Nothing but the sounds of battle echoed throughout the forest area. Swords clanked together, guns were fired, knives were thrown. The Varia was locked intensely in a fight they didn't see coming, and they were losing. Even with Xanxus on their side it was hard to take out all of them.

Belphegor was trying to get past the group of attackers so he could make his way to find his 7 month pregnant lover. He growled lowly as another man came at him from the right. He sliced his neck open and let him bleed out. Jumping over the body, he rushed up the stairs. "Fran! Where are you?" He called out as he searched around for any sign of his little frog.

Everyone else was out in the forest, but Bel got trapped in and lured away from Fran. "Dammit" He mumbled to himself and headed to another room.

Upstairs, the small green haired male hid in the closet in his room, he knew he wouldn't be able to fight them, and he didn't want to risk being hurt. He placed his hand on his swollen stomach. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. . .For Bel."

He looked down, closing his eyes. He knew how much Bel wanted to keep this child, so he vowed to his love he would keep it safe.

From near by, he heard an explosion, then windows smashing and the wall collapsing. "Shit." He thought to himself, hoping his prince was okay.

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen. "No. .not now." He wrapped his arms around his waist and hunched over. "The explosion must have triggered-" His thought was cut off when another wave of pain shot through his body.

He tried to soothingly rub his stomach to ease the tension, when suddenly there was a different painful feeling that tore through him. Only this time it was his chest. The illusionist placed his hand over his chest and felt a warm substance leak through his jacket.

Looking at the door, he noticed a small hole right in front of him, and realized he had been shot. He gasped quietly and stood up, trying to use an illusion to hide himself, but he was too weak and was quickly losing strength.

The door creaked open slowly and behind it stood a man dressed in an all black suit, holding a gun to Fran's head. Green eyes widened slightly. "B-Bel. ." He called out pathetically as his life flashed before his eyes. The man placed his finger on the trigger, but had no time to pull it.

A knife lodged itself into his neck and sliced his jugular. The enemy fell onto his side, dead within a few seconds. "Senpai." Fran turned happily towards the door to the room, there stood an angry blonde. "Fran." His face suddenly fell into a look of worry. The prince dashed over to his lover and held him tightly.

"I'm so sorry. . .I should have stayed with you and protected you. . ." He whispered into Fran's hair and rubbed his stomach comfortingly. "Bel. .I think my water broke." Fran murmured. "What? Now? It isn't even ready." The blonde looked down at him, a look of panic on his features.

"And I'm losing a lot of blood. I was shot." "Dammit." Bel cursed under his breath and laid Fran against the wall. Another painful contraction struck Fran, and he curled his legs up to his chest, or at least as far as he could get them.

"Ow." He cried out as quietly as he could be and gripped his stomach again. "Hang in there, okay Froggy? It'll be over soon." Bel stood to his feet and turned his head, surprised when he saw a man before him. The person in front of him held a few sticks of dynamite between his fingers.

"Gokudera?" Bel questioned, eyes widening a bit. "Hey." The silverette smirked as he lit the dynamites, throwing them outside and catching a few of the enemies. "It's about time you showed up!" They heard Squalo shout from a tree near by.

"Sorry we're late." The tenth Vongola boss commented as he flew down and blasted away a few other men. "Now it's even. Let's do this." Yamamoto clutched his sword in hand as he attacked.

It took about ten twenty minutes to finish off every one of the attackers, but with the help of their allies, the Varia was victorious. But by time it was all over, things weren't looking so well for the Varia's illusionist. Bel held him close in his lap and stroked his hair, trying to ease the pain.

Fran was feeling too weak to even show pain any more. His body felt numb and light. Blood pooled around the two men. Bel felt eyes well up in his eyes. He was scared of losing his love and child. "Please Fran. . ." He whimpered in his ear. "Please survive. I couldn't live without you. . ."

The smaller male shifted his eyes up, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry Senpai. . .I love you."

"Don't do that, don't you dare!" The prince yelled in agony, yet still wouldn't let his tears spill over, he was a hitman after all and had to be strong.

Lussuria ran over to the pair in order to assist them. "Lussuria hurry, please heal him." Bel begged his comrade. The sun guardian nodded and reached into his pocket for his box weapon, but Fran stopped him. "It's too late. . .I won't last much longer. . But there's still time to save the baby. .please Lussuria. .don't worry about me. . .just save it."

"Fran. . ." The blonde closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip. "Senpai. . .If you don't save it now. .it'll die along with me. . "

"No!" He shouted and held him tighter. "No I can't. . .I can't lose you. . ."

"Do it Bel. . so our child can know what it's like to live. . .you love it, don't you?" Bel paused a bit at his question, a bit shocked. ". . .Almost as much as I love you." Fran smiled gently and gripped Bel's hand as tightly as he could. "Then save it. . .And love it until it's your time."

After he said that, his eyes closed slowly as his grip on his lover's hand weakened. "And. . I love you too. .Bel-sen. .pa. . ." His voice faded out as he slipped into unconsciousness, his heart began to slow down to a stop.

"Lussuria hurry." Bel said frantically, standing to his feet. "Save my baby. Please." He handed Fran gently to his teammate, who nodded and headed off to the medical area, the prince following his lost princess right behind him.

Half an hour passed by, Bel sat in the hall in silence, waiting for any news from Lussuria. After waiting for so long, he finally heard a noise from inside the room. The sound of a baby crying. He stood to his feet and walked up to the door, pressing his ear against the wood curiously.

The sun guardian slowly opened it, causing Bel to back up. "Come on in. . Come see your son." He smiled to him softly, holding a tiny bundle of blanket that was creating the noise. The blonde slowly stepped forward and over to the man. He was handed the small bundle, and he looked down at the tiny face of his son, noticing blonde hair that stood out from his head.

A slight smiled etched into his face as he gently stroked the infant's cheek. "My son. . .Something so tiny and vulnerable. . something I need to protect. My precious little prince." Bel held his child closely and protectively near his face. "I love you. . "

His eyes shifted to the figure that lie unmoving on the bed in front of him. He walked over to the side and looked down at the face of his lover. He looked very transparent from all the blood loss, and his eyes were closed peacefully, as if he was just sleeping. The prince lightly traced his finger over his smooth cheek. He was still warm. "Fran. . ." Tears surfaced around the edges of his eyes again. His lover, his partner, his best friend, was gone.

"I'm proud of you" He smiled sadly. "You made such a beautiful creature. . .I promise I will take care of him." Lussuria placed his hand softly on Bel's shoulder. "What are you going to name him?" The blonde looked down as the baby slowly opened his eyes and peered curiously at his father. His eyes reviled a pair of bright emerald colored orbs. A smile spread across the new father's face. ". . .Kazu."

The funeral for the death of their second illusionist was harder than the first, for Bel at least. He kneeled down near Fran's grave, their son in his hands.

"I'm sorry Froggy. .Sorry I couldn't protect you. . ." He laid a rose on the freshly dug grave along with the wedding ring Fran had on. "I love you. . .And I always will. I'll never find any one like you."

He looked down when the infant started to stir in his arms. "Say goodbye to Mommy. . .Let's go home, Kazu."

~7 years later~

"Daddy!" A cheerful young child called from behind a large door. "Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" He shouted, puffing his cheeks out and folding his arms when his father didn't even make a noise. He decided to be the big boy he was and opened the door using all his strength to push the three times his weight, or at least that was what it felt like to him, door.

Once it was opened enough for him to be able to slip by, he ran into the room and jumped onto the figure that was rested under the covers. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" He bounced around happily until he heard a groan underneath him. "I'm up. I'm up. I'm up." the blonde man sat up and pulled his son into his lap to calm him.

"You always get up late for breakfast!" The boy said as he nuzzled his face into his father's chest. "I'm hungry!" Bel smoothed his hand over his son's blonde messy hair and smiled. "Okay Kazu. Let's go eat then." He picked the boy up and stood from his bed, then walked out of the room and headed downstairs.

Once he reached the kitchen, Lussuria was there to greet them. "Bel-chan~ Kazu-chan~ Good morning!" He smiled happily at them and sat down their plates at the table. Squalo grumbled as he finished off his meal. "Vooi! You're late again!"

"Shishishi. Sorry captain~" The blonde stuck his fork into his eggs and have the silver-haired lieutenant a grin. "Tch. . .I swear." Kazu looked up at Lussuria and gave him a huge grin. "Thank you for the breakfast grandmamma Luss~" The sun guardian squealed in happiness. "Oh you're welcome dear." He sighed softly and sat down in front of the boy.

"Your eyes remind me of your mother's." At the mention of Fran, Bel lowered his head and frowned. Even if it had been years since he died, it still hurt dearly.

"Daddy." Kazu pulled at Bel's sleeve. "Tell me about Mama."The boy looked up at his father with large curious eyes. "Well. . .he was an illusionist. .very tiny." He paused to snicker a bit. "But that was one thing that made him cute. He was very annoying, but deep down he was caring and loveable. . .He had the same color eyes that you have, and. . ." Bel looked away from Kazu.

"I know he loved you very much. .that's why he gave up his life so that you would be able to have one. . ." Kazu smiled and looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks Mama. Thanks for giving me life. I hope you can hear me. Even if you can't, it's okay! I hope you're at least happy, and I love you too Mama."

Bel bit down on his lip and stood up, not saying a single word before he turned towards the door and ran out the room and headed outside. All those years of keeping his feelings at bay finally caught up with him, and the dam broke. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he fell to his knees.

"Why Fran. . Why couldn't you have survived too. . .why couldn't we have been a family. .all three of us. ."

Kazu frowned as he watched his dad run out the door and let it shut behind him. "Is Daddy sad?" Lussuria sighed deeply and looked down. "Your mother was very important to him. I know he misses him very much. And I'm sure he's upset that he wasn't able to prevent him from dying. But he wants to be strong for you, so he doesn't allow you to see his real emotions."

"Oh." The blonde child looked down at his lap in sadness." Lussuria walked up behind Kazu and ruffled his hair. "Go talk to him. I'm sure you're the only one who can make him happy right now."

"Me? Why?" Kazu looked up at the older man. "Because he loves you very much, and he would do anything for you." He smiled softly at him. "Okay." Kazu grinned and jumped up out of his seat, heading out the door and walked up behind his father. "Daddy." He called quietly.

Bel turned around and wiped his eyes. "Ah. .Kazu. .I'm sorry you had to see me like this. . ." Kazu wrapped his arms tightly around his father and gave him a hug. "You don't have to try to look strong just for me. It's okay to be sad and cry. " He looked up at Bel, tears brimming his teal eyes. "Because. . I'm sad too. Sad that Mama isn't here, and because Daddy is hiding his feelings. But once I cry, I feel better. You'd feel better if you did it too." He smiled through tears and choked back a sob. "Kazu loves Daddy." He pressed his wet face against Bel's chest and sobbed quietly.

The prince looked down at his son and held him close. "I'm sorry. . I didn't mean to make you upset. .you're right. If I need to cry, I should. I love you too, Kazu."He stayed like that, holding his son close to him for at least three minutes as they cried their hearts out together.

". . .Bel, you really did turn out to be a great father, just like you wanted." A small, transparent figure stood a few feet behind the father and son, a gentle smile on his face. He went unheard and unseen, but was never forgotten. "I love you, Senpai. And you too, Kazu." The figure drifted off, fading into the cream colors of the sunlight, as if the illusionist was mearly an illusion.

Just as they always say, death brings forth new life.