"I'm here to ask you to be my lightning guardian."

Lambo just stared stupidly at his elder brother, and after a long moment of silence, he said, "...Eh?"

The brunette laughed, as if he had expected this reaction, and held out his hand for the little cow child to see the glimmering green ring sitting on his palm. "I need a lightning guardian, and you're the only person I can think to ask."

Lambo stared at it for another moment, then his eyes welled with tears and snot started dripping from his nose as he started sobbing.

"Eh?" blurted out Tsuna, starting to panic. Had he scared his brother?

The next moment, Lambo latched onto his older brother, effectively getting mucus all over the front of the older male's shirt, and continued crying. Not know what else to do, Tsuna just sat there, rubbing his back and trying to get him to stop crying.

When he finally did, Lambo pulled away, and his eyes were completely swollen from all the crying. Sighing as he saw the state of his clothes, Tsuna shook his head and pulled out a tissue, wiping Lambo's nose.

When there was not a trace of snot left on the younger boy's face, he smiled, and held out his little gloved hand towards his older brother. "Gimme," was the only word that came out of his mouth.

Smiling in exasperation, Tsuna handed over the ring, which immediately disappeared somewhere in Lambo's cow suit.

"The great Lambo will not let big brother down!" he shouted determinedly, and Tsuna let a fond smile spread across his face.

"I know you won't," he said, dropping a kiss onto his temple. "That's why I chose you."

The day after the banquet, Reborn was kind enough to let his exhausted student sleep in for a few hours, seeing as he wouldn't be getting much sleep in the coming months; the infant hitman would make sure of that.

When the young heir woke around noon the next day, he found he felt wonderfully rested; that is, until he remembered that he had to board the Vongola's private jet back to Japan in only an hour if he wanted to get back home in time for school to start again. This left him only about half an hour at most to spend with his father before he had to leave, and most of that time would be taken up with lunch.

Letting out a startled yelp as he fell to the floor, his blankets tangled around his legs, Tsuna immediately got up and, without even bothering to take a shower, he rushed downstairs and into the dining room, where everybody was having lunch. The second generation all seemed sleepy, and Lambo even seemed to be dozing off in his mother's arms, but somehow, their fathers (and mothers) seemed to be wide awake.

Everyone looked up when Tsuna entered the room, and his siblings sat up just a little bit straighter.

Trying not to show his amusement at the kids' reaction, Giotto gestured his son over to the empty seat beside him.

Obeying wordlessly, a sleepy Tsuna soon found himself staring at a bowl of cereal and milk.

Realizing just how hungry he was, the boy started devouring his breakfast, not paying any attention to the heavy atmosphere that permeated the air.

It wasn't until later, just as he and his siblings were about to leave with Reborn, that Tsuna noticed just how upset his father, and indeed all the other guardians, were.

"Do you have to go back to Japan?" asked Giotto apprehensively; he couldn't help but think of the future he had seen, a memory that refused to be forgotten. He felt apprehensive about his son going halfway around the world where if something happened, it would be hours before he could get to him. "Why don't you all just transfer to a junior high in the area?"

Tsuna smiled up at his father, and hugged him tightly around the waist. "You know we can't do that, dad. It's the middle of the school year! Anyways, we like it in Japan. It's so interesting." When he saw his father's face fall, Tsuna tried to cheer him up. "But don't worry! We'll visit you during the holidays, and you can come see us any time you want! And before you know it, we'll all have graduated from high school and returned to Italy!"

Giotto tried to put on a brave face for his son and nodded, placing a kiss on the brunette's temple and waving him goodbye until the next time he saw him.

When Tsuna and his brothers got back to Japan, life continued on, as usual, except for the fact that Reborn kept working them like pack mules and inflicting rigorous training on every single one of them, even though all of Tsuna's siblings had tutors that came to Japan every few months to supervise their training.

Before any of them had realized it, though, a year had peacefully flown by.

That year had been spent fruitfully by the teenage second generation, training and learning to use their flames.

But unbeknownst to them, in another world ten years into the future, the beginnings of a plan had started to unfold; a plan that would change their lives; for better of for worse.

Ten Years Later

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

The doors to the conference room were flung open, and the horrified expressions of Tsuna's siblings seemed to last for an eternity. He could hear Lambo's anguished cries and Hayato's blind rage. He could practically hear the smile disappear from Takeshi's lips, and the blood drained out of Ryohei's face, leaving it pale and vulnerable looking. Chrome's scream echoed through his head, and the sound of Mukuro's trident banging onto the floor rang clear throughout the room. Even Kyoya, who knew about what was going on seemed genuinely afraid for his younger sibling. His eyes were devoid of all emotion, but his body was shaking furiously.

The only thing Tsuna regretted was seeing his siblings' petrified faces and the knowledge of how his father would react when he got the news. Letting out a small sigh, knowing it was too late to turn back, Tsuna closed his eyes to wait for his plan to be put into action.

A ragged looking Giotto stared at the floor, his head hanging. He was so tired; he had been in this cage for so long, sometimes, he feared he was starting to forget his son's face. He feared he was starting to lose hope, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to save his energy; he had to keept father that his son and nephews would come and save them one day.

That hope was what kept him going, and Byakuran very well knew that, which was why, on the day he got that very delicious piece of information, it was the blonde Vongola Don that he sought out first.

Standing in front of the older man's cage, he smirked smugly, enjoying seeing his enemy so weak. He had been frustrated that the man's spirit refused to break, even under such terrible conditions, but he knew that the information he had right now would be the absolute last straw. There was no way Giotto was going to survive after this. After all, he had been his whole life.

Delightedly anticipating the blonde's reaction, the white-haired man opene his mouth to say the words that would tear Giotto's world apart.

"Tsunayoshi Taru is, as of a few hours ago, dead."

SkyGem: Hey everyone! Long time no see! Okay, so I know it's not December 1st, and I'm really sorry. I hope you'll forgive me with this chapter? Pretty please? Review and tell me what you thought, ne? But poor Giotto...that's the worst thing that could happen to him, learning that his beloved son, the apple of his eye, is dead...

Anyways, I have a question...see, I've actually discontinued quite a few of my fics before, and I was wondering if there are any among you who remember any of the stories I have started but which eventually disappeared from my profile? Not the ones that I adopted out, but the ones that are completely gone? I remember most of them, but was wondering if any of you do? I was thinking of maybe putting some of them back up, like Change of Heart. Anyone here that remembers that one?