When Xanxus first woke up, the first thing he felt was rage, confusion and hurt.

Timoteo hadn't even tried to explain himself. Hadn't given him the decency of telling him the truth.

Instead the old bastard had frozen him in time for seven years and left him there to be forgotten about until he needed Viper's help and the miser refused to do so unless Xanxus was returned to them alive.

Which was why he was now in an isolated room, with his Sun fussing over him trying to treat extensive frost bite...among other things.

It was a miracle he was still sane with how much damage had been done and the pain he was in.

It took him a few moments to understand what the miser-trash was saying.

"The Three factions? You mean Devils, Fallen and the Angels? What of them?" asked Xanxus confused and irritated at the question.

"There is a healer that belongs to a neutral Sky that could fix up the worst of the damage and return you to Quality standards much faster than normal. However there is one small issue, which happens to be related to why Nono was willing to release you from the ice in the first place."

Seeing they had Xanxus' full attention, Viper told him the truth.

"The healer's Sky happens to be the missing daughter of Iemitsu Sawada, and she recently harmonized with Reborn. After a near miss with Federico, Nono finally realized someone was specifically gunning for his sons and wants to bring her back to the fold for insurance. The problem is that she's been missing for over a decade...until recently anyway."

Xanxus was in shock...even the Varia had been pulled off other contracts to find that kid and never came up with single clue what happened. And yet she had shown up again after managing to bond with the likes of Reborn.

No wonder the old fucker was nervous! He was likely worried the girl would create a famiglia of her own, since she had no ties to the Vongola save for some paltry blood connection! The sort of power required to draw Reborn in and harmonize was more than any other Sky had access to! Not even that bitch Luce (he was mostly basing his disdain from Viper's descriptions) had been able to pull that off!

"What's the catch?"

"The catch is that the Three Factions would prefer the girl stay a neutral party between them and would get really pissed off if the Vongola attempted to bring her back. And that's before the girl's boyfriend or the girl in question get involved. From what I was told, if they tried to force the issue it would be a bloodbath on the Vongola's side, rather than the other way around," said Viper bluntly. "However she has no animosity towards the Varia, so there's a chance she would let her secondary Sun heal your injuries."

"What makes you think she would be willing to help?"

"From the limited information Fon told us about her, she's more likely to claim you as an older brother figure once you two properly meet."

Xanxus...had to blink at that comment. What could the miser-trash mean by that?

As predicted, within five minutes of meeting Xanxus the odd Sky Ryuhime practically claimed him as an older brother figure. Even Vali liked him, which said a lot. The most mystifying thing was that almost immediately upon visiting the official apartment of the couple in order to meet Asia, Xanxus relaxed completely. As if he felt safe and secure there in a way Sky flames couldn't pull off.

Xanxus did not get along well with others. If anything he tolerated being around other Skies, though some made him want to rip their heads off for daring to enter his territory.

It was a complete mystery to everyone what was putting Xanxus at ease.

At least until Ddraig spoke up.

"I wasn't expecting the son of my previous wielder to show up like this."

Dead silence.

"Did you just say the son of the previous Red Dragon Emperor?" said Vali incredulous.

Ryuhime eyed Xanxus for a moment, before brightening when she realized his Flame signature bore a strong resemblance to Ddraig. Which meant that Xanxus could technically be considered her big brother in a way.

"Is that why Boss acts like a dragon?" asked Squalo.

"The last idiot who had me thought it was a brilliant idea to sacrifice his dick in order to make it more like a dragon... likely under some belief that it would make it more impressive. Soon after he was killed off by the Fallen because he couldn't adjust to the change in his mating instincts and he pissed her off when he couldn't take a hint. However I do recall he tried to slate the urge by using prostitutes and I doubt that any human contraceptive would have helped prevent a pregnancy," said Ddraig. You could practically feel the eye-roll when he described what his previous user had done to his genitals.

The blond storm who felt like royalty eyed Xanxus with interest.

"Ushishishi...are you telling us that the Boss is technically half-dragon?"

"It's a distinct possibility. His signature closely resembles mine because of that idiot's actions, so any dragon that comes near him would assume he was born of my bloodline. There is a chance he might be able to turn into a dragon if he put his mind to it, but it would cause permanent side effects and he would never be fully human again," said Ddraig.

"Voi...the boss is already a dragon in human form. What sort of side effects are we talking about?" asked Squalo.

"A strong preference for meat, alcohol, a rather worrying tendency towards having territorial instincts and an increased fire-resistance. The more of his dragon blood he awakens, the more pronounced the changes will become. Oh, and it would be necessary to develop a large hoard and a dwelling for him to lord over without question."

Dead silence.

Squalo looked at Lussuria, who looked more amused than anything.

"Ddraig, was it? What would happen if someone with Sky flames were to attempt to order Boss-honey about?" asked Lussuria. From the sound of it, the dragon bloodline in Xanxus had already awakened, but he had no training in how to use it properly.

"It would only end badly. Dragons are apex predators so the idea of submitting to a weaker species would grate against our instincts. Sharing a den with them would only work temporarily, however once puberty hits and they reach the mating age they would be highly likely to lash out," said Albion.

Squalo twitched.

"You mean to tell me that fucking coup was caused by the Boss' dragon instincts lashing out at having to listen to Nono's bullshit and Sawada's crap about how he's supposed to be grateful to the Vongola?!"

Vali looked at Xanxus seriously.

"Did your instincts settle down once you took over the Varia and became their unofficial king?"

Xanxus blinked.

"Once everyone got it in their heads that I was the new Varia Boss, a lot of my migraines and stress seemed to drop to nothing," said Xanxus. "Then I found out the fucker had lied about being my father and didn't have the decency to tell me after raising me to be another heir of the Vongola and I just lost it."

"So why did you come here anyway?" asked Vali.

"Nono had Boss on ice for seven years. Viper heard you have a competent healer as one of your Guardians, and we were hoping you were at least impartial enough to the Varia to help him," said Lussuria.

"What do you think Asia?" asked Ryuhime.

"I can try. I've never healed over injuries that old before."

"If you could deal with even a fraction of the pain and stiffness, that would be enough. I just want to be back to Quality standards before the old man learns I found you first," said Xanxus. Something about the blond made him curb the worst of his language and behave.

Asia summoned her Sacred Gear...(and her wings)...once Ryuhime nodded.

Xanxus couldn't help his jaw dropping from shock at seeing a literal angel in front of him.

"Voi...you have an angel as your secondary Sun Guardian?!" said Squalo.

Vali looked at Asia with interest.

"When did Micheal convert her?"

"Last week. Officially she's their envoy for the only neutral party acceptable between the Three factions and the one in charge of the church in Kuoh."

Asia concentrated on healing Xanxus...and there was a lot of damage done. It was a miracle he would make a mostly full recovery from his ordeal.

"How exactly did you end up as a neutral party between the Three Factions?" asked Viper.

Fon looked irritable about that.

"I introduced her to Azazel and Vali, and things spiraled from there because she was only surviving in the dragon lands. Someone had to reintroduce her to humans. Since she would never fit in as an Angel and no sane person would want her to join a peerage, Azazel suggested she act as a neutral party between the three groups since she wouldn't automatically be biased and was strong enough to handle anyone having a pissing contest. Considering the stalemate between them since the war, the Devils and the Angels agreed that it might be better to have an outside opinion available during disputes," said Fon.

"She would have been wasted as a mafia boss," said Reborn. "The lack of decent Skies and the sheer arrogance of the Vongola would have ruined her full potential."

Xanxus didn't dispute that one bit. Most female Skies were pressured to marry early to hopefully pop out more Sky brats. And forget about her Guardians...all three of his brothers had suck-ups following them pretending to be bonded.

To say nothing of the crap Iemitsu called training. Xanxus had seen the man's apprentice and that kid had either lost touch with reality entirely or had been openly brainwashed into believing that fucker Sawada was the second coming of Christ!

It took him a moment to realize that the aches and pains of being frozen were all melting away along with the stress that had built up.

Once the light faded, and Asia sat primly with her wings folded neatly behind her, Xanxus made a fist.

It was as if he hadn't spent the last seven years frozen in an ice cube, captured in stasis.

Lussuria checked him over and was delighted to find that their Sky was doing far better than even they could have hoped for.

"Voi...what do we owe you?" asked Squalo, his expression full of relief.

"Just keep the Vongola off our ass until Ryuhime is officially acknowledged as the neutral arbiter of the Moonlit World. They won't be able to force her to join their famiglia if the Vindice know that she's already claimed by someone stronger than a human organization," said Fon promptly.

"Deal," said Xanxus.

"So big brother...how would you like the ability to hide from the Vongola without them realizing that you're in another realm entirely, while still being able to do your job?" chirped Ryuhime wickedly.

"Big brother?" said Xanxus amused. Looks like Viper had hit that nail on the head.

"Well you are of Ddraig's human bloodline, so that technically makes you family," chirped Ryuhime. "Besides, you smell more dragon than human so clearly your bloodline kicked in early enough that you developed all the right instincts. Vali tries, but he still needs Albion's help to understand a dragon's prerogative for hoarding and claiming territory."

It would be nice to have someone clarify all the instincts and urges he had. It had taken him years to figure out what drove him to do certain things that resulted in a harsh reprimand from the old fucker or Sawada.

"Voi...so how do we make sure Nono and his Guardians can't harass Boss again?" asked Squalo.

"With a dragon's gate," said Vali. "Anyone of sufficient power can pull it off, and you can literally come here within seconds and then back to Italy just as quickly so long as you know what you're doing."

"Rather hard to harass someone or make demands on your territory if they can't find you and you leave your cell phone behind," said Ryuhime wickedly.

The impish gleam in Xanxus' eyes made it clear he was all for that idea. After all, the Vongola don couldn't piss him off if he couldn't contact him.

Odds were that the men would be more than happy to burn any demands made by Nono and give him fair warning if the old man or his Guardians came around.

Xanxus found it incredibly relaxing to be around Ryuhime and Vali. While they all had dragon instincts, it was strangely easy to get along since their territories didn't clash and they showed him more respect than he had ever gotten in the Cosa Nostra.

On an unrelated note, Xanxus soon became a very familiar figure around Kuoh. The other officers still hadn't stopped teasing Belphegor because Ryuhime kidnapped him since he was an actual prince.

They spent most of that weekend watching random anime and playing games before Xanxus came to pick him up, citing that Belphegor was part of his hoard and he wanted him back.

(Did not stop the blond prince from showing intense interest in the dragon princess.)