"You can kill them for all I care, just do not destroy the watches," Papa reminded us. "If you destroy a watch, you won't be able to participate in the battles."

Papa hopped up on Jager's shoulder. "We warp in three... two... one!"

Into the Simon Family's house we all warped.

All of us were clad in the usual Vindice attire: bandages across our face, top hats, even more bandages where we didn't even need them, long cloaks, yet even more useless bandages.

I hated wearing the outfit very much. It was mostly because they gave me a cloak almost four sizes too big for me, not to mention I could barely breathe with the bandages across my face, but Papa's rules were absolute. We couldn't go anywhere without them while working.

The Simon Family was in the middle of dinner with Skull, the Cloud Arcobaleno, when we interrupted them. The first to react was a very tall woman with fantastic insticts. Jager handled her with his chains in seconds.

We each had our own target. Big Pino and Little Gia who worked together were to eliminate Aoba Koyo and Ooyama Rauji. Alejandro had Katou Julie. Jack had Mizuno Kauro. Jager had already finished Suzuki Adelheid, and was moving onto Cozart Enma, but Papa needed to talk to Skull the Arcobaleno before he finished him. I had a woman named P. Shitt to eliminate.

She was easy enough to spot, being the only other woman in the Simon Family. I admit I was a little taken aback by her appearance, but dismissed it from my mind to accomplish my objective. I didn't even have to use my Flames to defeat her because she had no idea what was coming.

I wrapped my chains around her neck and squeezed until she passed out, quickly releasing them before she died. I never killed an opponent I didn't have to.

The fight was over in seconds. The Simon Family totally defeated and all the watches were still intact. We had won.

Skull backed away in fear.

"Wha-what?! Who are you people?!" he shrieked.

"Hey, Arcobaleno Skull-kun," Papa said in a voice scarier than usual. He liked to use it when he was working, but he didn't talk like that normally.

"Hey! Why do you have a clear pacifier?!" he asked.

"We're interested in the Representative Battles you're participating in, you see," he continued, ignoring Skull's questions.

"What the hell did you do to my Representatives?!" he asked. "Enma! Adel! Everyone!"

"Are you surprised, Skull-kun?" Papa asked.

I bent down to retrieve the watch from Shitt P just as the rest of the Vindice did. All of us had our new watches on except Papa.

"What the hell, you thieves!" he yelled, standing up, ready to fight.

I heard Papa chuckle as he floated down next to Skull.

"Skull-kun," he said. "I'll be needing your watch."

He punched straight threw Skull's helmet, leaving him motionless on the floor.

"Perfect fit!" he said, putting on the watch.

I heard a faint voice come out of the watch.

So this is Checker Face... I thought.

My mind drifted elsewhere despite the target of the Vindice's revenge talking to all of us. I had other important things to think about. It was something Papa said three days before when he debriefed us on our mission for the Representative Battles...

He said he was going to die.

He and the former and current Arcobaleno were doomed to die at the end of these battles.

I hadn't really made a fuss about it at the time of his strategy meeting, but it was really eating me alive now that I had time to think about it more.

When I snapped back into reality, Papa already started yelling orders at us, "We're finished here. Move out!"

We all warped back to the prison. I wrestled off the bandages around my face and took a deep breath.

"I hate these stupid things!" I screamed, throwing them to the ground in frustration.

They all laughed at me, even Papa.

"Well, aside from your outburst, I'd call that a success!" he said, changing back to his regular voice. "Well done everyone, and get ready for tonight. We warp back in five hours."

They all nodded and went back to their various duties around the prison. I, however, stayed back.

"Papa..." I said, hesitantly.

"Yes?" he asked, taking off his bandages as well. "What is it, Ami?"

"Are... Are you and the rest...?" I wavered, not really wanting to say it out loud. "Are you really going to die?"

"Ami-"

"I don't want you guys to die," I interrupted quietly. "Can't you do something about it?"

"Do we have to discuss this now?" he asked, seemingly annoyed.

"Yes, we do," I said firmly.

"There's no other way," he said with no emotion in his voice at all. "We will die."

"But... Papa...!" I whimpered, tearing up. "What am I gonna do?! I can't run the whole prison by myself! I don't want you to die! I don't want to be alone again!"

"And I don't want you to be alone, either," he said while coming closer to me. "But there's no way around it."

"Then what if I die too?" I asked.

"Don't even think about such things!" he yelled. "You have a long, happy life ahead of you! I've lived long enough, Ami, we all have. It's our time to go."

"How can it be happy when I'm not with you...?" I whispered, tears streaming down my face.

"It's been a good three and a half years, hasn't it?" he said, smiling. "You went through hell and back before you came here, but that's over now. You can live your life, a life you deserve. You don't even have to stay at the prison."

"But-"

"Ami," he said. "I can't change my fate, but I'm glad I changed yours."

Words couldn't describe how terribly alone I felt in that moment. The only people who loved me would be gone within the week, erased from this world. And it hurt.

It hurt a lot.

I warped back to my apartment instinctively to cry my eyes out. Papa didn't even want me to be there because he still worried about another possible incident with Reborn. I needed to be alone, so home I went.

Collapsing onto my bed, I wailed into my pillow about the unfairness of the universe.

"Why is Fate such a sadist?!" I cried. "Haven't I suffered enough?!"

But apparent I hadn't, according to Fate. Here it was, coming to take yet another thing away from me, just like it did to my mother, my childhood, basically my whole life.

I got up suddenly, as my crying instantly stopped. A horrible thought came into my mind as I walked into the kitchen. I pulled a knife out of one of the drawers and held it in my shaking right hand.

It could all be over… I thought. All this pain and suffering, it would end here.

As enticing as leaving this world seemed, I dropped the knife back in the drawer and fell to my knees.

My thoughts immediately turned to the people I'd met at the cake shop. They made me forget about everything while I accompanied them. Jager and the other Vindice did the same.

I almost dismissed the idea completely.

If I get attached to people, they leave… I thought somberly. Maybe I should just be alone forever.

A pity party I think is the correct term for what I threw for myself in my lonely apartment. I stayed like that, thinking the world was completely against me and how nothing ever turned out the way I wanted it too.

In my defense, I was at least right in the fact that nothing turned out the way I wanted it too.

But then again, when does that ever happen to anyone?

After about three hours of moping around and crying, I finally told myself to get over it and move on like I did with the rest of my problems.

Papa's going to die, so what? I thought. So did my mom. What's another deceased loved one to add to my list?

That's when Papa warped into my apartment.

"Ami?" he asked, wandering around in the kitchen.

I got up from my bed reluctantly, appearing in the hallway that leads to the kitchen.

"What?" I inquired bitterly.

"How're you doing?" he questioned delicately.

"Amazing, what about you?" I said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes. "Ami-"

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I demanded to know. "You knew when I asked to fight for you that you were going to die either way, didn't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then why did you let me join if you knew?!" I yelled.

"You asked me!" he yelled back. "And I agreed! So what if I knew? I didn't know you'd react like this!"

"You didn't think I'd be upset about your death?!" I shrieked. "What kind of person do you think I am? I'm not a robot like the rest of them!"

The look on his face was completely livid at my last remark.

"You think Jager and the rest of the Vindice are… robots?!" he screamed. "They were human, just like you! I gave them a second chance a life, the same for you!"

"Yeah, were human!" I pointed out. "They're zombies now only made for following your orders to get some stupid revenge on some stupid guy who tricked you all into becoming babies!"

"Don't you dare say another word," he threatened. "I swear I will put you in the lowest cells of the prison if you say one more word!"

"I dare you," I whispered, absolutely furious.

He looked horribly flustered.

"Ha!" I yelled. "You lied."

"Go back to the prison this instant!" he yelled. "You are not allowed to leave there unless it's for the battles!"

I looked at my watch and said, "I don't want to participate in these stupid battles anyway!"

Without thinking, I crushed my watch using the wall, shattering it to pieces.

"What have you done, Ami?!" Papa roared.

"I wish you hadn't saved me from the Estraneos," I burst out, anger reaching uncontrollable levels.

"Excuse me?" he asked. "Who was the one thanking me for saving them? Who was the one happily talking with her new friends only hours ago?!"

"If you killed me back then, I wouldn't have to deal with all this pain!" I shrieked with everything I had left in my lungs. My heart raced with fury as tears streamed down my face. I slid to the ground, crying silently. "I don't want this… I didn't want any of it, Papa…"

"I know, Ami," he said, walking over to me, putting a hand on my leg. "I wish there was another way."

"Papa, the watch!" I realized. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's fine," he said. "You don't have to participate if you're this upset."

"But what if you don't win because of me?" I asked. "It'll be all my fault-"

He shook his head. "It won't be your fault, I promise."

"Papa, I'm sorry…" I said, wiping away the tears in my eyes. "I shouldn't have said those things."

"Neither should I," he said.

"I was just really mad and upset-"

"All is forgiven," he promised. "Will you be all right…?"

I nodded. "I'll make it," I said. "Like I always have."

He looked at me with a terribly despondent expression. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."

"Damn Checker Face to hell."

"That's my girl!"

We laughed awhile, then fell into horrible silence.

I stayed in my apartment the remaining two days of the battles. I barely at and I barley slept. Papa and the rest came to say goodbye on the last day of the battle, which made me cry even harder than planned.

This was all very weird to me, crying. I never cried much before this, but now that the people I actually cared about were going away, my bottled up emotions just spilled out of my eyes constantly.

I finally stopped when it became too hard to see. My eyes were so red and puffy, I could barely distinguish anything.

I began to think about how I would move on in my life. I'd have to find a job and quickly, one that actually paid. But how could I get a job when I could barely read and write Japanese?! What would happen to the prison and all the prisoners still inside of it?

There was too much to think about, I almost exploded with anxiety.

But then, something happened.

I sat up on my bed, just waking up from a nap when I heard a knock at my door.

"Who could that be...? I don't know anyone..." I asked to myself, stretching.

I got up, yawning loudly, and walked over to my front door.

The person knocked again, but this time, louder.

"Alright, alright," I said, unlocking the door.

As I swung open, two very small arms embraced me immediately.

"I'm alive," he said.

"Pa-Papa...?" I asked, looking down. His face looked burned. "Papa, how-"

"It's a miracle!" he said, floating inside. "All of the current and former Arcobaleno are still alive."

I shut the door behind me, absolutely stunned. "Jager-kun?" I asked. "Pino-kun? All of them?!"

"Yes!" he said. "And I got my curse removed. Well, technically all of the Arcobaleno did..."

He was right; there was no pacifier around his neck.

"Papa!" I sniveled, tears of joy streaming down my face. "You're alive!"

I hugged him again, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

"But why didn't you turn back to normal?" I asked. "You're still a baby."

"But I won't be forever," he replied. "I'll grow like a normal person... Again."

I laughed, hugging him still once more. "I can't believe it!" I said. "You're alive!"

"And we got our revenge against Checker Face, too."

"What?!" I asked. "You killed him?"

"No, but we abolished the whole Arcobaleno Cycle, leaving him humiliated. And that's not even the best part!"

"What? What?" I asked, intrigued.

"We get to watch over the Tri-Ni-Sette from now on!" he said. "We decide what happens with the pacifiers, not Checker Face!"

"This went from the worst day ever to the best day ever," I said, wiping away the tears from my eyes.

"Speaking of watching over the Tri-Ni-Sette..." he said. "I think I may have a new job for you."

"More work to do...?" I groaned. "I swear, if you make me do paperwork, I will go ahead and kill myself right now."

He laughed, "No, it's not paperwork. But you'll be acting as the Ambassador to the Vongola." He paused, looking at me to see if I understood him so far. I nodded for him to keep going. "I want you to keep an eye on the Vongola Rings. I'm not worried about the Mare Rings because the Family is run by the former Arcobaleno boss, but the Vongola Rings... They're some shady characters like Rokudo Mukuro in that Family. If anyone steps out of line, you will have full authority to arrest them, but you'd also be their friend. Basically a neutral party that will act as a Vongola or a Vindice when needed."

"Cool, so it's like I'm a spy or, like, an undercover agent," I said, excited. Really, anything was better than paperwork. "When do I start?"

"Well, I'll need to ask the Vongola first," he said, laughing at my eagerness.

"You haven't told them yet?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I just thought of it a while ago," he said. "Today has kind of been a busy day, in case you haven't noticed."

"Ok, yeah, sorry," I said. "Forgiven."

"So go back to the prison and take out the file on the Vongola," he said. I groaned. "Oh, be quiet. It isn't paperwork, its research."

"I hate reading," I complained. "Wait… Is it in Italian or Japanese?"

"I think it's in Italian," he said, "but I'm not sure."

"Well, if worse comes to worse I'll have Jager-kun read it to me," I said. "Oh, yeah! They're all alive! I need to go say hi! Bye, Papa!"

I warped out and back to the prison.

The rest of the Vindice scurried around the prison madly, looking for files and cleaning out one of the spare rooms for the new contraption that abolished the Arcobaleno Cycle. Since everyone seemed busy, I decided to go get the Vongola file and read it until the prison calmed down. Papa warped in right as I opened it.

"What did they say?" I asked in anticipation. He looked at me, confused. "The Vongola people!"

"I haven't asked them yet," he said simply.

"Then what were you doing?!" I asked.

"Thinking," he said, "about when to ask them."

"Can't you do it now?" I asked.

"No, most of them are gravely injured," he said. "They need time to recover."

"You're gonna make me explode with anxiety," I grumbled.

He sighed and asked, "Well, have you welcomed everyone back yet?"

"No, they're all busy," I said, holding up the file. "So I grabbed this. Who is the Vongola Family anyway? Am I supposed to be friends with a bunch of old people or something?"

He laughed. "Just look at the file. Oh yeah, is it in Italian?"

I opened it briefly and closed it again. "Yeah, I'm good."

"That's good," he said. "I'm going to go check on what everyone else is doing. Read."

"I am, I am," I said, waving him out.

I sat back in the chair and put my feet up on the ottoman in front of me. As I opened up the file, I stared at the Vongola Crest for a while, not wanting to turn the page. Eventually, I gave in and started reading.

Three columns of three pictures lined the second page with one extra at the bottom center. This page was entitled: The Ten Generations of Vongola.

The first boss was a very handsome man with blonde spiky hair that I felt like I'd seen somewhere before. I went on to look at all the others and even saw that there was a girl boss at one point. The very last picture stumped me. It was a picture of a boy around my age with the same hair as the first boss. Not just the hair, they looked almost exactly alike.

"Where have I seen this guy before…?" I wondered aloud. I gasped, suddenly realizing it. "Cake-shop guy?! The one with Reborn?! What was his name…? Sa… Sawada? Yeah, Sawada Tsunayoshi, that's it. I knew he had something to do with the mafia… Wait… Does that mean all of them were in the Vongola?!"

I quickly flipped through the history of the Vongola to get to the current information. Tsuna's picture was at the top and his name printed under in impressive calligraphy that was very hard to decifer. Seven other pictures under him with names in the same script lined the page. I only saw one person I knew: Chrome.

"Chrome-san?" I asked. "She's the Mist Guardian? Well, one of them, it looks like."

"Of all the people I could've met, why did they have to be mafia?" I asked.

The next couple of pages went on to describe each of the Guardians and their history.

I decided that today, I'd just focus on learning all the current members names, faces, and Guardian title.

There was a silver haired boy named Gokudera Hayato who looked like a rebellious punk and served as the Strom Guardian. The next picture was of a plain looking boy with the name of Yamamoto Takeshi who functioned as the Rain Guardian. After him was the Lighting Guardians, a little boy around the age of five. He sported an afro and cow-ish attire with the name of Lambo. There were two Mist Guardians in the Vongola family who both looked so strikingly similar, I wondered if they were related. The boy had blue hair and heterochromia and the other was Chrome, who mysteriously had the same hairstyle as the boy named Rokudo Mukuro. The next person had dark black hair, dull blue eyes, and an unamused expression. Hibari Kyoya was his name and he was the Cloud Guardian. The last Guardian, was the Guardian of the Sun, a boy with white hair and a bandage over his nose named Sasagawa Ryohei.

"Sasagawa…?" I asked. "Wasn't that Kyoko-san's last name?"

I wondered if they were also related somehow.

I continued to go over the names, faces, and titles over and over again until I remembered them all completely without hesitation.

"Whew," I said, flopping the file on the ottoman. "That wasn't so bad."

My eyes suddenly turned to the file once more. I leaned in closer and turned to the second page. My gaze fell to the last picture, Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"What is that feeling I get when I look at him…?" I asked myself, sensing it again. "It's not as bad as I thought before…"

My stomach felt warm inside and tingled slightly. His picture just made me want to smile.

"What is it?!" I asked, getting frustrated and closing the file abruptly.

I started racking my brain for any possibility on what emotion I could be feeling right now.

"Oh," I said, figuring it out. "I think I have hope for the first time… Hope for what, though?"

I didn't understand it either.

(I do not own any of the Kateyko Hitman Reborn! characters. This was made for entertainment purposes and no copyright is intended.)