Hi. I got a review from someone feeling that the story is about to end, and tbh, I am trying to end this story as soon as possible without leaving out any loose ends. Writing this for the most part, was very fun, but recently it has become way too much of a chore.

So I'm trying to end it quickly, rather than leave it abandoned like many other fics out there. I'm not promising I can end this, because some days I feel like dropping the project altogether, but I am saying I will try.

Most days, I feel like the KHR fandom is dying.

But, on a less depressing note, enjoy this chapter.

This chapter has less romance, more of the family theme. And maybe slightly too dramatic for some taste buds.

Chapter 38

Squalo was surprisingly waiting for me back in the hotel room when I arrived.

The swordsman had been flicking through TV channels when I came in, staring at me pointedly as i made my way in. I smiled awkwardly, sitting down on a chair across him.

"Hey."

Thing is, I wasn't too sure what Squalo was going to talk to me about. Not that I couldn't easily guess. I had spent the night at Shoichi's because all three of us had been high after the new 'developments.' Nothing really happened, just that the boys finally passed out at five am, and I snuck out to leave them in peace. Anyone else wouldn't put it to be as innocuous as so, not that I couldn't blame them.

Eighteen years old, after all.

Squalo was silent for five seconds, thinking of what he was to say. He had always been the adult figure in my life for as long as I could remember. And he lived up to the role too, even when he was barely seven years older than I was.

"You chose the Byakuran boy, then."

"Yeah."

It was pure awkwardness. Talking to the one person who had watched you grow up about your suddenly existent love life. Squalo, unfortunately, obviously wasn't satisfied with my one word answers. He stared on, waiting.

"It probably sounds like a spur of the moment thing to you, Squalo, but it wasn't. I promise. I think I always knew, and I just didn't know how to say it then." I reasoned out.

He sighed. "He came back yesterday battered, you know."

My mind short circuited for a moment. Right. I wasn't the only one who had Squalo as an adult figure. He was Bel's too.

I probably looked worried, or guilty, I wasn't too sure because I didn't know what exactly to feel then. But Squalo smirked, and my brain began functioning again.

"But he'll live." Squalo seemed to return to character too. "Vooooii, it's not as if we can control up to your decisions. Just make sure the little shit's competent enough to keep up with you or we're going to roast him."

I laughed, at the mental image his statement provided. "He'll be able to." I assured him.

It wasn't tense any more after that. Not even at breakfast when Bel decided to show up. It was like nothing even happened at all.

It was off, but lots of things about my world was off as it was anyway. And for once, I was okay with that.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Xanxus called a week into March to tell us that the Ninth finally gave us the go signal to return back to Italy at the end of the month, when the Cloud Guardian officially finishes his secondary education.

The word officially was a long time running joke around now, because Kyoya had long since been above high school material anyway. The teen barely attended his classes too, not that anyone would tell Tsuyoshi-san that.

Aside from being fellow mafia famiglia members, the Decimo teens were also in a brotherhood that kept silent about one another skipping school.

Tsuna had given me a side story about how Hayato had been forced into summer classes one year by the sushi chef when they were ten, and only because the genius skipped a week of school to look for unidentified beings. The brotherhood started around then.

I watched fondly as Squalo and Belphegor bantered with Xanxus and the rest of the other Varia on the phone, the pair obviously delighted that they were finally back in well, business. I didn't share the sentiment, but I wasn't as disappointed as I thought I'd be. I had jobs here, after all. And jobs I honestly enjoyed.

Belphegor noticed my unusual silence first.

"Shishishishi, you're not coming are you, princess?" It was more a statement than a question.

I grinned. "Caught me."

Squalo glanced at me with concern for a split second, but my face must've been showing I was determined to stay, because he smirked at me knowingly.

There was suddenly an evil glint in his eyes. I groaned. "Of course she wouldn't leave. She's found herself a Romeo here."

I watched Bel flinch peripherally, but nothing more indicative than that.

I glared at Squalo instead. "You just had to bring it up, didn't you, Squ-chan." I looked blankly at Xanxus, who was obviously smirking. "And no, I'm not staying for him. I'm staying because I love teaching the kids."

It was Lussuria's turn to speak after that. "Of course, we know that, honey." He then tried to stifle a laugh, but failed epically. "Not even a month yet and she's so defensive."

Mammon muttered, "She can still hear you, Luss."

Then, Squalo roared out, "VOOOOIIII! Is it just me or when she said she loved and kids in the same sentence it sounded….implying?"

There were roars of laughter after that.

I sincerely had the desire to dig my own grave then and there.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

I met Byakuran and Shoichi again, the second week of March. Both boys had the entire month, and the rest of their lives to live freely, now that they had both technically finished high school. Just the w eek of graduation, and the lives as students they've known would come to an end.

"It's all so surreal, isn't it, Byakuran." Shoichi commented offhandedly. I duly noted that they've known each other since middle school. Six years.

Byakuran laughed, and for some reason, it made me feel weird, just hearing it. "I think the fact I'm eighteen still haven't caught up with me."

Both the redhead and I laughed. That was the reason for this gathering, after all, Byakuran's eighteenth. I had given the albino the largest and sweetest pack of marshmallows I can find, because honestly, he wasn't the jewelry kind of person.

Shoichi had given Byakuran a basket of vegetables, but not before looking at my present for the birthday boy in distaste. He was the ever responsible friend.

"Well, we're all eighteen now. Basically adults." I said.

There was silence for a while, but I was confident we were all thinking the same thing.

"Oh gosh. I don't know how to be an adult." Shoichi was the first to speak again, the boy now pale, and on the verge of suffering another of his usual stomach problems.

Byakuran and I laughed, the albino patting Shoichi's back to calm him down.

"We don't have to be adults, Sho-chan. It's just the age. It means were legal now. Legal enough to further our childish expeditions."

The twinkle in Byakuran's amethyst eyes spelled miles of trouble for any authority with the misfortune of facing him.

Shoichi then jumped into mother hen mode, proceeding to scolding the albino for even thinking about such an atrocious idea. He began talking about responsibilities and setting good examples, which fell to deaf, laughing ears.

"So, what are your plans now?" I asked the two, interrupting Shoichi before his little scolding turned into a full scale rant.

"I got accepted into a university in Tokyo." Shoichi replied. "Engineering, designing things, inventing."

I nodded. "That really suits you."

Byakuran then burst out laughing beside me. "I just remembered something, Sho-chan. Back when we first met and we were twelve, you swore to me you'd start a band!"

The redhead turned red, and I grinned evilly at him. "Can you sing?"

He turned even redder, and Byakuran burst into laughter, causing heads to turn to our direction. Shoichi didn't take well to the added attention. The few elders in the crowd muttered something about foreigners and I grinned.

"See, Sho-chan. We're foreigners. If you sing for us, you'd simply be a friend entertaining his foreign friends with a song of the Japanese culture." The redhead glared at me, but my grin only grew wider.

Byakuran took the joke a step further by making his voice louder, "come on, dude, sing for us!"

His American accent was perfect, causing more people to turn, their attention fixed on the red head now. Shoichi glared at us, before replying with the most uncharacteristic answer we've ever managed to squeeze out from him.

"Fuck no."

I blinked once, twice, and beside me, Byakuran did the same. Byakuran then broke the silence by clapping, "Oh my gosh, you just swore! You, YOU SWORE FOR THE FIRST TiME!"

I laughed loudly, and the crowd around us, sensing there was nothing more to see moved on with their average, boring lives. I joined the clapping, and Shoichi sighed, acknowledging the fact he lost this round.

He smiled too, later. "The things you guys make me do."

"So, Zero-kun, what about you, plans for the newfound adulthood?" I asked mockingly. The albino laughed, coughing dramatically.

"Well, I got myself into the same university as Sho-chan, and the same course too!"

Shoichi was obviously not informed of the arrangements. He groaned, obviously not happy with the added years of baby-sitting his childish friend. "What're you going to do in university anyway? It's not as if you even need it."

Byakuran laughed then stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "College is the spring break of life, Sho-chan!"

I laughed, because the statement reflected so much of Byakuran, or the Byakuran he wanted to see. I knew better about the albino now.

"Your dad put you up to it, didn't he?" I asked, and for a few seconds, the smile on Byakuran's face faded, only to return ever-brightly right at me.

"100 points to whatever house you're from, Cai-chan! You figured out the greatest secret of the century." He was smiling, but there was sarcasm, the bad kind, and I felt annoyance rise to the surface.

I was about to retort, when Shoichi whispered softly behind me. "Don't push it, Cai-chan. He doesn't like talking about it."

I didn't.

Byakuran seemed unchanged, the way he spoke and ran around like he always used to, but this time, it had this fakeness around it, as if he had planned every step, had staged every word.

"Shoichi. This isn't right. Something's wrong."

Green eyes met mine, and I was given a reply that was full of defeat. "I know. It started last week. And I tried everything, but it all only seemed to make him worse."

I couldn't reply to that because Byakuran had dragged the both of us off into another shop, another arcade, busying us that the topic was soon forgotten.

But I couldn't ever forget, how fake his smile was.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

"It's going to be quiet here without you." I said, my statement answered by a chorus of laughs.

"VOOOIII! That was so lame!" Squalo told me, and for once I had to agree. It was lame.

"The prince seconds Sharky, shishishi."

I grinned at Belphegor, knowing that I was going to miss his snarky remarks that I woke up to everyday. "Take care, Bel."

He grinned back, "You too, princess, shishishishi."

"Bye, Squalo. See you next month."

The swordsman decided he'd be back every now and then to make sure the Decimo weren't slacking in their training.

I hugged him anyway when he left. And Bel too. It just wouldn't be the same without them around.

It wasn't as climatic, or as well versed as my prior goodbyes, but that was because I really didn't feel the drama necessary this time around. I was still Varia, after all, and Xanxus's monthly report ensured that I had communication with them.

It wasn't an end.

For once, it was nice to know I could still have goodbyes that weren't necessarily the end of things.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Lambo, Ipin, Fuuta and Stuart spent a lot of time together during the kids' summer away from school. The training was still existent, but it wasn't as serious as it used to be. There wasn't really much need for it to be, lately. Lambo and Ipin were both very capable, and Fuuta, who had already turned eleven was quickly catching up with the rest of the Decimo.

All three children and the nineteen year old decided it was time to visit where I lived, too, now that they knew the other Varia weren't around.

"No offense of course to Squalo-san and Belphegor-san, but they can be really creepy at times."

That, was from Fuuta. Puberty was obviously starting for the boy, who was slowly coming out of his polite shell. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but this Fuuta was a waaay better conversationalist.

And that's why all four of them were lying down the living room carpet, plotting battle strategies and weapons.

"Stuart-nii, consider this." Lambo was drawing something at the whiteboard map I gave them. Stuart was the one in charge of coming up with a situation, and the kids were tasked to find the best tactical solution that would result in zero casualties.

"That's stupid, Lambo. See, the enemies' soldiers outnumber yours on this side." Fuuta told the younger boy, and I watched amused as Lambo only rolled his eyes.

"Piss off, Fuuta. No one asked you for your opinion." The turning seven year old boy told the older one, "Like you can come up with a better solution."

The past year, all that was of the crybaby Lambo seemed all but thrown away to another dimension, replaced by this sassy kid who was growing as much sass as height, which was to say, a lot.

"Try me." Fuuta dared.

The boys were interrupted from their little banter, however, when Ipin suddenly laughed. "You dimwits. I've solved it already."

Ipin too, was growing more confident by the day. It was bound to happen, because after all, she spent most days with the two boys. Not that she wasn't amazing in her own right. Her mind was wired for tactics and memorization. She was much like Gokudera, in that sense.

Green and caramel brown eyes raked over the map, Stuart watching all three, fondly.

"Sorry to say, mates. She did solve it." Stuart told the two boys, in his native language, because that was another thing we were trying to drill into their heads.

"That's no fair, Ipin. It was my turn next." Fuuta reasoned.

"Well, both you and Lambo were busy so I thought I'd sneak in a try." The girl shrugged.

"No way! You just don't do that. We have turns because of order. Without order, society would crumble and there'd be nothing but barbaric unfairness." Fuuta argued.

"The Mafia runs on barbaric unfairness, Fuu." Ipin told the older boy pointedly.

Beside her, Lambo snickered. "You had that one coming to you Fuuta. Real stupid of you to talk about order, of all things."

Stuart decided to join in, "Oh come on, guys. Quit harassing Fuuta. We all know he has this delicate condition where everything has to be in order and in its fixed place at all times. In fact, it's called O-C-D."

The two youngest laughed. "Not you too, Stuart-nii." Fuuta directed at the albino, who laughed at him.

They passed around other jokes, mostly about Fuuta's supernatural abilities, until I decided to interrupt.

"Quit it guys, what's Fuuta ever done to you?"

Fuuta looked at me thankfully, then said the most ingenious comment I have ever heard him make. "Thank heavens someone's on my side. And it's Caia-nee, of all people. Admit it guys, she can hand you all your asses in five bloody seconds."

The laughter was unanimous.

OoooooooooooooooooO

May that year, Xanxus called in to tell me that the Varia had a new recruit and the recruit held promise. He said that he wanted me to meet the kid the next time I was back in the base. I had then thought that kid meant someone around our age, just slightly younger.

But when he introduced said new recruit to me, it was surprisingly, a literal kid.

Mammon's new student, an illusionist.

"Hello brat." I greeted. I would've been kinder, but the kid was going to grow up Varia, and he had to get used to the generic term we've been called for so long. And mostly because it felt awesome calling another member that.

The kid stared half emotionlessly, but there was still annoyance leaking through the sides. He was good, but at this point, Lambo could hide his emotions better than the little mist. "It's not brat, my name is Fran."

I laughed at him. "Well, get used to being called brat then. It's the Varia."

He grimaced. "Yeah. And so far, the Varia has proven nothing aside from the fact they're monkeys with no sense of hygiene or even a respectable vocabulary"

I laughed, hearing Xanxus's own amused chuckle, and Squalo's curses through the call.

"You've got guts, mini-brat, insulting your superiors like that. Make sure you have fangs before you say something to provoke them though."

"~Hai hai~ Princess-senpai." The kid replied, and I echoed the name he called me in confusion.

"He's Belphegor's ward." Squalo explained. "Bel's the only one the kid listens to. He's tense around the rest of us." The last sentence, Squalo spoke in a language Fran didn't know.

"Tell Belphegor to watch after him then, and not to traumatize the mini-brat too much."

Squalo laughed, before ending the call. "Take care there too, and VOOOOOI! For the record, you're still a brat."

I laughed. A new member then.

The future was slowly clicking into place.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooO

That June, both the Vongola and the Varia gave me the most notable offer of the year.

My life had then been mostly filled with tutoring Lambo, Ipin and Fuuta, and dragging Stuart along, as well as the frequent hanging outs with Byakuran and Shoichi.

Until, well, Tsunayoshi asked if he could talk to me before I left their sushi shop of a home.

"Caia-san." Tsuna had called, and I looked at the boy blankly.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something, and once you hear it, I swear, that I already talked with Xanxus-san and he's given you permission."

"Gave me permission to do what?"

It must have come off as harsher than I intended, because Tsuna smiled slightly, and I sighed.

"Sorry, Tsuna. Force of habit. The Varia way."

He laughed, told me that he understood, and the rest of the Varia were the same way anyway.

"But back to the topic at hand, I wanted to ask you, if you well, can take custody of the kids."

I just stared. "I don't think I heard you right the first time, Tsuna. Did you just ask me to…"

He flashed me a bright smile. "I did, Caia-san. I asked you if you wanted custody of Lambo, Ipin and Fuuta." He then paused for a minute, probably replaying the conversation in his head. "It wouldn't be much trouble, I promise," he added, "they're still officially their families', or well, at least most of them. Lambo is officially signed to the Vongola, Ipin is, by the law, Fon's, but Fuuta, he's entirely your ward, if you'd accept."

"But why?" I asked the teen.

He laughed. "Authorities, Namimori Police are around checking on Dad – Tsuyoshi-san. They would've come sooner or later anyway. Kyoya, Mukuro, Hayato, Takeshi, and I, we're all dad's wards. They've turned a blind eye cause Kyoya and Hayato were teens when they came, but they could only let slide so much. Three – four, the way they see it, children added to Tsuyoshi-san's name would just be suicide. So, yeah, we have to transfer guardianship of the three kids to someone else. Or risk having them taken by social services all together."

I accepted the explanation. "But why me?"

Tsuna then laughed again. "Sorry, Caia-san, it's just… you reacted the exact way Squalo-san described you would. And the decision to pick you was mines and Xanxus-san's actually. You practically live with the kids. Having guardianship transferred to you would save you the trouble of having to make sure they're home here by nightfall. And saves you the trips too."

I took it in silently. Tsuna then smiled and added. "Pardon me for saying this, but I'm under strict orders from Squalo-san to word it the exact same way he did. That you're a fucking grown woman now, so deal with the task at hand like one."

Tsuna looked apologetic, until I started laughing, at which point he just looked at me as if I was insane. I think I've already established the truth behind that one enough.

But I was laughing because the realization hit me like a truck. I was a woman now, the way the world saw it. My early childhood had been so eventful that most of my memories were of it, that I would still find myself constantly referring to myself as kid, when it sure as hell wasn't the case anymore.

I was one of the freaking grown-ups now, and heaven knows how long it's been since that day I first woke up to a strange world with strange sounds, that I could still remember vaguely.

"Caia-san?" Tsuna asked. He was wary, but that was because he was used to me being the 'well behaved' Varia.

"Knock off it, Tsuna. Stop acting like you haven't seen a Varia officer go wacko before. Surely, I'm allowed to have my own moments."

He allowed himself a smile. "Is it a famiglia trait?"

"It's our one defining characteristic, Tsunayoshi. And I named you that, Tsunayoshi."

The sixteen year old groaned. "Can you please stop pointing it out every time we talk? It's getting old and the humor's long since rotten away."

"Aww he's shy." I teased. "Doesn't want to admit he's been named by some blonde, foreign chick, back in the day."

The teen rolled his eyes. "Forgive me for bursting your ego, but you weren't a 'chick', Caia-chan. You were a baby."

"I remember bits of it you know. Iemitsu, before he became all assholey and stuff, he assumed I was an Arcobaleno then, and interrogated me."

Tsuna laughed, showing no signs he even acknowledged the mention of his father. It was scary, honestly, how Tsuna reacted to his biological father's death with not much care for the matter. He even threw a party, from what I heard. Not, that he was entirely without reason.

His father's life's work, after all, led to the death of the one parent who had always been there for him.

Sometimes, it was surprising that Tsuna was still sane, or as sane as a Mafia Boss was allowed to be.

"And, Tsuna, I say yes. I'm taking custody of the kids. Squalo's right. I'm not the kid anymore."

The teen smiled again. "That's great. Reborn and I would have it all arranged by tomorrow. Goodnight Cai-chan."

I wasn't the kid anymore.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

The day after that, all guardianship of the three kids were passed on to me. Lambo, Ipin and Fuuta were obviously all oriented previously, the three excited about getting to live in a new place. The first few days weren't easy, since I didn't really know much of the kids outside training.

But we learned, and we coped. Just like training.

The routines were the ones I could say were really established first. Back then, it was me waking up to food, now, it was me expected to prepare the food. I was still a cooking disaster, but all I had to do was breakfast anyway. The kids had lunch and dinner at Takesushi, on the days they weren't craving for take-out.

Living with the kids also had me learning their own mini schedules. Surprisingly enough, it was always Lambo that woke up the first. He would wake up before me, even, on some days. The seven year old said that it was how he'd always been, awake at the crack of dawn.

Ipin was the second. She always wakes up when it's just bright enough for a morning walk. And she did, that every day, a fifteen minute morning walk. It's when she's awake that I start to create a semi decent breakfast for them.

Fuuta was the hard one to wake. The eleven year old loved sleeping in, and even his alarm clock wouldn't work on him. The only thing that woke him up was tickling him hard, which Lambo and Ipin saw too day after day.

Then there was school, until I had to pick them up, just in time for lunch. I spent most of my empty mornings going on train to Tokyo, to have two hour long conversations with Shoichi and Byakuran, or bothering Stuart in the lab.

For lunch, we'd eat out if we wanted, or to Takesushi, if we wanted. The rest of the day would be training, then dinner, at which point all the Vongola Decimo are together, then we go home, just in time for a movie marathon or immediate sleep, on the more tiring days.

Learning the facts was next. It was the fun part. Knowing that Fuuta hated milk, Ipin was allergic to some seafood, Lambo liked sugar in EVERYTHING he ate, or that Lambo had other clothes but nothing could beat his twenty pairs of cow printed ones, or that Fuuta hated the color black, or that Ipin hated red but had always been too kind to say it to Fon.

I learned lots of stuff about them, and I could tell, that they learned stuff about me too.

I wasn't sure, if the idea was a good one, but I did it anyway. I used the way the Varia trained me, on the kids. It was mild, but it was still training. The first time I threw a harmless knife in Fuuta's direction the boy couldn't stop himself from crying, thinking he was actually going to die.

I told them that we did it in the Varia; that it was a way of becoming stronger, and with their consent, we adopted it into the household. It was odd for them at first, and maybe traumatizing to be attacked by knives randomly, but by September, three months with each other, it wasn't too uncommon to see flying arrows and other less damaging weapons flying around.

Not that the method made the kids rowdy. Civilized speech and decorum was at least still observed, while in the target range of a knife.

It all simply was the way our odd little unit functioned.

And maybe it was a little bit crazy, but at least, we were never short on entertainment.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

With the new responsibility, I wasn't able to go back to Italy for the usual week of October for the boss's birthday. I sent the usual presents through Squalo instead, who was in Japan the week before.

For the first time, I found myself celebrating this part of October with the Vongola Decimo.

It was odd, and I felt slightly out of place, because the teens were having an organized party with actual decorations and stuff. I was used to grand dinners and simple presents. There were people in the party I haven't actually met before, but knew of.

"Happy birthday, Tsuna." I casually greeted the brunette. I had bought the young Decimo a watch, because I had no idea what else to get him. Tsuna had looked at the present with surprise.

"This costs… a lot." He commented.

"You don't like it then? I can always have it replaced." I told the teen.

Before Tsuna can reply, Reborn appeared out of nowhere, kicking Tsuna in the head.

"Dame-Tsuna has yet to be educated about proper Mafia gifts."

I chuckled softly, watching Tsuna mutter curse words under his breath about a sadistic cursed baby. He thanked me after that, and left me to wander around the sushi shop for food.

It was a joint celebration, Reborn's too, but Fuuta had told me Reborn wasn't a present guy.

It was fifteen minutes into the party that I was approached by an orange haired girl, and a brunette. "Hello, we've never seen you before, but you're Caia-san, right?"

I felt awkward talking to the two girls, who were probably the closest to my age that I ever met. It was in this moment I realized that I never really had much of female interactions in my life.

"Umm, yeah. You're Kyoko and Haru." I replied awkwardly.

The two beamed and I swear, they were way too girly than I was used to. And I didn't know what to say to them either. I wasn't sure if the boys had told them the truth, or a butchered version of it.

What surprised me was the fact that they noticed my hesitation, and added. "Don't worry, Caia-san, Tsunayoshi-kun and the others told us everything." Haru assured me.

"Everything is what, exactly?" I asked, and Kyoko beamed at me.

"That they're Mafia. And that Tsuna is going to be the next boss of the Vongola. We also know what happened with the Varia, and that you're one of well, them."

I nodded at the orange haired girl's answer. "They told you everything, then. They must trust you a lot."

"They should." Kyoko said. "Haru and I trained with them from the start."

"You two train?" I was curious. I was never informed of that before.

"With Hibari-kun, yes." Haru answered me.

"My brother's told me everything since he joined. And while I'm worried the boys would have to face something beyond them, I think I trust them enough to find themselves a way out of it. Namimori respects Tsuna-kun and his gang. They've protected this town for as long as we all can remember." Kyoko elaborated.

It was amazing to see that Kyoko wasn't naïve in this world, and that she was mature enough to leave matters in the Decimo's hands, trusting that they'd be able to save their asses themselves. It was cool to see the fundamental mistake in most shounen anime wiped out from this place. Tsuna had no hero complex that had him rushing to his friends' sides every time they're in trouble, and that the females were neither airheads-in-distress nor subplots that only complicated things.

Their relationships revolved around trusting each other to save their own skins, which wasn't too different from the Varia's own principles.

"So you let them go off and get hurt rather than try stop them?" I tried to guilt trip the pair of girls, just to see how they'd react.

Haru just laughed. "You're just like Squalo-san! He asked us the same thing."

"Yes. We'd just stand by, if that's what Tsuna orders. Their battles are theirs just as much as our battles are only ours." Kyoko replied.

"That's real strong of you." I honestly praised them.

The talk then stemmed off from there to cake, and whatever interested them. It was comfortable, until a familiar figure entered the shop, and I felt the dread of unwanted confrontations.

Wild Dino appeared.

Yay life.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooO

He wasn't expecting her, truly. Dino thought this party would be just like every year, and he's been to all of them since Tsuna's fourteenth.

He should've known it would be different this year. He didn't have Hyper Intuition like Tsunayoshi, but he did have those unexplainable senses of premonition like any other person. He had woken up that morning unexplainably excited.

It wasn't the anticipating dread from one of Reborn's schemes. It was something else.

He told himself it was silly, though, to be excited of a small Japanese party, and brushed the feeling away. It had disappeared for a while, while he was eating breakfast, dressing up, but it had returned the minute he set foot inside the familiar Vongola Sushi shop.

He had the unexplainable urge then, to look right across the room.

All at once, he knew what the feeling was trying to say.

She was there. The sister he hadn't seen in a long time, and hadn't talked to in an even longer time. She was eighteen now, he counted. He knew. He had sent her a reminder after all, an apology, and at the same time a plea. He didn't know if she'd seen it. He can only hope to the stars that she had, and that she had understood.

He turned his attention to other things, for a minute. Tried to avoid looking at her. He greeted Tsuna a Happy Birthday, who sensed his discomfort, but with a shrug, he motioned to the teen that these were part of the things he had to handle himself.

Reborn had looked at him with an evil glint in his eyes.

So the hitman had expected this. He wondered why he wasn't so surprised anymore.

So he excused himself from tutor and student. And turned around, to look at her again.

She was staring at him. And unlike before, this time she didn't avoid his gaze. His sister's eyes held that old look she had always worn back then, whenever silent. Dino could still remember bits of her, to know that she was thinking.

She snapped back into earth, but it was way too late. He was already three feet away from her. Enough distance for a conversation. The two girls, Haru and Kyoko, silently slipped away. He wondered if they knew. If they didn't, they probably did now. It never failed to surprise Dino, how much they resembled each other.

"Hey, Caia." He began. She stared, blankly, and Dino mentally prepared himself for a scathing, sarcastic brushing off, like she had done all those years ago.

"Dino." A nod. That was what he got instead.

It was an understatement, to say that he was gaping. He opened his mouth once, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Are you going to talk to me, or are you going to stand there and pretend to be a fish?"

Ah. There it was. The sarcasm. But it wasn't bad sarcasm. It was the lighthearted teasing tone she always had for as long as he could remember.

"I…" He began, and then without thinking, added. "I really have no idea what to say."

He then clamped his mouth shut.

Merda. Of all the things he could say. It just had to be something that could potentially end the first conversation he's had with his sister in years.

He expected her to shrug, but instead she laughed at him. If it wasn't for her sarcastic remark earlier, Dino would've then called for an exorcist, because his sister was definitely possessed, if not replaced by an alien. Gods. He sounded like Gokudera now.

"Let's go out, then, and talk, Dino."

And she had led him out, to a garden that looked like it functioned as a dojo as well. It was silent there. And she had sat, and let him sit beside her.

At this point, Dino wasn't sure if this wasn't all a dream, because Caia certainly wasn't this nice back then, the last time they met. But then again, that was five years ago.

She just sat there, in silence, and after a while, he knew that she was waiting. She was waiting for him, again, just like when they were kids and she had been the active one, running around simply because she can. She had always waited for him back then.

"I, I'm sorry, Caia." It poured out of him. Two words and a name, short, but it held the feelings he had kept in for so long.

She nodded, and she didn't look at him, but that's how she always was. Staring away in a world of her own. "I know. I know you've been sorry for a long time."

He too, fell silent now. He didn't know what to expect, really, forgiveness or dismissal. The only thing he was sure of then, was that the phase they've been in the last twelve years, was going to end for good today.

She spoke again. "I know you've been sorry for a long time. It's just that, I didn't want to listen. This might sound stupid, and you might hate me, but I don't even remember why I was mad at you in the first place anymore. I guess I somewhat blamed you for all the shit that turned out in my life, and I let that blame turn into anger for you. And I fed on that for a long time. So I'd grow stronger. It was wrong, but it was what worked. Being angry at you gave me a reason to fight so that nobody could place me in a horrible situation I didn't choose or brought upon myself."

Dino wasn't sure if he could process his sister's long explanation all at once. But he heard one thing. He thought maybe, that was enough as a point to continue on.

"I wouldn't hate you. For being mad at me. Or for not remembering why." He answered. "Because I remember bits of it. Leaving you to yourself when it was the time you needed someone most."

She sighed. "But I still dragged it on. Dragged on the hate for more than it was necessary. When I was strong enough that I didn't need to hold on to being angry at you anymore, I let it turn to a grudge. And I trained my mind to avoid you. Because it was the easy solution. Even if it wasn't the right one."

Dino looked at his sister. "You make it sound like you're the one at fault, when my dismissal towards you all those years ago was the reason why dad-Dario had the chance to throw you away, and my foolish accusations were the reason why you continued to walk down the darker path."

"I know, Dino. But I should've known better. Romario had told me back then, you know, before we burned bridges, to let things slide, because you were just a child. I didn't listen to him, even though I knew I should've. And when you sent me that letter, you were thirteen. I shouldn't have hated you for something you came up with pre-puberty. There were so many things, you didn't know how it worked, at thirteen."

And he was feeling the frustration. Because his sister had always been like this, and that was the one thing that had scared him about her back then.

"Gods, Caia, when I was thirteen, you were seven!" He exclaimed. "You were the child. I shouldn't have let my frustrations out on you because before that, and even during then, you never even did anything to hurt me. Not even relatively. I should have been the one to know better."

"But Dino, I knew better. And I still acted the wrong way. Because I selfishly desired to be the kid for once, to be the one to make the mistakes and be told off. I loved where that got me, but I could've certainly done that without all this war with you."

She hated the past years of fighting too. Dino felt unexplainably happy to hear that she didn't enjoy hating him, and finally felt for the first time in years, that he had a chance, to have her back. But he didn't like the way she was thinking. The way everything that happened, she always tried to pin it on herself as something she had done.

"Caia, for heaven's sake, stop trying to be an insufferable, noble, well, you." He told her, and watched as her attention shifted from her world, to him. "You're allowed to want to be a child. There's nothing wrong with that. And you could sit here all day, telling yourself it was wrong, but it's done, and we're not here to talk about what's right or wrong. Or at least I'm not. I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry. For all the things I've done wrong, and all the things I've done right that for you were wrong, and all the other deeds unclassified- I'm sorry for those. And I really really just want my sister back. Because she's the last remaining person I have that's family. Or well, Blood. My last link to the one parent that really and truly loved me- us."

She was silent, that for a while, Dino wondered if he had said all that in his head, and that she had heard none of it. But then she started laughing, and then laughing-crying, and then the only thing that mattered after that, was him hugging his sister after so long.

Hate fluttered away, because it had no place between them now. Because at last, all things could be forgiven, and slowly put away as stories of their past. They didn't believe in forgetting. No, there would never be erasing the past for them. But there was accepting what's happened has happened. And calling the battle over.

And that was what happened between them. Without words. Without admission, confirmation or any proof. Just mutual understanding that the war was done.

"You are, one hell, of a pain in the ass, Dino-nii." She said, and Dino found his breath caught in his lungs, because she was his sister again, and he was her brother.

"But you love me for it."

She did.

They saw it differently, the act of forgiving and what it brought.

Him, that he was glad, because he finally had that one person he had always wanted back beside him again, waiting for him at every turn.

And her, accepting fully that it was time to grow up and leave past grudges where they should be, glad that she had Dino again, because heaven knows how much she missed having that wimpy brother to screw around with.

But they saw it both as a chance for new things, entirely. They were both glad that gone was whatever used to be there, replaced by something lighter to carry.

It was the end of a battle. It was the start of an alliance. It was life.

It was growing up.