Author's Note: Hmm. It's good to see that this muse has decided to... stick around. And not shut up. Hmm. How am I supposed to get anything done if this kind of stuff keeps coming up and slapping me in the face?

Just a heads up. The next four chapters are going to be interludes. After those interludes, there will be a two-year time skip.

Luce screamed as she was thrown into her illusioned bedroom and beat.

Blow after blow landed on her and all she could do was curl in a ball and protect herself from the worst of the blows. She felt his kicks snap her arm. After he was done beating her, he picked her up by her hair and jerked her so that she was inches away from his masked face. She tried to get him to aleviate some of his grip on her hair by tugging at his wrist but she did not seem to have any effect on him.

So she clenched her jaw and stared back at him defiantly, not willing to let him see her crumble.

"You seem to have forgotten your loyalties, Luce." Thorny vines manifest and wrapped around her arms and legs, pulling them so that she was spread and defenseless against him. Her arm burned and she felt the need to do something so she spat at him but he stepped back so that the bodily fluid did not touch him. Kawahira ran a hand down her cheek before slapping her.

He grabbed her face and squeezed her cheeks. "Do not worry though. I will remind you soon enough."

"Good evening, Vendice."

Skull 'eeped' and hid behind Reborn. The assassin took on a defensive position, as though the Vendice officers standing before them would attack them. 'But we haven't done anything wrong.' They had had no connection to the mafia these past few months.

"Down, Jager. Tsunayoshi has done nothing wrong." Another portal rippled and a child wrapped in the Vendicare uniform stepped out. "All of you, except for Jager, may leave." They went, leaving no trace of their existence behind.

"Bermuda." Tsunayoshi said, the pleasant smile falling. His eyes remained amber. "You should have given me some forewarning." He smiled sardonically at the Vendicare boss. "I would have tidied up the place a bit more." To emphasize his point, he bent down—don't do that, idiot, that's a vulnerable position! several of his Elements screamed at once over the bond causing him to wince—and rearranged the pillows that were knocked off when Tsunayoshi knocked Colonnello off of the couch.

He could practically taste their shock when the Vendicare boss did not attack.

"My apologies but there was no time. Once I heard the news that you had been selected as the next Sky Arcobaleno, I tried to seek you out. This is the first time in four months that we, the Vendice, have been able to sense you and your new… Elements."

Tsunayoshi tensed, his eyes narrowing. "Is that a problem?"

Bermuda seem to stare at him for a moment before he shook his head. "No. I had merely come to see if you were… coming out of retirement, so to speak."

Tsunayoshi took in a slow breath. "I was never hiding, Bermuda. The Giglio Nero requested an audience with what they considered to be the mafia's elite. I don't need to guess that those rankings came from Vendicare's records."

"And imagine my surprise when the seven of you show up here… bonded."

Fon held Viper close to his chest and tried to block the waves of Will power that rolled off of his the same way water would stream over a rock. It had been too much for Viper to bare, with her newfound sensitivities. Fon could tell that Verde struggled to stay upright around them as well and the Sun…

The Sun was furious. He stared at the Vendice leader as though he had a personal vendetta against him. Colonnello seemed to notice as well. "Easy, kora. I don't know what you found out that night but you need to calm down before that incident repeats itself all over again."

That had been the wrong thing to say, apparently, because whipped around and snarled at the Rain. "I am not foolish enough to allow history to repeat itself."

Fon shivered as ice took over his body and black spots began to fill his vision. "R-Reb..." Fon gasped, clawing his throat. He could not handle more than one aura pressing him down like a weight and Reborn, although smart enough to control it under normal circumstances, was not as capable of doing so when he was upset.

The pressure abated and he felt Reborn checking his core—as long as his core was undamaged, physically, he could be restored.

In theory, anyways. Fon didn't want to be the one to test it out.

Still. It was nice he cared.

"Sorry." He growled, looking down at his hands. He had almost…

Viper stirred, groaning. She'd adjusted to the pressure but it still hurt to move from the way her breath hitched. Vendicare's presence was overwhelming her. "Tsunayoshi…" Fon said worriedly, catching the Sky's attention.

Tsunayoshi strode past the wrapped infant known as Bermuda and knelt to brush her bangs aside. "Those stitches… she did those herself."

Fon frowned but nodded.

"The Eye of the Basilisk ability she has can be controlled—as can those sensitivities… however, I am not the kind of Sky she needs. Before she bonded with me, she told me of a spell that allowed her to look into the future. In the future she saw, she felt a sense of finality.

"Don't lie to me, Bermuda, it is unsightly and unlike you. Of all people," his aura pulsed causing the air around them to ripple with Sky Flames. "You should know that I detest being lied to."

Bermuda inclined his head. "Are you trying to cow me, Tsunayoshi?"

Tsunayoshi gave him a wintry smile. "Nothing of the sort. I am simply going to leave you with this warning—even if my own are lured into the trap that is the Trinisette, you are not to touch them. I have marked them as mine. That means they go where I go and I have decided that I rather like being freelance." He paused, giving the Vendice boss time to swallow his shock. "Don't think that I can't read you, Don Bermuda. I can read everyone. People are open books to me. Your fears, your tears, your past. I know it all within a single glance. Somewhere in my mind, there is a portion of you that resides and I've been reading from it ever since."

"Why you-!?" Jager pulled at his chain, preparing to attack when Bermuda raised his hand in a signal to cease.

"...I have heard your message loud and clear, Tsunayoshi, but hear mine. The Giglio Nero have always been above Vendice law because of their tie to the one person that controls the distribution of the Trinisette. When the Giglio Nero come for you, they will not be kind and I cannot protect you."

Tsunayoshi sighed and knelt before Jager. His Flame burst to life on his forehead and his Flame ran down his back causing the black tattoos to become alight with Sky Flames. Bermuda leaped from Jager's shoulder and landed in front of Tsunayoshi. "Show me what haunts your dreams, Don Bermuda. As your starry sky, it is my job to light your path. What is it you desire?"

Bermuda was silent for a long moment before a colorless flame lit on his fingertips. He reached out and pressed that cold, glowing Flame to Tsunayoshi's. For several moments, neither of them moved but then Tsunayoshi's Flame flared like a supernova encased in black shadows so that only specs of light shone through.

Like the night sky. Tsunayoshi whispered over their bond. The Vendice will never harm me and now, because you are my Elements, you are apart of me and that means that they will never harm you either.

At what price? Someone whispered. It could have been multiple people but the after-effects of the Night Flame that the Vendice were so fond of made it hard for him to tell precisely who it was.

One that has already been paid. It was Fon who answered. Tsunayoshi nodded.

They all quieted. Tsunayoshi looked up at Bermuda. "You need not protect me—I can do so on my own. What I need you to do is protect them." He motioned to his Elements. "The Giglio Nero may be out of your reach but you are in her blind spot."

"This is a dangerous game you are playing, Tsunayoshi. The Giglio Nero are not known for their mercy." They may appear regretful but they were amongst the cruelest, seconding only to the Vongola. Tsunayoshi did not know what she was capable of if forced to show her hand.

He had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that Luce, the woman that had all but presented him with Elements, had been dealt a very bad one.

My Elements, my dearest Elements. The time has come for your Sky to go to war to get back something we lost. I left Luce, not because she was throwing us into the fire, but because if I didn't, she would be in more danger than we were. This way, the life of her and her daughter can be spared and she can continue to be our light, our leader. I will come back in two years time. Until then, survive. Wait for me—but I beg of you, do not look for me. He whispered over the bond. He felt their Flames jitter around his and he sighed. They were worried for him, for Luce. Believe in me, for as long as you do, I will always find my way back.

"If you leave, you had better take Leon with you." Reborn said coldly and Tsunayoshi stepped back as though he had been slapped. His expression softened. "So that we can at least have some form of contact." He added quietly.

Tsunayoshi's throat contracted. So even Reborn, huh?

They all wanted her back.

He smiled. "Don't worry, my own. When I return, I will have Luce and little Aria with me… and then, we can be a family again. Until then, allow Bermuda to relocate you. Some of you will return to where you were before we met but those that don't, those that are relocated to new cities to live normal lives or double lives, know that I will return for you. This is only temporary. All I ask is that you wait for me."

Wait for me, huh?

Lal sighed. "Alright. But you'd better come back in one piece, brat. I'll never forgive you if you don't."

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, no? Tsunayoshi teased. Lal flushed.

Idiot.

Tsunayoshi's laughter followed her down the hall when she left. She'd never tell him that she liked it when he teased her.

Kawahira was a master of the mind but Luce had the patience of a saint but even a saint had limits. The constand drip, drip, drip of the water from the bucket above her was really starting to grate on her nerves. When the bucket was empty, she recalled Kawahira telling her, the real fun would start.

She found herself hoping the bucket's constant dripping would slow down, just a bit, so she could savor her memories for a little bit longer.

She knew no such luck.

Even without foresight, she knew that there was enough water in the bucket to keep this up for 48 hours (damn thing was more like a stockpot with a hole drilled in the bottom of it with a screen placed over the hole to prevent it from coming out in a constant stream.

It wasn't until the dripping stopped entirely that she her body jerked as images and emotions were forced behind her eyelids, forcing her to watch as she was rescued.

The vision was so strong and nauseating that, when Kawahira walked in, she began to cry. He mistook her tears of joy for those of anguish because her vision filled her with hope. They had not abandoned her. She did not need to look up from her hands to know that he was smiling at his progress. He expected her to still have her mental stability.

Good.

A broken Sky could make sounds a whole one never could… but then, perhaps he would not need it for this realm. This Luce did not seem as resilient as those he had met before her...

"There's no need for that." He said, snapping his fingers and releasing her. Luce crumpled to her knees before him and kept her head on the floor in submission. He raised an eyebrow at the change. "Tell me, Don Giglio Nero, who is it that you serve?"

She looked up, making her eyes look dead to him. Her response made his smile turn into a teeth-baring grin.

"You."

Tsuzukeru.

Thanks for reading~!