A/N: Hi, friends! How are we? How's the water today? For me, it's coming from the sky, but that's ok. It's beautiful. As long as I don't end up with more basement flooding. But if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a little less disgusting. Love you! x

"Veronica!" I threw myself in my aunt's arms. If I shut my eyes and believed hard enough, it'd be the closest I could get to my mom in the flesh. According to Daddy, they were practically twins when he first met them. Only Mama looked older and had a normal hair color. But I had no room to talk these days, "How long have you been back in town?"

"A couple days," she figured, "I forgot what New York felt like."

"It's good to be home, isn't it?" I took a seat on the back of the couch.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Veronica squeaked, "It's not quite like London, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's going to take me a minute to get back in the swing of things here. I've been away from home for far too long. It was time I came back. Just for a little while. I will say this, though. When I was sitting in the Bean, I wasn't expecting to see Ritsu walking by. And the big guy. Sorry, dude. I forgot what your name was."

"Mori," I assumed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" she nodded, "I haven't seen all of you since I was still in Japan. I've been to three other countries since then. Cut me some slack."

"Consider it cut," I assured her, "Have you seen Daddy yet?"

"Not yet," Veronica played with her sweater sleeve, "That's going to be a weird one. You have to think, Rei. I haven't seen your dad in damn near a decade. Seeing you fucked me up enough. Seeing Frankie might be a different monster."

"Not too different," I rolled my eyes, "Come on, Veronica. We're practically the same person. We're only slightly different."

"She's not wrong," Ritsu chimed in.

"Hey, Kyoya," I asked, "How long has Daddy been gone?"

"Probably twenty minutes," Kyoya checked his watch, "Why?"

"If he's just going on a run for painkillers," I thought, "He should be home relatively soon. Unless he decided to stop off somewhere else, but I doubt it."

"I'm just impressed I remembered where your building was," Veronica chuckled to herself, "It's been a long fucking time since I've been here. And it hasn't changed much."

"That's because Daddy likes his rut," I told her, "And most of the aesthetic things in here were Mama's decisions. He wouldn't step on her toes like that."

"Just as soft for Vanessa as always," she smiled, "That's good to see. Damn, it's good to be home!"

"Reila!" I heard the front door open, "Are you back yet?"

"Yeah!" I know Veronica said this was going to be a shitshow, but I highly doubt it, "I'm home! Hi, Daddy!"

"Hi, bab…" Daddy froze in his tracks. He knew exactly who stood here. He knew exactly who I was talking to. And I could see it in his eyes, if he wasn't amongst mixed company, he'd be breaking down right about now, "Veronica…?"

And Veronica wasn't much better. Because she didn't give a shit about being in mixed company. The biggest tears rolled down her face. And without another thought, she fell into his shoulder, "Hi, Frankie…"

"Hiya, kiddo," Daddy held her tight. Is this what it looks like when I meet him at the gate in the airport? Because I got a feeling it doesn't look much different than this. Then again, Daddy hasn't seen Veronica since before Mama died. She had left for college a year or two before Mama died, "Your ass better be home for good, Veronica."

"You know me better than that, Frankie," she explained, "I'll be home for a while, though. For now anyway. It's like I told Rei. I'll be back for a while before life decides to send me elsewhere."

"A little stability isn't going to kill you."

"But the monotony would."

"Don't give me that shit, Veronica," Daddy teased her, "You know living here is anything but monotonous. Especially for you. Come on. Stick around for a while. At least a year."

"A year sounds good," Veronica decided, "I'll take it."

"So," I wondered, "Not to interrupt the touching reunion here, but does that mean you're sticking in town for my birthday, too?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely!" she squeaked, "I'm not one to turn down a good party, Reila…You should know better than that. Not to mention, a Mendoza party is always a good time."

"Damn straight," Daddy confirmed, "It's like when you were…What…Nineteen?"

"We don't need to dig that far back in the vault, Frankie," Veronica grumbled, "That was one time."

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"Shut up, Frankie."

"What was that party for?" Daddy thought back, "Fourth of July?"

"Shut up, Frankie," Veronica only got redder, "I can and will kill you."

"The little shit from the Bronx that went rogue couldn't kill me," Daddy rolled his eyes, "You couldn't either."

"Wait…" her embarrassment dissipated quickly, "What…?"

"That's a little more recent," Daddy brushed her off, "But no need to worry. Everything's fine now."

"No, no, no," Veronica wasn't going to let it go that easily, "What do you mean, the little shit from the Bronx that went rogue?"

"We need to catch up, sweetheart…"

"Hey," Ritsu gave me a little nudge, keeping his voice down, "Come with me."

"Where are we going?" I wondered.

"Just…" he took my hand, "Come with me. Ok?"

"Ok." It's not like I was going to tell him no. Besides, I knew that if shit went sideways, either Daddy or Mori would do something. Or hell, Veronica, for that matter. She could kill a man with her bare hands, too. Not necessarily kill, but more likely, make that man wish for death. She bites. And she bites hard.

Regardless, Ritsu took me away from our friends and my family and brought me down the hall into the ballroom. Huh. Not where I thought we'd go. Hard to believe the last time we were in here, Ritsu ended up having to throw up. Was that this morning? I think that was this morning. I'm glad we're past that now. Because I kind of missed having him around. I missed having him so close. I missed…Us. When we went into the ballroom, Ritsu shut the door. Ok…Weird, but I'm not going to judge.

"Ritsu," I asked, "What are we doing in here?"

"When I saw Veronica today," Ritsu explained, "I kind of brought her along as a distraction."

"A distraction for what?"

"Your dad," he went on, "Our friends. Just somewhere for everyone else's focus to be. That way, I could snake you away and bring you in here."

"That's pretty clever thinking, Ritsu," I praised, "How did you find Veronica anyway?"

"Morinozuka-senpai kind of scared the shit out of me," Ritsu brought me down to the floor, "He said he wanted to tag along and you were busy with Haninozuka-senpai, so we were walking through Williamsburg together when we were walking past the Bean. I wasn't a hundred percent sure it was her when we walked by, so I had to do a double take. But she knocked on the window, her face lit up like a fucking Christmas tree, and I brought her here."

"Where did you go?" I curled up in his lap.

He took my left hand and held it out, "I see you haven't taken your bracelet off."

"It's a habit," I shrugged, "I thought about it. I thought about whipping it off the roof here, but despite everything, I felt naked without it. I couldn't do it."

"Maybe," Ritsu thought it over, "It's because you knew I wouldn't hurt you."

"You still did, Ritsu," I pointed out, "Just because I forgive you for most of it doesn't mean you didn't hurt me. And it cut me deep and fucked me up for a while. But we're good. Promise. I don't want you dead anymore."

"Anymore?"

"Like I said. I was fucked up for a while." I also had a lot of shit on my plate, so no one would be able to blame me.

"I suppose I can let you have that one," Ritsu dropped it, "But give me your hand."

"You already have it," I reminded him, shaking his in my grasp and smiling at the jingle of my bracelet, "See? Right here."

"I know," he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a white box. It couldn't have been much bigger than a ring box…But then, my stomach turned. Just because he's engaged back in Japan doesn't mean his ass is getting engaged here. But things were starting to line up a little too perfectly. Dangle someone else in front of Daddy to make sure he's good and distracted. And on top of that, keep our friends out of the way. Then, take me somewhere incredibly sentimental and shut us both in here. We just had our kiss and make up moment barely eight hours ago. He better not be doing something incredibly fucking stupid.

"Ritsu…" I could feel sweat running down my forehead, "What are you doing?"

"Here," he fiddled with my wrist for a moment or two. Good…Not a proposal. Because I'm sure that would land him back in the Narrows. And it wouldn't be me on the giving end of that beating. But once he dropped my wrist again, a dark red rose hung from my charm bracelet.

"A rose?" I looked it over. I had to hand it to him. When it came to picking out charms for my charm bracelet, Ritsu had impeccable taste. But I didn't always understand their meanings right away. They always had one. Why would this be any different?

"It's not so much the rose," Ritsu elaborated, "It's the color of it. Dark red roses are used for an apology. I figured giving you real flowers would be too cliché and this one won't ever wilt…That's for…You know…The bullshit I've put you through."

"Ritsu," I melted inside, "That's so sweet…But I know better. Yes. You put me through something, but I can't totally blame you for it. Although the apology is appreciated from you, I want one from Ryoichi. And when he meets the end of my fucking Burmese blackwood, I'm sure I'll get one."

"You're taking the blackwood to my dad?" he gasped, "I wouldn't think you'd want to sully the blackwood with his blood."

"Oh, I'd be more than happy to knock that mother fucker out with the blackwood," I assured him, "And it will happen."

"Sometimes, you say the hottest shit," Ritsu kissed the top of my head.

"You know, Ritsu…" I laid my head in his shoulder, "I know you said no to taking over your syndicate, but maybe you could make it better."

"No," he ran his fingers down my arm, "I know you mean well, baby, but I can't. That's fucked up well beyond repair. Even if I got my fingers in it."

"They're about to be without leadership," I pointed out, "Why not you?"

"Because it's not where I'm meant to be," Ritsu held me tighter, "I was born into a yakuza family. My dad wants me to marry into a yakuza family and run both syndicates with an iron fist. I don't want anything to do with it. Plain and simple. I want to be here and now. I don't want to think about what everyone else wants my future to be. It's kind of like when we were in Karuizawa. I just want us…Ok?"

"Ok." That's one of those things about our relationship that had me scratching my head. I knew Ritsu was emotionally constipated, but I thought that was getting better. Ryoichi probably beat that out of him in Okinawa. Prick. I did all I could do. If he wanted to live in the moment, then we will, "I love you, Ritsu."

"I love you, too," he snuggled me more. I could live in this moment for a while.

"Hey," I knew a good way to get Ritsu out of his head. Something that got his attention every single time, "Can I show you something?"

"Sure," Ritsu nodded, "What did you have in mind?"

"I've been tweaking a new routine," I got up from Ritsu's lap, "Mostly in my head, though. I haven't had much time to actually do it. I'd love to show you first. If that's alright with you."

"You wanted to show me a silks routine?" he wondered.

"Yeah," I poked my ribbons down and watched them fall to the floor, "I was going to work on it this morning, but then, I just decided to zone out up there."

"Actually, Rei," Ritsu stopped me, "Instead of you showing off some more today…Maybe you could show me how to do it again."

"Ritsu," I giggled, "You threw up last time you were on silks. You really want to put yourself through that again?"

"I'm better prepared for it now," he argued, "When we did it this morning, I wasn't expecting you to put me through the fucking wringer. I'm good now, though. As long as you don't have me upside down again. Show me something incredibly basic."

"You really think I have basic in me?" I rolled my eyes, "Come on, baby. You should know better than that."

"Just something that doesn't require me to hang upside down," Ritsu snuck in a quick kiss, "Like the cradle thingy. The move you do when you're upset and need a happy place. Like what I walked in on you doing this morning."

"Oh!" I chirped, already climbing the silks, "I know what you're talking about! That's a really easy one. It does take a lot of wrapping, though. You're alright as far as core strength goes, right, Ritsu?"

"Um…I think so."

"And what about thigh muscle?" I asked, "If I asked you to leg press my bed, could you do it?"

"I don't know," he squeaked. Oh, this is going to be fun.

"What about upper body?" I made it to the top and tied myself into my foot locks, "What's that look like?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know any of that?" Oh yeah. This is going to be fun.

"Look," I undid my foot locks and slid down to the bottom. Then, without thinking about it, I jumped onto Ritsu's back, "Can you carry me with no problem?"

"Relatively no problem," he stumbled a few steps forward. Understandable. I don't think he saw me coming. He readjusted me just a little, "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Because climbing up high enough to do certain tricks requires upper body strength, dumbass," I leaned over his shoulder and kissed his cheek, "Now, do you want to figure out my anti-gravity secrets or not?"

"You have anti-gravity secrets?"

"Oh, Ritsu," I got down from his back and covered my face with one of the fabrics, "Eres tan bonito…"

"Hey!" Dammit. I keep forgetting he knows things. I can't insult him in Spanish anymore.

"But doing a cradle is very simple," I climbed back to a comfortable height. With me, it's damn near to the top. And there's about forty feet to the floor from up here. However, I have a feeling that if Ritsu makes it ten feet off the ground, I'll be shocked, "And like I said, it requires some wrapping. That might just be a me thing, though. It's added security. And it makes you feel so snug and cozy. It's the weirdest thing to describe, but once you're up here and you get it, you get it."

"So, how do I do it?"

"You climb up here," I slipped into my foot locks, "Boot your feet up. Now, you're in. You're not going anywhere. You can stand like this all you want."

"Anyone ever tell you that you might be on drugs?"

"I like high places," I shrugged, "Sue me."

"So do I," Ritsu agreed, "But even that might be a little too much."

"Trust me," I assured him, "Once you get up here, it's like a drug. You don't ever want to come down."

"That's because a fear of falling is called instinct, Reila."

"I know, I know," I brushed him off, "But once you're up here and you're locked in, you slide down into an L shape."

"And hold on for dear life?" he teased.

"No." Let's see what kind of heart attack I can give Ritsu today. I simply…let go. And here I was, hanging upside down. Just to regain my balance a little more, I opened up into a split, "See? I told you I'd be fine."

"Jesus Christ, Rei," Ritsu covered his eyes, "You can't do that to me without warning."

"I'm fine," I giggled, pulling myself back up and reassuming the position, "So, I'm back in my L."

"Yeah," he did his best to shake it off, "You're back in the L."

"And I wrap myself up a little," I threw the fabric over me and spun into it, "Then, once I'm kind of in a basket, I can lay back and all is good. See? Easy."

"Yeah," Ritsu scoffed, "Easy."

"It is," I unraveled myself and slid back down, "Once you get the hang of it. Just be careful when you climb up."

"Do I have to climb up to the top?" he asked, taking the fabrics from me and looking up to the task ahead.

"No," I shook my head, "If you don't want to climb to the top, that's fine."

"Thank merciful Christ…" Ritsu started his climb.

"Right foot, counterclockwise," I told him, "Step on your right foot with your left."

"Now, there's rules on how to climb the damn thing?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I'm starting to think you're making shit up to make this more difficult."

"I'm not," I watched him continue his climb, "You know, Ritsu, you don't have to force this."

"No." Damn his stubborn determination, "I want to know what that feeling is. That sitting up, floating in nothingness feeling."

"It is magical," I confirmed, "Ok. I'm not going to fight you, but please…Be careful."

"I'll try," Ritsu made it up another foot, "Hey, Rei…If I fall, will you catch me?"

"If I can," I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Have you ever fallen in here?"

"When I first started learning," I remembered those falls. They sucked, "But I never had to go to the hospital for anything, so if I can do it, so can you."

"Super…" Come on, you stubborn asshole. Come to your senses. But he didn't. He kept on climbing. Until he got about halfway to the top. And slid back down, "Nope. Not doing it. Hard pass. My arms are killing me. Fuck that. I tried."

"Yes, you did," I applauded, "And I'm proud of you. But maybe we can just let this be my thing. Ok?"

"I don't know how you do it," Ritsu's hands shook. Oh, yeah. He's hurting.

"I've had years of practice," I pointed out, "It's not like you're going to be amazing out of the gate. I've put in the time. You haven't."

"How long have you been on the silks anyway?" he wondered, tying a knot in the fabrics and making himself comfortable, "Look at that…I found something I could manage."

"That's even nicer when it's thirty feet in the air," I told him, "But I've been doing silks for…Shit…Seven years? Daddy said I needed a hobby to keep me out of my head and improve my agility other than our occasional sparring matches in the parking structure."

"And what made you pick silks?"

"They were pretty," I smiled, taking a seat on Ritsu's lap, "And I'd watch ribbon dancers and shit once in a while online. They were amazing. I showed a couple to Daddy and said I want to do that. I found a teacher and now, I do it professionally. I'm sure she'd be so proud."

"Yeah," Ritsu teased, "You're doing silks in a club in Shinjuku for a yakuza boss every night."

"You really think I do that for Ryoichi?" I grumbled, "I don't think so, sweetheart. That dick doesn't deserve my talents. It's a lot better when I see you in there. Then, I got someone to show off for. Someone worth showing off for anyway."

"Aren't I lucky?" he snuck in a quick kiss, "Hey…You want to go get some dinner? I'm fucking starving."

"Me, too," I hopped down, "Are you going to be ok?"

"I'll be fine," Ritsu brushed me off, jumping down from his knot. He stumbled a little, but not too bad. I've seen him in worse shape.

Ritsu and I left the ballroom (on MUCH better terms than this morning) and went into the living room. I wasn't expecting everyone to still be here. Daddy had Veronica. Haruhi and the boys were still here. Throw Abuelita in here and I'd have the whole family under one roof. But I liked this. As much as the host club could get under my skin some days and as much as I occasionally want to knock my uncles' heads together, this was what I liked to call home. And this was nice. I didn't have to think about what I'd have to go back to in January. I could be here. In the moment.

"Hey, Daddy," I leaned over the couch, "Not to interrupt or anything, but Ritsu and I are going to go get dinner."

"We were just talking about that," Daddy filled me in, "Thinking about taking the family along."

"We should go, too!" Tamaki chimed in.

"What the hell?" I allowed, "Why not?"

"And Veronica," Daddy got serious, "You are coming with us, right?"

"Absolutely!" Veronica wasn't going to say no. I could see it all over her face. There's no fucking way she would.

"Then, it's settled," Daddy pushed himself up from the couch, "You ready to go, princess?"

"Yep," I nodded.

"Hey!" Tamaki whined, "Why is it whenever he calls you princess, you're fine with it, but when we do it…"

"Tamaki," Kyoya stopped him before he could say something stupid. I'm impressed by Daddy's restraint, "Maybe that's not your place."

"It's not," Daddy agreed, "I like this one. Keep him."

"Thank you, Mr. Mendoza," Kyoya smirked, "That's very kind of you."

"Come on," Daddy started heading out the door, "Let's go. I'm feeling nostalgic."