The Strongest Storm Guardian - Wingzrooke (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Ch 1 – Storm Chaser

Fon left the meditation garden at the Hibari grounds when he sensed his Nephew and a stranger’s energy drawing close. As always, Kyoya’s energy simmered with untapped cloud potential. The other energy, however, read as civilian. Kyoya wasn’t known for his fondness of strangers, so the other person concerned Fon. When Fon got to the tatami room, where the Hibari family typically hosted their few guests, Kyoya stood in the doorway.

“Carnivore.” Kyoya greeted his Uncle flatly.

“Kyoya. I see you’ve brought a guest.” Fon hinted, smiling serenely at the cute little girls’ face peeking out from behind Kyoya.

“I have brought you a tiny baby carnivore.” Kyoya corrected, and proceeded to haul the girl from behind himself with one hand and then thrust her at Fon. The little girl, who was several years younger than Kyoya and couldn’t have been more than four or five, stumbled to a stop just before she collided with Fon’s legs. Silently she looked up at him, and then held both arms up in toddler language for “up!”. Fon, bemused, complied. He wasn’t worried about an assassination attempt currently, and his storm flames would take care of any close-up weapons the girl may have. Or so he thought. The moment the girl was settled in his arms, she burst into flames. Sensing the release of flames from one he previously thought of as civilian, Fon instantly released his own flames into the air around him. He was ready to act, against a threat that is. When he looked up, Fon realized the flames were not a danger, however.

The flames curled fondly around Fon’s own flames, winding all around and through the storm flames. Unlike what had always happened before, Fon’s fire did not disintegrate the other flames. Instead they seemed to almost absorb small amounts of the amber fire. Then he felt it, a strange warm melting sensation. He gasped as a firm bond settled into place between them.

“Mine.” The little girl declared happily, clapping her hands.

“Mine. And Yours.” Fon agreed, overwhelmed. In just a few moments his whole life had been turned on its head. Instead of a lonely element looking for a Sky, now he was a Storm Guardian with a tiny baby Sky all his own. A baby “Carnivore” Sky, if Kyoya was to be believed. It was true that the girl’s flames were purer than anything he’d ever felt, and stronger as well. But the title Carnivore, as used by Kyoya, meant more than just power. There were connotations of leadership, willingness to use their power, and being a hunter. He wondered just how his little Sky had impressed Kyoya, but was forced to put that thought aside when his new Sky spoke.

“Mine keep Ri safe?” The little asked shyly, looking up at him with huge amber-colored eyes through her black bangs and eyelashes. Fon tensed slightly.

“Always.” He promised. “Is there danger now?” Fon prodded, and the little girl nodded.

“Bad men come Momma’s house.” The girl agreed.

“Then you will stay with me. Perhaps you can phone your mother and tell her you are staying with Kyoya, as a school friend?” Fon suggested. The little girl tilted her head to the side.

“Maybe. Momma thinks bad men safe.” The girl added. Fon closed his eyes for a moment and worked on keeping his breathing even until he felt his temper pass. Then he moved into the kitchen. Quickly he pulled the kettle off the stove and began finishing up the snacks his sister left out for Kyoya after school. He also pulled some extra out for his Sky. Once both children were settled at the table, Fon picked up the landline phone.

“What is your number?” Fon asked the girl. The girl tilted her head at him, screwing up her face in concentration. Eventually she was able to give him the number.

“Mine, Momma calls Ri ‘Tsunayoshi-kun’. Especially when bad man is there.” The girl added. From the table, Kyoya scoffed.

“-Kun? But the little Carnivore is a female! It should be -chan.” At Kyoya’s words, the little girl shook her head again.

“No. Should be Ri-chan, not Tsunayoshi-kun. But Mama gave Ri-chan a boy’s name, so Ri changed her name.” the little girl, Ri, corrected them. Kyoya raised one eyebrow at that, but shook it off quickly enough. Fon had no more time to contemplate this, however, as just then a female answered the other end of the phone.

“Hello?” The woman asked politely. She sounded like a relatively young woman, but not so young she could not be Ri-chan’s mother.

“Hello, is this Tsunayoshi-kun’s mother?” Fon inquired politely.

“Ah, yes this is. Is something the matter?” The woman replied, sounding slightly puzzled. A slight frown wrinkled Fon’s normally serene expression.

“Not exactly. Only my nephew, Hibari Kyoya, apparently dragged Tsunayoshi-kun home for a sleep over, and neither of them notified you. So I just wanted to make sure you knew where Tsunayoshi-kun is.” Fon explained, not allowing a trace of his displeasure at the mother to leak into his voice.

“Oh! My Tsu-kun made a friend? How wonderful! And with a young Hibari, at that! Should I bring over a set of pajamas and clothes for tomorrow?” the woman exclaimed cheerfully. From over at the table, both children could hear the woman’s loud exclaiming, and Fon’s young Sky wrinkled her nose in distaste.

“No need to worry, I’m sure we have something suitable here. I’m quite certain Kyoya’s parents will be as excited their child made a friend as you are.” Fon assured calmly. After a few more moments of small talk, Fon hung up the phone and turned to face his young Sky.

“Well, we’re covered for tonight at least. Shall we go get some appropriate girl’s clothes and an extra school uniform or two?” Fon suggested. The girl pouted a little.

“With pen’gin jammas?” The girl suggested hopefully. He chuckled at the adorable big brown eyes she turned on him.

“If we can find some. Are you sure you don’t want Panda pajamas?” He suggested. The girl seemed to think it over.

“Both?” She requested at length. Fon chuckled again.

“We’ll see if they have both.” He agreed.

“Yay!” The girl cheered as she hopped off the rather tall chair. Fon caught Ri before she could hit the floor.

“Careful. Don’t want to get hurt.” Fon cautioned. The girl didn’t seem to hear the words and just clung, koala-like, to her storm guardian. Fon grabbed his coin purse from his room and then they began the short walk to the shopping centers of Namimori.

Chapter 2: Ch 2 – The realities of life

Chapter Text

In another reality, Sawada Tsunayoshi would not have met Fon and would have had his flames sealed at five years old. In this reality, Sirina “Ri” Sawada (though she still considered herself Potter-Black and not a Sawada at all,) stayed with the Hibaris most of the time, whether or not her father and his “boss” were in town. In fact, she was gone so often that both men started to think she was actively avoiding them. Timoteo “Nono/Nonno” Vongola was of the particularly strong opinion that the child’s intuition was warning ‘him’ not to come home. Sawada Iemitsu, on the other hand, was only tangentially worried about his ‘son’. In fact, during his first fifty to one hundred visits he only noticed his child was not there when either Nana or Timoteo pointed it out. After that, he began planning ways to corner his recalcitrant child. Most of these ‘ways’ involved him stalking outside the school gates or questioning other children to find out more about the “Hibari child”. Ironically, Iemitsu became convinced that said child was a girl, and his ‘son’ was particularly manly. No one’s quite sure how he came to that conclusion, but most just chalked it up to his being delusional.

When his fluffy-brown-haired Tsuna-kun failed to appear from the school buildings iron gates every day, Iemitsu took to more drastic measures. He took to showing up at the school office and trying to take his son from class for a ‘family emergency’. Unfortunately for Iemitsu, this did not work either. For Hibari Kyoya ran the Namimori School system. First the elementary, and then the middle school. Those in the know predicted he would shortly run the high school as well, and wondered if he would add colleges to the list once he graduated even high school. Even when Kyoya graduated a school, he didn’t stop running it. He simply left his minions to keep order and bring him reports. And he had a standing order to call his Uncle Fon from the break room whenever someone tried to pull Sawada Sirina from the school. Regardless of whether it was one of her relations or not. Fon would then spirit his Sky away from the school and to the Hibari estate, where she would continue her classes by remote internet and a computer system set up in her classroom. This plan worked until Ri was about nine years old, when Fon got a most unusual job offer.

Fon had taken jobs from time to time, mostly for the triads, and all short assignments he could finish in a couple days so he could return to his Sky. Every time he left her, though, it grated on his nerves and patience. He disliked leaving her so vulnerable, without even a single guardian with her at all times. His first attempt had been to get Sirina to bond with Fon’s sister, and Kyoya’s mother. The idea was a dismal failure, and the attempt to bond to Kyoya was also a mistake. Neither bond took, needless to say. After those two attempts, Fon gave up on finding other guardians for his Sky, she just seemed incapable of even considering others for the guardian positions. He didn’t give up on making Sirina learn to protect herself, just in case, though. Fon was a master of 108 martial arts styles, and he taught his young sky several of them over the years. He even taught her how to throw shuriken and kunai and use bladed fans during her “ninja” phase.

So when Fon retrieved a mysterious red envelope with what looked like a crest of some sort - a picture of a checkered mask and an iron hat surrounded by seven glowing orbs - and his name on the front, Fon was a little leery of opening the letter. The fact his Sky asked him to just burn it, looking haunted at the sight of the envelope, didn’t help. Still, Fon believed it was better to be prepared than to be ignorant, so he opened and read the letter within.

To his surprise, the letter contained neither knowledge of his Sky nor any threats to make him join a family. Instead it was a very formal job offer, for an insanely lucrative amount. Fon didn’t discuss the job with Sirina right away. Then again, he rarely discussed his work with her. She knew he did all sorts of jobs from running errands to assassinations, but didn’t seem to mind he was working for others. Which was good, because he was now solely responsible for providing and caring for his young sky. He’d long since realized one of the ‘bad men’ was Sirina’s father, but he wasn’t willing to take a cent towards the support of his sky from someone who seemed to terrify her. That way lay only impossible debts. Still, this new offer was a little suspicious, so he took a couple days to check on it with his contacts. The more he checked into it, though, the more valid he found the offer. An obscene amount of money for completing eight jobs with six other people hired for the same tasks. No obligations to join any family (or requests either), no strings attached. Just someone looking for the strongest people in the mafia world, and testing those individuals to make sure they were. Apparently the “strongest” seven were responsible for being neutral and helping to resolve things if requested, before it got taken to the Vindice or the Vindice decided to involve themselves. And the last group who had been the ‘strongest seven’ died suddenly leaving a vacancy that needed to be filled in the mafia.

The catch was it would take several months, if not longer, to finish the trials and tasks. Several months or longer during which Fon would not be able to come back to his Sky. The very idea of it set him on edge, but with the money offered was a major incentive. So after school on Wednesday, Fon sat his nine year old Sky down for a serious talk.

“Sirina,” Fon began hesitantly “you know how I loath leaving you for work…” Sirina nodded.

“Yes, but it’s necessary for us to have the money to live. I know. Are you leaving on a job today?” She replied, as she had many times before. Fon sighed wearily.

“Next week. I’ve just sent my acceptance of the new job. The thing is, this trip is going to be much longer than the others. I will likely be gone for several months, but once I’ve finished this job I won’t have to go on another for a long time. We could even get our own house and have plenty left over to live on.” He informed her. Sirina looked taken aback at the change in routine.

“The red envelope?” She questioned. He nodded serenely.

“Yes, that is how they originally delivered their offer. I looked into it, though, it is a genuine offer.” He assured gently. To his surprise Sirina stood violently, forcing her chair to clatter over backwards behind her.

“I don’t care if it’s genuine or not! It’s not a good offer!” She snapped. “Don’t you see? If it’s too good and offer to be true, there’s always a catch!” She scolded. Fon sighed.

“Which is why I did all the research before.” Fon sighed, thinking his Sky was being silly about this. “I know it’s longer than we’ve been apart since we bonded, but I think the sacrifice is worth it, Ri.” Sirina shook her head violently.

“It isn’t! Something bad will happen to you, I just know it! Please Fon, don’t take this job!” She insisted, practically begged. Fon felt surprise flare through him. He’d never thought before that she was anxious about him being safe when he was away from her, and he’d felt touched at her faith in his abilities. Now, though, he felt even more touched at the thought that she worried about his safety while he was gone, but usually did her best to trust in him. Still, it wasn’t a good idea to let her grow go-dependent on him, unable to separate for long periods.

“I’m going, Sirina. We need this job.” He stated firmly before pulling out her homework and forcefully turning the discussion to her day’s lessons. To his dismay, that wasn’t the last time they had an argument about the new job. Throughout the following week Sirina tried everything she could think of, and a few her friends at school came up with, to try and get Fon to stay home.

One the day he was supposed to leave, Sirina talked Tetsuya into driving her to the airport Fon was leaving from in the morning. She met Fon outside the plane’s door. Her eyes were large and red, from crying, and her mouth trembled as she spoke.

“Fon, I am begging you. I have never asked for you to refuse a job or complained about the time you spend working. But I am begging you now, as your Sky, please don’t go.” She pleaded. Fon’s heart did it’s best to feel like it was breaking in half at the sight of his Sky crying in front of him. He was adamant, though. She needed to realize she didn’t need him 24/7. As a single guardian, there would be times when he simply could not give in and stay with her instead of earning money and taking jobs. Plus, they truly did need this job. He’d put off taking another job for far too long before accepting this one.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He assured. Then, ignoring the sound of empty sobs from Sirina, he turned and walked onto the plane. Later, he would kick himself. He would remind himself that Sirina had a way of knowing things before they happened. But for now he settled into his seat and started to meditate as the plane took off.

Kusakabe Tetsuya gently put an arm around the sobbing girl, a light frown on his lips as he regarded the plane through the airport window. When the plane was no longer in sight, he used that arm to gently steer her back to the waiting car. He wondered, idly, if Fon was an idiot for leaving behind a crying princess.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Transitions

Chapter Text

The car came to a gentle stop before the grand traditional Hibari house. Sirina thanked Tetsuya and pompadour minion #31 before she grabbed her school bag and trudging from the car into the house. To Sirina’s surprise, she found Kyoya’s mother, Hibari Akane waiting for her right inside the door. Sirina bowed politely.

“Good morning, Hibari-sama.” Ri greeted smoothly. The Hibari matriarch inclined her head smoothly.

“Sawada-chan.” The woman replied briskly. “Your stay here has come to an end. It is time for you to return to your own home.” The woman continued flatly. Sirina paused in the act of exchanging her outdoor shoes for indoor slippers.

“Hibari-sama?” She asked, confused.

“We have put up with your presence here due to my brother’s request, but he is going to be gone for a long time and left no request to provide you shelter during that time. The Hibari are no longer required to shelter you.” The matriarch stated firmly. Sirina stared at the woman, uncomprehendingly.

“But…if I return home, sooner or later that man will show up and hurt me.” Sirina protested.

“That is not our problem.”

“B..but the Hibaris are the protectors of Namimori and those within it! You can’t just leave me to be hurt!” Sirina protested thickly, the tears returning and her throat felt like it was swelling around a ball inside. The woman’s smile was condescending and tight.

“Not. Our. Problem.” The woman emphasized, and at her gesture a servant placed a large box of Sirina’s things at the girl’s feet.

“I’m your brother’s Sky! How well do you think he will take you throwing me out?” Sirina insisted.

“I don’t believe you are really his sky. Afterall, who’s ever heard of a Sky with other flames? And you’ve only showed cloud and mist flames around us.” The woman smirked. Sirina grit her teeth. She just knew this was because of her refusal to even try to bond with the woman when she was six.

“You’d best hurry before your ride takes off without you and you have to carry your things by yourself.” The woman pointed out, and Sirina quickly went back outside to find that Tetsuya was frowning at the picture the two women made from outside. Thankfully Sirina was able to convince Tetsuya to lift her box of things into the black car, and take her away from the Hibari residence. She was very tempted to curse the woman…perhaps a hair-loss curse? But Sirina knew Fon loved his family, and she still loved him regardless of what was happening now. She still loved him even though he’d left her. The reminder of that thought sent another pang through the heart that felt like it would never mend. She shook those thoughts off as Tetsuya looked back at her.

“Where are you going to go? Everyone knows you can’t go home most days.” The boy pointed out with a frown. Sirina turned that thought over in her mind for a time.

“I know of a safe place…but it’s far away. Can you arrange for a plane ticket for me? Without protection, I cannot stay in Namimori.” Sirina sighed at length. Tetsuya whipped out his phone and quickly typed into it.

“Where to?” he asked as he entered details into the ticket reservation list.

“Osaka. I have to catch a boat there.” Sirina replied softly. Without further words, Tetsuya finalized the ticket buying process with the card Sirina handed him.

Fon sat quietly as the others filtered into the meeting room. Bile and anxiety had begun swirling in his gut the instant he’d turned away from his Sky. He did his best to not show this on his face, instead showing only his infamous serene smile. For once, though, the smile did not come easily like it normally did. The others took their seats quietly, and they all observed each other until a young lady entered the room. Unlike his own Sky, Fon could easily sense the amber flames that drifted all around her.

“How rude. And weak.” He thought mildly, until her flames made an attempt to bind him too her. He grit his teeth and allowed his flames to disintegrate the grasping tiny tongues of flame. He wished it was his own Sky he was working with. His own sky had better manners than to flaunt her flames everywhere and try to force people to bond with her. She was also far more powerful than this stranger. The other men and one woman in the room looked at the delicate sky with thinly veiled impatience and irritation.

“My apologies,” the girl laughed “but I had to be certain you are indeed the strongest. That was just one of the many tests you will experience. My name is Luce, and I would like to do a quick round of introductions so everyone knows who they will be working with…” The woman began, but was interrupted by a young man with bright purple hair crashing through the door.

“Sorry!” He cried. “Skull is here!” He announced cheerfully. Fon sighed good-naturedly, and he noticed both the woman in an army outfit and a man in an expensive black suit with yellow accents scoffed at the newcomer. Skull carefully took the only open seat left, between Fon and a person in a cloak.

“Now that we are all here, my name is Luce. I am the head of the Giglio Nero famiglia, who have the primary responsibility for finding and gathering the Strongest Seven Flame Users. I am also halfway through my pregnancy, so be careful around me. My guardians are extremely protective of me right now. We’ll go in a circle and introduce ourselves.” The Sky proclaimed. She turned to the man in the suit, who was seated to her right, and he nodded.

“I am known as Reborn, the World’s Greatest Hitman.” the man in the suit and fedora informed them, and Fon could hear the capitals in the man’s self-proclaimed title. This seemed to be all the information he was willing to divulge, however, for he turned to the cloaked figure on his own right side.

“We are Viper, the Information specialist and Mist flame. If you want more information you will have to pay me. May this be a profitable job for us all.” The cloaked individual intoned flatly. After an awkward pause, Skull spoke up next.

“Hi, I’m Skull the immortal whom death hates. This is my first mafia job. I like purple, Sushi, and my lucky number is 3.” The young man next to Fon proclaimed. Fon noted that “Reborn” rolled his eyes. Fon felt a headache coming on. He just knew Skull was going to be picked on for those comments. He could already tell both Reborn and the army woman wouldn’t get along well with the stuntman without help.

“I am Fon. I specialize in assassination, but have done many different jobs. I am a storm flame.” Fon greeted pleasantly, inclining his head to Reborn when the man appraised him in interest. As the green-haired man to Fon’s own right began to speak, Skull leaned over to Fon. The man tried to speak quietly, but everyone else in the room had been trained in the underground or the army, so his supposedly ‘quiet’ whisper earned him a snear from the green-haired man and most everyone else.

“What are flames?” He asked Fon seriously, likely having deduced Fon would be the easiest one to get answers from.

“After the meeting.” Fon responded even more quietly. The green-haired man cleared his throat pointedly.

“As I was saying, I am Verde the Scientist, the smartest man on Earth. I design and create flame technology, regular technology, and other gadgets. Lightning Flame.” The green-haired man declared. The woman to his right spoke up before the man could descend into some sort of techno-babble.

“Lal Mirch. Formerly of COMSUBIN. Rain flame.”

That was Fon’s first introduction to the people he would share his work and life with for the next year or so. Predictably, it proved to be as much of a headache at first, as Fon thought it might.

Sirina stepped off the boat, leaving her box of things in her room. She was dressed in a light purple frilly dress and wearing a dark purple choker. She’d noticed that the people on the boat with active flames tended to wear the colors that represented their flames. For the most part she found that boring, but it would help with her disguise today. She knew, from previous lives, that one had to either belong to a family with connections to the Island, or else pass a test to get in. Since she didn’t want her so-called ‘father’ to find her, or his boss, she couldn’t claim Vongola heritage to enter Mafia Island. And they probably wouldn’t let her take the test, being a child. It was more likely they would just ship her back to the mainland. Instead, she slipped to stand near a young boy in orange clothes that was surrounded by others in all the colors except purple. Having snooped around the boat, Sirina had picked out this family to get her onto the island.

As Sirina listened, the parents signed the group in as the Zitara family. Sirina quietly worked one of her secondary flames, mist, around the Zitaras and those with them to hide her from their sight. To everyone else, she projected her other secondary flames: Cloud. The parents registered as the Head of the Zitara family, his wife, his son, and his son’s guardians. Thankfully he didn’t list each guardian by name or position, so everyone else who saw her assumed Sirina was the boy’s cloud guardian. She walked with the family past all the security and moved to the baggage and items offloading area. There she found her box and cast a wandless, wordless feather-lite charm on it. Then she shrunk it down to fit in her pocket. Now fully equipped, Sirina set off to find a place to stay. Luckily for Sirina, after walking for a few hours, Sirina found a low-cost hotel for single elements. Carefully she covered herself in an illusion of her adult self, the one that looked like Sirina Potter-Black from her first lifetime. She quickly registered for a room on the “cloud floor,” aiming for privacy and freedom. Since she looked like an adult, Sirina didn’t worry about them kicking her out or questioning the use of her card. She also didn’t have to worry about anyone “providing a chaperone” for her.

It was as Sirina placed the shrunken box on her bed that she wondered why she didn’t just use an illusion of her older self to test onto the island. Immediately she felt like banging her head against the nearest wall, but refrained. It didn’t take her too long to unpack, and then she settled down on her bed for a quick nap. She’d had a very long, very hard, very emotional day and she was quite honestly drained.

Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – the Switch Flipped

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“Hibari residence, may I ask who is calling?” A young female Fon was unfamiliar with answered the phone. He sighed, it must have been one of the servants.

“This is Fon, I am calling to talk to Sirina.” He informed the young woman wearily. The last couple of months had taken their toll on him, and he was anxious to talk to his Sky. A feeling of foreboding had settled on him lately, and he wasn’t sure why. He needed to make sure she was well. This was the first time the place they’d stayed at had a phone, and he deeply regretted not buying a cell phone before leaving for his job.

“I’m sorry, Sawada-chan no longer lives here. Is there someone else I can get for you?” She informed him politely. Fon ground his teeth.

“What do you mean, no longer lives there?” He demanded, and the bad feeling grew stronger.

“Ah, I’ll get Hibari-Sama for you.” The servant exclaimed, and Fon could envision the girl leaping from the phone and rushing to find his sister. After only a few minutes of waiting, during which Fon tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk the phone sat on.

“Fon.” His sister’s cool voice greeted.

“Akane.” He returned just as coolly. “Your servant has just informed me that Sirina no longer lives at home. What. Happened.” He bit out, holding onto his temper with his teeth.

“You didn’t leave a request for her to continue staying at our home, and you are no longer here to take care of her. She is not a Hibari responsibility.” Akane retorted. Fon felt the very last shreds of his patience straining against his control.

“She is my Sky. You know the danger her family poses to her, and you know it will kill me if she is harmed. What were you thinking?!.” He hissed into the phone. There was a long pause on the other end.

“I don’t believe she is your Sky. If you had been honest and said she was your apprentice, or that you were sheltering her from her family, we would not have been so reluctant to shelter her in your absence. But you insist on claiming her as family when she is not! On calling her a Sky, royalty among flame users, when she has not right to be so claimed! I won’t stand for it. We won’t stand for it!” His sister snarled and there was a slamming sound and then a dial tone. A tiny part of Fon, at the very back of his mind, was glad his sister hung up before he could truly give vent to his fury. She was family, after all. Still, he would have to plan a suitable revenge on Akane for daring to cause harm to his Sky. He wondered if Kyoya would help him… .

As he listened to the dial tone ringing in his ear, Fon’s mind spun back to the time he’d asked Sirina to consider Akane as her mist guardian. Sirina had looked up at Akane and then too Fon. Without even loosing her Sky flames, Sirina shook her head.

“Can’t.” The little girl proclaimed, not even giving Akane a chance. “She’s not mine,” Sirina added, and refused to further discuss the subject. Much the same thing happened when he tried to get Sirina to take Kyoya as her cloud guardian. The two seemed to get along fairly well, despite Kyoya’s dislike of “crowding.” That time, however, Sirina had looked wistful.

“Wish he was mine, but I can’t right now. Maybe when we’re older?” Sirina suggested sadly, and that was that. Now Fon and Sirina were suffering the consequences of those incidents. Still, he knew Kyoya would have kept track of their “baby Carnivore.” He quickly dialed Kyoya’s number, and was relieved when the boy in question answered.

“Carnivore.” The boy demanded, leaving out the rest of the sentence as usual.

“I have just been informed Sirina was kicked out by your mother. Please tell me she didn’t go back to that…family of hers. Tell me you kept her safe.” Fon growled from behind his teeth.

“The Baby Carnivore had Kusakabe take her to the airport before he alerted me to the situation. The Baby Carnivore then flew to Osaka, where she said she had a boat to catch. I do not know where she went from there, though I have been working on extending my network to Osaka to find out.” Kyoya admitted, irritation edging every word at having to admit he didn’t know where the girl he considered like a sister was.

“Thank you, Kyoya. Keep looking. I will go to Osaka as soon as I am able and take up the search as well.” Fon instructed, then paused and remembered his earlier thought. “Kyoya, would you be interested in helping me properly punish Akane for kicking out our Baby Carnivore before she was ready to leave the nest?” At these words from Fon, he could practically feel the bloodlust from the other end of the phone. They wouldn’t go too far, after all they still loved Akane despite her newest cruelty. Then again, they were Carnivores…and Akane… … Akane was not.

After hanging up, Fon proceeded to the sitting room all those hired by “checker-face” and Luce currently shared.

“Fon.” Viper greeted neutrally as the storm entered the room. A few of the others greeted him, all in their own fashion. Reborn nodded to Fon while keeping his eyes trained on Skull, his ‘lackey’, that he was currently torturing training. Skull waved a quick hello while he focused on performing Reborn’s task. Verde and Viper ignored him altogether while Luce smiled at him.

“Luce.” He said calmly, or at least thought he did. His tone must have been graver or more worried than he intended, however, for the others all stopped what they were doing (even Verde who could focus through a holocaust,) and stared at him.

“Fon. What’s wrong?” She asked cautiously. Fon smiled wryly.

“Skies.” He thought with a sigh. Out loud he said: “I apologize, but I must withdraw. An urgent private matter has come up that I must deal with immediately.” Having informed Luce, the arbiter of their contracts, Fon turned to go.

“Wait! Fon!” Luce exclaimed. “One more job, please? We can do it first thing in the morning, and be done before noon. Then I can pay you the full amount and you can go. Otherwise I won’t be able to give you anything, because of breach of contract.” Luce offered. The others frowned at the offer, but Fon hesitated, shoulders stiff and thoughts racing madly. He would need at least some of the money if he intended to fund a search for his Sky…his shoulders slumped.

“Fine. One last job in the morning. But no more.” He agreed unhappily. Luce smiled at him gratefully.

“Thank you. This really is the most important job. In fact, we’ll all do that job and then I will count all the contracts as being fulfilled.” Luce offered, and the others tentatively agreed. “Please get ready tonight so we can leave first thing in the morning. We will be taking a long hike to the top of a mountain to find an ancient alter. Once we’ve located the alter, we will all face the final challenge of the contract.” Luce instructed. Everyone left the common area thoughtfully. So far their jobs had been a wide variety of different tasks – everything from assassinations to baby supply shopping, and each job had unexpected difficulties. They each privately wondered what surprises were in store for them tomorrow. Fon just hoped he would be able to overcome all the trials and find his Sky.

Fon stared down at his tiny hands while the others cursed Luce and Checkerface both. His Sky had warned him, thoroughly, that there was something wrong with this series of jobs, and he’d ignored her. He vowed to himself that as soon as he found her, he would follow her guidance from now on. But how was he to find her as a baby? Now he knew why the reward for taking the job was so high. He didn’t know why those two had cursed the newly named “Arcobaleno” that he was a part of, but he understood that the money was meant to support them at least until they could find a way to support themselves, if not longer. His teeth ground as his flames begged to be released on the ones responsible for his situation, but he ruthlessly suppressed the desire. Baby or not, Fon still had a duty to find his Sky.

Carefully he stood up, being careful to feel out his new center of balance. As soon as he was once more confidant in his ability to move without falling on his face, Fon turned to the others. They were still abusing Luce, as Checkerface had vanished the instant after they began to feel the terrible pain the shrinking caused.

“I am leaving. I still have an urgent matter to attend to. But my family will always remember what you have done to me, and you will wish you’d never been born long before they are done with you.” He informed Luce coldly. The others looked shocked that the ever-affable Fon would speak in such a manner, but quickly recovered and nodded.

“Don’t call on us for help again, you won’t get it.” Reborn added angrily.

“You are a horrible person! I hope you never have any good luck again!” Skull snapped, so angry that for once he didn’t speak in third person.

“Wait! Before you depart, Checkerface prepared these companions to help you, now that you are so small.” Luce called. Fon looked back over his shoulder at her, a cold dismissive look in his eyes.

“I care not for a so-called ‘companion’. Make sure the money is in my account within the hour, or you will not be able to hide from me.” Fon retorted. Luce nodded, but lifted a small glowing sphere from a bag at her side no one noticed before. She threw the orb at Fon, who stepped out of the objects path only for the object to swerve and follow him like a heat-seeking missile. The globe collided with his chest before he knew what was happening, and a second later it formed into a cute little monkey.

“You may not want them now,” Luce started to say as she tossed the glowing orbs one-by-one at each of the Arcobaleno “but they have special abilities and are unique to each Arcobaleno. It can be lonely, being one of the strongest seven. They are loyal only to you, and are compatible with your flames.” She finished explaining as she picked up the last orb and it transformed into a cute, tiny squirrel. “Hello, Cosmo.” She greeted fondly.

Fon was officially done with this whole mess. Just as he was about to turn away for the final time, he felt the traitorous Sky reach for him with her flames once more. The entire time the group worked for Luce and Checkerface, the irritating Sky continued sending “sneak” attacks of flame at the group trying to force them to bond with her. This latest attempt was more than Fon could bare, after everything else, and his infamously hard to stir anger erupted. His flames surged from him and dissolved all of her flames that were outside her body. Even those reaching for the other members of the Arcobaleno.

“You stupid, weak, ignorant little girl! You dare try to force us to bond with you, when you already have a full circle of guardians and your pathetic, weak little sky can barely hold a full circle? You are a joke! I have a Sky, a true Sky. One who would never force someone to bond with them, the way you do. And a truly powerful sky. Compared to my Sky, you are not even a single lick of flame at the top of a matchstick! How your guardians can stand you, I do not know. Leave me alone, traitor. You are a disgrace to the name of Sky.” Fon spat viscously. His eyes glowed an eerie red with his flames and his que practically unraveled and flew around his head and body as his Ki flared around him in his fury. Luce trembled slightly before him, but kept her chin up even as her eyes dripped tears. A very small, very distant part of Fon felt bad for tearing strips off Luce, but the rest of him recalled what she’d done to him and the others and shushed the smaller part.

Fon was the first to leave, not stopping again no matter who called out to him.

Colonello stared into the distance, one of the last few remaining Arcobalenos in the clearing where the alter dominated. He could hear Reborn talking quietly with Luce on the other side of the alter, now that Reborn had cooled off some. Everyone else left shortly after Fon. Colonello wondered what he would do now. Lal Mirch broke up with him before leaving, so even the plans they’d made before the curse no longer applied. His life was in ruins around him, his heart broken. About the only thing he had in his life going for him was that he was no longer broke. Luce had promised to pay him almost as much as the rest of the Arcobaleno, since he ended up cursed along with Lal. He was still staring, lost in thought, when someone quietly cleared their throat from beside him. Colonello startled and looked up to find Luce looking at him thoughtfully.

“You seem a bit…lost.” Luce offered with a weak smile. She still seemed a bit shaky after Fon going off on her and attacking her intrusive flames. Colonello sighed.

“Well, yes. I knew something bad was going to happen to Lal if I didn’t interfere…but in the end I only caused more trouble and we’re both cursed, after a fashion.” Colonello admitted. “And I don’t know how to get work now that I’m baby-sized…” he added with a frown.

“I know I’m probably the last person you want to help you but…I have a few contacts in the mafia world. I know Mafia Island is looking for a few people in security and testing, I could put in a good word for you, if you’d like.” Luce offered tentatively. Colonello side-eyed her for a moment, wondering if he dared trust her like the others had. Eventually he decided he didn’t have anything left to lose, and nodded.

“I would appreciate that.” He agreed. Luce beamed at him and instantly began to call someone from her mobile phone. In what seemed no more than an instant, Luce informed Colonello that he had a job interview tomorrow to find which of their positions he would best fit.

“You’ll get a job either way,” Luce confided with another smile, “but they like to fit their employees to the best job for them. And someone with COMSUBIN training? How could they refuse? Their security teams desperately need shaping up, and they’ve been looking for awhile.” Luce informed him as she hustled him down the mountain, into a car, and then onto a boat bound for Mafia Island. She waved at him as the boat took off, and all Colonello could dazedly think was:

“I guess I don’t have to worry about getting a job, at least.”

Chapter 5: Wash Away My Pain

Chapter Text

Sirina licked at her cotton candy, wrinkling her nose as it seemed to disappear before it even got into her mouth. She regretted, once again, spending her snack money on cotton candy instead of something more substantial…like a burger or pasta. Cotton candy just always look so inviting…but she missed the chewing other food required. She hoped Fon came to get her soon, she would run out of money if she wasn’t careful. Still, she knew there were supposed to be a couple months left before he could return to her. Sirina did not look forward to finding out what had caused the bad feeling about his new job. Whatever it was, though, Sirina was positive they could get through it together. If only because they would have to. Sirina was never letting one of Her people go. She’d lost too many people, even in just her first life-time, to abandon her loved ones carelessly.

Idly she swung her legs back and forth off the pier, gazing out over the ocean as it sped under and around the island beneath her. It was very odd, watching water speed past like she was on a boat, instead of a land mass. Sirina was in the process of trying to figure out how big an engine would be needed for such a feat, when a gripping pang ripped through her body. She cried out aloud, her mist flame illusion of adulthood coming undone and her small nine-and-a-half year old body going into seizures. She screamed and kept screaming as she felt her bond with Fon abruptly cut off. She’d never before felt him being even slightly harmed, he was very good at what he did. So to feel his presence and flames vanish from her entirely…it was like someone was tearing the lungs from her chest and missing pieces.

She couldn’t get air, and her heart felt like it was straining to produce even a single beat. Fon had explained to her once what was said about when a Sky or guardian dies. Sirina wept into the unforgiving salty wood beneath her as the spasms and seizures slowly calmed until she lay quietly on the dock. A distant part of her mind spared a moment to be grateful no one else was around to see her lapse in control, or wonder why a child Sky was alone without even a body guard on Mafia Island. The rest of her just stared unseeing at the wet wood, unable to summon the ability to care about anything else. Some deity must have been watching over her, though, because no one came by. No one saw a despondent Sky-child collapsed on the pier, cotton candy melting under the hot sun as her skin turned red and she stared sightlessly while tears dripped onto the ground.

It wasn’t until long after the stars came out that Sirina finally dragged herself to her feet, reapplied her adult illusion, and then dragged herself back to her hotel room.

A slight breeze ruffled Colonello’s hair as he stared in dismay at the wreck before him. He’d finally completed his interviews, and he’d been granted the somewhat optimistically named ‘trainer’ and ‘head of security’ positions. His official “office” had two spots. One underneath the city, reachable only by train or from his quarters. The other was this clearing at the back of the island, reachable from his first ‘office’ and also by a separate train. Or by hiking through the dense jungle between this open area and the rest of the resort. The island’s manager had personally led him on a tour of his new areas of duty, which had ended here. The wreck that lay before him had, apparently, once been the island’s state-of-the-art obstacle course.

“We spend so much money trying to get recruits up to scratch, and then regularly replacing them, that we just haven’t been able to spare any for maintenance on the obstacle course.” The manager, a tall skinny Italian man by the name Giovanni, informed Colonello regretfully. “Our long-term goal for you is to have capable long-term employees so we don’t have to devote as much of the budget to security personal and can instead rebuild this training area and get better weapons for our security teams.” He added hopefully. Colonello nodded thoughtfully.

“Would I be allowed to design and alter the obstacle course? What about adding other training implements and schedules?” Colonello wondered. The manager nodded gleefully, practically frothing at the mouth at the thought of getting an Arcobaleno working as Mafia Island’s head of security.

“Oh, yes! That would of course be under your jurisdiction. Provided it stays on-budget, of course!” The manager agreed enthusiastically. Colonello cast one last thoughtful eye at the ruined equipment, and noticed a ripple of water mostly-buried underneath. And…was that a fin? Did this obstacle course have a shark tank?! Colonello thought this might be the best job he’d ever had…once he got the maggots under his command up to scratch, of course. Still, it wouldn’t do to let his new ‘boss’ know that…

“Let’s talk salary…” Colonello prodded joyfully, inwardly feeling gleeful as the manager’s face lost some of it’s color. He could get used to this, he thought, as the manager led Colonello back towards the central office.

Sirina, meanwhile, sat on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It had been six months since she’d lost Fon. Six months since her most beloved person in the entire world vanished from said world entirely. She’d known something bad would happen to him, of course, but he’d always been so strong…she’d been certain he would come back to her despite her feelings of foreboding. Ever since that day, Sirina found it hard to do anything. Even existing seemed a chore. She was quite certain the only reason she hadn’t tried to end her life was because, for her, it wasn’t an ending. Unlike other mortals, there was no permanent death for Sirina. When one life ended, she began another. And she wanted time to properly grieve for her friend and guardian. She missed his warm smiles and gentle hands. She missed learning new fighting moves under his guidance. She even missed it when he scolded her for some prank or trick she’d pulled.

Morosely she wondered where she would go from here. She’d already decided dying didn’t solve anything for her, and she was fast running out of money. Sooner or later her so-called “Father’s” family would send someone to find her. If she wasn’t careful, the bad thing she’d known was coming since she was five years old would catch up with her. Without Fon, or any other guardians and allies, Sirina stood no chance of avoiding the bad thing. And with her last premonition leading to Fon’s death… well, Ri wasn’t about to give in gracefully. She still needed to find out who’d killed her guardian, after all. But her body wasn’t old enough to channel all of her powers or magics yet. It simply couldn’t take the strain. So she would have to figure out another way to support herself until then.

She’d heard rumors that the security teams were still hiring, having started a major hiring spree about the time Fon died. Before she hadn’t given it much thought… but now she would probably have too. They said a baby ran the whole security division … surely if her ruse was found out they would let her stay? If it was indeed a baby. And even if they didn’t, it would give her time to look into getting new allies. Perhaps she could look into becoming an apprentice to somebody? With these thoughts in mind, Sirina forcefully levered herself off the bed. These days every thing she did took monumental effort to force herself to accomplish. She drew on a light coat, her flames having retreated back into her core after Fon died and leaving her cold most of the time. It seemed to take Sirina an eternity to reach the train. Once on, she stayed on until they reached the last stop before the train looped back around the island: The obstacle course and training center.

Anyone who visited the island regularly, or lived there, knew that the new head of security spent most of his time at the training center. To get employed, one had to pass through a series of exercises at the training center anyways, so it fit in with her ideas. As she drew closer and closer to her stop, however, her flames seemed to perk up in interest. It was like she was hearing someone she didn’t know calling her name from outside her house. The call itself was more of a feeling than anything she could put to words, but it persisted. Hesitantly little licks of flame tried to spin out of her and thread towards whatever was calling her. Ruthlessly Sirina squished the flames back into her body. She didn’t want her amber flames revealing her as a Sky. She planned to only show her cloud flames to those she would work with. For one thing, no one would let a Sky work security. Ever. And for another, if they realized she had mist flames, her underage status might be discovered. So she held onto her Sky and mist flames with a vengeance, even as the closer she drew to the training grounds the harder her flames strained to break free.

Finally Ri was able to disembark from the train. To her surprise, Ri did not hear much noise from up ahead. When she got there, only one person was present. Ri assumed the ‘baby’ before her was the much-talked-about head of security, though to one who could see souls he looked very different. Although his body was indeed child-sized, it was obvious to Sirina that he was an adult in soul. He stood staring consideringly at the obstacle course before him, muttering under his breath about possible revisions to the course.

“Excuse me, are you the Head of Security and Training…?” Sirina called out, startling the tiny man. The man whipped around, drawing a huge missile launcher from thin air and pointing it at her. Ri held very still while the man processed her words.

“Who wants to know?” The man retorted. Sirina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, unafraid to move now that he seemed to be over his shock.

“My name’s Sirina, I was told you are hiring?” She introduced, doing her best to seem cheerful. The tiny man nodded and the weapon seemed to vanish once more. He nodded.

“Name’s Colonello. You’ll have to run the obstacle course before we’ll even consider you, and then there are a few other tests.” The man informed her, looking over her with a critical eye while he did so.

“I heard.” Sirina agreed, stepping forward to stand on a line at the beginning of the course. The little man produced a coach’s whistle, although Sirina couldn’t tell from where he’d produced this either, and blew a loud shrill blast. Sirina took off, legs pumping smoothly and breathing steady. Sirina was not even halfway through the obstacle course before she became glad for her martial arts training and seeker’s reflexes. It saved her hide many times in the obstacle course. When she finally rolled to a stop at the end, she stood up carefully and examined her clothing and hair. With dismay she noted she would have to trim her hair to a better style than the ‘half-way-burned-off’ style she currently sported. Her clothes and skin, however, had not been touched by fire, electricity, or blades so she counted her blessings and moved on. Having taken stock of herself, Sirina turned to Colonello, who actually looked slightly impressed.

“That’s the best time and least amount of damage taken when the course’s been run by anyone except myself.” He noted happily, scribbling away on a tiny notepad. “I’d be happy to consider you for our forces, even if you don’t pass the other tests. The other tests are mostly for the desk jockeys anyways.” Colonello informed Sirina conspiratorially, then held his hand out to her. Sirina reached forward and grasped his hand firmly to shake on the offer.

Colonello was very pleased with his newest recruit, as he reached out to shake hands with her. The island’s management had been refusing to replace one of their long-time security agents without a decent replacement. Now he had a solution to that problem. As reached out to shake hands with her, he was envisioning the stunned look on the face of that miserable, talent-less leach when he was fired. Those thoughts came to a screeching, shuddering standstill as he abruptly lost control of his flames the instant their skin brushed. His flames burst from every pore and cell in his body and literally swarmed the cloud lady. He winced, certain he’d probably just accidentally tranquilized her to death when Amber, cloud, and mist flames poured from her body to him. Their flames twined around and through each other, forming a multitude of shining bonds that then condensed into one thick bond before fading from visibility.

“My Sky.” Colonello breathed in awe and wonder. The girl before him stared, both awe and fear fighting in her gaze before her image started to waver. Colonello had just tensed, newly awakened guardian instincts surging, when the image of the woman before him faded away to reveal a girl-child staring at him with the same look on her face as the woman. “You’re a child?... what were you doing, trying to get a job? Don’t you have a family to take care of you?” He demanded in shock. The girl’s face instantly lost the awe and fear, going blank like she’d slammed shut a door between them.

“I was trying to get a job because my guardian died, and I have no family to look after me. At least, not any who wouldn’t try to kill me on site. I think they don’t like the competition.” The little girl sneered. At her words, it felt like Colonello was punched in the chest. His poor sky. The girl obviously wasn’t expecting Colonello’s reaction, however, because she fell into his arms when he yanked on the hand he was holding and tugged her into him.

“Then it is my job to watch over you now, Sirina.” He murmured softly but firmly. The girl shuddered silently in his hold for a moment before she broke down into sobbing. “Shh, shh sweetling. It will be okay now, I’ve got you.” He promised. He helped her to sit and wrapped his arms as far around the girl as his little toddler body would allow. “Now, how old are you really?” He questioned gently.

“I’m ten.” Sirina informed him miserably.

“And how long have you been on your own? When was the last time you ate, for that matter…” Colonello continued.

“I lost my guardian six months ago. I don’t….I don’t remember when I last ate. It didn’t seem to matter…” Sirina admitted wearily. Colonello nodded firmly to himself. He pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocked.

“This is Colonello. The on-call squad is to come and take over the training center. I am handling a priority case.” Colonello barked into the device. Then, without bothering to wait for a reply, he switched off the device and shoved it into his pocket. He went back to holding his Sky gently until she stopped crying.

“First we’re going to go get something to eat. Then we’re going to have you checked out at the Island hospital. We need to make sure you aren’t being drained by the cut-off connection of your old bond. I hate to ask but…your old guardian…were they a rain?” Colonello stated firmly.

“No. A storm. I didn’t have any others before, either.” Sirina admitted softly, tears still leaking down her face. Though he didn’t let his face show it, Colonello felt relieved. He wasn’t a replacement or surplus guardian. That meant a lot to him. Especially since with Lal he’d always felt like her ‘if I can’t find anyone else to go out with’ boyfriend. Gently he helped his Sky to stand up again, then jumped onto her shoulder.

“To lunch!” Colonello declared firmly, and the two of them headed back towards the train.

Chapter 6: Ch 6 - KABOOM!

Chapter Text

Lal Mirch grumbled under her breath as she dropped the reports she’d been reading. It had been almost a year since she’d heard from Colonello last. The thought itched just beneath her skin. What he was up to? Maybe she’d been too harsh breaking it off with him? She did still love him, after all. She loved the way he treated her, and his devotion. She loved that he could see beneath her gruff exterior. It bothered her though, why hadn’t he contacted her yet? It’s true that she’d broken up with him (again), and she’d been rather busy gaining and cementing her position in CEDEF for the last year or so. Still…normally she would have heard from him after month two. She knew where he was, of course. Anyone with any connection to Mafia Island knew of the ‘baby’ that now ran the security there. With a frown Lal pushed a button on her desk phone.

“Yes?” her secretary responded calmly though the speaker.

“Send in an agent.” Lal ordered. She smoothed her face into a blank mask while she waited. In lieu of reply, a young man stepped into her office and took up a ready position in front of her desk. Lal appreciated efficiency. Folding her hands, she gazed steadily at the man before her.

“I want you to go to Mafia Island. Rumor has it there is a new head of security and training. Find out everything you can about this person. Monitor their activity for a couple days and report back.” Lal ordered calmly. The man nodded and quickly left. Once her door closed, Lal’s mouth turned down once more into a frown. Really, what could be so important Colonello wouldn’t at least call?

Crashing and screams echoed through the training grounds. Colonello chuckled under his breath as the trainee pulled themselves out of the obstacle course to begin again. He did so enjoy his job. Behind him Colonello’s sky sat at a table, laptop open before her. A pair of thick headphones covered both ears, though Colonello knew it wasn’t to shield her from the screams. He was proud to say he’d enrolled his wonderful sky in online education. He could have hired tutors, of course, but he was wary of letting people know about his sky. He’d discussed boarding school with her, but she’d flat-out refused. Losing her first and only other guardian made Sirina determined to never leave Colonello’s side. For the first few months she didn’t even want to be separated by a bathroom door, though he’d managed to talk her out of that phase. Eventually.

What he hadn’t yet managed to talk her out of, yet, was her refusal to add new guardians. A refusal so strong, Sirina took to wearing gloves and refused to shake hands with anyone. Colonello knew it was only their ruse she was his older cloud sister which kept the masses from bothering her right now. Due to her cloud nature Colonello had yet to push the issue. Well, that and their bond had still been settling. The longer he stayed a single guardian, though, the worse his twitchiness became. Especially since she insisted on keeping the security position he’d given her. She was always partnered with him for her shifts, but it didn’t lessen his paranoia over her safety. Sirina absolutely refused to let him fire her, though. Earning her own money and hoarding it seemed to give her a sense of safety. Of course, hoarding it was all she could do with it since Colonello refused to let his child sky pay for anything besides the occasional snack or trinket. Although Sirina offered to buy her own supplies, she didn’t fight him when he’d informed her of his intentions. Recently she’d told him her firsts guardian had been the same way.

Sirina almost never talked of her first guardian, other than to say he was a storm when asked. So he treasured what few things she did say about her previous guardian. He hadn’t managed to get the story of how her guardian died, yet, and it made him extra nervous. Especially since he knew his Sky’s other guardian had to be at least as strong as Colonello himself. Even weak storms were notoriously difficult to kill. His paranoia about whatever had killed her former storm led Colonello to training his Sky to defend herself and escape if possible. He knew he wasn’t being as hard on her as he should, though. He worried about stressing her young body unnecessarily, or her getting injured permanently. Someday, he vowed to himself, he would have a way to just transmit his memories to a student. Then the person would know how to go from where they were to where Colonello is. He knew how to train himself, after all. Until then he wanted to find someone else to train her in self-defense. Someone who would really push her to do better, but the only person he knew was Fon. Fon who was a storm and would be a constant reminder of what his Sky had lost. So he’d held off. But someone had been watching them for a few days now, ratcheting Colonello’s anxiety even higher.

The island shuddered beneath them, causing Sirina to fall from her seat. Even Colonello lost his footing. At the same time, a loud explosion sounded. Luckily the trainee was outside the obstacle course, headed back to the start, when the earthquake shook the island. Sirina took the headphones off and closed the laptop next to her on the ground.

“Colonello…?” Sirina asked hesitantly “Isn’t the island basically a giant boat?” She added.

“Yes.” Colonello agreed with a frown. “Trainee, dismissed for now. Get back to your post, Kora!” Colonello barked at the man. The man took off at a run while Colonello pulled his rifle out. In an instant Sirina was by his side. Colonello grimaced, but realized he didn’t want her to be out of his sight either. Not with a possible security problem on the Island. Falco flew down from his nearby perch and picked Colonello up. Colonello and Sirina both listened to the comms in their ears.

“To the beach command center it is.” Colonello growled. All three of them got onto the train, and Colonello used his security pass to make the train go straight from the training ground to the beach entrance. Once there Falco flew Colonello to a desk set up by the beach, Sirina keeping up on foot below. Out of the corner of his eye he noted she’d procured a gun somewhere. They’d probably have to talk about that later, he thought. Falco dropped Colonello off on the desk and perched on the mini-mans head.

“Report, Kora!” Colonello barked at his second the moment his feet hit the desk.

“Their ships fly the symbol of the Carcassa.” His second reported immediately. “So far nothing we can’t handle.” The man added solemnly.

“And the earthquake?” Colonello demanded.

“We think they fired a missile at the island’s motors. Security personnel and technicians are checking the motors now.”

“Thank you Johann.” Colonello told his subordinate, and then turned to look at the fights on the beach behind them. Sirina appropriated Johann’s binoculars from around the man’s neck while they were talking. Currently she was staring out to sea.

“Colonello?” She murmured, and there was something strange in her voice.

“Yes, Ri?”

“You said there are seven of you Arcobaleno, right?” She asked. Colonello nodded, then realized she couldn’t see him.

“Yes.” He wondered where she was going with this.

“I think it’s one of your colleagues leading the attack. A little guy in purple. Possibly either the cloud or someone who wants us to think it is. I guess someone could have dressed up a child like one of the Arcobaleno…” Sirina informed her rain guardian. She passed the binoculars to him and Colonello looked where she pointed. He cursed under his breath as a giant Octopus surfaced from under the waves, and a person in purple jumped from a ship to the Octopus’ head. The duo rapidly made their way towards the beach, Octopus towering above the ships and surf.

“That must be Skull. It’s his Octopus, anyways.” Colonello groaned.

“Normally I would say I was excited to meet one of your colleagues. Under the circ*mstances though…” Sirina sighed.

“Skull may be the weakest Arcobaleno, but he’s still one of the strongest seven. I suppose I’ll have to beat some sense into him personally.” Colonello growled. “Johann, stay here and manage things while I take care of that idiot.” Colonello growled at his second before he was once more in the air.

From Sirina’s point of view, the day went from average to exciting. Not that she wasn’t worried he could be hurt, of course. But as she barreled along behind Colonello, shooting anyone who got in her way in the foot or knee, she was still rather glad to take a break from math class. Being airborne, Colonello reached the Octopus and Skull before Sirina. The fight was over quickly after that. Colonello fired his rifle and sunk all but one of the ships behind Skull. Then he turned his gun on the other fighters.

“All invaders who don’t wish to be dead, surrender now, Kora!” Colonello barked at the Carcassa fighters. Seeing their ships burning and sinking, all the fighters except Skull surrendered.

“Colonello! I didn’t know you worked for Mafia Island!” Skull cried at his comrade, big fake tears dripping from under his visor. Sirina felt embarrassed on behalf of the purple guy. Coming to a stop just behind and below Colonello, Sirina wondered if the cloud was putting on an act. From where she stood she could feel the power and purity of his flames. Nowhere near the strength of her own, of course, but strong by anyone else’s standards. Weak people just didn’t have flames like this man’s. Ignoring the man’s words, Colonello pointed his rifle back at the other Arcobaleno.

“Surrender, or I shoot.” Colonello growled. The cloud flailed, silly protestations flying from him, but Sirina ignored both of their words to focus on the cloud in question. Being part cloud herself, Sirina could read another cloud’s intentions from their flames. They were not the flames of a man who could surrender.

“Colonello.” She called calmly. Colonello growled an acknowledgement, but didn’t turn to face her. “Invite your colleague for tea.” She ordered. “He’s the first one I’ve met, after all.” She added cheerfully, adding a blasé smile for affect when he turned to look at her incredulously. Skull seemed to notice her for the first time, and the cloud jumped down from his octopus to stand before her. Immediately Colonello dropped from the Sky to stand between his colleague and Sirina. Sirina’s lips twitched, she found his over-protectiveness cute. Carefully she wound her way around her rain guardian to stand at his side.

“You must be Skull. I’m Sirina, Colonello’s Sky.” She introduced herself calmly as she put her gun and gloves away. Colonello growled slightly from beside her. Sirina extended a hand to the other cloud, ignoring Colonello’s opinion for the moment. Something was calling her, and it felt a lot like just before she’d met Colonello. Her flames seemed twice as excited, now that they knew what the calling meant. Hadn’t Colonello been urging her to think of other guardian candidates? Those thoughts and others ran through her mind as Skull, now helmet-less and beaming at her cheerfully, reached out to return the handshake.

Chapter 7: Ch 7 - Welcome

Chapter Text

Sirina realized Skull’s hands were encased in gloves just before their hands met. Her flames flickered inside her in unease, and Sirina had a moment to feel disappointed. Then Sirina felt skin. Apparently his gloves had somehow been ripped during the fight. Once more, as it had two times before, both people’s flames overwhelmed them in order to escape and connect. Colonello scowled, but Skull beamed in excitement and wonder. The smile changed to a frown when Skull noticed Colonello was not happy with the bonding.

“I’m not giving her up to make you happy.” Skull warned his fellow guardian, and the Octopus shifted slightly in preparation to make his partner’s point. “And I’m not going to pretend to be incompetent, either.” He added when Colonello opened his mouth. Colonello’s scowl eased away.

“Good. If you look weak, our Sky looks weak.” Colonello replied firmly. Sirina let go of Skull’s hand at last, blushing slightly. Turning to face Sirina, Colonello grinned at her. “Well, is it as bad as you feared?” He asked her cheekily. Sirina shook her head slightly.

“No. I’m…happy.” Sirina responded, confusing Skull.

“Is what bad?” He wanted to know. After all, as her guardian it was now Skull’s job to help ensure Sirina’s happiness.

“Ah… I… I was afraid to bond again.” Sirina admitted to him softly. Skull frowned.

“Are you unhappy with our bond?” He carefully questioned, a feeling of fear and defensiveness swamping him. A part of him feared this would be like joining the Arcobaleno all over again. Never wanted, never truly accepted, and always picked on. It’s true he hid his strength once he realized they would never respect them (about five seconds into his introduction). But Skull was certain he wouldn’t be able to withstand her rejection. Not the rejection of HIS Sky. Sirina shook her head, and his heart sank even further. Skull turned to go, but she spoke.

“I’m happy with it. I’m glad you’re my Cloud, Skull.” She assured him.

“Then why…?” Skull began, only for Colonello to cut him off while Sirina seemed to draw into herself.

“Her first guardian has passed on. Ri doesn’t like to talk about it. Also, all of her bonds, from what I know, formed the same way yours just did. On accident, and without intent.” Colonello explained to the newest guardian. Skull frowned.

“I’ve never heard of that before. Is it common?” He wondered. Colonello shook his head.

“No. Normally both parties need to know each other for a long time, or go through intense battle together. It helps that Sirina was in distress when she met me, which makes a Sky’s flame search for bonds whether they are consciously doing so or not. But it still should have been massive Sky attraction, not a surprise bonding. And I’ve never heard of the flames of one or both parties spontaneously bonding without input from the person the flames belong to.” Colonello frowned. Sirina fidgeted slightly and both guardians looked to her.

“Um…it’s not entirely spontaneously? At least…that is….I… there might be a sort of warning but I only just realized it?” Sirina offered hesitantly. Skull tipped his head to the side slightly.

“What kind of warning?” The cloud asked seriously.

“Well, before I met you and Colonello, my flames seemed to get sort of … excited?” She told them, then hurried to finish explaining. “It’s kind of like someone or something is calling to them. I was too little to remember whether or not I felt the same before my first guardian, but I know I felt it before I met both of you.” Both of her guardians looked thoughtful at this news.

“So you’ll be able to warn us in the future if someone you can bond with is around?” Colonello wondered. Sirina was glad both men were taking this so seriously. Just explaining that her flames were capable of feeling something, without her necessarily feeling it first, made her feel all sorts of foolish. But neither of her guardians called her silly, or told her it wasn’t possible. She loved them all the more for that.

“I’m not sure.” Sirina admitted. “I felt you, Colonello, before the train even pulled into the area where you were that first time we met. I think you’re right, in that my flames were searching farther away because of my stress and need back then. I only felt the calling just before shaking hands with him, but it’s not like the bond is any weaker. And from the feel of both your flames, neither of you is actually stronger than the other.” Sirina added thoughtfully, shocking both Colonello.

“Skull’s flames are just as strong as my own?” He asked, just to make sure he understood her correctly. Sirina nodded.

“Yeah. They actually tie really closely. So closely there’s pretty much no difference.” She agreed. Colonello rubbed the back of his head and averted his eyes in embarrassment.

“Guess I owe you an apology, Skull.” Colonello admitted to the Cloud, surprising Skull. Skull shook his head and waved his hands about frantically.

“Thanks Sempai, but my experience used to make me weaker than you lot, even if my flames are just as powerful!” Skull protested. “Skull-sama is glad to work with Sempai!” Skull protested, falling back into his mask because he was flustered. Sirina giggled. She couldn’t help it. He was so cute when he was blushing and protesting. Colonello shook his own head, mouth set stubbornly.

“No, Skull. I was a jerk, and I truly am sorry for how I treated you and allowed others to treat you. I’ll be a real Sempai from now on. If there’s something you want to learn that I know, from now on all you need do is ask. I’ll help you seriously. I hope you will do the same for me. And just call me Colonello from now on. We’re coworkers and co-guardians, after all.” Colonello insisted.

“Okay, Colonello.” Skull agreed hesitantly. “I guess just Skull is fine for me, too. And, of course, my Lovely Sky, you can call me whatever you want!” Skull added with a grin.

“You can call me Ri, if you want. All my friends and family do. Well, all except Kyo. But Kyo doesn’t call anyone by their names.” Sirina agreed immediately. For a moment they were silent, the men kind of wondering what came next. Sirina solved the problem for them when she realized the silence was becoming a bit awkward.

“Hey, it’s lunch time! We should get lunch and dessert to celebrate!” She exclaimed suddenly, punching the air in her enthusiasm. Colonello and Skull’s eyes met in amusem*nt at the cuteness of their mutual Sky.

“Alright. Skull should choose, since he’s the new guardian, yeah?” Colonello declared as he jumped up onto Sirina’s right shoulder.

“Ah, no way! It should be Sirina’s choice, since she’s just gained a new guardian!” Skull protested, waving his arms about again. Sirina giggled and scooped up the pre-occupied Skull into her arms. Colonello smiled fondly at his Sky as she argued with Skull over who should choose their meal. Skull settled himself into her arms without realizing it, being held much like a favored teddy bear.

In the end they went to the food court. Mafia Island’s food court was the center of their main commerce area. The main shape was a huge circle with flagstone floors on which sat tables and chairs of all shapes and sizes for the many different types of families, Famiglias, and other assorted visitors. Surrounding the big open area were food stalls and restaurants. The food stalls simply faced the circular eating area, but the restaurants had two options. The restaurants both had a serving- window or bar open to the eating area as well as an inside area for eating and ordering. The circular food court gave shape to the rest of the commerce and habitation areas, which branched off from the food court like the rays of a half-sun. Behind the food court were several warehouses, a small zoo, and then there was jungle. There were several different restaurants on the outside of the sun-area, but they were all mostly more upscale and fancy restaurants.

Colonello had watched the other two arguing all the way to the edges of the food court, and then pointed out the food court had something for everyone. Of course, then Sirina had refused to pick anything, likely knowing the other two would just get something wherever she went. Skull, for the same reason, also refused. They thought to have one of the guardians pick up whatever the other two wanted, along with their own meal, but neither of the guardians wanted to leave their Sky. To Colonello’s dismay, he found that having a second guardian who could cover Sirina when he wasn’t there did not lessen his anxiety about leaving Sirina. Not even for long enough to go get food. Sirina picked a table out and gently set Skull in a chair before taking another one. Colonello hopped onto the single remaining chair at the small circular table. All three of the tables occupants could now see both of the others, and Sirina found herself absurdly pleased with this. They continued their discussion while Sirina settled her belongings.

With a scowl Colonello finally just used his radio to call one of his newer security ‘minions’ to come be their serving boy. By now the security forces were more than used to fulfilling Colonello’s or Sirina’s odd requests. Yes their official job title was security, or security office, but no one wanted to face the harsh training sessions and get all the most unfavorable shifts if they refused. And that wasn’t even counting the lack of time off. And although Colonello wasn’t aware of it, the smarter of his “minions” had also figured out Sirina was a Sky. Those minions made sure the lower ranked security guards didn’t complain where Colonello or Sirina could hear. So a minion was dispatched and waited quietly to take their orders. Skull, finally giving in to his Sky’s wishes, ordered first.

“I’ll have Sushi!” Skull exclaimed, and Sirina was privately glad they’d decided to have someone pick up the different lunch options for them. She detested sushi. Colonello laughed at the face Sirina made. Ignoring him pointedly, Sirina ordered herself a chicken sandwich, salad, a banana, and two bottled waters. She also made Skull add either a fruit or veggie to his order, so Skull ordered some sort of Asian vegetable thing Sirina couldn’t even pronounce. He also ended up with a bottled water.

“I’ll have the chicken carbonara, with peas in. A salad and bread. Also a couple bottled waters as well.” Colonello added. When their serving minion departed, Sirina clapped her hands together.

“So, I know you two know each other, but I’d like to get to know you better, Skull. Plus we need to talk over logistics.” Sirina informed the two men decisively.

“Logistics?” Skull questioned, wrinkling his forehead. “What do you mean?” Colonello simply waited, more used to Sirina’s train of thought than the cloud.

“Well, Colonello said the attackers belonged to the Carcassa famiglia, right? So don’t you work for them? So we need to know if you’re still going to be working for them. If you are, we need to work out how often I’ll get to see you and where you’ll live. All the important stuff. Like how to contact you if we need you.” Sirina explained patiently.

“Oh. The attack was sort of a trial to see if both the Carcassa and I liked working together. I didn’t sign an exclusive contract or anything. I didn’t officially join the family, either. I probably would have afterwards, if only to get Reborn off my back about joining a family. That was before we harmonized, though. If either of you think I’m going to run off to work for someone else, you’re crazy. Not with you here, my Sky. I’m going to be wherever you are from now on.” Skull declared. Sirina blushed and smiled.

“Okay. Then we’ll probably need to decide what you’ll be doing while you’re here.” Sirina agreed easily. Skull co*cked his head to the side.

“Like what?” Skull wondered.

“Each of us has a job.” Colonello explained. “Mine, I’m sure you’ve already heard about, but I’m the head of security and training. Sirina works a couple watches as a security guard a week. We have both a shared bank account as well as a separate one for Sirina’s savings.

“Besides which, we’ll have to find bigger lodging. Before we were just sharing Colonello’s quarters, but we’ll need more than two bedrooms now that there’s three of us.” Sirina interrupted Colonello to add, with a slight frown. She accepted her plates from the security/serving boy absently as she mused. The other two shared a look.

“Well, you and I technically share, since you still get nightmares frequently and like using me as a teddy bear.” Colonello pointed out. “Skull could just have the unused room. All we’d really need to do is add a chest of drawers to your room, Ri.” He added thoughtfully.

“You don’t think I’m … too old for cuddling like that?” Sirina asked hesitantly. Colonello shook his head.

“You’re never too old for cuddles!” Colonello assured her.

“Skull is not getting left out of cuddles!” Skull exclaimed, waving his hands around and scowling. “Skull is very cuddly and cuddle-a-ble!” He assured his sky. Colonello snickered behind his water glass.

“Then we’ll still need a bigger place, because I’m going to need a bigger bed! And the one I have just fits in my room now.” Sirina declared, folding her arms and giving them both a stubborn look. “And a second bathroom.” She added. “At this rate, maybe we should get an emperor sized bed? If I keep getting guardians who like to cuddle… maybe a house with seven offices and a library? Of course a big kitchen and big dining room…” Sirina planned between bites. She also either ignored or didn’t notice Colonello and Skull’s fond and amused gazes.

“If that’s what you want, of course we can get a bigger place. It’s just not urgent, that’s all I’m saying.” Colonello reassured her. Sirina sent him a fond smile of her own.

“Do they even have permanent houses on Mafia Island?” Skull wondered. Colonello shrugged.

“Not that they know of. But I can have a place built by the training course. The back area of the jungle was pretty much given to me to use at my discretion. I could even sell a portion of it to our family so we’ll own where the house is even if for some reason I no longer had the same job.”

“And that way we could design it however we want.” Sirina beamed. Colonello nodded.

“Precisely.” Colonello agreed.

“Is there anything else you feel we need to talk about?” Skull injected before they could go off on another tangent. Sirina settled her head on her hand.

“Yeah. I still want to know more about you. Like, where did your octopus go? Are they a girl or boy octopus? What’s their name? Are octopi your favorite animals? What’s your favorite color? Your favorite thing to do?” Sirina began to list, only to be interrupted by a laughing Colonello.

“Give him a chance to answer, kora!” Sirina smiled sheepishly at Skull and blushed.

“So?” She insisted. Skull smiled and pulled a miniature octopus from a pocket.

“This is Oodako. He’s only a giant when I use my flames on him. Definitely a boy octopus. As for why an octopus…he was the animal I was given when we were cursed. Colonello told you about the curse, yes?” Skull wondered. Sirina tilted her head to the side.

“I don’t think we discussed it.” Sirina admitted, looking to Colonello who shook his head.

“We didn’t discuss it. You just seemed to know I am an adult, so I didn’t see a need to bring it up before.” Colonello added.

“Your souls are bigger than your bodies, definitely the souls of adults. And I can feel a curse around you. Unfortunately curse breaking is not one of my specialties. So I don’t know the specifics, although I’d guessed it has to do with your sizes and the pacifiers you both wear? I also know there are seven or so of you, and you’re known as the ‘Arcobaleno’, whatever that means.” Sirina explained.

“Yeah.” Skull agreed, rubbing the back of his head. “But there’s more to it than that. We were brought together because we were supposedly the strongest seven flame users in existence. I was the only one of us who wasn’t a member of the mafia at the time. We were hired to do a bunch of jobs and missions for this man called checker face and a girl named Luce. During the last job, instead of what we were supposed to do, we were cursed into our tiny forms and given our animal partners. Each of them were different, though I’m not sure why we got the animals we did. I love Oodako, of course, but I wouldn’t have thought of an Octopus if asked. And that was it, we were sent off with no explanation and no help.” Skull told his new Sky. Sirina looked sad at that.

“Not quite. Most of the other elements stormed off after telling off Luce, because she apparently knew what was going to happen to us. But I stayed behind because I didn’t know what to do. It was Luce who actually helped me get this job, because I didn’t know how to support myself otherwise. And I’ve heard from Verde, he’s a lightning. He said he’s figured out part of the curse. Apparently our pacifiers take part of our flames. He’s theorized that is part of why our forms are so much smaller, so the lesser amount of flames doesn’t kill us.” Colonello corrected. Sirina pushed her plate away and quickly drained one of her water bottles.

“So, Sirina, what’s your favorite color?” Skull asked with a grin.

“Silver. How about you? And you didn’t tell me what you like to do for fun.”

“My favorite color is purple, though it seems cliché now. In my defense, I’ve liked the color purple since before I ever knew about flames. I also enjoy riding motorcycles and I used to love my job: being a stuntman. I don’t think I ever knew Colonello’s favorite color.” Skull turned the conversation to Colonello, not wanting the senior guardian to feel left out or jealous.

“It used to be camo, any type. Back when I was in Comsubin, I mean.” Colonello started to say, a flash of dark red-brown eyes flashing in front of his mind’s eyes. “But nowadays I must say green is my favorite color.” He added with a small smile as he banished his thoughts of Lal back into the dark. He had something, someone, much better now. The three family members continued talking through lunch and all the way back to Colonello’s office for the afternoon shift. The damage to the island had to be assessed, after all. And there were reports from the fight to go over as well. Using his comm, Colonello sent a runner to collect Sirina’s laptop and supplies from the training center. Meanwhile he led the way into the main offices, Falco carrying the tiny man in her claws. Sirina carried Skull with her like a teddy bear again.

“They were silent for the few short moments it took to get into the third-floor office suite. Inside the suite, Sirina settled down at one of the two desks in the middle of the room, facing the doorway. Sirina sat at the desk on the right, while a young man just out of his teens sat at the desk on the left-hand side. Colonello went into the office at the middle of the back of the room. Skull observed the room from where he sat on Sirina’s lap. Behind Sirina’s desk there was a set of shelves, several potted plants, a water stand that produced either hot or cold water, and a printer. In the portion of the side wall behind Sirina’s desk there was a closed door.

Before her desk there were a couple of chairs, and beyond that a magazine rack and another door in the side wall just before the glass that made up the wall between the hallway and the room. The other side of the room mirrored this set up, except behind the young man’s desk there were filing cabinets instead of shelves. There was also a set of couches in front of the glass on his side of the room, the biggest couch facing his desk and the other couch set up perpendicular to the first couch. The room was painted a cool blue and the air system in the ceiling kept the room decently cool. Skull hopped up from Sirina’s lap and stood on the desk, turning to observe the young man.

The man, typing away at his computer quietly, looked to be maybe twenty or twenty-one. He had fairly non-descript features. Skull was certain that the man would have no trouble hiding in the crowd. The only feature of the man that really stood out was his bright golden eyes. He also had a bland, pleasant smile when he turned to face Skull’s staring.

“Can I help you?” The young man asked, not seeming in the least surprised at the sight of another midget man. Sirina looked up at the man’s words.

“Ah, Seb, this is Skull. He’s also family. You’ll be seeing him a lot from now on. He can go anywhere Colonello or I can, so don’t worry about keeping track of him. Skull, this is Sebastian. He’s the secretary for Colonello and Johann. He also helps me out sometimes when I’m stuck on my homework. If there’s something you need, Seb’s the guy. He can get us anything we want or need. He also has a couple minions that run errands for him and us.” Sirina introduced. Sebastian’s smile became deeper as Sirina spoke, revealing a dimple on one cheek. Skull sort of hated the kid, he was far too cute to sit in the same office as Skull’s beloved sky. Skull didn’t reveal this, of course. When Sebastian turned back to Skull,though, his eyes said he knew exactly what Skull was thinking and Sebastian’s smile grew even wider.

“Thank you, Sirina. You flatter me. I’m only doing my job, after all.” Sebastian practically purred, and Skull was reminded of a sun he greatly disliked. Yes, this young man definitely reminded Skull of Reborn. And everyone knew about both Reborn’s way with women and how he used them. Skull would obviously have to keep an eye on the man with ideas above his station.

“Still good at it.” Sirina replied with a shrug. Then she turned her attention back to Skull, and it was like Sebastian ceased to exist for her while she focused on her new cloud. It was Skull’s turn to feel smug as he watched the other man frown from the corner of his eye. “Is there anything you need or want? I’ve got to finish my school work before I do anything else. The invasion sort of interrupted.” Sirina offered. Skull shrugged.

“I’ll probably take a nap.” Skull admitted. “I used quite a bit of flames today, before the battle.” He explained before promptly re-taking his place on Sirina’s lap and looking like he dropped off to sleep. In reality Skull was only half-asleep, watching from the rest of the room from the tiny crack between his eyelids. Sirina turned to her homework after putting her headphones on once more.

Chapter 8: Ch 8 -

Chapter Text

Somewhere in Osaka:

A loud scream split the air. Fon, face as serene as ever, ignored the blood that sprayed over one side of his face. It had taken him well over half a year to track down which dock manager even had access to the records he needed. He wasn’t about to let the man squirrel his way out of talking now.

“I don’t like it when people lie to me, manager-san.” Fon told the man before him, voice even. The man in question screamed again as another spray of blood hit Fon. “Now, this young girl booked a passage on a boat. You are going to either tell me which boat, or you are going to hurt some more. Understand? And don’t try to lie to me again.” Fon instructed coolly. Then man tied to the chair in front of Fon whimpered and nodded frantically as Fon held up the photo again.

“Y…Yes, I remember the girl. She came in with a large group from the Esposito family. She was the cloud guardian to a young boy from the Zitara famiglia. They booked passage about half a year to a year ago. I remember being impressed the boy found a cloud guardian so young, even though she herself was young for a guardian!” The man whimpered as he started speaking, but quickly picked up pace and was practically shouting by the end.

“And the boat?” Fon asked calmly, idly wiping his blades clean one-by-one. The man quivered at the sight of the very knives that’d been used on him, but complied.

“The Andiamo, out of Osaka.” The man quickly answered, voice quivering again. Fon tilted his head thoughtfully.

“That’s an Italian boat.” He noted calmly.

“Yes! Yes, Italian! It went to Italy just about a month ago! It’s scheduled to return in a couple weeks.” The dock manager agreed.

“And this Italian boat, it’s destination?”

“I’m not certain.” The dock manager immediately replied. Calmly Fon slashed down with the knife he’d just wiped clean. For a moment the man tied to the chair watched in shock as three of his fingers fell to the floor. A second later the pain registered and he started screaming again.

“I believe I told you not to lie to me, Nakamura.” Fon reminded the dock manager. When the man’s screams again quieted from screams to whimpers, Fon reminded the man: “The boat’s destination?” The man paused for a moment, and Fon raised the knife slightly to encourage the man to answer.

“I…they say it’s a travelling island, but as far as I know no such island exists! But they pay well so we just label them as a cruise ship and take the money!” the man shouted frantically.

“A travelling island, huh?” Fon hummed. At length Fon wiped his knife clean once more. “Very well, I have all the information I need for now. You should probably get to the hospital.” Fon noted before knocking the man out and untying him. Moments later dock manager Haru Nakamura was woken to the sound of his secretary speaking hysterically to emergency personnel on the phone and trying to hold tissues to Nakamura’s fingers and other cuts.

Sirina stretched, finally finished with her homework for the day. Gently she lifted Skull as she stood. It was getting towards evening time now, so Sirina hoped Colonello was actually done with his paperwork. Quietly, so as not to disturb Colonello if he was still working, Sirina stepped into his doorway and leaned against the frame. Skull kept right on sleeping. Sirina took a moment to watch Colonello, a fond smile tugging at her lips. Colonello was seated in the mini-spinny-office chair atop a regular-sized desk, with a mini-desk in front of him (also on top of the regular sized desk. A small stack of paper was on the right side, sitting in a wire basket. An even smaller stack of paper sat in another wire tray on the left side of his desk. Between them sat a couple pieces of paper placed side-by-side which Colonello seemed to be in the process of reviewing.

Colonello had a pen in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Sirina smiled fondly at the sign of Colonello taking her seriously. A few months into their bond, Sirina had noticed the unhealthy amounts of coffee her rain guardian drank. Since then she’d instituted a firm ratio of water to coffee. For every cup of coffee Colonello drank, he needed to drink four 16 ounce bottles of water. She had doubted, at first, that he would actually listen to her (being an adult). So far, however, he had followed her counsel. And every time she saw him drinking a bottle of water instead of a mug or cup of coffee, Sirina’s heart warmed and gushed.

“That reminds me, I should probably make sure Skull knows the rule. I hope he’ll be as good about drinking healthy and eating healthy as Colonello is. He is a cloud, though…” Sirina thought ruefully. “Of course, he was already eating fairly healthy during lunch. Though he didn’t originally order anything to drink.” Her thoughts were interrupted when Colonello spoke.

“Ready to go home for the night?” He asked his Sky. Sirina stood and moved to sit in a chair in front of his desk.

“Yes. But I can wait if you need to finish up the paperwork first. Or Skull could go with me. It looks like you still have some things left to review.” Sirina hummed, looking over his ‘in’ and ‘out’ baskets.

“I only need to finish up the ones I’m reviewing right now. The rest I can leave until tomorrow. I was hoping the technicians would get back to me about the motors, though. We’re still dead in the water, it looks like.” Colonello replied. Sirina looked out the window behind Colonello and saw he was right. Normally from this room the movement through the water was obvious, but right now the island seemed to be completely still. Waves crashed against the shore instead of the shore moving against the waves.

“I see what you mean.” She noted with a frown. Sirina opened her mouth to ask a question when a runner, one of Colonello’s security agents who ran priority news across the island instead of doing regular patrols or posts, entered the office briskly. Her mouth snapped shut as the runner stepped up to the desk and saluted. One of Sirina’s eyebrows rose as the man waited.

“We’re not in the army or navy here, Canton.” Colonello sighed, then finally looked up from the papers he’d been perusing. Sheepishly the man lowered his hand out of the salute.

“Sorry, sir. Force of habit.” Canton replied, flushing slightly. Colonello sighed again, but let the form of address pass. Sirina’s eyebrow lowered.

“What’s the message, Canton?”

“The techies and mechs have finished going over the island’s propulsion systems. It is beyond their ability to fix, sir. And the last master designer and mech-tech for the island passed away about four or five months ago. We’re dead in the water, and there’s no one with the expertise to fix it. The offices have been told, but they’re sort of panicking up there.” The runner replied, mouth twisted. His voice sounded like a cross between irritation and amusem*nt.

“And it’s my job to vet people who are going to work on the island before they can get access to any of the specialized and necessary systems anyways, so they sent the problem down to me.” Colonello guessed, his own mouth twisting in irritation. The messenger nodded.

“Yes, sir.” He agreed.

“Alright, thank you for the message.” Colonello sighed. Behind the messenger Johann entered the outer office, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on a hook just behind Sebastian’s desk, next to the door on that side.

“Johann, I hope you’re prepared for a long night. I’m going to be handling finding a new head of repairs, so you’ll have the night-shift tonight.” Colonello informed his second. Johann shrugged easily.

“I would’ve had the night shift anyway. You’ve rarely had night shift since your sister got here.” Johann replied, wiggling his eyebrows at his boss. Colonello replied by throwing his water bottle at the man’s head.

“Of course not. Can’t have my precious sister out on watch during the night.” Colonello retorted as he pulled another water bottle from his desk. The bottle of water he’d thrown at Johann’s head missed the man, who’d tilted his head to the side. Behind Johann, Sebastian caught the bottle of water before gently placing the mostly-empty bottle in a waste basket just inside the doorway. Johann moved into the room more, leaving space for Sebastian to enter.

“Shall I have dinner brought in?” Sebastian asked, a pad and pen in his hands.

“Might as well, we’re probably going to be here all night at least.” Colonello grumbled.

“I’ll have pasta, any sort will do. And coffee. Lots of coffee. I had to get up early for that fiasco earlier.” Johann ordered. Sebastian made a quick note.

“And for the lady?” He asked, sending a smile at Sirina.

“Pasta for me too. Alfredo of some sort. I’d like mine with peas and a small salad. Also some garlic bread and milk, please. Skull’s still asleep, some get him the same as mine. We also need a few more flats of bottled water for the office, and I’m out of tissues. Oh, and someone used the last of the headache medication from the med kit in the bathroom so that’ll need to be replaced as well. And please get a couple extra pillows and blankets for the bedroom. It was a little chilly in there last time. Thanks Seb.” Sirina ordered.

“Would you like me to make it less cold in here? Or turn the heat on low in the room?” Sebastian offered. Sirina shook her head.

“No need. Just the pillows and blankets, if you please.” Sirina replied calmly, shifting Skull in her arms so he was laying down instead of half-dangling. The cloud didn’t even twitch at her actions, and she hoped he was alright.

“I’ll have the same as Sirina and Skull.” Colonello agreed. “And have a coffee-maker set up in the outer office, please. It’s ridiculous for us to keep sending out for coffee when we could have it made right here. Didn’t your resume have barista on it?” Colonello added thoughtfully.

“Yes, it did. Shall I add a few other beverage makers at the same time? Maybe a mini-fridge?” Sebastian wondered. Sirina clapped excitedly.

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Sirina exclaimed. “We could turn the second meeting room into a sort of break room/kitchen area! We could have all the beverage makers, a full-sized fridge and full-sized freezer, and a little pantry! Plus there’s already a table and chairs in there!” Sirina rattled off, practically bouncing on her toes.

“Can we fit that in the budget?” Johann wondered, leaning his weight on the wall next to the door frame.

“Not a problem.” Colonello assured, smiling fondly at his excited Sky. Colonello noticed that Skull’s eyes weren’t completely closed and smirked to himself. It seemed the cloud wasn’t as asleep as he wanted people to think. The man’d told the truth when he said he was dedicated to their Sky. Something inside Colonello eased, seeing Skull watching out for their Sky and taking her safety seriously.

“What would you like everything stocked with, Ri?” Sebastian asked. Sirina was in charge of supplies for the group, after all.

“Well, we should have both Colonello’s and Johann’s favorite coffee, cappuccino, and tea flavors of course. I would like there to be my favorite teas, that apple cider mix I favor, and also hot chocolate just in case. We can move the flats of water from Johann’s office into the new break and storage room. It would be a good idea to have a selection of juices in the fridge as well. Maybe a juicer? Let’s get orange, grape, white-grape and apple juice.” She mused. “And the freezer should have a big ice maker in it, as well.” Sirina moved into the outer office, forcing Sebastian to head that way as well lest she bump into him as she thought.

“Maybe you should send out the food before we finish the list?” Sirina suggested as she sat at her desk and pulled some paper towards her. Sebastian went to his own desk to do as she suggested. Back in the room, Colonello and Johann traded amused looks.

“A force of nature, your sister.” Johann remarked with a chuckle.

“She is a cloud.” Colonello pointed out, and Johann laughed again.

“There is that.” Johann agreed.

“Now shoo, I’ve work to do and so do you.” Colonello ordered. Still laughing, Johann retreated to the door behind Sebastian’s desk. When he opened the door, it revealed a second office. Both Colonello and Johann worked quietly in their offices while Sebastian and Sirina collaborated on making a list of supplies for the new kitchen and storage room. Skull went back to half-dozing, instead of the pretending to half-doze he’d been doing before. Once the food came, Sirina gently woke the small man.

“Colonello, Johann! Dinner time!” Sirina called cheerfully. To Skull’s surprise both men stopped their work at Sirina’s call and came into the main room. Sebastian took the food and went into the door in front of Sirina’s desk, by the glass. Everyone else followed in, and Skull saw they’d entered a large square room with white walls and a large circular table in the middle. Everyone took one of the office chairs around the table and Sebastian passed out the food. Once everything was passed out, Sebastian retreated back to the main office in case anyone stopped by.

The room was silent, other than the sound of forks and knives working. Skull found he enjoyed the dinner Sirina ordered for him, and he had no trouble polishing it off. Everyone else seemed to enjoy the meal just as well, and soon they were all finished. Colonello turned to Sirina and Skull once he was done while Johann retreated once to his office once more.

“What are your plans for the rest of the night, since I’m going to be working? I assume you plan to use the bedroom attached to my office? Do you need anything for tonight?” Colonello wondered. Sirina played with her fork and take-out box idly.

“I don’t need anything for myself, but I thought Skull and I might go pick up a few things for him. We would have had to go shopping for him sooner or later anyways.” Sirina replied, mind working quickly. “You didn’t bring anything else with you, did you?” She asked skull. Skull shook his head numbly. He’d forgotten all he’d brought with him was the clothes he now wore and Oodako. “Then we’ll need to get him at least pajamas, a toothbrush, maybe some underthings and a towel for tomorrow. Oh! And a change of clothes for tomorrow, of course.” Sirina noted. Skull blushed when Sirina spoke about underwear, and Colonello internally laughed at his fellow guardian.

“I don’t like you out without me, but it was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose.” Colonello grumbled. Then his eyes locked onto Skull’s purple orbs. “Take good care of our Sky, Skull.” He ordered seriously. Skull simply nodded. In Skull’s mind, that he would take care of Sirina was a given.

“I think we’d best go now, before it gets dark. Less for you to worry about.” Sirina informed Colonello, who nodded grimly.

“Alright. Be safe. You’ve got your wallet?” Colonello checked.

“Yes.” Sirina agreed before she stood up and hugged Colonello tightly. Then she scooped up Skull once again before practically skipping from the room.

“That girl’s going to be the death of me.” Colonello thought, already worrying as his Sky bounced out of sight. “Still, I’m glad she’s feeling happier, now that she’s got two of us. It would be to our advantage to get her as many guardians as we can as fast as we can. I don’t think she realizes how much she longs for other guardians. Then again, they say that’s always the case with Skies.” He stood and hopped from the chair to the floor, and then slowly moved back into his office. Once there, he picked up his phone from the larger desk and dialed.

“Sir?” one of the minions asked as she answered the phone.

“Sirina is out shopping. Pass the word along to keep an eye on her and another out for trouble.” Colonello ordered shortly before hanging up. On the other end of the line, the women in question blinked at the short order before sighing and shrugging.

“It would seem his sister finally got tired of his over-protective behavior. I’m surprised she didn’t throw a fit sooner, being a cloud and all.” The woman laughed to herself before calling her coworkers on-duty and passing on the orders.

Loud banging sounds came from the traditional Japanese house as Fon watched from a tree in the yard. Sitting cross-legged, Fon smiled serenely as he watched his sister Akane bossing her servants around. The servants scurried back and forth between the house and the moving truck. They’d already loaded quite a few suitcases by the time Fon had settled in his chosen tree. He had come home on one of his far-between breaks in the search for Sirina, hoping to catch up with Kyoya’s efforts in person. As opposed to with a minion over the phone as usual. When he got there, Fon found this circus taking place. One of Kyoya’s minions cheerfully informed Fon that Akane was ‘moving out’. Fon wasn’t sure which of his and Kyoya’s plans did it, but he was glad to see Akane getting a taste of her own medicine. Kyoya, of course, was not leaving. Fon stayed hidden in his tree. He had no desire to get into another fight with Akane. There had been many fights, both over the phone and in person, between the two of them since she’d lost his Sky.

So he waited until all of Akane’s things were loaded and the woman herself got into a car just behind the truck. He stood as both truck and car drove away down the long driveway. With a light hop, Fon jumped to the ground and wandered towards the house. Kyoya stood in the doorway of the house, watching the car drive away. When Fon met his eyes, Kyoya nodded in acknowledgement.

“The scavenger is gone.” Kyoya noted, and Fon withheld a wince. True, he was mad at his sister, but for her own son to call her less than an herbivore…it must have stung Akane fiercely. It was right down there with ‘slugs and fungi’ in Kyoya’s hierarchy of people.

“I saw. Shall we head inside and discuss our search?” Fon greeted his nephew. Without another word, Kyoya turned and walked towards the kotatsu room. Once they both were seated beneath the rich purple blanket, a maid poured tea and retreated back to the side board to await any orders or refills needed.

“My people have scoured the eastern half of Japan. The little carnivore is not within these boundaries. We are working our way towards the west side.” Kyoya informed his uncle over his tea. Fon nodded, sipping his tea in contemplation.

“I finally managed to track down information on the boat Sirina took out of Osaka. Unfortunately it was a fairly big sized boat, and by the time I found the information the boat was at sea. It should return in about a weeks’ time, so I returned to let you know.” Fon murmured at length. Kyoya sipped his tea again, not bothering to reply. Fon sighed, he really missed having Sirina here. He missed her chatter that filled up the long silences. He missed her infectious cheer, and how she managed to make even Kyoya smile. He frowned down into his tea. Truthfully he missed just about everything about his young Sky.

“We will find the little carnivore. And bite to death anyone in our way.” Kyoya informed Fon. Fon smiled. It was rare for Kyoya to attempt to comfort anyone. Even when couched in his strange way of speaking.

“Thank you, Kyoya. And yes, we will.” Fon agreed fondly, his eyes glowing malevolently red by the time he finished speaking.

Shop assistants hurried to and fro while Sirina gleefully had Skull trying on pajama sets. With a heartfelt sigh, Skull tried on another pajama set and then exited the dressing room to model the outfit for his excitable Sky. This current set was black with purple little octopi all over it.

“We’ll definitely take that one!” Sirina told the assistant next to her, and Skull dutifully went back into the dressing room to put on yet another outfit. This time when he came out, he had slacks and a tiny white button-down shirt on. There was even a purple tie hanging undone around his neck. “We’ll want that one, too!” Sirina cheered.

“Weren’t we just supposed to get one pajama set and one outfit for tomorrow?” Skull asked plaintively. Sirina paused in what she was doing, and her features fell into a look of concern.

“I’m sorry! I was having so much fun I forgot you might be tired or bored!” Sirina cried, and Skull felt seven kinds of mean as his Sky teared up.

“No, it’s okay! Skull was just worried about how much it all would cost! Skull only recently got his last job, after all!” Skull protested, waving his hands about and attempting to placate Sirina. Sirina’s tears dried up at his words.

“You don’t need to worry about the cost, Skull! We’re using the family account. That’s what it’s for, after all!” Sirina assured Skull, whose shoulders drooped. Sirina didn’t seem to notice his shoulders droop, but the sales assistant did. The woman helping Sirina smiled at Skull understandingly. After all it wasn’t the first time she’d seen some poor person dragged in by a shop-a-holic, and she was certain it wouldn’t be the last. The cart beside the sales assistant was piled high with clothing and other things Sirina dubbed necessities.

“Still, it is getting pretty late. We should probably head back.” Sirina sighed as she noted the sky outside through the shops front window. Skull breathed a small sigh of relief and valiantly ignored the sales assistant laughing silently at him. Sirina handed the woman her bank card while Skull went back into the changing room to get back in his regular suit. When Skull rejoined Sirina once more, she stood next to a cart full of shopping bags.

“How are we getting this stuff back to the office?” He wondered, hoping she didn’t expect him to carry everything. The weight wasn’t the issue, it was the amount of bags. He could easily carry the weight, but his tiny cursed arms wouldn’t hold all the bags. They just weren’t long enough for that. Sirina frowned thoughtfully before she paced over to the doorway and poked her head outside. Just outside stood one of the security guards.

“Hey, I need someone to help me carry bags back to the security office. Call a couple of the runners for me, yeah?” Sirina ordered. With a fond smile at the young lady, the man she’d spoken too relayed her orders into his radio. In a few moments there were four young men picking up the various bags. Each one had a truly large stack of bags, but since they were all clouds the weight wasn’t a problem for them either. Skull grumbled under his breath about curses, arms crossed over his chest. Sirina regarded her cloud guardian fondly for a moment before picking him up and placing him on her left shoulder.

“Let’s get back to the office.” Sirina declared, silently noting the security guard by the front door relaying Sirina’s destination after the group passed him by. She smiled to herself at the proof of Colonello’s care for her but didn’t embarrass the security guard by calling him on his words. Quickly she headed off in the direction of the offices, humming a tune she didn’t know the words too as she went. In the end, it had turned out to be a very good day. Once back in the office, Sirina directed the runners to take the bags into the bedroom just off of Colonello’s office. They left the bags gathered on the floor in front of the dresser and closet before saying their goodbyes and heading back to their various posts around the island.

“Had fun shopping, I see.” Colonello remarked from the doorway while Sirina sorted the clothes into the closet and dresser. Skull hurriedly took the packages of underthings from her hands and began sorting those items into one of the drawers in a mini-chest of drawers that’d appeared while they were out shopping.

“Yes, and the runners were ever so helpful in getting the bags back. I … might have gotten a little carried away. Might have.” Sirina replied sheepishly as she sat back on her heels and regarded the many, many bags.

“I can see that.” Colonello agreed. “Don’t bother putting them all away, we’re going to be taking a trip tomorrow.” Colonello informed the duo in front of him. Sirina paused in the act of reaching for another bag.

“Oh? Where are we going?” Sirina asked him, turning the full force of her brilliant green eyes on her rain guardian. Skull also turned his attention to Colonello.

“We’ll be taking the island’s private plane to see a colleague of mine. Another of the Arcobaleno, actually. His name’s Verde and he’s a scientist/inventor. I want to see if I can convince him to take over as the person responsible for the island’s necessary systems.” Colonello replied cheerfully.

“That sounds exciting! Where does he live?” Sirina proclaimed.

“Normally he lives in Italy, but he’s agreed to meet us in India.” Colonello replied.

“We’d best get a good night’s sleep, then.” Sirina offered after a moments thought.

“My idea exactly.” Colonello agreed as he closed the door behind him. He went over to the first small chest of drawers next to Skull’s drawers and withdrew a set of pajamas. Quietly he moved around Skull to go over to another door on the other side of Skull’s bureau. Skull withdrew the set of octopi pajamas he’d just put away and followed Colonello. He found the room opposite the office was a large bathroom suite. The bathroom suite was about the same length as the office and outer office combined. There were four sinks, and three rooms with toilets on the far wall. After the toilets there was a room with a bunch of shower stalls, and after that a couple rooms with giant bath tubs in them. There was also a walk-in closet, a steam room, a large jacuzzi tub that looked like it could fit ten or more people, and a vanity. In between the walk-in closet and the steam room was a blank patch of wall that didn’t seem to contain anything. Skull just sort of stared at the room. It was an incredibly lavish bathroom.

“How do you afford this?!” He exclaimed once he got his voice back. Colonello smirked smugly.

“I’m very good at bargaining. You wouldn’t believe my salary. Or Sirina’s for that matter.” Colonello informed his fellow guardian while he stripped off his day clothes and climbed into his blue camo pajamas. Shyly Skull turned around and stripped of his stunt suit once more.

“That reminds me, I need to get a job of my own, now that I’m part of the family.” Skull interjected.

“Yeah, been thinking about that.” Colonello replied. Colonello went over to the sink closest to the entry door and began to brush his teeth. Skull pulled on his new pajamas and then left to go into the other room and grab his new toothbrush. When he came back, Colonello was spitting out some mouth wash. Skull could smell the spearmint as he entered the room. Skull joined Colonello at the sinks, keeping to the ‘one between’ rule, meaning he left an open sink between himself and Colonello. The fact that the sink in between them had a cute toothbrush holder with a cute pink and blue toothbrush suction-cupped to the mirror above the middle sink helped Skull choose, though.

“So, you could always work in security with Sirina and I, but I figured you’d want to do your own thing. Plus it would help if you had times off when Sirina wasn’t working.” Colonello added, turning to lean against the sink and watch Skull brush his own teeth. Sirina slid past both men, a set of pajamas cradled in her arms.

“Are we talking jobs?” She asked, setting her pajamas in one of the bathrooms and coming over to brush her teeth first.

“Yes. Colonello was just giving me ideas.” Skull agreed after spitting out some toothpaste.

“Good, I’ve been thinking about that too. You said you do stunt work, right?” Sirina asked as she added toothpaste to her brush.

“Yeah.” Skull agreed before cupping some water in his hands to wash his mouth with. Colonello rolled his eyes while Skull sipped the water from his hands, and left the room. When he came back, he handed an empty cup to Skull. Skull spat out the water in his mouth and used the cup to get water this time. After spitting the rest of the water out, Colonello handed Skull a bottle of mouth wash. Skull used the same cup to pour out some mouth wash.

“Thanks, Colonello.” Skull murmured before tipping the cup of mouthwash into his mouth.

“So, I was thinking: Mafia Island has a zoo, and a movie theater. They have a four-wheel course, a swimming pool, and a golf course. What the Island really needs is some live entertainment!” Sirina suggested before sticking her toothbrush into her mouth.

“What, like a cliff diving show?” Colonello laughed. Sirina tilted her head to the side.

“Actually I was thinking more like a circus or a Motorcross-style show…” Sirina replied with a bit of a laugh. “Although a cliff-diving show has possibilities…Oh! Oh! We could set up a variety of different shows, and have different people doing different acts! Sort of like a circus, except with a wider variety of shows all over the island. And Skull could run it! Plus, of course, you could do any acts you wanted to when you wanted to!” Sirina exclaimed, gesturing with her toothbrush for emphasis. Skull, who’d finally finished with the mouthwash, seated himself on a small stool across from the others. Sirina quickly rinsed out her mouth and filled her cute pink and blue cup with mouthwash to finish up.

“I don’t know…I mean, the only reason my stunt shows worked before was because we traveled. If you stay in one city too long, you get less and less people coming to see the shows because they get bored of it. Do you really think we’ll be able to keep up a demand for the acts on such a small island?” Skull mused worriedly. Colonello waved off Skull’s comment.

“No problem. People come for a couple days or a month at the most, and the guests are always turning over. It’s only the staff that’s here full time, really. As long as the acts change a little bit once a year or every few years, it should be fine.” Colonello assured the other two. “The real trick will be convincing the management to put in the starter money. I’m sure I can convince them for us, though. Especially if we tell them it’ll be run by an Arcobaleno. Just having one of us in residence grants a certain amount of prestige and brings more people to the island. But I’m pretty reclusive, so if we tell them you want to actually do some of the acts as well, and they’ll probably be pretty excited about the idea. Very few average mafia people get to see one of us, after all.”

“You should probably work out what acts to offer, and which you might want to do yourself, if you actually want to do it, that is. Don’t try it just because I came up with the idea. You can do any job you want to, after all!” Sirina urged. Then she picked up her clothes and retreated into one of the rooms with a toilet. After she closed the door, Skull nodded thoughtfully.

“I think I would like to run a set of shows, if you guys think it’ll draw enough crowds.” Skull finally agreed.

“Then you should probably spend some time writing out your ideas for the shows, and your own acts or shows. You’ll have plenty of time, though. We’ve got that flight tomorrow. Remind me in the morning to have one of my minions bring another laptop from the supply office before we get on the plane. That way we’ll all have something to do on the flight.” Colonello declared before he went back into the bedroom. Skull followed Colonello to find the other man turning down the covers. There was a slight knock on the door so Skull went to answer it. When he answered the door, Skull found Sebastian on the other side.

“Delivery.” Sebastian told Skull cheerfully. Then he dumped an armload of blankets and pillows on the small Cloud. Skull snarled silently behind the mountain that buried him from sight. Colonello came over to help partial dig Skull out. Once Colonello took a part of the pile, Skull was able to carry the remainder into the room. When he deposited his armful next to the bed, he turned and found Sebastian just coming back with a very long sort of rectangular fabric-package.

“What’s that?” Skull wondered.

“Sirina’s rice bag.” Colonello replied as he took the long object from Sebastian and then closed the door. “Ri’s feet have a strange tendency to freeze, even if the rest of her is hot. So we put a hot rice bag at the bottom of the bed and it keeps her feet warm through part of the night.” He explained while putting the rice bag at the bottom of the bed and pulling the blankets partway back up the bed. Then Colonello added a couple more pillows to either side of the main set. He stood back and looked over the bed.

“We probably won’t need the extra blankets tonight, since there’s three of us right?” Colonello asked Skull.

“I don’t know, I haven’t shared a bed in a long time. I don’t tend to get cold very often, though.” Skull replied. Both men turned as Sirina entered the bedroom. In her hand was a water bottle they hadn’t noticed her carrying before.

“Why don’t we put a blanket on one of the night stands so we can get at it easily if it’s cold in the middle of the night. That way we won’t have to go searching for it or get out of bed.” Sirina offered as she placed her water bottle down on the right-side nightstand of the double-bed. Skull did as Sirina suggested while Colonello headed back into the other room and grabbed three more water bottles. When Colonello came back, Sirina asked him “What time are we supposed to get onto the plane?”

“The plane is supposed to leave around nine o’clock AM.” Colonello replied.

“Okay, so I’ll need like two hours to get ready. Hey Skull, how long do you think it’ll take you to get ready?” Sirina planned.

“Probably only thirty minutes. I can use the rest of the time to get packed up and help out with whatever you need.” Skull replied. Sirina snapped her fingers.

“That reminds me, we didn’t get luggage for you. I didn’t think we’d be traveling anytime soon.” Sirina sighed. Then she poked her head out into Colonello’s office. “Hey Seb!” She called loudly.

“What do you need?” Sebastian asked, coming into Colonello’s office quickly. “I need a couple duffel bags, three sets of luggage, a hair dryer and three extra toothbrushes, some toothpaste, and anything else we might need on a trip for all three of us. Also, can you please have someone pick up another laptop from supply, a complete new med-kit for travelling, a couple notebooks and pens, a couple drawing books, art pencils and colored pencils?” Sirina requested. Sebastian flashed one of his dimple-smiles at her as he stuck his pen in the side of his notebook.

“I’ll have it ready before you even wake up tomorrow. Want to get your order for breakfast in? That way I can have it ready for when you get up? And perhaps a selection for lunch and snacks for the plane ride? I believe it usually takes a little over nine hours to fly from Japan to India, so it will probably take ten or eleven to fly from here. Assuming there aren’t any other stops, of course.” Sebastian suggested. Sirina chewed her lips, then finally nodded.

“Yes, please. Hey guys, any requests for breakfast, lunch, and snacks tomorrow?” Sirina called back to her guardians.

“Whatever’s fine for me.” Skull replied cheerfully.

“I’m good with whatever you order as well.” Colonello agreed before hopping up onto the bed. Sirina shrugged and turned back to face Sebastian once more.

“Alright. A spread of crepes, omelets, toast, and sausage along with orange juice and milk for breakfast. Then lets have sandwiches for lunch, with chips and cookies. Also some water bottles and juice bottles for lunch. Let’s see… some veggies, chips, and such for snacks. I think that should cover everything.” Sirina ordered quickly. “And if it’s going to be ten or eleven hours, let’s add a dinner to that just in case. Let’s have cold pasta salad…maybe a crab-pasta salad?...” Sirina added thoughtfully. While Sirina finished up their food orders for the next day, Colonello placed two of the water bottles he’d gathered on the left nightstand in front of the blanket, and the other with the water bottle Sirina had already placed on the right nightstand. Then Colonello fiddled on with the alarm clock on the right nightstand.

“I’m setting the alarm for seven am.” He informed the others. “That should give us plenty of time to get ready, pack, and get seated on the plane before nine.” He added before settling down onto a pillow on the left side of the bed. Skull jumped onto the bed and sat on a pillow on the right side, both of them waiting for Sirina. Once Sirina finished and closed the door, locking it firmly behind herself, she crawled into the middle of the bed and scooted down until she lay on her back. Skull walked down until he could cuddle her, facing left and into her stomach. Sirina turned over to cuddle him back while Colonello gently drew the blankets up and over the other two. Then he scootched down under the blankets until he was cuddled up against Sirina’s back. He didn’t worry too much about not being cuddled that night, Colonello was long-familiar with Sirina’s tendency to turn over multiple times during the night. He knew both Skull and he would be taking turns cuddling to or being cuddled by Sirina.

“Good night, My Own.” Sirina whispered quietly to her two guardians.

“Good night, Sirina. Good night, Skull.” Colonello replied fondly.

“N…Night, you two.” Skull yawned. In what seemed like only a few moments later they one-by-one dropped off to sleep. Skull was the last to fall asleep, dropping off into dreamland to the sound of the other two’s deep even breathing.

Fon stood waiting impatiently in line to board the boat. To his irritation the boat that would take him to Mafia Island, the ironically named “Andiamo,” didn’t start letting passengers board until eleven o’clock at night. Despite having docked at three o’clock that morning. Fon was about midway down the line, but that didn’t worry him. As the dock manager had noted to Fon, the Andiamo was a large ship. Finally Fon saw one of the ships crewman approach the cordoned-off gangplank. He couldn’t see what was going on, but Fon began to frown as he saw a mass of people from the line ahead of him turn and walk away instead of going up the gangplank. When he finally reached the entry, Fon found the man hadn’t even unclipped the rope to let passengers on. The man, looking tired and grumpy, turned to Fon apologetically.

“Hello, sorry for the trouble. Mafia Island is having some sort of technical problem. Apparently there was some sort of attack on the island. You won’t be able to travel to any other destinations from the Island, they’re pretty much dead in the water.” The man explained to Fon.

“I don’t care if the island is moving or not, I need to get onto Mafia Island.” Fon replied outwardly calm. On the inside, however, Fon was anything but calm. He’d finally found a lead. Nothing was going to stop him from getting on that island if he had to steer a boat himself.

“Look, we haven’t got enough passengers to go to the Island.” The man insisted, and stepped back slightly when Fon’s eyes started to glow ominously red.

“Then I will pay for the entire ship’s worth of passengers. One way or another, I have to get to Mafia Island.” Fon retorted, still trying to stay calm and collected despite the storm flames inside him thrashing and railing against his legendary control. The other man’s eyes widened.

“You’re going to pay for an entire ship-load of passenger’s worth for us to take just you to Mafia Island?” the man asked doubtfully.

“That’s right, if no one else in line wants to go.” Fon agreed, feeling a slight release of tension.

“Fine, we’ll see who all still wants to go. You’ll have to pay the difference before we’ll leave port, though.” The man warned.

“Fair enough.” Fon shook hands with the man and then ducked beneath the rope. Quickly he almost ran up the gangplank and onto the ship deck. He wasn’t going to give the man time to change his mind. Fon waited patiently as the man talked to everyone else in line. Eventually about a hundred other passengers joined Fon on deck. The man who’d stood at the bottom of the gangplank came over to join Fon. Silently Fon handed over a bank card. Valiantly he suppressed a wince when the man told him the price. The crewman left to take the money to the accounting room, and took Fon’s card with him. Fon took a seat on one of the deck chairs to wait.

“Wait for me, Sirina. I’m coming.” He thought determinedly.

Chapter 9: The past has claws and teeth, the present has cuddles

Chapter Text

The office rooms were a place of chaos that morning. The three of them had settled down for a nice, hurried breakfast, and then rushed through their morning routines. Sirina took the longest to get ready, needing a full thirty minutes to shower properly. While Sirina was still in the shower Skull and Colonello quickly packed. Colonello only needed one duffle bags-worth, so he was done first. Skull debated between the regular luggage and a duffle bag for a few minutes before deciding to pack his clothing in a luggage and had Sebastian run to get a backpack instead of a duffle bag. Inwardly Skull smirked at making Sebastian run errands. He also felt a tiny bit guilty about the smugness. Skull finished with packing his clothing by the time the backpack arrived, so he moved to getting the ‘activity’ items sorted. Both Sirina’s laptop and the one Sebastian brought for Skull went into the backpack, along with all the notepads, sketchbooks, and writing/drawing implements. Sebastian had provided a special backpack that doubled as a cooler which held all the food, drinks and snacks, so Skull went and brushed his teeth for the morning. Once he’d finished, he sat on the bed to wait for Sirina to finish. Once Sirina came back into the room, she quizzed him as she packed her own clothing into a couple suitcases.

“Did you pack the swim trunks?” She asked absently as she packed her own swim suit and cover.

“What do I need a swim suit for?” Skull asked. Sirina shrugged.

“We might want to go swimming!” She retorted. “And what about a hat or two? Some sandals as well as dress shoes? Oh, did you bring a suit in case we go somewhere fancy?” Sirina added. Skull made a face, but moved to pack the items she suggested. “Oh, and don’t forget dress socks and ties!” She called from the depths of the closet.

“I added those with the suits!” Skull called back as tucked a pair of shiny black dress shoes and a black belt into his suitcase.

“What about…?” She started to call, but Skull interrupted her.

“I don’t think I need anything else, but if I do it’ll just give you another opportunity to go shopping. Have you ever been shopping in India?”

“No, I haven’t. And India has some really pretty dressy-things.” Sirina replied, pausing in her motions. “I suppose I’ll just take the two dresses and pairs of heels, then.” Sirina sighed before gently packing her dresses into a couple of dress bags and putting her shoes into one of the suitcases she’d reserved for herself. At length she stepped back.

“Hey Skull? Could you close these?” She huffed as she tried to zip up one of the overly-full suitcases. Skull just shook his head and moved to close them for her. Between the two of them they managed to get the suitcases all zipped and into the outer office. A couple of runners quickly picked up the suitcases and duffels before whisking all the bags away.

Having finished their own tasks, Sirina and Skull back tracked into Colonello’s office. There they found the man in question quickly finishing up the last of the paperwork on his desk. The two waited quietly while Colonello worked, Sirina fidgeting slightly and Skull staring out the huge window on the back wall. Finally Colonello finished up and it was time to go. Sirina felt a small swell of relief roll over her even as new apprehensions rose up. In truth she was actually very much not looking forward to leaving Mafia Island. It had been her sanctuary ever since Fon left her. It was the first true sanctuary she’d had in this lifetime, actually. For unlike in Namimori, that man had never bothered her here. Or attempted to. Of course, she knew it had more to do with the fact that he most likely had no idea where she was, but she felt that only made Mafia Island and even better sanctuary.

When Sirina finally settled on the plane, her body was exhausted from hiding her anxiety from all and sundry. She could feel Colonello’s worried looks from the seat behind her, but Sirina ignored the looks as best she could. If she didn’t acknowledge them, Colonello probably wouldn’t press her about her worries. She still hadn’t told him about her absentee and irritating father. Nor about his boss and whatever fate would await her if she went “home” to Namimori. Nor did she mention the place by name. She knew, of course she knew, that Colonello was more than aware that Sirina was hiding a great deal about herself. She also knew he was letting her settle into their bond day by day, letting her reveal herself and her worries as she grew more confidant in him and their bond.

By the time the plane took to the air, Sirina could tell Skull had caught on something was wrong. The weight of both their gazes on her increased the longer she ignored their probing stares. She knew that Skull would follow Colonello’s lead, as he held the place of longest living guardian. For now, anyways. Since there was no one else on the plane but the pilots, Sirina finally sighed and turned her seat to face her companions. Swivel chairs on a plane were odd, but Sirina was glad to have the seat next to the window and still be able to face her companions if she chose.

“Alright, alright. I don’t like leaving Mafia Island, alright?” Sirina finally conceded. Skull frowned in concern. She hadn’t seemed flighty or naïve to him before.

“Why does leaving the island worry you? Have you not travelled off-island before?” Skull asked carefully, eyeing her like some sort of strange specimen. Sirina sighed.

“Of course I have. I wasn’t born there, you know. But…nowhere else is quite as safe. There are people who would destroy me, would break our bonds if they could.” Sirina admitted, her fear only just hidden behind the fury at the thought of someone trying to break their bond. Colonello and Skull’s intensity seemed to ratchet up a thousand times and Sirina winced.

“Why did you not mention this before?” Colonello demanded. “I try not to press you about your past, but something like that…don’t you think we need to know?” He added, irritated. Sirina flinched slightly.

“I didn’t think I’d be leaving the island ever again. You never showed any signs of wanting to. Besides, the more training I get and the older I get the stronger I become. Even before I received training, I was already stronger than them.” Sirina grumbled, but sighed. Skull gently reached out and threaded one of his hands fingers through her own fingers.

“Tell us about it?” he asked softly, and Sirina felt herself softening towards her guardians instead of feeling attacked. Consciously she’d known they were concerned, not trying to attack her, but the ingrained reactions of hundreds of lifetimes was hard to overcome.

“Yeah, alright.” She agreed, closing her eyes and making a conscious effort to breathe deep and evenly. “I…my father is part of a large and powerful famiglia. I know not which one, so don’t bother asking. But as a very young child I got… I suppose it might be called a premonition. I knew that man was finally coming home. To be honest, I have no memories of him or ever meeting him. I know what he looks like only due to the photos my … mother had. And he was bringing someone with him. I do not know why or how, but I knew they wanted to cage me. They feel… I have since learned it is called ‘Sky Envy’, or would have if we’d met. Because of their envy, they would have done something to me which would have essentially killed me. What that something was, is not clear, but I knew my life and soul were in danger. So I did the only thing I could. I sought out the protection of my home city’s protectors.” Sirina kept her eyes, seeing events and memories unfold behind her eyelids as she talked.

“I thought it would be harder to make them believe, but the youngest protector is just a year older than me. I approached him, to request sanctuary. I forgot to take his temperament into consideration when I planned my approach, unfortunately for me. We ended up having a little fight, a spar really, and I sort of accidentally clubbed him over the head with my Sky flames. I didn’t know what they were or how to use them back then.” Sirina admitted, flushing slightly as she opened her eyes to glance at her entranced guardians. Neither man spoke, simply waited for Sirina to continue her tale with bated and worried breath.

“Thankfully for me, Kyo didn’t respond with the typical element response. He is the cloudiest cloud I’ve ever met. He instantly recognized the Sky he’d been – unconsciously – trying to impress was too strong for him. Instead of seeking to force me to accept him, or eliminate me as I’ve since learned is common, Kyo took me to meet an even stronger element. His uncle, my first guardian, took me in and hid me from all of those men’s attempts to get ahold of me.” Sirina’s mouth twisted as she remembered her first guardian. The one who’d left her. Colonello took Sirina’s other hand.

“So, your father or the other man. They are responsible for your first guardian’s death?” Colonello asked gently, hoping to finally get the answer to a question that had plagued him. To his surprise, the girl shook her head and a bitter look stole over her features.

“No. His death… was his own fault.” Sirina replied flatly. Skull and Colonello looked taken aback at her vehement proclamation and the way her emotions surged with betrayal and horror. Though their bond allowed them to know what each other were feeling, Sirina believed they would never be able to comprehend the true fury and anguish of a Sky betrayed by their element. Even if that element’s actions were not intended as a betrayal. Her throat worked silently as she finally admitted, even to herself, the feelings she’d refused to acknowledge.

“He did not believe that I could sometimes know things without knowing how. He did not believe in my … premonitions.” Sirina growled. “I thought he did. I thought he knew that I would never lie or lead him astray. I thought he understood that I did my best never to be selfish and clingy when it came to his need to do things without me. Even as a single guardian. I was wrong.” Finally she fell silent, throat working once more as she tried to simultaneously finish the story and not cry.

“What happened?” Skull prompted, wincing when her eyes so full of pain returned to his. For a moment Sirina still could not continue, but she finally forced the words past the lump in her throat.

“He wanted to take a long-term job. He’d never left me for more than a month or so before. This job was supposed to take a much longer time. I could have lived with that, though. I wouldn’t have liked it, but it wouldn’t have killed me. But something… that same thing that warned me of those men’s intentions and plans, warned me that something awful would happen to him if he took the job.” She turned her gaze from one to the other, making sure they understood, felt her own feelings.

“I warned him, of course. But as I’ve said, he didn’t believe me. Accused me of being selfish and clingy. And he took the job anyways. The day he left, his sister threw me out of the house to face those men on my own. I knew no place in my home town would be safe for me without a shelter. So I left. I’d heard of Mafia Island from my guardian, and its famed neutrality and safety. I figured even if my so-called family managed to catch up to me, they wouldn’t dare try to strike at me while on Mafia Island. But a short while into my stay on the island, I felt the bond break. Whatever happened to him, it was worse than even I thought. I may never know what killed my Storm, but I will always know it could have been prevented if he’d believe in me as his Sky. If he hadn’t patronized me, thinking only of my age and not of my power or wisdom.” Sirina’s voice petered out at the end, and both her men squeezed her hand gently. “The worst part, though, is that I can’t hate him for it. Can’t hate that he didn’t trust me and wouldn’t listen to me even though that is what a Sky is for. We are supposed to be trusted by our guardians above all others, but I wasn’t good enough for some reason. I don’t know what I did wrong, and I probably never will.” Sirina’s words seemed to strike her two current guardians like a slap in the face.

“It was never your fault, Sirina.” Colonello growled, gently clenching his hand around hers. “Bonds are a two-way street.” He added at her surprised look. “Just as a Sky is our home, is supposed to be someone we can trust implicitly, an Element is supposed to be someone their Sky can trust to always have their back and believe in them.” Colonello informed his Sky. Sirina smiled tremulously.

“Thank you, Col.” She sighed. “You know I still love him, right?” She asked quietly. Both her guardians grimaced.

“Of course you do, Kora. He’s still yours, even if he made mistakes. He was still human, after all. If the idiot lived, you can be sure he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Skull and I will do our best to learn from his mistake. If we’re ever being idiots, don’t be scared to hit us over the head with your flames or the closest object.” Colonello replied, smiling gently and fondly at his Sky.

“Definitely.” Skull agreed with his sempai. “We all make mistakes, and we often hurt those we love the most with our casual disregard. But that’s part of loving someone. We accept their flaws with their perfections because it’s what makes the person who they are.” Skull reminded his Sky gently. Colonello side - eyed Skull.

“When did you get that smart?” Colonello demanded incredulously. Skull snickered quietly.

“Who says I wasn’t always?” Skull retorted, grinning the grin which had driven Colonello and Reborn crazy with irritation in the past. Colonello scowled at his fellow guardian and made a conscious effort to let go of his irritation. Sirina giggled at the two of them, feeling strangely comforted and at ease once more. She was sure she’d have more times where she felt the despair and pain all over again. For now, though, her guardians brought light to her world once more and sheltered her from her pain.

Early morning light filtered in through a living room window. Sitting on the couch in his underwear, Sawada Iemitsu frowned at the bottle of bear hanging limply in his hand. He would rather be in Italy, sitting in his beloved office. Unfortunately, Nono had become increasingly suspicious of Iemitsu’s son’s “disappearances” whenever Iemitsu or Nono was in Namimori. Iemitsu had been stationed in his Namimori home until the boy was found. Of course, Iemitsu could do his CEDEF duties from practically anywhere. It’s not like he was responsible for being out in the field, after all. But he loved Italy and the famiglia more than anything except himself. Iemitsu had his officers scrambling to figure out where his son was hiding from him. So far the results had been… distressingly less than impressive. Nono’s patience was wearing thin, and Iemitsu had to admit his own patience was less than stellar when it came to his operatives’ current lack of progress. Though Iemitsu couldn’t really blame the poor peons. He had harbored suspicions for the last month or so that his “precious tuna-fishy” wasn’t even in Namimori anymore.

He wondered idly who had spirited his boy away. For if there was one thing he was sure of, Iemitsu was certain his child was neither smart enough nor knew enough about the mafia to flee on his own without leaving a trail. He hoped that wherever the brat was, he wasn’t allying himself with a rival famiglia. Or, flame forbid, some Asian crime syndicate. Why their ancestors would be turning in their graves if their most recent descendant took up a position as a peon in some small foreign crime family!

Iemitsu ignored the hypocrisy of his thoughts, even though he had blocked his own son from ever being able to join their own famiglia. In some place between death and life, said ancestors were busy trying to figure out who was responsible for the current tragedy playing out. Well, that and wondering how they could have such a greedy, self-absorbed man as their second-youngest descendant. Silently they cheered on the youngest descendant’s successful hoodwinking of Iemitsu the Incompetent.

The plane was about an hour or two away from their destination. Skull and Colonello were quietly pursuing their own activities for the most part. Every now and then they discussed strategies for making sure things didn’t go south with Verde. Sirina was relaxed back in her chair, napping. Her guardians glanced worriedly at whenever a small whimper made it past her lips. They’d debated waking her, but eventually decided it was more important she get some sleep before they landed and had to deal with the irritating scientist. Especially as they were hoping to rope the man into becoming their Sky’s lightning guardian. Their Sky would need all the extra energy she could get for patience. Not that they’d told her of any of this. Based on her past bonding with each of them, they’d concluded the best bet was to introduce the two and let things play out naturally. Their good intentions were ruined when an announcement sounded from the speakers, waking Sirina with a start.

“Colonello, we will be landing momentarily. You and your companions may wish to gather your things in preparation for debarkation.” One of the pilots announced, and Colonello rolled his eyes while Skull snickered at the pilot’s word choice.

“We’re there?” She asked sleepily, gently rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Yes. Or, at least, close-by. We will still have a car ride to the lab.” Colonello agreed as he slipped his laptop into a shoulder bag. Skull followed Colonello’s example once more before standing and stretching. When he’d finished, he sat back down and buckled himself in. Sirina blinked sleepily at her cloud, not really awake yet. With a sigh Colonello reached over and buckled Sirina in. She blinked turned to stare blankly at Colonello.

“Safety first.” Colonello replied to the unasked question. The following series of events passed in a bit of a haze for Sirina, who felt strangely sleepy and complacent. They left the plane and loaded themselves into a nice black car. The car was rather large, but not what Sirina would call a limousine, either. The car came with a driver that didn’t speak to them unless they spoke to him, and a blanket which Sirina wrapped around herself before pulling it up over her head. She then proceeded to use Colonello as her foot rest and Skull as her pillow. She happily ignored the fond and semi-smug look the two men wore. They both felt rather pleased that despite her earlier emotional semi-meltdown, and being in a strange and new environment, their Sky felt she could trust them enough as her guardians to relax and fall asleep. Colonello used his phone to check his email while they travelled, and Skull gently rubbed his Sky’s head through the blanket. They passed the next hour or so this way before coming to a strange fenced-off gateway built into the side of a mountain. Though Colonello didn’t recognize the picture, Skull was heavily reminded of the entrance to the secret army base on the “Stargate” series. Skull had always suspected Verde was truly a nerdy-movie fan at heart, but the scene before him kind of confirmed his suspicions.

Though they still didn’t want to wake her, Ri’s guardians wanted to leave her alone in the car even less. Especially before they explained to Verde that the young girl was under their protection.

Chapter 10: Chapter 10 – Some See Crazy Where I See Love

Chapter Text

Sirina wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she finally saw the ‘mad scientist’s lair’, but she knew it wasn’t this. Had she put more thought into it, she might have said she expected a sterile, metallic environment. Maybe with a few things floating in giant tubes? Or perhaps a section that resembled a Frankenstein lab? After all, this was a man whose colleagues actually described cheerfully as a ‘mad scientist’. What greeted them was a slightly homey, very messy, Tony Stark-esque place. The walls were a cheerful cross between buff and buttermilk, the floor a simple linoleum. Everything was brightly lit, which she probably would have expected. The room held a lot of mechanical tools and had a strange dearth of anything resembling science equipment that she recognized. When their guide – a cute little robot on triangular tank-like treads – led them into the lab where the man was, Sirina felt a strange surge of what she might almost call maternal instinct.

The man, much like both Colonello and Verde, was the size of a two year old. His green hair, from which Sirina assumed he got his name, stuck out all over the place. He had a pair of tiny round glasses covering purple eyes, and wore a simple green button up shirt/slacks combo covered by a white lab coat. He also looked like he hadn’t slept in eighty years, or eaten in months. Absently Sirina noted a crocodile settled in the corner of the room snoozing. Before she knew what she was doing, Sirina found herself plucking the mini-scientist up off of his stool, ignoring his protests as he reached for whatever gadget he’d been working on. She turned to the little robot.

“Bedroom.” Sirina informed the robot firmly, then thought about it. “Actually, kitchen first then bedroom.” She corrected. Still ignoring the grumpy threats of death by experimentation, Sirina followed the little robot to well-appointed kitchen and settled the scientist on a stool behind the counter.

“Stay!” She ordered the scientist firmly before going over to the stove and whipping up a decent-sized dinner for four. Noting the crocodile trailing in behind them, Sirina quickly made up a dinner for the animal partner as well. Colonello and Skull, who’d followed silently and bemused behind their Sky, hopped up on stools on either side of the scientist. Sirina served up the meal, leaving her own plate on the counter and tapping her foot impatiently until the scientist, grudgingly, began to eat.

“I don’t need a babysitter.” The man informed his two companions waspishly, despite shoveling down the food. “Even if she is a good cook and the appropriate age.” He added grudgingly, peering up suspiciously at Sirina. Seeing as the tiny man was eating, Sirina picked up her own plate.

“Good thing that’s not why we’re here, then.” Colonello replied cheerfully as he finished his own meal. Verde turned to look at the rain suspiciously.

“Then why are you here? And with Skull, no less?” said scientist demanded. Sirina tutted, scooping up the greenette, and ignored the undignified squawking that followed. She marched into the bedroom the robot showed her too, lay down and trapped the scientist in a cuddle. With a shrug, the other two followed and nestled in around their Sky. The scientist drifted off to sleep, still complaining and insisting he had to get back to his invention. Sirina smiled sleepily down at the man muttering about ‘SCIENCE!’ and it’s import in his sleep. She let her flames drift around the room and slowly the rest of them fell asleep as well.

When Sirina awoke, it was to the determined wriggling of a tiny body trying to escape. Amused, she released her grip on Col and Skull’s friend and watched him practically bounce from the room. More slowly Sirina got herself up. When she was finally done waking up, she drifted back to the kitchen, once more following the surprisingly helpful robot guide. She left her guardians sleeping on the bed, cuddled up together once Sirina slipped from between them. Quickly Sirina prepared a nutritious breakfast for all of them. She served up two portions on plates, made two cups of tea and a cup of coffee. Sirina then set all of it on a tray and cheerfully bounced her way back towards the lab, where she assumed the scientist was. To her satisfaction, she found she’d guessed his location correctly. She gently moved the device he was working on away from him and set his breakfast away from the man. He grumbled and shot her a poisonous look. Sirina didn’t budge. With a roll of his eyes, Verde pointedly made exaggerated motions as he ate. When the food was gone from his plate, Sirina whisked both of their dishes back to the kitchen.

When Colonello and Skull stumbled into the lab, Skull still munching on one of the dry pancakes she’d left out for breakfast, it was to find Sirina scurrying around the lab and fetching tools for Verde.

“Having fun?” Colonello teased. Sirina smiled up at her rain.

“Well, I’m the one who made him lose time so it only seemed right to lend a hand.” Sirina replied as she handed the scientist some weird sort of metal implement that had three different tools branching out from the handle.

“Is that so? And how many tools of those you’ve handed him has he actually used?” Colonello asked with a smirk, as Verde took the tool and sent Sirina to find another tool.

“About two, but I’m trying to find all the misplaced tools so they can be put in their proper places and organized.” His Sky admitted easily. Verde sent a smirk at the other two men.

“So… he gave you busy work so you wouldn’t keep interrupting his Science!-ing?” Skull concluded. Sirina pouted at him.

“No. I decided to do that on my own when he started asking for tools.” Sirina retorted.

“Don’t think the idea didn’t occur to me. I simply counted the chances of that plan working in the lower negative eighty percentile.” Verde replied with a sniff. Verde popped a small cover over the thing he’d been working on, and then lifted the machine down to the ground. The item he’d been working on turned out to be another little robot, this one with spider legs instead of tank treads. The little tank-tread robot came over to inspect it’s new sibling. The new robot did a cute little dance complete with spinning in a circle, and Sirina cooed.

“They’re so cute!” She cried. Verde looked from the spider robot, with acid dripping from tiny little needle-like fangs and dissolving parts of the floor below, to Sirina and back.

“They’re battle robots.” He replied flatly.

“Cutest battle robots ever!” Sirina replied cheerfully.

“You’re friend’s missing a few calculations.” Verde informed his fellow Arcobaleno flatly. “Why are you here?” He added before the other two could respond.

“We’re looking for a mechanical, science-y, designing genius!” Sirina informed the tiny man gleefully. Said scientist sniffed.

“Well, I’m certainly those things. But what specifically did you need?” Before Sirina could respond to his question, Colonello spoke up.

“Sirina… did you eat or drink anything strange in here?” Colonello demanded.

“Or maybe have a lot of sugar?” Skull added. Sirina blinked down at them.

“Um… no?” she replied, looking surprised. “Why?” She added, bouncing on her toes. The three men watched her bounce up and down, up and down.

“You’re not normally this… hyper.” Colonello replied delicately. It was only when he pointed out what she was doing that Sirina seemed to notice she was bouncing. She blushed sheepishly. With a clear effort of will, she slowly lowered herself back to the ground. She also refrained from bouncing again.

“Ah, don’t feel sad Ri! We all have our moments!” Skull protested, flailing his arms and hands around in emphasis. Verde snickered at the spectacle the cloud was making of himself.

“Well, it’s hard to stay still! I feel like I’m all full of this bubbly energy! Like little zings racing through my system!” Sirina retorted to Colonello. Said rain frowned.

“You mean like Verde’s lightning is absorbing into your system somehow?” Skull offered. Sirina shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’ve never felt lightning flames before.” Sirina informed them.

“Here, let me try something.” Colonello ordered as he gently placed a hand on Sirina’s calf. Suddenly it was like a liquid massage ran from Sirina’s leg and up over the rest of her.

“Oh…. . That’s reeeeallly niiiice.” Sirina murmured as she became a puddle of girl sitting on the floor with her back against the lab table. Verde frowned in consternation at the rain.

“Why did you tranquilize your friend in my lab?” He demanded as he came over to poke the girl gently in the shoulder.

“I must have accidentally used too much rain. I was trying to counter-act any lightning flames in her system.”

“Hmm. Well, she isn’t bouncing around anymore. Most fascinating. I don’t believe I’ve heard of this happening before…” Verde mused as he picked up her wrist to check her pulse. The other two Arcobaleno perked up when Verde’s hand closed around her wrist. To their disappointment, no explosion of flames took place. They didn’t have long to mourn, however, for the scientist froze in place.

“Are you a Sky, miss …. ?” Verde asked carefully, trailing off when he realized they had not yet been introduced.

“Sirina. Or Ri. And yes, she’s our Sky.” Skull answered while Sirina just sort of hummed positively at the question.

“Your Sky? Both of you?” Verde gaped at the two men, startled out of his normal composure.

“How’s her pulse, Kora?” Colonello interrupted, worried he might have tranquilized his Sky too much. Verde shrugged.

“I’m not sure, I haven’t checked yet.” Verde admitted. Skull tilted his head to the side and gave Verde a funny look.

“Then why are you holding her wrist?” the cloud wanted to know.

“I had every intention of checking her pulse. I just got distracted by the Sky flames singing to me and brushing against my skin.” Verde informed the cloud, too focused on the feeling of the Sky flames to really be irritated.

“Singing to you, Kora?” Colonello asked, looking confused but not altogether displeased.

“Well, not actual songs. But singing is the closest I can describe it. It’s not like normal Sky attraction. We’ve all felt Sky attraction. This is not like that. It’s more like a siren’s call. More seductive.” Verde sighed, eyes slipping partially closed. Skull poked the lightning, worried about their friend’s reaction. The lightning cracked one eye open and glared at the cloud. Carefully Colonello separated Verde’s hand from Sirina’s wrist. The scientist glared balefully but made no aggressive moves. Colonello took Sirina’s pulse, and was relieved to find it was only in the seventies.

“Pulse rate in the seventies. Low, but not severely low.” Colonello pronounced, to Skull’s relief. “Best let her sleep it off, I think.” Colonello sighed. Quickly, before the others could move, Skull scooped up the Sky and gently glided into the bedroom with her. While Skull tucked their Sky into bed, Colonello turned his attention to Verde. The scientist was still clearly being affected by the Sky flames, his eyes half-lidded.

“We are trying to get a full set of guardians for our Sky. We were hoping you two are compatible.” Colonello announced to the lightning. “If we can figure out what’s going on with her being super-effected by our flames, we would be happy if you wanted to join our family.” Colonello informed the lightning seriously. “If you want to, once the Sky attraction has worn off, that is.” He added with a faintly amused smile as Verde’s gaze swung in the direction Sirina left.

“I should like that.” Verde affirmed, without taking his eyes from the doorway.

The rest of the day was spent in quiet pursuits, though Colonello and Verde did discuss Verde possibly taking over the positions of Mafia Island’s chief designer and troubleshooter for the necessary systems. So long as he left security as Colonello’s domain, of course. They were just discussing how much time Verde would be comfortable spending on the Island, and how much of that time he could get away with spending with Sirina, when said Sky strolled into the room with a sleeping Skull tucked into her arms teddy-bear style once more. She stopped when she noticed both little men staring at her.

“Um…sorry?” She squeaked, and Colonello sighed but patted the leg of a stool next to him. Obediently Sirina hopped up onto the stool.

“Feeling better, sweetling?” He greeted. Nodding, Sirina settled herself carefully before positioning Skull in her lap so she could better use her hands.

“Yes. Though I can feel the lightning flames trying to absorb into me, now that I know it can happen I can stop it by circulating my own flames just above my skin. The lightning flames seem to be looking for my own flames, and following them. A bit like a puppy.” Sirina concluded cheerily. Verde flushed at the ‘puppy’ description, but remained silent. Colonello watched his colleague blush from the corner of his eye and smiled. He felt hope for a strong lightning guardian. He was concerned that Verde hadn’t bonded like Skull and himself, and wondered what it said for the other Arcobaleno. They’d hoped using the other Arcobaleno would make filling Sirina’s Sky a quick and painless process. Unfortunately it seemed not all of them were instant-bonds or as strong of a bond.

“That’s good. Skull and I were hoping Verde might be a good match for you.” Colonello mentioned casually, watching her reaction closely.

“Oh? I wish you’d said something.” Sirina scowled at her rain. “I don’t like having surprises like that sprung on me, you know.” She scolded firmly before turning to regard Verde. “Of course, I would be glad to have you as my lightning. I must confess I’ve never actually sought a bond before. So I’m not quite sure how to go about it. Are you even interested in bonding with me as my lightning?” She wondered softly. Verde nodded quite emphatically.

“Yes. I believe my maximum chance at being a guardian is with you. I also hypothesize, based on your actions here and lack of knowledge about your guardians’ plans concerning me, that you are the best Sky I have ever met. I would be most happy as your lightning, so long as you allow me to continue my work. Which Colonello assures me you would.” Verde opined.

“We can teach you how to form a bond, other than the instant kind.” Colonello interjected. “And there should be plenty of time for you two to spend together to create a bond, since Verde has agreed to take over the specialized and necessary systems of Mafia Island.” He added slyly. Sirina beamed at the scientist.

“That’s wonderful!” She exclaimed, green eyes lighting up in excitement. “Have you ever been to the island before?” She wondered.

“I have not. I confess I did not find it relevant or as interesting as science before.” Verde told her.

“Then I can show you all the best parts and they’ll be all new to you!” She cheered.

“Just make sure to bring your own clothes, or you’ll get dragged shopping all day.” Skull tattled, yawning as he spoke. Sirina blushed and gave her Cloud a glare.

“Meanie.” She sniffed, but a sparkle in her eye gave away her playfulness when she spoke.

“We should probably get going. We weren’t really planning on spending longer here than it took to convince you, Verde.” Colonello grumbled.

“Let me grab a few things and I will come with you. I can build anything else I need once we get there.” Verde declared, and Colonello nodded.

“And we didn’t even need the suits.” Skull cheered. Sirina gave her Cloud another dark look before an idea popped into her mind. A sly smile took over her face and before Skull knew what was happening, Sirina hauled him into the bedroom where their packs were. That was how he ended up sitting on the plane in a formal tuxedo and shiny shoes, looking way overdressed compared to Colonello and Verde. Both of which were wearing their normal everyday clothes.

“Why don’t they have to wear suits?!” Skull whined, fussing with his bowtie. Sirina frowned at him, swatting his hands away from his purple bowtie and fixing it.

“Well, their suits wouldn’t match, would they?” She drawled, pointedly smoothing her long amethyst evening gown. Skull proceeded to sulk for the entire plane ride back to the Island. Sirina ignored his sulking, instead chatting with the other two men. Both of which found Skull’s sulking to be amusing. When Skull was in the bathroom, Verde finally questioned Sirina.

“Why did you make Skull wear a suit?” He wondered. Sirina sighed, but answered.

“Because I worked really hard to make sure he had all the clothes he could need! Both on the island and for this trip. And I thought I did a good job! I want him to think twice before he complains about me trying to take care of him again. I mean, taking care of each other is a huge part of being Sky and Guardian.” From behind the bathroom door, Skull winced slightly. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but apparently he had. He quickly exited the bathroom – after washing his hands – and jumped up onto Sirina’s lap to hug her around the neck.

“I’m sorry, Ri. Skull-sama didn’t mean to belittle Ri’s efforts.” He murmured into her shoulder. Sirina sniffled a little and gently encircled him in her arms.

“Thanks, Skull.” Ri murmured into his hair as she hugged him. Skull felt something inside himself relax and felt their bond sort of pulse. He shoved the questions about it to the back of his mind and decided to revel in the cuddles instead. For now.

Fon stared at the island as it drew nearer. He was so close to his destination now. Hopefully he would find his Sky on Mafia Island. He grew antsy the longer his bond remained shattered. He hadn’t at first noticed the pain of his shattered bond on the day he’d been cursed. But as soon as his body stopped hurting from the forced shrinking, Fon felt the pain of his bond being shattered. He may not have been a genius like Reborn or Verde, but the martial artist was far from stupid. He knew the curse had somehow broken his bond. Every second of every day the bond seemed to itch and sting, and his very being pulsed in pain. His flames were constantly restless, and he had to work three times as hard as normal to keep them under control. Keeping calm was not even an option. He’d worked so hard to find even the faintest trace of his Sky’s passing.

Now he was only ten minutes out from docking at Mafia Island, waiting only on confirmation from the island that the boat had permission to dock. His flames were even harder to control now, excitement racing through his veins. He could almost taste how sweet the reunion with his Sky would be. He wondered absently if she’d changed much from when he’d last been with her. He was sure she must be mourning him. After all, he’d feared for a time that she had died while he was adjusting to the curse. It was only the fact he wasn’t suffering fading, as he would if his Sky was actually dead, that had given hope. Suddenly his phone rang. He was tempted to ignore the ringing, but there was only one person he’d given this number too. Carefully he pulled the flame-phone from his pocket.

“Hello?” He greeted, taking extra care to make his voice as bland and calm sounding as ever.

“Fon. Have you located the person you seek?” Viper’s voice sounded through the speaker.

“I might have. With your help, I was able to locate the officials I needed in Osaka. Now I am almost to Mafia Island, where her boat went.” Fon replied, frowning as he stared out across the water, mentally urging the dock authorities and ship captain to hurry up.

“I could have been more helpful if you’d given me the name of the person you are seeking instead of the Osaka official.” Viper responded waspishly. Fon shrugged, even though he knew Viper could not see him.

“Yes, but then you would have that information available to sell.” Fon pointed out logically. Viper snorted.

“You know I won’t sell information on my fellow Arcobaleno. You all pay enough to avoid such pitfalls.” Viper scowled, and Fon could hear it in their tone despite not being able to see the Mist. “I am calling to warn you that Reborn has decided we need to have some sort of get-together to establish anything we’ve learned that might help end the curse.” Viper informed the storm, annoyance clear in their tone. “Even though we told him no one has made any progress on that front.” They growled, and Fon was surprised the Sun hitman was still alive. Doubting Viper’s information was a very quick way to find oneself dead. “He has decided to meet us on Mafia Island, where I am now, since the largest concentrated number of Arcobaleno is on Mafia Island.”

A strange feeling crept over Fon, and he felt worried at the new information. Why would the greatest number of his colleagues be at Mafia Island? True, it was a neutral safe-haven, but it didn’t really have much to attract people like the Arcobaleno for long periods of time.

“What could have brought a bunch of my colleagues to Mafia Island right now? Surely it can’t have anything to do with Sirina…right?” He thought worriedly to himself. On the other end of the line, Viper was still talking.

“Reborn and myself are already on the Island, so we will meet you at the dock once your ship lands. Then we will meet with the others. According to my information they should be landing their plane shortly.” Viper informed Fon.

“Thank you for letting me know.” Fon responded.

“You are welcome. The associated fees will be charged to your account.” Viper agreed, and Fon wanted to groan. It was only his practiced mask of calm that made him refrain. Apparently, despite paying Viper to keep their information secret and to give them any information that was pertinent to them as it came up, extra fees still applied. Now Fon really couldn’t wait to get to the island. He worried about his poor Sky’s safety with Five of the Seven Arcobaleno on the Island and himself not present. Somehow, he just knew his sweet little Sirina would attract that sort of trouble.

Chapter 11: Ch 11 - Reacquaintance

Chapter Text

The boat Fon rode was still a good mile out to sea when his pacifier began to glow. Despite the warm, sunny day and the cheerful people all around him waiting to reach the island, Fon felt himself grow cold. He could not have explained why, but the feeling of foreboding was growing stronger. His emotions, which he had been struggling to control, broke his grasp for a moment. A harsh flare of storm flames broke out and away from his body. Thankfully the flames went up and to the left, and not down onto the deck or out to other passengers. Quickly Fon pulled his flames back in, focusing once more on control instead of his worries. His control by now had been eroded by the state of his bond so thoroughly that it took almost his entire mind concentrating on his flames to prevent flare-ups. Even so, he could not help but worry about his Sky. They had been separated for so very long…and she had been so very young when he’d left her.

“Does she even remember much about me?” A small part of himself wondered. To be fair, Fon was in an advanced stage of bond-withdrawal, and he tended to remember Sirina more as the five year old child he’d first met than the young almost-teenager she would be now, or even the nine years she had accrued when he left. “I wonder if she still associates me with happiness and protection? Or just rejection and pain now?” that same small voice asked viciously. Fon did his best to stuff that voice into a little box at the back of his head. Still it persisted, eating away at his self-confidence and assurance. As the island drew ever nearer, these conflicting thoughts and emotions plagued him. Eventually the boat did reach the island, though it seemed to take an eternity to do so.

Upon disembarking, Fon was met by three of his cursed colleagues. They looked somewhat worried when they spotted him. Currently present were Reborn, Viper, and Lal Mirch. Fon looked them over, and other than their curse all three seemed to be in excellent health. Although the sad*stic gleam in Reborn’s eyes said the (now) tiny hitman was not taking the curse well. Fon also noted that Lal Mirch now had some type of strange scaring on her face, and he wondered what had caused it.

“You look like crap.” Lal Mirch was the first to comment on Fon’s state of being. In reply, Fon had another flare up. This time his flames burst out into a short radius around him, even scorching the ground at his feet. Thankfully it didn’t disintegrate much of the dirt under his feet, or he might have found himself at the bottom of a crater. It had happened before.

“Thank you, Lal. You are looking well yourself.” Fon replied sarcastically while the other three Arcobaleno stared at his lapse in control. Then: “Where are the others?” Fon demanded.

“Lal just got her about an hour before yourself. According to my information Colonello, Skull, and Verde should be landing in another half an hour. Apparently, there was some sort of storm between here and India that side-tracked their plane.” Viper replied, pulling out their phone and tapping something in. Fon felt that as long as Viper was charging him for information, probably what they were doing at that moment in fact, he ought to get some info he actually asked for.

“Why was the greatest concentration of us here on Mafia Island?” Fon requested.

“I came here to find out why Colonello hasn’t been communicating. Usually I hear from him often, but I haven’t gotten a word from him since he came to Mafia Island.” Lal Mirch volunteered.

“As you know, Colonello works here. Apparently with his sister, who is a cloud” Viper began, and Lal Mirch frowned at his words. About to open her mouth and tell the Mist that Colonello didn’t have a sister, Lal frowned and closed her mouth. It was slightly possible he’d never told her about any siblings he might have. He also could have lied on his military documents. She didn’t for a minute think he had…but then she didn’t think he’d ever stop pestering her, either. Oblivious to her thoughts, Viper continued talking.

“It seems Skull was hired by the Carcassa to lead their forces in an attack on Mafia Island, as a sort of lead-in to possibly joining their family. The attack is responsible for taking out Mafia Islands sophisticated engines, which have no one to repair them as of a couple months ago. Colonello took Skull with him, presumably to get the idiot of the island, on his way to get Verde to come look at the engines. I contacted Colonello before you, and convinced him to bring Skull back with him for a meeting with us, so both men are coming with him.” The Mist rattled off quickly. Fon nodded in acknowledgement of the Mist’s superior information-gathering skills.

“Thank you, Viper.” Fon remarked, and the mist twitched.

“It’s Mammon, actually.” The Mist informed the Storm blandly. Fon wasn’t fooled. He’d managed to irritate the Mist. He internally winced, watching the price on his transactions with the Mist soaring in his mind’s eye.

“I apologize, Mammon. I was unaware.” He hastily corrected himself. Viper, now Mammon, sniffed imperiously but seemed to accept his apology. He turned to Reborn, who seemed to be the ringleader of the current affair. “Did you have anything planned for while we wait?” Fon inquired politely.

“Not necessarily. Though, now that I see you, I suspect we should drag you to a doctor. Is this curse-related?” The Sun threatened. Fon sighed and tilted his head back to look at the Sky above them.

“Not curse-related in the least.” Fon denied. Reborn and V…Mammon gave him unimpressed looks. Fon rolled his eyes and continued “It really isn’t related, you know. Except…well, I doubt it will effect any of you…” Fon trailed off, but his two colleagues continued to give him demanding looks. With an internal shrug, Fon decided to enlighten them. “You remember I have a Sky? I believe I mentioned it just after we were cursed, so I would not blame you if you didn’t remember.” Fon began, and waited for the other’s acknowledgement before continuing.

“The call I got which I wanted to leave the jobs for was about my Sky… . Someone truly foolish in my family had denied my Sky sanctuary while I was gone. My Sky did not have any other guardians, and had no where else to turn while I was gone. Where she went was also unknown. To make matters worse…being cursed shredded our bond. I can barely tell my Sky is alive. And mostly I only know she remains alive due to the fact I am still alive and have yet to lose my willpower.” Fon elucidated. At the mention of the curse shredding his bond, all three of the other Arcobalenos sucked in sharp breaths of air.

“Are you saying none of us will be able to form a bond with a Sky, because of this curse?!” Reborn snarled harshly. Fon shrugged one shoulder.

“I don’t know. All I know is that the act of being cursed ruined mine own bond. I have been trying to track down my Sky ever since. But every day she is gone, every hour, every second…it chips away at my control and composure. If I had not started out so well-controlled, I would surely have exploded, taking whatever country I was in with me.” Fon replied. “As you saw by my little outburst of flames moments ago, my control is rapidly failing. I would not suggest standing too close to me.” He warned. The others nodded solemnly, and Lal Mirch in particular backed away looking skittish.

“Food seems tasteless, mere ash in my mouth. Any sort of refreshment is much the same. I can hardly sleep, hardly think. Searching for my Sky and maintaining control of my flames is the most I can do. I very much doubt I will have anything to contribute to our meeting.” He added bitterly. Reborn’s hat tilted down over his eyes, and Mammon nodded solemnly.

“Then I’d better check you over, just in case.” Reborn announced suddenly, his flames flaring to life on his hands. Fon looked at the man like the Sun must be out of his mind, but Reborn simply propelled a large amount of flames from where he stood over to the Storm. Immediately a rash of Storm flames burst from Fon’s body and lashed out, cutting the stream of reaching Sun flames down to half of what it used to be. Reborn looked at the amputated flame ‘arm’ and then his eyes lit up with determination. Fon sighed as both Reborn and Fon’s flames (without input from Fon) seemed to make it a contest on whether the Sun could land a flame on Fon.

Slowly, almost so slowly Fon didn’t even notice it, Fon’s flames started to lessen their fight against his hold. Seeing that using his flames like this was making it easier for them to be controlled, Fon actively kept using his flames against Reborn’s. About thirty minutes later both Fon and Reborn were panting from exertion.

“Thank you, Reborn. That seems to have helped my flames calm down some.” Fon admitted coolly. Reborn nodded.

“We should go meet the plane.” Lal interrupted, looking at her watch and then scanning the air thoughtfully. Fon and Reborn broke off their contest, Reborn more irritated about the interruption than Fon. Reborn fell in line with Lal Mirch, and Fon followed more sedately behind them. Mammon led the way. They reached the landing strip just as a plane touched down.

“Good timing.” Lal remarked blandly. The plane taxied to a standstill and the landing crew brought out a staircase and luggage trolley. The Arcobaleno waiting on the landing strip gathered around the staircase to greet their contemporaries as they left the plane.

“I could be using this time to search for my Sky. What a waste."Fon thought in irritation. Then someone was walking down the stairs, Skull in one arm and Verde in the other. Both of the held Arcobaleno watched the newcomers below with slight suspicion.

“It can’t be. It can’t be this simple after all this time…” Fon thought dazedly, and his flames roared inside himself, desperately seeking to break his grasp. Mindful of his somewhat-friends between himself and the person up ahead, Fon fought to keep his grip on them even as he pushed through them. Just before he passed the other elements the girl looked down, spotted the other Arcobaleno, and fainted. As her eyes rolled back in her head, eyelids fluttering closed, a nimbus of Sky flames instantly surrounded the girl. Triumph soared in Fon, knowing for certain this was his Sky, his own flames recognizing hers. In slow motion, Fon raced to catch the girl who must be his Sky as she fell face-forward down the stairs. In contrast to Fon feeling like he was stuck in molasses, the Arcobaleno she’d been holding jumped down to the ground and stopped her from colliding with it. Just behind him, Fon could feel the flames of the other Arcobaleno bursting forth and reaching towards the falling Sky. The people themselves were just behind Fon in attempting to stop any damage being done to the girl.

Fon’s flames screamed in fury at another daring to touch his unprotected Sky, unable to feel the bonds between his comrades and the girl with such a tattered bond of his own. His flames burst out into a glorious hurricane of fury, his steps suddenly sped up until everything else around him blurred. Propelled by his flames, Fon shot forward and wrenched his Sky from the supporting arms of the Arcobaleno around her. He also left Reborn, Mammon, and Lal Mirch in the dust behind himself. Once she was safely in his arms, Fon jumped using his flames to atop the stairs. He gently laid his Sky at his feet and crouched over her as much as he could. His flames roared angrily at all the nearby people, even the people unloading the luggage who’d backed away a couple hundred feet. Fon himself snarled at the two Arcobaleno at the bottom of the stairs. The two miniature men were attempting to climb the stairs to get to his Sky! His flames reached outwards to disintegrate the would-be kidnappers, those idiots who thought to separate him from his Sky now that he’d finally found her again.

Out of nowhere, rain flames abruptly dumped all over Fon like a tidal-wave, and Fon felt himself falling the short distance to lay atop his Sky.

“No, it can’t end like this! I just found her again!” He howled internally. The rain flames didn’t care, and his last sight was Sirina’s face as his eyelids closed.

Chapter 12: ch 12 - Reunion pt 2

Chapter Text

The plane was quiet for most of the trip, and Sirina was starting to get a little stir-crazy. She’d done all her schoolwork for the rest of the week. Even the school work for through the next week was done. Let it not be said that Sirina didn’t put her all into her online classes. She spent some time talking to her guardians, and a little time pestering Verde about what he was doing. Eventually, though, Skull fell asleep on her lap, Verde got to absorbed in his work to really respond, and Colonello was also napping. Sirina loved her guardians, but their need to nap incessantly (due to tiny bodies) sometimes left her to her own devices when she’d rather not be. For a time, she tried to nap herself, but she was too wound-up. She was excited to be back home, even though they hadn’t been gone very long. She also had a swooping sensation in her gut the closer and closer they came to the island. When the pilot finally announced they were about to land, the sensation was so overwhelming Sirina found herself trembling.

“Are you alright, Ri?” Skull asked, having been woken up by Sirina’s shudders.

“Not sure.” Sirina replied truthfully. With a frown, Skull hopped over the seats to where Colonello sat. After waking the rain, Skull kidnapped Verde’s computer until all three men were paying her attention.

“What is it?” Verde asked a little waspishly. He’d been on the verge of a breakthrough with his current project, so being interrupted left him more than a little annoyed. Skull looked to Sirina dutifully and the other two men’s gazes followed.

“I’m not certain…just…a feeling.” Sirina repeated. Colonello and Skull, who both knew the story about her Storm not listening to her, both frowned. Verde on the other hand, didn’t outright dismiss her claims, but didn’t seem very worried either. Biting her lips, Sirina tried to order her thoughts and feelings into some semblance of sense. “I … it feels like…” and then the plane was landing. The pilot interrupted her words, giving orders for fastening seatbelts and the like. Dutifully each person buckled up, although in the case of Skull he had to get into a seat first. Sirina pressed her lips together and gritted her teeth. The landing went smoothly, but Sirina’s feeling of unease continued to rise. Colonello, wanting to put her at ease, devised a quick plan.

“Why don’t you take Verde and Skull out with you, and I’ll stay behind slightly out of sight. That way if anyone tries to attack, I can surprise them.” Colonello offered his Sky. Sirina’s shaking eased slightly, and she smiled tremulously at him.

“Please.” She agreed instantly. As soon as the plane door was opened for their departure and the stairs set up, Sirina scooped up both men to accompany her. Smoothly she strolled to the stairs and started to head down them one step at a time. Skull squeezed the arm holding him, trying to comfort his Sky a little. Sirina smiled down at him, then looked up as the feeling suddenly increased. She paused slightly as the sight before her overwhelmed her. There seemed to be a wall of massive flame in front of Sirina, surrounding the stairs she was descending. The flames of Sun, Rain, Storm and Mist seemed to reach for her.

“This is it. They’ve finally found me.” Sirina thought, the image of her father’s picture floating before her eyes. The built-up stress from both the feelings assaulting her, the amount of super-strong flames around her, and the pressure of her father’s people chasing her converged and erupted. Surging from her body once more, Sirina’s flames burst outward in all directions. The flames closest to Verde sunk into the lightning and twined desperately with his. Sirina felt a sharp, stinging “Snap!” as a bond clicked into place between them. That was the last thing she registered before her eyelids fluttered shut.

Patiently Colonello waited just out of sight of any waiting outside. His back pressed up against the inside wall of the small plane, Colonello watched his Sky start to leave. He didn’t like letting her go first, especially if her ‘premonition’ was right. Silently he reminded himself of Ri’s first Guardian, and settled himself to wait.

“If she makes it off the plane safely, I can come out of hiding. Mammon did say he and some of the others would be waiting for us when the plane landed, after all. I didn’t tell them about my Sky but… She is in the company of at least two Arcobaleno that they know of. They will protect her if only to protect us.” He reassured himself. About the time he finished his thoughts, he noted Sirina start to fall. He wasn’t sure what had caused the fall, but he was sure Skull and Verde would handle catching Sirina. Suddenly he felt a bond slam into place beside his and Colonello’s with their Sky. “That took less time than I thought.” He thought wryly. Then: “the trouble must be serious to make her so afraid. She’s faced hitmen and assassins without reaching for more Guardians. Or is it because she already knows Verde that she reaches for him?”

The sound of two little bodies hitting the ground reached Colonello’s ears, and Skull’s grunt of effort as his tiny body bulked up to catch their Sky. Before Colonello could step out to surprise whoever’d done something to his Sky, Storm flames ripped through the air. Fon appeared at the top of the stairs with Sirina (somehow) in his arms. A separate part of Colonello’s brain that was usually set aside for plotting trajectory, wind, weight, mass, and speed wondered how Fon could be holding her up with his tiny arms. The rest of him flushed with anger at the thought of Fon taking their Sky from them. He was also worried he hadn’t head Ri cry out yet. Surely a stranger stealing her away, one with powerful storm flames, would worry her? When Fon set down the girl, however, Colonello could see why she hadn’t made a sound. She was unconscious. Immediately poisons, signs of poisoning, sleeping drugs, and other possible causes of her stillness passed through his mind. Half a second later he saw her breathing. Colonello released the breath he wasn’t aware of holding.

Then he came to his senses as he felt both his fellow Guardians ire and a fourth bond snap into being. Furious, Colonello stalked up behind Fon and dumped all the flames he could upon the feral storm. Some rational part of Colonello’s self understood that Fon had gone feral. The snarling of Fon’s flames, if nothing else, had proved that. The rest of his self snarled and bristled at the Storm who’d dared to bond with his undefended Sky. He could almost feel it as Skull’s thoughts mirrored his own:

“How will Sirina act to having a replacement Storm Guardian? Especially one she doesn’t know and didn’t agree to?” The flames surging out of Colonello like a tsunami, and he didn’t stop pouring flames on until after Fon had collapsed. A small, spiteful part of Colonello hoped the bond with Ri might have snapped, or that he might have killed the man who dared try to steal the Sky. A much bigger part was grateful and relieved to see the man still breathed when Colonello was done. He also showed every sign of continuing to breathe. Colonello was only grateful because he wasn’t sure if Sirina would be able to stand loosing a second Storm Guardian – this time before she’d even met him. Skull and Verde quickly joined Colonello in looking down dispassionately on their new fellow Guardian. Skull’s feelings mirrored Colonello’s own feelings perfectly. Both anger, surprise, and horror. Verde, sensing the other two men’s conflicting emotions about a new guardian, shrank back a little.

“I thought you wanted me to bond with her?” Verde grumbled, little lips trembling. Colonello looked to the new Lightning Guardian, realizing the man was so new to the bond that he couldn’t tell another had joined them.

“We do, and are glad to have you. This idiot, on the other hand,” Skull growled before kicking Fon in the shin. “Him we do not welcome.” The purple-haired man snarled. Verde adjusted his glasses, straightening up.

“Why?” Verde wondered as Skull carried Sirina to the ground level. Verde helped Colonello carry Fon down to the ground, and then secure the man in flame-repressing ropes.

“Yes, why would you accept Skull and not Fon? I would think Fon would be far more useful than the Lackey.” Reborn injected as Fon was bound.

“For one, our Sky chose him.” Colonello replied. “And for two, there’s a lot more to Skull than we ever realized.” He chided.

“Besides, our princess had a Storm previously and his death was … traumatic, to say the least. Being bound to a feral Storm, and unknowingly? I do not foresee this ending well.” Skull added ominously.

It seemed like one moment her eyelids were closing, and the next Sirina was sitting bolt-upright with little arcs of green flame sparking off of her. Verde, looking concerned, sat on her lap. She looked wildly around, her brain seemingly processing everything twice as fast. Colonello stood on her right, and Skull on her left. A polite distance away, but not too far, stood three people of the same stature as her current guardians. Sirina looked at them and saw the flames that had so scared her earlier. Unlike last time, however, their flames were restrained and she could see the actual people the flames came from. Despite looking, however, Sirina could neither find nor identify the source of the Storm flames she vaguely remembered. She looked immediately to Colonello, and opened her mouth. All the other people present leaned forward slightly to hear her words.

“Where is the storm?!” Sirina demanded, and she could almost see the shock on the other people’s faces. She paid very little attention to their surprise, other than noting it. “I know there was a storm here. I can find all of the people but that one. Where are they?” Sirina urged.

“What do you remember?” Colonello asked cautiously. Sirina gave him a look and impatiently summed up her view of events. Colonello nodded along with her words.

“Well, we haven’t been able to find the cause of your fainting, but while you were passed out, the Storm bonded with you. He seemed feral, though. We were forced to subdue him and then bind him in flame-suppressants. He is behind us and to the left. The suppressants are likely why you can’t sense him.” Colonello reassured her. Sirina relaxed at his words. Then she co*cked her head to the side as she lifted her hand and watched green sparks still flying off.

“I think my body is still super-processing flames.” Sirina informed her Guardians. “As for fainting…that’s a private matter I’ll discuss with you later. It connects to my not wanting to leave the island.” As she spoke, Sirina’s gaze travelled back to the other three newcomers. “Who are they?” She wondered curiously. Colonello jumped up onto Sirina’s right shoulder and then began introductions.

“Sirina, these are the other Arcobaleno: Reborn The World’s Greatest Hitman, Lal Mirch the deputy head of Vongola’s CEDEF department, and Mammon the Information Broker and member of the Vongola Varia Assassination group. Everyone, I am pleased to introduce you to my Sky: Sirina. Verde and Skull are also her guardians, as previously mentioned.” Colonello announced proudly. Skull puffed out his chest a little in pride as Sirina was introduced, and Verde snuggled down into Sirina’s lap.

“Pleased to meet you.” Popped out of Sirina’s mouth, and she blushed slightly. Reborn smirked. The Sun drew closer, lifted Sirina’s hand, and kissed the back gently. Sirina watched both the actual miniature man as well as his soul smirking devilishly up at her. Her blush deepened. A calculating look entered Reborn’s eye when he noted her blush, but she valiantly ignored it.

“Not half as pleased as we are to meet you. Will your other Guardians be joining us soon?” Reborn inquired, and Sirina fought the urge to giggle. Seriously, wasn’t that a bit cliché of a way to see if she had other Guardians.

“I don’t have other Guardians. Just the ones here.” Sirina admitted shyly. Unlike Reborn’s somewhat sneaky approach, Lal Mirch was completely straightforward.

“What about secondary Guardians? Are you willing to accept more than one? From the way your flames felt earlier, I’m willing to bet you will need more than one set.” The tiny woman inquired boldly. On Sirina’s shoulder, Colonello tensed perceptibly. His grip on her hair tightened, and Sirina forced herself not to flinch and give him away. She also felt the hostility from both Colonello and Skull towards the woman. Since Sirina had discussed the possibility of needing more than one set of Guardians with Colonello, she new his anger did not stem from jealousy or the need to defend his position. She kept that in mind, and their agreement about ‘secondary’ guardians, as she replied.

“Mammon, you are a part of the Varia, right?” Sirina asked quietly. Mammon nodded slowly, half-tempted to charge the woman for the information. The rest of the Mist suppressed the desire viciously, not wanting to put off a possible Sky. “I’m told they have a power structure something like this: There is a Sky, and his Guardians. Everyone of one element is then sort of piled together in one group, and they report to the Guardian with the same flame-type, who is considered sort of like their commanding officer. Then every group has its sub-groups, each large and sub-group having their own responsibilities and duties, right?” She paused a moment for the Mist’s agreement.

“More or less.” The Mist admitted with a shrug.

“Well, that’s sort of what it would be like if I had multiple elements. I would have a “primary” set of Guardians, and any other Guardians would be under their jurisdiction, as it were. There may be a few exceptions, in the case of talent and needs, but it’s basically the same idea. For example, Colonello is my right-hand and primary Rain Guardian. That will not change while we both live.” The words Sirina spoke caused Lal Mirch to frown, despite Sirina trying to be delicate. Sirina forces herself to add the rest anyways. “I’m also not going to look for secondary guardians on purpose. At least, not until I’ve filled the first set and seen if I actually need a second set. The doctor here indicated it was only a possibility I might need more than one set, not a certainty. He also said the more powerful my original set is, the less likely it is I’ll need multiple sets.” The female Rain grumbled under her breath. Colonello raised an eyebrow challengingly at the almost-Arcobaleno.

“I’m not interested in being a second-string Guardian.” Lal Mirch announced. “I’ll wait back at the hotel until everyone is ready to have the curse discussion. Keep me posted.” The woman added with a disdainful sniff. Then she tossed her hair over her shoulder as she turned and marched away. Sirina felt a little bad, watching the woman’s stiff posture and angry strides. Her guilt was assuaged by Colonello’s reaction, though. Her little Rain relaxed completely, moving to sit on her shoulder instead of stand.

“What was that all about?” She asked him curiously. Colonello scoffed.

“Bad blood.” He growled. Sirina tipped her head to the side questioningly. With a sigh, Colonello expounded:

“She was my commanding officer in the Special Forces, so she’ll never condescend to ‘serving’ under me. She is also my ex-girlfriend. I tried to push her out of the way of the curse when I saw it headed for her. We both ended up cursed, and she broke up with me to boot. Plus she was an on-again off-again girlfriend for a while. I always felt like her back-up date, you know? More like she only went out with me if she didn’t have any other options at the time. Despite how devoted to her I was. I really loved her, but…well. Suffice to say sharing a Sky would not have been easy.” At the irritation in Ri’s eyes, Colonello hastily added “I could and would have done it for you, of course. But I’m glad it’s not necessary. I would never give up my place to her.” Sirina smiled fondly at her Rain Guardian.

“I know you would.” She assured him. “I was irritated at her, not you. You’re pretty awesome, you know? I can’t believe anyone but an outright idiot would treat you that way.” As she made her assertion, Sirina noted the approving and interested looks of the unbonded elements before her. She also noticed Colonello was blushing, but she kept quiet about that.

“Verde,” Colonello spoke up suddenly, turning his attention to the Lightning. The Lightning Guardian, in turn, looked at Colonello with one eyebrow raised in question. “Make sure Lal doesn’t go off tattling about our Sky. She can be vicious when she feels rejected.” He ordered. Verde nodded, and with a frown he withdrew a small tablet from his pocket. Quickly he tapped in a few lines, then put the phone away.

“My programs and bots are on it.” Verde assured his family. Sirina quietly sweat-dropped in the background.

“Would she really…?” Sirina demanded, but all the other Arcobaleno nodded solemnly before she could finish the thought.

“Speaking of rejected,” Reborn commented mildly “you didn’t introduce your Sky to her newest Guardian, Colonello.” Reborn turned his attention back to Sirina. “Please forgive him. He has been suffering from a broken bond as well, and he had no one else to ground him.” The sun encouraged. Sirina took a deep breath and nodded determinedly. When Colonello crossed his arms and frowned, Reborn rolled his eyes. Reborn moved to stand part-way between where Fon lay, still unconscious under the influence of rain flames, and Sirina herself sat. Sirina turned part way. Just as Reborn said:

“Sirina, I’d like you to meet your new Storm Guardian: Fon,” Ri caught sight of the tiny form of her old Storm Guardian. With a gasp she carefully set Verde aside and practically flung herself to Fon’s side. Colonello had to actually grab her clothing to keep from falling off. Both Reborn and Mammon watched with a calculating gaze as Sirina knelt, trembling, beside her Storm.

“Fon!” She whispered reverently. “You’re sure?!” She demanded of Reborn. Reborn’s eyebrows rose slowly, but Sirina wasn’t really listening to an answer. “But…it’s impossible…” While she spoke, Sirina’s Sky flames gently spun a tendril from her chest. The two unbonded Arcobaleno braced themselves.

“Sky attraction is no joke!” Mammon and Reborn both thought. They could both feel their flames trying to break free once more and surround the Sky.

“Mine. Please mine? Please?...Please?...Please?” Their flames silently begged. Two tiny tendrils reached back towards the other two elements and gave the slightest of gentle brushes against the other elements.

“Patience. I have to take care of this one.” Sirina’s flames counseled. Both men’s shoulders sagged a little while Colonello watched in sympathy. Then a new determination filled them. After all, her flames hadn’t said ‘no’.

At first Sirina’s front-facing tendril brushed tentatively against Fon, and then it gently curled around the Storm. Sirina frowned down in consternation, remembering that Colonello had basically tranquilized the man into a coma. Imperiously Sirina pointed at the bonds around her storm. Colonello, grudgingly, jumped down and removed the bonds with Skull’s help. Ri sat once more and pulled her Storm into her lap. Gently she stroked his hair as she thought.

“Ri?” Skull asked tentatively. Sirina hushed him gently, but Skull continued “why are you okay with him? Aren’t you upset he bonded to you without permission?” His words made Sirina look up. Her eyes were compassionate, but still full of shock.

“Not at all, considering I thought he was dead. He was my first Guardian, after all.” Sirina murmured softly to her Cloud. Skull’s eyebrows drew together while he frowned, but he fell silent after that. Like a magnet, Sirina’s gaze was drawn back to her Storm. She bit her lip again while thinking. Catching sight of her still-sparking hand, Sirina got an idea. Tentatively she concentrated on the Lightning flames running rampant through her system. Slowly, like when she was first learning to wield her own flames, she was able to combine all the little bits of Lightning flame into a smooth bundle. Then she spun the bundle out through the center of her own Sky flames and into Fon. As though she’d electrocuted him, Fon gave a tiny shudder and his eyes flew open.

Immediately the man was snarling while his flames burst from every possible surface of his body. His flames started to swirl out from him menacingly, pushing aside Sirina’s unprepared flames but completely ignoring Ri in the process. Quickly Sirina’s own flames re-circled around Fon’s flames, containing them. Gently she pushed his flames back until they were contained inside his body. Some of the Sky flames followed the path of the Storm flames back into Fon, soothing him and bringing him back to rationality.

As reason returned, Fon realized he recognized the presence of the one surrounding him. He also felt the re-established bond. His flames calmed right down to their more ‘normal’ levels. He tilted his head back.

“Ri?” He asked in a trembling voice. Tears dripped down from her face to land on Fon.

“Hi, Fon.” She replied softly. Then, scoldingly: “I thought you were dead! If you ever ignore my council like that again, I won’t accept you back a second time!” Her voice was raw and scraping, and she held him tighter to herself as she spoke so Fon knew she was more upset than trying to threaten. He turned halfway in his seat and hugged the arm closest to himself.

“I won’t. Not ever again. I’m so sorry, Ri. And I’m sorry for making you think I was dead.” Fon agreed penitently. Sirina just hunched over and hid her face in his hair. A short distance away, Colonello noted Reborn was looking inordinately smug.

“You knew.” Colonello accused. Reborn rolled his eyes.

“I guessed.” The man corrected. “Fon just told us about an hour or two ago that his bond with his Sky had been ‘shattered’, but that she was still alive. Him bonding with another sky, while still searching for his original? Not going to happen. Besides, it was too much coincidence that Sirina’s first Guardian was a storm and she thought he’d died. It all fit fairly well.” Despite Colonello’s misgivings, he turned back to his Sky.

“Does this change my position with you?” Colonello guessed. Silently he begged her to say no. Instead she said

“What do you mean?” she asked, raising her head to peer at Colonello.

“He wants to know if he’s still your right-hand Guardian. If he’s still the one you’ll look to first.” Skull replied calmly. He hadn’t been the right-hand-man, after all. Sirina blinked, then shook her head.

“Colonello’s still it. I am so, so glad to have you back, Fon. But you didn’t listen to me and you didn’t trust me. Even when I can’t explain why or how, Colonello listens to my direction and comes up with ways to make things better. Earlier today, for example, I felt something troubling was going to happen. I couldn’t say what or why, but Colonello came up with a plan and things worked out because of it. I hope you can forgive me this, Fon, but I won’t replace Colonello like that.”

The words hit Fon like a knife to the heart, but he didn’t let it show. Somehow Fon had expected to still be the only Guardian his Sky had. He mentally beat himself up for that notion.

“Of course she has other guardians now. If nothing else, loosing her one and only bond would have made her flames desperate to bond.” He told himself silently and morosely. Still, he wasn’t going to hurt his Sky by rejecting her words twice.

“I understand.” He murmured to her, and he truly did. He didn’t like it, but he understood. “I’m just so happy to have found you and be reunited.” He added with a small, trembling smile of his own. Ri smiled down at her Storm, and her warm regard filled him. He felt sort of like he was glowing from the inside out. Her flames and their bond filled the gaping hole in his soul. While they were talking quietly, Colonello put his hand to his ear as a message came through.

“We need to clear the runway. There’s another plane waiting to depart.” Colonello informed the group. Sirina, smiling, gently put Fon down on the ground and stood. Quietly she brushed off her lap and then turned to Colonello.

“The office?” She asked, and he agreed quickly. Sirina turned and began striding to the main office. Fon noted that Sirina’s strides were shortened to match Colonello’s strides exactly. Colonello jumped up onto a nearby wall, and then onto Sirina’s shoulder. Sirina turned her head and smiled at the man cheerfully but didn’t let up. All the other Arcobaleno followed at a slower pace. Sirina stopped at the edge of the runway and waited for the luggage cart to reach them. The cart paused beside them and the man driving it looked to Sirina curiously.

“All aboard!” Sirina called cheerfully to the Arcobaleno. “No offense, but we’ll travel faster as a group this way.” She directed. Quickly Sirina settled herself on top of the luggage in the middle of the cart. With a shrug, Reborn hopped up onto the baggage cart. The other Arcobaleno followed his example. Even Colonello hopped from Ri’s shoulder to the cart. “Main office, please.” Sirina directed the cart driver. The cart driver saluted.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He agreed with a smile. “You know,” the man driving the extended golf-cart like contraption called back to Sirina. “It’s been awhile since last time you rode the cart with the Head of Security. Why, you must have been at least a good two feet shorter!” he exclaimed. Colonello rolled his eyes, but Ri giggled.

“Manny, I rode the cart just last Thursday. It’s been, like, a day short of a week since then.” She protested. The cart driver paused to let some pedestrians pass and turned around to wink at her.

“Are you sure?” He teased. Sirina just laughed some more. While she’s talking with Manny the cart-driver, the Arcobaleno begin conversing amongst themselves. Without thinking about it, Ri reaches out and pulls the two closest guardians against her. Fon, who was practically glued to Ri’s left side, didn’t move. Skull, however, found himself in Ri’s lap once more. Verde found himself tucked against Ri’s right side. Colonello watched as Ri moved, his eyes amused while he chatted with Reborn and Mammon.

Since the island was not very busy at the moment, the ride was fairly quick. They didn’t stay behind to watch the luggage be unpacked, either. The group quickly made its way to an elevator and up towards the office. The Arcobaleno trailed slowly behind Sirina, so she reached the main office room before them. As soon as she entered the room Sebastian looked up and smiled at her. Sirina smiled back at him, noting the piles of drinks she wandered over to his desk to greet the secretary.

“Welcome back, Ri.” Sebastian beamed at her. Skull, trailing right behind his Sky, scowled at the man from behind Sirina. Sebastian noted Skull’s response to him and smiled smugly at the little man. Reborn, Mammon, and Verde having entered just behind Skull, noted the byplay with narrowed eyes. As the trio drew further into the room, Sebastian spotted them. The smile dropped from his face upon spotting Reborn’s infamous visage. Sebastian’s flames abruptly flared to life around him and the man himself vaulted over his desk to stand between Sirina and the other Sun.

Reborn was forced to dodge when the other man neither stopped nor slowed. Instead the man practically hurled himself at Reborn, a knife in one hand. While dodging, Reborn drew his gun and levelled it at the aggressively attacking Sun. He didn’t fire, though, watching Ri from the corner of his eye. At first the Sky had looked shocked, but Reborn noted that the shock was quickly melting away into fury. Suddenly Ri’s flames slammed down upon the entire room. Everyone but Ri’s Guardians found themselves on their knees. Sebastian was actually forced to collapse to the floor or be crushed. Sirina stalked over to where the less-powerful Sun lay. She nudged the man, gently, with her sneaker.

“What in the Blazes were you thinking?!” She cried. “These people are my and Colonello’s guests! Reborn is my and Colonello’s guest!” The man tried to speak, but her flames flared higher and his face was ground into the carpet. “Never mind. I don’t want to know what you were thinking. Get out of my sight before I do something we’ll both regret.” Sirina snarled. Her flames loosened the crushing pressure on the room, and Sebastian scrambled to his feet. The man practically fled out the entryway, running past Colonello who’d watched the spectacle from the doorway. Sirina turned suddenly teary eyes on Colonello.

“Nello?” She sniffed, and chuckling her Rain came over to hug her leg.

“It’ll be alright, Ri. He’s just disappointed, is all.” Colonello tried to assure her, patting her leg gently.

“Disappointed?! He just snapped!” Ri cried in distress. “He’s never seemed unstable before…”

“He wanted to be your Sun Guardian.” Skull informed Ri flatly. “It’s why he didn’t like me, and couldn’t tolerate Reborn. He knew Reborn is twice the man he is, and far more powerful to boot. The fool couldn’t weather the competition.” Skull snorted derisively. Sirina frowned.

“But…he doesn’t even know I’m a Sky. He thinks I’m a cloud. And besides, we’ve never spoke about bonding. I’ve never even hinted an interest in that direction!” Sirina protested. Colonello patted Sirina’s leg again gently. Sirina stooped down and swooped Colonello into her arms.

“He did know you are a Sky. I did vet him as a possible Guardian, though I didn’t tell him about you being a Sky. I had high hopes, originally, that he might be a good match for you since you seemed to get along so well. He figured out you’re a Sky on his own, though. Even approached me to ask about the possibility of bonding. I told him any possible bonds would need to be approved or rejected by you personally.” Colonello solemnly informed her. Sirina scowled.

“As though I’d bond with someone who would tell me who I could and could not bond with.” Sirina sneered. The others in the room, Guardian or not, nodded approvingly. “You may have to find a new secretary…” Sirina noted with a sigh. “And it took so long to find one who didn’t irritate me, too…” Colonello snickered at her despondent line of thought, but patted her arm comfortingly. Shaking her head, Ri turned to face the others in the room.

“So…has everyone had lunch?” She asked brightly

Chapter 13: Ch 13 - Lay Down the Law

Chapter Text

Upon finding out that most of the others had not eating, due to waiting for their comrades, Sirina summoned one of the ‘runners’. A young, cheerful looking woman with pink hair entered the entry-room at a brisk pace. She saluted both Colonello and Ri as she came to a stop in front of the young Sky.

“Sally, reporting for assignment.” The pink-haired woman greeted cheerfully. Sirina smiled fondly at the woman.

“Thanks for getting here so quickly. I’m afraid Seb had to leave early today. Would you be willing to pick up lunch for our guests?” Ri asked the woman, and Sally agreed to the task. Sirina sent the woman off with a list of meals to pick up before turning back to the Arcobaleno. “Let’s move to the large conference room.” Sirina suggested, before leading them over to a room on the left-hand wall. The group entered the room and looked around in interest.

There wasn’t much of interest in the room, though. At most it took two glances to see everything. On entering the room, there was a large white C-shaped table with comfy white chairs surrounding the outside. The wall with two doors in it and the right-hand wall both had pull-down white screens. Two different projectors sat on the table, one facing each screen. The walls were a simple Ivory-peach color, and the floor was the same mix of light-colored woods. There were also small screens at each seat. It was unclear what the purpose of the little screens was, but the group ignored those.

Sirina and Skull dragged in two of the computer chairs from the main office and positioned them on the inside of the ‘C’, about two and a half chairs in. Skull immediately hopped up on the left-hand chair and Sirina took the other, with Fon on her lap. Colonello came in last, brining another rolling chair, and placed it on Sirina’s right side. Reborn and Viper sat on the opposite of the ring from Sirina, on either side of her. Verde came in, fiddling with a tablet, and took a seat on Viper’s other side. Once everyone was seated, they all just sort of sat there. No one was certain how, exactly, to broach the topic they had in mind. Sirina twisted her hands in her lap, under the table. Fon gently placed on of his tiny hands in-between Sirina’s.

“Guardians have always been a bit of a sore subject with Sirina.” Fon breached the silence quietly. “For a long time, I was the only Guardian she would even consider. Though I could never get Ri to explain properly why she would not consider other guardians.” He added thoughtfully.

“Once Sirina’d bonded with me, I also had a hard time getting her to consider other guardians. I assumed it was the trauma from loosing her first guardian, though. Both Skull and I were not intentionally bonded with, and I doubt Verde was either. Although, she did agree to try for a bond with Verde. His bond was not spontaneous as ours were.” Colonello put in.

“It’s the pull. Like reverse Sky charisma, or Sky-pull.” When Sirina finally spoke up, the others looked to her immediately. “For my two of my first three guardians, I was in distress at the time. That likely contributed to causing the spontaneous bond. But I noticed before each of my three guardians, I felt a pulling sensation on my flames, and they seemed excited before I even saw the individuals in question. It’s one of the reasons I could feel something was wrong the closer I got to the island today.” Fon gently withdrew his hand and patted Sirina’s arm. “I have never considered someone whose flames don’t sing to mine, and I probably never will. Regardless of how well we get along.” She added, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Reborn leaned forward slightly when Sirina stopped speaking.

“Are Mammon and I someone you would consider for Guardianship?” Reborn asked intensely. Sirina met his eyes.

“I would be willing. Except, sorry, but is there something I can call you besides Mammon? I’m not really comfortable with the connotations.” Sirina agreed hesitantly. “I still haven’t consciously built a bond, well more than over the course of a couple days like with Verde, but I’d be willing to try.” She corrected herself. Mammon seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then capitulated.

“I have also been known as Viper. That would be an acceptable thing for you to call me.” The Mist sighed. “I took my newest name, Mammon, when I joined the Varia.” He informed her. Sirina nodded thoughtfully. Just then the runner came back with their meals, and passed them out accordingly. Sirina leaned over and whispered something to Colonello while the dishes were passed out. The rain hopped from his chair and retreated to the other room for a moment before quickly returning with a pen and pad of paper. When Sirina noted the other’s curious look, Sirina flushed slightly. She took the supplies from Colonello and placed them on the table before her. Taking up the pen, she quickly started to jot some things down. Once Fon, Reborn, and Viper finished eating, Sirina picked up the pad and sat back.

“It just occurred to me, I’ve really only had more than one guardian for less than a week. I’ve never needed to establish my rules before, but I think this might be the right time to do it. That way at least you two can decide if you can deal with my rules before deciding if you want to try. And at least half of my guardians are new enough that adding the rules to our daily life shouldn’t be too big an adjustment.” She began nervously.

“What sort of rules did you have in mind?” Skull asked curiously, standing up to try and get a look at the pad.

“Well, it’s not done, and I figured there’d be some my guardians will want to add…” Sirina hesitated. Skull made an impatient grabby-gesture towards the pad, and Sirina passed it to him with a sigh of relief.

“All Guardians are responsible for keeping themselves fit and healthy. This includes but is not limited to: regular training, a regular fitness plan, regular doctor and dental appointments, healthy eating habits, good sleeping habits, and the water-rule. Ri, what water rule?” Skull read aloud before turning to look at Sirina. Sirina rubbed the back of her neck again.

“Ah, well, we didn’t really get to talk about it before but…I made the water rule a while ago. I didn’t have this problem with Fon, but I noticed that Colonello used to drink tons of coffee. Especially if he had an over-night shift. And it really isn’t healthy for him to drink that much coffee. So, the rule is he has to drink one bottle of water for every cup of coffee. And extra-large mugs need two bottles of water or more, depending on the size. Plus drinking that much water keeps you healthier.” She murmured, looking down at her lap.

“How do you feel about Espresso?” Reborn asked, watching her from under the brim of his hat. Sirina shrugged.

“I don’t have any particular feelings about Espresso, but it’s my understanding it’s like a really concentrated form of coffee. So probably the same rule applies, despite the smaller cup size. Unless you mean in desserts, which is a different matter altogether. There’s no restriction on coffee or espresso in desserts. I just expect my guardians to use good sense in the amount of dessert they allow themselves.” She replied with a shrug. Reborn nodded to himself, as though coming to a decision.

“What else?” Viper wondered.

“All Guardians and Family members must treat each other with respect. In time, hopefully, everyone will come to consider each other family. All arguments and/or disagreements may be settled through a neutral third party. This could be another guardian, Sirina, or even someone hired to mediate if necessary. Friendly Spars are not considered disagreements, but use good judgement.” Skull read, and felt himself tear up a little.

“This rule is very important to me. And it leads me into discussing something I’ve brought up with my guardians, but you should know if you’re interested in bonding with me.” Sirina started, then paused to settle herself before continuing. “I’m actually descended from a pretty big Mafia family, but I’m currently in hiding from them. I don’t know the exact details, but I know that they would harm me if they found me. It’s one of the reasons I choose to come to Mafia Island in the first place, when Fon was my only Guardian and was on a job. Neutral territory and all that.” At her words, both the unbonded Arcobaleno looked solemn and troubled.

“Do they know where you are?” Reborn asked quietly. Sirina shook her head emphatically.

“No, and it’s going to stay that way. I actually changed my name, so they shouldn’t be able to track me…” Sirina replied firmly.

“Not to mention those idiots still think you’re a boy.” Fon muttered from his place in her lap. Sirina snickered quietly.

“Yeah, but that one’s not my fault. Just their natural stupidity.” Sirina retorted mirthfully. Viper and Reborn both sat back a bit in shock.

“They think you’re male?” Colonello exclaimed in surprise. Sirina nodded.

“Yep. Despite the hospital, the school, and others telling them I’m a girl. My birth certificate even says female, but my parents are pretty much delusional and neglectful.” Sirina confirmed cheerfully. “Which works out for me, actually, because it’ll make it harder to find me. Especially as I get older and start properly developing.”

“Next.” Colonello ordered, and Skull dutifully read off

“Jobs and Money: Every person in the family is to hold a job of their own. This may be a job in the family, such as being Sirina’s body guard or being the treasurer, or it may be outside the home depending on the individual and the family’s needs. A set percentage of all money earned will go into the family bank account, and the rest will go into each individual’s own account unless they specify otherwise. The basic needs of every person will be paid for from the family account. This includes, but is not limited to: Shelter, Clothing, Food, Transportation, toiletries, and important documents.” Viper was nodding approvingly at the end of the latest rule, seemingly finding it sensible.

“How is the percentage calculated?” Reborn asked with narrowed eyes. “I assume the more one makes, the more one contributes to the family account?” He added. Ri shrugged.

“I figured that could be worked out either by person or whoever’s in charge of finances can figure it out. At first it was just Fon’s account and he refused to let me pay for anything. My job back then was just going to school, so it’s not like I was earning anything anyways. With Colonello, he makes me put everything I earn into a savings of my own and just pays for my needs. I made him set up a family account and a private account for himself, though, so you’d have to ask him how much he contributes to each.” Sirina reflected. “Although it does make sense for each person to contribute only what they can.” She agreed. Reborn sat back once more, and Skull continued after a pause to make sure no one else had anything to add.

“Each Guardian is required to visit, in-person, with Sirina AT LEAST once a month. Also, as long as the Guardian in question isn’t on some type of under-cover mission, nightly phone calls are mandatory when away from home. Time zones can be worked around.” Everyone was nodding along to this rule, so Skull continued on to the next. “Sirina is the head of the family, despite her age. She is still going to run the family. Therefore, all decisions involving the family and/or Sirina herself will go through her. The only time she is excluded from the decision-making process is when she is for some reason unconscious or un-reachable. In that case the chain of command goes: Sirina, then Colonello, Skull, Verde, and then Fon. This list is subject to change, but all guardians will be notified if that is the case.” Again, there were no questions about this, though Fon looked sad.

Sirina hugged him gently, but she really didn’t have any way to make him feel better. She had to structure her family according to how much she could trust people, as well as by seniority. Fon just silently patted her arm again. Sirina gently wrapped Fon in her flames, sending him reassurance that she still loved and cared for him. Fon’s flames clung tightly to her own, and he closed his eyes as he savored the connection.

“The Ri-centric rules: Sirina needs at least one guardian with her at night, to help fight her insomnia and nightmares. As Sirina is a cuddle-bug, and when possible, Sirina would prefer as many of her Guardians as possible to join her in sleep. Also, because Colonello is a little paranoid: Sirina is to have one Guardian with her at all times whenever possible. This does not include the bathroom.” Skull snickered as he read the latest rule, and most of the others present looked amused as well. Colonello shook his head at being made fun of, but smiled to nonetheless.

“Since jobs outside the family are allowed, all jobs must be reviewed by Colonello and/or Sirina for right of first refusal. This is partially to ensure all jobs meet the family standards, partly to make sure no one overworks themselves, and partially to make sure no jobs are taken that conflict with the family’s interests. I’m just going to keep going. Stop me if you have questions, comments, or concerns.” Skull informed the table at large.

“Learning: when we stop learning, we die. Every guardian should teach both Sirina and the other guardians about their specialty as much as possible. This will ensure both a balanced team of guardians as well as keep people from getting bored. If there are no new specialties to learn, then a subject may be chosen at the individual’s discretion. Sirina herself is currently pursuing an accelerated course for her high school degree, and expects all Guardians to be both supportive and encouraging of her pursuing education and learning.”

“As mentioned before, a monthly meeting between Sirina and each Guardian is required. If the individual in question is living in the same place as Ri and regularly sees her, this meeting may instead be considered one-on-one guardian/Sky time. Any activity can be chosen, but being one-on-one is a must. Sirina is allowed to spend any other one-on-one time with any guardian she wants, without someone else giving her a hard time about it, also. Finally, an attack on one of the family members is to be considered an attack on all of the family. Sirina expects all of her family and Guardians to defend not just her but also each other whenever something comes up. Part of keeping the family together also means a good public image. This includes no fighting between family members in public. All disagreements are to be handled at home.” Skull concluded.

“That’s a pretty good list, Ri.” Colonello approved, and Sirina beamed at him.

“Thanks, Nello. I tried to think of everything, but I’m sure other things will come up eventually.” Sirina grinned. Seeing that everyone had agreed to the rules, Sirina asked “Is there anything you think I should add?”

“I think there should be regular contests to establish that all Guardians are at least up to ‘par’ when it comes to fitness and health.” Colonello stated immediately, and Skull dutifully added it to the list of rules when Sirina nodded agreeably.

“I don’t know if I can see Skull as an equal. Colonello has stated there’s more to Skull than we’ve previously seen. With your agreement, Sirina, I would like to spar to see if he’s up to the standard I would expect of a fellow Guardian.” Reborn interjected. Sirina frowned, but remembered Skull’s feelings of hesitance around Reborn and the blue-haired woman.

“I suppose I can agree to that…but no weapons. I won’t take the chance that either of you might be accidentally hurt. Instead the two of you can do the obstacle course and other tests like the shooting range under Colonello and Verde’s supervision.” Sirina sighed after thinking about it. A wave of affection surrounded Sirina, coming from her bond with Skull. “I know it’s only lunch time, but I feel like it would be better to have the contest tomorrow. That will give time for my Guardians to prepare anything that needs to be set up, and a full day for whatever contests you lot want.” Sirina mused. Seeing Colonello’s agreement, Sirina stood and placed Fon down on the chair behind herself. Then she stretched and twisted her body to work out the kinks from sitting so long.

“Why don’t we have all new Guardians and prospective Guardians do the tests? That will give me a good idea of what they need to catch up on, and we can start each persons’ files based on these contests.” Colonello suggested.

“Alright, that’s fine with me. How about everyone has a basic health check-up tonight, then. We’ll all be seen by the same doctor, that way all the assessments can be equal.” Sirina agreed mildly. “What sort of things are you going to put into the files?” Ri wondered.

“Mostly the things you outlined. A list of health and medical things like current and past vaccinations, allergies, medications and things like that. Also a list of how they scored on the tests, and a list for tracking what their specialties are, what they’re currently committed to learning, and things they’d like to learn. Any goals they have that you and I set for them, or any they want to set with us. We should add a list of aliases, back-up copies of important documents, things like that. They’ll pretty much be like the files I keep for you and myself.” Colonello answered with a shrug. Sirina nodded thoughtfully.

“Okay. But what doctor should we get?” Sirina wondered.

“I have a suggestion. He wouldn’t be able to make it here for this health check on such short notice, but I have a friend who is a doctor. He’s also been tracking my health and any differences the curse has caused since the cursing.” Reborn suggested. Sirina tilted her head thoughtfully.

“Colonello would have to vet him, and I’d have to meet him before I agreed to use your friend’s services.” Sirina warned. “But I would at least like to meet him. We don’t currently have a solution for the curse, but any data that can be tracked for the group-at-large is a good idea.” Sirina agreed.

“Reborn, is this the same friend who only treats females?” Viper prodded disapprovingly. “Because only Sirina is actually female, in this group.” The Mist reminded. Reborn shook his head.

“Normally he does only treat females, but treating almost all of the Arcobaleno is a career opportunity he won’t be able to pass up. Besides which, he owes me. Deeply.” Reborn informed the Mist with a smirk.

“So long as he acts appropriately.” Sirina added with a frown. Reborn just gave her a dangerous smirk, and Sirina had the feeling Reborn would have words with the friend in question that would ensure angelic behavior from the doctor. “I think we’re done here. Let’s head over to the Island’s hospital and see if they can get our family in for a basic checkup.” Sirina directed, heading for the door. “I’m just going to use the restroom first and then if everyone’s ready we can go.” She called back from the main room. The Arcobaleno hopped down and her guardians returned the wheeled chairs to where they came from. Eventually everyone assembled back in the main room.

“And we’re off!” Sirina declared cheerfully before marching from the room.

Chapter 14

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