It has been a long time since I've updated. Sorry for the delay, but my exams are finally over! In other words, regular updates!... is what I'll dearly like to say, but I will be going on vacation to the USA until December, so this shall be the last update until then. Sorry!

A big thank you to all those who rewiewed/alerted/favourited! This chapter is for all of you!

If you have anything to say to me, you can always PM me.

Reminder: As Tsuna is not with the Vongola at the moment, some of their speech might be in Italian.

Translation Notes: (Forgive me for any wrong Italian words used. I used Google translater. And we know just how reliable that is, right? Right?)

"Mi permetta di andare cretino! Smettere di tirare a me! Io non sono un cane! Mi hai sentito? OY!"- Allow me to go idiot! Stop pulling me! I am not a dog! Did you hear me? OY!

" Ciao, mio amico. Come stai?"-Hello, my friend. How're you?

"Ho di meglio da fare che vi intratterranno, ragazzo." -I've got better things to do than entertain you, kid.

"Non mi toccare! Allontanatevi da me,Neah!" - Don't touch me! Get away from me, Neah!

"Vi odio!" -I hate you!

"Stai zitto!" -Shut up!

"Ti ho detto di tacere!" -I told you to shut up!

" fratello" -brother

I apologise for any wrong spelling or grammar mistakes. My typing is very atrocious and it took me three days just to type this in. My poor fingers...

Chapter 21~ And The Chase Is On

The chase between the Vongola and Xernus was on. Bring it on bitches we'll kick your asses anyday was what G will dearly like to say, however that phrase couldn't be used in this particular... situation. Why? Reason: The Xernus held the upper hand here in terms of number and territory.

Combine that together with a whining Daemon Spade who was complaining like a grandmother about how sore his hands were becoming and how his manicure was getting ruined... ok, maybe not the manicure (manicures don't exist in the 19th century), and you get a boatload of cranky people ready to commit murder at any moment.

"G, can I take a rest? I-" Daemon cut off his sentence when the rest of the boat's occupants except for Alice glared daggers at him. " Fine, I get it." he sulked.

Asari tried to placate the sulking Mist guardian. " If you row faster, we can rest sooner, ok?"

Daemon didn't even look at Asari. " Your optimistist attitude somehow makes me angry, idiota, so do me a favour and don't talk to me."

"Now, now, Daemon.." Giotto intervened. "Asari was just trying his best."

"If that's his best shot, I don't want to see his worst." Daemon shot back.

If anyone ignored the surroundings, this scene would've look as though it had come staright out of a soap opera. You know, the one where the son-in-law argues with the parents-in-law about his sister's choice in husband...

Back to Daemon and his happy friends on board. Giotto glanced behind him briefly and even his ever hopeful attitude somehow shrank when he saw how close Neah was ordering his men to row the boats. Of course, they had more manpower, as opposed to them ( and one whiny grandmother) so it came as no surprise when Giotto leaned over to G and whispered, "We can't keep evading them. Bring us to the hideout."

G frowned. "Are you sure, Giotto? What if they follow us?"

Primo was entirely calm. "And that's why we're seperating right now."

Daemon nearly whacked Knuckle in the face when he sawng his paddle a bit too high in shock. "Excuse me?" he said in a voice that meant that he had heard what Primo had said and didn't believe it.

Knuckle wasn't too happy having to narrowly avoid getting creamed by Daemon's paddle. "Primo. We only have one boat and we're in the middle of the waterway. How are we suppose to seperate?"

Primo raised an eyebrow. "Everyone can swim. Even Alice can."

Daemon made a sound somewhere between a sink draining itself and a strangled chicken.

"Alright, maybe not everyone." Primo amended. "But I just can't think up of any other options save for getting captured by Neah and his trigger happy crew members on board."

Everyone in the ship stared at Primo. This was one of the rare times when he publicly admitted that he had run out of ideas, crazy or not.

"How about we just paddle to the nearest shore and just make a run for it?" Daemon suggested, inwardly thinking God, anything but swimming. Please.

"Too risky." As usual, G shot down Daemon's idea. "I don't think we can find a place where I can bring this boat to shore. We need a shallow area."

"Um, my friends?" Asari commented nervously. "Neah's getting closer, and it doesn't looks like he's ready to accept a white flag of surrender at any moment."

"Swim?" Primo asked, his eyes directed at Daemon.

"Swim." Asari nodded.

"Swim." Knuckle replied.

" No. Swim." The emphasis on the word 'no' by Daemon was heard very clearly.

Alice stayed silent until she noticed everyone staring at her. "Swim." she said in a soft voice.

"Five to one, Spade." G said in satisfication.

"Put a sock in it, you mindless fool." Daemon muttered.

"Didn't quite catch that, Spade." G said a in a sweet and dangerous voice. "Care to repeat?"

"Not just mindless, but deaf as well, apparently."

" Why you-"

"Now's not the time for this nonsense!" Primo said loudly. "Alice, you'll follow me, alright?"

Daemon nearly lost his head there and there. " I CAN'T SWIM!" He wailed as loud as he could.

"Well, there's never a better time to learn now, eh?" G suggested crudely and with one swing of his long wooden paddle, hit Daemon in the chest and sent him tumbling headfirst into the water with a loud "Splash!" (No, not Magikarp's Splash.)

"G!" Primo said, half in dismay and the other half in mirth. "That's not nice!"

"And that," G addressed the spluttering Mist guardian who was currently trying to stay afloat. "Is for calling me a mindless fool."

Daemon spat water out of his mouth and swore furiously, all the while paddling frantically. " Screw your ****, G!" he roared. " What do you think you're playing at?"

"I am teaching you how to swim." The pleasure in G's voice was very clear. "Ok, first Daemon, start moving your lazy legs and arms. It'll make you look like a drowning dog, but your life is at stake, no?"

Daemon's cursing was beautifully fluent for someone who was drowning. Knuckle took pity on him and jumped into the water. He then pulled Daemon by his shirt and started swimming with him to shore. "Come on, Spade, I'll drag-er, I mean, help you swim to shore and- STOP MOVING AROUND!" For indeed, Daemon was struggling in Knuckle's grasp like a drowning kitten and in his utter humiliation was yelling at Knuckle in Italian "Mi permetta di andare cretino! Smettere di tirare a me! Io non sono un cane! Mi hai sentito? OY!"

"Shut. Up." Knuckle growled, his temper finally reaching boiling point. Daemon took the cue and instantly shut his mouth.

One of Neah's boats peeled off from the rest of the group to pursue Knuckle and Daemon. G paddled their boat furiously a few metres away from where Daemon and Knuckle had jumped in. Once they stopped, Asari crouched on the edge of the boat and slowly lowered himself into the water. Asari then started swimming with broad strokes towards the nearest shore. A few people would yell in surprise when a soaking wet Japanese man clambered up onto the cobbled streets of Venice while attempting to dry his robes.

Now, the only one left in the boat was Primo, G and Alice. And chasing doggedly behind them was Neah. It was like one big happy family reunion, except this family reunion consisted of bullets and insults being traded instead of hugs and kisses.

A few shots whizzed past Primo and Alice. Primo instantly pushed Alice down, but for some reason, all the bullets missed him. After a few seconds, Primo knew why. Neah was scared of accidentally hitting Alice, and was just sending a few warning shots at them.

"Stop here, G!" Primo ordered.

G obeyed. Primo sat on the edge of the boat and stared into the cold blue water awaiting him. For some reason, it reminded him of Chiro Xernus. Cold and distant. Without a moment's hesitation, he let himself go limp and fall into the water.

The cold hit him like a punch to his stomach and for one scary moment, Primo actually thought he was about to drown. He snapped out of that hallucination after he heard another splash next to him and found Alice treading water beside him.

"G," Primo's voice was a bit squeaky from swallowing water. "Take the boat and go as far as you can from here. They won't pursue you. It's me and Alice they want."

"But..!" G tried to protest.

"Go!" Primo said urgently. "They're coming!"

G was torn between loyalty to his boss and friendship. In the end, he choose loyalty and paddled away silently, his eyes downcast.

Primo didn't look back. Maybe it was because his eyes stang like crazy. Apparently, contact lenses were not meant to be worn when one decided to go for a swim.

Neah's boat was bearing on Primo and Alice. Primo gestured for Alice to follow hom, but all Primo could see of Alice was her flowered hat. He hoped that Alice had seen his signal Primo swam furiously to the nearest shore and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't wearing his usual heavy cloack. If he'd worn it, he'd most certainly be right at the bottom of the waterway together with the fishes and rotten bodies that the Xernus had deposited of in the past. The thought was so gruesome Primo shuddered, and he was almost certain that it had nothing at all to do with the coldness of the water. Behind Primo, Alice silently swam.

Primo wondered why Neah wasn't firing on them. Was he really thay scared of hitting Alice?

A brainwave finally hit Neah. He turned to his henchmen. "Get me a rope. A long one."

"Yes, sir."

It was his inituiton that first alerted him. Primo turned around to check on Alice, and instead saw Neah standing precariously on the edge of his boat, his one hand twirling a lasso and his other hand holding the tail of the lasso.

Primo gagged. "Alice, get under the water!" He called out desperately.

Alice's eyes widened and she made the mistake of turning behind to look. In that fatal moment, Neah threw his lasso with inhumane aiming and it wounded itself around Alice's neck.

Alice gagged and thrashed like a fish caught on the end of a fishing line. Her hands scrabbled desperately at her throat to undo the lasso around it, but the only response was the tightening of the lasso around her neck.

"Stop!" Primo yelled and swam towards Alice. Alice's lips were turning blue due to lack of oxygen. Just when Primo reached her, Neah jerked at the rope. Alice and Primo were reeled into Neah's boat (just as he had planned) like a pair of helpless fishes.

Neah pulled Alice out of the water and cut the rope around her neck with a knife. Primo could see a red bruise forming around her neck. Primo tried to sock Neah in the face, but found himself staring down the barrel of half a dozen guns amd decided wisely against socking Neah. He gritted his teeth and allowed himself to be tied up and his head forced to the bottom of the boat.

Neah was obviously overjoyed. "Well well, if it isn't Vongola Primo. Ciao, mio amico. Come stai?"

Primo glared back. "Ho di meglio da fare che vi intratterranno, ragazzo." He spat out the last word like a curse. Neah stared daggers at him, and that was how the next few minutes were spent until Alice found her voice again.

"Non mi toccare! Allontanatevi da me, Neah!" Alice screamed, reverting back to Italian at the sudden appearance of Neah. "Vi odio!"

Neah frowned. "Language, kiddo. Don't make me knock you out, or ya bro will come after my ass."

"Is that why your head is wrapped in bandages and still bleeding?" Primo enquired politely.

Neah sneered and slapped Primo. "Stai zitto, Vongola Primo! None of ya buisness!"

Primo's cheek stung, but he managed to keep his face impassive and free of any emotion.

"LETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGO!" Alice yelled and fought ferociously against Neah's iron grip on her arm.

"Stai zitto, Alice!"

"No! LETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGO!"

Neah finally lost his temper. "Ti ho detto di tacere!" He snarled and flicked Alice's forhead. Alice whimpered softly. " Don't make me knock you out!"

"You won't knock me out, Neah." Alice challenged. " You're scared of fratello."

Neah paled. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are." Alice retorted. " I saw fratello throw his entire antique knife collection at you once before because you didn't complete your mission on time."

"Why you little brat-" Neah's face was redder than a tomatoe. "Are you blackmailing me?"

Alice paused to think for a while. "Well, I suppose I am."

During the whole time Alice and Neah were bickering, Primo was rubbing the ropes tied against his hands silently against a sharp piece of wood at the bottom of the boat. Just as Neah raised his voice to retort back at Alice, the ropes snapped and Primo's hands were free. He took the advantage by kicking his tied legs into two of the guards and sending them overboard.

Neah turned around, surprise on his face fast turning to shock and anger. He snatched a spare gun out of the hands of a surprised henchman and started shooting at Primo.

Primo was shocked. Neah dared to fire a gun on him even though they were in such cramped quarters? At this rate, he was going to hit his own cronies. And if he was lucky, Primo or even Alice will get shot. Primo did the only reasonable thing he could think up of. He grabbed Neah's arm and with one mighty heave, flipped Neah on his back and into the water.

Feeling satisfied, Primo turned around and got a mild surprise. Alice had (surprisingly!) taken care of the rest of the Xernus on board. She had most probably pushed a couple of the cronies into the water and was currently sitting on the back of one, her feet digging into the poor dude's neck. The man who was getting squashed by Alice was unconscious, which was pretty fortunate for him, or he would have to feel his neck getting tortured by Alice's shoes.

Primo held his legs up. "Alice, help me untie the knots." He eyed the surface of the water in trepidation. He had no idea how long Neah and his men would sink before they returned to the surface to murder Primo for giving them a free bathe. Either way, they had to get out of here fast, but Primo was going nowhere with his legs bounded.

Alice managed to untie the ropes, but not after a few struggles with the knots. Primo stood up after she cut off the ropes and grabbed the paddle for the boat. But before he started rowing, he threw the man who was still on board into the water to join his commander. He then drove the paddle into the water and started rowing the boat. It was very tedious, and his arms started throbbing after a few strokes. Primo had no idea how G had managed to row them for two hours straight without fainting from sheer exhaustion.

Alice suddenly screamed. Neah had resurfaced and was gripping the side of the boat with one white hand, his expression beyond anger. He was breathing raggedly, and his hair was all wet and dripping. He was slowly clawing his way into the boat.

"G-Giotto!" Alice screeched out in terror. Never had she seen Neah look like this. He looked like a lunatic that had just escaped from a mental asylum after spending his entire life in it.

Primo blanched. He had not expected Neah to resurface so fast. But then again, this was Neah he was talking about...

Neah's eyes were filled with a maniacal and intense fire. He was already heaving his soaking wet body into the boat. His hand reached out for the spare gun that he'd dropped when he'd fell into the water.

Primo swore in Italian and even though he didn't want to do it, swang his padde at Neah. The paddle made contact with Neah's head with a sickening crunch and Neah, dazed by the impact, slowly relinquished his grip on the boat and slipped back into the water eeriely. Alice watched him go with wide eyes. She shivered slightly at the sight of Neah's blank eyes. She was most probably going to have nightmares about them for a few nights.

Primo however, saw his chance and grabbed it. He paddled with all his might, ignoring the pain screaming up at him from his arms. For just a second, he glanced back and saw a peaceful Venice waterway. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

Ten Years Ago, Sicily, Italy.

"Hey, Giotto!"

Giotto turned around and saw Chiro rushing to him, a piece of paper in his hand and a huge grin on his face. He waited until Chiro had reached him before asking. "Is something the matter?"

"No no, nothing's wrong."Chiro panted excitedly. "Guess what?" He didn't even pause for Giotto to answer. "I got a letter from my parents!"

Giotto was surprised. "I thought they didn't want to contact you?"

Chiro waved off Giotto's comments. "And you know what?" He paused for a more dramatic effect. "I have a new sister!"

"What?" Giotto was pleasantly surprised. "Hey, congrats man! You finallt have a sibling, eh?"

"Yeah~" Chiro sang out. "I won'tbe so lonely anymore. I mean, don't get me wrong at all, Giotto. You, G and Cozart are my best friends, but I've always wanted a sibling. I-," He bit his lip. "I've been alone almost my whole life, so when I heard that I've had a sister... well, uhm... eh, how do I say it... I just feel so happy."

Giotto laughed. He felt happy for Chiro too. "Yeah, I know what you're trying to say. By the way, what's her name? Did your parents tell you?"

"Yep!" Chiro spun around, the wind blowing his hair into a mess. "Alice! That's her name!" He laughed freely for the first time ever, and all the worries and burdens that had always been on him lifted.

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