AN: Yet another chapter for this "one-shot". There is implied suicide in this one, take that warning as you will.

I have never been to Japan, so it's safe to say I'm not Akira Amano and thus do not own KHR

Mammon never wanted to see her so vulnerable again. She was Varia. Varia weren't supposed to be fragile, vulnerable... hover so close to death.

They were hovering at the end of Nuage's bed in the infirmary, watching the unconscious girl. Her long auburn hair, wavy from being bound by a braid for so long, rested against the white sheets of the bed, the vibrant color seemingly gone. White bandages climbed up her pale arms; leather shackles bound her wrists to the bed. Her blue eyes, arguably the most noticeable thing about her, had been closed for hours, leaving her face at a false peace.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Lussuria said, joining them at the foot of the bed.

"Myu." Mammon waited a moment before sighing. "Will she live?"

Lussuria nodded. "This time." He crossed his arms across his chest. Mammon let the silence stretch between them; neither needed to voice the unspoken truth. "You saved her life."

"I didn't heal her."

"You found her. Any longer, and there would have been nothing I could have done."

Mammon didn't answer. They floated over to the bedside table and settled down on it.

"I'm not sure when she'll wake up," Lussuria warned. "Or if she will."

"I'll wait. She owes me." They swung their feet over the edge of the table.

Lussuria sadly looked on the girl for a moment longer before walking away. "Let her recover before you drain her bank account, alright, darling?"

Mammon hummed, not taking their eyes off the Cloud.

The hours passed slowly, and the only ways they could tell the passage of time was Lussuria's frequent checks on Nuage's IV lines and the light that slowly crept towards the window. Squalo poked his head in for a few silent moments before leaving with a heavy sigh. Bel lingered for a longer time, quietly threatening the Cloud as he sharpened his knives, but when he left, the boy paused and grabbed the girl's hand. "The Prince has not given you permission to die, changeling," he hissed before releasing her hand and walking away with his shoulders hunched around his ears. "Don't let her die, Mammy" was the quiet whisper that reached their ears as the boy left.

They had no intention of allowing such an occurrence.

Time was money, yet they stayed by this girl's side for hours doing nothing. Every time the thought to leave crossed their mind, they kept thinking about the Varia's strangest assassin. The girl who kept track of her divisions expenses and turned in the reports without having to be asked. The girl who spent long nights helping Squalo with his own division paperwork when the paperwork he had to do has the Varia's de facto head took up too much of his time. The girl who had taught her division to fear anything smaller than them. The girl who read aloud and shared her adventures with them. The girl who would drag Belphegor to the roof to watch the sunrise and the stars come out.

Yet all of that was framed by the girl who had left behind one of the bloodiest hits the Varia had ever done with no explanation on why she felt the need to go above what was required. The girl who at times would look at them with cold eyes that forced them to remember that she was a killer. The girl who had quietly, viciously, raged against Don Vongola when she had learned why the Varia had no boss; they still didn't know if the old man had discovered all of her traps yet.

None of those memories lent a clue to why the girl balanced so precariously between life and death, to why she had chosen this path. They stayed by her side because she owed them an explanation, that's what they had chosen to go with.

It was sometime late at night when the girl, who had been so still for so long, moved. A hand pulled against the shackles restraining it, and her face twisted up and turned to the side. They didn't make a sound as the girl turned her head towards them and slowly opened her eyes. Blue eyes that they hadn't seen for hours looked at them. "Why?" Nuage croaked, eyes filling with tears.

"You haven't finished the book yet."

A tear fell, then another, and soon the girl was sobbing. They reached over and placed their tiny hand on the top of her head.