Chapter IX: Ex animo (Bovino Family Compound / Venice, Italy / Current Day)

The first stop of the day was the Bovino Family compound, where Tsuna would finally have the chance to meet Lambo's family. It was exciting, in a way, but some deep down part of his soul was angry that they would send such a young boy so far away and into such a dangerous situation. Right from the beginning, Lambo had seemed like family to Tsuna. Not the Family Reborn taught Tsuna about over the years, but a little brother. Lambo was annoying, loud and boisterous, but he was Tsuna's, and Tsuna loved him just as he was.

Those thoughts running through his head, Tsuna was surprised to find that the Bovino household was very much a large and loud extension of their pint-sized representative. In fact, the head of the Family had much the same look on his face as Tsuna did at the end of most days spent with Lambo, times about a million. He couldn't help but grin at the sight. Still, after the formalities were taken care of, Tsuna didn't think twice about pulling Lambo into his lap as they all sat down to talk, arms wrapping around the boy almost protectively.

"Tsuna-nii…" Lambo grumbled, wriggling a bit in protest. "Can't play like this!"

"Do you want to play here, Lambo?" Tsuna asked, ruffling the boy's hair gently. "You haven't been here in a long time, after all."

"Stupid Tsuna-nii!" Lambo poked him in the cheek and made a face at him. "There's lots to do and cousins to play with." He wriggled his way off of Tsuna's lap and took off in pursuit of several of the other children, cheerfully dragging Futa along behind him.

"I think I'm even happier we frisked him twice, boss," Hayato said, leaning back in his own chair and sighing. "If we hadn't, there wouldn't be a fucking wall left in this place by the time he was done. Stupid cow."

"Hayato," Tsuna frowned at him lightly. "It took me most of last two years to get him out of those clothes and into something remotely normal so we could send him to school. Don't encourage him to start up with that again. It's bad enough that he takes those horns and that bazooka with him everywhere, still. He nailed Hibari with it again the other day."

The laugh from the Bovino boss caught both of their attention and they glanced over at him curiously. "Lambo's always been one of our most energetic children. It was hard on him here when he was little. He wanted so much for everyone to acknowledge him, and his worth."

"Is that why you sent him away, sir?" Tsuna asked, frowning again. He'd cut his own arm off before putting any of his Family in such a vulnerable position, especially so young.

"Not quite," the older man said, looking sad now. "Lambo has been alone for most of his life, except for the children here. His parents were both killed in a skirmish with another small Family by an accidental car bombing. They were targeted by mistake. They went out to dinner one day, leaving him with the nannies here, and never came back for him. He was crushed. We worked for two years here, to help him adjust, but he simply couldn't settle down. I believe he felt their absence constantly, and so he struggled to force other people to notice him. Even his aunt couldn't really be enough for him."

Tsuna's eyes widened as he listened. Lambo had never mentioned his parents, or really even much of the Bovino Family in their time together, except for a random gift received here or there along the way. He'd known there was some reason for Lambo's excessive behavior, but he never would have guessed it was something so painful.

"Then one day, we received a letter from Vongola, asking us to give him over to them. It was a hard decision, because while he is a bit energetic and destructive, to say the least, he's also much loved by all of us. In the end, however, he overheard us discussing it and demanded to be sent. He wanted to prove himself yet again." The Bovino sighed sadly. "We did our best to keep track of him. There have always been people around to make sure he was well cared for, and if you hadn't taken him in so quickly, I would have had him brought home soon after he arrived in Japan."

"My mother adores him," Tsuna admitted, shrugging lightly. "It's been hard for her, I think, with only one child and dad traveling so much. Lambo must have been the perfect size to fill her heart. They're very close. When he and I-pin started school formally, Mom walked them to school every morning and picked them up every afternoon for the first month. Everyone could see how happy that made him. Then one day he told us that Mama had too much to do every day and that I should get off my lazy rear end and pick them up instead." He laughed at the memory of that statement and how he'd argued that Lambo and I-pin could find their way home just fine from a few blocks away but gave in and did it anyway. In fact, he still did it every afternoon and when he couldn't, one of the others showed up for the kids instead.

"He really is a good boy at heart," the Bovino boss said, smiling. "They say the truly strong ones take a lot longer to come into their power."

Tsuna and Hayato exchanged a look and grinned, knowing it was true. Not just for Lambo but for all of them, really. Nothing came easily to any of them and so they knew the result of hard work and dedicated effort.

"Then if it's all right with you, sir," Tsuna said, relaxing into his chair, "we'd like to continue to care for him. I think that things would be too quiet without him around."

"Damned straight," Hayato added, also relaxing. "Life wouldn't be as interesting without the stupid cow causing trouble."

The business end of their visit finished, and feeling much more relaxed, they stayed another hour with the Bovino Family before they rounded up Lambo and Futa and moved on to the next part of their day, which was sightseeing.

Being tourists in Venice was a great deal of fun, and Tsuna tried to make the most of it for the kids. They took canal rides from site to site, making sure to admire the beautiful and ancient buildings and bridges along the way. He tried to minimize things that would be too boring for them and so they avoided the museums but did take the time to tour a few of the historic churches. Even Lambo was quieted by the sanctity of places like that. He took hundreds of pictures of them around various statues and historic points, all for his Mom.

They stopped along their way to shop in the markets, picking up souvenirs and food when they were hungry. Tsuna'd never seen so much fresh produce in one place in his life, and he took advantage of the opportunity to try new things, always sharing with Hayato or the kids. He also set some aside in the car their bodyguards had brought, for Chrome, Reborn and Bianchi. It never hurt to take the extra step here and there to do something nice for his Family, after all.

*Title translates to "Sincerely (from the heart)".