YO, YO, YO~

Guess who's back with ANOTHER CHAPTER?

Yeah, this one might be shorter too, but that's because the series going to end soon. I might put in a preview for The New Recruit III: Cryogenics, but it depends on when I finish that one. Lol. Remember, if there are any loose ends or things you don't get, tell me now so I can explain them clearly and properly in TNRIII!

~Panther-chan

I opened my eyes just in time to see Iemitsu stumble backwards, only to be caught by his startled son, and then all heat left my body to be replaced by a tingling energy that left me cold, yet not numb. I looked around to see a baby, Shamal, Xanxus, Iemitsu, and Tsuna waiting on me with apprehensive looks.

"I think my Flame is frozen, but… I'm not sure." I said, blinking slowly.

"A frozen Flame?" Shamal questioned.

"Yeah, it's possible. There are more than just the seven mains types, though the others are a lot rarer." I looked over at the baby with a fedora, but he remained unrecognizable. I had never seen him before. "Hey, Acer. You think you can turn off all this ice now? It's getting pretty cold."

I looked around after nodding to the baby, just now noticing that everything had frozen over. I took a deep breath, shut my eyes, and concentrated on the weird feeling in the back of my head, trying to let it expand and melt the ice. I felt a cold sensation running down my neck, then my shoulders and arms, and as it retreated the temperature returned to normal.

"Thanks."

I nodded again, opening my eyes.

"Sorry to rush off, but… this needs to be reported to the Ninth. Come on, son."

The father and son left, but not before giving me two matching looks of sympathy. This confused me somewhat: then I remembered what the ice creature had said. I had his sympathies for my unknown loss…?

"How are you feeling, Togatta?"

I raised my eyebrows at the baby, then glanced at Shamal, who shrugged. "It was an emergency. You can trust Reborn, either way."

I sighed. "I'm feeling a bit weird. Everyone keeps giving me these sympathetic looks, but for what? Because I got shot? That shouldn't be anything new to Mafiosos. And there's this weird cold around me, like it's under my skin, but it's not numbing. Is that my Flame?"

"Most likely, your Flame surfaced to protect… um… Xanxus, maybe you should…?"

Realizing that he hadn't spoken nor moved until now, a slight nod from the man sent the other two out of the room, and then, it was just me and him.

"Xanxus?" I questioned, confused.

"When you were shot, the bullet… went through the area right underneath your stomach, and hit… it…"

He clenched his teeth, hard, and his eyes shut tight, his hands clenching into fists. "It hit the baby."

Silence reigned as I was shocked beyond belief. Baby? What baby?

"What…?" I muttered, my vision blurring slightly as it became unfocused.

"You were three weeks pregnant. The bullet killed the fetus."

I blinked slowly, trying to comprehend what had just been revealed. I was pregnant without knowing, then the growing fetus was killed before it was even fully formed by a bullet meant to kill me?

My hand strayed to my stomach, feeling a slight bump of scar tissue right about where my uterus was. "Then… Where is it?"

"Shamal removed it as soon as you were in the hospital." he muttered in response. I heaved a sigh, trying to think calmly. The bed shifted as Xanxus sat down beside me, holding me close while my eyes became misty. I refused to cry, though. Crying did nothing except relieve pent-up emotions, and I didn't have very many of those at the moment.

"What now?"

"The Family responsible has been destroyed. I made sure of it. The Benjamin Family called a temporary truce because of the situation, and volunteered to get rid of the members of the allied Families while we took care of the perpetrators."

"I meant, what now, as in… will I return to the Varia? What's happening to me?"

"For now, you're coming back with me."

I sat still, trying to absorb everything at once. "Xanxus."

"Hm?"

He had buried his face in the crook of my neck again, taking deep breaths. "How… how long was I asleep?"

"…" A slight shiver ran through his muscles, and he took a sharp intake of breath. "Too long."

"How many months? Or years?"

"9 months."

I blinked owlishly. Had that much time really passed? I wrapped my arms tightly around him, nuzzling my face into his chest.

"I'm sorry. It must have hurt you."

He nodded against my skin, his breath tickling me slightly. The sensation of relief flooded through me: he wouldn't have acted in such a way if he had moved on, right?

"I can't believe it. I missed my own twentieth birthday."

"Almost missed your twenty-first, too."

"Really? What's the date?"

"December 29th."

"Huh. Guess I almost did miss it."

"Hm."

"Can we go home soon?"

"Yeah. We can go now."

I sighed, smiling slightly, and nodded. He swept me into the air and put me down carefully on his chair, went into the bathroom, and returned with a suitcase full of clothes.

"Take your pick… Lussuria went wild."

I grinned and picked out a white collared shirt and dark blue cashmere sweater, and a soft, long black skirt.

"Well, at least he knows what I like." I commented, slipping off the hospital gown and reaching into the suitcase for what would hopefully be a fitting bra and some underwear from my room in the mansion.

I heard a growl from beside me and smirked. "Xanxus, I don't think the hospital would appreciate that very much at all."

"I don't give a fuck."

He grabbed me around the hips and pulled my still naked form to him, his lips smashing against my own in an almost desperate way.

I dropped the unused and now unneeded clothes to the floor as he pushed me into the surprisingly comfortable bed, but I placed my hands on his chest, pushing him away slightly.

"Xanxus, I swear if you don't stop now you won't get any at home either."

He snarled, eyes almost glowing in wanton desire and need, but stopped, simply staring at me, confused.

"I don't think… I can just yet. I still feel pretty damn weak, and I want to go home."

He blinked, then pushed himself off the bed from where he had been hovering over me and picked up my clothes, silently handing them to me. I sat up, worried. "Xanxus? Is something wrong?"

"No. I'm just a fucking idiot. You just woke up and all I can think about are my own fucking needs."

I sighed, sensing that he needed some time to think, and kneeled on the bed to pull on my underwear and then my bra, followed by the clothes picked out by the Varia's Sun guardian.

I slipped off the bed and placed my cold feet on the floor, taking a few hesitant steps before stumbling slightly. Xanxus caught me, and held me close once more, a deep breath ripping through him and making him shudder.

"I'm never letting you out of my fucking sight again."

I simply nodded, wrapping my thinned arms around his waist and squeezing as tightly as I could.

As soon as we arrived home Belphegor came racing out of the mansion, Lussuria a close second with Squalo and Levi behind them, at a much calmer pace. Belphegor tackled me with a bear hug, crying out.

"The Prince missed you!"

I chuckled, hugging him back. "Yeah, I could tell."

Not a moment after he let go, Lussuria gave him his special hug, squealing. "Oh my God, you got so skinny! I must make a huge meal and nourish you back to perfect health!"

"Voi. What took ya so long to recover?" Squalo grinned at me, giving me a one-armed hug. I was content with that much, knowing he wasn't exactly an emotional guy, and smiled up at my big brother, happy to be home.

"I got shot, and my Flame had some issues or something. But I'm home now!"

"Acer."

I looked over at Levi, who immediately kneeled down and started to bow repeatedly, hitting his head on the ground like a madman.

"I'm so sorry! I should have been there to stop the bullets! Because of my absence you were injured and lost the… I'M SORRY!"

"Levi! It's okay, really! Stop doing that!" I waved my arms frantically, racing over to make him stop. After a few tries, Squalo told me to leave him be, and that he'd come back inside after a while. I sighed, seeing no other options, and followed the shark into the mansion where Mammon jumped into my arms without a word, simply staying there.

"If you do that again, I'm doubling your debt." I smiled at the words, hugging him tightly as I walked with a careful and slow pace into my home.

Mammon promptly refused to leave my arms and I smiled as I sat down on one of the couches in the common room, watching everyone come and go in their duties as either Varia or a servant of Varia. At one point Belphegor came in and sat next to me, just smiling at me, then presented a chess set.

"Would the Queen like to play?" The smile never left my face as I nodded and shifted so I was facing the Prince on the couch, and he gave me the black set, allowing me to move first.

As the game progressed Lussuria joined us and started feeding me, though at one point it got a bit annoying and I took the food from a plate he refused to let go of. Squalo came in, too, and sat on the couch opposite me, watching me and Bel play an almost evenly matched game. Soon enough the second to last Officer was there, and Levi started to read in one of the recliner chairs.

At one point Lussuria got up and started a fire, draping a blanket over my shoulders and sitting on one of the other chairs, reclining comfortably with a fluffy yellow blanket covering him almost completely.

Belphegor and I played a few more rounds, but just when I started to become drowsy, the Prince swiped the whole thing off the couch without misplacing a single piece and placed it on the floor, then raced out of the room to return with a silky crimson blanket and sat back down on the couch, grinning.

"It's time for the Queen to rest! The Prince will keep her company, yes?"

"Yeah." I grinned back, happy to be home with my family.

That's what Xanxus came home to: Squalo sprawled out on a couch, snoring like a freight train, Levi (muttering nonsense) and Lussuria in recliner chairs, and me and Belphegor sharing a couch with our feet in the center, and Mammon still in my grasp, much like a teddy bear. We were all asleep, but as the door creaked open I awoke, looking over the back of the couch to see him with an eyebrow raised at the sight. Suddenly, a mischievous grin lit up his face and he motioned for me to be quiet, and still. He left, returning moments later with a digital camera, and I shared his smile, laying back down carefully. Two clicks reverberated gently through the room, and he stuffed the poor thing in his pocket. I shifted, waking Belphegor, who looked up as well and silently transferred himself to another couch, allowing Xanxus to take his place with me.

He gently picked me up and sat on the couch, laying me down in his lap, leaning against his solid frame with the gray blanket draped over me. Before long I dozed off again to his steady heartbeat, smiling as sleep overcame me.

Wow. She's become the heart of the Varia, huh?

Well, anyway, time to answer the two poll/questions.

1) Squalo told her she was fragile because he considers her to be a civilian at that point. Yes, he is indeed the most human of the Varia in terms of compassion, but it was also because he was legitimately worried about her. Also, he knew that she would need to toughen up to survive properly in the Varia, so he tried to shock her into realizing her own mortally to get her to improve herself.

2) Cloak is in America because her Flame felt Togatta/Acer's Flame, which is frozen. In case you haven't guessed as much, the Flame itself is Ice-type, not Zero-Point ice. Five others were also called, but because Cloak also has minor amounts of Sun and Thunder Flames, she is a lot more sensitive to them. Basically, she felt the urge to move to America as soon as Togatta/Acer was there.

Any questions? Ask me now, in anon/non-anon reviews or in PMs!

~Panther-chan

P.S: Oh no! Scar tissue in the womb? That can't be good. Find out what happens in The New Recruit III: Cryogenics! And, why do you think she was asleep for nine months? Why not ten or eight?