Goddamnit, the one time I don't check. This is why you don't update fics before going to bed.

This is the CORRECT chapter. Apologies for the confusion.

Phone Call

The sound of a phone woke Alaude. He sprung out of bed, glancing at the clock. Just half past seven. Everyone would be waking up shortly for breakfast.

He answered the call, half expecting it to be one of his subordinates with the information he had requested yesterday.

"Alaude, speaking."

"Hello Alaude."

Alaude gripped the cellphone, nearly crushing it in his hand. A hot white anger burned. He knew that voice. Never forgot it. "Tsubame. Why have you called now?" he demanded. Nine years. Nine years and he had nearly given up searching for her. Nothing ever turned up and aside from the continuous gifts that Kyoya received that he was certain were from her, he had no proof that she even alive.

Tsubame laughed weakly, a touch hysterical. "I wanted to talk to Kyoya."

"Why should I let you?" Alaude demanded. Knowing Kyoya, he probably wasn't even interested in hearing from a woman he never met, the mother who abandoned him.

"Please humor the dying request of the woman who gave birth to him."

That knocked the breath out of Alaude. He staggered, sinking down to sit on his bed. Dying? "Tsubame?"

She just chuckled again. This time he heard the sorrow in her laugh.

"Why did you leave us nine years ago?" Alaude asked, softer, gentler. The question gnawed at him for years. He turned over the last conversation they had, the last days they had spent together. What did he miss?

"I had to be sure," Tsubame said.

"Sure of what?" Apprehension filled him.

"That they would never touch Kyoya. That meant eradicating them off the face of the earth. It took nine years and my life, but they will never crawl out of the hellhole I threw them in. They will never hurt Kyoya or you and for that I will gladly die with a smile on my face."

What. Alaude's heart squeezed tight; his mind racing, trying to comprehend. There was a threat against his son and threat he didn't know about? And Tsubame went up against… alone?! His emotions conflicted, mixing between outrage, fear, anger, and confusion. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Tsubame," he murmured, half pleading for her to make sense. He took out paper, jotting down a note.

"Let me speak to Kyoya, please," she asked, breath wispy.

If she was truly dying, Alaude didn't want to be responsible for denying that from her. He flung open the door, nearly running into the maid. Alaude handed her his note, stalking towards the dining room where the kids and the others were most likely already gathering for breakfast.

"I hope I'm not interrupting breakfast," Tsubame said mildly. "It is breakfast, right? Must be, the sun has risen."

Alaude categorized that, mentally filing it away in a desperate attempt to find where she was. If the maid was swift enough, they could get a trace on his phone and pinpoint where she was calling from.

"Does Elena still make pancakes?" Tsubame asked.

"She does," Alaude asked. Elena was pancake duty nearly every week, making all sorts of combinations. Kyoya secretly loved her blueberries ones though he rarely ever asked her to make them for him. (Alaude was partial to her chocolate chip ones.)

He stopped outside of the dining room. For once a deep uncertainty settle in his stomach. "Come back," Alaude whispered.

"If I could," Tsubame answered.

He would move mountains to ensure that she could. Alaude entered the dining room, seeing everyone had arrived, spotting Kyoya. He switched on speakerphone, placing it in front of Kyoya.

"Tsubame is on the phone," he announced.

The room went silent. The adults stared at Alaude while the kids stared at Kyoya. Kyoya merely frowned, sending his father a questioning look.

"Kyoya doesn't have to talk you, you meanie!" Hayato exploded first.

Tsubame's warm laughter came over the phone. "That sounded like a young G. Did G have a kid? I sincerely hope he is as explosive as G is."

"Hey!" G and Hayato protested together. Lavina merely covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her wide smile.

"Why did you want to talk to me?" Kyoya asked, cutting off any further reaction from them. He stared down at the phone, gray eyes piercing.

"I see you've picked up Alaude's blunt and direct manner," Tsubame said. "I just wanted to hear your voice. So say whatever you want. If you hate me, your favorite things, what you did yesterday, any questions you have for me."

"You gave me a pair of tonfa," Kyoya said.

"Oh, I'm not surprised at all that you lead with that. I thought it was a nice compromise. It wasn't a bladed weapon, still close combat enough for Alaude to teach you without using something silly like handcuffs and wasn't a gun," Tsubame said. "Did you like them?"

Well, that confirmed each package was from Tsubame. And there she went teasing him about his handcuffs again too. She had laughed somewhat hysterically the first time she saw him use it and never gave him a reason why she found it so funny. Even Daemon's first reaction had been mild and barely mocking in comparison.

Giotto sent Alaude a look, quietly questioning, orange eyes full of concern.

Alaude tilted his head, sending a silent message that he would explain later. Giotto nodded, intently listening as Tsubame exchanged words with Kyoya. The kids fearlessly interjecting and squabbling over what was said.

"I want to know about you," Kyoya said, voice quiet but firm.

Tsubame fell silent. "Well," she finally said. "I don't like lilies."

Alaude didn't sputtered, though it was nearly so. "You love lilies," he said. She was carrying lilies the first, second and third time he had met her. He gave her lilies many times, saw the fond smile that spread across her face when receiving them. How could she not love lilies?

Tsubame's laugh was slightly bitter. "I just didn't correct you. For the record, I don't like coffee either. My favorite color is purple though."

Their time together was so short that Alaude had very few solid concrete facts about her. It was unsetting to find out that two of those facts were not true. Why would she not correct him about those?

"The tea set I sent you is my mother's. You and I get our coloring from her. My temper runs deep, even if you can never tell looking at me. My favorite flower is myosotis. I love the sound of the ocean. Meeting your father and having you are my happiest memories," Tsubame rattled off.

"Then why did you leave?" Kyoya asked.

Alaude winced. For all that Kyoya said that he didn't care, the question still weighed heavily on his son's mind. Tsuna wrapped his arms around Kyoya, squeezing tight and it said much that Kyoya didn't even grumble over it like usual.

Silence.

"Tsubame?" Alaude asked.

"Hm? Ah, my apologies, it's getting hard to focus. I don't think… is Giotto around?" Tsubame asked, voice growing softer.

"I am," Giotto said.

"I know Alaude is tracing this call. So when you arrive here, there might be two boys about Kyoya's age in the area. A brunette and a blond. Or they might show up at Vongola's mansion. Please don't turn them away. They can tell you more about why I left the way I did," Tsubame said.

Giotto jolted in alarm, sending a look at Alaude. The pieces of why this conversation was happening and now, were sliding into place for him. "Tsubame, are you-"

"Kyoya, are you happy?" Tsubame asked, cutting Giotto off. "With your father, Giotto and the others. Your siblings sound wonderful."

"Yes," Kyoya said, answer firm and unwavering. He sent a bewildered look to Alaude.

"Good. That's all I ever wanted for you," Tsubame said. "Alaude, I got one more selfish request. Bury me by the sea?"

The phone line went dead.

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