadow, he twirled his staff and tapped it into the ground. The shadow gasped, looking around before Mukuro turned, frowning at Tsuna in determination.

"Get him Tsuna!" he shouted, seeing Tsuna's eyes flash for a moment. She let out a yell as her front hand suddenly exploded flames that flew and hit the shadow, making him scream in agony as his body was torn apart. Mukuro had cancelled his illusion of making his body transparent and given him a real life body that could be hurt. Hearing the scream stop, Tsuna cancelled her attack, all traces of the heat from her body disappearing as she swayed back and forth, dizzy. Mukuro gasped, running to her and caught her in his arms before she collapsed. She looked up at him weakly, her vision growing hazy.

"Never give up…" she whispered, her consciousness slipping as she fell asleep, being held up by Mukuro.

"Goodness me… What am I going to do with you…?" he joked, pushing hair away from her face. He smiled gently, seeing the innocent look on her sleeping face. He could do many things to her here and no one would know, but… she'd been one of the only people to accept him, even after seeing all these things here. She'd saved him from his own despair. There was no way he could harm her. He just wanted to protect her, and if it took his life to do it, so be it. Feeling the darkness melting away, Mukuro found himself in the middle of a large, grassy hill in one of the parks nearby where they'd been. So this was where they were taken. Laying Tsuna down on the grass, he knelt down and pulled out his own cell phone.

"Mukuro! Where were you!? Hibari said you and Tsuna just disappeared! What happened?" asked Giotto after Mukuro dialled the number for a few seconds.

"We ran into what I assume was another assassin. Although they tried to subdue me so they could kill Tsuna, I got to witness something amazing. Tsuna actually activated her Dying Will Mode all on her own and completely destroyed the assassin!" Mukuro stated, hearing Giotto gasp on the other side of the phone.

"She what!?" he exclaimed. Mukuro chuckled to himself.

"She activated it all on her own. She used a technique where she held one hand in front of her, the other behind her, and blasted flames from the hand behind her. Her front one was glowing so I assume she was charging it up, then she suddenly blasted a powerful shot of flames at her opponent, destroying him" Mukuro stated. Giotto remained silent on the phone, in thought.

"I see. Bring her home and we'll discuss it further" he stated. Mukuro chuckled in response.

"I would love to, see, there's a complication with that. She used up so much strength she fell unconscious, so I'm letting her sleep for a bit before I try to move her. We're safe though, don't worry" Mukuro stated. Giotto chuckled to himself.

"That does sound like her. Very well, let her sleep a little" Giotto stated, hanging up the phone. Mukuro put his phone away; turning to look at Tsuna's sleeping form in the grass beside him. Lifting a hand, he gently began to move locks of her hair out of her face as she slept, sighing contently.