Katekyo Hitman Reborn

My Fate is Certainly Uncertain

Chapter 25: Miia and Mary

Overall warnings: Swearing, disclaimers and other things. You know, the finer things in life.

[Written to: Counting Crows - Accidentally in Love]

~o0o~

"Eating without me, are ya?"

Kyoko's head bobbed up to look at the doorway, just as she was digging into her meal. Her eyes widened and she stood, almost knocking the chair over. The rest of the crew was here too, and even Al, but he was keeping his distance from Reborn, by sitting on the other side of the was supposed to be in bed, resting - mind you, she was never one to sit in one place for too long - but the intoxicating smell of eggs woke her up. And hey, she didn't want to miss out on the food.

"Phillipa! You're not supposed to be up!" Tsuna said, almost dropping the fried ebi that he was holding. Last he had saw of her, she had collapsed from exhaustion, sleeping in Allemande's arms. Her face had looked thinned, when he saw them rise from the Millefiore's base, just when fate had turned in the randomest direction he could've guessed it would go.

She was the only one not to turn up, but now that she was here, he didn't feel so bad about eating. The whole family was here, and he felt a little more whole inside. She sauntered to the table and sat herself down beside Reborn, where there was a space. Speaking of the fedora wearing bambino, he sat on a pile of cushions, so that he too could reach the top of the table.

"No point in me staying in the Medical Bay." Phillipa replied happily, once she had chugged down a glass of water. "It's no place for a lady."

Reborn chuckled at her reasoning. "A Lady, you are not."

"True, but I'd rather be here than there." Phillipa refilled her glass, and then Allemande's, who waved his own as she poured hers. He was indeed, to Tsuna's surprise, eating. How? He had no clue. Everytime he would look over the contents of the plate would simply disappear. There was no logic to his being at all.

"What's the matter Tsuna?"

He shook away their concerns and continued eating his scrambled eggs.

~o0o~

It wasn't till the end of the day that the group actually made their way back into the Millefiore base. They had to check their supplies and they had to each go through a health check up to see if they were suitable for time travel. Fortunately, they were. Tsuna didn't really like the idea of Haru and Kyoko coming along with them - they had been so so close to figuring out the secret - but they couldn't exactly leave them here alone. As much as he trusted Bianchi and the suddenly tall Fuuta, it didn't feel right to leave them here. Morally, he didn't want to.

With eyes closed, Hibari stood in the background, next to TYL Kusakabe. Tsuna didn't see much of the man when he was a student, and he wondered if he was still meant to be there, if Hibari wasn't.

Thank goodness….He thought, looking back towards the ginormous device. He came too…....

"Shouichi," Spanner called, swivelling back in his chair. The blond had stayed in that place for the whole time, only eating lollipops and carbonated drinks. "I'm finished with the final checks. Everything looks to be in order."

"Thanks Spanner." Shouichi looked back at the group, and Tsuna's back straightened. "I know I've already said this, but please don't reveal anything about the future while in the past."

I told Kyoko and the others that they can return to the past, but they will have to come back later for safety reasons. Oh man!

"A few months have passed since you came to the future, when in all actuality between Sawada's and Sasagawa's arrival, its only been only three days in the past."

"Eh, three days?" Tsuna repeated.

Shouichi nodded. "I'm sure you'll be thrown off by the difference, but I need you to go with the story that you all went on a picnic and got lost. That should be enough to cover it all."

Everybody nodded. It wasn't an obligation that Shouichi had given, it was an absolute order. Tsuna was used to being bossed around in the past, but this was one time where he was sort of okay with lying.

Shouichi continued. "The Arcobaleno trials will last for one week. I'll make preparations for you to return here. Understood?"

One week...The brown haired boss, only just passing the halfway mark of his teenage years, mused. That's certainly not a lot of time.

"I don't mean to frighten you, but you must clear the trials within the week and obtain all of the seals. If you do not do so, then all of the previous ones shall become invalid and we will all be doomed. Byakuran will win." Shouichi swallowed his nerves and nodded to give himself support when talking. "This is a big gamble. But we have no choice but to count on you."

We have no choice but to do this...

And just as he said those words, the girls appeared, with bags over the shoulders and the kids in their arms. Phillipa stood behind them, like a sheep dog, rounding them up on shearing day.

"Nyahaha! Here comes Lambo!"

"Lambo, stop running around!"

Shouichi glanced at the group and smiled confidently. He didn't want to inflict worry into the ones who had no idea of this world. Phillipa did however, and Tsuna knew that she was a brilliant liar. She even said it to him, once. To lie is to protect. Whether it was yourself or someone else, was a whole different matter but it all resided within the same morals she followed. Put in an honest effort. Don't eat bananas. Make sure you always carry a first aid kit.

"You ready to leave?"

Phillipa nodded, exhaling out her nose. "Ready as we'll ever be. What about you Red? Will it be safe for you and Spam to stay here?"

"A week there is barely any time here. We'll be fine."

"Okay." She whispered, curtly nodding again, this time to herself. She was oddly quiet today, but Tsuna guessed that was from her injuries. Previously, she had told him that she has to conserve her energy wisely, or else she wouldn't be able to defend everyone or even construct her flames. Weird ones, they were. He had never ever witnessed gray flames before, and from his knowledge - from when Reborn and Bianchi in the past would teach him - they were only exclusive to her family lineage. Not Reborn's. Not that Reborn would ever speak of his family, apart from Phillipa. Tsunayoshi didn't even know if there was anybody else.

"Alright." Shouichi spoke, to everyone. "Let's send you on then. Spanner?"

"Roger that." He replied, swiveling back to the monitor screen.

The pearl white, time travel machine's hum ascended in sound. It continued to get louder and louder until, in a blurry light that resembled the ones from the days of pirate ships and samurais, from what the Faeries made when they too made an escape, they were whisked away back into the past.

~o0o~

Tsuna almost, for a short second, imagined himself to be teleported up a tree or something when they landed back in the past. Luckily, they all landed on their feet and not on their faces. Thank goodness.

And where they landed was a little bit of a surprise too. They were back in the shopping districts mainstreet, all thrown into a nearby alley. He was also thankful fo Spanner landing them somewhere less inconspicuous rather than right in the middle of a crowd. Yes, that would be very difficult to explain

Yeah, hi! We're time travellers from ten years in the future and I'm the future head of the top mafia family in the world. Nice to meet you and sorry for falling on top of your heads!

Oh yes. How very cultured of the future boss of the Vongola. They all stood and walked out into the street, feeling the fresh wind in his poofy hair. He still felt a little embarrassed at Phillipa's pet name, but she reasoned it out, saying that good hair leads to more girls getting attracted into his ever growing harem. To Tsuna, that didn't justify it. He still blushed and tried to hide his head. He still looked away in still didn't want to admit that, yes there might be other girls out there for him, but there was Kyoko. And she was here. That's all he really wanted.

"I feel kind of worried." She whispered, her sun bale hair fluttering slightly under the day's northerlies. "Where's Chrome?"

"Ek! She disappeared when we weren't looking!"

"Eh!" Tsuna looked around and guess what! There was no purple headed girl anywhere! Or H-Hibari, for that matter. Or Phillipa and Allemande! The last time he saw him, he was holding onto Phillipa. "Where's Hibari! And Phillipa?!"

"Check your back, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn chirped, hopping out of Kyoko's arms. "There's a note."

Gokudera tore the note off his back and handed it to him so that he could read it. It was written on a yellow notepad piece of paper, with blue lines across every page. He had to admit, she had pretty messy writing sometimes. Mind you, this must had been a very quick note for her to write. Or did she write it before, in the future?

Tsuna.

Sorry about leaving without much notice. I promise we'll be back before the week ends. It's just that, before I went to the future, I was in the middle of a job. An important one, so I have to go check up on things. Good luck Starfish, I fully expect to you have passed your test by the time I get back!

-P&H

Tsuna blinked in surprise. He knew she had an important job, but she always looked like she would rather be doing something else.

"Do you know something about this Reborn?" He asked, handing the note to the toddler, who read it with scrutiny in his eyes.

"Yeah." He said, giving the paper to Leon for safe keeping. The lizard ate it. "She had something to do. But she didn't say anything about it to me."

~o0o~

By lunchtime, the next day, I was wide awake and now back in Italy for a job on the run. It wasn't a professional one that Iemitsu had handed to me. I was still on probation, remember. It was definitely in the territory of personal. Very personal. I felt a little bad, lying to everyone. I didn't want them to know what I was getting myself into. Reborn probably had a fair idea, since I could never hide things from him.

It was going to be dangerous. There would be blood and most certainly, questions will be asked. It always occurred to me that trouble would always find me out, even when I tried to hide from it. Even when I tried to be on my best behaviour. Nope. No way. No siree, no breaks for this female adult. Mostly slurpees and chocolate chip cookies for this one here. Sugary things weren't particularly my favourite foods but I would definitely take the advice from Spanner that your mind works way way better when it was high.

It was very quickly turning into a scorcher of a day. Not even summer yet and I would bet my next payday that Dino would be dipping his hand in the pool to see if it was cold enough, regardless of the fact that he would probably be in shorts already. Nothing sucked more than a pool that wanted to become a cooking pot. Speaking of my dashing blond boyfriend, would I have time to see him? Surely, he must have tried to contact me. We tried talked at least once a day and I did try to keep contact with him, despite how much I wanted to drop my phone in the toilet and run away from all the responsibilities that knocked on my door.

Don't think about him now, I urged myself, inhaling through my nose as my fists tightened. We had just gotten out of the taxi and were now in the heart of Florence, and I had to walk with caution. There were live agents all around these parts, and I had no time to converse. Please, please you can think about making sure he's safe later. For now, you have to focus on the job. Don't give up. Not when you're so so close.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Al asked. He had reverted back to his cat form, on the reason that one, he couldn't walk around Florence as a would die of the heat in that undertaker suit as well that he couldn't wander in normal clothes, because of his scars. And two, we were the same when it came to rationing with his power. It took a lot of him to stay human and he wanted to conserve all power that he could for this heist. He didn't want me to go in alone and he wasn't keen on the idea at the start.

"There is no choice. I need answers."

"We might not even find him in there! I mean, it's been years since you've been here. The last time you were, you got those awful cuts on your back." His whiskers twitched and I looked down at the cat in my arms. Him and I would often get torn between ideas.

Him: "Love, I mean it when I say he probably won't be in there."

Me: "That doesn't matter. If he's not, fine, but if he is then it's a bonus. If he's not then there might be something that can lead us to him."

Him: "He wasn't there when the CEDEF busted this place! And they didn't find him!"

Me: "I said that doesn't matter. It just means that….."

Him: "Those files that you found, that you hid. You knew what he did to all those people. It wasn't just a slave and prostitution ring. Those people….."

"I know." I whispered, my voice barely above the sound of the chattering squeals of tourists and locals alike. "I know what he did. That's why I have to find him. What Verde gave to me, before we left that had to do with my mother has a lot to do with that man. I have to find him"

"You're not going changing your mind."

"I can't. I can't, there's no choice." I scratched the left side of my nose. "I can't Al. I miss her so much, and this information is just dangling in my face like I'm an idiot. There is no excuse for me not to find him."

~o0o~

The building's character on the inside had disappeared, much like the life it had. I, previously, had been in the basement. Someone had pulled me out of here. Maybe it was Al. He said a man had brought me out, and Oregano had said the same when I asked her later. I wouldn't go into that basement. The room was bad. Bad in atmosphere and bad in vibe. If I stayed down there another night, I would say that it would probably be haunted. I didn't like to hear what happened down there and what was filed in the reports was more gruesome than what happened to me. I was pretty lucky to get out with what dignity I had left.

The walls were stripped of all colour it once had. Faded wallpaper was tearing, and the gravity pushed many corners into rolls. Behind, worn timber stood, and I felt the urge to get out of here. I didn't want to stay here long, that was for sure. The wood was probably older than it looked and out of legislation. The memories in this place were stained everywhere. Coffee on the carpet, and a couple of windows were smashed in. We had come from the back entrance, kicking the door down.

The office of the man I was after was on the top floor. So I headed there. Up the stairwell, instead of the elevator, since the power grid wasn't on here. I carried a torch with me, and turned everything on that floor upside down. Emptied drawers and piled everything useless in the middle of the room. What I'd found was a tattered address book under the floorboards in his office and untouched files in the same place. It was clear that the man was in fear of coming back here.

I took out the photo. Yes, I still had the photo that I'd nicked off of Verde. If, by luck would allow me, I wished that I would never see the man again. I had a fair idea of what might turn out if Reborn, him and I were in the same room and all options would end up with me getting yelled at.

Mary and Joseph Marchelli

His address wasn't inside. Obviously, it wouldn't in his own phonebook, since he probably knew where he was living.

So I did the next best thing I could.

I called his secretary and bluffed my ass off.

"Good evening this is Carla Korpela, assistant to Dr M. Worthsanth. How may I help you?"

Oh man, different name…

I donned my prettiest smile so that I could voice my part. To be polite was to get into peoples good books, most of the time. Adds to deception. Except if you were a telemarketer and then you weren't spoken to nicely.

"Good evening to you to Ms Korpela. My name is Tiffany Grant and I'm the assistant manager at the California Postal Department. I have a package here that was detained due to an insufficient mailing address. I was wondering if it was possible if I could obtain a residential address, as the package is labeled as urgent?"

"May I speak to your supervisor?" She asked. "I'm sorry, it's just that my boss…."

I gestured to Al to change into a human, pronto while I kept talking. "Oh, of course. I completely understand m'am. We get that a lot. Please hold."

I covered the receiver and handed it to Al.

He coughed before speaking into the phone.

"Yes, Supervisor Willis speaking."

He paused, listening to the woman on the line. Every so often he would say 'yes' or ' I'm afraid so.' After a while, he nodded firmly and thanked her for her time and that we would send the package right now. That it should arrive within the next three to five days.

Al handed back the phone and I could feel a cheeky, accomplishing grin under that mask.

"He's moved."

"Well, that's not surprising. Iemitsu and a lot of other people are after that juicy ass of his, and they don't even know his name!"

"That's because you didn't record the files you hid, so they're not on the database, meaning that nobody but you and the person who issued that knows what the files contain. And even they would've forgotten it by now."

I nodded, smiling. That was a good thing."

"So where is he?"

"Birmingham, England."

"That's a bit far out for a man of Italian kind."

"When you're desperate kiddo, you'll resort to things nobody will consider thinking of."

~o0o~

Three hours later, I arrived under the blanket on nighttime in London. From there, two precious hours were spent getting from London to Birmingham by train. In an unreserved carriage because I was short on time, so I had to stand. Not a big deal. I just wanted to get there quickly, in case the guy catches a sniff of something funky and skedaddles before we arrive.

It had skipped my mind that Christmas was a month away. I don't know why to other people, but it only ended up bothering me that they started to put up decorations when the holiday was weeks away. Made them seem very desperate for sales. The Christmas markets had just started up too, and I hadn't seen an English one before. Italy had something like this but I always went for gelato - despite the weather - and would watch the lights around the city, with a thick scarf and woolen gloves.

From the station, we took a taxi to Grove Lane. It was just a fair way out of Birmingham, heading towards Smethwick. I made the cab driver stop at the beginning of the street, however. I wanted to walk there and if we stopped in front of the house in a taxi, it might arouse suspicion.

There wasn't much snow. I mean, there was, but I don't know if you could call it snow yet. It was thin, and I couldn't see any in the sky. Mind you, I could hardly see much in the dark but that was a side effect of being human, apparently.

"Let's start walking." Al said, and I placed him down on the ground since he liked to do things on his own sometimes. But he jumped when I let go and mewed constantly. "Pick me up, pick me up! It's cold!"

"You wuss."

"Come on! I'm freezing my paws off!"

"Alright," I smiled, picking him back up and putting him in my jacket. I zipped it up and looked down. "Happy?"

"Yes. It's freezing."

Strangely enough, it is. It was a hot day in Italy, but a cold one in the midlands. Well….global warming for you. The street was lit with few lampposts that stained a circle of light on the ground, with about a couple of yards between each circle.. There weren't any cars down this street at this time of night, but I was sure there were drunks about. Nothing was better than drinking with your friends on an almost holiday gathering. It was probably one of the biggest excuses to drink.

It felt a little colder with the clothes I had one, but thirteen minutes later, I managed to find the house. It was big, and it was old. Like an estate. It was covered with a half brick, half iron bar fence. Pretty sure it had guards too.

It's like fort knox….

I decided that I didn't want to say out the front. I didn't like to take the pleasure of unnecessarily talking to strangers. Didn't want to make them suspicious nor make them uncomfortable with my mind reading. Both have a good effect on people, neither making a bad situation any better. My arms and face were scratched as I trespassed onto the neighbors land. They didn't have a fence like the targeted house did, so I didn't - thankfully- have to climb right leg first over any fences.

Not at that moment in time. But I definitely had to watch myself as I climbed the man's fence, since it had spikes on the top of each post and I didn't really want to get impaled any time soon. The grass on the other side was lush and the garden was well looked after. But there were no deck chairs or tables. The paneled doors were locked tight and I didn't sense anyone nearby.

I grumbled quietly and stepped back, but not too far, in case I was caught by the security camera. Didn't want my face caught now, did I? It wouldn't matter if Al was caught at all, they would probably just assume that he was a stray. It's not uncommon to see them around these parts apparently. When I looked back, I looked up and saw a light on in a room at the end of the property. It was the only one on, at this time of night, I assumed that it was being used. But it was rather odd for it to be on this late, unless the guy was an insomniac. I hoped not.

"Upsy daisy." I whispered, climbing up the drainpipe and hooking my foot on top of the first floor roof tiles so that I could pull myself up. Al hid inside my jacket and I tried not to squish him as I rolled onto the roof, silently as I could. I'd figured that my safest route would be enter the house at the other side. As expected, the top floor windows were shut pretty tight as well. I didn't carry around a crowbar or anything like that so I asked Al to wait for a minute while I took off my jacket and wounded it around my fist. Wasn't exactly the most secretive way to break and enter a house, but no alarms went off. There was a small enough hole for me to slip my hand through to open the latch. It got scratched a little while I fiddled with the lock, but I managed to open it. I slipped my parka back on and climbed onto the wooden floor, which was lined in a very expensive looking rug.

I tried my best to keep quiet. Since the floor was wooden, I wasn't too sure how I could reach the room without making too much sound. They had floors like these in Japan, in the imperial palaces. Dino and I had decided to visit them, The floorboards weren't bolted in, just placed down so that when the summer came around the wood would expand. They would act like a security system where every step you would take, a bell would sound in the tone of a birds call. It was all very cool. This floor wasn't making any bird calls, but it certainly did squeak, moan and groan like an elderly man trying to put on laced sneakers.

It was a very old home. Very regal, with the tone of a solemn King. Aged pictures of generations and generations lined the walls, taking up any space that it could, like the roots of trees. A lot were faded and some were so white that all I could see in the light of the night was a slight tinge in their clothes, indicating dark colours.

It was three doors down that I heard the voice.

"In the study Rhena. You don't have to tread so k-hack! K-hack! lightly, you can't scare this old man."

Rhena? Who was this woman?

That only meant that my space of time was limited to what I needed to ask. This time, I didn't make an effort to walk quietly. I strode down the hallway and stopped myself at the door. I thought to myself about barging in with guns ablazing. But I didn't want to alarm the man, or cause him to call someone. But I also didn't want to not answer the door. If I didn't, he might get even more suspicious.

Come on Phill, make up your mind.

In the end, I made sure that my gun was loaded and tucked into my pants at the back, my jacket covering it at the top. And I knocked, my hand shaking more than I should have. But then I realized that I didn't want to stand too close to the door, in-case the man owned a gun of his own, so I stepped until my back touched the opposite wall.

The grumbling of his voice was evident of how close he was. His voice wasn't deep, but it was aged and stuck on and endless tape of hacking. Smoking maybe, or something wrong with his lungs. It really didn't sound all that healthy and I was sure that the majority of people would more or less agree with me.

"Jeeze Louise Rhena, don't fluff around with politeness. I - " I heard his chatter grow louder as it came closer to the door. But the alarm on his face when he looked at me was lacking. I expected him to at least yell or screech at me, shaking his cane at me in an old cliché way. But instead, his back arched and the sagging skin on his face condensed even more as his red rimmed eyes widened slightly. He was a tall man, with a broad nose and a receding hairline that cut through his sheep white hair.

"You're not Rhena." He stated, his eyes wallowing back into slits. He was wearing a blue Christmas sweater that matched his eyes and he stepped aside, opening the door more. "Please, come in. You weren't followed, were you?"

"Y-You're not going to freak out?"

"Would you like me to?" He asked, honestly sounding genuine. "Because I can call the cops and say that you've broken into my house. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"No sir." I replied, shaking my head and hands in emphasis. "No."

I raised the picture to his face and when he raised his hand to get it, I moved so that it was out of his reach. He was an old man with the speed of turtle. (Granted, Dino's turtle was more obliged to move quicker than its quota when food was involved.) But still. I needed to make myself clear before I went into that room.

"You know this girl? Is this you?"

He blinked with surprise and looked me right in the eye. He didn't try to lie to me and I didn't feel any apprehension from the man. He was aged and didn't want trouble, like the ones that came with me. He nodded a 'yes' and gestured to come in, before saying that if I stayed out there I'd never get whatever I came for.

"Alright, but after I leave, I was never here. Got it?"

"Got it."

I nodded and entered. The study was very grand, and every wall around us – spare the windows, for light was needed to see in here – was stacked with aged books with worn spines and leather hardbacks. It was like a librarian turned historian's dream. In the center was an old, mahogany desk, with a wooden chair behind it. It seemed his possessions aged along with him, as if it was timed.

"Who's Rhena?" I asked, turning as he closed the door quietly. Al sat down on the ground, deciding to make himself peaceful.

"My caretaker."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." He replied, more firmer. "My name is Joseph Marchelli. And, I think, I have a fair idea why you are here." He gulped down his phlegm that threatened to force him into another coughing fit. "A-Are you from the office?"

"No."

"Then how did you obtain the phonebook?"

What? How does he know that?

He slowly strewed and sat down into his seat, sniffling. "You don't have to lie to me. I can see it in your voice. My girl, I left that book for someone else, with specific numbers in it that all come back to me that are only ever in that book. You can't find them anywhere else. I know that you found it. And with that picture, I'm thinking that you have affiliations with the girl, either her or me." He pinched his chin. "And you don't know me. I've never met you in my life."

"But you've met her?" I asked, pointing to the picture.

"Of course," He said, with emotion in his voice. "That's my daughter, Mary."

"Mary?" I repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" He growled, hacking.

"This is my mother."

His head bobbed up and with widened eyes, he sat back into the chair, throwing his handkerchief onto the table. He was sinking down and my hand wobbled. I was still holding up the picture.

The shock on his face registered in my mind, like it should have done before. He whispered out of his shocked state, staring hard at the picture.

"Impossible."

"No." I shook my head. "No, I know my mother."

"Really?" He asked. "My daughter is dead."

Dead?

"She died at five years, along with my wife." He said, leaning forward in his chair. "That was...my...forty odd years ago." Joseph tilted his head and gulped. "How old are you?"

"Twenty." I whispered, after deliberating in my head. I didn't know why he wanted my age, but after hearing my mother died, my gag reflexes were working up. Yes, I knew she was definitely dead, but not forty years ago. Something was terribly wrong here.

"Twenty." Joseph sat back, his mouth bent open. "You don't look twenty!"

"Thanks."

"Twenty." He said again. "Wow."

"What's so 'wow' about my age. It's a number, not who I am."

He smiled widely between breaths, getting excited. "Ehehe! My girl! My baby died when she was five, so you must be Miia's kid!"

"How do you know my mother's name?"

"Aha!" He stood out of his chair, and with arms in the air he laughed with glee. "Don't you see, this means that my experiment worked!"

What?

"That's it!" I yelled, slamming him into the wall very harshly. I was under pressure, and with all this information bombarding me, I had to act fast. "Don't you see, I don't have time! My mother is dead by someone I don't know. It doesn't help that I don't know anything about her, so tell me what you know! I need to track them before they find me or my brother!"

I realised that I was hurting him, so I let go immediately and backed up.

"Calm down, you're making a fool of yourself!"

"Shut up Al, I know what I'm doing!"

"Please sit." Joseph said, pointing to the chair in the corner of the room. I pulled it over and sat right in front of him, eager to what he had to tell me. "There is much for me to say, if it's Miia you want to speak about. Some things may shock you."

"I don't care. It's something, and I need everything I can get."

"Alright." He said, closing his eyes before focusing on the conversation. "My family died in a car crash, with a drunken man. My daughter was five and my wife, well she was turning twenty six. Miia was a mixed result of both my loneliness and my job. At the time – still now, in fact but I don't work any more, too old for that crap. - I had a doctorate in biological sciences and was the head of the biological department in some university back in Italy whose name escapes me. Miia, was my finest, and last project. She is the biological clone of Mary."

~o0o~

Miia Marchelli, or Miia Marsh, depending on what name she gave you, was born in a lab shortly after Joseph Marchelli's own daughter had died in a rather horrible accident involving heavy amounts of bourbon and reckless speeding. In a wallowing, pitiful state that caused his to stay indoors with clinical depression, he tried one more time. It was under the radar, and something that should have - and would have never been allowed if word had gotten out – a lifetime effect on the man.

Miia was a large labour of love. Joseph had privately asked specific men to help him, with the assurance that the information of what would happen here would not get out to the public or the world of the mafia. It couldn't, otherwise things could get very dangerous. Miia was the last in a line of babies. He remembered that Verde, one of the scientists on site of her conception, stated that they could be genetically engineered to be an army of Miia's. After saying this, Joseph wanted no info to leave the lab and had suspicions that she, zygote number nine, had been tampered with.(After talking a bit with Joseph, he suggested that this may be a reason to the way I turned out. Genetics were everything in the way of life.) But she was the only one to make it past the full nine months in a host mother. He lost his job twelve years later, but it didn't matter to him. He had all the money in the world.

And then, to his surprise – even though he spent day and night on this project – he had a beautiful baby girl. She was a mirror image of Mary, with golden hair and ocean blue eyes that would make both the sky and the sea sick with envy. And suddenly, he wasn't alone. He didn't have to be alone anymore.

But, things have a way of coming out. Unfortunately, I took after my mother in a lot of ways than I realised. She found out by finding Mary's death certificate, dated the day of her death, five years before Miia was born. She stormed off and he never was able to contact her again. He left the contacts book in the rubble of the old building, a place where he could try once again to do what he had done before. It sickened he, and he was an ill man.

In the end, he was dying. Dying, of a broken heart, madness and lung cancer.

A triple combo.

~o0o~

~Back in Japan~

"Please, stop you two!" Tsuna yelled, jumping between the fiery Hibari who was as scary as ever and Mukuro. He wasn't sure which one was scarier. "I don't know why you two are here, or why the hell you are fighting, however, there's no reason for you to fight now! You guys were actually set up!"

"I knew that," Hibari admitted, much to Tsuna's surprise.

"They really did!"

Tsuna looked over to the bushes, where a familiar duo stepped out. Leaves stuck out of Phillipa's hair and oddly enough, for once, she was in a sundress! This wasn't the weather for a dress!

"P-Phillipa, you're back!"

"And Al too!" She said, holding him up. He had reverted back to his kitty cat form and was sleeping in her arms, focused on getting that much needed (and wanted.) sleep.

"Where did you go!?"

"I told you, I had to tie up some loose ends back in Italy." She shrugged, as if it was nothing, but Tsuna's gut felt like something did happen. After what Reborn has said, he was starting to wonder what was going on in her mind. "Aaaaand I kinda stayed with Dino for a couple of days. He was a little upset that I left so suddenly, but I couldn't just say what really happened. He begged me to stay." She smiled and then shut up about the subject. "Anyway, Starfish, have you got your seal yet?!"

"N-no!"

"Why not?!

"Eeeh!"

~o0o~

I loved to see how his expressions came out. He was so confused, just as he always was. A bit more than teenagers usually were, but he was kind and gentle and he was working so so hard to get his seal. And he didn't even know what role would come up yet.

I just didn't want to alarm him.

"A-A clone?" I whispered, almost allowing myself to whimper. I gawked and stared at the man who was 'apparently' my grandfather, even though I never would consider that possibility. I mean, really? You were so distraught that you cloned your daughter out of loneliness? Really, because I'm sure most parents wouldn't do that!

"I know your thoughts." He said, twiddling his thumbs. He felt very guilty, to burden someone with the knowledge as he did with Momma. "I only wanted to love her."

"And then what happened?"

"The Vindice is what happened. They..." His voice broke, and he slammed his fist on the desk, making it jump a little. "They found out what I was doing, and they deleted everyone who knew about the project. This was a year after your mother had left. Luckily, they didn't find her nor I. But I fear..."

"That they'll come for you?"

He nodded.

"I'm not sure who killed Miia. But if I did, I'd strangle them with my bare hands."

"You think the Vindice had something to do with it?"

"Their faces were showing, yes?"

I paused. "Yes."

"Then probably not. All Vindice members were Arcobaleno once, until they were stripped of what they possessed and their bodies were mangled. By your observations, they were probably affiliated with some other party."

"But there's a chance that they know have something?"

"Most certainly, My dear."

"And you were the one that tortured me?"

"Tortured you? Oh, no. no. I get my subjects brought to me. It's just a handling space below the office."

"Er, that's not what I went through."

"Then I'm sorry for that." He leaned back once more, and I flinched when he set a gun on his desk. "Sorry, but this isn't for you, it's for me. I must ask you for a favor."

~o0o~

Once again, Dino was left alone to his own devices while Phillipa was running off again doing several jobs all upon one conscience that will probably stress her out again. He didn't like to see her hurt, nor her worn out. He wished she had stayed longer. He - very much so - enjoyed their time together, especially when it was just the two of them. He rolled around in his bedsheets and stretched till the bones in his ankles clicked. Through his fringe, he watched the clock tick. Dino sighed out loud and his head went 'thump!' back onto the pillow.

And they had a lot to talk about once she got back.

Things were about to get lively under the roof of the Chiavarone household.

~o0o~

Good morning my pretties! (I shouldn't be on the computer this early in fact; it's not even seven thirty.) Ah well, what a week I had. I got my results back in what occurred to be the most torn grades I've ever receiver. Some were extremely good, like my Art Design Folio which got endorsed with excellence. (Major surprise because I was told it would be lucky if I even got merit.) While others I'm almost furious about.

But, that aside, I want to thank everybody for your kind words and support through these past couple of months. I know I'm not the most punctual uploader but I try not to give up on stories. It's been difficult with exams on, but I haven't given up, so that's been a win. Speaking of stories, if you like Far Cry 3, please check out my new story -'The Feral Experiment.' My TARDIS dress is finished as well, so look it up on Deviantart! I made it from scratch!

Replies:

Mari92: (Waaay back on Chapter 5) - I have a feeling she might soon, with the things I've planned.

Guest: Oh, so I managed to offend you by not tagging OC? Even when the summary clearly stated OC? Is that all you wanted to tell me?

Seasonsinreverse: Well, Bianchi only met her for a brief time at the party. A couple of months were separating their next meeting, so it's quite possible for her to be forgotten. Sorry if I confused you a little.

Viper's girl: Yeah, almost! It does actually require me to spend a day at the keyboard, but that's fine with me. An Al, oh Al. Please, never change~

Akayuki Sawada: And unfortunately, you won't see that little tiff. It just didn't fit with the chapter. And yes, Libby is. There was a brief mention of her back when TYL Dino was signing papers, so I understand if you missed/skipped over that.

LadyKarma18: No.

eirame: Thank you. (I just imagined Gandalf saying that FSR.)

LeoInuyuka: No missy-moo, no cannibalism until season two comes out of Hannibal.

I Am Alys: NOW.

natachoco: Whoops, sorry about those. I always have trouble distinguishing between American English and British English. (*blows a raspberry of frustration*)

totoro: No sweat! You reviewed netherless, so it's as good of a time as anytime. Thanks for your kind words and I hope you keep reading! :D

Alright, I better go have breakfast. Or go have a shower. Or find something that gets acrylic paint off from the night before.

-Verdigurl