Welcome to Lambo's Corner!

I'm finally about done with the next chapter of True Strength. My mind had gone completely blank but it's starting to gain some color. I will have that up in a few days once a few corrections are made. Thank you all for your lovely reviews and words of encouragement. They truly mean the world to me!

I've read a few A-Z stories and decided to do my own with Lambo as the main character. Obviously. Lol, most will be hurt/comfort but I think I might try my hand at humor again. Maybe! Not sure, yet but we'll see.

I used Grammarly to go over this but I'm sure I left some mistakes along the way. As always, I'll go over it with better eyes at a later time. If you see something that needs major correcting, please let me know.

Disclaimer: I do not own these great characters!

Without further ado, A is for…


As soon as Lambo has taken off his shoes, he runs up the stairs to his room; shouting a quick greeting to his mama and an excuse of needing to do his homework. Once inside, he makes sure his door is locked, -not that it would keep his brothers out if they wanted in- and goes to sit on his bed.

With a nervous gulp, he clicks on the email app on his phone and pulls up the newest message. The email address is a name he knows all too well, one he had hoped never to see again. It had really surprised him when he'd felt his phone vibrate and had seen the alert; he'd been a nervous wreck for the rest of the day.

He has his finger above the email, wondering if he should open it but then chastises himself; it's not like it will explode when he opens it. He pauses then shakes his head. Nah, as advanced as the Bovino weapons are, there is no way they can implement bombs into emails…not yet at least.

He opens the email and immediately knows he won't like what he is about to read just by the greeting.

Dear Little Lambo,

Lambo tightens his grip on his phone, remembering all the times his cousin had called him that just before inflecting some kind of pain. Timo is six years older but had been acting like an adult ever since Lambo could remember. When Lambo had been kicked out of their Famiglia, effectively eliminating him as heir, Timo had taken his place.

The eleven-year-old didn't care about that anymore, though, not since having found his place with the Vongola. But it is a constant reminder of how easily he'd been replaced by his own family and it stung a bit to this day. Lambo shakes his head not wanting to get too deep into those thoughts and continues to read.

You might not remember me but my name is Timo Bovino, the future head of the Bovino Famiglia. I hope everything is going well for you with Vongola. Although I'm yet to understand why they keep someone as useless as you around, I hope you aren't kicked out anytime soon.

I won't waste my time talking about stupid things so I will get to the reason I'm contacting you. In a few months' time, I will be celebrating my 18th birthday which means there will be quite a celebration planned. Many families will be invited, as will Vongola, in order to strengthen our alliance. We have just about everything ready but I'm afraid I need something from you."

Lambo tries to control his trembling but it is futile. He knows something bad is coming and he knows he won't be able to escape from whatever it is.

Six years ago, you took something that belongs to me and I need it back. When you went off on that ridiculous mission to kill Reborn, you took my Bovino brooch. You know which one, the one that only the heir can wear. I know you still have it and I want it back.

Timo is right, Lambo did still have it. Even after six years, he still couldn't throw away that stupid brooch; the only thing left connecting him to the Bovinos. He looks towards his closet where he knows the brooch is located, resting inside a small box. The pre-teen knows he should have gotten rid of it a long time ago but he'd somehow still held on to the hope that his family would want to talk to him someday. The brooch was the only proof he had of ever having mattered; of being somebody important.

While it had been passed down a couple of generations, they could easily have a jeweler make another one; there was no need to take his. If Lambo could be replaced as easily as he'd been then a brooch shouldn't be a problem.

As you know, important things cannot be easily replaced.

Ouch, Lambo thinks as his heart aches. Apparently, the brooch held more value than he did in their eyes. He doesn't think it should hurt but somehow it does. It doesn't matter how much distress they caused him or how little they thought of him but he had still been a part of their family.

I will be visiting some associates in Namimori next Saturday and I want you to meet me at the park afterward around noon; you know which park. I expect you to bring my brooch without fail. If you are late or do not show up, I will be extremely disappointed, Little Lambo.

The email ends with an electronic signature followed by the Bovino emblem. At this point, Lambo is a shaking mess. He'd been ordered by the Bovino heir to deliver the brooch in person. Lambo will have to see his cousin once more and he's terrified.

The last time he saw Timo, the boy had laughed with his friends as Lambo had prepared to leave on his suicide mission. They had pushed him around, taunted and…they had caused his heart to ache. Nothing good ever happened whenever Timo was around and Lambo knew this time wouldn't be any different.

For a split second Lambo wonders what would happen if he doesn't show up but immediately dismisses the idea. Timo will find him and make him suffer even more if he doesn't deliver the brooch as ordered. He could always ask Tsuna to go with him but that would make him look incredibly weak. No, he had to do this himself.

He stands up and walks to his closet to retrieve the object of his misery. Lambo sets up his stepping stool and climbs up to reach behind some blankets. He slowly pulls out the small box and flips open the lid, revealing a silky blue scarf. After a slight hesitation, he carefully removes the scarf and holds his breath as the shiny gold brooch appears; still in perfect condition.

It has been three years since he'd last held it; gold brooch with the Bovino emblem. It was weird how such a small thing could cause him so much discomfort.

He is about to step down when a loud laugh surprises him; startling him so bad, he drops the brooch with a gasp as he loses his balance. He quickly reaches for something to grab unto but only accomplishes in grabbing the blankets to stop from falling. He grabs hold simply to take them along to the floor.

"Oomf!"

"Lambo, are you ok?"

He tries to calm down but his nerves are on the fritz. The young Lightning Guardian quickly picks himself up before answering, "Fine!"

He hopes that will be enough to send Tsuna on his way but of course, Tsuna definitely heard the slight crash.

"Great; can you open the door, please?"

Even though it is phrased as a question, Lambo knows he doesn't have much of a say so he takes a couple of deep breaths as he makes his way to the door. He closes his eyes and takes one last and very deep breath before opening the door.

Tsuna takes one look at his brother and knows something is wrong. Lambo looks pale. His teary eyes and not to mention the fear the Tenth can see let him know his guardian needs help. Not that Lambo will willingly ask for help, he rarely does.

One glance around his room and it's obvious what caused the loud bang. "Are you hurt?"

Not yet, Lambo wants to say but instead shakes his head. "I fell off the stepping stool but I'm ok."

Tsuna shakes his head fondly as he makes his way to the closet to help with the fallen blankets.

"I came up to ask if you wanted to go get dinner with us. Hayato's in the mood for Italian but Takeshi wants Mexican. What do you feel like having tonight?"

"I'm not really hungry. I figured I'd do my homework and go to sleep early."

Tsuna stops folding the blanket and gives Lambo a concerned stare. "Did you hit your head when you fell? You know there are no classes tomorrow, right? Maybe I should take you to the doctor to get examined."

Lambo rolls his eyes but a small smile graces his face, "I'm fine, Tsuna-nii; just tired."

Tsuna is about to say something else when he spots something shiny from the corner of his eye. He turns and sees the brooch with the Bovino emblem next to the closet door. Lambo notices where he's staring and immediately picks it up, hiding it behind his back with a guilty look. Tsuna can see how uncomfortable his brother is and completely misunderstands.

"Lambo, you don't have to hide that. I understand they're still your family, we won't be upset if you want to keep something from them."

Those words only make the eleven-year-old feel worse for keeping the email a secret. He doesn't say anything, instead, continues to stare at his feet.

When Lambo doesn't say anything, Tsuna sighs, "I'll save you a plate for when you get hungry, ok?"

Lambo nods, still not looking up at his brother. Tsuna smiles as he puts the blankets back in the closet. He picks up the small box and puts the scarf inside then hands it to Lambo.

"Make sure to get some rest, little brother." Tsuna heads to the door then looks back, "You know you can tell me if there's anything bothering you, right?"

Lambo nods, knowing he can't keep his feelings a secret from his big brother. "Thanks, Tsuna-nii."

Once Tsuna leaves, Lambo lets out a relieved sigh. Tsuna isn't stupid, Lambo knows his older brother suspects something is off but he's better off not knowing exactly what. There's no telling what he or his other brothers would do if they found out he had received a threatening email from his cousin. As much as he would love for Timo to get a taste of his own medicine, the last thing he wants is to ruin an already strained alliance.


The week after receiving the email, Lambo is a complete mess. His anxiety is so off the charts, his brothers worry Lambo is going to have a heart attack at any moment.

They try asking what's wrong to which Lambo denies anything is. He insists he's nervous about the upcoming test which only causes Reborn to tutor him extra hard.

After the test, which he passed with almost a perfect score, he blames his anxiety on some bullies. Lambo almost feels guilty about some of his classmates getting the scare of their lives, compliments of angry brothers, but they'd been annoying him anyway so it's well deserved.

On Friday, Lambo can't sleep at all. He's beyond paranoid, thinking Timo is right outside his house, waiting for him to come out. The past few days, he barely ate since he wasn't keeping anything down. He was hungry, tired and scared for his life; couldn't Timo just get it over with?

His brothers tried to get to the bottom of things but Lambo avoided them like the plague. When they had cornered him the day before, Lambo had passed out from pure exhaustion. When he'd woken up, he'd kept them at bay with the excuse that he'd been feeling sick.

Mama had been so worried, she had tried taking him to the hospital immediately but Lambo had managed to convince her otherwise. Not completely convinced, Mama had made him swear to let her know if he felt worse.

Lambo couldn't wait to get Saturday over with. His nerves couldn't take much more of this torture. He wondered if this was why Timo had given him a week, to completely freak him out.

Saturday finally arrives. Lambo skips breakfast with the excuse of needing to go to the library to work on a project for school, which he's sure nobody believes but is glad when he doesn't get asked any questions.

He spends his morning throwing up in a bathroom at the local bakery. His nerves are going haywire and he can't stop himself from trembling. Even after six years, his cousin still has the power to make him sick to his stomach from fear. He subconsciously rubs his left wrist; the one Timo had fractured when he'd only been three.

He takes a tentative sip of his hot chocolate while looking at the clock. If he expects to be at the park early, he needs to leave now but he can't make his legs move. No, he's lying. His legs are actually shaking nonstop. After some more inner-struggling, he manages to stand up and walk out the bakery with a slight wave to the lady behind the counter.

He makes it to the meeting spot with fifteen minutes to spare and sits down on a bench facing the lake. It looks so calm unlike everything going on in his head.

He knows this is the park Timo was talking about without having needed to ask because this is the spot where Lambo last saw his father two years ago. This is probably the only park Lambo would never willingly visit as Bovinos tend to frequent it; Timo knows Lambo would rather be anywhere else than here which makes the young Lightning Guardian resent his cousin a bit more.

Lambo is breathing fast, his hands shaking as anxiety fills him once more. The Vongola teen is terrified of what's to come but maybe it won't be so bad? Perhaps Timo will just ask for the brooch and leave. Or perhaps Timo won't show up at all and say Lambo can keep it! Perhaps, Lambo groans, he should have brought Tsuna after all.

The Lightning Guardian sighs, he'll be seeing his cousin for the first time in six years; his psychotic cousin. Lambo can remember each time he'd been hurt at Timo's hands, some he wishes he could forget completely.

"Little Lambo, there you are."

Lambo tenses and hopes to all that's holy that this doesn't hurt as much as he thinks it will. He slowly stands up and looks to the direction where the voice came from and instantly feels his blood go cold. He immediately recognizes his cousin; dressed in a fancy suit along with a cocky grin but that's not what scares him; it's not even the bodyguards following behind. No, it's the woman standing next to Timo that sends his heart into a beating frenzy.

"Mother…" He whispers with wide eyes. The woman who'd brought him into this world is as beautiful as ever; wearing a business suit and looking as intimidating as ever, her long black hair swaying smoothly with the slight breeze.

"Hey, Little Lambo, it's been a long time." Timo greets with a smile which raises all sorts of red flags within Lambo. His cousin steps forward and pulls the smaller boy into a hug which causes Lambo to completely tense.

The Bovino plants a kiss on his cheek and whispers into his ear, "Still ugly, I see."

It takes all his strength not to say anything in return, knowing he'll just suffer more for it. He looks to where his mother is standing with a bored expression; looking everywhere but at him. He knows she won't make the first move so he does.

"Hello, Mother. How, um," He gulps. "How are you?"

Lady Bovino pulls out her cell phone and ignores him before turning to Timo, "Are you almost finished, my dear nephew? I sure detest this foul odor; you know how this stench makes me sick."

Lambo feels his heart sink even though he knew this is what would happen. Timo laughs, "Almost, Auntie," He turns to Lambo, "My brooch?"

Lambo slowly pulls out the golden brooch and stares at it for a second before hesitantly handing it to his cousin.

"Ah, it's been such a long time since I last saw you." He states with glee while giving the brooch an examination.

Lambo looks back to his mother, hoping she'll at least give him a quick glance but the woman seems to be completely unaware of his presence.

Just like old times…

After a minute or so, Lady Bovino seems to grow tired of the staring because she turns to glare at the small boy, "What are you staring at, you filth?"

Lambo flinches as if physically struck and shakes his head, "I'm sorry, it's just been a long time since I last saw you and-"

"Not long enough. I honestly thought you'd be dead by now."

Well, that hurt. Lambo can already feel his eyes begin to water which causes Timo to laugh.

"You really haven't changed, have you? Poor Little Lambo, still a crybaby."

"I'm not a crybaby!"

Timo narrows his eyes, "Did you raise your voice at me?"

"Learn your place, you ingrate!"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Lambo asks with a broken heart before he can stop himself. His eyes widen, covering his mouth but it's too late. Lady Bovino is enraged; her eyes blazing with hatred.

Lambo doesn't move when she approaches him, doesn't cry out when the familiar slap almost makes his head spin. He silently puts his hand on his cheek and looks back at her with fearful eyes.

"Because you were born to me," She states with deadly calm. "You were born and never reached the potential we had expected from you. When you failed your mission with Reborn, I had an assassin ready to take you out, you know. You would have been dead if you hadn't gotten involved with Vongola."

Lambo stares, not believing what he's hearing. His own mother wanted him…dead?

"I wait for the day you take your last breath and leave me alone for good."

She turns, her hair swaying with such elegance Lambo wonders how he could be related to her. She doesn't take a step further, however, when somebody blocks her way.

Lambo stares at the scene and is curious to know if life simply hates him. Standing there in front of his mother is none other than Mama along with Tsuna and his other brothers.

"Hello, I'm Nana Sawada. I'm Lambo's mother."

Lambo feels like he's going to have a heart attack, does she not know who she's speaking to? Oh, of course, she doesn't. And why the hell are they here? Lambo gives his brothers a questioning glance but nobody is looking his way until Tsuna turns.

"Lambo, are you ok?" Tsuna asks with a frown. The young Lightning Guardian nods since he's too afraid to say anything in front of his mother and Timo. He doesn't want to get slapped in front of his Famiglia.

"Decimo, it is so nice of you to join us. If I'd known I was going to see you, I would have brought a gift," Timo says with a smile, putting himself in between his aunt and Nana just as Tsuna does the same. "Unfortunately, Lady Bovino and I were just leaving."

"I'm sure you can wait a few more minutes. I want to know why a member of your family thought it would be a nice idea to touch a member of my Famiglia. I tolerate many things but nobody lays a hand on my brother without consequence. I don't care who you are."

Damn, so they had seen that. Lambo takes a step forward, "Tsuna-nii, it was my fault. They didn't do anything wrong, honest."

Nana walks over to Lambo and wraps her arms around his trembling figure, "I'm sure you didn't do anything to deserve getting slapped, Lambo." She kisses his red cheek then turns to Tsuna. "Tsuna, Reborn-kun once mentioned Lambo's biological mother was quite beautiful," She turns to where Lady Bovino is clearly fuming and makes it obvious she's looking the woman over. "Are you sure that's her because I don't see it." She says with a smile.

"You repulsive fool, how dare you to speak to me in such a way?!"

"How dare I? Well, you seem to not only lack beauty but intelligence as well seeing as you have to resort to physical violence to appear superior. Oh, my, hitting a child to make you feel better is quite…repulsive, don't you think?"

"Auntie, it's time to go." Timo orders without breaking eye contact with Tsuna. Lambo can see he'll be quite the authoritarian boss. "I'll be seeing you around, Decimo. We'll talk about consequences at a later time."

They begin to walk away but Timo stops then turns to Lambo, "You know, Little Lambo," He takes out the brooch from his pocket, looking at it with disgust. "I don't think this is up to my standards after all. I'll just use the one Auntie had specially made for me." He says before throwing it as far as he can into the lake.

"No!" Lambo shouts.

"Why you-"

"Hayato," Tsuna stops his best friend from attacking the Bovino heir. "It's his brooch; he can do whatever he wants with it."

Lambo stares into the lake, wondering how he can get his precious item back as Timo laughs. "Goodbye, Vongola, have a nice day."

Lambo turns to watch his cousin and mother walk away, not sure how he should feel. Mama wraps him in her arms and Lambo can feel her tears on his shoulder.

"Mama, I'm ok. Please, don't cry."

"Oh, my baby is so strong." She gently holds his face in her hands. "But you don't have to be when I'm here. I'm so sorry you had to go through that with that terrible woman."

Lambo can feel his lips begin to tremble, "That woman is my mom," He breaks into tears himself. "And she doesn't love me; she doesn't want me at all!"

Mama's hugs have always been able to make him feel better but it doesn't seem to be working right now. He cries into her chest as she holds him tightly; wondering if there's something wrong with him.

"Lambo, there is nothing wrong with you."

Great, he'd said it out loud.

"They're the ones with the problem. Anybody who can't see what an amazing young man you are is a complete dummy."

Lambo can't help it, he laughs. He'd been so anxious about seeing his cousin and then seeing his mom had made him scared sick. But right now, here in Mama's arms and her soothing words, all those feelings are going away.

He feels warm, safe, loved. What more could he possibly want?

"Thank you, Mama."

With a smile, Nana stands back up and places a kiss in his hair. "I love you, Lambo. I want you to remember that you're as much my son as Tsuna is."

Lambo wipes his tears away and nods, "I know. I love you too…mom."

Nana smiles once more then gasps, "Oh! I left the stove on when I ran out in search of Lambo. Tsuna, I trust you boys will take your brother home safely?"

At Tsuna's nod, Nana quickly makes her way home leaving Lambo with his brothers.

"Did she conveniently not hear anything to do with Mafia?" Gokudera asks with a frown.

Tsuna shrugs, "I think she was too worried about Lambo to pay attention to anything else."

"You did panic when you read the email, everyone else just panicked with you." Yamamoto laughs.

"You guys saw my email?"

Tsuna sighs, "We were worried about you Lambo. We all thought somebody was hurting you at school and I even had people keep an eye on you. When we realized it wasn't anyone there, we had to figure out why you were so anxious."

"We accidentally saw your emails on your computer and luckily we made it in time."

"You accidentally saw my emails? The same emails from the account I always log off from and the computer I always turn off before leaving my room? Those emails?"

"You didn't give us much choice, stupid! You should have just told us what was going on."

Lambo looks back towards the lake, "I was embarrassed. I didn't want you guys to know I still had my, um, the Bovino brooch. You all know how they treated me and would have laughed at me for still having it. When Tsuna-nii saw it, I felt really guilty, like I was betraying you."

"Lambo, you're our brother. No brooch is going to change that." Tsuna says kneeling down to look at his brother. "But if you want that brooch, I'll find a way to get it back for you."

With a shake of his head, Lambo offers a sad smile, "No, it really was just a brooch. They'll never accept me and I don't want them too, either. Not anymore, at least. I don't need them when I have a much better family."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that because" Tsuna puts his hand into his pocket and pulls something out. The Vongola boss gets Lambo's hand and places a brooch in it. This gold brooch doesn't have the Vongola emblem on it, instead, it's shaped as the emblem itself; much better than the Bovinos. "After I saw your old one I got the idea of getting our own."

Lambo stares at it with wide eyes, this was definitely much better; especially because this was coming from a place of love.

"Thank you, Tsuna-nii."

"You're welcome. Now, can you promise me that the next time you're threatened you'll let us know? We rather avoid any more surprises like this one."

Lambo laughs, "I can't promise anything but I'll try."

"You stupid cow, I'll kill you if you put us through another week like this one." Gokudera threatens.

"Tsuna-nii, Stupidera just threatened me!"

"Hayato, please don't threaten my brother."

"But Juudaime, he started it!"

"Haha! You got in trouble."

"Shut up, you freak!"

Lambo watches with amusement as his two brothers begin to fight, Tsuna worriedly trying to stop them. He wonders if he had been honest with his brothers from the beginning if maybe he wouldn't have suffered so much anxiety but it's too late to go back now.

He'll try to avoid ending up in this kind of situation again but he's the Lightning Guardian, trouble always finds him. Lambo could almost swear life enjoys watching him suffer. With a laugh, he joins his brothers and hopes he won't see Timo or his mo, um, Lady Bovino anytime soon.


A is for Anxiety

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and I'll try to get B up soon. Thank you very much for your support! See you next time in Lambo's Corner, you do not want to miss it!