Diclaimer: I don't own the characters or the series. Amano Akira does. I'm just playing with them for a bit.
Just Enough
She is five and has a crush on him.
Perhaps it's not as much of a crush on him as it is on his face, which sounds like the same thing but it isn't the same thing at all, because his face is her Master's face and maybe that's what she really likes. Nevertheless, she keeps blushing whenever she sees him, because she is five and she has a crush and she isn't quite old enough yet to rationalize the details of her childish attraction.
He is sixteen and he accepts her Valentine without hitting her for it.
sSs
She is six and has a doll of her Master she carries everywhere.
She got the doll from the future, but she brought it back with her, her older self probably wouldn't care for it anyway and besides Ryouhei gave it to her and not her older self so she supposes it's okay. She takes the doll everywhere she goes, even when stupid Lambo laughs at her for it, but it's okay because it's Master and she's allowed to like him and hug him and take care of him. The doll's almost as big as she is, but that just makes it better, because it almost hugs her back.
Sometimes, when nobody and especially not Lambo can see, she tucks the doll's pigtail under its shirt and pretends it's not Master at all when she hugs it.
He is seventeen and she still sometimes blushes just for seeing him.
sSs
She is seven and school is hard.
It's not that they're being taught hard things, yet, but everything is in Japanese, and it's hard trying to learn to write it when even speaking is still sometimes giving her trouble, and sometimes the others tease her when Lambo isn't around and when she comes home she just wants to hide under the covers and cry and never come back out again. She hugs the doll but it won't talk to her, and Mama is worried but she can't really help, and if Lambo found out he would just tease her for being a worse cry baby than he ever was and she's not about to let that happen.
She never tells anyone but someone figures it out anyway, someone tells her how important it is that she goes to school and that if she learns Japanese they won't tease her about it anymore, she's a martial artist anyway so if they ever try to actually hurt her she can hurt them right back, and they're probably just jealous because she's pretty and that makes her blush but she nods anyway.
He is eighteen and nobody would believe her anyway even if she told them he's the one who convinced her to try her best at school.
sSs
She is fifteen and still has a crush on him.
Of course, nobody still knows. They think she's grown out of such silly things, of course she would have gotten over it by now, she never really liked him anyway but rather someone who looked like him. She's good at pretending, isn't she, and the bomb is sealed away so nobody can find out, and she thankfully doesn't blush so easily anymore. She wears glasses now when she studies, she has to study hard to get to the university, and even if she does want to still be in the mafia education is important and she can always be a hitman after she is done with her studies. It would be a waste not to continue with a mind as sharp as hers, they all say, nobody ever says anything else not even her Master, but even though everyone says that she's only doing it for herself and one other person.
He is twenty-six and nods approvingly when he sees her studying.
sSs
She is sixteen and asks Lambo to shoot her with the bazooka.
Lambo doesn't question her, not when she just says she wants to see how the things turn out. Lambo never sees how she sneaks away as soon as she is in the future, running up to his house, sneaky as ever did they really think she would let her skills fade. Nobody sees her as she peeks inside.
His eyes are on someone else, anyway.
She always liked Dino, he's always been nice and kind and lovely and often gave them sweets when they were little, but for a moment she hates him hates him so very badly when she sees Dino's arms around the other man and they don't even see her as they kiss. She gets away from there then, she only has a minute but at least she can get a bit further, and when she returns Lambo can't figure out why she's in tears.
He is twenty-seven and never sees as she cries because of something that hasn't even happened yet.
sSs
She is seventeen and choices have to be made.
She supposes they don't even know, they aren't aware of where things were heading when they weren't looking, they wouldn't believe her even if she told them. Not that it matters anymore, not when it's all happened, and she feels awfully guilty for not being more sad when everyone else around her is morose and most of the others are crying. She's kind of stunned, still, cannot actually think of what to feel, she wasn't there she was in Japan busy with her studies but she almost wishes she could have been there, could have saved Dino, could have done something because even though a little bit of her is almost glad the rest of her is crushed because she can't stand the look on his face seconds before he disappears.
He is twenty-eight and disappears for half a year after Dino's death.
sSs
She is twenty-five and the others disapprove.
Not that anyone dares say anything, of course. They know better than to question either of them, certainly not in such a matter, and besides he was never one to do things the conventional way and even though there's an age difference she's at least well and truly adult, she's able to make her own decisions and like Lambo says it's not like she'd let anyone just take advantage of her when it's so easy to kick perverts in the groin. She's kind of happy, though, he's not the same as he was when she first fell for him but in some ways he's better, he doesn't even look that much like her Master anymore but in a way it's better because now she knows she really likes him and not an image on his face. He tells her he likes her, too, not in as many words but with his eyes and hands and mouth, and she's long since learned that words cannot be trusted anyway so it's all good.
He is thirty-six and his arms are strong around her at night.
sSs
She is twenty-six and newly married.
The others wouldn't even believe it at first, of course they wouldn't believe it, it's not like he would ever let himself get tied down after all. They just don't understand, don't understand that she would never wish to tie him down, don't understand that the simple ring on her finger is not a leash on him but a mark of possession, not as much of a promise that he'll return to her as it is a warning to anyone who would dare approach that which is his while he is not there. She understands that, though, and it's all right, it's more than she ever expected anyway, and she has mafia business to keep her busy in the meantime so it's not like she spends all her time pining after him. It's kind of lonely to go to sleep without him, but then she knew this years and years and years ago, and she knows that if she did try to tie him down she'd either lose him or he'd lose himself and therefore it's with a smile that she closes her eyes because really everything is better than she ever dreamed of.
He is thirty-seven and incredibly possessive.
sSs
She is twenty-seven and pregnant with their first child.
He was as shocked as she was to hear the news, they hadn't planned on a child for a good while yet, but then no contraception is entirely reliable and besides she is almost thirty already, it's not like they could have waited forever. Once he knows he tries to be around more, she knows he's never far even when she can't see him, he was always protective of things that belong to him and nothing could belong to him more completely than she does and the baby does, she knows he would never let either of them come to any harm even though she's more than capable of caring for herself. He doesn't kiss her stomach or sign to the baby or even bring flowers to her, but his hand does sometimes linger over the bump and there are men putting together a nursery for her and sometimes when he thinks she's asleep she hears him whispering words not meant for anyone to hear.
He is thirty-eight and she supposes they are happy.
sSs
She is a woman and in love with him.
The crush never went away or maybe it developed into something else, a mere crush certainly wouldn't keep her waiting for weeks on end, it wouldn't put a ring on her finger beyond a ten-year-old's blushing dreams, it wouldn't have her attending mafia meetings with a serious expression and all the power that comes with bearing his name. A crush wouldn't have her cradling her son at night, her cute little son with messy hair and grey eyes and a tendency to bite even though they tell him not to, telling him it's all right to cry but really he has no reason to because father will come back, he always comes back eventually no matter how long he takes, after all he is the strongest there is it's not like anyone could stop him from coming back to them now don't cry my precious and the child stops crying.
He's a man and he has never said those three words but he always comes back to her and it's just enough.