Disclaimer: I own the OCs, the rest is Akira Amano's work.

Fratellanza

"Well, it smells," Romain commented as Byakuran's body was burning. I didn't spare him a look, clenching my hands around the opening of his black leather jacket, laying on my shoulders.

Romain appeared in the clearing not long after Byakuran died and Tsunayoshi's breakdown. It seemed like Alaric came to help him and that they somehow managed to incapacitate Kikyo. He checked if Byakuran was really dead and then removed his ring from his finger. I barely had had the time to tell him to take the body so we could get rid of it that the Arcobalenos were finally back.

Xanxus was fine too. It seemed like...Romain's blood had very strong curative abilities now.

"You're seriously crying for this guy?" he asked me, almost in an accusing tone. I wiped away a tear.

"I don't know why, I just do. He said we were long time friends, so unconsciously I...I'm grieving." I sniffed loudly and looked up at him. "What now?" He raised a brow.

"Why asking me?"

"Because I'm a teenager. And you don't seem like you came unsure of your victory, I'm sure you had something up your sleeve." He shook his head, black straight locks of hair moving in front of his eyes.

"Fine, the Vindice are taking care of the remaining Millefiore." I widened my eyes.

"Vindice? You know them? Wh..." He slapped his hand on my mouth.

"Don't...ask anything, I'm not telling you about my life Luci." I looked down. I opened my closed fist, sighing at the winged ring in my hand. Without a word, Romain put another one in it. "The Cloud one. You should try to collect them and then leave them to your future self."

I closed my fist, nodded and dropped on my knees. My inhaler was quickly in my mouth.

"Hum...the secondary effects of the activator are starting to appear." I shot him a quizzical look. "Fran took information from the Millefiore about me. He took them to Shamal who came up with something to activate the serum already in your blood but...well, your body's already not in a good shape so..." I started to sway from side to side, even if I was not walking and ended up against a warm, solid chest. He sighed above me. "I get it, just pass out."

I did.

The others could deal with the aftermath.

When I woke up, there was the annoying sound of an ECG and the disgusting smell of antiseptic. I blinked several time to get used to the light and looked around. Relief washed over me when I looked on my right.

Xanxus was there, apparently sleeping. I sat up and shivered when my feet touched the cold floor. I grabbed my pillow and, even without contacts or glasses, threw it right into his face. I was only half satisfied when he groaned and removed the pillow from his face with a snarl.

"The fuck?" he rasped and I glared.

"You're an idiot! Don't ever do that shit again you stupid or I'll fucking kill you!" He blinked at me, clearly not understanding what I was rambling about. "Don't look at me like that stupid! You could have died! Do you seriously want to put that on my mind!? Selfish bastard! Son of a bitch!"

"We have the same mother genius," he said calmly, throwing my pillow back. "You're insulting yourself."

"Shut up!" His eyes met my wide, panicked ones and I grabbed my bottom lip to keep it from quivering.

Very maturely, he turned on his side.

"Don't ignore me!"

"You're loud and woke me up, I'm not talking to you."

"Because I'm mad at you, you're still alive so I'm yelling at you!"

The door opened and a smiling Katryna appeared.

I swore I saw Xanxus tensing for a second.

"Luciana, you should be resting and not yelling." I spared her an unimpressed look and decided to ignore her. "Oh, ignoring me now?" She seemed...slightly frustrated?

Next thing I knew I was pinned down to my bed and couldn't move because of the sedative she injected me. Alright, now I could see her smile was scary.

"I am the doctor here, if I say you rest then you rest, willingly or not. Understood?" I nodded as I could and she clapped her hands in front of her chest with an innocent smile. "Great! Now it's check up time!"

I was pretty sure Xanxus snickered under his breath.

While giving me my check-up, Katryna gave me an update of the situation.

We had won, with shockingly no casualties on our side and everybody was resting. She didn't mention anything about Tsunayoshi and I didn't ask. It wasn't I didn't care but...I wasn't sure if I wanted to know for now. The state he was in...I didn't know how to handle it and it reminded me too much of me when I followed Alaric on missions as a child and cried each time after a kill until I realized it was giving me a roof above my head.

"Dino's fine then, thank you," I thanked her when she told me about my brother. She smiled.

"It was nothing, really." She took a blood sample and put the tube in a small device. Her face turned grim in front of the screen.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing, I just hoped the fight in the forest had not ruined the rest you had had after the Choice but..." She sighed. "It's not as bad I guess." She stood up and left, removing anything linking me to machines or IV.

I got up and sat next to Xanxus on his bed. He sighed and sat up. Without a word, he started to ruffle my hair and I stayed quiet, glaring harshly at the ground. He would not apologize, I knew it, but…

I don't know, he was trying to tell me he was fine and I shouldn't worry so much I guess. I sighed deeply.

"Stupid brother," I mumbled under my breath. He pulled on a lock of hair for a second and laid back down, eyes closed. "Does it hurt?"

"No, painkillers." I went back to my bed.

I should have asked Katryna where Dino was.

We were given a few days to rest before going back to the past, our present. I gave the fake Cloud Mare Ring I had to Dino, to give it to my future self. I was back to walking around with a crutch. It was nothing next to Arro though.

I couldn't stop starring at the empty space where his right arm used to be.

"Stop that already Lulu! You've dealt with Zakuro, I was not going to run the tail between my legs from the amputation!" I smirked.

"Of course not." We were now in the hallway of Kyoya's base. "Superbi can do something about it?" Arro nodded firmly.

"Yeah. I suggested he gave me his right arm but he said he would contact the guy who took care of his prosthesis. I swear, he got offended for no reason when I asked him to give me his arm." I sweat dropped. I could picture the scene. "By the way, you've...talked with Romain?"

"Not in depth, why?" He seemed to be on friendly terms with the Vindice though, it was weird.

"It's just...don't try to look for him in your time." I frowned and stopped.

"Why not?"

"Because the moment he finds you, he'll try to kill you." I was frozen in shock for a second before a bitter smile made its way on my lips.

"He resents me that much for leaving him behind?" Arro just sent me a sympathetic look. We reached my room without a word.

I took a small pouch in my pocket and emptied it on my nightstand. The Mare rings seemed so dull now there was no wielder.

"We'll take care of destroying them, don't worry about it Lulu," Arro told me, sitting on my bed. "If anything...you should think about what you'll do with them in the past as Uni couldn't seal them in your time."

"I don't want to think about it for now," I said quietly. "What's going to happen for you now?"

"Well, first off we get our versions of Sawada, his Guardians, Basil and you back. Then, the VARIA will most likely be tasked of taking care of the remaining Millefiore forces while Sawada and you work to put the Vongolas back at the top." I walked to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"All the people who died because of Byakuran will come back once we leave, so just marry her as fast as you can." He blushed but smiled like an idiot, nodding fervently.

"Have you seen the rest of the VARIA by the way?"

"No, and Xanxus refuses to let them in the room anyway." He laughed. "Do I get along with them?" He shrugged.

"I mean...as coworkers I guess, but you've never showed any...personal interests in them."

We went back to the main room and I blinked at Fran, Romain and Alaric in it. I highly doubted TYL Kyoya would enjoy so many people in his personal space while he was away.

"It's not my fault, the fake Prince hates me and tries the kill me each time I see him," Fran defended himself. Rick sighed.

"Calling him 'fake Prince' each time you see him provokes him and you know it."

"Kufufu," Mukuro chuckled, appearing in front of Arro and I. My friend sighed. "Schlang, stop being a killjoy." I eyed his indigo hair. It grew extremely long in ten years.

"The day you stop being such a bad influence."

"Kufufu...what are you doing Ana?" I had his hair between my fingers. As he looked at me above his shoulder, I returned his gaze, getting a feel of how soft his hair was.

"It's soft." He kufufu-ed and tried to take his hair back. I clenched my hand tighter around it.

"Let go of it."

"You spend ten years in a fish tank and have soft hair, it's not fair." He managed to get away from me. "Are you back on the run again?" He shot Romain a look.

"I'm not sure yet, I already got unexpected help to get out of Vendicare." My Cloud averted his eyes.

"I totally was going to succeed," Fran said next to me. "Really Luci-nee-san, it's true."

"I don't doubt it Fran." There was an actual civilized conversation for a few minutes, Romain quiet in a corner of the room until they decided to leave.

I grabbed Romain's sleeve before he could leave.

"I'll be ready," I told him firmly. He raised a brow. "For your past self, I'll be ready to fight him when he decides to come and find me. If he wants to throw his resentment at me, then I'll gladly take it." Romain deep blue eyes stared at me thoughtfully before he smirked.

"You sound as if you were going to win." Behind him, Kyoya opened the door. He narrowed his eyes at Romain, whose smirk grew. "I mean, as your Cloud it is only natural I give you a run for your money Luci." He turned around. "Kyoya."

Kyoya glared at him and his retreating form before shutting the door behind him. He was visibly fuming against Romain and the way he clearly bragged about being my Cloud. I smiled softly and went to him, crossing my fingers with his.

"Kyoya, stop it with that face or it will stay stuck like this." He glared at me, but his glare was a lot weaker. It vanished completely after a couple of seconds and his forehead was against mine. He sighed deeply.

"Stupid."

"Hun hun."

"You were covered in blood." I let go of his hands to hug him around the neck, my right hand buried in his soft hair. He was quick to bury his face in the crook of my neck, his arms around my waist.

"I'm still here, ain't I?"

"Hn."

"You know what I'm going to do when we get home? Sleep. I'm going to sleep for a week straight, so don't expect me to do any work." He scoffed and moved back, his hands on my hips.

"I'll punish you for that." I raised an unimpressed brow.

"Are you now?"

"Ye..." I interrupted him by kissing him at the corner of his lips. I pressed my face against his shoulder to hide my face, but he was silent, and not moving. "Hum, maybe I can overlook it if you have good arguments." I blushed furiously at...whatever he was implying. The tone of his voice too...I was pretty sure he was being flirty. Or trying to, because I doubted he was more experienced than me in that field.

We hugged for a few minutes, not moving in the middle of the room. It was fine by me.

"Let's go home," he whispered to me, his voice muffled by my neck.

"Agree."

My eyes were scanning every single words in the file Dino had given me.

"Ana? What do you think?"

"I think I'm not a scientist and don't understand all of the scientific terms Dino," I replied sarcastically, looking up at him for a second.

"Well I don't either but I got the gist of it!" I sighed and closed the file.

It was this Daisy's guy. All of the remaining Funeral Wreaths, the ones still alive, were sent to Vendicare. Basically, Daisy and Kikyo were sent there, because the boxes in their chest fell under human experimentation and those were punishable. Knowing now their Family had lost their leader, who knew what would happen to them. For all I knew, they could be dissected or something. During Ghost's rampage, while he was just walking around the various battlefields to collect more flames for Byakuran, Bluebell and Torikabuto both died. They probably avoided something worse in the end.

In any case, the effects of the Carnage Box in his chest were...too similar to what the Projetto Immortale aimed at. Clearly, Daisy in his dinosaur form and Romain on a regular daily basis had a similar biological structure.

Basically, Byakuran, through his knowledge of parallel worlds, pretty much did the same thing my father did, put it in a box and then in a human being for them to use it whenever they wanted to, whereas Romain, or even I...had to go through much longer process. Knowing how Byakuran said we were long time friends but I didn't remember...it was possible he knew everything there was to know about my biological family and from there he…

I closed the file as Romain appeared. I gave it to him.

"The Vindice said my father was supposed to go in Vendicare during my trial, I'm sure they'll have more use out of this than you." Dino nodded.

"Sure, I just thought you might want to know."

"I understand, thank you." My brother embraced my tightly and I returned the gesture, although with less strength because Katryna judged necessary to make me wear a splint for my arm once again. He released me quickly.

"Get home safely and be careful, alright? I don't know what your new future holds, but be careful."

"Of course Dino." He grinned and left, Romain leaving as well and soon, Xanxus was in front of me. I frowned at him. "Are you sure you should be walking?" He rolled his eyes.

"Stop nagging me, you're not my parent." I tried to touch his wound to prove him wrong, that he should be in bed still, but he grabbed my wrist and gave me a disapproving look.

Not a glare, not anger, just disapproving, pretty much as if he was scolding a child.

Quietly, he took my chin between his fingers and raised my head to look at me properly in the eyes. A frown was marring his face.

"Xanxus?"

"You were still a child," he whispered before sighing. What was he talking about? "I was telling myself you were no longer a child ten years ago but you were still one." I pursed my lips. Legally speaking, I was a child but...I wasn't sure if I really were one anymore.

I would always be one with Dino but…

"Am I?" I whispered, more to myself than to him. Without a word, he slipped his arms around me and pressed me against him. I hugged him back more hesitantly.

"If I had started with this and saying I was glad you were alive, you wouldn't have been so awkward in my presence, would you?" I leaned my cheek against his chest.

"You did tuck me in." He groaned above me and I chuckled. "For what it's worth, I was glad to finally see you out of the ice." We stayed like that for a few more seconds and he pulled me away. He put a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"Don't...go directly to my past self, let him do the first step." I furrowed my brows.

"Alright," I accepted, even if I wanted to do it.

"I've never hated you." As if to prove his words, he briefly kissed me on the forehead.

I smirked at his visible embarrassment and resisted the urge to pull on his cheeks like a grandma. I didn't know him that well, but I knew for sure he was letting me see him without any barriers and I shouldn't cross the line.

I opted for kissing him on the cheek.

"I'm totally burning the raccoon tail and sending you in a nursing home for your thirtieth birthday brother."

"Don't you fucking dare," he replied with a glare. I grinned at him and left.

"I have to go! Be careful with the white hair!" He rolled his eyes.

We were sent back to the past.

There was one, little problem though.

"Luciana?"

"...hey Boss."

I was pretty sure I was the only one who landed in Italy, in front of a disbelieved Sawada Iemitsu. He grabbed his head

I was getting over my shock when he raised his head to me.

"Byakuran?" I widened my eyes, not giving any attention to Lal hurtling in the room behind me. "Report, now. Someone go look for Basil as well." I gave my report, almost in a robotic way.

Once I was done with it, I almost dropped on my knees.

I was back in the past and the fight against the Millefiore, against Byakuran, was over. There would no longer be planning, having to stay underground, running from them…

It was over.

"It's over, right?" I mumbled under my breath. My shoulders were firmly grabbed by my Boss a second later.

"Yes, good job Luciana."

Basil had also landed here, so I was sent to the function bedroom I had here. It was...pretty empty if it werenot for some suits I always had there and hygienic products.

If Lal had her memories like she said she had, then who knew how many people had their future selves' memories.

In any case, I texted Arro to tell him I was in Italy right now and would be in Japan in a few days. I was about to call Dino when my phone rang, his name appearing on the screen.

I picked up.

I was in a strange mindset to say the least. Iemitsu congratulated me on the way I handled the situation when Tsunayoshi didn't know what to do. I apologized to Lal for saying what I said before the Merone Base but she just shook her head, telling me I had been right and that her future self had been more focus afterward.

Basil asked me how I was feeling. I couldn't really say, so he just told me to rest.

Dino, when I had him on the phone, was panicked. He wanted to know if it was true, then how I was feeling. He told me I should go home for now, rest, probably visit the hospital but I declined, saying once in Namimori I would go see Shamal.

Katryna's face and how she looked down at my blood test...it was not a good sign.

I was nowhere near Japan though, or CEDEF anymore, not even home.

I was staring at the VARIA castle instead.

I knew...TYL Xanxus told me not to make the first step but...I don't know, I found myself here.

The actual weight of what transpired in the Future was slowly but surely dawning on me and even if I could go to Dino, who would let me have a breakdown and be there for me, I just...felt more connected to Xanxus when it came to the Future.

Thinking about it, the first time I came here I saw all the traps right away. I remembered thinking they were pretty lame but...but what if it was the Mare Ring as well? It seemed like I was strongly connected to one of my parallel self who lived there so...maybe unconsciously, I just knew where they were and how to get inside easily.

I jumped on the tree branch right in front of my brother's office. The sun was setting, it was quite cold and I had a sport bag on my shoulder. I was glad to see the light on his desk on though. He seemed to be working.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Maybe I shouldn't be there after all.

"You're going to freeze," a husky voice said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Xanxus went back to his chair and I jumped on the windowsill. I stayed on it for a few minutes until Xanxus sighed and turned around, closing whatever file he had been reading.

I got up and closed the window behind me.

"Do you have the memories?" He nodded. "Then...I know your future self told me not to come and wait but...everything that happened in the past two months for me is dawning on me. I...I wanted my big brother." He stared at me quietly. If there was one thing I noticed about him was that in situations where he knew he was not...totally in control I guess, he would stare a lot without saying a word. This was in private situations of course.

I had the same habit after all.

"Are you sure you don't want Cavallone?" he asked me quietly. Actually, I almost didn't catch it.

"No, I spent more time with you so..." I didn't finish my sentence because I had a huge lump in my throat.

Xanxus's training had been effective but...it had been harsh, and to make me angry he sometimes said things that...that hit too close to home.

And Byakuran, in the Future, was dead.

And all the stress and pressure and…

As the first sob escaped my lips, I was pressed against a warm chest, one arm around my waist, the other in my hair. I hugged him back and dropped on my knees, Xanxus keeping me against him as I cried like a baby. I didn't know how long I cried for, but my brother didn't let go of me.

I had put all of the stress and pressure in a corner of my mind for me to deal with later and now that later was now...I knew why TYL Kyoya didn't want me to act as the External Advisor.

He saw my breakdown coming miles away, most probably because he witnessed my future self having some.

"You're spending the night here," he stated, not asking me but just plainly telling me. I was not about to let go of his shirt anyway. "Make sure to tell Haneuma once you're feeling better." Then, in a whisper I barely heard, he said: "I don't hate you."

"You need to learn how to enter someone's place Hibari," Arro told him sternly, standing in the hallway. "You know, ring the bell, wait for someone to let you in and then ent..."

"She's not here," Hibari interrupted him rudely. He noticed how Arro was scratching his right arm.

"Yeah well, she's in Italy. She landed in the CEDEF when the Arcobalenos sent you back in the present." The scratching intensified.

It didn't take a genius to realize the Italian teenager was disturbed by his future self being amputated.

"So huh...it's really real? Really true?" Hibari raised a questioning brow at him. "I mean, your fight against the Millefiore and Lulu basically...being a part of the Tri-Ni-Sette?"

"It appears so." Arro frowned. Hibari was aware in the future, he had lost many people, including his fiancee and knowing her identity was probably disturbing.

"So...wait, it means that Luciana and you in ten years...you guys were really married? And in a relationship for almost ten years?"

Finding this one piece of information was probably less disturbing. At first, when he saw a picture of himself, wearing a suit, and Luciana wearing a white dress, he was slightly confused before realizing it was...to be expected.

From the turn their relationship had taken since she spent the night in his bed, it was to be expected.

"Yes."

"Does she know?"

"I don't think so," the skylark replied. "And keep it to yourself."

Arro nodded. Knowing her, if she were to know they were married, she would be uncomfortable and try to avoid him until she got used to the idea.

As if he was going to be ignored.

Even if their relationship was beyond just a regular friendship by now, Hibari still hated the fact Yamamoto Takeshi, as well as having a crush on her to her utter obliviousness, was calling her 'Ana'. He was too familiar.

Rokudo Mukuro was too familiar with her as well.

Actually a lot of boys were way too familiar with her. Luciana was his only. Maybe he could be more lenient if it was one of her brothers or Schlang, maybe even Arroganza because that one would not stop. She kept focusing on other people though, and it was unnerving.

"Do...do you also know about the miscarriage?" Arro asked him quietly.

"You'll never speak about this," Hibari replied with a dark glare. Arro nodded.

This particular event would not happen and he would make sure of it.

Fratellanza

Thanks for reading this chapter! Thanks to Alpha wolf ML, tenimyuohtori, and LyriaHart for their reviews!

Bye!