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The Light Between Worlds
Chapter X: The Light Between Lions and Cubs
"You can hide from the devil,
but he'll always find you."
- Allen Iverson
.
.
Reborn's return marked the start of one of the hardest weeks in Tsuna's life.
Before his return, Reborn had been mainly focused on teaching him how to healthily express and release his flames. Now, his zio seemed to be obsessed with teaching him how to hide and repress them.
He was adamant that Tsuna mastered the skill in a week, and Tsuna didn't even know why.
They started practice early in the morning, right after Tsuna returned worn out and sore from his run with Ryohei. Reborn had some weird idea that his physical exhaustion would make it easier to quash his flames down.
Spoiler Alert: It didn't.
Learning how to suppress flames was like learning how to live without breathing or blinking— irritating, exhausting, pointless work.
When it did work, it hurt like swallowing a burning dagger hurt— a mind-jarring agony that spread like fire beneath his skin. He was screaming and screaming from the pain on the inside, but his face refused to move— he was mute.
When his flames were suppressed, Tsuna was swept into a never-ending ocean of pain and loss. He was operating barely awake.
His mind kept ricocheting off itself in sheer panic, consumed with the fact that he couldn't feel his family's flames anymore.
The absence of their heartbeats against his own was the most terrifying part.
After his sessions with Reborn, Tsuna usually devoted the rest of the day to Hibari or Takeshi, trying to recover.
The first time he had successfully repressed his flames, he had spent the remainder of the afternoon crying inconsolably. Kyoya had dried his tears and held him until he fell asleep with his ear against his cloud's heart, lulled by the rhythm he had lost earlier.
When he saw his rain later, Takeshi had fretted over him endlessly. He brought Tsuna a huge glass of chocolate milk and a box of sushi, sitting with him until every drop was drained and bite eaten. Despite his best attempts, Tsuna had started crying again in the middle of his meal.
Takeshi had fed him the rest of the sushi while wiping away his tears. When Tsuna thought about the scene for a moment— him: sobbing his eyes out, and Takeshi: stuffing sushi in his mouth and trying to console him at the same time— he started laughing, almost hysterically.
Takeshi had seemed relieved at that, and Tsuna tried not to feel so guilty for worrying him.
.
Despite his utter exhaustion, Tsuna found his eyes opening at 3 AM. It was the odd sense of knowing— the kind that lit gold paths and told him to duck. It now led him downstairs.
Tsuna had barely stepped foot in the kitchen when the phone rang. Reaching over, Tsuna caught it before the first ring ended.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice echoed over the line.
"Tsuna-sama?"
"It's just Tsuna, Hayato," Tsuna scolded mildly.
Hayato just laughed.
"Why are you calling so late?"
Hayato groaned on the other end.
"I forgot to check. What time is it there, Tsuna-san?"
"It's 3 AM."
"Shoot! It's only 8 PM here. I… I just kind of wanted to talk and catch up."
"Did you miss me?" Tsuna asked eagerly. "I missed you lots and lots. I was so sad Mama didn't wake me up before you left."
Hayato sniffed on the other end of the phone. "I missed you too."
"How was the flight? What airplane did you—"
"Airbus A380. I checked just for you."
They laughed in unison.
"I think I have a model of that one," Tsuna said. "I'll show you the next time you come. How's Auntie doing?"
"I don't know." Hayato's halting voice sounded so lonely and afraid over the receiver.
It made Tsuna's heart hurt. His flames surged up in response.
He wondered if flames could stretch continents— could wrap around Hayato and tell him everything would be okay. And even if it wasn't, reassure him that Tsuna would do his best to make it okay.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?" Hayato asked.
"I wish I could be there with you."
"I wish that too," Hayato whispered.
"You know the cats you met when you were here? Well, Mama says we may be able to keep Kitten."
"Really? What happened to Lady?"
"Oh! Nothing happened. Riku-san just doesn't think he can handle two cats."
"Oh. That's good," Hayato said, sighing in relief. "What will you name him?"
"Umm… eto… maybe Kitten?"
Hayato scoffed. "Sorry, Tsuna-sama, but that's a lame name."
"Eh?" Tsuna huffed. "But Kitten is Kitten, ne?"
"But what about when Kitten grows up, huh? Will you still call him Kitten."
"Oh. Maybe 'Cat' then?"
Hayato groaned.
"It needs to be something cool, Tsuna-san. Like Dynamite or something."
Tsuna scoffed. "I don't think Dynamite's a cool name, Haya. If I was named Dynamite, I would cry. Everyday."
"No, Tsuna! Don't say that."
Tsuna laughed and asked another question.
.
Nana peeked into the kitchen.
Tsuna was on the phone, speaking to Hayato from the sound of it.
She smiled at the language they were using. Japanese and Italian seamlessly blended together into something that almost seemed like a different language unto itself. She had noticed them fall into the hybrid dialect when Hayato was still in Japan.
Sighing, she strided into the kitchen to break up the early morning conversation.
"Why isn't my little lion in bed?"
Tsuna squealed in surprise, dropping the receiver.
"Mama! I was just talking to Haya!"
Nana picked up the receiver.
"Haya-kun? This is Nana."
"O-o-ohayo, Nana-san!" Hayato stuttered. "I'm so sorry about calling at such an odd time! I forgot to check!"
"It's okay, sweetie. Your morning is usually the best time to call. I'm going to make Tsuna go back to bed now, but I would love if you called us regularly. Will you call tomorrow? I would love to speak to your mom too."
"Okay, Nana-san. I'm sorry."
Let me say goodbye, Tsuna mouthed to her.
Sighing, Nana handed over the receiver.
"Bye, Haya."
"Bye, Tsuna."
"That's twice now," Tsuna started conversationally, "that you've called me Tsuna."
Hayato gasped, shocked at his own indecency.
"I would really like it if you kept doing it. Bye."
Tsuna hung up before Hayato could reply.
Smiling cheerfully, he handed the phone back to Nana and hopped back to his own room.
His sheets had gotten cold. In a few hours he'd have to wake up and start another long day of flame repression exercises.
He frowned, feeling his mood whiplash down from his buoyancy at getting to speak to Hayato again.
Reborn was sleeping in the guest room today. Tsuna knew it was because his godfather thought they needed space after all the training together.
Grabbing his stuffed lion, Natsu, Tsuna crept down the hall to Reborn's room.
The door was open a sliver. Reborn was sleeping deeply. Tsuna entered and slipped under the warm covers.
Even past the veil of sleep, he felt Reborn's flames embrace his. It was like being tucked into bed, or being given a hug.
Tsuna sighed in contentment, letting himself fall asleep by his godfather's side.
.
Reborn woke up cold. Tsuna had stolen all the blankets to make a little cocoon. Again.
His godson craved warmth— especially in sleep.
Leon snoozed contentedly in Tsuna's hair, and Natsu was wrapped tight in his arms by his cheek. Reborn tugged at the blankets, and Tsuna shifted unconsciously until Reborn was brought into his cocoon too.
He had briefly woken up when his godson had snuck in before falling back asleep.
He decided he could let Tsuna rest a little this morning. He was making good progress.
He let the warmth of the covers and his godson's flames rush over him.
Tsuna's flames were so vibrant and beautiful. Containing them even for a moment was like putting out a forest fire.
But Tsuna would have to do it for hours at a time.
Who knows how long Nono and Iemitsu planned on staying?
He knew it hurt Tsuna.
Hurting Tsuna hurt him worse than anything had ever hurt before.
It was worse than the bullet in Budapest or the stab wound in Stockholm. The look in Tsuna's eyes— blank, vacant— was burned into the back of his eyes.
His godson was drenched in life— kissed by it, colored by it, touched by it in every way. When his flames were suppressed, it was like the life had been snuffed out— the curiosity, the wonder, the awe.
But there were monsters out hunting, and Tsuna was the faun on the edge of the night.
Reborn had to protect him, whatever the cost may be.
He felt an uncharacteristic wave of despair roll over him. His own limitations felt like a shard of glass at the edge of his conscious.
Tsuna hummed awake and blinked blearily up at him.
"Reborn?"
"I'm here, dame-Tsuna."
His godson's dark lashes fluttered shut again, and Reborn felt the whisper of sky flames against his heart like a soft filial kiss on his cheek.
Reborn's sun-stained flames draped around Tsuna protectively in response, thrumming with surprise.
He expected his godson to hate him.
He hated himself.
But rejecting Tsuna would hurt his godson worse than what he was already going through.
He didn't deserve Tsuna's love.
He was just another monster in the endless night.
Mi dispiace, passerotto.
I'm so sorry.
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On Wednesday after his training was over, Tsuna went to visit Nagi. Nana took him, but left him to visit Mori-san, the elderly woman who had lived next to them until she had been taken to the hospital after slipping in the bathroom.
Her room had changed.
The door was open. Tsuna slipped inside as softly as he could.
She looked like an echo— a reflection.
Tsuna found it hard to marry this pale shadow with the vibrant girl he knew from the dreamscape.
It wasn't right to see her this way. It was like she had met eyes with some errant Medusa.
Tsuna let go of the reins on his flames, grasping for a sign of life.
When his flames pulled free, it hurt— like the stretch of a sore, overused muscle.
Nagi's mist flames weakly reached back.
It was like pressing the ear and palm to an opaque window— feeling the presence of a matching palm and ear on the other side— but inevitably coming up short of sight and warmth.
The nurse bustled in.
"Weren't you the boy who came to visit a while back?"
Tsuna looked up, taken aback. A while back was months ago.
The nurse smiled awkwardly. "It was pretty memorable."
"Oh. Do you know when Nagi's going to wake up?"
The nurse paused, suddenly uncomfortable.
"Well…"
Tsuna knew suddenly that something was wrong— different— not right.
"It's hard to say, sweetie. She's in a coma. We don't know when she's going to wake up."
You'll wake up when you're ready, right, Nagi?
The reply was a low humming of light indigo flame. Nagi had almost no presence in the waking world. At the moment, she belonged to the realm of dreams.
"How do you know, Nagi, sweetheart?"
Tsuna paused.
"I met her at a playground and we became friends," he said, compromising on the full truth.
The reality of the matter was absurd.
"It's so kind of you to come visit her. Nagi doesn't get a lot of visitors."
"What about her parents?"
The nurse bit her lip and sighed.
Uncomfortable again, Tsuna noted.
"They haven't really come in. They're busy people."
"Oh," Tsuna answered, puffing out his breath slowly to swallow down his sudden irritation.
The nurse left Tsuna and Nagi.
He sat by her side quietly, allowing their flames to braid together. Time slipped by and flowed like the strands of interwoven flames.
Finally, a knock on the open door startled him back.
"Tsu-kun, are you ready to go home now?"
Mama had allowed him a lot of time with Nagi.
He hoped her visit with Mori-san had gone well.
"Mori-san says hi."
Tsuna smiled. Sometimes it felt like his mother could read his mind.
"Mama, this is my friend, Nagi," he said, introducing the two of them.
Nana didn't question the veracity of Tsuna's friendship. She just sat by him and gazed at the slumbering girl.
"She's sleeping right now, but she'll wake up soon."
Nana smiled, but something at the edges of her eyes and the tilt of her mouth seemed so sad.
"Hello, Nagi."
Tsuna closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of orange-purple flames between them.
If Nagi's flames felt any weaker, it was probably just his imagination, right?
Wake up.
.
Thursday afternoon—
"I don't want to do this anymore, Zio. It hurts. Let's do something else. Please," Tsuna pleaded, voice softened to a whisper.
Reborn closed his dark eyes for a second. When he opened them, they were icy and detached.
"If you don't master this, I can't guarantee your survival."
Tsuna's amber eyes widened.
"Tomorrow, your father is coming. He will be bringing his boss with him. If your father's boss learns you have flames, nobody knows what he will do to you."
"Why?"
"You weren't supposed to have flames. You were supposed to be a normal civilian. So, Tsuna, you have to be able to convince him you are."
"Does he not like flames?" Tsuna asked curiously, shaping a whisker of his orange fire into a cat on his palm.
"He doesn't like your flames."
"My flames? But he hasn't even seen them yet. If he sees how pretty they are, won't he let me keep them?"
Reborn's mouth puckered like a scar on scorched skin.
"No. He will take them from you. You have to hide them. Listen and don't question me."
Tsuna wrapped his arms around himself, feeling cold.
His flames were part of his soul.
Tsuna couldn't imagine them gone.
Imagining his heart ripped out was easier.
"Do it again. Inhale and conceal."
Inhale and conceal.
Swallow.
Breathe.
This pain means you still exist.
.
Friday—
Before dawn pinked the horizon, Reborn woke him and brought him to the forest. They stood on a circle of stone at the top of a sheer cliff.
"Let go," Reborn said simply.
So Tsuna did.
His flames were like sheets of glass reflecting an orange sunset.
There was water in the crevices of the stone circle, caught from the last rainstorm. When exposed to the heat of his sky flames, the liquid evaporated instantly.
Cordons of steam spiralled through the air like clouds of doves.
As he burned, his flames surged through his bonds, strengthening and refining them.
After nearly an hour, Tsuna finally sat quietly on the sizzling stone, criss-cross applesauce.
Reborn approached from the place he had settled to avoid being burned on accident.
"You don't have to suppress them yet. Iemitsu's plane lands at 4 pm. You should spend time with your guardians until then."
His godson look up, wide-eyed and incredulous.
"It'll be fine, dame-Tsuna. I'll pick you up and make sure you did it right."
"Ryohei."
Reborn lips quirked. "Don't worry. I'll tell him you're at the Hibaris when he comes to pick you up."
Tsuna bit his lip and nodded reluctantly.
Reborn shot him a mildly worried look. His godfather had probably expected some sass. Tsuna would usually have delivered, but today felt too different and strange to be normal.
"Or, I'll tell him to let you take a break today."
"No. It's… it's okay."
They walked back through the forest. Reborn capitulated to Tsuna's not-so-covert, longing glances at his shoulders and piggy-backed his godson to the Hibari residence.
Hibari Sakura was already awake. She gave him a tiny quirk of the lips. Tsuna knew that was the equivalent of an enthusiastic kiss on the cheek, and all he could expect in front of Reborn. The Hibaris didn't like his godfather for some reason, which to be honest, made Tsuna a little sad.
When Reborn left, she brought him into the house and let him go back to sleep.
Tsuna happily curled up beside his cloud guardian. Their flames were like two jigsaw pieces that fit together perfectly. Hibari greeted him by sleepily ruffling his hair.
He loved the pulse of flame exchange. It was like a second heartbeat wrapped around his first.
Sleep slipped over him gently. He was blinking one moment and out the next.
.
After breakfast with the Hibaris and his jog with Ryohei, Tsuna went in search of a quiet place.
The park Takeshi played baseball in had a rose garden much further back. There was a little gazebo in the middle of the maze. Tsuna sat in the center of the structure and closed his eyes, reaching for Roku and Nagi.
He called over and over again.
There was no answer.
Nagi and Roku had never been so unresponsive before. The last time he had met with them was Saturday night. Usually, he never went more than two nights without them. Their absence just compounded the overall weird factor of this whole week.
Had his flame repression somehow impacted them?
Tsuna gnawed at his lip harder than usual.
He licked his lips to dull the pain and tasted the salty iron of his own blood.
He had to find a way to get in touch with them. His heart felt even more uneasy after seeing Nagi in the hospital.
Maybe something had gone really really wrong.
No. He had to think positive. He would have been able to feel it if something had gone wrong.
But what if with all the flame repression, he had missed it?
He had to go to the hospital.
.
Although his original intention had been to visit Nagi alone, as he exited the park, he ran into Takeshi, who insisted on coming.
Along the way, they had somehow "bumped into" both Kyo and Ryohei.
Tsuna didn't believe in this kind of coincidence. Either their flames had somehow brought them together, or Kyo had been following him— oh, sorry— "patrolling" and Ryohei had tagged along with him.
Regardless, he found himself introducing Nagi to nearly all his friends at once.
It went well at first. His friends were respectful, but curious.
But then, Ryohei reminded him— in front of Kyoya— that he would like for Tsuna to call him Onii-san, and the inevitable collision of personality exploded.
One tonfa fight, boxing match, and screaming contest later, all of Tsuna's friends were kicked out. The only reason Tsuna wasn't forced to leave was because the nurse had recognized him.
Finally, in the quiet of the empty hospital room, Tsuna nervously reached for Nagi's hand.
He plunged into the mindscape.
.
The first thing he noticed about Nagi's mindscape was the emptiness. It wasn't the imagination garden, nor was it the cherry blossom river.
Sheer white space. It was like being wrapped in a gauzy veil, slowly suffocating to death.
There was something pink on the floor.
Leaning down, Tsuna reached to pick it up.
It was a cherry blossom petal.
The moment he lifted it from the blank ground, a path of petals and blood emerged ahead of him, staining the whiteness.
"Nagi," Tsuna whispered in horror.
The illusion broke.
Tsuna was thrown back into the cold hospital room.
His face was wet and his hands were trembling.
Nagi was—
Asleep.
She was asleep.
.
They had a late lunch at Take-Sushi.
Takeshi's dad kept trying to feed them way too much food.
He kind of reminded Tsuna of Mama in that way.
He sometimes wished his eyes were cameras. He wished he could freeze a shot of happiness and keep it with him always— hidden in a safe pocket by his heart.
Nagi should be here eating sushi with them.
Roku should be warm in someone's lap, being hand fed what was safe for cats to eat.
Maybe people couldn't capture happiness with a camera because it required too much editing. It was just too much work to add all the missing things in.
.
Reborn picked him up promptly at 4 pm.
"Your father and his boss are driving home as we speak. Are you ready, dame-Tsuna?"
Tsuna nodded and hugged his friends goodbye.
Don't cry. Don't make them worry anymore.
Tsuna knew his friends knew something was wrong. They just couldn't figure out what it was. Preferably, they never would.
"Come along, passerotto."
Tsuna held Reborn's hand and pretended it was an anchor in a dark, stormy sea.
.
Tsuna swallowed the burning dagger.
But really, he was swallowing himself.
Like crumpling every part of his self into a very tiny pill and gulping it down with something that was too cold but seemed to burn at the same time.
He was half asleep. He was underwater. He was dreaming.
Causality was folded into a neat little paper airplane and crashed in the trash can at the other end of the room.
Events, results, and actions were isolated and disconnected.
His father arrived in a storm of half fragmented sensations and images.
A hug— too tight.
The world spun on its axis as he was lifted and twirled and set down in front of another man.
Eyes— too sharp, too dark.
"Call me Nonno, Tsunayoshi. It means grandfather in Italian."
I know.
Oh. That must be his father's boss.
Tsuna looked a little closer.
He looked like a flock of ravens in the shape of a man.
Empty.
There was a tinge of Seville in the air.
The taste of bigarade flooded his mouth.
The older man was looking for his flames.
He wouldn't find them.
The dull orange flames withdrew, and the man sighed in disappointment.
Reborn's hands were suddenly pulling him away.
His mouth were shaping words.
Good job.
They were outside.
Reborn was kneeling next to him, looking at him oddly.
Your emotions are showing, he wanted to tell Reborn.
His godfather didn't seem to care.
Another man— his father— stepped outside.
They exchanged words.
Reborn left and his father was next to him, saying something.
Tsuna was responding.
The man's eyes scrunched together suspiciously.
Smile, Tsuna thought suddenly and desperately.
A delay, and then his lips were lifting into a wide semi-circle. It was almost painful.
His father mirrored the smile, looking reassured.
They were at the dinner table.
His mom was looking at him, an oddly panicky look in her eyes.
What happened? he wanted to ask.
She reached under the table and grabbed his hand.
Her hand was warm.
She didn't let go for the rest of the meal, and breathing was a little easier.
A hand in his hair.
The man was smiling at him, but it was so cold.
"Now, Tsunayoshi, have you ever seen anything like this? It's okay to tell me. I'll believe you."
Seville oranges.
Tsuna shook his head— he didn't like bitter orange— and the man seemed annoyed.
Then the man noticed Mama looking and stepped away.
"I'll ask you again later, and you need to tell me the truth. Only bad children lie, and you're not a bad child, are you, Tsunayoshi?"
Tsuna shook his head, and the man smiled.
Tsuna gazed wide-eyed as the flock of ravens scattered scattered scattered
.
His godson was finally sleeping.
Reborn had had to sing for nearly an hour, periodically drying Tsuna's silent tears. It was the longest Tsuna had been without his flames since they had been released.
Reborn could also feel the lack of sky in his own, weary sun. Tsuna and him usually had a circuit between them— not as demanding as his guardian bonds— but powerful in its own way.
Calming, reassuring: like a song in the back of the heart or a gentle, loving hug.
Reborn's sun flames felt frazzled and lonely without Tsuna's.
He turned on his side, trying to get rid of the horrors of the day, with his godson's peaceful face.
Nono had been more determined than he thought he would be.
He had flooded Tsuna with his sky multiple times, looking for any hint of flames.
Luckily, Tsuna had hid them well. It was impossible to tell he had ever had flames.
It was horrible though.
Tsuna responded perfectly. He spoke and smiled and listened.
But he was gone.
There was a terrible absence in his eyes.
He was like a doll, making all the right gestures and saying all the right things, but something intangible was missing.
There was a knock at the door.
Reborn carefully stood, pulling the soft blanket over his godson and making sure the stuffed lion was in easy grasping reach.
He knew who it was before he opened the door.
Iemitsu peeked in, noticing his son.
"Why is Tsunayoshi here?"
"It reassures him to not be alone."
Iemitsu's face folded in on itself.
"He has nightmares?"
"Not often anymore."
"You said Tsuna has no scars on his body!" Iemitsu yelled.
Reborn gave the man a scathing glare and looked pointedly back at his sleeping godson.
Iemitsu frowned, chastised.
"There are other ways of being scarred, Iemitsu," Reborn explained darkly.
The man seemed dumbfounded. After a few seconds, he shook his head and rebooted.
"I have to talk to you outside."
.
The two men made their way to the backyard. Iemitsu pulled out a cigarette and rolled it between his fingers.
"What's up with Tsuna?" the man asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You had to have felt his flames when they were released! You were right here when it happened, Reborn."
"I don't get what you're saying."
"I'm saying Tsuna's flames were definitely released, but now we can't find anything. What did you do?"
"If Tsuna released his flames, it was induced by trauma. After the leak your famiglia had, Tsuna had an unfortunate run in with an assassin."
"Yes. But nothing happened!"
"It's true I disposed of Erlkonig. But Tsuna was still with him for almost five minutes. If you felt Tsuna's flames release, it was probably then."
Iemitsu looked strangely relieved.
Reborn heard a tiny rustle from behind them.
A little lion cub was awake and about when he was supposed to be sleeping.
Reborn ignored him for now.
"So they can only be accessed by trauma?"
"That's my understanding."
"So he can't use them like real flames?"
"He'd have to be trained for that."
"Good. Very good," Iemitsu smiled. "I'll tell Nono. Maybe he won't seal Tsuna then."
Reborn froze. "Seal? He wants to seal Tsuna's flames?"
"Yeah. I mean, the other alternative is killing him, so it's really the best option."
"But sealing… the research indicates that children who are sealed… It's a fate worse than death, Iemitsu. You can't cut off a child like that. It's a form of murder."
"I know, Reborn. But I made a mistake! He was a mistake! He shouldn't have ever been born. The price is being paid now for my folly."
Reborn stilled. He didn't have to glance behind him to know the soft copper eyes were now staring at them in shock and horror. He knew the expression well enough.
"Tell Nono and leave," Reborn ordered. "Tsuna's not a threat to him. He has no interest in the family business and if Nana and I have anything to say about it, he never will."
Iemitsu lit the cigarette. He puffed in and out.
"Good. It would be better for everyone if he stayed away."
Another rustle. Tsuna could probably sense the conversation wrapping up and was taking the opportunity to sneak back upstairs.
"Agreed," Reborn said, only when Tsuna was out of earshot. He didn't want his godson to get the wrong idea.
Iemitsu turned and looked at the moon, the light from his cigarette flickering in the darkness.
Reborn left.
.
His godson was sitting up when he returned, absently stroking his stuffed lion.
"Dame-Tsuna, why are you awake?"
"You smell like smoke."
"I know. How much did you hear."
"Everything important."
Reborn frowned. He slipped back into bed, reaching for his godson.
"You really are dame-Tsuna. Nothing in that conversation was important."
His godson looked up, tears clinging to his lashes.
"I'm a mistake. Otou-san said I… I shouldn't have been born."
Reborn didn't mean to, but he laughed.
"Tsuna, do you think your mom and I think that? That you're a mistake?"
Tsuna paused, contemplating Reborn's question.
"No…" he finally responded, voice soft and vulnerable.
"And how do you know that?"
"Because you love me."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because you fold my socks into bunnies and let me paint your toenails and walk with me to school and pick me up and hug me and teach me things and read me books and… you're there… if I'm scared."
Reborn stilled, swallowing before he spoke so his voice wouldn't be choked up.
"So how could you think that your Papa, who has never been there, would know you enough to say if you were a mistake or not?"
Tsuna's face was suddenly very small and hopeful.
"He wouldn't."
"No. He wouldn't. Iemitsu was wrong. You are not a mistake. You're the only thing he's ever done right in his life. Don't forget it, dame-Tsuna, or I'll give you a million workbooks."
Tsuna's face paled and he nodded quickly.
"And don't tell anyone about the nail polish."
"Why not?"
"Listen to me and stop asking 'why' all the time, dame-Tsuna."
"You said it's good to be curious!"
Reborn froze.
"Tsuna… your flames."
Tsuna stilled in shock.
"I… I forgot. I woke up and felt normal and forgot."
"Suppress them now," Reborn hissed.
Like a switch, the subtle hint of sky flame in the air vanished. Tsuna's eyes dulled and his hand curled into a tight fist.
Reborn reached for the hand and gently pried the fingers apart.
His godson had a habit of leaving crescent shaped scars on his palm when he suppressed his flames.
He wondered if Tsuna's flames had been released long enough for anyone to notice.
Reborn usually left nothing to chance.
But right now, there was no other choice.
Or was there...
As the clouds slowly blushed pink with dawn, Reborn watched the sun rise
and contemplated the consequences of killing the Sky.
.
Nana had planned on making toast and cereal for breakfast today.
Something had stopped her.
Instead, she had gone all out: oatmeal with fresh fruit, pancakes with syrup and butter, and hot blueberry muffins.
The aroma of the food had woken everyone up. In ones and twos, they sleepily made their way to the table.
When Nono stepped into the kitchen, he paused, suspiciously sniffing the air for a few minutes.
He looked confused, but eventually let it go, sitting happily before the feast.
When Tsuna and Reborn arrived together, Nono paused, suspicious once again.
"Would you like another blueberry muffin, Nono-san!" Nana cheerfully asked, pulling his attention away from her son.
It was disturbing how fixated he was on Tsuna. Nana wouldn't stand for much more of it. If he ever laid a single hand on her son, she would—
"Hello, darling."
Iemitsu kissed her cheek, and Nana gritted her teeth against the sudden rush of flames.
It felt euphoric obviously.
Nothing— not even her own resolve— could stop the smile spreading across her lips.
The inside of her mind was calm though.
Let the physical reaction happen. Control the mental one.
Reborn had slowly taught her in the nights they had before her husband returned.
.
The teacup slipped out of her fingers and shattered on the linoleum tiles. The sound startled her as much as Reborn's words had.
"Why would he come now? And why would he bring his boss with him?" she asked, momentarily unconcerned about the fragmented porcelain.
The set of Reborn's mouth was grim, like a fracture on glass.
"I don't know the details. But, it probably has to do with Tsunayoshi."
She felt a rush of power and anger. A mother's fury. Her eyes flooded orange. "What could they want with my son?" she asked.
"I don't know, Nana. But whatever it is, we have to be ready. You need to learn to access some of your flames."
.
Reborn came to her after the meal.
"Thank you," he told her.
She didn't quite know what for, but something told her to say, "You're welcome."
.
In the end, their undoing had been a chihuahua.
It was the last day of Iemitsu and Nono's visit— Sunday.
Reborn had finally let himself breathe a little.
The two men would be departing in two hours.
Tsuna had been doing so so well. His slip-up on Friday had been his only.
And that was the problem:
Everything had been going so smoothly.
Murphy's Law runs absolute on the karma of the world.
Reborn sat with Iemitsu and Nono, keeping a careful eye on Tsuna.
His godson was leaning over something by the fence.
He had already been there for three minutes and Reborn was feeling too on edge to let him stay there any longer.
"Dame-Tsuna, come here."
Iemitsu shot him an annoyed look.
"Don't call my son 'Dame,' Reborn."
"Why ever not, baka-Iemitsu?"
Tsuna smiled as he reached them. He was getting more and more grounded in the present moment. It bothered Reborn; Tsuna should never have to get used to living without his flames.
"It's okay, otou-san. I don't mind."
Iemitsu wailed some ridiculous nonsense about his son being corrupted by the hitman, and Reborn felt almost on ease when the barking started.
Tsuna turned and shot like a gun towards the fence.
"Hibird!"
And with a terrible epiphany, Reborn understood what Tsuna had been kneeling beside.
His godson's stupid bird had gotten itself stuck in the stupid fence.
Reborn cursed, standing to chase after his godson.
Before he could make it all the way there, he felt a burst of light, like a sun shower.
"Get away from her!"
A flaring of translucent orange.
A rush of caramel and vanilla and heaven on fire.
Reborn stopped and looked back in a panic.
Fate flared to life and reared its ugly head.
Nono stood up slowly
and smiled.
.
.
Hi.
This chapter gave me hell. I tried writing it three different times and finally settled for the fourth attempt above. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, though I'm sorry for the itsy bitsy cliffie above. I was going to continue, but then the ending just seemed so perfect.
Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! I really really appreciate it. It's what spurs writers on.
I hope you liked the chapter though I know it's kind of weird updating in the middle of the week. I just didn't want to skip a month, you know?
Passerotto means baby swallow, which is pretty accurate for Tsu. Murphy's Law basically says, if something can go wrong, it will.
Anyway, I would really love to know what you thought of this chapter, so please leave me a comment below and I promise I will love you forever.
Yours,
- Mmrose9