In the days that followed my eerily realistic dream about Xanxus, I found that I was extremely tired. My body was heavy as if my life force had been drained from it. Squalo quickly noticed how I would excuse myself after our mandatory training and retire to my room for a nap.

Each day, I would fall asleep and have the same dreams. A dream of flames and war. One day, I fell into a deep sleep and had the most vivid dream.

"Our mission is to protect these." A much older Squalo was shoving a backpack into my hands, "Take it to those dumb mechanics!"

I couldn't understand but my body moved with urgency. My hands gripped his in an iron vicegrip and I yelled back at him, "Then you take it!"

"And then what?" He lifted his hand, showing off his blue-stoned ring, "Your ring shattered already. If I take that and they catch up to me, it'll all be for nothing!"

"We don't fail, senpai! I can still fight!"

He was already pushing me away, turning as the enemy approached, "We don't fail so you have to go! Go now!"

His ring lit up in a glorious blue flame and I ran. For the mission I ran.

I woke up gasping. The run felt real. I was confused. I couldn't understand what was going on. I was missing too many facts to piece together the dream.

Who was chasing us?

Why were we being chased?

What was in the bag?!

I only had one fact within reach. I turned to the table on my left and I grabbed the rings. Someone broke into Varia HQ to leave me these rings. Who?

I broke mine. Squalo said mine was broken. Was mine not able to light up like his? What did he mean by shattered?

My body felt heavy as if I had actually been running. I was tired again and when I laid back down, I was asleep again instantly.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

I opened my eyes and stared up at an empty ceiling. To my left and right were crying faces, I sat up slowly and they embraced me. I didn't understand but in the dream I felt a sense of relief.

Someone I didn't know croaked at me through his tears, "Kira-san, Squalo didn't make it."

"The bag?" I croaked back at him, "Where's the bag I had?"

"Spanner has it."

Relief. I made it. I turned, my eyes settled on a mirror in the corner. I looked much older than my current self.

"Soon-!"

I woke up gasping. My eyes immediately went to the rings on the side table and caught the last warmth of a purple glow. Was that even possible?

A knock at the door startled me in my current state. I fought down the urge to scream and I called out in the calmest tone possible, "What is it?"

"Kira, it's me." Squalo called without opening the door, "We're being called to meet urgently at Vongola HQ. You and me… And Lussuria is coming too."

"What's this about?" I kind of already knew. This trio, urgent meeting, Vongola HQ. This could only be about my betrayal to the Cavallone Family. They were technically a high-ranking ally in the Vongola Alliance now.

"It's about you."

Always truthful. He has no reason to lie. I'm going to be at this meeting and find out eventually. Smart man.

I rolled out of bed, getting dressed and armed, "Fine. I'll meet you out front in five minutes."

I could hear his footsteps moving away as I moved about the room, collecting my gauntlets from their place.

Lussuria and Squalo were both in the car. Lussuria was complaining about the time. It was technically the middle of the night. Judging by the uniform, he had just gotten back from a hit.

I snickered as I joined them, "What was it that you're missing out on again? Beauty sleep?"

"Yes!" He said in a very matter-of-fact tone, "I need lots of it if I want to keep up my good looks!"

"Your looks have nothing to do with the job so why do you insist?"

He huffed at me as if I could never understand and simply got in the car with his pouty ass face.

I laughed and climbed in behind him, "Well, I'm going to apologize in advance. This is probably about me leaving the Cavallone Family, right?"

"Oh, so she knows?" Lussuria huffed, "Then what's our plan of action? I want to go in and come out quick so I can still sleep!"

"Knowing Dino… He'll probably ask you to return me." Dino and I have been together for a long time and we've known each other even longer. Living life in a mafia world without me would probably seem impossible to him for a while.

For me, I came here for a different purpose than to serve in the Cavallone Family. I came here to test my strength. I might've forgotten my motivation while I was with the Cavallone but now that I had some time away from them, I remembered my initial goal. More importantly, I was able to say my goal hasn't changed.

"Return you? As if you're just an object that belongs to us?" Lussuria huffed, crossing his legs, "First of all, we're an elite group of like-minded professionals. We don't force people to join so that's offensive. If you want to go back to him, we don't want you here in the first place. And second! He should know how the mafia works! You can't just walk out of a famiglia once you've joined one. We'll kill you! You know our entire security flow!"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes. That makes me feel so good about my situation."

"You're welcome!" He snorted at me and leaned back in his chair, "So we're just going to go in and tell him off, right?"

Squalo stomped his feet against the bottom of the limo and leaned forward as we began to roll out. He came to rest his elbows against his knees, glaring across the vehicle at Lussuria, "You're both making light of a situation that puts us in an extremely bad position. We're already being watched like criminals for what we did and we brought Kira in without permission."

Lussuria stiffened, gritting his teeth together as he shut his mouth.

"Okay but you were the one who invited me. Did you invite me without thinking?" I had known Squalo for a long time too but in the time we had known each other, I never pegged him as an irrational person, "You must have thought about it."

"I didn't think you'd end up joining us like this but you're right. I offered and you came." He leaned back with a smug grin, "I'll take responsibility now. Will you guys follow my lead?"

I grinned as Lussuria's tension left him, "As expected of Squalo-senpai. I'm behind you all the way."

Following his lead was actually the easiest thing I've done in my entire life. We went in undaunted. At HQ, we were greeted by a stern faced Timoteo and Reborn. Behind them, Dino and Romario were waiting.

"Vongola Nono." Squalo greeted him gruffly, coming to a halt directly in front of him.

On Squalo's right, Lussuria stood tall and I stood to his left just one step back.

The elderly boss of the Vongola Family didn't bother greeting us back in a kind manner. He looked truly dark and powerful today. He glared Squalo down as if he could get the swordsman to submit with just his gaze, "You know why you've come, don't you? Superbi Squalo, what do you have to say for yourself?"

He didn't miss a beat, "I offered and she answered! We screened her thoroughly and found her skills suitable for our line of work. She's Varia Quality through and through."

"So you refuse to acknowledge what you have done." He said, gesturing to his allies behind him. His tone dropped and he was no longer using a warning tone. He was now giving an order, "You cannot take members from our allied families, Squalo. Return her to him at once."

"She quit of her own accord. When she came to us, she was unaffiliated." Squalo said firmly, "If I 'return' her, I'll have to dispatch her. She already knows too much. We've made her a commanding officer. She knew the rules when she joined us."

My eyes shifted away from Vongola Nono as a whisper reached my ears. Someone was calling me. My ears began to ring and my own voice echoed in my head.

The sky has summoned you.

Suddenly, I remembered Koge's information, "He's being held in the basement in a block of ice."

My blood was pulsing in my ears, the thump of my heartbeat sounded much too loud.

Go!

An elbow to the gut silenced the voice within and I grasped Squalo's elbow grumpily, "What?"

He gave me an annoyed look and gestured to Timoteo.

"Oh! Right." I grimaced at the serious looks all around. I had basically made a fool of us, "Listen… I don't really care about everything else but I left the Cavallone Family of my own accord and these guys took me in. I won't be going anywhere til I've repaid my debt."

"And what about your debt to us?!" Romario shouted, "You don't think you owe us for everything we gave you here?!"

Lussuria was now howling with laughter. He sounded like one of those stereotypical old, rich ladies in a movie, "Excuse me? What debt? Was it not enough that she sold her body to us because you told her you couldn't afford to pay us for our services?"

I had never thought this about Lussuria before this moment but he looked extremely powerful. In this moment, if someone had declared Lussuria as the strongest mafioso in the world, I would have believed them. The way he looked down on them, it made me smile proudly. He was my ally now and I came to the realization that I had never had reliable comrades before this moment.

My eyes shifted towards Dino who had also done the same and we made eye contact. There was a moment between us where the world around seemed to be running on a mute volume setting. He looked… well. He didn't look as distressed as I thought he would look. Come to think of it, he hasn't tried to call me once since I hung up on him that day.

My eyes shifted down, scanning for wounds. It appeared he had recovered from the last war and he was fine. He was going to be fine. He came here today to ask me to come back with them but now, an understanding seemed to pass between us.

Don Cavallone raised his hand and the room fell into true silence. He came forward and everyone let him pass. His aura was too powerful to ignore. He looked like a proper mafia don.

I shut my eyes for a moment and laughed quietly, stepping forward to meet him, "It looks like you're doing well."

He chuckled quietly, the image of the cold mafia don that he was so good at playing was now set down. He offered me a hand, "Yeah."

I glanced down at the outstretched hand and I reached out and took it, gripping it firmly, "I'm glad."

"Thank you." His expression remained calm but his eyes were turning red. He was trying his best not to cry, "It seems… I made a mistake."

"Yeah." I responded shortly, my heart hurt.

"One day, I'll repay you for everything you've done for me." He glanced down at our feet for a moment and then back up at me with a dazzling smile, "I should've treated you better. I should've been-"

"Dino." I said softly, squeezing his hand, "Me too."

There was nothing but regret between us. The promises we made to each other were too big to keep. We disappointed each other time and time again. It takes two to make a relationship start and it takes two to end a relationship once it has begun.

"I hope there comes a day where you find yourself back to back with me on the battlefield." He squeezed back and finally let our hands fall away as he took a step back, "When that day comes, I'll have become the person you needed me to be. I know it'll be too late but I owe you that much."

I was arrogant to think that Dino wouldn't continue without me. Sure, he was kind of a crybaby and he was unreliable at times but he was always someone who put his famiglia first. He will always rise up to the challenge. Even if he has to rise up alone.

He lowered his head and declared, "I sincerely apologize for wasting all of your time here tonight. It seems I misunderstood something. Please take care of Kira."

"Take care of her?" Squalo finally stepped up beside me, resting hand atop my head, "She doesn't need it. She'll be fine."

Dino smiled at us bravely when he straightened out, "I'm sure you're right but it's the least I can say. Goodbye, Kira. Thank you… for everything."

I'm sorry? I'll see you again? Take care of yourself? I couldn't find the words to say to him. I wanted to say so much but we were already taking up too much time. My new allies were waiting.

When we made eye contact again, I felt that he understood my feelings. In all our time together, all the feelings I couldn't express and all the thoughts I had kept locked in my head seemed to simply disappear. They had become unnecessary. Our past was written in stone but our future was still to come even if we would not share every step of the way.

I nodded, "Goodbye, Dino."

I didn't look back when I left with Squalo and Lussuria flanking me. If I looked back, I might cry. Even Dino was holding it together, I couldn't let myself be the one to express regret. This was my choice and this is the only world out of a billion parallel universes where I made this decision and we came to this conclusion.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

In the weeks that followed, I followed the Varia's regimen for training and studying, etc. It was a rigorous flow of various tactics and physical scenarios. My team and I excelled as expected. It was the minimum requirement after all.

Alpha and Volore shared a close bond now that we had left the Cavallone Family but Volore was more open. He had oddly made friends with Belphegor. I was happy for him. However, Alpha was the opposite. He kept to himself.

If you remember, Alpha is someone I rescued from a hostage situation but he had lost his memory when he woke in the hospital. He still didn't remember anything. Only one thing was certain about him and it was his strength. He was a skilled sniper and he was just as skilled in close combat. It was clear that his body remembered his training even if his mind did not.

I asked Koge to dig up information on him but it was hard to get anything when all we know is his face. He doesn't even know his own name.

I sighed, cleaning my gauntlets in the training room. Lussuria had just entered and heard my deep sigh. He gave me a stink face, "What?! The rest of us have to train too!"

"No, not you!" I snorted, "I was thinking about Alpha."

"That quiet guy who walks around behind you all the time?" He mused, "What about him?"

"I guess I never told you about how they came to be… Alpha has amnesia. I don't know who he is or where he came from or how he got his skills." I explained, "I asked him recently and he said he still doesn't remember. He said he wants to remember but he's not doing anything actively."

"Okay. I see your problem." Lussuria grinned smugly, pushing up his sunglasses, "You do have something you can't do! Great! Lucky for you, I'm an expert in this department."

I rolled my eyes at him, "How can you gather information on someone when we haven't been able to get anything from him?"

"That's because you don't have the resources, Kira-chan!" He seemed so certain he could pull this off, "You're part of the Vongola Family now! We have so many additional places you could search!"

"Like where?" I had a hard time believing there was somewhere special these guys got their information.

"We're the Varia. We're famous, Kira-chan." He scoffed at me, "It's about time too. The Vongola Family throws a series of parties throughout the year. The biggest set is the holiday parties in December but there's no reason you can't catch information from people at the other parties."

"A party?" I was skeptical. What kind of party was he talking about?

He puffed out his chest all proud and declared, "Why do you think we were at that Vongola Christmas party? We weren't there just to socialize! It's for work, Kira! Get it together, girl!"

Ah. I suppose it was work. I went to the same party with Dino so he could try to make allies with the powerful families in attendance.

I nodded my understanding and told him, "But Alpha was at the last party. If someone recognized him, don't you think they would've spoken up?"

"There's a lot of circumstances that would prompt someone to speak up if they recognize someone and there's a lot of reasons a person would choose not to speak up." He sighed, "It's also possible that no one who saw him knew him. There's a lot of people who attend these parties. If you're not actively searching for someone, sometimes it's hard to bump into them."

"So, how would I go about finding information on a person if I don't even know who to look for?"

"Just leave it to me."

Leaving it to Lussuria sounded like a great idea only because it was my only idea.