Author's Note: Now that the revisions are over, have an update!

THIS STORY HAS BEEN REVISED!

In case you did not catch it the first time, I have gone through and edited all of the chapters so that they flow easier. Yes, it is fast paced and yes there is a lot of time-skips but that is for the benefit of the sequel when ALL SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED.

Oh, yeah. No smut. Only implied smut.

Tsunayoshi was careful not to use their bond to wake them up. He made sure to mask his presence and wake them individually. Their reactions had all been the same and their confusion was understandable but he couldn't let them stay here any longer.

He had hoped that he was wrong—had hoped that Luce had doubts about her original agenda, even if he didn't know what it was—but when he strode past Luce's door and felt his skin prickle with raw Elemental energy, he knew that he couldn't stay.

There was danger here and Luce was about to throw them head first into it.

He woke them individually, pressing his palm to their mouth so they wouldn't alert anyone and whispering, "We have to leave. It has gotten too dangerous for us to stay. Pack your things and meet me at the airport in an hour. Bring the fake passports I made for you. They are untraceable, even for someone as resourceful as the Don Giglio Nero."

When his Elements were gone, Tsunayoshi sat down at the head of the dining table and put his feet up. He closed his eyes and reached for little Aria's presence. She was young enough that the act of looking for that little Flame alone would wake her. True to his prediction, the let out a shrill cry.

Ten minutes later, Luce walked down the stairs with Aria in her arms.

She froze at the entrance to the dining room. "What are you doing up so late?" Luce asked, smiling at him.

"Cut the crap, Luce," Tsunayoshi sneered. "I have ordered my Elements to scatter to the wind. Even if you knew the aliases I gave them, there is no way to track their passports which are military standard. The mafia cannot touch them." He had implanted a film that could be traced using a radar that he created using his Sky Flame so that only he could find them.

"How long have you known?" She asked, her shoulders slumping. Aria made a displeased sound.

"For a while. It wasn't until I walked past your room earlier and felt raw power coming from inside that I figured it out." He glared at her. "You intended to make the seven of us the new Arcobaleno."

Luce let out a choked sob. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Tsunayoshi spat at her feet. "No you're not. You're only sorry you got caught before you could finish your betrayal." He glared into her tear-stained eyes. "Stay away from my Elements, Don Giglio Nero, or I will make your entire kingdom collapse around you."

His Flame engulfed him and his presence vanished from in front of her. Luce stayed where she was. Even when Aria began screaming, she still did not move.

That was how Kawahira found her, hours later.

When he arrived at his villa in Monte Carlo, everyone was silently and tensely awaiting his arrival. He walked in and let himself fall onto the sectional couch between Colonnello and Reborn. "Luce intended for us to become the next Arcobaleno." He said.

Anger so strong it sent waves of nausea through Tsunayoshi settled over him. The Arcobaleno were referred to as the cursed ones by all branches of the mafia. It was practically public knowledge that the Arcobaleno were rendered into the form of children to keep their Flames pure in order to power the pacifiers that acted as the foundation of the Trinisette.

"How could she?" Skull whispered, tears streaming down his face as the truth of Luce's betrayal truly settled over them. "How could she?"

Tsunayoshi felt tired in more ways than one. It was the kind of bone-deep exhaustion every assassin felt at some point, just before they reached their breaking point. "I don't know," He whispered when Skull all but crawled onto his lap. He stroked the older teen's hair. "We will get through this." He said firmly. "Luce may have betrayed us but we don't need her."

'...it would still be nice to have her around, however.'

His Elements were distressed and it distressed him to know that he couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't until Leon licked his fingers that he got an idea.

I wonder…

Colonnello was reading a war novel when he found him. He dropped a textbook in front of him and was rewarded by making his Rain jump. "Owning a Falcon?" He asked, looking down at the title. When he looked up, he choked on air. "What the hell are those?"

The white-with-black-tips wings that were folded over his Sky's shoulders were… new. The wings glowed and turned into a falcon.

"That is a textbook on how to take care of falcons. This," He ran a hand over the bird's feathers. "...is Falco. He's your new partner." The falcon stepped down onto the table and eyed Colonnello critically before holding up a claw. "He wants to taste your Flames."

Colonnello stared at the bird before he shrugged and let his hand light. The bird squinted at the Flames before it let out a loud shriek and flapped its wings. The blonde jumped when he felt tiny claws prick at the back of his neck but not draw any blood.

"Take good care of him. I went through hell to get him and I'll give you hell if he dies because you don't know how to take care of him." Tsunayoshi tapped the book before he left, leaving the two of them alone.

Colonnello looked up at the falcon. "Falco, huh?" He asked. "Well, it's nice to meet you, kora!"

"Where'd the idiot get the wings?" Lal asked that night when Colonnello was standing on the balcony with Falco on his back.

"The same place you got your centipede." Tsunayoshi said, cocking his head towards the unusually large insect. His first reaction had been disgust but when he smelled the multi-Flame compatibility, he knew he had to get it for Lal. It would be a while before she could use the ability to its fullest potential but for now, it would suit her needs just fine.

"Falco is a shapeshifter like Leon, although he only has two forms. He can lift three-hundred times his own weight so even when he's not in that form, he can still fly him around." The mental image of a falcon dragging Colonnello all over the place made him snicker. "I think I should go give him flying lessons before he falls and breaks his neck."

Lal watched Tsunayoshi step out onto the balcony. His words were muffled by the sliding glass door but she could hear him talking.

"What do you think?" Reborn asked.

"Of what? Our… gifts?" Lal asked. Reborn didn't tell her that he had gotten Leon before tonight, didn't see the point. She assumed that he had gotten him at the same time they had gotten their animal partners—each with a unique ability that matched their Element. When questioned where he got them, Tsunayoshi hummed and replied with 'it's a secret.'

"Of how he's coping with Luce's betrayal."

Lal grimaced. "He's running away from it."

"Luce will come back for us. She did not see us as solely his." He cocked his head towards the teen that had stepped up onto the ledge of the balcony. Reborn looked like he wanted to join them.

"If you want to go out there, ask if you can join." Lal said. "He does not seem like the type to turn us away."

Reborn's fedora tilted forward. "I will get my time later. I wait to have him to myself after everyone is asleep."

"Oh? How's that work?"

Reborn smirked. "The last person to go to bed is the one that gets to sleep with him in the master bedroom. Have you slept in that bed? It's heavenly."

"I haven't, actually."

Reborn snickered. "I'd offer you to join but there is not always sleeping going on."

Lal rolled her eyes. "Maybe when he's older." She said. "I don't do kids."

"He does not consider himself a kid." Reborn mused.

"He's not. He's a teenager which is worse." Lal grumbled. Hormones were a bitch, even for her. She could only imagine how it was for guys.

"...how are you coping?" Reborn asked after a moment.

Lal shrugged. "I saw it coming. The reason I bonded with Tyr was because he made what he wanted clear. Tsunayoshi has made it clear that he knows he is too young to know what he wants and has asked that we wait… and I am more than willing to oblige. That kid is going to turn in to one hell of a leader when he gets older. Hell. It wouldn't surprise me if he started his own Famiglia or took over the Vongola."

"They will never see him as an heir." Reborn said. Timoteo was far too closed-minded to allow an outsider like Tsunayoshi to take the mantle he all but stole greedily from his mother's hands…

When Timoteo took the mantle, Reborn left the Vongola. He continued to protect Ottavo, to serve her, but he no longer served the Vongola. He remained allied with them but nothing more. It broke his heart when she died since she was the first Sky he ever formed a bond with. He had served as her Sun Guardian before she died and after, he passed his Ring down to his successor. The Elements that he had been bonded to were all gone—dead or hidden so far out of the mafia's reach that Reborn, even with all of his resources, would never find them… not that he would want to. That life was nothing more than a fleeting memory to him.

'I feel old.' Reborn grimaced at the thought. Physically, he was only twenty-four. He was done maturing and the changes that came with aging were negated because of a special bullet released by the Vendice, of all the possibilities, that slowed down the aging process. It was a Dying Will bullet encased in Sun Flames. In the hollow points was a gel-like substance that fused half of your cells with a small portion of Sun Flames that allowed them to work at twice the rate without dying out. As long as those cells remained, the aging process would be slowed down considerably and the healing process, sped up.

Whenever he was asked for his real age, he told them he was thirty.

He was lying. He was thirty-seven.

And yet, he was not the oldest.

There was a clatter outside and Reborn craned his neck to look. Colonnello had fallen backwards and had landed upside-down. His shirt had lifted to reveal his abdomen which was littered with scars. 'From fighting in the war,' He recalled. Colonnello's wife, although illegal for women to serve, had been taken by soldiers to serve in World War 2.

It didn't help that she dressed up like the local paper boy would.

Colonnello, however, was much older than he was, having been born in the twenties. He had been shot by a much earlier prototype of the bullet from what he remembered, while the serum that was injected to the hollow-point bullets was being used as a cure for PTSD.

The slowed aging had been a side effect. The Family that created it, working on orders of the German Army at the time, was anhilated by Vendice and their research was used to make bullets that would benefit the Mafia. It made the strongest of the time live for longer to leave a lasting impression on the underground.

That wasn't to say the bullets didn't kill. The sped-up healing and slowed-down aging was only a side-effect of surviving the bullet but the kill rate was very high and the recovery rate of the bullet fragments that were left inside of the corpse was way below the average count. No forensic team could identify the bullet because to them, it didn't exist.

That was the reason it was so famous, not because of the side effects. The side effect only came from surviving a fatal shot. It had only been given the nickname Immortality Bullet because it drastically increased one's life expectancy if they had the resolve to cling to life long enough for the serum in the bullets to reverse any damage done. The process was fast and burned like a mother fucker. It left a soft pink scar that was slightly indented where the bullet went in but Reborn had used his Flame to heat his fingers enough to add scar tissue to it early and then he burned it so that it would be smooth when it healed as to not hinder his vision.

Evangelique had been merciful because she loved him. She had hit his left shoulder, just barely missing his heart, and when she threw the keys, Reborn had seen a flicker of platinum.

He turned his head and saw the platinum engagement ring he had used to purpose laying in his own blood. She had made her message clear. She was hurting him before he could hurt her.

But he had never planned on hurting her. He was going to take her back to the Vongola—ask for Daniella's acceptance. He had planned to live a life with her. Just because he was a Vongola Guardian did not mean he was not allowed to marry an outsider. He could marry whoever he damn well pleased, although he would have liked for Daniella to approve before he did. She had quickly taken up residence in the spot his teacher had left empty, warming him in the same ways his teacher had.

It had hurt when she fell ill and he knew that the only reason she lived long enough to pass the mantle down to Timoteo was because she had made a deal with one of the Dons that resided within the Rings. He had not asked when Knuckle told him although he suspected it was Primo and it had to involve him somehow because Knuckle had not showed up alone to tell him. The First Storm Guardian, G, and Alaude, the First Cloud had shown up as well.

He feared what that promise entailed and something told him that he would be meeting them again so there would be no need to ask now…

So he didn't.

He presented the Ring and left, hours after Daniella's death. His fellow Guardians had done the same. He had not heard a word from them since.

Sometimes he thought he was better off just erasing that part of his life from his mind. It would be safer and he knew he'd be better off for it but he could never bring himself to do it. He reasoned with himself, telling himself that those memories would shape him for his new Sky, whomever it should be. Looking at it now, he was glad he didn't. He wouldn't have known which buttons to push with Tsunayoshi otherwise.

With anyone, really.

Lal huffed. "What are you thinking about?" She asked.

Reborn smirked. "The days before I became a freelance." He paused, glancing at her. She was giving him a look of understanding. He rolled his eyes. "Let me guess,"

"I've seen the painting." Lal smirked. "You were rather cute then…"

Reborn smirked, tipping his hat to Lal. "You aren't bad to look at either, signora."

Lal rolled her eyes. "Idiot."

Flying, Colonnello decided, was epic.

He was not used to his new wings but Tsunayoshi was and he showed Colonnello his skill. The two of them had flown to the cliff-side and landed on one of the unmarked beaches. They walked for a while, talked about how much has changed before they took to the sky again.

On their way back, Tsunayoshi miscalculated the size of one of the clouds and had ended up flying straight through it. He stopped in mid-air, coughing to clear his lungs. Colonnello circled back and hovered next to him. "Are you alright, kora?"

"I'm fine." Tsunayoshi rasped. "Let's just get back."

The two of them landed on the balcony in crouches. The wings began to glow and retract until only a falcon remained. Falco let out a screech before he took off to hunt.

Colonnello collapsed in a heap on top of Tsunayoshi when he sat down on the couch. "Ouf! Get off me, you moose!" Tsunayoshi groaned, trying to shove him aside.

"Oh come on, we both know you could send me through the wall if you really wanted to."

Tsunayoshi gave him a self-deprecating grin. "I can't anymore. I'm not in Hyper Dying Will mode anymore. In this form, I'm as weak as I look which means you are friggin' heavy." He shoved at the blonde who only shifted into a more comfortable position. Tsunayoshi shook his head. "What if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"You can hold it." Colonnello said. He grinned. "Or you can buy a new couch, kora. This one needs replaced anyways."

"Idiot." He heard Reborn, Lal and Tsunayoshi say before suddenly he was rolled off of the couch and dropped onto his ass. He yelped, rubbing his lower back.

"That was mean!"

"And you're high off of adrenalin. No more flying after sundown." Colonnello made a sound from the back of his throat and Tsunayoshi gave him a level stare. The two of them stared one another down before Colonnello looked away.

Tsunayoshi stood up and stepped over his Rain who shifted his leg just enough so that it would catch the teen's leg. Reborn was expecting him to ignore it as though it wasn't there. What happened was Tsunayoshi's weight distributed unevenly on his foot causing it to fold up underneath him. His head collided painfully with the side of the coffee table, stunning them all into silence.

When Tsunayoshi looked up, one eye was closed from the pain and tears had formed around the edges of his eyes but the teen seemed oblivious to them as he rubbed the spot where he hit his head. "...I can't tell if that was my own fault or yours."

Oh, Reborn could.

"I didn't know you were a clutz." Reborn commented.

A flush spread over the boy's cheeks and Reborn felt a sot of sadistic glee at the feeling. "...it's only when I don't have any traces of Sky Flames present in my system."

"I told you not to over exert yourself—" Colonnello began but Tsunayoshi shook his head.

"No." He said quietly. "Something… drained me of my Flames."

"What?!" Colonnello sat upright. His eyes widened. "When you flew though that cloud!"

Tsunayoshi nodded. "I do not think… that it was a normal cloud." Suddenly, Tsunayoshi clutched his throat. Why couldn't he breathe?

"Mayhem."

Viper collapsed with a scream, clutching her head before she passed out. Fon caught her and held her close as the air rippled and a portal opened in a way that everyone in the mafia knew to associate with…

Black cloaks, white bandages and the haunting sound of chain-links clicking together.

Tsunayoshi stood slowly but kept his head down. When he looked up, his eyes glowed. He smiled but everyone in the room got the impression that he was baring his teeth while trying to be nice about it. It was not a pleasant smile because this one clearly stated that he wanted whoever it was directed at out.

"Good evening, Vendice."

Tsuzukeru.

Thanks for reading~!