Would you bleed for me?
Lick it off my lips like you needed me?
Would you sit me on a couch?
With your fingers in my mouth?
You look so cool when you're reading me
It's early in the morning by the time Aria finally wakes up. All the others having gone their own ways for the night. Exhausted emotionally beyond what they were used to, it had been a hard few hours of arguing back and forth, trying hard to not place blame but fighting enviably breaking out every few minutes as everyone tried to understand what exactly had happened.
Reborn himself was probably the only one not yet completely exhausted. He'd let the others have their arguments, only stepping in once things started losing rationality, then backing away again to talk with Verde. As the night had deepened they'd slowly lost members. Viper leaving first after a harshly pointed question from Colonello on why exactly they hadn't seen this coming before it happened. Fon leaving immediately after Viper, shooting Colonello a ice cold look that had the blonde cringing into the sofa.
Lal March left next hours after the first two. She'd been holding it together longer than any of them since learning she'd most likely barely had a Bond with Skull to begin with. A blow none of them had seen coming until Reborn shared his deduction that the small, barely clinging on one she did have, had probably been the easiest to break.
He'd told them all about what he'd seen smoothly, giving nothing of his own thoughts away, about watching Skull in that strange wooden ball he'd made when the Bonds started to break. How they would flash with all the different colors of the rainbow. It hadn't been hard to tell what color corresponded with who. Colonnello's had been around a thirty second pulse of color, where Lal March's wouldn't have even registered if Reborn hadn't been watching for it so intensely.
She'd shot her own look at Colonello when he'd tried to move to join her, leaving the male half of the Rain's to pout on the sofa. Not even ten minutes later the Blonde had looked challengingly at Reborn who waved a hand basically dismissing the man since they had nothing else to add yet. He'd jumped up off the couch and was gone without a backward glance, taking the last of the rooms normal atmosphere with him.
Then there were three.
Verde hadn't made a sound while all the others left, simply walked up next to Reborn to stare out at Skull's dented motorcycle. The customized one he'd made such a long time ago when Verde thought there might be a way back into.. if not Skulls trust, then maybe his good graces. He'd always hoped that the peace offering would show that Skull had no real reason to fear him anymore, that maybe they could have a working relationship that wasn't based off of Skull's terror of him, no matter how well hidden it had become throughout the years. It seemed that plan hadn't worked out nearly as well as Verde had always assumed.
The two most calculative members of their little family stood in contemplative silence for a long while, each taking their own never-spoken comfort in not being alone. Or at least being alone together while not being judged on what they would have to do soon to protect the small amount of people they both claimed as theirs. Something the others didn't need to know about.
Verde was not a weak Flame User by any means but it's Reborn, of course, who sense's Aria waking up first. With a short glance at Verde that covers more than enough information between them the scientist moves towards the side of the room, away from Aria's direct line of sight
Reborn turns back towards the large glass window, his eyes focused far away in the distance. The glow of the rising sun, orange and yellow rays painting the room cast him into sharp relief. Aria's breath catches when she wakes up enough to notice that most everyone is gone. Even being the Sky Arcobaleno, probably because she's the Sky Arcobaleno Aria knows being alone with Reborn in this stifling room spelled out nothing good for her. Verde watched on dispassionately as Aria shrunk down into herself. Looking more like a guilty thief then the self-possessed Donna she was supposed to be. It was.. disquieting to see. No Sky of theirs should ever look that way, not for anyone and not for any reason. Verde already knew this was going to be worse then he'd thought.
"I warned you."
Verde shivered as the room's aura got noticeably tenser at Reborn's words. Aria is completely silent. The sound of her clothes scraping against the couch she'd finally been placed on after she failed to wake up with the others was loud in the silent room. Her breathing was rapidly increasing.
"I warned you to be careful. Cautious. I told you to find your Lightning and get Yuni back." Reborn says quietly, voice pitched conversationally. He still hasn't looked at her, face hidden in the shade of his fedora as he looks out towards their Cloud's vehicle. Verde wonders what Aria sees when she looks at this Reborn, the one she's never known. He knows what he sees in this man when Reborn changes just enough to be wrong. He wonders if it's different for everyone.
Aria shifts nervously but doesn't answer. Her rapid breathing is audible in the silence as is her quiet panicking and confusion. She doesn't understand what's going on but Verde knows she can feel that whatever it is its very, very bad. She twists around just far enough to catch sight of him hiding in the shadows that the rising sun casts. She pleads with her entire body, even going so far as to twist entirely in his direction, losing site of Reborn in the process. Verde knows he looks increasingly stone-faced but it's hard not to react to the feeling of Aria's tugging Sky Flames. He wonders how Reborn does it.
When Aria does try to speak it cracks in the middle, the same way it hadn't since her mother died on her sixteenth birthday and she was expected to take over the family. "I.. I, uh-" Before she can get anymore out Reborn cuts her off neatly.
"But you… you selfish little girl." Reborn says as if she had replied halfway decently. "After everything we've done for you, after Tsunayoshi gave you the chance to live your life anyway you wanted to, the Curse no longer a blade poised above your neck." Reborn says coldly. "You had to nerve to get greedy."
Verde shifts slightly to the side, it's the most he can get away with in this situation but it's enough to draw Aria's attention away from the large, contained threat in front of her. It's a mistake she regrets almost immediately when Reborn's next words are as sharp as the knives he doesn't carry.
"You just couldn't help but push for something that wasn't yours."
Aria hunches even more into herself. If she had anymore room she would look like she was cowering into the cushions. But that pitiful picture doesn't take away from the ugliness that twists her mouth with a bitterness thats so foreign on her pretty face it's unearving. "You should have been." She seethes out quietly her eyes shining with the gleam of the gold mad. "You should have been mine ."
Reborn doesn't spare her a glance and Verde knows where this is all going, he does, he'd just really hoped thought it hadn't been this bad. "You were nothing but a placeholder, Aria." The Sky's face loses all color. She scrambles up from the couch, the thought of not being The One enough to break her of her fear temporarily. "You are nothing like your mother or your daughter. You are a selfish, self important, whiny child." Every even word from Reborn's mouth looks like it hits her like a physical blow. Verde is getting sick of the Sky Flames clogging up room like cough syrup telling everyone even vaguely close by how very Upset a Sky was.
"That's not true!" Aria hands shift to grasp at her own arms, nails biting into skin. '"You are mine, Reborn. I am the Arcobaleno Sky. Not my mother, not my daughter. Me." Her voice peaks hysterically. " I am your Donna, you will listen to me and stop this- this whatever it is!"
From his corner of the room Verde couldn't help but side-eye her in disbelief. ' Had she really just…'
"It was a Curse." Reborn says deliberately. The Hitman had still made no aggressive moves towards her, but just the feeling of his lightly brushing Flames was enough to burn out Aria's sticky one's from around both of the Elements and send a normally stable Sky into hysterical defense. If it had been anyone else in the room with Verde, they would both be on their knees already from all the Sky Flames filling up the room. Unfortunately for her, Reborn had never been normal.
Not by anyone's standards.
Finally turning from the window Verde could tell Aria expected anger or maybe disappointment. She'd never seen Reborn as anything other then her slightly sadistic uncle, but this Reborn was.. impassively cold. His eyes were staring straight at her for the first time since she had woken up but she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
His Flames weren't so hard to understand unfortunately. Reborn's normally possessively clinging Flames told her exactly what he thought about everything going on, he wasn't even trying to hid it. He didn't feel anything about this encounter. He didn't care about what he was saying to her, how he was making her feel.
Just.. nothing.
This was the Reborn the mafia was so scared of. This unfeeling being in front of her.
"It was a Curse we all hated." Reborn said deliberately. Leon, the same goofy reptile she'd known since childhood stared down at Aria with the same long stare he always had. But something about the chameleon right now screamed wrong in the back of her head. He slowly climbed down towards Reborn's hand never once breaking his stare.
"Did Luce ever tell you what the Curse entailed, Aria?" She blinked back up at him uncomprehending. "No, I suppose she wouldn't, not after seeing what you'd do without that knowledge."
"What-" Aria whispred, "What do you mean? It's to keep the World in balance, right?"
Reborn smiled at her strangely, "Yes, The Tri-Ne-Set is needed to keep the world in balance, but why Curse us? Why not just tell all Flame Active's and have them offer up the Strongest out of them all as a necessary sacrifice? They could live out the rest of their lives as Heroes and Kings. Never wanting for anything; The Gods of the Mafia." Reborn tilted his head towards her for some type of answer, looking almost exactly like he had countless other times when he was teaching her something new. It added a freakishness to all of this, how a gesture Aria was intimately familiar with was being used.
"I, I don't know." Aria's voice sounded so very young with that one small sentence.
Reborn stared at her with that same not-smile. Verde knew his own expression must be twisted into something similar. "I know you don't. No one does. No one except your Mother; who died, Checker Face; who doesn't care about the ways of mortal men and…. us." Reborn tilted his head to look Aria in the eyes, a cruelly humorous expression on his face." We were supposed to tell you. We didn't."
'What ?' Verde could practically see the thoughts running through her head at that. She'd grown up learning everything there was to know about the Curse from her Mother. But if there was one disadvantage to being a Giglio Nero Donna that wasn't dying young, it was a bad habit of thinking you knew everything that there was to know.
"I was always curious about why your mother never brought it up around you, why she never spoke to any of us about what to tell you when she died. Now I know it's because despite what she did, she still loved us all more than she cared about her duty towards you."
Verde himself almost flinched at the casual cruelty Reborn could use so well. Aria had never been on the receiving end of that side of Reborn before, so he knew she'd have no defense against him. Aria was almost the perfect target for Reborn's sadistic word games.
"That's not true.." She whispered. "My mother loved me."
The smile slipped off Reborn's face. He was once again as expressionless as a mannequin, the only hint of emotion was a quizzically arched eyebrow. "If that's true Aria… then why didn't she tell you that you could control us?"
Verde clenched his jaw and Reborn's eyes flashed to him lightning quick. Aria stood there uncomprehendingly. Her hands had stopped digging into her arms in surprise and she no longer shook quite so hard. This was all the coming to an end, "I don't understand."
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You never did seem to get as much Earthling Blood in you as your mother and daughter did, but I am slightly disappointed." Aria's eyes blinked rapidly to try and keep the burgeoning tears inside." You truly never wondered why none of us tried to Harmonize with you?"
"No. I assumed it was grief over my mother's passing." she said weakly her lips pressed into a firm line as she darted a quick look towards Verde.
He snorted and eyed her condescendingly. "You really were in your own world then. No love was lost between us and your mother by the time she died. If you had actually been there you'd have known that."
"Verde." Reborn asked quietly. He hadn't turned towards him when he spoke but that small question was enough to remind him on why they were here doing this.
"Ah." Verde sighed unhappily, "Yes, right." And slunk over to stand at his side.
Aria's eyes followed Verde as he moved over towards Reborn. He didn't doubt that if he'd passed by her close enough she would have tried to snatch his arm and pull him over towards her. He probably wouldn't have been able to easily resist either due to all the Flames flying around and that wasn't something Reborn would be able to stand at the moment. It was better for all their sakes that he just didn't get within touching distance of the Sky.
"Becoming an Arcobaleno is a Curse for the Elements of the Sky for two reasons." Reborn continued unhurriedly once Verde was safely across the room. "The first is simple. The 'Sky' of the group can control the elements. The second? You will never be able to truly Harmonize with a Sky afterwards. Not the Arcobaleno Sky, not a civilian one, nothing. "
Reborn's black eyes drilled into Aria's shocked ones.
"You are forever denied a Home and that is something no mentally sound element would ever be willing to give up. Not for all the riches in the world, and certainly not to save everyone else when they would never understand what it was that sacrifice was giving up." Reborn's voice was resolute.
"But… if it was to save the world…"
Reborn let out a harsh laugh that filled the room and stopped Aria's words in their tracks. If her voice had been bitter earlier, Reborn's was spiteful in its viciousness. "Do you honestly think any of us would care about that? The Mafia, and the people in it, are inherently selfish beings; Flame Actives even more so. So to pit some vague horror compared to the certainty of never finding Home?" Reborn tells her simply. "It's nothing ."
Verde wants to be wrong, he wants her to understand, wants her to be shocked and horrified at what exactly they were all tricked into giving up. Want's Reborn's whispered words while all the others were arguing to be a mistake. But from the look on Aria's face he knows exactly what she thinks. Reborn catches it as well. How could he not? It's everything he'd told Verde earlier.
"Then your a fool, one who doesn't understand the meaning of having a Guardian if you think, for even a moment, that an Element wouldn't destroy the world for that chance at happiness ."
Verde can't help but stare at her blankly from beside Reborn. He'd been one of the closest to Bonding with her after the Curse had been broken. But to hear what she thought having an Element meant, to even imply it wasn't such a monumental sacrifice to lose the chance at having a Sky… It was everything Rebon had suspected of her and more. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as Skull leaving had but he can feel the sharp pain of being wrong on something so personally important to him.
It's Verde who says what they're all thinking numbly, "No wonder your guardians were so easily transferred to Yuni after your death, I'd be surprised if they were ever even your guardians to begin with." Reborn's Flames squeeze tightly against the back of his neck, the heat that the Sun can imitate when he wants an almost physical weight. While Reborn's heat had never been soft enough to be a called a comforting warmth, it was such a familiar searing burn that he relaxes anyways.
Aria had no answer to that. They all now knew those Elements hadn't been hers, not when all she'd ever wanted was the Arcobaleno. The only ones she could never have.
Reborn steps slightly in front of the shaken Lightning, "Go home, Aria. This is over. Your life is just beginning, have fun, do young adult things, protect your Family." He was bodily blocking Verde from the Sky's sight now. His voice darkened, "But don't.." Reborn bared his teeth in a fox like grin, one that spelled pain for everyone who saw it, "Don't contact us again until you have Yuni. This is an Arcobaleno problem. And you aren't one anymore."
Aria takes a physical step back. The tears she'd been trying to hold at bay falling down her cheeks, she looks beyond stricken. When she tries peer over Reborn's shoulder at Verde he refuses to make eye contact with her. No matter how much this all hurt, it was better for them all in the long run. He would stand by Reborn's decision.
When it looks like Aria won't leave, that she might fight even knowing how much of a bad idea that was Reborn bristles up like a cat. It was one thing to argue with him, but a completely different thing to do so after hurting the Lightning under his protection. Weak tendrils of Flame become visible in the shadowed room. They lash out against seemingly nothing in the air, Aria's own Sky Flames as fine as mist. But with every clash against each other sparks fly and the Sky twitches.
"You tried to force him further into your Sky." Reborn snarls. Another snap of his Flames and Aria shudders while her eyes grow impossibly wide. It's easy to see she didn't think he'd known about that. "Be grateful I respect your Mother enough that despite what she did to us, I don't inform the others on what you tried to do."
Reborn's eyes glint maliciously. He looks dangerous in the light of the burning sunrise staring at her. "Your Famillia wouldn't last the night." Where his teeth always that sharp? Had she just never noticed? What type of monster had she grown up under?
As the knowledge that the entire strength of the Arcobaleno would be used against her without question if this came out to the others sunk in the slowly, that dark feeling dragged them all down again. Aria sunk to her knees as an enormous pressure, something she hadn't ever felt before forced her face into the carpet. Her bones creaked in agony and Reborn was like a black sun in the center of it all. Aria could see, vaguely, that behind Reborn, Verde had fallen to his knees, then to his hands all while gasping air into his lungs like he couldn't breath.
Aria tries, oh how she tries to fight off the Sun Flames she can practically taste on her tongue with her own powerful Sky Flames. She tries to push at Reborn but it was like a breathing against a Black Hole. Everything she put into it to try and stop this, stop him, just got sucked in.
She gagged at the feeling of her Flames almost being sucked out of her while she fought with them. It- this- whatever he was doing felt like she was fighting against nature itself and trying to win. But that was impossible, this was all impossible, no one had Flames like these, no one had Flames this strong! She was the SKY!
It's only when Verde himself makes a noise of hidden pain that the pressure relents, the dark miasma like feeling of the Flames Reborn summoned effortlessly dissipating like it had never existed. It was suddenly just gone. Reborn was no longer the Strongest Flame User in the World; True Leader of the Arcobaleno, but back to being simply The Greatest Hitman; Tutor to The Vongola Decimo. Aria had always thought the first title an exaggeration. Uncle Reborn was strong, of course, but Strongest in the World? It just sounded tacky. But not after today. No, after today she knew that he'd earned that title. Every syllable of it was justified. Terrifyingly so.
"I blame you for this more than anyone." Aria can't move from the floor when Reborn speaks after that. She's frozen in fear that he'll do it again if she tries. "Leave."
Aria fled from the room.