The next few days at school were trying as teachers and students lightly insulted or tried to bully Tsuna and Terasu, but the siblings stood together and refused to budge.

(Though, it was more Terasu's steadfast support and her whispering in in Tsuna's ear that if they backed down now those bullies would actually hurt her when they got older.

Tsuna would have folded and accepted defeat for himself, but not for his sister. Never.)

So, they stood tall, or as tall as they could with their bumps and bruises and carefully made their way home after their run-ins with their new bullies, and Mama simply kept the First Aid kit stocked for them.

Terasu hadn't fought a war as Harry without learning how to be resourceful, however, and Mum had warned her that this world was 'darker', so that meant that she and Tsu-nii needed to learn to defend themselves.

But, She thinks amusedly as she watches Tsuna trip, We need to learn some grace first.


Terasu sat on her floor, attempting to meditate, but whatever she was reaching for seems as it is purposefully shying away from her.

She was disappointed, but not defeated when she finally decided to stop attempting to reach her 'core' and go to bed.

There is a supernatural force in this world, she can almost guarantee it as she saw the fire in Tsu-nii's eyes that first day and the shock on his face when it faded- as if he had performed accidental magic- but she will teach him to be strong without that fire.

Her brother is amazing as he is, after all.


The months move forward, April becomes May and May becomes June and Tsuna still sits in the lowest level of the class rankings, while Terasu only sits in the median to be allowed to stay with him.

(Terasu cares little for what their tests or teachers say, her brother is brilliant-and someday he'll prove them all wrong.)

The siblings once again stand at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ok, ready? We're not going to use the paper this time!" Terasu chirps brightly to her groaning brother. "Three times three." She says expectantly after a moment.

Tsuna's brow furrows in thought, "Si-nine!" he crows triumphantly, which earns him a beaming smile and they take a step to mark their progress.

(It's slow going, and they end up by the door a lot from all the steps backwards that they have to take, but on the day that Tsuna answers enough questions correctly that he makes it up all fourteen steps, he turns and wraps her in the biggest, warmest hug ever and whispers in her ear, "Thank you, Tera-chan. It really is us against the world, huh?" is worth every hour of frustration that it took to get there.)


"Tsu-nii! Dance with me!" Terasu laughed brightly as they made their way from the dance studio.

Tsuna sighed and blushed lightly, but acquiesced as the music drifted out from the restaurant that they were walking past, wrapping his arms around his sister and fumbling through the steps of the dance that she led the through.

One thing that changed besides school was that Terasu had begged Mama to put them in dance classes.

Well, Terasu had begged Mama to put her in dance classes and then had refused to attend to by herself, so Tsuna had been volunteered to go with her, and when the boy had flailed about not wanting to go he had been subjected to his sister's watery green eyes and an epic pout which had naturally caused the boy to fold like a wet paper towel.

So, their second week of school the Sawada siblings had started dance lessons at a local studio. They were young enough that they were allowed to take a 'sampler' classes, and next year they could choose two or three different disciplines to pursue as they were mostly getting an overview and working on flexibility, balance, and basic traditional dances for now.

Since their dance classes were relatively close to home and school, they were allowed to walk. (They really should have noticed that it was not normal for young children to be unattended, but Harry hadn't exactly had a normal childhood either.)

Like the one drifting out of the shop- a Tanabata melody, as the festival was in just over a month and some music stations started playing the music for it early.

Terasu threw her arms around her bright-red brother in an affectionate hug as the song came to an end and a few passerby shook their heads bemusedly at the duo, "You and me against the world, Tsu-nii."

Tsuna chuckled into her hair, as even though he was more petite than her, he was slightly taller, "You and me against the world, Tera-chan." He murmured affectionately to his insane sister.


The first time Terasu pulled out her Dying Will Flames, (though she has absolutely no idea that is what they are called at the time), she was sitting on her brother's bed running gentle fingers through his hair, and contemplating her mother's imminent crash into obsessive housekeeping.

Their father called the other day.

Sawada Iemitsu was an enigma to Terasu- a study in contradictions and lies and yet-

There was no mistaking the tone the man used when he told them that he loved them.

He was coming home in a month to spend some time with them and she wasn't sure how she felt about that, but something inside her stirred.

Terasu sighed in frustration as the almost-whisper tried to say something again and she could almost make it out. It was like a word on the tip of your tongue-

Ts….a

Terasu's finger's stopped and her Will snapped into place as her eyes turned gold.

Nothing will happen to Tsuna. She snarled to that place in her mind. Not while I draw breath!

Terasu firmly suppressed the yelp that wanted to burst forth as brilliant ocher flames flickered into existence along her fingers and arm, (and her forehead, but she couldn't see that), and she felt calm once she could see that they weren't actually burning her or Tsuna.

So, this is this world's magic. Huh. She thought rather dumbly as she stared at the pretty fire.

Tsuna jerked awake suddenly and his eyes went wide and he opened his mouth-

Terasu clamped her, (flaming), palms over his mouth and spoke in a soothing voice, "It's ok, Tsu-nii. They're warm, but they're not really burning, right?"

Of course, that was about the time Tsuna awoke his own Dying Will Flames, and Terasu could see her brother's eyes go orange and the flame sprout on his forehead.

Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed, "Tera-chan?" he asked softly, his voice deeper than his normal childish tone.

"It's alright, Tsu-nii, I think this is something from Iemitsu or something- we'll figure it out- but I don't think that we should let anyone know that we know about it yet. Adults have a way of thinking that us kids are stupid or something, so let's keep this between us, ok?"

Tsuna nodded slowly, and the two spent the remaining time that their young bodies could handle being in that unrestricted state, (which wasn't very long), running curious fingers through warm fire that did not burn but rather curled around their playful digits teasingly.

Inside the children, the Hyper Intuition passed down from Sawada Ieyasu, (formerly known as Giotto of the Vongola), purred in satisfaction at finally being fully awakened.


"Catch me if you can, Tsu-nii!" Terasu called over her shoulder as she darted around playground equipment, making sure to go slow enough to keep her brother close enough to keep him from being disheartened but far enough away from her to keep him motivated.

Tsuna's bright laugh washed over her like a summer breeze in the dead of winter, "Next time-huff- you're it, Tera-chan!"

Terasu spun around so that she was running backwards and stuck her tongue out, "Nyah~! Only if you catch me, Tsu-nii!"

(Since they had awakened their 'magic flames' two weeks prior, Terasu had found that she was able to 'connect' with them through meditation if they wore themselves out during the day. So, on top of their dance classes and usual daily activities, they had taken to chasing each other around the local park until their cheeks were flushed and they had to half-carry each other home. They were young, but their neighborhood was safe enough that they were allowed to stay out until dinner.

Their newfound ability to tell when people were lying to them or when someone was about to hit them seemed to be getting stronger as well.)

There they'd help Mama with housework, do their homework, eat dinner, relax for a while, and then Terasu would try to teach Tsuna how to meditated.

It was…going slowly.

Terasu tripped.

"Got you!" Tsuna shouted gleefully as he tackled her from behind earning a low growl and a breathless laugh.


Later that evening, Tsuna flopped down on the porch in the Sawada backyard, staring up at the blue sky, letting out an 'oomph' as his sister's head connected with his stomach.

"Tera-chan." Tsuna whined as he reached down to thread his fingers through his sister's tangled raven locks.

"Aw, suck it up, Tsu-nii." Terasu pointed out cheerfully, "We almost had it that time! We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves while Otou-san is here, you know!"

Tsuna groaned and lolled his head back fully, eyes falling to half-mast as he slipped into a thoughtful state, where it was just the sky and his fingers in Tera-chan's hair.

I have the greatest sister in the world. Tera-chan is smarter, faster, and stronger, but she's looks at me like I'm the greatest thing ever and she really believes it. I don't ever want to let her down. The elder Sawada sibling thought fiercely as something burned pleasantly inside him, I want to be the kind of guy that Tera-chan can depend on.

"You're doing it!" Terasu burst out excitedly, jerking Tsuna out of his thoughts and causing him to yelp in surprise, "that's what we're trying to do and you were doing it!"


There was something even more broken in their father than there was in their mother, Terasu decided upon meeting for the man for the first time after having assimilated Harry's memories.

The new aspect of the 'magic flames' that the siblings had unlocked that they were calling their 'Intuition' had been going haywire around the man. It was like everything out of his mouth was a lie smothered in contradiction and lightly splattered in truth.

It was maddening and gave them migraines.

Terasu hadn't liked the way the man had needled Tsuna for taking dance classes with her over dinner that night though, even though Mama had explained that Tsu-nii was only taking them because Terasu had refused to go by herself. Otou-san had still picked on Tsuna about it. He hadn't been particularly mean, but it was like he didn't understand that Tsuna took every word he said as gospel since the man was never home and rarely ever called, and Tsuna had drawn further and further into himself which had only made Iemitsu laugh boisterously about his 'shy, cute little Tuna-Fish' and Mama giggle while Terasu had seethed.

She only kept her mouth shut due to Tsuna's desperate look in her direction.

So, now with the house quiet and dark, she padded quietly to her brother's room quietly slithering inside and quickly crossing and slipping into bed with Tsuna.

Tsuna, who was curled up into a protective ball with dried tear tracks on his face.

(Terasu's Will flared and she forcefully marshalled it, she didn't want to take any chances with Otou-san right now.)

She curled around her brother and ran gentle fingers through his fluffy hair, humming a tuneless song to soothe both of them as he slowly relaxed into her.

"You and me against the world, Tsu-nii." She murmured gently as she fell asleep curled protectively around her brother.


Terasu's overall opinion of her father did not improve over the next several days as the man lazed about the Sawada home in his underwear drinking alcohol while their mother flitted about catering to his every whim.

On an intellectual level that she didn't fully comprehend but still could make use of, she knew that he worked hard to provide for them and that he was on vacation for the first time in years and so she should cut him some slack.

On just about every other level she just saw a man who made fun of her tenderhearted, wonderful brother for being brave enough to dance with her in public when the man himself was never home and all it did was ignite a feeling of abject loathing in her breast for her father.

(James Potter had been an arrogant toerag as a child and teen, but the man he'd grown to be had died saving Lily and Harry. Could Iemitsu do the same?)

At night she'd crawl into bed with Tsuna and brush the tears away, whispering how she thought that he was brave and how if that man couldn't see that then Tsuna didn't need his approval because Terasu thought that Tsuna was the best brother ever and it was them against the world and no blonde idiot who sent penguin postcards and came home once or twice a decade would change that, even if he did put food on their table.

During the final days of Iemitsu's visit, his boss came for dinner and everything changed.


Terasu stood in front of the white-haired man with the kind dark eyes and the little voice inside her that had whispered of danger to Tsuna all those weeks ago bristled.

Dumbledore. Harry's memories told her, all the right intentions behind all the wrong decisions. This one is far more ruthless, be wary, little one.

"Hello, little ones! I've always thought of Iemitsu as a son, please call me Grandfather- or Nonno!" the old man was saying cheerfully as Terasu felt Tsuna shift awkwardly at her side.

(Tsuna really was the best brother ever, he was like a protective mother dragon when he felt like she was being cornered or felt truly uncomfortable, but he never tried to stifle her either.)

Tsuna pasted on a cheerful smile, "It's nice to meet you, Nonno!" he chirped out brightly, before snagging Terasu's hand and dragging her towards the kitchen.

Iemitsu burst out in an obnoxious laugh, "Haha! That's my little Tuna-Fish and my little Princess! They must be hungrier than I thought!"

Dinner was mostly spent allowing the adults to talk over them and trying to ignore the twinges in their 'internal lie detectors' whenever the men spoke. Whenever they were forced to speak, they tried to keep their answers short and concise, though polite.

When the meal concluded and Nana began bustling around to clear the dishes, Terasu and Tsuna were shooed off outside.

Terasu's Intuition roared and the girl reached out and grabbed Tsuna.

Without pause she turned to her mother, "Mama?"

Nana stopped what she was doing, "Ara, Tera-chan?"

The girl smiled and kept a tight grip on Tsuna, "We actually need to do our dance stretches and I need Tsu-nii's help with my summer homework. May we go upstairs, please?"

The woman smiled warmly, "Sure, Tera-chan!"

Iemitsu protested, "Nana! Don't encourage Tuna-Fish to do unmanly things!"

Terasu's eyes flashed and tears pricked her eyes as three weeks of enduring similar comments being heaped onto her beloved brother by their oblivious father came crashing down on her, "Tsu-nii goes with me so I don't have go all alone! He goes because he loves me! Stop making fun of him for it!" She yelled at the startled man, bowing lightly to Nonno and muttering an apology as she dragged Tsuna out of the room and up the stairs.

They ended up huddled together on Terasu's bed, the girl crying angry, frustrated into Tsuna's shirt as her brother tried to soothe her, "It's alright Tera-chan, I don't mind, really. I'd rather go with you to your dance classes and be made fun of than have that idiot like me anyways. Please don't cry, Tera-chan." Tsuna was outright begging by the end, he really hated to see his little sister cry.

Terasu let out a watery giggle and wiped her snotty nose on Tsuna's shirt, earning a dismayed yelp from the boy. "Tera-chan." He whined pitifully, pouting at the snot.

That did it and the girl broke down into still-watery giggles as Tsuna gave her an unimpressed look and grabbed some tissues off the bedside table to wipe off his shirt with, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you brat." He complained.

Really that only made her laugh harder, though she was still crying and hiccuping. Tsuna gave her a sad smile and pulled her closer to him and gently set to wiping her face clean. He placed a tissue in front of her nose, "Blow." He ordered.

Terasu obediently blew her nose and ended up needing a tissue to cough into as well.

"Urk, I hate crying." She protested when she was semi-cleaned up and composed, flopping back onto her brother and ignoring his squawk of disapproval with the ease of long practice.

"I hate seeing you cry." Tsuna agreed, "It makes me want to punch something."

Terasu peeked up at her brother from beneath long, dark lashes, "You don't even like defending yourself, Tsu."

Tsuna's eyebrow rose elegantly, "That doesn't mean that I don't have the manly urge to punch the idiot who thinks he can make my baby sister cry."

Terasu looked at Tsuna in something like dumbfounded shock for a moment before she burst out in bright peals of laughter.

"T-that ww-aa-s terr-rr-ible." She managed through her giggles.

Tsuna grinned unrepentantly down at her, "But it made you laugh."

"Because it was so bad." Terasu retorted.

"I like to think it's just because you can't appreciate my level of awesome-"

There was a knock on the door. "May I come in?"

It was Nonno.


Silence reigned in the kitchen for a few moments after the siblings' departure.

"Iemitsu!" Nana sounded disapproving as she rounded on her shocked husband, "You know that Tsu-kun only goes to those classes because Tera-chan is shy!"

Iemitsu started babbling and Nana started giggling, and Timoteo offered to go check on the siblings in the parent's stead when it became apparent that the two were lost in their own version of reality.

Honestly, The aged Vongola Don thought exasperatedly as he made his way up the stairs, they didn't even think to tell me which room the kids might be in. Iemitsu might be good at his job but he's more of a crazyish rich uncle than a father. Timoteo came to a stop outside one of the doors that he could hear voice just beyond.

The little girl is crying. Timoteo noted sadly, he'd always wanted a daughter, but he had only been blessed with sons. The aged Don pressed his ear to the door and listened, his lips curling into something fond and warm without his permission as he listened to the siblings banter. Finally deciding that he'd listened long enough, he knocked on the door, "May I come in?"

"Y-yes." That's the brother.

Timoteo pushed the door open and was immediately struck with a sensation of warmth.

The walls were a golden hue that was comforting as opposed to overwhelming and there were various creatures- such as phoenix or unicorns or dragons- painted at random places all over them. It obviously hadn't been done professionally, but you could tell that the work had been done carefully and it added a certain amount of charm to the room. There was a bookshelf and a desk on one wall, a window taking up another, with a closet on the remaining wall to round out the edges of the room. The bed in the middle of the room was where the siblings were- piled on top of one another- and it was a rather simple western-styled frame bed.

All in all there was nothing overwhelming striking about the room, but there was a sense of warmth to it that Timoteo immediately connected to Sun Flames.

The children wriggled around to sit up on their knees, "Hello Nonno," they chorused, "We apologize for our ill manners at dinner." Then they bowed as low as they could without falling of the bed.

Timoteo laughed and waved a genial hand at them as he pulled out the desk chair and settled in front of them, "Think nothing of it, children. I raised four boys, you wouldn't believe the trouble that they raised at some points."

The girl- Terasu- shuffled forward, bright green eyes shining with excitement, "Oooh, can you tell us a story, Nonno?"

(And that is how Terasu and Tsuna found out about the incident involving Federico, uncooked pasta noodles, and the Bedici Company Representative. Apparently, Vongola never has restored relations with that company.)

When the time came for Timoteo to depart, he focused his Sky Flame onto his finger and began to guide it towards the boy's- Tsuna's- forehead, as he'd seen the boy's eyes flash orange a few times when Timoteo had outright lied.

Tsuna was looking at him curiously, (it wasn't uncommon for people to poke other people's foreheads in Japan), but the girl's tiny hand came up to wrap around Timoteo's wrist in a loose, gentle grip- but the look in her eyes was fierce.

"He's my brother." She said lowly. "He's my big brother and nobody gets to hurt him."

Maybe Timoteo would have justified himself or been offended, but his Sky Ring pulsed when she said those words- and somewhere inside him they rang true in such a way that he could not bring himself continue.

Timoteo lowered his hand and Tsuna smiled at him- genuine and bright and brilliant- and Timoteo knew that he'd made the correct decision, damn Iemitsu's sensibilities.

(Timoteo Vongola was a failure as a father, but in that moment he was a True Grandfather and Sawada Tsunayoshi and Sawada Terasu would never forget that.)


Timoteo watched his Outside Advisor act like a doofy idiot as they waited for the jet to finish its last minute checks.

Lost in thought, he was almost surprised by the tug on his pants, and he ignored the piercing stare he could feel coming from Coyote Nougat, "Yes, Terasu?"

The little girl had warmed up to him since that evening, "You should tell whoever it is the truth."

Timetoe looked at her strangely, "Hmm?"

Terasu's green eyes were sharp and once again Timoteo was struck by just how blind Iemitsu was to things that occurred under his own roof, "I don't know." She huffed, "But you should be honest. Like, really bluntly terribly honest before they do something irreparable."

The aged Don't eyes sharpened, "Terasu…"

The girl shook her head, dark curls flying in every direction, "I can only feel echoes 'cause I've been so close to you, Nonno. But, I really feel like you're being soft when you're supposed to be hard, if that makes any sense. Don't take too long though, alright?"

Timoteo crouched down to be eye-level with the girl, "You're kind of a scary girl, you know that, Terasu-chan?"

The girl grinned cheekily, "I just take after you, Nonno."

"Right?" Tsuna said, having apparently slipped away from the insanity that was Iemitsu as well.

Timoteo reached out and ruffled Tsuna's fluffy brown hair, "Be careful you two."

They smiled, "We well, Nonno."

"Tuna-Fish! Princess! Come see Daddy!" Iemitsu wailed from a little further away.

Terasu sighted, "Are you sure we're related?" she muttered.

Timoteo laughed warmly as he rose back up to his full height and unapologetically shooed them back towards the CEDEF head, "Go on you two."

With many grumbles, they did.

(Later that night when Nana was crying herself to sleep in her lonely bed that still smelled of her husband down the hall, the siblings were talking about how they felt guilty about feeling so grateful that the man was gone.)


Meanwhile, in Italy, Timoteo waited in a training room for his youngest son and pondered over his decision to not inform Iemitsu about his children's potential. Before Timoteo could come to a full decision on the matter, a bored-looking sixteen year old Xanxus stepped into the training room and Terasu's words were echoing through Timoteo's mind.

"Lock this room down and leave us." The old man ordered firmly, his stern gaze cutting through any protests that his Guardians might have had, and this training room didn't have any surveillance equipment.

Xanxus raised an eyebrow, "What's all this shit, old man?"

Timoteo looked his son squarely in the eye, "I fully expect you to be angry and lash out at me Xanxus, but I want you to listen. I adopted you because I wanted to, even though I'd never seen your mother before that day. No one else knows, but I imagine your brothers somewhat suspect. You can't technically inherit the Vongola, but I always intended you to have the Varia. You are my son and I am telling you this now because you deserve to know."

Sometime later, after Timoteo had let Xanxus rage and rant and snarl and scream the young man said one more sentence, "Let me out, you shitty old fart."

Timoteo wanted to talk this out, to assure his son that he loved him, but Terasu's words rang through him and he wondered at his sanity when he was taking advice from a six-year-old, "Alright. This is your home, Xanxus. Whenever you're ready."

"Che, whatever."

Timoteo still wondered at the gentle thrum of his Intuition as he watched his youngest walk away.


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