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Hi. I'm back. This chapter took longer than expected...sorry everyone. But, SCHOOL'S FINISHED SOON! YAY! Just a few more exams and I'll be done, with all of my attention on you people. HORAY!

On a side note...over 300 follows! To find that my story is loved by that many people really makes me happy! Just like many, I didn't think my story would go so far. It makes me feel really happy. Thank you to you all. It truly does make me happy that so many people like my story, considering my slow updates, spelling errors and grammatical errors. I really need to get a BETA...please let me know if any of you are willing!

Special thanks to:

kusaru kazuki

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for following/favouriting me as an author!

Chapter 9 – Remnants of a Broken Past

It was cold. Why was it cold? Hadn't there just been a fire. Am I dead? No, I'm still breathing. It's dark. Cold. It's not right. Why do I feel cold? Screams. Pain. Fire. Isn't fire meant to be warm? Why is it so cold? Someone help me. Bodies surround me. Burning. Screaming. Looking at me with dead eyes. A scream. Was it mine? I don't know? It's so cold. Someone help me. Please. Someone help me. Figures in black walk through the fire. They are not affected by the flames. One looks at me. Cold heartless eyes. I'm freezing. It's so cold. Someone help me. Please. Mama, Papa, help me.

Cielo shot out of bed, her eyes glowing a scared orange, her form shivering. It was just a nightmare. She tried to calm herself down, taking in long deep breaths. Ever since she had gotten the sky pacifier from Maman, Cielo had been having nothing but restless nights with horrible nightmares. The only helpful vision that she had so far was the one about the battles between Hiroshi, his guardians, of whom she could not tell, and the Varia.

With a shaky breath, Cielo ran her hand through her choppy brown, sweaty hair, before pulling herself out of her bed in the spare room and heading towards the bathroom to wash her face.

She left the water running as she stared herself in the mirror. Her orange eyes were bloodshot and even though her wings were invisible, Cielo knew that they were hunched and shivering with the rest of her form. Turning off the tap with a sigh, Cielo had a quick shower to refresh herself and then made her way to the lounge room. No point in sleeping if those nightmares where to continue to attack her.

She made her way down the stairs silently to encounter a strange sight. With a box of tissues beside her, Nana sat on the couch staring at a photograph while crying. Surrounding her, there were many divorce papers, all unsigned. Tears poured down the woman's cheeks like overflowing rivers with no sign of stopping. Nana didn't notice Cielo until she sat next to her on the couch.

"Nana-san, are you okay?" Blinking while grabbing a tissue to dry her cheeks, Nana smiled weakly.

"I'm fine Cielo-kun. I guess I just needed a moment to unwind." Cielo nodded, understanding the feeling. After all, that was the reason she was in the lounge room in the first place. Cielo looked down at the photograph that was in Nana's hands. It was a smiling Nana, holding a small brown-haired baby with warm molten brown eyes.

"Who is that?" Nana, startled, followed Cielo's gaze to the photo before smiling fondly.

"This is Tsunako. My daughter." Cielo furrowed her eyebrows. She wanted to help the distressed women in front of her by saying that her daughter was here, but she couldn't. Not yet. Nana continued. "She was such a lovely little girl. Clumsy, yes, but she was such a good little helper. She was fascinated with cooking and would help me with all the house chores. Now that I think about it, she would be around your age, Cielo-kun, at this point in time. If she was still here that is." Cielo moved closer to the shattered mother in an attempt to give comfort.

"What happened to her?" Immediately, Nana's gaze hardened and filled itself with hate and fury.

"Iemitsu. It was that man's fault. That son of a bitch sold my daughter to the mafia. That was the day I lost all trust in the man that forced me to marry him." Though surprised by the words that came from the woman that Cielo though harmless, she noticed the tears that began falling down the distraught woman's face and, unsure of what to do in this foreign situation, hugged Nana. Without complaint, Nana hugged Cielo back crying into her shoulder.

"I can never get that day out of my head. How the black men came out of nowhere and took my little angel away. Just like that the last light in my life was snuffed out. It was terrifying Cielo-kun. And then, that bastard forced me to have a baby with him because he wanted – no - needed a son. Why must the world be so unfair. What did my little girl do to deserve such a fate." Cielo glanced at the bawling Nana with a calculating gaze before closing her eyes with a sigh. Things were starting to get complicated.

To say Hiroshi was surprised, when he saw his mother sleeping on the couch with Cielo sitting next to her, an espresso in hand, would be an understatement. The shock from this foreign scene made him miss a step, therefore making him roll down the rest of the way. When he finally stopped, he lay still, groaning in pain.

The commotion from Hiroshi's epic failure got Cielo out of her trance and she scowled at her sorry excuse of a student that was currently licking the floor. Seriously what did the Vongola see in this kid? Definitely not his flames nor his personality. He was completely lacking in both areas.

"Oi, Baka-Hiro, you're going to be late for school." Cielo was suddenly behind the poor boy before he could even react. Hiroshi, bless his faint soul, cursed his fate. He swore that fates' life goal was to make his life as bad as potentially possible.

Begrudgingly getting up, he went and prepared his own breakfast and bento, considering the fact that his mum was currently sleeping and, no matter how thick-headed Hiroshi is, he knew that his mother needed it.

It was afternoon and, unfortunately, Hiroshi had been left to clean the baseball courts. His so-called friends had left him after their team had lost. Now he was sweeping the floor with a broom. Cielo had decided to stay home, saying that she was going to look after Nana for the day. It was the first time that Hiroshi didn't complain about one of Cielo's decisions. As for Reborn, gods know where he is. So here was Hiroshi, sweeping the floor of the baseball fields with a rake, by himself. Yay.

It decided to let his mind wander around in La La land, as his body moved on autopilot until he suddenly heard the sound of sweeping double. Surprised, Hiroshi turned around to see Yamamoto, a broom in hand, sweeping the floor.

"Yamamoto-san? What are you doing here?" Hiroshi questioned, his broom forgotten. Looking up, Yamamoto smiled.

"Ah, Sawada-san! How are you?" Hiroshi shrugged, forgetting that one of the school idols was having a casual talk with him. Yamamoto smiled, well grinned, at him but soon dropped it for a thoughtful frown.

"Umm, Sawada-san, I have something to ask you for some advice." Subconsciously, Hiroshi widened his eyes. The school idol had just asked him for advice. Him. Hiroshi Sawada, for advice. Hiroshi began to wonder if the world was ending.

"Er…Sawada-san. Sawada-San. You there?" Hiroshi blinked, realising that Yamamoto had been waving his hand in Hiroshi's face for the past few seconds.

"Ah, sorry Yamamoto-san. What did you want to ask me?" Good Job Hiroshi, real smooth. Hiroshi tried to calm his breathing. He still couldn't believe Yamamoto was talking to him – let alone asking him for advice.

"Ah, well, recently, my skills in baseball have been…lacking. I have been practicing every afternoon, trying really hard and my skills aren't getting any better. I thought I might ask you if you have advice. After all, you did beat Mochida-sempai." Yamamoto shifted uncomfortably, his eyes averted to the floor. The latter frowned, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

"Um, well, I guess, keep practicing. Keep trying harder. You know, keep practicing like you always have. I'm sure it will work out." Yamamoto was still for a moment, processing Hiroshi's words, before looking up and giving the latter a smile that would even make the straight boys swoon.

"Thanks, Sawada-san, I knew I could count on you!" And in a flash the school's male idol was running off, leaving Hiroshi alone with his thoughts. Though the only thoughts that Hiroshi had at that moment were, "WTF just happened".

Cielo lay in the soft grass, looking up at the orange sky. A soft evening breeze passed through, ruffling her hair. If had only been a week since she had come here, and things had been developing fast. She was beginning to worry that she had less time on her hands than she originally thought. Shifting through her pocket, she grabbed what she was looking for and held it to her face. The sky pacifier glinted in the setting sun, giving the impression that it glowed.

The nightmare that appeared when she slept had been becoming more frequent, as well as clearer. She could now see proper faces, rather than blurs, and her thoughts had become easier to remember. She remembered the cold feeling that made her bones stand on edge. She remembered the screaming, whether it be another or her own. She remembered the fear it brought, the brain freezing fear that had trembled through her core.

Lost in her own thoughts, Cielo did not register the footsteps until they were right next to each other.

"So, how did it go?" Cielo inquired, glancing over at her side to see a frowning Takeshi.

"He's not bright, that's for sure, but he has a good heart and means well." Nodding, Cielo looked up once again, watching as the sky went from orange to black.

"So, what's your next move?" Putting a hand to his chin in thought, Takeshi stayed silent for a moment.

"I guess you'll see tomorrow." And a large grin appeared on his face. Sighing at her friend's antiques, Cielo turned her attention back to the sky, as Takeshi lay down beside her. The two friends enjoyed the silence together until another joined beside them.

"Bored Hayato?" Cielo said with a smirk, watching the said boy from the corner of her eye.

"Tch. I do go outside like normal people, I don't spend my entire life in front of my computers." Cielo, stared at him with a quirked eyebrow, while beside her, Takeshi laughed. So hard he had to sit up and hold his chest. While Hayato began to twitch, Cielo kept her deadpanned look, ignoring the fiasco behind her.

"Hayato, you're a hacker. You have a computer cave instead of a man cave and whenever you're not on mission, you're in that room and when you are in that room you're almost as hard to get out of it as a slimy eel in a fast-flowing river. And this is just for us, your friends. Your sister would have no hope of fishing you out of that room." Hayato began to protest before closing and opening his like a fish, unsure of how to rebut his friends' statement. He couldn't and only succeeded in making Takeshi laugh harder and Cielo to smirk in triumph.

The three friends lay in silence, watching the stars twinkling in the sky. It was peaceful and none of the three friends wanted to break it. Instead, they lay, enjoying the presence of each other. Unfortunately, peace never lasted long. Suddenly Hayato's phone began to ring.

"Hello."

"Tempesta-kun." Hayato narrowed his eyes.

"What it is Nebbia?" A laugh could be heard from the other side of the phone.

"Put it on loudspeaker. I need all of you to hear this." Frowning, Hayato glanced at Cielo, who nodded, her face serious.

"Okay, Nebbia. What did you find."

"Something we've been looking for a very long time. You all know where to meet me and that includes you, Nuvola." And with that the three friends where gone, followed by a shadow, not returning until early the next morning.

AND DONE! FINALLY! Don't forget to follow, favourite and review!

TATA~