Mukuro and Chikane

Chikane was way ahead of Mukuro.

She paid Sailor Moon...Tsukino Usagi a visit at night.

She put Usagi to sleep in a nightmare she can't wake from until its all over.

She showed him the memories of Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa from the day they were kidnapped, taken to Italy...and when their hell began.

No matter how much she begged to stop, it never did.

She never dreamed such cruel people existed, causing Mukuro to murder them all when he gained power out of his hatred.

His reason to live with his fellow survivors, were revenge.

'That, is all real, Sailor Moon.' Chikane appeared next to the sobbing blonde. 'They wish to be saved. Purged clean of what the Estraneo did to them. Only you can save them with your power. Cleanse them, so that they may regain their memories of their loved ones and be able to go home again.'

'But is that all I can do?' Usagi sobbed out. 'Nobody deserves that, nobody!'

'Yes...but there are humans who are worse than monsters these days.' Chikane sadly shook her head. 'Chibimoon told you about Mukuro-kun, correct? They are now looking for us. They want to go home. But they're afraid to go home because of their alterations in their bodies. Only you can save them now.'

'So where on Earth are they?'

'Go to Juuban Park as Sailor Moon, in your strongest form. As Princess Serenity.' Chikane advised. 'You must get there first while the city is asleep. Like, right now.'

xxx

'Usagi-chan, you've been crying and begging for it to stop, but you won't wake up no matter what we tried!' Luna cried as she and Chibiusa loomed over her. 'What happened?! It's a miracle your parents and Shingo didn't wake up from all that racket!'

'I-it's terrible...' Usagi sniffled. 'I saw lots of horrible things! Years ago kids my age are kidnapped! Then underwent horrible experiments to turn them into bio-weapons!' Luna and Chibiusa gawked at her, horrified. 'Chibiusa, you've known the kid she rescued once, he was one of those kids!' she wailed in broken sobs.

'Ehhhh?!' Chibiusa squawked.

'I have to go to Juuban Park...Somnio Kori says I should get there first before they do!'

'We're coming with you!'

xxx

Juuban Park...2:30 am...

'We're guided to here...what can be here?' Ken wondered as Chikane's ghostly form appeared as out came Sailormoon and Chibimoon. The blonde was just their age and the pinkette, years younger than their benefactor.

'Glad you got here.' said Chikane with a smile. 'Sailormoon...iya, Princess Serenity.' she told Sailormoon. 'It's time.' Sailormoon nodded as she took out her Silver Crystal from her brooch, and instantly caused herself and Chibimoon to become princesses to the boys' disbelief.

Their full powers caused the rest of the senshi to awaken in their sleep, sensing them at full power while the trio felt how incredible the power was.

'What the-?!'

They quickly got up, transformed and sought the location of their Princess in a hurry.

'What on earth could have happened? Why is that power let loose?!' Sailor Uranus gasped frantically as they had to leave behind a toddler sleeping in her room.

'We worry about that later, we need to know why she manifested as a Princess again!' Sailor Pluto cried as they hurried, jumping from roof to roof while the Inners ran in the streets.

The Outers were thus the first to arrive at the park where they saw Princess Serenity encasing three boys in light.

'Small Lady! What's happening?!' Sailor Pluto gasped out to Chibimoon in her princess form.

'Sailormoon got a terrible nightmare about these three.' said Small Lady. 'They were just her age. As children, they were kidnapped from home, and subjected to inhumane human experimentation by the Mafia in Italy.' the Outers gaped at her in disbelief before looking at the trio in a ball of light. 'That purple-haired guy went on a spree, destroying that family to escape because he and the other two are the only survivors.' she explained while pale-faced from recalling Serenity's tale. 'The other kids...are gone. They came back to Japan to go home but afraid to because their bodies are so altered, so Somnio Kori appealed for help before she guides them home.'

She then explained about their new enemies and who Somnio Kori was.

'That ojouchan, huh?' Sailor Uranus mused as they looked at the beautiful girl in a nightgown and barefoot with a bandage-like shawl floating around her. She then approached Chikane. 'Can you do the same for us? Enable us to fight against the Dead Moon as well?'

'Sure.' Chikane smiled. 'Just remember, the powers I lend you work only against the Dead Moon Remless, OK?' she said, conjuring up crystal hearts. A dark blue one for Uranus, a sea-green one for Neptune, and a red-violet one for Pluto and gave it to them, causing a Costume Change and an increase in power.

'So now we gained the ability to strike against nightmares...sounds something out of a dream indeed.' Neptune mused thoughtfully, intrigued as soon, it was all over by the time the Inners got there.

'Arigatou, Princess Serenity.' Chikane thanked Serenity. 'Its now time for me to take them home before I go back to my own battles.'

'Somnio Kori...are there any more children in need of healing?' Serenity asked her worriedly. 'That nightmare of their lives you showed me is just too cruel!'

'I find them through their nightmares, the cries of their hearts.' said Chikane somberly. 'Not everyone can be saved. That is the bitter reality...we can only save those within our reach. Saving some...is better than unable to save anyone or anything at all. But I will let you know if I find more in need of your healing.' she said. 'Farewell.' and she and the unconscious boys are gone in sparkles of light.

'Sonna...' Serenity deflated before she changed back into Sailormoon before being back in her pajamas...before fainting.

'USAGI!'

'...using the vast powers of Princess Serenity is still too much for her.' Sailor Pluto shook her head.

'Add the stress of what she dreamed tonight...what she saw in her dream tonight was too cruel.' Luna shook her head. 'She was crying so hard, begging for it to stop but those dreams turned out to be memories of those boys. It already happened.' she said sadly. 'Usagi-chan saw how cruel humans can be for power and profit at the front seat.'

'Let's get her home at any rate.' said Sailor Uranus, picking up Usagi.

'We'll talk about this tomorrow at my place.' said Sailor Mars. 'It's way late and we need Usagi-chan for a better understanding.'

'Let's wait for her to calm down though.' said Sailor Mercury worriedly. 'What she saw tonight can't be easy on her.'

xxx

Chikane's apartment...she put the boys in two futons she pushed together, while causing the families of these boys to dream about the fates of their sons. She split herself in three to guide the families as well about their son.

Just like Usagi, they freaked out in their sleep...as she worked to forge school files and had to edit a number of school photos and yearbooks, and edited some grades on believable levels for the boys with the only high grades they got being Japanese and English.

Thus when the families woke up, each parent found perfectly-forged files on their beds, along with a Graduation Diploma set to be given next spring. For High School.

And the knowledge that the boys are currently healing, but available for pick up two days later at Juuban Park at noon. They're still under severe stress and exhaustion just to stow away for Japan for free without being found!

Later that day, at 6 pm...

'Wow, you guys have a sound sleep~' Chikane looked at them, dressed in her casual clothing. 'How did it feel being healed by the princess?'

'I never felt cleaner in my whole life.' said Chikusa. 'And my memories are back.'

'Yeah, like everything they injected in me is all gone.' said Ken. 'I can no longer use my Channels and I don't excessively drool anymore either.' he said with a marvel.

'...did I get my eye back?' Mukuro frowned in wonder as Chikane conjured a mirror for him to use. 'Ah...its back.'

'Princess Serenity will soon become Neo Queen Serenity in the future. You can almost say she's a goddess made mortal.' Chikane explained. 'But as it is now, Princess Serenity can't hold that much power yet, severe stress and all so she can only be a Princess for a short period before succumbing to exhaustion. As she is now, Sailormoon is as far as she can go.'

'Is that right...'

'Well, you guys should rest because two days from now, you'll see your parents again and your siblings.' Chikane told them. 'I have to tell them everything so they would know what to do for your sake. And transition is pretty easy after.'

'...did our parents even miss us?' Ken wondered anxiously.

'They mourned your death, family altar at home and all when Police could not find you years ago...only to learn by dream that you're alive and traveling home.' Chikane told them. 'They want you back, and hoping to start over.' that, was very foreign for the boys, and difficult for them to comprehend, considering how many years of hell they suffered under the Estraneo. They've forgotten what was kindness and such like.

'Chikane...but what about you?' Mukuro frowned. This girl made it clear she's fine with her lot in life and something in him just can't accept it.

'I've long since accepted that I'll be alone for life, unless I lucked out somehow since my powers as a Dream Maiden won't last forever.' said Chikane softly. 'Or maybe I'll get new friends and family in my own way someday so I won't be alone anymore. I also forged some files and saving up money so I can go back to school one day since I can't be a beggar forever.' she explained. 'My job is tough as a Dream Maiden but I'm OK with it. I was happy that I was needed, after everything.' she said. 'I'll try going back to school next spring. I know who to ask for help for enrollment and act as my legal guardian so I'll be fine.'

'Ah, you'll be badgering those Sailor Soldiers into helping you out?'

'Yup! Dinner's almost ready so hang on OK? I'm just waiting for the steaks to cook!'

'Yeah, but where ARE we? And why is this place so small?' Chikusa asked, 'We barely fit in here!' he said as they looked at what's clearly an all-purpose room. Just enough for five futons placed side-by-side together.

'Ahahaha, I live in a really cheap apartment just for one person, of course the space is tiny!' Chikane giggled. 'Japan's into Minimalism because there's not much space no matter where you go. Japan is a very mountainous island country. Farms are prioritized over living space. So Japanese have to deal with living in small spaces all the time, you know? It'll be the same in your homes when you go home soon.'

'Ah...'

'My apartment only has a bedroom for myself and a kitchen. No living room. Costs me a hundred thousand every month but its the cheapest deal I got. Oh, and the bathrooms and toilet are separate, yet still as tiny. You'll get used to the space eventually.'

Dinner was a very delicious A5 Kobe Tenderloin steak topped with thick gravy and an egg, a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup and a plate of pickles. And they got a spoon and a fork, not chopsticks.

Their first dinner after ages of fast food...

...it was a bit overwhelming for the trio.

'What fast food did this come from?' Ken asked, his mind going blank.

'Muuu! I cooked them, I did not order outsiiiide!' Chikane moaned indignantly. 'Kids in Japan learn how to cook at ten years old!'

'Huh? Kids learn to cook at ten?' she got owlish looks for this. 'In the west kids don't cook. At all.'

'You guys, have a lot to learn...' Chikane's shoulders sagged in dismay.

The boys exchanged looks.

'Kids in Japan work so soon?'

'We do! We learn how to do chores at age 5, especially for eldest kids since who'll babysit when the parents are out working?'

Chikane thus had to teach them while they eat dinner when she got called.

'This happens every week!' she swore. 'Gotta go!' and upon changing, she got into her gate.

'...wow, she really goes out to help deal with monsters does she?' Ken blinked owlishly.

'Her fate is a cruel one.' Mukuro snorted. 'Her so-called ancestor is a Mafia Boss. Chikane's naive that he only gave her, her stolen gifts back so she's useful as a mafioso's tool one day, not because he cares for her as she hoped he would. She innocently thinks her ancestor gave a damn about her when she told me her tale in the dreamworld.' he sneered, ever the jaded cynical nihilist that he was.

'Vongola Family's heirs are all dead by the time we were thrown in Vendicare. She's the last backup heir of Vongola. And the fate of Mafia Daughters is a cruel political marriage for profit and her children political tools the minute she's pregnant with them. She'll have a cruel fate and she's helpless as her mind and heart is that of a child's, so she is easy picking, as a puppet of the family for political and power gains. Vongola is looking for her as we speak but her appearance has drastically changed when last they checked, she looks like her mother. She'll be hidden for now but for how long is the question.'

'How long...?'

'Sky Flames...if I can create Illusions, the family power is Sky Flames and Hyper Intuition.' Mukuro explained. 'If her pursuers sensed her power, the jig is up.' he said darkly. 'We can't let her fall into their hands. Let her stay the way she is now and have a chance of a normal life once her role as Somnio Kori is over. If we of all people got a chance, she deserves it more.'

'Yeah, she's innocent alright.' said Chikusa with a frown. 'The way she talks, the way she carries herself...it's like that of a girl younger than her age. A literal child.'

'She was alone for years. No good example to follow from in how to be a girl her age.' Mukuro sighed. 'The only mature part she has, was her duty to the world while acting as Somnio Kori. Being a human girl on the other hand...is a total zero.'

Unknown to them, Helios who lives in Stallion Reve, heard their every word about his champion.

"Is that how they truly feel?" he frowned as he paid the Spirit of the Ring a visit, and let him see through his eyes.

'...is that how the boys felt about me?' Giotto asked Pegasus, looking utterly pained at how they painted him as when he's anything but.

'The Mafia has severely broken their souls that their hearts are steeped in darkness and blood.' Helios showed him their lives under the Estraneo. 'They have a low opinion of everyone in your community, wishing to keep your descendant away for her own sake. To have the life your child deserves.' Giotto winced.

'Your child' indeed!

Chikane is literally his child now. She blotted away what made her Sawada Nana and Iemitsu's daughter. With Helios' power she has, she took the best of her genes and changed her physiology. He was her father because she chose his genes as he was the only one to show her kindness and affection if only for a short while while her family hurt her emotionally and psychologically when she was a 'no-good' not her fault.

'I wish the same, but I also wish for my family's salvation from the blood and sin it so steeped itself in.' said Giotto sadly. 'I'm...at a loss. For Chikane's happiness and our family's salvation...what is the correct path?'

'That is up to Chikane and those who truly loves her and wishes for her happiness.' said Helios. 'Despite Mukuro's hopes, Chikane's fate is to be the next family head.'

'Helios, show certain things to Reborn, the Sun Arcobaleno for me.' Giotto asked him. 'He must know and understand. That will be the first and last he'll see you.'

xxx

That night when Reborn slept, he dreamed.

He dreamed of how Chikane began. Her time with her family.

At first its a typical happy family, before Iemitsu came with Nono when she was five.

When the sealing happened before she went to preschool, she became the clumsy no-good she was known to be in her files, from what Iemitsu gets from his wife at home.

Not just no-good.

What happens to a Sealed Sky is Inverted Disharmony. The cause of her clumsiness, and how her 'uselessness' was so noticed nobody could look away, leading to bullying and social ostracism, and how her airheaded mother can casually but callously hurt her daughter instead of supporting her.

When Iemitsu calls home, she wanted to tell her father how hurt she was and wanting help, but Nana wouldn't let her talk to her father, monopolizing his time while casually dismissing her, so she thought Iemitsu doesn't care about her either.

So Chikane ran away, ignoring the bruises and scrapes she gets for finding no one who would show her kindness and felt that their love for her was a lie.

There were times she nearly died in her journey, but she survives.

Reborn noted that from her Dying Will, the seal on her gets chipped little by little. And she regains her coordination and instincts little by little as well.

By the time she got to a city in a next vision via Gilligan Cut, she was adopted by a group of homeless grannies who taught her how to read and write patiently, as well as the Math they could remember. Unlike the people of her hometown, they were very patient with her, to her luck. It helps that she was determined to learn, not wanting to be a no-good anymore.

She lived the life of a beggar, a life she should not have lived, being a Mafia Heiress and Princess who should have lived luxuriously. But Reborn felt that this was a good way to teach her that life isn't easy. That she would learn how to survive and be a fighter.

However, being with Chikane attracted people who gave the makeshift family money. More money than a beggar can hope to have, hence while living in abandoned places exposed to sheer heat in summer and sheer cold in winter, they have full stomachs, living off of vegetable hotpots, being the easiest to wash off and deal with. An all-vegetable and egg diet is somewhat healthy and OK...by day when she can learn normally again and knows enough Japanese to get by, she often goes to the Public Library to read books as her form of education. She reads what her grandmothers tell her to read. But unfortunately, they can't help her in Math as they had forgotten Junior High up to College Math, remembering only the basics. So when they got enough money for the day, Chikane would self-study, and her grandmothers would save her dinner.

Not a bad attitude, he thought approvingly. Chikane read books for Social Studies, Science, English and Languages(but unable to speak due to no idea how to pronounce), Music, and Art. But she also reads Fairy Tales, Mythologies, Medical Books, Computers(sadly cannot practice), Literature, even Magazines, what she can get her hands on, while subconsciously harmonizing her brain with what she reads, thus never forgets what she reads. She also increases her vocabulary by reading dictionaries. She has DRIVE because she feared mistreatment for even the smallest bit of incompetence shown. On her free time, she does push-ups, calisthenics, squats and stair-climbing in the abandoned building they lived in as a form of P.E as she can't do all else without supervision, and they can't afford a hospital treatment!

But when Chikane turned 9, she began losing her grandmothers to winter, one by one, their aged, frail bodies unable to withstand the cold anymore. She's known grief and loss many times over, until her last grandmother died when she was 12, leaving her all alone in the world, causing her to hate winter. She herself got so sick she nearly died from extreme cold and survived off of her dying will alone.

But her seal was 80% gone by then.

After that, she was alone for a year, lonely and heartbroken, felt she would be alone all her life, fearing she'll never be taken in by kind people ever again. Who'd take her in? And she swore never to go back to a place that only hurt her.

Then in a dream, Reborn saw her encounter with a Pegasus that can talk...and freaking Primo himself. He was the one to remove her Seal and completely healed her by reharmonizing her disharmonized body, giving her back her normal life.

Due to his kindness and the fact he was family in the mind of a mentally-young, hurt and lonely child, Chikane was blown away that 'her grandfather' actually gave a damn about her. She was in shock before utterly struck with happiness even if Primo was a ghost. And when the Pegasus, Helios asked her for help as she was the only one who could shelter him, she was just as mindblown that she, a no-good girl was needed by someone...and fully understanding why he had to hide in her dreams.

Reborn had seen what happened to the Mirror World of Earth, Elysion, the Land of Dreams when 'the witch' attacked that world for the Golden Crystal Helios possessed for who-knows-what-and-why. And if Elysion is destroyed, so will Earth. While she had his body, he ensured he had the last laugh, taking the crystal with his spirit, taking on the form of a Pegasus. And a Dream Mirror harboring him, will turn gold, hence Chikane's Dream Mirror, was gold. He had been by Chikane's side in the form of Stallion Reve, and her only friend since.

She also took on his duties as High Priest of Elysion, adopting the pseudonym Somnio Kori, Latin for Dream Maiden. Then she changed her body inside and out as her first step as a means to reject those who rejected her and never be found by them and taken back to 'the world of pain' she didn't deserve. From how he saw it, Primo is now her father and in this era, his only blood child. She no longer has the genes of other Vongolas! As for her maternal family, she has the best she could get, that contributed to her new appearance, before she began helping the clumsy Sailor Soldiers in order for her and Helios to have aid against the Dead Moon.

He saw her days with Helios...until she encountered a Nightmare belonging to a boy her age. A 'feeling' he felt in the dream made him know this is very significant. So he watched well.

This dream was about a boy named Rokudo Mukuro. She helped save him from terrible nightmares...courtesy of the Estraneo Famiglia, exposing her to cruel, inhumane atrocities. He never dreamed that since their ostracism from the Mafia for inventing the Possession Bullet, they took to experimenting on children instead! While it horrified her, she focused more on the suffering boy until she freed him and helped him remember his Dream, one of the 10% to have a Dream Mirror.

He also learned that he used to be a Vendicare Inmate, in prison for massacring many Mafia Famiglias out of thirst for revenge for his suffering, after awakening to powerful Illusion Powers as a Mist. With him are two other boys, the only survivors of the evil laboratory in a mad bid to rise again. Mukuro killed the whole famiglia himself before he took in Joshima Ken and Kakimoto Chikusa. He had seen what the boys had done that got them in the feared prison...and Mukuro asked Chikane to free him and his gang, which she reluctantly did in return for behaving as she has no idea how long she has as Somnio Kori. She had erased their prison records, be it paper or data and memories of all who knew the gang. It was as if they never existed in the Mafia Community at all. It was why he had no knowledge of them as inmates!

It was a promise Mukuro kept...with good reason.

Now that he was free, he regained his memories of his childhood before his brainwashing to forget his past. He had a family. Actual loving parents and a newborn baby brother five years younger than he when kidnapped as a child. Before his brainwashing, his only wish was to return home, far away from his suffering before he forgot it all. His true name was Rokudo Tomoki. His name was changed to Mukuro to suit being a weapon of the Estraneo as out of the kidnapped children and the Estraneo Famiglia's own children, he was the strongest.

Due to Chikane having a short time, he damn kept his promise as there's no other get-out-free card and he had no way of knowing other means of freedom had he and his crew pursued revenge, and life in Vendicare was nasty!

He only took the boys with him out of kinship, and abandoned MM and Lancia after making the two forget the other three, mindwiping them completely. He also kept the Estraneo's massive fortunes with him and the monies of the famiglias his group killed. His new goal was to return home after finding Chikane again to cleanse their bodies of filth in a bid to make them weapons.

Chikane then introduced them to Sailor Moon who was in fact, a princess, Princess Serenity who could heal the boys and restore their bodies back to normal.

Once they woke up in her apartment, they had a small talk, but when she was summoned for fighting help again, she left the boys...leading to a conversation heard by Helios who in turn communicated with Primo...and Reborn learned why he saw all this in his dreams.

Considering he was to be Chikane's Tutor when he found the girl...Primo wanted him to understand her.

Well, Mission Accepted.

He then woke up at 7 in the morning when his alarm clock rang in his hotel room.

He knows where Chikane is now.

However, he had an instruction...to never tell Vongola where she was.

Well, at least he still gets paid...just for looking for her.

But he knew one thing.

Mukuro or Tomoki, whatever, is heavily invested in keeping Chikane away and will do all means to do so. Considering he and Chikane spent a week together and he was indebted to the girl. He felt that if he of all people got a chance, she deserved it more, knowing what's in store for her as a daughter of a mafioso and he didn't want that for her. That's good Guardian Material, but a potential conflict of interest ala Giotto and Daemon will happen for sure. Its inevitable.

But first, he has to find a nicer place to stay for both of them.

Indeed, Japanese Spaces are so small. His hotel suite was smaller than he was used to in size but thankfully amenities remained the same level. He really missed the huge bathrooms too dammit!

He'll have to find a nice house for their use due to her duties. She cannot leave Azabu-Juuban...not that she wanted to anyway.