Chapter 3: A Year

A/N: Hey guys. Thank you so much for reading. There was someone asking quite a bit of things and I wanted to clarify it. Feel free to review and/ or correct me on some mistakes.

Catrina's Age:

Two Years Before Varia Arc: 15 years old

Varia Arc: 17 Years old

Catrina's origins:

You will see ;)

Disclaimer: No need to remind you but KHR is not mine, it's Amano Akira's. Catrina is mine though.

Vongola Nono looked at the huge stack of paperwork and mentally cried. He really wanted to spend some time with his little granddaughter. Almost year has passed ever since the Varia took the girl in. He had enjoyed spending most of his free time with her. She had sky-like qualities around her despite being an assassin. She also had started a reputation of being the one and only people to calm Xanxus down by her very presence. Sadly, she got little to no memories being recovered despite Mammon's help.

Now at the present, Nono is currently doing the paperwork at the best he could. He had promised Xanxus and Squalo that he would supervise her that day since almost everyone is either recovering or out for a mission. Of course Xanxus was also out for the day too due to paperwork that had been recently piling up in his office. Despite all that, it was a perfect opportunity. Immediately, the old man looked at the clock and smiled. About 2 more hours to go until he leaves the accursed paperwork.

2 Hours later

Nono arrived at the Varia mansion on time. In front of the huge doors just outside of the mansion was Catrina. She wearing a light brown coat with a red scarf around her neck. She wore some casual jeans, along with black tennis shoes. Her long black hair was swaying slightly with the wind.

"Grandpa," Catrina greeted with a huge bright grin on her face.

"Catrina," Nono replied with a warm smile on his face. "I hope you didn't wait long."

"No, I didn't wait that long. Papa just left a while ago."

"I see, well let's go then. Some hot drink should be appreciated, yes?"

"Of course."

Catrina followed Nono into the black, sleek car. Once inside, she felt the warmness of the heater start to seep into her skin. A small sigh of relief escaped from her lips. Soon the car started to move and silence filled the car. Catrina turned her head and looked out of the window and smiled slightly.

"Are the others coming to the party?" She asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Nono replied with a warm smile. "Though some later than others."

"I see," She whispered then went back to silently looking out of the window.

The sleek black car parked in front of a cafe in the local town nearby the mansion. Both girl and mafia boss went out of the car with relief written in their faces. Their bodies have gotten very stiff at the car ride and as a plus the ride made them very drowsy. Catrina shivered as the cold started to cruelly scratch her face, making the heat in her skin disappear in an instant. Catrina walked alongside the Ninth, wanting to escape the clutches of the cold environment around them. Once inside, both went in and started their orders.

Nono casually scanned the area around them as they both sat down with their drinks. At this time it was usually the young people that hung around the cafe. Despite that, the few adults that were around were treated with respect. He also noticed how some of the younger men stared at Catrina as she took a sip of her hot chocolate with an air of elegance around her. A small faint smirk emerged from his lips. He decided to give his son and his right hand man a good lecture. But that was for later, for now he had hot coffee to drink and a whole afternoon to spend some time with his little granddaughter.

After the hot drinks, both went out to different shops in courtesy of Catrina of course. Nono tried to be a bit happy of course, but couldn't help feeling very worn out after the trip. During the car ride, he slept.

Squalo was the first to arrive and notice the decorations that hung around the halls and rooms of the Varia mansion. In the middle of it all, was his daughter.

"What's all this about?" He asked causally yet hesitantly, he could see his subordinates enjoying themselves in the background.

"It's New years," Catrina replied with a grin. "Grandpa also approved along with Xanxus, also Grandpa wants to talk to you both."

Squalo's eyebrow rose up. "Where are they?"

"Office," Catrina replied then noticed Bel coming in with an annoyed look on his face. "Ah wait Bel don't tear those down!"

Squalo watched as she tried to get the blond prince from ripping off the decorations with amusement before turning around and briskly walking into Xanxus' office. He opened the door and went in then closed it behind him.

"So what do you want?"He asked, slightly uncomfortable with him around. Despite the old man's visits, Squalo never got around to casually talking his Boss' boss despite Nono's insistance. Xanxus found this very amusing and took no part in stopping his father to Squalo's despair. Squalo, despite his brash behavior, was a stickler for formality.

"I want to talk about Catrina," Nono said with a serious tone. Both men straighten up more and mentally forced their minds to listen to him. Both men have grudgingly known that despite Xanxus' dislike to his father, he was still accurate when raising Catrina during the past year. Thus Xanxus' dislike had lessened slightly to Nono's relief.

"What about her?" Xanxus asked, no malice evident in his tone.

"You two do know what her age is right?"Nono continued. Both men looked at each other and shrugged, wondering why age came into play.

"She's 15," Nono said with an exasperated sigh. "Meaning that she's old enough and also pretty enough to be noticed by boys."

"What does that have to do with Catrina," Squalo asked, not getting what Nono meant. The Vongola boss mentally hit his head on the wall. He knew these guys were smart yet it amazed him how little they know about parenthood.

"It means that someday she might start dating," Nono said. "Do you realize what that means?"

"I don't mind if she dates," Xanxus piped up, Squalo nodded in agreement to his boss' words. Suddenly both froze as the weight of those words took on full weight. Their faces turned pale at the thought of some delinquent dating their daughter and taking her away. Nono on the other hand enjoyed their reaction as soon as both his son and his right hand man realized what he meant. A small amused smirk faintly marred his features.

"Now let's go enjoy the party," Nono said with a happy glint in his eyes. "I believe it's almost the countdown for New Years."

Xanxus and Squalo got out of their shock and slowly nodded. The thee men walked out of the office, only to face a mansion filled with Varia members, all celebrating while also watching the clocks and waiting for the countdown.

"Oh I can't wait," Catrina said with exitement and with her eyes lighting up. The three men smiled. Both Xanxus and Squalo silently agreed to enjoy this moment with her first then in the future destroy anyone who tries to break her heart or even try to court her.

6 months later

Catrina couldn't hold in the blood that was running down her side. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to clear her own vision. She was losing too much blood at the moment. At any moment, she could faint but resisted the will to do it. Catrina was still too deep into enemy territory.

On her other hand was a small phone given to her by her father,Squalo. She quickly dialed his number and set it on speaker.

"Voi Catrina what's wrong?" His father asked as soon as he picked up the call.

"I need back up," Catrina weakly replied. "I'm losing quite a bit of blood and there are still quite a lot of guards, the target is dead though."

Squalo gritted his teeth and hung up, immediately, he made his men go to the location where Catrina was. He threatened them that if they don't arrive by at least minutes, they would not live to see another day.

Catrina ran and ran. She shouldn't have underestimated the enemy. Now here she was at their mercy, running around like a scared little mouse.

Another shot. And another.

Catrina just ran, not minding the searing pain of a bullet going through her flesh. A small smile reached her lips as she saw a ledge. Immediately she ran even faster and jumped into the air before landing into cement spikes below. Thankfully only one of them pierced her on the stomach.

"Crud," she whispered and coughed out blood.

She was still alive but dying slowly and painfully. Catrina wanted to live, she wanted to live her moments with the Varia, her new family. As her vision started to darken, Catrina was trying to fight the urge to sleep. That was when she remembered. This was what made her resist even more. But it was futile, in the end, the girl succumbed to the great sleep.

Squalo looked at the coffin with a hollow feeling. He blamed himself for sending the girl to the mission by herself when she insisted to. He blamed himself for having to rely on his subordinates in her time of need.

As they buried her body to the ground, the Varia stood there in silence. Once on the ground, Xanxus stood up and dumped his vodka down on the coffin out. His face showed no emotions, yet pain was visible in his eyes.

Vongola Nono watched with sadness as Xanxus was once again in pain. He couldn't bare to watch as his son took up another bottle and drank it to drown away his pain.