"Hey brat! Fork over what'chu got and we won't bruise you so bad!" The boy sneered. He was covered in grime, his clothes barely rags, and a mean look had already permanently fixed itself to his face. The boys with him were all in about the same condition as him. They were currently surrounding a small girl who was hiding a piece of bread behind her back.

Her hair had been a bright blonde once, but after living in the slums for so long, it had long been covered in dirt and was now a dull brown at most. She was at best guess, around four years old, and still had a child's innocence about her. Her blue eyes, undimmed by the tough life she led, glared back at the boys. "I don't want to! I got this bread myself!" She responded defiantly.

A fist went crashing into her cheek and she was knocked to the side almost effortlessly. Her hand only tightened on the bread however and she curled up into a ball as the boys started kicking her angrily. With a dogged persistence, she took the beating but refused to let go of the small piece of bread in her hands. After a while, the boys lost interest and left her, bruised and hurting, but victorious.

After examining her injuries and affirming that they weren't anything she couldn't recover from, she sat down and bit into the bread. It was a bit hard, but that didn't matter to the small girl who was half-starved. She wolfed it down and then sighing, settled down to sleep. Before she could drift off however, the sound of footsteps alerted her to someone's presence. These footsteps were new to her, heavier than the boys who usually came to bother her. Curling up into a ball, her hands found a broken bottle and clutched it determinedly.

The footsteps came to a stop a few feet away from her and she looked up to see an elderly man with a cane looking at her curiously. She glared at him, trying to will him away, but either he didn't think she was a threat or he didn't get her message. "Young one, why did you not give your bread to those boys earlier?"

She stiffened. He had seen that? Why, was he watching her or something? "None of your business" she replied suspiciously, playing the role of a child.

He chuckled, "That is true, I suppose." Fumbling around in his pocket, he pulled out a wallet and took out a couple of bills. "Here, for your troubles."

She stared at the money, more than she had ever seen in her entire lifetime. Scrambling to her feet, she asked, "What do you want?"

"Nothing, my dear. You just seemed interesting."

"I'm not your dear" she shot back. "And I don't want your money either!"

"Come now, you're hungry aren't you? You can buy a good bit of bread with this."

"I don't need your rich people charity!" she shouted. "I know how it works! You rich people give people like me money, and then later you say that we owe you, and then you sell us away to bad places!"

The man stared at her for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter. Clutching his stomach, he said, wheezing, "I assure you, you need not worry about me coming back to claim a favor owed!" Still chuckling, he made his offer again, "Are you sure you won't take this money?"

"Why would you give me money? What do you care?" She shot back.

"It is my policy to never go back on an offer made, child. This applies to everything no matter how little or petty it seems." He thought for a moment, and then said, "How about this. Tomorrow, if you're still here, I'll bring my son with me. You'll take the money if he gives it to you, won't you? He's a little older than you but you should get along well enough."

She didn't respond, but he could tell that he had caught her interest. Turning away, he called over his shoulder, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

She couldn't understand what had possessed her to stay, but for some reason, the old man from yesterday's words had made small blossom of hope spring up. Hope for what, she didn't know, but she wanted to find out.

She stared at the boy standing in front of her, "…fratello…?"

The person standing in front of her resembled the boy she had been friends with for awhile before he had disappeared. Black hair, red eyes, hard glare; but he was dressed nicely and was clean.

"Did you two know each other?" the man asked curiously.

The boy whirled around to face him and snarled, "Why did you bring me here?"

"I just wanted to reassure her that I wasn't going to kidnap her."

"You're part of the mafia; why would you kidnap some no name brat off the streets?"

"Now you're just being rude; I'm sure the young lady has a name."

The boy turned to look at her, "Oi, trash, what's your name?"

"I'm Serena."

Xanxus rolled his eyes, "A trashy name fitting for scum like you."

She flared up, "You're definitely not my fratello! My fratello wasn't mean, and he protected me from the bad guys! You're just a bully!"

Red eyes focused on her, "Oi, shut up before I burn your face off." A flame flickered into life in his hands.

She picked up the broken bottle and held it in front of her defensively. She may not have been the best fighter, but living for so long on the streets had forced her to pick up a few survival tactics. The boy smirked and swung a fist. It met the bottle with a crash causing it to explode. He then proceeded to grab her by the throat, even as she attempted to kick him where the sun don't shine. Behind him, the old man tried to stop him, but he pushed him away roughly. Eyes closed and legitimately fearing for her life for the first time, Serena raised a hand to block the fiery fist. She felt warmth explode from her hand and then there was silence.

Cautiously she opened an eye to see the old man and the boy staring at her in shock. She looked down and saw to her amazement that her fist was on fire as well. The old man pried the boy's hands off of her and asked urgently, "Where did you get this flame, child?"

She stared at the fire in her hands, speechless. Clearly he was going to get no answers from the girl, so instead he asked, "Would you like to come live with us, Serena?"

Her head jerked up at the question and she backed away, the flame flaring brightly, "I knew it! You're both bad people!"

The boy smacked her on the back of her head, "Watch who you're calling a bad person!"

"I don't have to listen to you!" She retorted.

He growled, "I said watch your mouth Rena."

"Don't call me that! Only my fratello can call me that!"

He sighed and lightly tugged her hair, "I told you to avoid trouble when I was gone. So why the fuck are you picking fights with people who are stronger than you."

Her eyes widened, "…Fratello?"

"Finally realized, did you?" He snarled.

"But you're all clean" she pouted, "And my fratello doesn't bully people."

"I wanted to leave you out of this fucking mafia business! This is a dangerous world! But you just had to catch the old man's attention."

Said old man came forward, "So you do know each other? Then that makes this easier. Serena, would you like to come back to live with Xanxus and me?"

She reluctantly nodded, still not completely trusting the old man, but wanting to live in better conditions. And if her fratello was there, then surely she would be safe. She may have been only four years old but having lived on the streets for so long, she was much more mature than brats her age. It was obvious that staying where she was would end up with her either dying or starving; the best option for her was to learn as much as she could while she stayed with this man so that in the future she could find a path of her own.

"Young master, today is the young lady's birthday celebration. The master asks you to come downstairs as soon as possible."

Xanxus swung out of bed and followed the servant down to where the celebration was taking place. So far the past few weeks, the Ninth had spoiled the girl silly; he himself had surprised all the servants and the old man when he showed her more kindness than they had ever seen from him. It wasn't that he cared about her or anything; he just didn't want trash to get in the way of what was going to be his sister.

At the top of the stairs, he looked around for the girl who would supposedly be turning five although the birth date was made up. He spotted the little girl in a white dress near a table loaded with food, and made his way over. "Oi, are you planning on eating all of that?"

She pouted, "Even I can't eat that much, fratello. Nono says he's going to announce that he's adopting me." She sighed, "I don't want a big party. When will he start teaching me?"

He snorted, "Eager, aren't you?"

"I want to learn" she replied, her tone too serious for a child. "I have to learn as much as I can."

"You should lighten up" a voice said.

They turned to see a small blonde kid with warm brown eyes. He smiled at the girl, "I'm Dino Cavallone; it's nice to meet you Serena."

Xanxus snorted, "What are you doing here, trash?"

Dino grinned, "Papa got here early to take care of some business." He then turned to the girl, "Happy birthday Serena! How old are you turning?"

"Five."

Mischievously, he said, "I'm three years older than you so you have to be respectful to me."

Xanxus rolled his eyes, "Don't listen to that trash Rena. He's a useless idiot."

"I'll be respectful to people who deserve it" Serena said smartly. "Who is your papa?" she then asked curiously.

"He's the ninth boss of the Cavallone family. We're allied with your family, the Vongola. I'm supposed to be the next boss" his face turned sullen, "but I don't want to! I just want to be a normal kid."

"Normal kids don't get to go to big parties like this" Serena pointed out. "Anyways, tell me more about the Cavallone family."

"That's such a boring subject though" the boy whined, "Let's go play somewhere."

She frowned, "If you're the supposed tenth generation of the family, then that means your family has centuries of history. How could that be boring?"

Dino stared at her causing Xanxus to snicker, "She's not joking, trash."

Glumly, he replied, "I should've known that anyone related to you couldn't possibly be normal, Xanxus."

The bigger boy glared at him menacingly, "What was that scum?"

He ran off, calling behind his shoulder, "I'll talk to you some other time Serena!"

She stared after him, "He didn't tell me anything."

Xanxus spun her around to face the table of food again and said, "Look kid, there's plenty of time for you to learn about all that stuff. For now, just celebrate the fact that you're turning five." He rolled his eyes muttering to himself, "A five year old doesn't need to know how everything in the mafia works."

The party started an hour later and Serena was introduced as Vongola Ninth's adopted daughter. Although she was generally suspicious of all strangers due to her time on the streets, she made the effort to try and be polite to the people being introduced to her. They were delighted with her curiosity and eagerness to learn. The Ninth Cavallone boss was especially taken with her, despite her initial blunt comment, informing him that his son was a spoiled brat. He merely chuckled and agreed with her, before telling her what she wanted to know about the Cavallone family history.

By the end of the night, she had learned that mafia politics were not to be discussed so openly because rival families would become wary; most mafia conflicts were solved by negotiating because openly declaring war was too troublesome; and that most people tended to ignore all the different forks that were set to the side of the plate and stick with just one they were comfortable with.

All in all, it had been a good and productive night, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

It was rather disconcerting how eagerly and quickly the girl absorbed the information she was presented with. As soon as the tutors had begun their lessons, she had devoted her time to learning the basics of everything. From the beginning, she had refused to speak with a slang like the riff-raff that littered the streets. Although it had not endeared her to the other children on the streets, she had at least maintained a good grasp of grammar.

As soon as she was able to read, she had practically barricaded herself into the library, reading and researching everything she could get her hands on. Numbers were the next step and she quickly learned the basics and then proceeded to learn more and more complex mathematics. The tutors that had been hired struggled to come up with enough material to keep her satisfied. Serena was quite literally a monster when it came to her learning time. She was so preoccupied with her studies that a year passed by without her even realizing.

And suddenly, she was back in the ball room where the party would be held again, this time wearing a soft pink dress. It was a small surprise to her when a familiar blonde boy made his way over to her. "Dino Cavallone, right?" she asked.

"You remembered me!" the boy beamed excitedly, "I thought for sure you'd forget!"

She sniffed haughtily, "Of course not. I remember everyone I met last year." Her eyes lit up, "Is your father here?"

Dino nodded, "Papa's with Nono again. They've been talking an awful lot lately." The boy pouted, "But Papa wouldn't let me come play with you."

"I don't have time to play with you" the girl said, frowning, "I was reading about a new family yesterday. The Esposito, have you heard of them? Even though Nono has been trying so hard to stay friendly with them, they keep doing bad things!"

"I don't really pay attention to that stuff" He mumbled, "Don't you go outside and play sometimes?"

"Pl-" she was cut off when another voice called, "Serena, come here and let me introduce you. Bring your friend with you."

She glanced at the blonde and obeying Nono's order, took Dino's hand in hers and led him over to where the Vongola Ninth was. "Nono" she murmured reverently.

The man waved her over, "Serena, this is Bianchi, the daughter of the boss of the Ardore family."

Serena looked at the girl who was cowering behind another man's pant leg. While she didn't particularly care about making friends, she had to at least put up a friendly front. Holding her hand out slowly, she said, "You don't have to be scared; I won't hurt you."

The girl didn't move so she switched tactics. Grabbing Dino who was still standing next to her, she said, "Look, he's not bad either. A clumsy dummy." She demonstrated by bonking the blonde on the head and was rewarded with a giggle from the girl who had slowly eased out from behind her father.

She held her hand out, "I'm Serena; I turn six today. It's nice to meet you Bianchi."

The pink-haired, green-eyed girl stared up at her adoringly, "I'm four!"

She patted the little girl on the head, "That makes me older then. So you have to call me sorella, okay?"

The girl nodded, "Yes sorella!" She then turned to look at Dino. "Is he my fratello?"

Serena glanced at the boy, and was surprised to see pink dusting his cheeks. Immediately, her hand reached out to slap him upside the head, "You pervert! Bianchi is only four!"

Holding his head in bewilderment, he attempted to defend himself, "I wasn't looking at her like that!"

She ignored him and turned to whisper to Bianchi conspiratorially, "Be careful of him, Bianchi. He's a bad person. You don't have to call him fratello either. Just call him pervert."

The pink haired girl pointed at the boy and said clearly, "Pervert."

The whole ballroom seemed to turn silent and there were a few chuckles heard here and there as Dino buried his face in his hands, blushing horribly. The girl then said, "Sorella, papa let me help make some cookies today! Would sorella try one?" She had a puppy dog look in her eyes and Serena gave in, taking an offered cookie.

She bit into it and nodded, "Mmm, it's yummy."

Bianchi turned and offered one to Dino, "Pervert can have one too."

He groaned but at Serena's stern look, quickly took a cookie and stuffed it into his mouth, smiling widely and holding a thumb's up. They chatted for a little while longer before Serena excused herself. She was feeling a bit hot and uncomfortable and wanted to cool herself off and possibly mingle with some of the other guests. It would be good to see what she could learn now that she had self improved.

Waving the guards back, she stepped out into the fresh air, sighing in relief at the cool breeze. She spotted a group of men that were chatting amongst themselves just out of sight of the guards and approached them to invite them inside. They stopped talking when they saw her and a small inkling of suspicion wormed its way into her stomach. Her pace slowed and she struggled to keep her peaceful poker face up. A breeze swept one of the men's jackets up and she spotted an insignia that had her thinking furiously. That was without a doubt the Esposito's insignia, but she didn't think Nono had invited them to her birthday party. If they were here without invite, then…putting two and two together, she whirled around to run back into the mansion.

The men grabbed her before she could protest and had her tied up in a matter of seconds, hauling her into the shadows. She struggled furiously but a cloth pressed to her face had her dizzy and losing consciousness fast.

Author's Note:

First chapter to my new fic (finally)! Likes? Dislikes? Any feedback is welcome!

So Serena is going to be much more mature than the average four year old, but I think for someone who's been living on the streets and depending only on herself all this time, it's not too much of a stretch? And it's also kind of important for her character so be patient with me, okay? Believe me, I've been ripping my hair out about it too thinking that's not what a four year old sounds like alkjlgkjh Q_Q

Did anyone catch Bianchi's first successful poison cooking attempt? Yes, yes? Lol, it's not very strong at this point, but it makes people uncomfortable at the very least. :P

Thanks for reading and please review~