Rosethorn had to chuckle a bit, and typed in a cheerful quip to the formerly skittish Tsuna.

The boy had started to speak up a bit more, partly because of Daniela's positive influence (she had moved to Namimori, though her son had no idea that it was purely to insure Tsuna got the training that he should have had years ago) and because of the fact that seal was gone.

Brier_Rose: Should I be upset that you're poaching Hibari from me?

Natsu: I didn't mean to poach him!

Brier_Rose: relax kitten. It's better for Elements to have a Sky they can rest in, and it's a good thing that you're taking initiative to fill your Sky on your own terms rather than follow the usual method of having Elements shoved on you. It seems to be an unfortunate trait of most mafia families to fill a Sky with Elements that might not even fit at all purely for political reasons. Like an arranged marriage without bothering to get the opinion of the parties that it effects the most.

Natsu: I never thought of it like that.

Brier_Rose: there's a reason I've hidden the fact I'm a Sky secondary. The last thing I want is people trying to get to my fiancee through me simply because of my Flames. Remember, Guardians or 'Elements' are more than just guard dogs. They're loyal allies you can share things with and trust to have your back in a pinch. Real friends should be able to tell you when you're being an idiot or tell you that you're wrong without caring about how you'd take it. If they can't do something like that, then you might need to re-evaluate whether they're really your friends.

Natsu: ...I think you've given me an idea on how to approach the star of the baseball team. I've noticed that everyone is always pressuring him to practice more to win games, but the team doesn't really practice nearly as much as claim. It's like they're relying on him to win for them.

Brier_Rose: there you have it. If you can't trust your friends to tell you the blunt truth, then maybe you should find better ones. You have an honest heart and you genuinely care about others. Use it and you can earn loyal allies that wouldn't hesitate to drop everything when you really need it, even if things don't turn out well.

A few days later Tsuna wrote back. The baseball star (who ironically enough happened to be the son of the same sushi chef Belphegor liked so much) had been so surprised someone had spoken up about how his so-called teammates were treating him that he had begun a tentative friendship with Tsuna. Within a few weeks, Tsuna had harmonized with his new Rain.

Takeshi was just happy to have someone who actually saw him and not the star baseball player. To have a friend who openly told him he was being an idiot and overdoing it with his practicing before he hurt himself. One who's friendship wasn't completely dependent on his ability to play baseball or his fickle popularity among the other kids.

Tsuna had already slowly begun earning the respect and loyalty of Hibari simply for being persistent and not running away from a carnivore. The fact he didn't condemn Hibari's habits, such as biting annoying people to death and quietly healed him up the rare times he was hurt had earned his respect. That he didn't shy away from learning how to fight had gained the Cloud's interest enough that he was slowly starting to drift towards Tsuna's gentle Sky.

Tsuna already had his eyes on a Sun. Ryohei was loud, enthusiastic, and completely obsessed with boxing. He was very lonely, as a lot of their classmates preferred to avoid the loud boxer than actually get to know him.

Natsu: so when's the wedding?

Brier_Rose: don't worry... you and your Elements are going to be invited. I need someone to be on the bride's side after all, since I cut off most of my family. It's already going to drive them nuts that I got married and didn't invite them.

And that was before she unleashed her soon-to-be husband on the Weasleys. As much as she loved them, there was no way she could invite them without it leaking back to England and possibly bringing the fake wolves down on Italy.

She had absolutely no intention of ever going back, much less letting them use her a second time.

Tsuna nervously adjusted his formal attire. Next to him Takeshi and Ryohei were quietly discussing some sort of game. Hibari had disappeared almost immediately after they reached the church... from the sounds outside, Hibari was likely testing Rosethorn's husband before the actual wedding.

So long as he didn't rough the man up too much, Tsuna was content to ignore the fact Hibari was fighting again. He had more or less resigned himself to the fact Hibari was very much a battle nut.

As long as his Cloud never went after civilians, Tsuna would look the other way and patch the older boy up whenever he got hurt. Fighting was as much a part of Hibari as his beloved tonfas. It was practically in his blood... it wasn't Hibari's fault that he was born in the wrong time period.

If this had been feudal Japan, he would have fit right in with the fighting and likely risen to great status as a warrior. Instead he was stuck in a 'civilized' time when fighting was frowned upon and highly discouraged. Especially the way he fought.

Hibari came back in a ruffled outfit which Tsuna absently fixed. He looked rather pleased... clearly Rosethorn's fiance was good enough to make even Hibari happy.

(Upon seeing Xanxus for the first time, he quickly figured out why... the man was practically a dragon in his own right.)

Tsuna had to fight the urge to glare at the old man on the other side of the church. Despite the fact he was Xanxus' adopted father, Rosethorn had gleefully shoved him and his guardian to the back. Daniela had fought the urge to cackle at the look on people's faces when they realized this fact.

The wedding was interesting enough, though Tsuna was rather nervous standing next to Daniela when her son approached her.

It was rather insulting that the old man didn't recognize the boy who's life he had almost ruined.

"And who's this young lad?"

"Tsunayoshi Sawada. Iemitsu's son. And you had better have a damn good explanation for what I found when he was brought to my attention," said Daniela. This wasn't the mischievous and playful grandmother Tsuna was familiar with... this was Donna Ottavo and she was pretty damn pissed with her son.

Timoteo's eyes widened considerably at the name, before he looked harder at Tsuna. Tsuna glared right back at him, while his Guardians (specifically Ryohei and Takeshi, with Hibari coming in as an afterthought) quickly began drifting towards him as back-up.

"Mother... I..."

"Oh please, enlighten me why you've continued to allow Iemitsu's incompetence to continue," she said sweetly. It sent shivers of 'doom' down his spine.

Timoteo winced openly.

With Xanxus...

The newly married Varia Sky was positively grinning. His 'father' was getting his head bitten off by a less than pleased Daniela and best of all Iemitsu was next on her shit list.

Daniela had gone over the raw data concerning the Vongola with a fine toothed comb after the near loss of Enrico, and she went straight past pissed to apoplectic with fury.

The famiglia she had held together through war time, even though the way people disparaged her because of her gender, and had paid in blood, sweat and tears to keep strong despite the amount of crap she had to deal with was quickly falling apart at the seams under the leadership of her son.

Timoteo was quickly turning into a very poor leader, and Iemitsu's incompetence was infecting the Vongola as a whole. CEDEF had been as feared as the Varia when she was Donna... now it was the butt of many jokes of those who specialized in Intelligence everywhere. A complete disgrace that would have had Alaude ashamed of the group he had created to help the Vongola without being part of the greater whole.

Needless to say Daniela was not happy. So much so that she was seriously considering re-taking control until she felt that one of her grandsons or hell, even Tsuna, was capable of leading the Vongola with anything close to actual competence.

Either way, she was not going to stand for the family to fall apart because her son wasn't listening to his people. The way he had badly mismanaged Xanxus was proof he needed someone to give him a firm reality check before things imploded.

Starting with removing Iemitsu from his positions and putting him somewhere he could do far less damage as a whole to the Vongola.

"So how did you find Sawada's spawn?"

The kid was a fluffy kitten that looked like a mini Primo.

"Actually Mukuro and the others found him. The second they heard the name Sawada they brought him over to where I was. Needless to say I found the chance to royally screw over that jackass too tempting to resist. I brought in Daniela when I realized there was something off about his Flames," commented Rosethorn.

"...Do I want to know?"

"They were bored and he was being bullied," replied Rosethorn.

"The old fucker looks like he's facing you in dragon form, pissed off," said Xanxus with open delight. This was fucking hilarious and he knew Mammon was taking multiple pictures.

The "Oh shit!" look on Timoteo's face was hysterical. He might have it immortalized for when he was having a crappy day.

He couldn't wait to see the ripples of Daniela lighting a real fire under the old fucker's ass for being an idiot. Thanks to the potions and magical healing, she had at least another decade left in her, if not three. She was quite looking forward to spoiling any great grandchildren rotten...she had already resigned herself to the fact Enrico, Massimo and Federico were in no hurry and the only likely source of said little ones was likely to be Xanxus and Rosethorn.

And best of all, both of them were more than happy to act as co-conspirators to any chaos she might stir up, especially if their victim was Timoteo or Iemitsu. She wouldn't be shocked in the least if Rosethorn harmonized with Reborn...the two were very much alike.

Iemitsu's Intuition had been going off ever since Xanxus got married. He mostly had it pegged as the Varia Sky having knocked up his Cloud, hence why he had to marry the girl in a hurry. Xanxus would never dare consider leaving a woman carrying his kid in a lurch...let alone have the poor kid be stuck with the title of bastards for the rest of his life.

And then he found out the hard way (Lal apparently had prior warning...she had been carrying a camera around for days, just for this event) what really happened.

"What?" said Iemitsu in a strangled voice.

"You're fired as Head of CEDEF and being removed from the post of External Adviser," said the woman flatly. She was Daniela's current Mist and had a no-nonsense attitude to go along with her outdated sense of fashion.

"By what right..." started Iemitsu...before he found out the rest of it.

Nono had been forced to step down and Donna Ottavo had retaken control of the Vongola. It was unusual, but not unheard of for something like this to happen, especially if the former leader could prove some major mismanagement on the part of the current leader.

It was one of the reasons why some Families had a habit of making sure the previous leaders were "permanently retired" before they even remotely took full control of their groups.

That Daniela was able to retake control of the Vongola was just a side-effect of the fact that she was already accepted by the rings...and had discreetly gained the backing of most of the Alliance on the matter. Apparently they were all very unhappy with Timoteo as a leader and wanted someone they considered more 'competent'.

"May I ask why I'm being replaced?" he demanded irate.

"For starters the mismanagement of a bloodline Vongola Sky and the mishandling of the organization you were entrusted with."

"I had nothing to do with any of the heirs!" said Iemitsu in protest.

"I'm talking about your son, you imbecile," she snapped. He paled in horror.

"What?!"

"Daniela was alerted to the fact you've been leaving your wife alone for years on end without properly staying in contact and went to investigate whether that particular tidbit was true. She was beyond furious when she found out you used an inferior seal on an Active Sky. Your son was tormented and abused by his fellow students and more than a few teachers because of the fact that the seal didn't even begin to cover Sky Attraction and left him a complete mess. His motor control was shot to hell, as was his ability to retain information...he was the most bullied student in his school district because you didn't want to do your duty and train him," she snapped.

"I didn't want him in the mafia!" protested Iemitsu.

"He could have been kept safe without bringing him to the attention of the Cosa Nostra in a minor position. There is a reason there's no recorded attempts of sealing an Active Sky," said the woman bluntly.

Iemitsu sagged in his chair. Everything was going all wrong and he couldn't see a single way to fix this.

Then he glared at Lal who looked positively smug.

"What the hell are you so happy about?"

"I'm just glad karma is finally working again properly," she replied flippantly. Her smirk turned a bit more feral and cold. "Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass it is cleaning up after your damn messes and keeping this place from imploding from your incompetence? CEDEF had become the butt of many jokes in the intelligence community and your crappy management of it has only allowed things to fester under the surface! We've had two branch offices that have gone rogue in the past three years and you've always brushed off the news like it was nothing!"

Lal had been holding this back for years, and now that Iemitsu was on the way out she was finally able to vent her frustration and anger properly without holding back.

And she had a lot of it to share. Iemitsu was positively cringing at the end of it, unaware that one of his best men had been that pissed off with his behavior.

Worst of all, Lal had been keeping records and had shared some of them with his wife. Pictures of him with other females and not wearing his wedding band to show he was off the market, or the DNA test he had no clue she had taken between him and Basil, revealing the fact that the young Rain "orphan" was actually his son.

If he was still married when everything started to boil over, he would be very surprised. It was a miracle that Daniela hadn't ordered him "iced" in a permanent manner, instead of kicking him out of power.

She certainly wasn't pulling any punches as it was.