Summary: Sawada Tsunayoshi has been blind since he was seven due to bullying. How can he cope with his loss? He doesn't know it yet, but with every dark cloud, comes a silver lining. His silver lining comes in awakening of sleeping abilities, a friend for life and a family that will never let him down. And with that, his gain by far outweighs his loss. (Auish, maybe BL?)

A/N: I actually got it out on Christmas? Yay! I think I have some mistakes here and there that I haven't managed to catch, so if you catch any, please point them out. The first chapter is shorter than I would've liked, but I couldn't push myself to write more. I hope no one feels the characters are too OOC. This is six years before KHR starts.

I used some Japanese in here, because some words in English just don't fit the Japanese equivalent as well as it should.

Anata- you, dear (although it means you, my friend's host family once told her that 'anata' could be used as 'dear' in an affectionate way too, and for some reason, it fit better in my head than 'dear' ever could)

For Jack Of Trade because it's her challenge I took up and Sapphermine, who helped me get out of my writing slump by discussing it with me. xDDD

Warnings: Future BL of the 1827 kind and other pairings I'm not certain on yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

He could hear the voices, murmuring and swirling about his head in a never ending cycle. He could hear his mom, sobbing fitfully near him. Mama he wanted to cry out. Mama, why are you crying? I'm sorry I got hurt so badly, he whimpered, so please don't cry.

But he couldn't open his mouth. Everything felt so, so numb yet sore. It didn't make any sense. Where was he? Why couldn't he see? Why could he only hear and why could he only hear his mama cry and beeping of a machine? The beeping of the odd machines was annoying and terrified him and reminded him of the time his grandfather died in hospital. He didn't like it much. He heard his papa's voice then, speaking with barely suppressed rage. He somehow knew the rage wasn't directed at him, but at someone else. Still, it terrified him and made him want to apologize over and over. Papa had always been calm and happy- never before had he been angry. Papa, he tried this time. Papa, help me! I don't want to be alone like this.

But still, no one answered. Suddenly, he felt so ashamed of himself. If only he watched where he was going and hadn't bumped into Kawada Satoshi and his friends after a normal school. If only he hadn't let them torture those poor rabbits. If only he didn't let them hurt him so badly. If only he defended himself, fought back harder, been a better good boy, let the normal school day stay a normal school day. Then Mama wouldn't be crying( Mama was always suppose to be happy, it's not right if she's sad), Papa wouldn't be mad(he still didn't know who he was angry at, but he shouldn't be) and he wouldn't feel so alone in an empty black space with the barest of shafts light and shadows to keep him company.

If only…if only

But still…he felt so tired…he…

…just…wanted…to…sleep…and forget...jusr for a moment...

Iemetsu watched over his family, with his normally happy, laid back looking face twisted into a pensive frown. The white hospital room was quiet, with only Nana's tearful sobs and the steady beeps of the machines breaking the silence. Their son lay in the hospital bed (half bald because they had to get rid of his hair in order to cut open his head and it looks so wrong to see those stitches standing out on smooth skin), so pale even against the white sheets, seemingly so very small while breathing through a mask and was attached to various machines and tubes that made his son look so very, very fragile- like a leaf that could be blown away by the wind at any given momentThe blonde man frowned- and that's what could've happened too, had they not found their son in time to get him to the hospital.

He clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm, as he thought about what had happened earlier on in the day. How dare they- how dare they hurt his son. How could they torture him like that? Iemetsu nearly snarled in rage. He had been there when they were out searching for Tsuna, who had been missing for five hours by then (Nana had frantically called everyone she could when Tsuna had gone missing for an hour but the police brushed her off and off till they realized, it had been five hours and Tsuna was gone without a trace- that didn't mean Iemetsu worked with them though).

He had seen the area where those brats- no monsters (they weren't kids. Kids were innocent- they would never thought of doing these kinds of things that adults could think up of) dragged his son into, a secluded forestry place in the park. He had seen the tortured rabbits, which looked like they've been mauled over and over, he had seen the blood- everywhere, on the monsters themselves and all over his little boy who wasn't screaming and wasn't breathing. He had heard his own screams of rage (ones that terrified the little monsters and good because if they were scared of death threats, they'd be absolutely terrified of what he'd do next) and remembered being held back by his own men and the arriving police, while the sirens of the ambulance screeched in the air. He had remembered his son, so pale with his face drawn in fear, even in his unconcious state, loaded onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, to be taken to the hospital. After that, everything became a blur of frantic movement and worry that clouded his mind.

And it had been such a normal day. Nana had cried her heart out in the hospital waiting room (and Iemetsu found himself helpless to comfort her. How could he was he saw all that blood, the look of fear all over his son's face, even in sleep), waiting for the red light to blink off. How could such a perfectly fine-normal day turn into such a nightmare, she had cried. Iemitsu knew how and yet he didn't , so he couldn't answer her question at all.

But then the light went off and the surgeons came out, a bit blood stained but looking rather relieved than solemn. They found out Tsuna would live but only when he awakens will they see if there were any other injuries to the brain. And everything, he hoped would be normal again.

They watched over the unconcious body of their son, not wanting to leave, even though Iemitsu knew they should've gone home and gotten some sleep already. Even though they knew their son would be fine in the morning(with many assurances from the doctors), Iemetsu found himself unwilling to pull away from Tsuna's bed. After a couple of minutes of waring with himself over leaving, he pulled himself off the chair and approached his quiet, withdrawn wife.

"Nana," he murmured quietly, "we should go home and get some sleep. We'll come back in a couple of hours." His beautiful wife looked up at him, stricken.

"Iemitsu, our son is in the hospital. He's nearly been beaten to death by those ch-children. How can we leave him all alone like this?" She nearly hissed, with bloodshot eyes and mussed up hair. Iemetsu knew what she was worried, but he also knew that they would be no use to Tsuna if they collasped from exhaustion.

"Anata, the doctors said that he'll be sleeping till tomorrow," He continued, frowning slightly as he barely contained his anger (which definitely not directed at Nana. Nana was his favorite person in the world, after all), after being reminded of what they did to Tsuna (who was so innocent, so shy, and so cute). "I'm furious at what happened to Tsuna, but we'll be no use to him if we're too tired to stay awake when he does wake up."

They turned away from their son, and argued for a few moments, Nana sobbing as she did so but Iemitsu finally convinced that her that sleep was needed, so they left, giving a brief glance back as they did so. They could only hope that by the time their son awakened, that things would go back to normal.

Had they been looking properly at their son, they would've noticed their son's eyes flutter open to reveal unseeing, blank gold-brown eyes before they slid shut once again. And had they noticed, they definitely would not have left Tsuna's side throughout the night.

Nana sighed from her hard plastic seat next to her son's bed, watching over her son while her husband had been forced to leave for work ("I have to work to pay for the hospital bills, Nana," Iemitsu said when she protested against him leaving, "I don't want to leave Tsuna or you, but I have to.") Humming quietly, she flicked through a magazine, her false cheer hiding her anxiety. She noted many of the machines of that were attached to her son two days before had been removed, such as the mask, much to her relief. In grossed in attempting to read her magazine, she didn't notice her son stir or his blank eyes flutter open.

"Mama," Tsuna whimpered and Nana jerked up, happy and relieved that her son was finally awake. She took her son's small hand in her own, rubbing the smooth skin with her thumb. Now that her sweet little Tsu-kun was awake, everything would normal again.

"Tsu-kun, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Do you want me to call the doctors?" She cooed. Tsuna coughed quietly and frowned strangely as she helped him up into a sitting position.

"'M thirsty," he murmured, his brow furrowing into a frown. Nana nodded and got up to pour him a glass of water. When she turned back, she was surprised to see him patting the skin around his eyes in confusion, looking as if he was feeling for something. Shrugging it off for now, she merely beamed and held the glass out in front of him.

"Here you go, Tsu-kun! I'll get you some juice next time, okay?" Her son stared up at her, his eyes blank but the rest of his face was contorted into fear. He didn't move to take the glass, much to her confusion.

"Tsu…kun? Is something the matter?" A shiver went down her spine. Something was wrong…terribly wrong…

"Mama…it's so dark…" It was uttered so quietly, she had to strain her ears to hear it.

"I…I...I can't see…" Nana froze, the glass slipping from her fingers and smashed into pieces onto the floor. She didn't notice, as she stared at her little boy in horror.

"Wha-What? Tsu-kun what are-" Shock and horror laced her words and she broke off abruptly. Tsuna whimpered again, tears welling up in his unseeing eyes.

"Mama, I can't see! I CAN'T SEE! WHY CAN'T I SEE?!" Her son curled up into a ball, sobbing and hiccuping, the words 'I can't see...mama help me...' were barely distiguishable from the rest of his cries.

Nana could only stare at her shaking son, frozen with the realization that nothing would be the same ever again.

Nothing.

"Since your son has been hit in the head very badly, we weren't sure of the extent of the damage. The head is a very sensitive area. Complications such as coma or paralysis could come from a blow to the head. Such as blindness."It was stated in such a matter of fact manner. So cool, so callous.

"Is it curable? Is there a surgery to fix it?"Desperation coloured her words. She needed to know.

"I'm afraid not, Sawada-san. There is no surgery to fix it. Had Tsunayoshi-kun's blindness been caused by an injury directly to the eyes, there would've been a chance that we could've performed an eye transplant on him. However, the brain is a very complicated organ and we simply do not have the knowledge or skill the repair the nerves that have been affected. There is also the fact that a surgery could have a negative effect on the rest of his body." There was a little bit of sympathy tinging the doctor's words, but that did not takeaway the simple fact that her son was blind. Permanently.

Nana had known that without his eyesight, Tsuna would be changed. But she didn't think it would change him to this extent. While her son had never been the most outgoing and rambunctious of children, he still had this spirit of innocence and kindness that most children seemed to possess. But now…

He just sat there, practicing brail and his writing skills. He barely talked or played and barely smiled in joy or happiness. Just sat there like a broken marionette, with it's strings cut off.

He seemed so empty. So blank and lifeless. Nana wasn't sure if it was due to being blind or the torture that Iemetsu said that he had gone through (something he never elaborated on, much to her frustration. Tsu-kun was her son. She needed to know). And it hurt. Not knowing what her son was feeling, seeing how un-childlike he had become.

There had to be a way to make him smile again. There had too. Because, she was a mother and Tsuna was her son. She had an obligation to fulfil. Nana fixed a bright and happy smile on her face as she puttered around her boy, making sure he was comfortable and had his fill of food. She had the obligation to be happy and cheerful, be the sun while their family turmoiled underneath a dark cloud.

And hoped that the silver lining would show up soon.

Iemetsu was such a pain to write. So was Nana. DDx. OOCness gallore?