Chapter 20: Stages of Grief

"Some sins can't be forgiven."

-Ken Levine (Bioshock Infinite)

My thumb traced circles uncertainly above the keyboard of my phone, my eyes rereading the message I had sent Kyoya early. He hadn't responded, naturally, but I could assume that he got the message. Bel shifted beside me, bringing his arm out from between us and causally draping it across my shoulders and the back of the couch.

"Still worrying about your boyfriend?" He teased, slightly miffed underneath his light tone, annoyed that I was paying more attention to the phone than him.

"Girl, actually," I corrected, frowning and thinking of Chrome with a bare wince. I moved on, not wanting to dwell, "Those guys seemed pretty tough," I sighed, snapping the phone shut, blatantly ignoring his comment. He snickered as I leaned into him, still tired from healing the others.

"Nothing that we couldn't handle, princess," He assured me with a confident grin, "If those brats get creamed, then we'll step in and wipe them out."

"If?" I asked, my eyes sliding to him accusingly. He shrugged, the movement shifting me slightly as well.

"Fine," he corrected, "when." I frowned, elbowing him lightly in the stomach.

"Not helping, Bel," I huffed. He snickered.

"I'm sure those brats will be fine, princess," he said with a softer tone, "Besides, you seemed to be holding up against that one girl fine." I groaned and shifted, facing away from him and bringing my knees up, leaning my head against them in an attempt to hide my face.

"Don't remind me," I relented, my voice muffled. He snickered once more, his softer, more comforting tone long gone, having converted back to his usual teasing self.

"Looks like the princess has made an enemy~" He teased, poking my stomach so that I shot up, forced to abandon my curled up position of self-pity. I puffed my cheeks and turned to him.

"Shut up!" I shot back, roughly poking him in the chest, "It's not like I meant to make myself a target!"

"And yet," He said, cupping my chin and lifting it slightly, his other hand moving to lightly brush against the small wound on my neck, "You still got hurt."

"Yeah," I said, rolling my eyes and huffing, "hurt, as in scratched. I definitely got the better end of the deal compared to the others."

"Your healing has gotten better," Bel complimented, releasing my chin. My own hand went up to the small mark, circling it absentmindedly.

"Unfortunately, I've gotten a lot of practice recently," I trailed off, still on our earlier topic, "Remind to pick up some of the ice before we leave. I want a friend of mine to-" I almost jumped, causing Bel to stiffen beside me as I scrambled for my vibrating phone.

"Yo! Cloud!" My mouth began to form his name, then, remembering that Bel was right beside me, I wisely thought better of it.

"Yita?" I pronounced, turning from Bel slightly. His scrunched his nose in distaste. "What is it?"

"Ah, being discrete, are we?" Byakuran mused, "That means you're not alone."

"Yeah," I hummed lightly, "Bel's with me."

"Prince the Ripper, huh?" He laughed, "I see why you want to keep our relationship on the down-low, yeah?"

"Why exactly did you call me?" I sighed, getting impatient. I was too tired at this point to deal with his usual coyness.

"Ah, I just thought you'd like to know my plans for the next few days," He said happily. I could practically see him leaning back leisurely, leg crossed over knee, and foot bouncing. "I'm going to visit Yamamoto." I blinked, surprised.

"You're going to what?"

"Visit Yamamoto! I heard that he was feeling down, so I'm going to cheer him up."

"And by feeling down, do you mean he's resting from almost dying by turning into a shish-ka-bob?"

"Yep! I think I can help him out a bit? You want to come?" He offered nonchalantly.

"No," I said slowly, then more firmly, "no, if you're going to do this, you should go alone. This will be good."

"In what way, hm?" He asked, voice brimming with curiosity.

"It'll give them reason," I said, keeping an eye on Bel, and choosing my words wisely, "to trust you. Or," I rephrased, "it would be big first step. Out of all of them, besides Tsuna, Takeshi is the most open."

"Great minds think alike, Cloud~" I frowned.

"Was this a test?" I accused, eyes narrowing.

"Ah, you already know me so well! We're getting closer by the minute, Cloud," He cooed. I huffed, and rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. Just don't screw anything up. Majorly, at least."

"A little chaos every now and then won't hurt anyone," he hummed.

"Agree to disagree," I replied in a clipped tone, "Ciao." And with that, I snapped the phone shut.

"That bitch, huh?" Bell sneered.

"Dayita," I corrected, watching the knife in his hand spin rapidly.

"What did she want?" He asked curiously. My stomach twisted, watching as he spun the knife once more before pocketing it.

"None of your business," I said, poking his chest and pushing him back lightly as I got up. "We should go look for Squalo and Dino," I moved on as he got up with a grin, falling in step with me easily. "They should have more information as this point." Bel snickered lightly, throwing his arm around my shoulders once more, per usual.

"Whatever you say, princess~"

It was necessary, I convinced myself, feeling cold. It was necessary to lie to them.

"You're…." Mukuro trailed off, eyes narrowing as he looked over the girl in front of him, "…an illusion aren't you." A familiar smirk slithered onto her face, overtaking her features. She winked, green eyes flashing, spinning the weapon in her hand and stepping away from where she had confronted Mukuro's own trident.

"To battle illusion with illusion..." Daemon's voice echoed in the space he had created for their battle, "one must be able to completely recover control of their senses."

Mukuro's eyes narrowed as other figures appeared beside the illusion of Nikita, his other 'friends', Mukuro noted with a hint of amusement. Easy to deal with. Simple to dispatch. And yet.

He faltered, leaning back as her weapon nicked his cheek. Scowling, he glared at the illusion, her hair darkening and tainting until it was more red, her face contorted until it was no longer hers, but someone else's entirely. Two separate people.

This one, he could kill. This one, he will kill.

Easily he slashed her across the shoulder and drove his trident through her chest.

She had been the first to die.

"It's harder to analyze with my flames," I explained to the inventor, repeating what I had told Squalo and Dino a few days before. Varrick hummed thoughtfully, inspecting the ice shard. Particularly, it was the shard that held me at neck point. My hand went to stroke the scar on my chin absentmindedly.

"I'll look into it," he promised callously, "Flame of the earth, you say? Ah," He said, putting it down suddenly and looking up at me, excitement in his eyes, "that reminds me! I need more of your cloud flames!"

"What for?" I asked, leaning back as he leaned forward.

"The serum I showed you earlier! And, well," he faltered a bit, "I need the flames to test the concept itself, because, as of now, it's all in theory and I used the ones you gave me last time testing the daggers," he trailed off, mind delving into calculations and what not. I stepped back, hoping to slink away, but he snapped towards he again, grabbing my hands. "It's going to be amazing if it does work though!" I sighed in defeat, letting myself slump from where I had been tense thanks to the sudden contact.

"Get in the chair?" I concluded. He nodded happily. I huffed and complied, hoping to get this over with. As he took my flames, I thought over my plans afterward, which was to take a nap and hopefully talk to Hannah again. I had been ignoring her and treating her as a problem for too long.

Hopefully I could convince Mukuro the same, and we can all reconcile.

That, I thought, with a small, sincere smile, would be perfect.

"Mukuro…?" The small smile that was forming on my face dropped as Mukruo shot up from where he had been kneeling, as if startled that I was here. An easy smile graced his face as he turned fully raising his arms out as if showing off.

"Cavallone," he purred, eyes narrowing slightly. I looked him over, eyes slightly wide noticing the obvious changes. He was much more… solid. His presence in my mind was practically demanded. The older Mukuro, I noted, had been similar, but I just brushed it off as him being older, therefore stronger. But no, I corrected, that wasn't the reason.

"You got your body back," I stated aloud. He smirked.

"And quite the difference it makes," he marveled looking at himself as if still getting used to it, "perhaps it's simply the confidence boost that makes me this way, but whatever it is," he trailed off, breathing in, relishing this feeling, "I feel whole once more. Well," his eyes flickered behind him momentarily, "at least, I will after I finish off this one little annoyance."

"Where's Hannah?" I asked, the air turning cold and tense. I stiffened when he didn't answer, and instead reached behind him, bringing out a bouquet of flowers.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now," he continued, ignoring my question, "the memories fading, that is. I've managed to preserve a select few that I've considered of importance. These will help us in the battle coming up."

"Mukuro," I said, stepping forward, "please. Where is Hannah?" He sighed, clearly annoyed by my persistence, then stepped aside.

Everything stopped completely, the air like glass as I saw what was left of Hannah, curled up on the ground, almost completely translucent, with small green vines veining across of her body.

"Hannah..." I breathed before rushing to her side.

My hands hovered over her, unsure of what to do, unsure of what I could do. I could barely see her eyes open, looking like she barely registered I was there, kneeling over her. A whisper of a voice wafted from the space where her lips should have been.

"If someone dies, but there's no one around to remember them, were they ever truly alive?"

I opened my mouth, to refute her statement, to comfort, just to say something, goddammit, to let her know that I'll remember, that she'll be remember, but before I could touch her….

she was gone. I blinked at the empty ground. Nothing. There wasn't a single part of her left to even mourn over. My hands shook, falling to the ground where she once lay.

Mukuro looked on from behind me, with uncaring, cold eyes.

"What did you do?" I barely whisper.

"For once," he said, justified, "the right thing." My head whipped around in anger, in rage.

"The fuck you did the ri-"

"She would kill you eventually," he cut off, glaring, "just like in the future. I found a safe way to get rid of her. My future-self planted the seed and I simply finished the job. You should be thanking me."

"For killing a part of myself?" I said, anger depleting with every word. I slumped forward, clutching myself. The garden's color faded into scales of gray as I became more and more numb. "That was who I used to be, Mukuro. You can't just kill off something like that."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. He dropped the banquet and began walking away. I didn't even look up as he went.

"I have my body back now," He stated, "and at this moment, you're not useful to me." He looked back hoping to meet my eyes.

"Since I'm not appreciated," he enunciated with a cold smile, "this is goodbye, Nikita."

'Until you become useful again,' is what was unsaid, but understood. 'You're just a tool to me,' was what was painfully elaborated. My fist tightened and I looked up, meeting his gaze with a fierce glare. There was a flicker; doubt? pain? regret?

And that was the last exchange before he left, flourishing into mist. I let out a shaky breath, feeling him go in every ounce of my mind. There were two gaping holes in my mind now, reminding me how utterly alone I was. I let out a single sob, which then transitioned into a full break down of tears and sorrow. My mind was eerily still, unable to react to my mourning.

A single flower budded behind me in the spot she last lay.

The only splash of color in the garden.

"Nikita?" Dayita's soft, melodious voice wafted into the room. The older girl stood outside the decorated door, having cracked it, but didn't dare to enter yet. A frown blessed her features, her painted lips curving downward slightly.

Yesterday, her guest had spent the entire day in her room. Dayita was not worried then; Varrick had the tendency to take too many flames at once, and she knew the girl was too soft-hearted to refuse, despite her dislike of Dayita's brother. She only began to worry when the girl hadn't come out to eat, and had even refused when Madhi and then Dayita herself attempted to bring her food.

Immediately, and naturally, she blamed her brother for this, and stormed down to his dwellings out for blood. However, he had shakenly told her that he had done nothing ("I promise, Yita, stop it with the illusions!"). This left Dayita at a loss for what could be troubling the strawberry-blonde (now, more blonde than strawberry with the amount of sun she is getting once again). As far as she knew, Nikita's brother was fine and healthy, along with the Varia, who she knew the girl was extremely close to. The Tenth Generation Vongola even returned victorious just the other day, safe and sound.

Despite the older girl's ability to read other people, she lacked enough empathy to comfort them. But that didn't mean she couldn't try. And besides, the dark-skinned beauty was one hell of an actress.

"Nikita," she repeated, "I'm coming in the room."

She was left unanswered. She sighed and pushed the door open all the way, balancing the tray she was carrying. The room was softly lit, color from the thin drapes tainting the sunlight that was filtering through the window. Dayita's eyes shifted to the untouched food on the table nearby.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked kindly as she placed the tray at the end of the bed and then sat down on the edge. The body shape under the covers shifted slightly. Dayita sighed, picking up her own cup from the tray. "You have to eat sometime, you know," she daintily scolded, "and you're worrying us."

There was a soft sigh. Dayita bit back a smirk, knowing that this would be the phrase that got the girl up.

"Sorry," Nikita muttered, pushing herself to sit up.

"Can I ask what's wrong?" Dayita pressed softly. Nikita shook her head, and it was then that Dayita noticed that she looked like she hadn't slept.

"Ah," Dayita breathed out, understanding, "one of those, huh?" She asked, referring to her promise that she couldn't question certain aspects about the girl and her motives. "Is there at least anything I could do for you, love?" Nikita sighed and shook head once more. She raised her knees and crossed her arms, laying her head on them.

"I'm tired, Yita," she relented. "I'm tired."

"I see," Dayita said, and she truly did. The sunken look in the girl's eyes, the dimness of them. The emptiness of her voice. She had lost someone, Dayita noted. And who that person was? Well, that was not Dayita's business to know.

"You need a distraction?" Dayita asked suddenly. Cloud scoffed, humorlessly.

"I need a vacation," she said, dejected.

"Then let's do it," Dayita suggested, smiling brightly. "We can go on one. Away from here. Somewhere you haven't been." Nikita blinked, looking Dayita in the eyes for the first time. A soft smile, a success on Dayita's part.

"I've actually never been to Paris," Nikita said uneasily. Dayita's smiled widened as she reached over to clasp the younger girl's hand gently.

"Anywhere you want."

"I'm rethinking this whole vacation thing," I repeated, looking away from the window of the plane. Dayita hummed in question.

"Why? Varrick's going to be a bit longer on your weapons," she reasoned, rolling her shoulders, "and it's pretty obvious that you need to get away."

"Yeah…" I trailed off, flipping my phone open and filing through Dino's exciting messages, happy that I was finally going to Paris, and apologetic that he had never taken me there. I shut the phone abruptly and looked out the window once more.

Was I running away from my problems? I crossed out the question immediately. I couldn't run away from this. The emptiness, from both of them. Hannah was one, huge daunting, gaping hole that would never return, but I hadn't realized how much of an impact Mukuro had on me. It was like the future when I had first arrived, but worse. Because this time, I wanted him gone.

I had felt him, the other day, trying to enter back in my mind. He had knocked, and I didn't let him in. The walls were up once more, but this time with my knowledge. This time, they were built by hatred and loathing and grief. Mourning. Resentment. I wondered how long that would last. I wondered why he had tried to come back after what he did. My stomach clenched again. I flinched, despite being aware of Dayita's hand coming towards me.

"Are you excited?" She asked, fingers running softly through my hair as she began playing with it.

"About Paris?" I asked, faking a smile, "Can't wait," I said in mock excitement, holing up my hands and wiggling my fingers for emphasis.

"I can tell," she teased, eyes narrowing in amusement. "Oh, and Nikita?"

"Hm?"

"Please wipe that fake smile off your face," she said callously, smiling beautifully, "it's not a good look for you, darling."

Surprisingly, the 'vacation' to Paris helped. Of course, it was mostly due to Dayita continuously distracting me. And boy, was she good at distracting.

"Mother took me to Paris as a child all the time," she elaborated after thanking a vendor in perfected French, and handing me a crepe. "I know all the best places to shop and eat, and how to avoid to tourism."

I nodded taking my treat, gratefully, despite my appetite only having increased a little. She had been continuously forcing me to eat, buying all of the food for me. Luckily, I had convinced her that I would be paying for my own clothes (I was nowhere near buying as much as her, but I do admit to buying a few articles here and there). I was mostly spending my money at the coffee shops Yita had been taking me to, set on showing me all her favorite.

At the time, we were sitting on the terrace of one of the more extravagant bakeries, overlooking a rather quaint Parisian view.

Mukuro had tried to reenter my mind two more times. After that, nothing.

"You're never been to Venice?" I repeated, tilting my head to look from the rooftops to Dayita. "I should take you sometime, especially since you took me here."

"Ah, Nikita~" She cooed, covering her face and pawing with her hand, "that would be a perfect date! Only rivaling this one, of course!"

"I already explained to you, Yita," I repeated, "I really just think you're too intense for me to date, yeah?"

"Love, I don't know the meaning of the word."

I sighed, looking away once more, having given up refuting her flirtatious attempts long ago. My phone buzzed, and I retrieved it from my pocket nonchalantly, assuming it to be Dino with his daily call. I raised my eyebrows, slightly surprised to see a different name instead.

"Yo. What's up?" I answered. Dayita hummed happily and leaned back in her chair, probably assuming that it was Dino as well, thanks to the way I casually answered the call.

"Where are you?" Bel asked immediately. My eyebrows furrowed, noting his irritation immediately.

"What's got you so miffed?" I asked, not bothering to answer his question. I blinked, then narrowed my eyes. "You snuck into my room again, didn't you?"

"And you weren't there," he finished. "So, where are you, princess~" He tried again, adding a polite tone to the question.

"Paris," I answered, then became suspicious, "why? You don't sound like you just want to hang out."

"Really?" His tone shifted immediately, and I could easily imagine the grin spreading across his face. "Ushishishi…. what a coincidence." I opened my mouth to question him, but he cut me off before I could get a word out.

"We'll pick you up there. I'll text you the location, " he said quickly, then promptly ended the phone call.

"Wait, Bel-" I sighed, closing my eyes in defeat. I opened them to see Dayita frowning, almost on the verge of scowling.

"Mou~" She cooed, changing her mood quickly, draping her upper half over the small table as she leaned forward, "don't tell me that he's coming to take you away from me."

"Apparently so," I sighed, wondering vaguely who 'we' was.

"Well," I admitted, reading over the text Bel had sent me afterwards. "I guess I'll find out soon enough."

"So," I stated, pushing my sunglasses to the top of my head as my eyes scanned the other occupants of the private jet, "why exactly am I here?"

"It was Squalo's idea," Bel sang from his seat, flipping a knife in the air repetitively. "He thought it would make things easier."

"Right…" I trailed off, eyes lingering to the specified swordsman, "I'm still unclear about what, exactly, it is I'm making easier."

"We decided to retrieve the illusionist from the future, Fran," Squalo explained professionally. My eyes drifted to the Varia's current illusionist, sitting diagonal from me, and seemingly ignoring the entire conversation. "Since you seemed to have to best relationship with him in the future," Squalo continued, before I finished for him.

"You figured I could deal with him if he got annoying," I stated bluntly. "In other words, you don't want to deal with him, and want me to babysit when he gets annoying." All the Varia seemed to avoid eye contact with me, conveniently finding other interesting things to look at.

"Unbelievable," I stated, then corrected, "No, actually, it's very believable. I am not surprised at all you would do this."

"Good," Levi stated, nodding, "then you're okay with it."

"No," I corrected, "Not okay with this. Do you expect me to do this all the time? Honestly, from what I'm getting, you guys aren't considering this as a one time thing."

"What's the deal?" Squalo asked roughly, "You had a good enough relationship with him! And besides, you're normally around us all the time anyway."

"I," I pointed to myself, making a point, "as surprising as it may sound, have a life outside of you guys." Their reactions were dull, as if not even considering this. "The fuck!" I hissed, rubbing my temples, "you seriously thought that I would just go along with this?!"

"I was against it, princess," Bel told me, flashing a charming smile. I softened, feeling a little better knowing that Bel was sticking up for me. "I didn't want to get that snot-nosed frog in the first place. The prince doesn't share." I blanched, the soft expression gone.

"Selfish!" I accused, pointing a finger. He frowned in response. I sighed loudly, falling back into the reclined seat. Squalo huffed, returning to his wine glass, knowing me well enough to know I had given up on my one-sided argument. I groaned, throwing an arm over my eyes.

"Besides, we need a large group," Squalo continued.

"Ah, yeah," Bel hummed, "I forgot about the problem."

"Problem?" Mammon repeated, inserting himself in the conversation. I hummed, lifting my arm slightly as well.

"We've received information that there are other organizations aiming for Fran," Squalo elaborated, "It's best to be cautious." Mammon hummed distastefully.

"So he has that much promise… but I couldn't care any less."

"And I got pulled from my vacation for this," I huffed, causing Squalo to roll his eyes at me.

"Stop whining, brat," he snapped. "We're almost to Jura, anyways."

"If you're looking for Fran, he's playing up stream," the elderly woman told us. "The river is just North of here." I bowed slightly, titling my head.

"Ah, thank you," I said, smiling brightly. Mammon barely shifted in my arms.

"Wait a bit. It's hot today," Fran's grandmother began, turning to walking into her house, "let me get you some milk to drink…" she turned around, but blinked in surprise. Assuming Mammon put their illusion up, I began walking away, making my way back towards the rest of the group to relay the information to them.

"I don't see why I had to go," I said, walking upstream alongside Bel.

"It cause Nikita and Mammon look the cutest!" Lussuria cooed.

"And we don't exactly pull off innocent," Bel snickered. I noticed Mammon trailing behind, seeming rather distracted.

"Upriver, she says," Squalo commented, pausing momentarily. "Still more climbing."

"It seemed like we can walk it," Levi noted.

"I'm quickly losing confidence in what I know about Fran," Lussuria commented after a while, causing me and Bel to look over at him. "Because," he continued, "Bel made Fran wear that frog hat, I don't have a strong impression of his true face." Bel snickered in response.

"That's alright," he stated, "Fran doesn't like your okama fashion, remember?"

"It doesn't matter if he doesn't like it!" Lussuria shot back hotly.

"And besides," Bel continued, nudging me lightly in the stomach with his elbow, "that's why we brought our princess." I opened my mouth to snark back, but trailed off, distracted by the water fall before us.

"Pretty," I said after whistling. Squalo looked back at me momentarily before I jumped forward, startling him by leading the climb up the water fall.

"He plays in this kind of place," Bel admitted, "it's not bad. A natural playground. A normal kid couldn't even come up here," he finished as we made it to the top, greeted by another forest. Squalo fell in step beside me as we entered.

"You alright?"

"Hm?" I looked over, his question throwing me. I held back a frown, wondering if he noticed a change in me, wonder of he noticed the two gaping holes in me as well. "Yeah," I answered, recovering quick, "why do you ask?"

"I wondering if the cli-" He stopped, the entire group tensing and readying themselves as we felt other presences, alongside noises.

"Ah jeez, byon!" I looked over, another group entering the small circular clearing of water we had entered. His eyes met mine immediately, as if knowing exactly where to look.

"Rokudo Mukuro!"

He recovered much quicker than I did, shattering our eye contact, and reviewing the rest of the group.

"Varia… I see, so that's how it is," He mused smoothly. "You guys must be making your move to acquire Fran…"

"So, that other energy I felt," Mammon muttered, "was you, Rokuo Mukuro, and your friends." Mukuro chuckled.

"I've got not shortage of enemies," he noted, his eyes shifted slightly back in my direction. My stomach clenched and my fists tightened.

"Ah," Bel said, luckily distracting both of us, "There he is! That's him, right?" I looked over, seeing a small figure standing on a stone in the river.

"Just like always…" a younger, but yet, unmistakable voice muttered in French, "Grandma's lunchboxes are horrible… well, then… maybe I should stir up some trouble." I immediately noticed the teal green hair, cut exactly the same as it was in the future.

"So he's worn hats since he was a child?" Squalo wondered aloud.

"Hm?" I titled my head, looking over at him. By doing so, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mammon running off on their own. I assumed they used an illusion to cover their escape, since I was only one to even notice. I was drawn back to the subject at hand with the sounds of splashing, and turned to see Fran now in the water.

"Drift away," he said, "but, you know, last time I drifted, I drifted all the way out to the ocean, and no one noticed." I sighed, putting my head in my hands and shaking it.

"Awe, wee babe," I relented.

"He always plays alone?" Lussuria commented.

"As I knew!" Levi refuted.

"Hrm." Fran shot up suddenly. "I sense people." I sighed, resisted the urge to face palm, somehow feeling responsible, even before my job as babysitter started.

"Late reaction much?" I muttered as he turned, finally noticing the considerably large group that had been stalking him. Bel snickered, stepping forward proudly. I noticed Mukuro do the same, holding up a hand in greeting. Fran blinked, then rubbed his eyes.

"Not good," he muttered. "I'm seeing fairies." It was a group reaction; we all practically deflated. "onu Rakokko, Donbura Kokko," Fran called out, doing strange, banishing movements, "fairies go away."

"What is he doing!?"

"A hex?"

"Does he not know who we are?" Lussuria exasperated after Squalo and Bel's outburst. Mukuro chuckled, stepping forward again in confidence.

"Kufufu, you people from the Varia have hidden your presence too much. Fran, it's me!" He called out directly. "You remember your master, right?" The boy paused in his ramblings.

"That threw me for a loop," He said, as if slowly recalling who he was, causing Mukuro to chuckle once more, "I'm surprised. That on this mountain, there would be a pineapple fairy."

I watch, detached as Mukuro blanched at the comparison, the statement causing a small smile.

"Now that I look closer, I recognize that long haired one, or rather, I know everyone with him. You're all one team," Fran recalled, looking over the Varia, but not yet spotting me.

"Ding, ding!" Bel sang smugly.

"He finally noticed, eh?" Squalo sighed, looking down and smirking with his eyes closed.

"You guys are tooth decay fungi."

I couldn't help it. I covered my mouth with my hand, muffling my snickers.

"Why you!"

"We're not fairies or tooth decay fungi!" Squalo yelled. Fran ignored their shouts, repeating his earlier ward. Meanwhile, Mukuro was being restrained by his subordinates, distracting us momentarily from stopping Bel, despite the major killing intent rolling off of my best friend

"I'll kill him!" Bel shouted.

"Ah, Bel!" I rushed after him and he went forward. I scowled, grabbing him arm a little too late. Fran ducked, the knives going right over his head.

"That hat is an illusion!" Squalo announced. I titled my head once more, looking back at him. he caught my gaze, eyes widening slightly. "That's right," he addressed me, "You can't see illusions!"

My attention went back to Fran, who was now running across the water away from Bel.

"Help me! A tooth decay fungus that forgot to cut his bangs," Bel 'kaching'-ed from my side, "and that bad-looking guy threw some original looking knives at me!"

"Bastard," Bel hissed, but Ken shot forward before Bel could attack again.

"Wait, Fran!" Ken stood in front of the kid, holding up his hands. "I understand you're feeling panicked, but we're your allies, byon."

"Only an Idiot would say stuff like 'byon' with a smiley face," Fran insulted, making a ninety degree turn, "that has to be an idiot fairy! I'll catch him stupidity if he touches me!" Levi moved forward, jumping violently in front of Fran for intimidation.

"The game stops here," he threatened, "don't run away, Fran!"

"This too decay fungus isn't the least bit scary," Fran brushed him off, turning again to where he was facing me and Bel, "I wonder why. Go on through."

He paled, seeing Bel again, but then his eyes landed on me for the first time. They widened as if recognizing me and he made a beeline, throwing off Squalo, Mukuro and Chikusa, who were aiming to land in front of him, weapons drawn.

"Save me fairy-princess!" he cried, running behind me and clinging to my leg. I blinked, looking down, then smirked, turning to Bel smugly. I raised as eyebrow as he scowled.

"I get 'Fairy Princess'," I bragged, batting my lashes at him.

"Yeah," Fran piped up, "because the princess is always the dumb, blonde, bimbo." I blinked, registering the insult. Then, upon hearing Bel's snickers, I violently shook my leg in an attempt to get him off. Unfortunately, he stuck like a leech.

His eyes spun, dizzy from my attempt to shake him. Then, refocusing, he noticed Squalo and Mukuro in front of us, pointing their weapons at him. I continued to glare down in an attempt to distract myself from looking at Mukuro.

"Not good," he murmured, "you gotta use your fairy princess powers. Unless we can calm the fairies, they'll kill me… that hair defies common sense," he commented, taking down Squalo first, "there is no human that would have confidence with hair like that. Pineapple fairy, you just now got here, but it smells like pine. Aah, it smells! It really smells!" He said, tightening his grip on my legs. I sighed, rubbing my temples and looking at the sky.

"I can skin him off for you, princess," Bel offered, knives glinting as he stepped forward. Fran stiffened at the threat.

"We're not hurting him, Bel," I reprimanded, my hand going to the side of Fran's head out of habit. Ipin had often clung to my leg, along with Lambo when he got jealous and clingy (which happened a lot). Therefore I was used to children attaching themselves to me, and yet, these children usually didn't cause so much backlash with blunt insults.

I looked down to see Fran's nose scrunched in concentration, scrutinizing my face. I raised an eyebrow in question, but was interrupted by Squalo before I could vocalize my curiosity.

"Voi! Listen, for a minute Fran," He started, "do you remember getting hit in the head recently?"

"According to Grandma, it seems like I was hit in the head with a cube of cheese," Fran responded, voice muffled as he pressed his face in my leg. "I lost my memories, so I can't remember."

"Seriously?" I sighed, my shoulders slumping, and yet, not being too surprised by this revelation for some reason. I felt a tug on my shirt, distracting me from focusing on Squalo and Mukuro's squabble over who kept Fran. "Hm?"

"Hey, Princess," Fran asked, looking up at me with his eyes squinted, "what's your name?"

"Nikita," I answered. He frowned.

"Nope," he stated bluntly. "You're wrong." My eye twitched and I reached, harshly pinching his cheek. Squirmed in discomfort, eventually releasing his hold on my leg and falling back. I huffed, glad that the same tactic I used to get Lambo to release me, worked with other children as well.

"Don't be rude," I scolded, my eyes narrowing.

"I wasn't being rude," He shot back, rubbing his offended cheek, "I was just…." he trailed off, thinking, "politely," he chose, "telling you that you were wrong."

"Oh?" I questioned, kneeling to look him in the eyes, "then what do you think my name is?" He blinked, as if the answer were obvious.

"It's Hannah," he said frankly, "of course."

I faltered, his response throwing me way off and sending pang through me. Bel looked over, away from the animated conversation Mukuro (oh god, Mukuro, I keep forgetting that he was here, just a few meters away from me) and Squalo were having. I quickly pinched his cheek, a little less harshly than before.

"Nikita," I corrected, rather too quickly. "Call me Nikita, or even Cloud if you want." He frowned, rubbing his cheek again.

"That's a stupid name," he stated.

"And Fran's much better?" I challenged. He stuck his tongue out at me, looking over at the other's conversation once again.

"Are they fighting over me?" He asked me. I nodded, sighing.

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'. "Looks like it."

"This is a rather interesting discussion, huh?" He said, calling their attention to him. "Is it all right if I make the decision?" Mukuro and Squalo looked down at him, shocked at the boldness.

"I'll go," he reached over attaching himself to my leg once again, "with Cloud-Fairy here."

"Sorry I wasn't there to pick you up or accompany you on the way back, dearest," Dayita announced, flowing into the kitchen, "something came up that I can't wait t-" She stopped in her tracks, her head whipping to my side. She blinked once.

"What..." she asked, not moving her eyes, "is that thing?"

"A kid?" I supplied, tilting my head. Fran stared blankly at Dayita from his seat at the counter beside me. "More specifically," I elaborated, "It's Fran."

"Clearly," she clipped. "And what is he doing here?"

"Well," I drawled, rolling my and looking away from her gaze, "I kind of got dumped with him after we figured out that he lost his memories from the future." She raised an eyebrow.

"And you brought him with you," she asked, then pointed a finger downwards, "here?"

"It's not like I could just ditch him, Yita," I reprimanded.

"I could," She supplied blankly, "very easily, in fact." I frowned and opened my mouth to retort, but stopped to look down as Fran tugged my shirt. He pointed at Dayita.

"She has big tits." Dayita's eye twitched, then she promptly walked out.

"Yita, wait!" I called after her, moving to follow. Fran reached out to grab the bottom of my shirt and clung onto it as he walked behind me.

"I don't 'do'," she did air quotations as she walked, "kids, dear."

"Dayita, stop," I whined. She sighed and turned around, arms crossed. She looked at Fran, unimpressed, then back to me.

"How exactly did this happen?" she interrogated, turning sharply into a lounge area we had reached. She draped herself onto a large chair while Fran and I sat across from her. I scratched the back of my head and looked off.

"Well…"

"Cloud, just call me Cloud or Nikita," I corrected him out of instinct, then blinked, relaying his words. Mukuro and Squalo blinked, staring out of shock. Levi was the first to speak.

"Well…" he said, shrugging slightly, "that settles it, doesn't it?"

"Wait, what?" I asked, head whipping around to look at him, almost betrayed.

"I suppose it does," Mukuro said tersely. We made eye contact once more and his mouth opened slightly, as if he wanted to say something. Then, he turned sharply, making his way out of the water and back the way he came.

"Let's go." His subordinates looked at each other, then followed. M.M. sighed and crossed her arms, looking over at me before she followed.

"Good luck with the brat," she said with a lazy flick of her hand. Squalo made a small thoughtful noise.

"I guess this does work out."

"How does this work out?" I asked him, shaking my leg again, dismayed to find out that Fran was, once again, latching onto it with all of his strength.

"Well, we can always just get him when he's older," Squalo explained with a shrug, "he'll be less annoying then, right?" Bel snickered.

"He was still pretty annoying in the future," he reminded us.

"And he's already so close to you, Nikita!" Lussuria explained, clapping his hands together, "It would be absolutely cold-blooded to break you two up now." My expression deadpanned.

"Says the cold-blooded assassin," I retorted, causing him to smile nervously. "And you guys are just okay with this?" Squalo shrugged.

"Better than us taking him," he pointed out, "he's pretty useless to us if he doesn't remember anything."

"And besides," Bel said, crossing his arms behind his head, "you guys have plenty of room at the mansion."

"You guys are making it sound like I'm adopting him," I pointed out.

"Isn't it basically what you're doing though?" Levi responded.

"I'm fourteen years old!" I stated hotly, "I'm not raising a fucking kid!" There was a tug on my shirt, I looked down to see Fran staring up at me.

"Do you not want me?" He asked innocently. I faltered, opened my mouth, then closed it again.

"I… I don't know how to respond to that," I answered honestly.

"Just dump him on your brother," Bel suggested, following Levi as he made his way out of the water. I lagged behind with difficulty, having Fran as a weight, along with my regular weights. Squalo followed behind me.

"I can't just dump him on Dino, Bel!"

"Why not. He's motherly."

"That's not the point!"

"Well," Squalo said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "you better decide." We both looked down at Fran, who had grown bored with the conversation and was looking off into the forest, not even paying attention.

"He doesn't look like he's letting go anytime soon."

"….so I took him back to his grandmother's, and she seemed all for the idea, and then the Varia took me to the airport where your plane was waiting, and here we are," I finished. Fran had sprawled out beside me by the time I finished the story, having gotten bored quickly and falling into a light sleep.

"Why did you take him in, exactly?" Dayita asked, seeming almost disturbed by the whole thing. I sighed, then shrugged, looking down at Fran.

"Honestly?" I said, brushing some hair out of his eyes, "I don't really know. I guess he just seemed really lonely, you know? And he helped me a lot in the future. He was all for the idea of going with me."

"Ah, yes," she said in a rather clipped tone, "and, I'm sure that brother dearest is just thrilled to have another charge running wild and creating havoc."

"Actually," I said, giving her my brightest smile, "Dino doesn't know about this yet." She froze. I could practically see the alarm bells going off in her head.

"Oh?" She recovered, "And why is that?"

"I was thinking, you know," I started, going slow at first, looking around the room, anywhere really, besides Dayita's fierce stare, "since you're such a great illusionist, that maybe, I don't know," I looked back up at Dayita innocently. "That you could teach him?"

She looked from Fran to me, unimpressed.

"You're kidding." My smile dropped.

"I am not." She scowled.

"Just hear me out, Yita," I said with a sigh, "look, he has a lot of potential and needs someone like you to train him."

"What about Mukuro, hm?" She suggested, coldly bringing her hand up to inspect her nails, "He's a somewhat competent illusionist." My expression dropped and a pang went through me. Dayita softened, seeing my expression. She sighed, placidly putting her fingers against her forehead.

"I'll see what the brat can do," she relented, causing me to brighten up. I clapped my hands together, startling Fran and causing him to wake up.

"Thanks so much, Yita!" I said, bowing slightly. She waved me off, standing.

"You're just lucky that I have such a bleeding heart," she relented in a tired fashion, then strictly pointed out, "but this doesn't mean for sure that I'll teach him. The brat has to impress me."

"That's fine," I said, waving my hand a bit, "I just knew that I couldn't help him with illusions." Fran looked between us, slightly confused.

"Oi, Brat," Yita snapped in French, causing his head to snap to her. "Follow me. We'll start right away."

"Really?" I said, surprised. She pursed her lips and nodded. I gestured for Fran to follow her quickly. He scrunched his nose, and I countered with narrowed eyes before I had to look away and back at Dayita when she spoke again.

"It'll be something to do while you're gone," she said. "After all, there's someone waiting to meet you downstairs."

"Nikita Cavallone, I presume?" The man asked, rising as I entered. I hid my hesitation as I approached him, and looked him in the eye instead of the extravagant office Dayita had directed me to. I felt almost uncomfortable in the decorated room. I much preferred the humble elegance of Dino's office.

"Yes," I nodded, taking his hand. "And you're Dayita's father, Lukas Koenig, right?"

"Correct," he allowed with a small, controlled tug of his mouth. "Although I am used to people mentioning me and my son instead of my daughter, despite her talents."

"I'm much closer to Dayita than Varick, after all," I said with an easy smile, taking initiative and sitting in one of the chairs. He almost raised an eyebrow at my actions, but sat back in his chair across from me.

I felt the need to establish dominance in the conversation. I didn't know what he wanted with me. I didn't know him at all. It was better to be cautious, I figured, and make him wary of me as well. After all, he wasn't a master of manipulation like Chhaya, so I felt more than comfortable doing this. Also, I was much more prepared, mentally and physically, since this meeting wasn't sprung on me out of nowhere like my encounter with Chhaya had been.

"Did you want to talk to me specifically about something?" I asked.

"Straight to the point," he acknowledged humorless, "I appreciate that. Although I love her dearly, I grow tired of Chhaya's dancing at some points. Dayita takes directly after her mother as well." He interlaced his fingers together, setting them on the desk and leaning forward.

"As I'm sure you are well aware," he started, "I am a weapons dealer and inventor. And although I find your unique sun flames intriguing, I am not interested in them. Dayita tells me you trained with the Giegue?"

The change threw me off slightly. I answered with a curt nod, recovering.

"Then it's safe to assume Alik taught you and familiarized you with weaponry?" I nodded again, earning a crack of a smile from the man.

"I'm quite familiar with Alik myself. With his training, I am sure you are proficient with a large range of weaponry," He leaned back, keeping eye contact. "I have a proposal of sorts, Ms. Cavallone, and I would be happy if you would accept." My eyes narrowed slightly, now knowing where he was going with this.

"You see, I'm not as interested in your sun flames, as I am with your cloud flames," he admitted. "They are, after all, my favorite of the attributes. With Varick's help, I have complied numerous cloud-attribute box weapons. I would like you to test them out for me." I blinked, surprised that his offer was so innocent and simple.

"That's it?" I asked. He nodded with a small smile.

"You are the safest test subject," he explained. "You are already aware of the existence of the box weapons, and have the knowledge and skill to use them. Also, my son and daughter are fond of you. That's a rare enough occurrence itself." I hummed, getting a little excited.

"You guys sure do work fast," I complimented.

"In this business," he said, straightening himself, "we're forced to. I would like I work out the kinks as soon as possible. We have an area just a little ways from here with everything you need." I raised an eyebrow.

"You expected me to say yes," I accused.

"It's too tempting of an offer not to," he replied. I shrugged, smiling.

"Yeah," I admitted, pushing myself up, "it is." I extended a hand to him.

"A pleasure doing business, Mr. Koenig." He smiled back, taking my hand and giving a firm shake.

"A pleasure indeed, Ms. Cavallone."

I nearly skipped through the hallways due to happiness, returning from the weapons session with Lukas. Having such a strong connection with Dayita had even more perks than I first thought. It was incredibly impressive what they had created in such a short amount of time.

Lukas explained to me that they had been researching and creating prototypes before, but Varick's information he learned from the future via Dayita, along with the knowledge Verde received as well, progressed the development in leaps and bounds. The three scientists were already working together on box animals, it seems.

"But these you are demonstrating are of my own collections," he clarified, "a man has to keep some things to himself, after all."

Most of the kinks were weight and efficiency related, with the weapons themselves scoring high in lethalality. In general, it was exhilarating getting back to training, despite how much hell Alik, Inna, and the twins put me through. Plus, it was always fun playing with new toys, and with Alik's training, my toy box had only gotten bigger.

Lukas had assured me that he would work out the quirks as soon as possible and sent me on my way back the main house. I was in a more than happy mood and heading towards my room. I had recently forgotten about the box weapons I had gotten from the future, and was now excited to see what they were now that I was proficient in using box weapons and box animals. I had taken to just wearing Kashi and Jian on my hand, and not my regular rings, but now made a note to always carry them around.

I stopped suddenly after turning the corner, blinking placidly. Fran stared back at me from his position behind a plotted plant.

"What," I asked in a blank voice, "are you doing."

"Hiding from Shikshikaa," he stated plainly. I raised an eyebrow at the use of the Hindi word.

"She teaching you languages too?" He nodded.

"Yeah. We're learning Italian and Hindi right now because Shikshikaa says she's tired of speaking French."

"Ah," I said, nodding, "I see. You need to know Japanese too," I noted, "and I can help you with languages if you need it."

"Thanks, Bahin." I opened my mouth to comment on his new term for me, wanting to ask what prompted him to start calling me 'sister', but Dayita interrupted before I could.

"Fran, dearest!" She cooed, calling through the hallways, "You better be well hidden. Ah, Nike~" She called, raising a hand flamboyantly in greeting as she turned the corner and saw me. I made a point not to look in Fran's direction.

"Yo," I greeted, "lesson number one?"

"Concealment," she completed. "Enjoyed your new toys?"

"Very much," I replied, folding my hands behind my head, "your old man's pretty talented."

"My entire family is talented, love," she said casually, taking a retrieving needle out of her sleeve and throwing it right over Fran's head. He squeaked, and scrambled up, running away as fast as his legs could go.

"How did you find me?" He yelled back.

"Oh, I just listened for the sound of disappointment and followed that," she explained coldly with a wicked smile on her face before calling out, "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to survive my training, brat!"

I felt a little sorry for him, watching as Dayita followed after him at her own pace.

"This will be good for him, right?" I wondered out loud, half trying to convince myself. I heard a sharp yelp and Dayita giggle. I paled, then shook my head.

"Yeah," I lied to myself, "this can only help him in the end."

I stiffened, snapping awake, but resisted the temptation to open my eyes. I instantly relaxed when I realized that it was just Fran who had entered my room.

"Hannah," he whispered softly, putting a hand on my shoulder and shaking it slightly. I hummed, and cracked an eye open, pretending to have just woken up.

"Fran?" I asked, pushing myself up and reaching to turn on a light. I frowned, registering the name he used. "I told you to call me Nikita or Cloud."

"Sorry," he apologized, "I forgot. Bahin," he corrected. I softened, seeing past his conformed face, easily picking out his discomfort and nervousness. "You okay?" He looked at the ground, shuffling his feet slightly.

"Can I sleep with you?" He asked suddenly, moving his head back up to look at me, "I…." he trailed off, almost uncertain, "had a bad dream…" I smiled softly, then took the initiative to pick him up under his arms and put him on the bed myself.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked, seeing that he didn't look tired, but mostly uncertain. He blinked, then nodded slowly, crossing his legs.

"It was about the future, I think," he began, picking and pinching at the covers, "at least, that's what it looked like from what you and Shikshikaa told me. You died in it," he stated suddenly. "Did that really happen?" I sighed, rubbing the back of my head and looking off.

"In a way?" I started, then nodded, "yeah, it did. But my future-self died – not me. Got it?" He thought about it, and nodded.

"Those tooth decay fungi were there too. The one with the awfully cut bangs was laughing weird and throwing knives at me and the guy with the super long, girly hair was yelling." I sighed, slumping forward a bit.

"Yeah, they do that."

"The pineapple fairy was there too," he said, a little bit more quiet. I tensed, being reminded that Mukuro had tried to enter my mind again tonight, and I had been awake pushing against him. I was only about half asleep when Fran had entered.

"You don't like him, do you?" Fran asked with a curious expression.

"We…" I trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say. He's the guy who murdered my past self? "…we have some bad blood between us," I finally summarized lamely.

"Ah," Fran noted, "I see. Hannah was there too… or you there? I still think that person is you, for some reason," he muttered, turning his attention back to picking at the covers. Well, I thought, he's not wrong.

"Why is that the one thing you remember from the future?" I sighed in tired frustration, poking him in the forehead softly. He scrunched his nose.

"I can't help it," he complained, falling back on my bed, "Grandma says that I was hit pretty hard with that cheese. I only remember a few things, but they come and go. That's the only thing I can always remember. Hannah," he repeated again, as if testing it. He sat up again, looking at me. "Is that important?"

"Not anymore," I nearly choked out, holding back a grimace. "Anything else? That can't be the only thing bothering you about the dream if you came to my room." He looked away, as if embarrassed. "Was is scary?" He cast his eyes downward.

"Shikshikaa says that it's normal for illusionists to have realistic nightmares," Fran explained quietly, "especially when they're younger. She says that sometimes we accidentally cast illusions on ourselves that make the nightmares worse." I blinked, processing this new information.

"Fran," I asked, slowly, "you want to stay in here tonight?" He blinked, then looked up. "In case you have another nightmare," I continued explaining, "so I can wake you up if you seem distressed." He paused, thinking of his response.

"Sure, Bahin," he said finally, then returned to his usual, blunt attitude, "I don't want to waste my energy walking back to my room anyways."

"Why do you call me that anyways?" I asked as he clambered over me, burrowing under the covers and popping his head back up, laying it on the other pillow. I went back down myself, switching the lamp off before laying on my back, listening for his response.

"Well, you said you're too young to raise me," he recalled, "so you can't be my mom. I already have a grandmother. Shikshikaa was going through Hindi words and mentioned Bahin. Sister. That seemed to fit the best."

"I see," I hummed, shifting slightly to roll on my side, facing him. "Well," I stated, poking him on his nose and watching as his nose scrunched in the faint moonlight.

"That certainly is much better than being called Grandma."

I sighed, looking around the mostly colorless garden. It hadn't changed much since Hannah died. Since Mukuro killed her. I bit my lip, dismissing these thoughts.

There was some color, at least, returning. I would have to thank Fran and Dayita for that. Dayita's personality around me was mostly cheery as it was, but it was warming to have Fran around as well. I didn't realize how much I had missed him and his blunt personality. Even as a child, he was antagonizing, but most of it was directed towards his new instructor. This provided entertainment for me more than anything, except when he literally hides behind me and uses me as a shield. That part isn't as fun, seeing that once he latches on, he does not let go.

I sighed, and glanced around the garden once more, it being the first time since I had really returned since she died. I wasn't getting too much sleep, thanks to Mukuro again. I moved forward, brushing some grayed vines hanging down as a curtain, moving them to reveal metal. The wall was back up again, but this time, with my knowledge and control. I stepped away, hugging myself as the air grew colder. I stiffened, feeling something beneath my bare foot.

I blinked after looking down, having not noticed the small bit of color on the ground when I had first entered. The frost edged away, thawing the grass as I picked up the flowers that had scattered on the floor. Memories, I told myself. The banquet that Mukuro had gathered for me. I frowned, recalling how he had attempted to distract me with them. And yet…

These were the last. The last of the memories from Hannah's life. I looked up and turned my head to gaze at the single brightest color in the garden: Hannah's flower that had grown where she died. My fist tightened, shattering the flower in my hand. As I turned my head back to look at it, I lifted my hands until I was holding an orb created out of the shards.

I sat down, determined, watching the memory before me, then moving on to the others. The first was the explanation of the representative battles, and from there on, it was mostly the times presented, along with one concerning incident involving Kyoya and Xanxus. Valuable information indeed, I noted.

"So that's what he plans to use me for," I said, lips forming into a scowl.

Screw the plot, I decided. What's the point of trying to keep to something I no longer have memories for? From now on, I vowed, waving my hand as the orbs turned back into flowers, tied in a precious bouquet, I was going to use this information for myself. For others. To fight for people I love. To fight for me, and not Mukuro, not someone who just wanted to use me.

I set the flowers in front of Hannah's grave, its color spreading, leaking a bit into the rest of garden.

"I'll fight for you, Hannah. I promise."

"wolves and girls, girls and wolves

oh, so the stories go

what all these poets dare not say

is that every girl has wolves

pacing rhythms in her heart"

-hear me howl, m.j.

AN:

Okay, so I guess this, technically, is the end of the Shimon arc, with the rainbow/representative arc starting in the next chapter. I was going to continue? But if I did, this chapter would be extremely long, and I think it was fitting where this chapter ended, with it containing the theme of it more.

As always, thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites!

-Evenly