Episode 24: Peace
"All the words that I said that I wouldn't say. All the promises I made that I wouldn't break. It's last call, last song, last dance, 'cause I can't get you back, can't get a second chance."
-"Don't Wake Me" by Skillet

I panted and fell to my knees, clutching my side in pain. I collapsed and spat out, "I give up… Just end it now!" A shadow stood over me, glaring down at me. I stared, barely intimidated by this man. "Why don't you just let me give this one up…?" I panted, my eyes struggling to stay open.

"I'm not gonna kill you, trash."

Of course. I sighed and sat up, looking up at Xanxus, who was glaring. "Look, I feel like I've just run five marathons and then fought in a war. We've been training for six hours straight."

He scoffed. "Your Flames are getting better, aren't they?" He was right. After the second hour, I was able to light my Flames again. They were getting stronger, more resilient, thanks to all of the intense training. I groaned and fell back. He heaved me up. "Once more. Bring Bester down this time!" he snapped.

Pouting, I moved to open Frusta's box. "Come on, Frusta! Let's-!" Xanxus had grabbed my hand and pushed the Ring into the Vongola Box. "What?!" I exclaimed. I still couldn't control the damn thing!

The Varia boss sent a chilling glare at me as he dropped my wrist. "Just do it," he snapped.

The six seals on the top of the box began to glow. The box popped open and a bright flash of sea-blue flew out and around Bester, who growled and swatted at the tiny burst of Flames. When the Flames landed at my side, a tiny fox with nine tails, all different shades of turquoise and a collar with the Vongola Crest on it landed near my feet. It growled and hissed at Bester, then sat down at my feet.

It was a Wave Nine-Tailed Fox, or Volpe Munita Nove de Onda.

It looked up at me with acknowledgement that wasn't in its eyes before, and I said to it, "I'm going to call you Nove for short, okay?" It nodded, then looked back at the Sky-Storm Liger, ready for battle. "Okay, so now, we have to beat Bester. Let's do this!"

Nove growled and lunged at Bester, who swatted the fox back. She squeaked and then stood shakily. Her collar shone a bright turquoise, and she disappeared in a bright flash. A burst of blue Flames flew from nowhere and struck Bester in the side over and over again. Bester roared at the fox, but she reappeared behind him and bit down on his back hard.

"Stop," Xanxus demanded. Nove bounded over to me and I picked her up. "You won this time. Your Box Weapon is strong, but why is it a different animal from your others?" he questioned. I looked at Nove and shrugged; I knew he knew the answer, so what was the point? "For fuck's sake, you idiot! Your box is different because in its Cambio Forma, it's more a supporter than a weapon. The Vongola Box is connected to your other Boxes. The damn fox of yours can control the other Box Weapons without your help."

My eyes widened. "So…" I opened the other Boxes, and Frusta, Vento, Michi and Ryuu, and Coperture all came out. "Let's see what this Cambio Forma can do! Frusta, you're up!" The leopard nodded and jumped. Nove yelped a little and Frusta glowed a turquoise equal to the glow of Nove's collar.

What landed in my hands wasn't Frusta, but a oversized sword with a leopard spotted handle. This was Frusta's Cambio Forma? It was huge! His Cambio Forma was almost as tall as me! He was really wide. But to my surprise, Frusta wasn't heavy. He was lighter than I thought he'd be.

"Thanks, Frusta." The sword twitched and jumped out of my hands, turning back into a leopard and mewing. "Next, Coperture!" The turtle let out a small roar and shifted into a shield. It looked like the outside of a turtle shell with the Vongola Crest in the middle of it. "Okay! Now Michi and Ryuu!" Their form was a huge machine gun. It was easy to use, as I quickly learned. "Finally, Vento!" He was a scythe, like how his wings sharpened. I smiled, allowing Vento to assume his hawk form once again. Each time, Nove had let out a mewl or a squeak, and the Flame around the weapons grew larger.

Xanxus stood with his arms crossed. "So those are your Box Weapon's Cambio Forma. What you have is known as the Ultimate Weapon System," he explained in a bored tone. I looked down at my Box Weapons, who all were looking up happily. "I guess I have nothing more to teach you."

I stood and Nove scurried onto my shoulders. "Thanks, Xanxus." All of my Weapons retreated into their Boxes around my waist, save for Nove, who stayed on my shoulders. "I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me."

He scoffed. "Just don't fuck it up now," he snapped. "I'm going back inside." He stormed off, leaving me in the empty Training Field.

Nove leapt off my shoulders and pawed at my leg. I looked down at her and she nodded and used her tail to point at the sword course. I knew what she wanted. Opening Frusta's Box, I ordered, "Cambio Forma!" The giant sword landed in my hands, and Nove turned into the bright Flame once again, and then disappeared into the sword. When I looked down at the handle, I saw that Nove's nine tails were wrapped around the base of the blade, and she was covering the handle.

Lifting the huge blade, I sprang at the training dummy and slashing it in half. I swirled around and hit another, cutting it straight in two. A sea-blue Flame shot from Nove's tails and up the blade, encasing it in a blue fire. I closed my eyes and raised the sword. "Lama Mare!" I raised the sword in an arc, a wave forming after it, and I swung it around, having the wave cut through the circle of dummies.

Standing, I let Frusta and Nove turn back into their animal selves. I smiled and patted them both, Nove climbing back onto my shoulder. Bel's voice called, "Ah~ There's Naji-hime!" I turned to see him running towards the three of us. "Doing more training?" he asked, looking at the three of us. I nodded sheepishly. "Well, come on. Squalo's just called from the Vongola's base."

I sighed and followed the blonde Varia inside.

X Basil X

It was near dinnertime, and Sawada-dono had just called an emergency meeting. Basil bit his lip and put away his cell phone. Now that they were outside the Choice Island, he would be able to contact Najika, but as they were leaving to go to the device that Irie and Spanner had created, footsteps rang behind them.

"Just so you know…" Everyone looked up to see a familiar brunette Wave Guardian standing in front of them. "… I know what's going on, and you're not leaving me behind this time." Najika was back, and next to her, stood a fox with the Vongola collar on its neck. "Squalo called. Something about you lost? Seriously, if not for the fact that we need you guys, I'd kill you myself."

Basil chuckled. "It's good to have thee back, Najika-chan," he said, smiling softly.

She returned his smile easily, but said, "You're speaking old Japanese again… I miss when you spoke modern." He flushed a bit and stepped out from in front of Gokudera-dono. "Hey there, Hayato."

He nodded. "Hey… Najika-chan." Then an awkward silence fell between the two. The whole room could feel that both of them were struggling to say something, but couldn't say it. Basil sighed and nudged Gokudera-dono in the back. The Storm Guardian glared at the CEDEF member, who shrugged innocently. The silver-haired teen grumbled, but turned to Najika. "I… I missed you."

Basil almost fell over. That was it?! That was what he wanted to say?! He groaned aloud. "Please do not take offense to this, but that was… pathetic," he muttered.

"I'd like to see you do better, Basil," Gokudera-dono snapped. "I mean… it's like, hey, welcome back, and I think you should know that I almost died-!" He cut himself off; Najika didn't know about the Choice Battle…

They both turned to look at Najika, who's face had turned dark. "Yeah, I heard that already, you idiot!" She moved forward and punched Gokudera-dono in the gut. He fell over, holding his stomach in pain. "That was for almost getting yourself killed!" she cried. Then she knelt down and hugged him. "And this is for making sure that no one else got seriously hurt."

Gokudera-dono quickly returned her hug before pulling away. Basil hid his laugh behind his hand. He'd clearly not wanted for anyone else to see a moment of his private life, although Sawada-dono had already told him that Gokudera-dono had kissed Najika in front of everyone.

Yuni had witnessed it all. She wasn't really looking at the moment between the favored couple in the Vongola X Guardians. She was staring in shock at Najika, as if the brunette was someone she knew about, but didn't believe existed. "Najika… Kamiya…?" she asked slowly. "The Wave Guardian?"

Najika looked up and nodded. "Yes. May I ask who you are?" she asked. Seeming a little suspicious of Yuni.

She smiled. "My name is Yuni," she explained happily. "I've heard so much about you, but… I thought it was all rumors!" Najika looked at the green-haired girl, confused, and the green-haired girl shook her head. "You've been so great in these past few years… It's a shame what happened."

Shrugging it off, Najika looked to Sawada-dono. "Is Lal-san okay?"

He nodded. "She's doing better." Najika sighed in relief. "But what about you, are you okay?" She smiled weakly. "Squalo told us what Xanxus told him; that you got really sick for some reason…"

"It was only a passing fever," she replied, brushing it off as if it was nothing. Basil's eyes narrowed. It wasn't nothing. Najika was only trying to not worry Sawada-dono. "I'm okay now, see?" She turned to see Spanner and Irie walking over to the group. "Hey, Spanner. I'm glad to see you're okay."

The blonde smiled over at her, waving. "I'm okay, but Shoichi's still resting." She nodded. "What about you? I heard you were hurt." She shrugged, and even though Spanner looked suspicious, he continued, "Well, I've restored the device to its original state, no abnormalities. Let's begin." Basil stepped back, as he wasn't going to be accompanying the rest of the group on this mission. Najika looked at him, but he shrugged, saying that he couldn't come. She looked disappointed, but kept listening to the conversation between Spanner and Sawada-dono. "You'll be returning to the past." Basil put a hand on Najika's shoulder and quietly slipped out of the room. It wasn't his mission, but he would be waiting for them to return.

X Najika Kamiya X

We landed in the past once more. I looked around. We landed… at Namimori Shrine. "Ciaossu." I looked over to Tsuna to see him bent over with Reborn on his head.

"Reborn! When did you get here?!"

Reborn didn't reply to the question, but said, "Everything's going according to schedule. They should be coming here soon." They? Who was "they?"

A rustle in the bushes caught Hibari's attention, and he turned around, swiping at it with his tonfas. A familiar bird flew up, carrying a very familiar Arcobaleno. "I come all the way out here, and this is the greeting I get, hey!" Colonello dropped to the ground.

"He's not the only one!" Another Arcobaleno, this time the holder of the purple pacifier, dropped next to Colonello. "I'm also here!" Skull announced.

An indigo swarm of mist took the form of yet another Arcobaleno. "Good grief. Rather shameless of you to call me out here again without pay," Mammon complained, staring up at us. I smiled at the Mist Arcobaleno and he gave me a nod in reply.

The Storm Arcobaleno walked up behind the other three and reprimanded Mammon, "Now, now. Don't be like that."

"Master!" I-Pin exclaimed happily.

Fon looked up at her and seemed to smile. "I-Pin, I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

So apparently, Reborn had been here a half a day before us to assemble the Arcobaleno, and we had just cleared the Arcobaleno Trials a day before we appeared here. It'd been quite a few days… "To get them to help as your tutors," Reborn finished, a solemn look on his face. I bit my lip. What about Verde? "Yeah, I also let Verde know. He's not here right now, but knowing him, he's probably hiding somewhere and watching us."

I smiled at the Arcobaleno, but my eyes widened when all of the pacifiers began to glow. I looked to Tsuna, who's Ring was shooting a huge beam of light with a Flame at the end.

The man that appeared to us was wearing the traditional mafia outfit, but had the same gloves as Tsuna, except… they had an "I" instead of an "X." This man… was Giotto, the Vongola Primo.

If the gloves weren't enough, I could see his Flame. His Flame was bright, much like Tsuna's was when he was in Hyper Dying Will Mode. It was like Giotto was in Hyper Dying Will Mode forever, judging not only by the huge Flame he emitted, but also by the Dying Will Flame on his forehead. It was huge, and had life to it, like it was a slice of his soul.

Giotto looked directly at Tsuna and said, "So we meet again, Vongola Decimo." He wasn't a ghost at all, but a memory. He looked over to Yuni and asked, "Are you the one who summoned me?"

"There's a legend that the Vongola Rings hold the living will of the first-generation Family," Reborn explained. "We used the power of the Arcobaleno pacifiers to form a contract that allowed you to take a corporeal form."

The blonde Vongola replied, "I've never answered to the Arcobaleno's power, and never will again. My acceptance of the Arcobaleno boss, the Sky Arcobaleno's conditions has led to this single exception."

The Sky Arcobaleno… Was it Yuni? I looked over to her and she simply smiled, telling me not to worry about it. My eyes narrowed a little bit; when would she tell us what her true power was?

Looking to Tsuna once more, Giotto's face was still calm. "It appears you've run into a wall, Vongola Decimo." He knew. He sensed the danger that Vongola was in because of Tsuna's feelings. "You're Decimo's Guardians?" he asked, his gaze scanning over all of us. I bit my lip. "You have yet to inherit the true power of the Vongola."

True power? What on Earth was he talking about?

"If the first-generation Vongola Family accepts you as the true boss and true Guardians, you will be able to inherit the power of the Vongola."

Tsuna voiced my thoughts by asking, "Power of the Vongola?" He sounded as confused, if not more, as I felt.

Almost desperately, Hayato demanded, "What do we need to do to be accepted as true Guardians?" I had to admit, I was curious, too. Would we have to undergo some kind of task, like the Arcobaleno Trials?

Giotto's gaze was hard to look into. "Are you able to embody the duty of a Guardian? Do you have the resolve? Everything rests on that." His amber gaze landed on me now and for once, a trace of shock was in his eyes.

"Nami?"

Atogaki-

Andddd that's where I leave you. ^^ Hehe, I'm kind of mean. To keep you waiting this long and then give you such a cliffhanger? I'm very sorry. Suman minna. -bows repeatedly- Ahaha, I'm very sorry about this. But I won't do a double update, because, just for you guys, I updated and edited up to chapter 12 of this story in order to change some things that I was disappointed in. It's a lot longer now, too.

I haven't been updating lately because of the usual - school, work, career... stuff like that. That, and I'm still focusing on my newest novel series, which I'm keeping under wraps. I've also been struggling to finish Lost in the Dark and Reckoning. Those are currently on hiatus as I attempt to finish the writing for them, as my draft is finished for both.

Also, I understand that Naruto isn't finished, but the story will end before the end of the series. With the end I want to happen. _

Anyways, thank you for being patient and staying with me. -bows- Thank you, all. ^^