DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN

Natsuki's POV

I pulled my staff back from Tsunayoshi. He visibly relaxed the moment I backed off him. I gave my hand offering him some help up. He tried raising his arm only to drop it immediately. I crouched down lifting his arm finding no resistance in his muscles. From his eyes alone I saw that he was fading in and out of conscious. I looked over to the owl froze in the spiky ball of ice. 'He overexerted himself. The amount of flames needed to immobilized her faster than she could burn is crazy.'

"Tsunayoshi-kun, you're exhausted. Where's Sakurako and Varia? Don't tell me you defeated her solely with the Vongola rings?" He gave a small weak smile in return. It was a prideful one. I've never seen him look at me like this. He was always so afraid of me. Now it was like he was trying to say that we were on the same playing field.

"It was Sakurako-san's plan. We were suppose to capture Azalea while the girls guarded Varia from Tachibana."

"Girls plural form? You actually let Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan into battle? Wait. You left them with Tachibana?!" I didn't wait for an answer rushing into the forest. I trained the two of them to protect themselves from lackeys. Not to handle someone of Tachibana's ring capacity. Even with their Scudo rings, those two wouldn't be able to handle the repercussions of the flame draining them since no one else has that like we did. Sakurako, herself, was a strategist, not a fighter nor tutor, she wouldn't be able to teach them anything as special as the Tri-Ni-Sette items.

I followed where my ring was leading me. As I got closer the more I realized that there was another ring presence that I didn't recognize. It was masked under Tachibana's flames which only made me worry more. I reached a point in the forest where everything was completely disintegrated. It didn't take a lot to understand that a fight had happened here. I stopped seeing the back of the man that I was looking for standing completely still through the destroyed trees.

"Tachibana!" I increased my speed so that I could stop whatever he was doing. That's when I noticed that he hadn't reacted to me. I slowed my pace seeing that he hadn't moved an inch. When I reached him I had found that he was like a statue. I took careful steps around him.

"What happen...?" His body stood with complete stiffness. I came to his front seeing his eyes closed while he maintained a steady, normal breathing. 'Is he sleeping?' I looked closer finding shinning needles piercing throughout his body. 'No way...'

"Natsuki-chan?" I spun around quickly. Haru pushed herself to sit up, I ran over to her helping her.

"H-Haru-chan, was that your work?" I pointed to Tachibana's body. She blushed a little while smiling.

"Yeah but I couldn't have done it without Kyoko-chan and Sakurako-san. You should have seen Kyoko-chan, she was like a real leader. They both used a lot of their flames today. Though I'm still a bit dizzy."

Haru held her hand up to her forehead unknowingly showing off her ring. I marveled at the ring in her possession. In such a short amount of time both girls had an unbelievable improvement from someone who had no experience whatsoever to taking down a real Tri-Ni-Sette holder. I looked backwards finally seeing Kyoko and a pink haired girl sleeping against a tree.

I let go of Haru approaching the girl asleep. "Sakurako..."

I knew that she was here but seeing her in person was unreal. I hesitantly reached out for her as my Stelle ring shined with the one on her finger. I gasped finally realizing the new ring presence. I chuckled caressing my sister's cheek. "Fate has such a funny way of working."

She groaned as she was waking up. Half-asleep she turned to me. "Natsuki? Are you here to kill me or help me?"

"I can help you by killing you." I whispered to her. She just snorted moving her face away from mine.

"Help me by letting me sleep more." She closed her eyes again. Sakurako being here brought a smile to my face. Being with Tachibana reminded me so much of my past and how weak I was. With Sakurako I was reminded that not everything was terrible. I still had a family that even though they weren't perfect, they were always there for me. I don't exactly know her motive but she still came here to help me. Varia had killed her blood family yet she worked with them to help me.

"Varia are back there. Go check up on them." From her tone it was like she was pushing me away. I knew that she was putting up that image on her for me. Though I loved Sakurako as my sister, my familigia was with Varia.

"Thank you." I went behind a few remaining trees towards the lingering Mist flames space. All the illusionists were awake but were too tired enough that they it wouldn't be surprising if they passed out at any second now. Varia hadn't regained conscious yet. Going into someone's mind wasn't easy to handle mentally. I took a deep breath seeing them all sleeping so peacefully. I went up to the swaying Fran and Mammon first. I placed a hand on Fran's apple head. I wish could give him some flames to help them but I was run dry as well.

He looked at me then collapsed into my arms. I fondly patted him on the back in praise. Fran was the youngest here that this must have done the most damage to him. I had to thank him for trying so hard for me. Even someone like him needed years of training to get the same level of Mammon and Mukuro. Though with Tsunayoshi being able to trap Azalea in Mukurou meant that the two Vongola guardians were probably pushing the line. Leaving most of the work to him and Mammon.

I carefully sat down, gently setting Fran's head on my lap. "How are you feeling Mammon?"

I assumed that he glared at me from underneath his hood. "I really will abandon you if you do this another time."

I nodded. In the normal case he would have wanted money. This time he was, in a way, telling me not to run away. "I won't run away anymore. I don't want to. Will you help me out then?"

He didn't say anything, kicking Levi who was the closest to him. Levi sprung awake yelling incoherent noises. Since Varia didn't waste a lot of flames, he had no difficultly getting up. It was convenient enough that the others started to slowly get up. They were mumbling under their breath for Levi to shut up until they remembered their mission. They all scanned the area finally resting their eyes on me.

Before I could say anything Lussuria came running to me. I took out my staff holding him at a distance. I extended the knife out at the end pointing it right at his chest. "N-Nat-chan?"

"You're going to wake Fran if you tackle me." He huffed pushing my staff away.

"You only care for Fran-chan!" I brushed Fran's hair aside from his face.

"That's not true Lussuria." I looked up to each and everyone one of them. "Thank you for everything. Bringing yourself here, opening your mind to me, for giving me a home. Thank you."

Lussuria slowly approached me wrapping his arms around my shoulders. He held me close that it made me realize how long it was since I felt another human presence to me. One that was actually comforting. The others watched from their distance. Bel was the first one to move again. His quick hands threw a knife at Fran's apple head which I deflected easily. I glared at him giving his signature laugh. "What was that for, Bel?"

"It's because of him that you saw that memory from me. Because the stupid Vongola Mists suddenly lost their flames that they didn't make it for it in time." The image of my shrine in the future flashed in my mind. I took a deep breath, lightly pushing Lussuria away. I held onto Fran wishing that I was as lax as he was during everything.

"Natsuki. You're not dying yet." Squalo had to catch Mammon before he fell after trying to walk towards me. "I didn't send every single one of us into your mind, come all this way and getting mocked by Quattor the entire time just to have you die that easily. Bel already stopped you from dying from suicide. You're not dying yet."

I couldn't control myself and started laughing while tears were building up in my eyes. Lussuria used his sleeve, pressing them lightly against my eyes. This brought back the memory of how I was first taken from Varia.

At that time, I wouldn't have imagined that the same people would be the ones continuing to stand by me to this day. We've been together for over 2 years and they still wanted me. Regardless of all the times I've been reckless, impulsive and uncooperative. I don't think that I would be able to thank them enough for everything that they've done. I could never repay them for giving me a chance time and time again. I looked at each of them in the eyes seeing the same face as I did so long before. Yet this time was like we were closer than ever.

I snapped myself out of it when I felt my ring buzz a little. "Someone's coming."

Everyone immediately put their guard up. I was about to stand up until I felt that the ring presence was weaker than a full one. It didn't feel as much of threat as an original Tri-Ni-Sette meaning that it wasn't Tachibana. All seven were present though. "The Mare rings?"

No sooner that I said that the entire group of Mare ring owners came from behind us. Now that I thought about it, before the fight began my ring had shined a completely different colour that I've seen before. It must have meant that all the Tri-Ni-Sette owners were together. Yuni and the Arcobaleno shouldn't have been too far away then. They were all able to continue using their flames to float themselves that it seemed they didn't fight as much as the others did. Byakuran landed first with his guardians following after him.

Varia dropped their defenses seeing that it wasn't a threat. "So if Tsunayoshi-kun was handling Azalea, the girls with Tachibana and Varia I, what was your family doing?"

"We were on standby since Celeste Quattro said that we were only needed for our rings. We were to wait nearby as a backup. Tsunayoshi-kun just sent out the signal for us to come help out. When we went to check up on him he told us to come over here to help out. And though I'm too much of a follower type, Quattro's plan seemed to have worked pretty well from the looks of it."

"It's not over yet. As long as Tachibana and I continue to bear the two Buco Nero and Stelle rings our fate is sealed. We have to figure out something before he does something that puts my life in danger."

"We leave that to Quattro then. It was a part of the deal for Sawada to listen to her that she would come up with something in order to ensure your safety. He wouldn't agree to follow her plan if she didn't come up with something that would ensure that you were safe afterwards." Squalo told me.

"Tsunayoshi-kun did that? He made demands to Sakurako? Are we talking about the same boy?" I thought of the boy who probably passed out a few kilometers away. He was too kind for his own good. "Never mind. I'll have to thank him later but for now we should move somewhere else. Sakurako and everyone else are exhausted. Whatever she has planned will have to wait until were capable of carrying it out. Let's move everyone back to Tachibana's headquarters so that they can rest a little."

I looked to the two leaders, Xanxus and Byakuran who were in full agreement. Bluebell tugged on Byakuran's sleeve gesturing backwards. "Nee what about the Buco Nero owner? We can't just leave him like that."

We looked back the frozen in place Tachibana. Of course he wasn't permanently stuck like that. Haru's technique was meant to give enough time for them to escape if they needed it. Muscles would always be moving that her needles will eventually weaken. The only reason why he was going to stay out for longer than normal would be due to her Rain flames and the exhaustion he got from using his flames immaturely. Nonetheless we couldn't leave him unattended here where he can easily run away once he woke up.

"For now let's take off his ring and somehow restrict his movement. Without his ring he's pretty much worthless so he won't be able to put up a fight without it." Kikyo nodded going over to the frozen male. He created small vines crawling their way towards the Buco Nero ring just to be wilted away before actually touching it. I clicked my tongue seeing that its protection managed to stay in his defenseless position.

"You should it a try Fia. Your Stelle flames may be able counteract it." I handed Lussuria the sleeping Fran using my staff to help push myself off the ground. Now that everything was settling down, all the exhaustion was starting to catch up with myself. Bel grabbed one of my arms giving me some support.

"Don't push yourself Hime." He slung my arm over his shoulders taking most of my weight onto himself.

Standing face to face with Tachibana it was hard to explain the fear that remained inside of me. Regardless of the presence of his flames, the fear I had was around him, he was a threat to me as a person. He knew exactly what to say and do to tick me off like no one else ever did. He was so weak physically that regardless of him sleeping or not I could knock him over with a single push. He was a different type of ruthless though. Everyone had a goal. A goal that you dedicate everything and give up anything to achieve. I never once managed to figure out what Yoshi Tachibana's goal was. I never knew what he was willing to give up to achieve that. I just knew that I was on the top of that list.

I pushed myself so that I could produce the smallest Stelle flame on my ring. I reached forward quickly slipping the Buco Nero ring off his finger. Bel acted quickly carrying me in his arms. I realized that I had already used some of my flames today that using my Stelle flames took a lot more out of me.

"We'll take it from here Hime. Get some rest." That was the last thing I heard before passing out.

We were all moved back to Tachibana's headquarters for some time. I wasn't too sure on how long I was out but as I came to everyone else was already awake. Majority of us still weren't able to use our flames but we weren't as tired as before. The only one that was still sleeping was Tachibana. This was probably the first time that he used such a high amount of flames that this wasn't surprising.

Everyone gathered around the largest room dividing us to the corners of the room. Vongola, Mare, Arcobaleno and Varia with Sakurako staying on the Vongola side. Only the bosses were given seats with the respected guardians surrounding them. This set up was all to surround Tachibana with a frozen Azalea in the middle of the room.

I sighed holding the Buco Nero ring in my palm. "Sakurako what exactly was the plan that you came up with?"

Sakurako who was sitting directly in front of me pointed down to Azalea. "She is. I told Decimo before that I don't know anything about the Tri-Ni-Sette. The only resource we have is in the previous Arcobaleno holder's journal and in Azalea. If we have any chance of breaking your bond, then it would be in these two things."

"Well if it's Checkerface's journal it wasn't in my section. Elena always wrote that she was scared of that bond. She never figured anything out despite having Primo's help. Her last words written were to her predecessors. An apology for this fate." I remembered clearly how shaky her writing had gotten the more pages that she wrote. I ripped out her pages from the journal that time because it was a reminder of all that I was stuck with. She never wrote anything helpful about the Stelle ring besides its properties, always linking it back to the Buco Nero ring. I wouldn't blame her though. She had a family that she cared for, a lover, a future. Yet she had a duty to hold the balance that she couldn't abandon.

"How about we put him in Vendice if we can't break that bond? If Natsuki-san keeps his ring, then he's powerless. Azalea is trapped in my ice too."

"That's too risky Tsunayoshi-kun. Azalea can't break your ice but others can. If Mukuro got out of Vendice before then Tachibana, who actually beat them before can easily get out. If anything goes wrong with their containment, we can't let either of these two try anything. This time around I was able to negotiate with them but we can't ensure that with me locking them up this time round. There's too much to bet on keeping them like this."

"Nee Natsuki-chan instead of locking him up, we negotiate another deal." I looked to Kyoko. "I know that he's not the best person but maybe another type of deal could work where everyone gets what they want."

"What does he want though?" I was short of an answer to Haru's question. I stared at the boy sleeping.

"Wake him up. Melt the area around Azalea's beak as well so that we can speak to her." A few in the others tensed up but didn't say anything. All of us knew it would eventually come to this. And though we managed to tie him up, not all of us were fit to fight at the moment. Nonetheless, Byakuran was the one to walk over to him and remove the needles in his neck and melted a part of Azalea's ice. Then from a safe distance he used a small dragon to bite Tachibana.

Tachibana violently shook knocking the dragon off him. He swore loudly realizing the rope restraining him. He made direct eye contact with me biting down on his teeth hard. I held his ring between my fingers making him madder but started to hold himself back. He knew that even with his ring I couldn't do anything with it but he couldn't either. He looked to his side clicking his tongue at Azalea. Azalea's little beak squawked out what sounded like a cackling laugh.

"What an interesting turn of events. All the Tri-Ni-Sette owners in one place. This hasn't happened in over 400 years. All of this is hilarious to witness. Everyone gathering to try and prevent the death of two people. Who cares about what happens to you?!" I held back Lussuria from attacking her. It was already clear that Azalea wasn't fond of Tachibana or I. She already died that it wouldn't matter to her what happen to us.

"I picked Yoshi to be my predecessor because of his attitude, not his skill. I gave him the power to do anything without being able to stop him. Yet he still managed to fuck himself up! All because of his obsession with you. If anything happens to you two, then I'll just repeat this cycle over again. Though I have to admit that having the Stelle owner under my foot was a pleasant surprise."

"Like you did any better you bitch! You're literally trapped in a block of ice with the beak alone out."

"So what? It's not like you can get rid of whatever's holding you down without MY powers." Tachibana tried to throw himself at her but wasn't able to move a muscle in his tight ropes.

"Let me go Natsuki." He tried to threaten me. Bel and Mammon stood on both sides of me reminding me that I wasn't alone. I balled my fists looking at him.

"Why me? Why did you do everything to get to me? It wasn't because of the Stelle ring. It wasn't because I saved your life as a kid. Why me?" He smirked.

"Because you're easy to control. Remember what people said at school? I was your lone friend. I was the only one that spoke to you. Kind, naive Tachibana Yoshi wasn't afraid of the spoiled brat Celeste Natsuki. Do you understand? All of the school hated you and loved me. That day you saved me I knew that you had trouble to speak to others since that's exactly how you reacted to me. The only time that you didn't hesitate was when you were answering a question or even fighting those people trying to kidnap me. If you just stopped thinking you would have been perfect."

Again perfect. I hate that word coming from him the most. "When I got the Buco Nero ring I was introduced to the world of Mafia and used all the threats that I came up with to get what I wanted. It was boring though. With both money and power, everyone listened. Not everyone would be to handle my plans though. I wanted to find the one person I knew that would be able to do all my bidding. Celeste Natsuki or the unknown girl that hung out with Vongola Decimo or the mysterious Haunting Shadows that no one knew the real identity of. Connecting the dots to find you was the most fun I had since getting the ring. Until I found that you were smiling."

My eye twitched in anger. "You were showing emotions. You weren't the same girl at school. You were happy. Where was my perfect mindless puppet?!"

A gun shot pierced the floor right in front of Tachibana closing his mouth. I looked to my side where Xanxus had his X-guns out. "Shut up trash. I can't kill you yet but I'll make the rest of your worthless life as my puppet by force."

This was the first time that I saw Tachibana experience fear. When I saved his life, he didn't have enough time to process it before I had come. He was introduced to the Mafia world with one of the strongest elements ever. He wouldn't need to be scared of anyone. He always hid behind Azalea and I. But if we won't kill him, he can still feel pain. This was the first time that I saw him as human.

"Oi Fia, there's no way we can keep him alive. Instead of breaking the bond, let's just change owners." He didn't put down his gun showing that he really wanted to kill Tachibana.

"Like hell I'll allow that!" Azalea screamed out.

"You don't even like him! Why can't you pick a sane person?" Tsunayoshi yelled.

"Yeah I hate Yoshi. I hate Natsuki as well. At least this way I get some pleasure from it. If you have a problem with it then get in a fucking time machine and tell every single human to fuck themselves! We gave our power because of Sephira and Checkerface! I did not agree to working with those dumb ass humans that only destroyed the Earth for their own personal needs. Our kind was doing fine until you humans came into the picture!"

As the will of the ring, we needed her approval before anyone can use the ring. Despite me holding the ring in my possession now, I wouldn't be able to use it because Azalea was the one who determined who wielded her power. It was clear that she hated humans in general that even picking Tachibana as the holder wasn't the most ideal for her.

"What now though? Sakurako, your plan was in finding more through Azalea but she's clearly not going to be cooperative."

"We did find out something else though. If we can't break the bond, let's switch owners. But in order to do that we need to get Azalea's permission. Or we can find a loop hole around it. Each one of us has a will attached to our Tri-Ni-Sette items that have chosen us specifically to handle the weight. However, when I asked the full story of how all of this started out there is one element that I've been setting aside for a while that should be useful. The Vendice."

Now that she mentioned it, they were the former Arcoblenos so they must have known something more. "The Vendice were taken out by Tachibana though. I haven't gotten the chance to heal their injuries from the Buco Nero ring yet."

Sakurako shook her head at me. "I have all the information needed about them. Vendice were in charge of the pacifiers because they were the previous Arcobaleno and they've proved this to you because under their bandages were stone pacifiers. But I've seen a dormant Vongola ring before. It doesn't turn to stone, only loses its colour. The pacifiers have their power transferred to the new pacifiers. Without that power, they reverted back to normal stones. They have no will of the original owner."

Everyone turned to Yuni. She held onto the Sky pacifier in her hands as she was never cursed. That was always the case with her. During the brief period of time we came from the future to do the Arcobaleno trails, Aria was able to easily give Yuni the pacifier. I thought that it was because they were blood related but what if it was because there was no will in them? Checkerface was always the one to pick the new candidates but that didn't mean he was the will. He, alone, chose who but did not control it fully or else Colonello wouldn't have been able to get a pacifier since Lal was the suitable one. He merely moved the power from pacifier to pacifier.

"I remember what the Man in Iron hat said during the last battle." Yuni started. "He said that the Arcobaleno were the first ones to be made. That's why he hardly cared about the other rings over the pacifiers. The original stone owners were probably left to find something else that would help them manage it over the years then. That must have been when their wills were put in."

"One more thing about the Tri-Ni-Sette. Decimo, when you created the Vongola Gear what was the base of it?" Tsunayoshi looked to his Vongola Gear at Sakurako's question.

"Um we used the shattered pieces of the original rings. I felt it earlier though. Primo is still in the gear."

"You felt him because it's the same stone. For all of us it was the same stone. The original stone that was re-shaped to be a ring. The exact stones that had the wills input. The previous owner didn't put his will into a stone, only took the power from it and transferred it. If we want to get rid of Azalea's will, then we get rid of the stone and take the power like the previous owner did."

Everything was starting to make sense. When Elena had given me the Stelle ring she had given me the original stone. It was like she possessed the stone and just stayed there. Checkerface was always a separate entity from the Arcobaleno because he never took a stone.

"That's a nice plan but its not going to work. You humans can barely use your powers. Why do you think Primo had to split it between his guardians? Humans are inferior to us that borrowing our power was practically impossible without splitting it. Do you really think you can transfer my power then? Ha, yeah right."

Azalea was right that humans can't hold a candle to the original species. Checkerface was only able to do what he did because he wasn't human. There was merely one sole person that was of the original species. "Yuni isn't human."

Azalea stopped her ridiculing at this. The Arcoableno were the chosen seven to guard over the Tri-Ni-Sette. They had to bare the curse because of the amount of stress on them that the Vongola and Mare rings didn't have. And the one on top of that was the Princess of the Arcobaleno, Yuni of the Giglio Nero.

"That would require a high amount of power..." She stopped to think. "But I think I can make it can work with all of your help."

I felt myself bubbling with excitement when she continued. "It's a lot of pressure to handle the Buco Nero power though. It needs to be someone that has a strong resolve or else the flames would eat them alive in a matter of seconds."

Strong enough resolve? That was the main decider. Each person that got approved by their will had enough resolve in them that, even though flames exhausted us, we can manage to light one. Our flames were just an outwards appearance of our life force. As long as we didn't touch our flames we were alright but for someone normal it would be impossible. If I were to take it on myself, the two rings will kill me instantly.

"I'll do it." I felt my flames flare inside me hearing Xanxus say that. I looked him in the eyes not seeing any sign of a joke. It was true that Xanxus was no regular person and could handle the Buco Nero flames if he wanted to. The problem that I had with it was that he would have to essentially be giving up his Flame of Wrath.

"I can't possibly allow that to happen Xanxus-sama. You won't be able to use your flames anymore. What about your guns? Your flames are a part of you. A symbol that you are Vongola Kyuudaime's son."

"Don't pity me Fia. I'm not his true son. You're the one with true Vongola blood yet you barely use your flames in the first place. I don't need it to survive." I held back my tears. I knew that he wouldn't change his mind for this. In this moment, I remembered that Xanxus was the one to be holding me the day my mom had died. It wasn't related to this incident but it made me feel warm on the inside. We weren't blood related nor we're we raised together. He was still my brother and my boss.

"Come on Xanxus think of Natsuki won't you?" I turned to Sakurako. "If Yuni can transfer the power, wouldn't it be easier to do as the Vongola and Mare are? All of your top officers have matching rings. We can't guarantee that one of them is capable of holding onto all of the Buco Nero's power. Let's split it between your officers then."

I looked to each of the Varia members. If we were to split up the power, then it wouldn't put a strain on any of them. Not only that but it would mean that the balance that the Stelle and Buco Nero would be lessening as well. If one of us were to pass, then the others wouldn't have to die as well since it was simply a seventh of the power. We would be bonded to fate. "Holding onto one of the Tri-Ni-Sette is a big deal. Would it really be something that you would want?"

None of them had to think as they gave me each a grin. The proud Varia grin that they had before taking a mission that any sane person would have done. They didn't need to answer me as I could see the flames burning off of them already. I wouldn't be able to explain words how much they meant to me.

"Thank you."

Thank you to everyone that has read, reviewed, followed and favourited this story! There is only one more chapter to go through to wrap up everything!

Jubei-Jiyu: Thank you! I was really nervous about how I would make Natsuki come back in a way that would make sense so thank you! Also from your reviews I realized that I put a lot more cliff hangers than I thought lol.

sndlr: I'm glad that some people came from the old NGV even though reading those chapters make me cringe at my writing style back then. Thank you sticking for so long!