Colonello's lost son
Chapter 7
By Blockhed13
A/N: Sorry this chapter is late! School's been putting a lot of stress and frustration on me, piling me with mountains of homework leaving me no time to do my work.
I walked back to Lal and sat down in front of her. I slapped my thighs.
"Well, now what?" I sighed. Lal looked up at my eyes.
"You still had more questions, right?" Lal asked. I nodded.
"What were you doing around the tip of Somalia?" I narrowed my eyes in question.
Lal rested her head on her arm, "Down in Somalia, there was a smuggling operation that regarded stolen mafia equipment. We, and other families investigated. We were patrolling the waters in your area when an emergency distress signal was sent out by a private yacht; and it wasn't one of the commissioned vessels. Needless to say, we responded to the call. And you just so happened to be on board."
"You saved me just like that? What about the other families? Don't they need your guys' help?"
Lal smiled, "We told them we had an injured civilian on board, and that we had to go back to land to get him medical attention. Another boat was sent out from the Kilandro family and escorted the yacht out of Somalian waters, and we took you back to Italy."
"Oh, I see…" I trailed off, pondering my next question, "Does the rest of your organization know I'm your son?"
Lal nodded, "Only the higher class executives of CEDEF."
"Ah…" I quieted, "I was going to ask why there's so much firepower in the kitchen, but the whole 'mafia' thing kinda explains it."
"*He* wondered the same thing..." Lal chuckled, "I think there's someone I know that you'd probably like to meet. I know he would certainly like to meet you. He was similar to you, before he became a mafioso."
"Hm?"
"His name's Ryohei Sasagawa, he was one of your father's students. I figured you needed someone other than me to talk to." Lal smiled, "But I'll introduce you to him tomorrow. Right now, it's dinner time."
I shrugged, "Okay."
Oregano joined the executive table and joined Turmeric, Basil, and Iemitsu. Dinner was then served.
She looked around, "Where's Lal Mirch?"
"Eating dinner with her son in the private dining room." Iemitsu answered.
"I wonder why she didst not tell us about him…" Basil trailed into ponder.
"I'm sure she had her reasons. But… She had a child with Colonello?" Turmeric chimed in the brainstorm.
"And she's being incredibly nice to him. But… I believe we can all understand that." Oregano began eating. Iemitsu paused to think. He thought about Turmeric's question.
"Yeah..." He looked up at everyone, "She didn't get together with Colonello up until about nine or so years ago. Her son is about sixteen. So… Is he the born son of Lal Mirch and Colonello?"
Everyone stopped and looked at each other, searching for an answer.
"Tis certainly a mystery…" Basil pondered.
Lal served me dinner along with herself. Then, that feeling of nervousness hit me again. My facial expression turned back into an uneasy and nervous face. This time, Lal noticed.
"What's wrong?" she asked, slightly worried. I forced a smile.
"I-it's nothing." I shook my head. She relaxed he face, giving me the "yeah, right" look.
"You're still a bad liar, Cole." She raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"
I sighed, running through all the list of possibilities, "….I really don't know."
Lal looked around, "What does your gut tell you?"
"…It tells me…" I thought about it for a moment, "It tells me something bad is going to happen?"
Lal smiled, "Not in this base."
That didn't reassure my gut in any way. I ate my Tagliatella (an Italian spaghetti alike dish) and tried to isolate my feelings.
"Perhaps I'm scared…" I frowned.
Lal Mirch wrapped her arm around me, "There's no reason to be."
After we were both done with dinner, we went outside on a balcony.
I overlooked the beautiful treetops all the way to the horizon where light pollution started to seep through the branches. I cracked a smile and took a deep breath.
"This is one of two CEDEF bases. The other one is in the middle of the city…. Of which I'm not telling you." Lal gazed over. I shifted my eyes back towards her.
"Why not?" I raised my eyebrow. She looked over at me.
"You aren't in the mafia. You're still a civilian. Our secret base wouldn't be very secret if we told a civilian now would it?" She looked back over the treetops. My face changed to an understanding smirk and I nodded.
We just kinda stood there for a little while, in awkward silence.
"Umm… Lal?" I asked nervously. She directed her attention to me.
"Yes?"
I bit my lower lip, "What was my dad like?"
Lal froze, thinking about all the times, both good and bad.
"I'm sorry if I opened any old wounds-"
"No, no," she smiled, "It's fine. I knew you'd eventually ask, it's not a very big surprise to me."
I now gave her my full-undivided attention, listening to what my real dad might be like. I imagined him as some guy who'd get his wife knocked up before he shipped out overseas to go fight for his country.
"He was childish. But that was one of his most defining aspects about him. He was a great fighter, both hand-to-hand and with guns. He really cared for the things that mattered, like his team or others. He never put himself first…" she trailed off in remembering, "I only wish I told him about you."
I turned to her in confusion, "What? He didn't know about me?"
Lal shook her head.
"Why didn't you tell him?" I thought about it, "Wouldn't he have already known? I mean you guys did somehow make me…" I trailed into awkwardness.
Lal didn't answer. I ran through all the thoughts and possibilities on why he didn't know.
"Unless… Umm… I-I'm not his kid?" I realized. Today is certainly going swell, isn't it? I found my mother, or vice versa; found out my dad who may or may not be my dad is dead; and I survived a pirate attack!
Lal laughed lightly, "I know you're his son. There's no one else I've ever loved more than your father. Trust me." She smiled.
Well, I guess I'll take her word for it; because quite frankly, I'm not sure WHAT to believe anymore.
"Hey, Lal," I began. She looked at me with accepting eyes.
"Yes?"
"What if I decide to stay here with you? And join the mafia?" I asked, almost as if I'm begging.
Lal raised an eyebrow, "That's your choice. But, if you are to stay and join; then we'll house, feed, and train you."
I thought about my options, "Lal, I think I'll stay he-"
"Don't think about it so quickly," she advised, "You have a week till you're fully healed. Give yourself time to think."
I closed my mouth. But I already made up my mind…
"But… What would you want to do if you decide to stay?" Lal asked curiously. I thought about it. I looked at myself, the clothes I'm wearing, the pictures of my father, and my mother.
"I… I want to be like my father to the best of my abilities." I nodded, content with my answer. Lal smiled, with a light chuckle.
"Funny enough, I was the one who trained your father." Lal reminisced.
My eyes widened in excitement, "You should teach me then!"
