Wao. I think that a lot of people extremely disliked that last chapter. To tell you the truth, I don't know how to progress from here. I have several ideas but none really fit. I'm just going to make things up as I go along. LOL. That's what I've been doing this whole time anyway…

Enough of my babbling… Enjoy the chapter…

Hibari

"Kitten?" I was momentarily shocked as I realized Nekko had suddenly vanished along with the clearing smoke. The herbivore she called Nikko was also gone. I quickly regained my composure.

I turned on the remaining herbivores in the hall. Two tiny children and one that was slightly larger, though still too small to be considered a threat. "Where is she?" I hissed, pulling my trusty tonfas out.

The herbivores had no answers as to the disappearance of Nekko, and after I bit them slightly to death, (not really, just a wack or two for each of them) I left the house without answers. Wherever she had gone, she would surely be back to school tomorrow…

Nekko

I watched as Tattoos infuriatingly steered Nikko back into the room. Nikko was solemn, but there was something a little off in his expression. He was… mad? I immediately dismissed it as him being upset at having been caught.

"What do you think you're up to, having a little kid try to follow me? Do you really think I'm so pathetic I wouldn't notice?" Tattoos was fuming, the anger showing clearly on her face. Had Nikko's awesome skills really been put down by her?

"What are you talking about? What are you doing with Nikko?" I was quick to lie, especially caught in such a compromising situation. I couldn't let Tsuna think I didn't trust him; I really did. I stood as if to defend myself and held a hand out to Nikko. He immediately ran forward and took it. I considered the best way to handle the situation.

Tears were not an option. We didn't want to look weak or too fake. We couldn't be too defiant either. That would deem us worthy of suspicion, too defensive. I decided on running a hand through the hair on the top of my head in a tired way, the signal for pleading. Nikko caught on.

"I was just looking for the bathroom. I got lost, and was trying to find my way back. Then she suddenly appeared out of nowhere and accused me of following her." His voice was exasperated, a little offended, only slightly pleading. It was perfect. He was getting a little too good at this. Then, almost a little too quick for me too notice, Nikko shot Tattoos a look. It was apologetic…pleading? Whatever it was, it didn't match the role he was supposed to be playing.

I didn't think any of the others had noticed it, except maybe Fedora. Fedora almost always noticed things like that, but he almost never let on.

"Ehh? Lal, maybe you just over-reacted. I'm sure Nikko-san wasn't following you. He had no reason to."

After some persuading, Tsuna had himself convinced, yes, himself, convinced that Nikko wasn't following Tattoos. Of course, his family soon followed and all were relaxed, except, of course, for Tattoos and Fedora. Fedora had never looked up from beneath his, well, fedora, hiding his eyes, hence, all connection to his thoughts.

Tattoos, thankfully, though it took her long enough, let it drop. The thread of conversation had been lost though, and we sat in awkward silence. I decided to voice one of the many questions in my head, only a few of which would actually be appropriate and prudent to pose to Tsuna.

"Where are we?" It was simple enough, but based on the worried expression on his face, I assumed the corresponding answer wasn't nearly as simple.

After a moment's hesitation he answered. "We're…beneath Namimori…In a secret Vongola base…ten years in the future." Although I had expected something along those lines, I had a hard time excepting them. I felt myself intake a sharp breath, and unconsciously bite the inside of my cheek. After a moment of deliberation, I sat myself at the table, Nikko beside me.

"You better explain."

That was how all knowledge I possessed on time travel, the future, and the Millefiore came to me.

"Nikko! Where are you going!?" I called after him, as he was running off. He had been disappearing a lot over the last couple of days, hardly ever taking a moment to relax. The longest period of time I'd spent with him was at night, when we were both asleep.

Although Kyoko and Tsuna offered to house one of us in each of their rooms, we ended up sharing a room together. It wasn't awkward like sleeping with people we didn't really know, and we had often shared a room when we were little. Often when Nikko was woken by nightmares, he ran to me instead of our parents.

Now, however, I only got glimpses of my brother. After breakfast he would run off, avoiding my questioning. I was so busy though, I wasn't able to go after him. I was constantly watching the others train, using their box weapons. Reborn even saw it fit to have Bianchi teach me a bit of hand to hand combat. I didn't have a ring or a box, and my flame was undetermined so that was about all they could do.

Still, it kept me busy and I had little to no time to waste. When I did have a bit of a break, I spent it wandering the hallways of the positively massive base. I sometimes hoped to find wherever Nikko spent all his time, but seeing the enormity of the base, I doubted I'd run into him.

So I was very surprised when I he nearly ran into me. He was stepping out of a room, talking to…

Tattoos!?

She was the last person I had expected to find him with. They seemed to be having a serious conversation that quickly ended when he stepped into me. After the initial shock, he got busy talking, trying to distract me. He was trying to shield the door with his body and his speaking was rushed. Tattoos quickly shut the door behind them and Nikko quickly calmed down.

I had done my best to teach him, but he still occasionally panicked when he was placed in situations that were a little too sudden. I decided it would be best not mention it. I tried a different approach.

"Nikko! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere. I heard you missed lunch, so I thought we could eat together." I was, actually, really full. I'd eaten a massive meal cooked by Kyoko and Haru. I had actually been the only one to eat, the others all training with their rings and/or boxes. I was pretty sure that if I snuck a word in to the girls they wouldn't rat me out.

"Uhh…umm… sure." Nikko still appeared to be in shock. Either he was getting way out of practice and I needed to retrain him, or whatever he was trying to hide was major. Tattoos maintained a better composure, but she seemed slightly shocked too.

"What were you guys up to?" My voice was sweet, unsuspicious. I couldn't help but throw a glance at the door they were both blocking, though.

That was all I needed. Nikko threw a frantic glance at Tattoos, whose face turned to stone. He was looking for an explanation, an excuse. There was definitely something up and he didn't want me to know about it. After a tangibly tense and awkward moment Nikko spluttered out an answer.

"Lal was just showing me some…things..."

"Things?" I looked at Tattoos for the answer to this question. I felt bad questioning Nikko when he was so obviously in a bad position to lie. At the same time, not taking the opportunity to get answers seemed like a waste.

"Training. I was just showing him a couple moves in my free time, when I'm not training Tsuna. I noticed that he also has the mist attribute and felt that I'd be a good tutor for him."

I knew that was a lie the moment it left her mouth. I'd seen a couple of Tattoos' training sessions with Tsuna, and knew that she wasn't the gentle, willing tutor she was portraying herself as. Plus, if that was true, it didn't explain why Nikko was always missing, even when Tattoos was within my line of sight.

The main reason this statement rung false though, was because Nikko and I had agreed he wouldn't fight. We'd had the conversation shortly after arriving here. It had started out as a small argument, but quickly turned into a calm discussion. Nikko swiftly realized that it would be beneficial for him to stay at the base during any conflict.

We had agreed. He had agreed.

"Oh… really?" I was going to play along with it and see where it got me. "Nikko, I thought we agreed that you weren't going to fight. If you changed your mind you should have told me." I was planning on being the calm, understanding, and slightly disappointed sister. Yet, I was struck with sudden inspiration.

"Nikko, if you wanted to do a bit of training that's fine, but you're not fighting. I don't why you would lie about this unless you were planning on fighting." I could see the worried expression on Nikko's face. He knew where I was taking this.

"Nekko…" I felt the smile tugging at my lips, but it would blow my cover. I swept it aside and made sure my stern, upset expression remained untouched.

"Nikko, I can't let this continue. Now since you've been going around behind my back and lying to me, I don't feel I can trust you to listen to me. From now on, I want you next to me at all times. You can still train, but I'll make sure it's nothing that's too intense or anything beyond basic skills."

I grabbed a reluctant Nikko by the hand. He and Tattoos were exchanging glances. I knew that this was probably the worst possible situation for them.

Nikko couldn't argue without admitting that he wanted to fight. I was allowing him to continue 'training' but restricting him in a way that would only bother him if he was hiding something. Whatever they were doing couldn't continue unless they wanted to come clean and hope for my permission.

I couldn't help an evil smirk from creeping onto my face. I don't think Nikko noticed, but Tattoos might have. I quickly morphed it into a sweet smile.

"Come on Nikko, let's go eat lunch. Afterwards we can train a bit. I'm sure Bianchi won't mind having another pupil." I smiled at him, pretending to be the good guy. I led him away from a stock still Tattoos, pretending not to notice the sorrowful glance he shot over his shoulder.

"Ow. Owww!" Nikko groaned as he was once again knocked to the floor. It was already obvious in the first ten minutes that he had not participated in any training. He hadn't managed to block any of Bianchi's hits, and hadn't initiated any form of attack of his own. He'd been knocked to the ground 7 times already. If I didn't know Bianchi had no intention of actually hurting him, I would have been worried. Instead, I chuckled. If he just told me the truth I wouldn't make him go through this.

"Alright then, let's take a break." Bianchi left Nikko panting on the floor and walked over to me.

"He's horrible. He can't even raise a finger in defense, much less offense. Are you sure that he's been training?"

I couldn't help but smirk. "Actually I'm almost positive he hasn't, but he insists on maintaining his lies. I'm going to play along until he tells the truth." A thought suddenly occurred to me. "I'm sorry though. I know you have better things to do than waste time with Nikko."

"No, its fine. Hayato skipped training again. Because of him, I know how frustrating little brothers can be. I'll be happy to help you until Nikko opens up to you." She shared a small smile with me, allowing herself to open up her softer side.

Click.

The soft noise startled me out of my shallow, uneasy sleep. I felt myself twitch, but refused to allow myself any other movement. I lay perfectly still until my eyes adjusted to the dark room.

I tilted my head to the side a bit, just enough to allow myself a view of Nikko's bed. He wasn't in it.

I shot upright and my eyes flicked around the room in search of him. He'd left. I peeked at the clock. It read 2:17. Wherever Nikko went, it wasn't without reason.

I crept out of bed and tip-toed to the door. I cracked it open and peered out, down the hall. I was just in time to watch Nikko turn the corner into a different hall. It couldn't hurt to follow him right? Well, of course it could, but I did myself to convince myself that it was worth it.

I did my best to remain sneaky and unseen, though I was never as good at it as Nikko. He was more the don't-get-caught, and I was the lie-my-way-out-of-trouble. Once or twice I nearly blew it. He would pause in the middle of the hall, just as I was about to turn the corner, thinking he was farther ahead.

I'd scramble backwards then hold perfectly still hoping he hadn't heard me. For a moment he wouldn't move either, and I would fear the worst. Then he would sigh, and shake his head, as if ridding himself of his paranoia. He'd begin moving again, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

At one point, I lost track of him completely. While lurking behind, waiting for him to have enough of a head start, I accidentally allowed him to get too far ahead. I didn't catch which way he turned and ended up choosing random hallways to walk , hoping I'd just happen to run into him again.

So, I supposed it was meant to be when I was walking down a seemingly deserted passage, when I hear whispering. I noticed that one of the doors was cracked open, but had the lights turned off. If the occupants hadn't chosen that exact moment to start their conversation, I would have walked right past them.

I crouched down by the door, and strained to hear, only catching a few words.

"…sure you don't want to tell her?"

"I'm sure. I don't want… Can't let... for the best."

"I'm almost positive she'd want to know. I know… think."

"No…" Nikko's voice dropped dramatically, not allowing me to hear another word. I hadn't caught much, their voices constantly fluctuating in volume, but I'd heard enough. Thinking that I wouldn't hear anything else, I stood and tiptoed back to my room, only to lay awake until Nikko returned, 1 ½ hours later.

"What? Who? Where?" A wack on my head brought me to my senses. My head snapped up from its position on my plate of breakfast, sending food everywhere.

Fedora was calmly sitting next to me. Everyone at the table was staring at me, so basically everyone at the base. Thankfully I noticed that Nikko and Tattoos and were having breakfast on their own, so my falling asleep wouldn't raise any suspicions with them.

"As I was saying Nekko, I have an idea that may assist you in your training."

"Training?" I asked, still half asleep.

"Tsuna has an extra ring, which, from what Lal Mirch tells me, might suit you perfectly." This statement woke me up almost immediately. It also woke up Tsuna.

"Huh? I do?" Tsuna's poorly hidden confusion brought him a kick in the head from Fedora.

"Dame-Tsuna! You have the ring Lancia gave you."

"Oh," I was slightly disappointed in this, especially since it would make me be a good person. "If it was a gift Tsuna, I can understand why you wouldn't want to give it to me. You don't have to." I looked down and to the right slightly as I said this, a position I knew would gain sympathy.

"No, no! That's not it at all Nekko! I just didn't remember I had Lancia's ring." Tsuna appeared embarrassed, and was rushing to explain himself. Then to Fedora he said, "Would the ring and Nekko's flame match up?"

"The ring was made before flames could be taken into consideration, so it should be able to channel any flame. This should actually be a perfect fit for Nekko's flame." Fedora wore an evil smirk while he explained, knowing he was only being confusing.

"Then, what's my flame?"

"It'll be more fun to watch your expression when you light it for the first time." With that he hopped down from the table and started walking away. He called over his shoulder, "I'll give you the ring later." Then, "Yamamoto, let's go train."

Just as Yamamoto was about to jump up and follow Reborn, Giannini entered the room, frantically tripping over his feet.

"Excuse me everyone, I need to call an emergency meeting. We seem to have some good news."

"Here." Fedora unexpectedly tossed the ring at me. I caught it out of pure reflex. After weighing it in my hand for a moment, I brought it close to my face, examining the intricate snake design. Although though I wasn't really the biggest fan of snakes, I couldn't help admitting that the ring was beautiful.

"Even if Tsuna and the others have left to find Kyoko and Hibari, that doesn't mean you're allowed to sit here doing nothing. If you're going to help defeat Irie, you at least need to know how to light your ring."

"I wonder what my flame is…" I spoke more to myself then Fedora, since he'd already made it clear he wouldn't answer. He smirked.

"You'll see." After a moment of silence, Fedora jumped up and kicked my head.

"Hey! What was that for!?" The look on his face told me he believed me to be extremely dense for him to have to explain.

"Hurry up and light it." So, in reality it was pretty obvious.

"Oh… I knew that." I slipped the ring on my finger, and limiting myself to under a minute of staring at it in admiration, attempted to light it.

I stared at it until I felt I'd burn a hole right through it. In my head I chanted 'Flame. Flame. Flame. Flame.'

Nothing happened.

Fedora smirked as if he had expected me to fail. "I didn't expect you to get it on your first try. As I said before, you're a special case. You need to be absolutely positive in your resolution to channel your flame. This is because of both your flame, and the ring you're using." I shot him an inquisitive look, but didn't say anything.

"Imagine your resolution as a flame." Bianchi added, just entering the room.

Resolution. What was my resolution? What did I want to do here?

When I thought about, there wasn't much. Sure, I wanted to return to the past, but there wasn't much there I didn't have here. I wanted to protect Nikko, but he wasn't in any immediate danger, and I had a hard time wanting to protect him when he didn't fully trust me.

I had to use something as the basis for my resolution though, so I focused on wanting to protect Nikko. How did I channel that?

I remembered the time where Nikko was crying because he scraped his knee. Suddenly, my ring flickered a faint yellow. The second I focused on it, the barely visible flame died out.

"Horrible. Even Dame-Tsuna can do better. You're not focusing." Fedora wasn't impressed, even if I had managed to light my ring.

"But I lit the ring!" I protested.

"You didn't do it correctly. That isn't your true power. Try again."

I closed my eyes and focused on Nikko again. I recalled the time a kid, a few years older than me, was picking on him. I remembered that anger, the wish to pulverize the ruffian.

Again I felt the flame on the ring flicker to life. I glanced down in shock to see a vaguely red warmth on the ring.

"It's-it's red now."

"Wrong. You're still not doing it right. I'm losing my patience with you."

Just as I was about to close my eyes and refocus when I sensed the door creek open.

Nikko

My eyelids drooped as I struggled to stay awake. Lal was gone with Tsuna. I was the only one left to watch her.

I had been tired enough from last night. Then I'd consumed a massive amount of energy trying to slip away without Nekko noticing. She'd kept her eye on me every second since she made her "announcement" a few days ago. The only reason I got away was because she'd slept in.

Now though, I was exhausted from the effort I used making sure no one followed me. I used every trick I knew: backtrack, trick-steps, sudden pauses, meandering paths, until I was sure I was alone. Only then did I enter the room where my…. Where she was living.

Then I'd been forced to partake in countless repetitive baby games. Chasing her around, (she just learned to crawl) playing peek-a-boo, reading her books she probably couldn't understand. Finally, she fell asleep in a pile of blankets and pillows we'd knocked to the floor. Now, I felt like doing the same.

If I fell asleep, and she woke up, she'd definitely make enough noise to wake me up, wouldn't she? So it wouldn't really be problem if I dozed off for a few minutes, would it? No, as long as the door was shut she wouldn't be able to leave. Was the door shut? No, it was cracked open, but she wouldn't try to leave would she? No, of course not. She … wouldn't…

Those were the thoughts that drifted through my head just as I fell asleep. Of course, I never did that little girl enough credit.

I opened my eyes when I unconsciously perceived a strange quietness. Even with the two of us asleep, there had been some sort of noise. The sounds of turning, rustling of sheets, snoring, even her breathing, but there had been noise. Now it was quiet.

I felt my eyes widen in horror as they spotted the once cracked door, swung wide open. She left. She was gone. In the massive, who knows how many floors base.

After I stood gawking at the door for a moment, I jumped up and dashed out. I frantically searched around for any clue as to where she might have gone. Thankfully, I found one.

The sole of her shoe had left a scuff mark where it dragged at one point.

I went on and on, following whatever little clue I could. Sometimes another scuff mark, a splotch of drool where she must have wiped her mouth with her hand, then continued crawling. Once, I even found a hair band that must have slipped from the end of her braid.

She couldn't have gone far, so the farther I went, the more confident I felt that I'd find her before anyone else did. This hope bottomed out of my stomach when I did find her.

She was inches from yet another cracked door. (Why couldn't people close doors properly in this base?) It took me a few moments before I recognized it as the door that Nekko was training with Reborn in.

I sprinted forward with all the energy I had. I had to reach her, before she reached the door.

Nekko

I watched as Bianchi stepped through the closed door, not completely shutting it behind her. I couldn't help the wave of disappointment. I had hoped it would be Nikko. Nonetheless, I didn't fail to return the smile she aimed at me.

"I came to see how your training is going? Have you lit your flame yet?"

"I've lit it several times, but Fedora keeps saying I'm wrong." Bianchi smiled knowingly.

"That's because it isn't your true flame. You'll know when it is."

Bianchi watched as I recalled a time where Nikko had nearly been caught sneaking around and I procured an indigo flame.

"Why don't I go grab you a snack?"

"Cooked by Haru?"

"…"

I sighed. Of course Bianchi would want to cook the snack herself. "Yeah, sure I guess." Bianchi smiled yet again, and made her way to the door. She opened the door to reveal…a baby?

Nikko appeared, sprinting from down the hall. He scooped the infant up, staring at me in horror. Bianchi looked surprised, but not utterly shocked. Fedora's face was hidden by the shadow cast by the rim of his hat.

The little girl in Nikko's arms squirmed around to face me. Nikko didn't try to stop her. She wiggled her little arms at me, crying, "Mama."

I didn't move, transfixed by her perfect round head, framed by those short, black, wavy, locks of hair. Black hair that perfectly framed her eyes. Slate blue eyes, almost gray.

Realization hit me with a bang. I felt my emotions run unchecked on my face.

Shock. Surprise. Love. Anger. Disappointment. Confusion. Wonder. Shock.

My eyes were glued on the perfect little baby in front of me, and everything clicked into place. So much so, that I barely noticed the beautiful, unique flame spring to life on my ring. All that mattered was Nikko and …her.

"What's her name?"

Wow. This chapter is long too. I feel that it's poorly written, but I don't know how to fix it. Please let me know if you feel the chapters are getting too long.

The whole thing with her flame will be explained next chapter. Cookies if you can guess what it is. I don't think anyone will, even if I left clues. I'm pretty sure it's a stupid idea, but I'm adding it in anyway

Also, as for the baby's name, I'm leaving that up to you guys. There's a poll on my profile where you can vote for a name. It'll be open until May 13th. If you have a specific name in mind, leave it in a review or PM me. I'll take it into consideration.

Any reviews at all will be appreciated. Criticism… praise… advice…ideas… I take it all.

Hibari will probably reenter the story next chapter.

(PS. I don't own KHR)

(PPS Sorry for any errors.)