Lampo was hard at work, doing his job as always (read: lazing around watching TV.), when his cell phone started ringing.
Surprised, the young man flipped it open, wondering who it was.
"Hello?"
There was silence on the end before a timid voice replied with, "H-hello, Lampo."
A grin appeared on the lightning guardian's face when he realized who it was. "Sylvana! How are you?"
Sylvana didn't reply, and there was only a small shuffling sound as if the girl was fidgeting nervously.
"Sylvana?" he asked, starting to get a little worried. "Is there-?" he started, but was cut off as an enraged voice came onto the line.
"YOU SNIVELLING BRAT! JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" a man's voice suddenly shouted.
Almost dropping his phone in shock, the man fumbled for a second, then said, "H-hello, mister Eliseo, sir. I-I apologize, but d-did I do something to o-offend you?"
"YOU SURE AS HELL DID, YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU GET MY DAUGHTER PREGNANT?"
"P-pregnant?" he squeaked; of all things, he sure as hell hadn't expected that particular word to come out of the mouth of the Don of the Bovino Famiglia.
The next time he spoke, the man's voice had lowered considerably, yet the hostility remained intact. "That's right! And I would like to know how you plan on taking responsibility for this!"
To this, Lampo had no answer, for he was still in shock. Luckily, at that moment, Knuckle was passing by, and when he saw the youngest guardian staring into space, he started getting worried.
"Lampo?" he asked, waving a hand in front of the younger man's face. When the greenette didn't reply, the priest plucked the cell phone out of his hand and said curiously, "Hello?"
"Hello. Who might you be?" asked Eliseo, a little puzzled.
"I am the sun guardian of the Vongola Famiglia, a priest by the name of Knuckle. And you are?"
"I am the Don of the Bovino Famiglia, Eliseo Misani."
"Bovino?" blurted out Knuckle in surprise. Then, after collecting himself, he said in a business voice, "Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Misani?"
"Yes, there certainly is. Your lightning guardian got my daughter pregnant, and I would like to know how he plans to take responsibility for it!"
Now, Knuckle had much better control over his emotions than Lampo did, so he was just speechless for a moment, then, he sprang into action. "I see," said the priest. "I'm sorry, Mr. Misani, but may I please have a word with your daughter?"
"Why?" asked the other man suspiciously.
"I don't mean to offend you in any way, sir, but the person who will most be affected by this in the long run is your daughter, so we mustn't forget to ask her opinion of this, yes?"
The Don of the Bovino Family grumbled unhappily about this but couldn't find anything to argue about. "Fine," he said in a grudging voice, handing the phone over to his daughter.
"Hello?" Sylvana said uncertainly into the phone, not knowing who her father had been talking to after Lampo had gotten off the phone.
"Hello, Sylvana," said Knuckle's kind voice on the other line and the young woman smiled for a second, almost forgetting the subject of this phone call; she'd met Knuckle before on a few occasions, and had come to think of him as something of an older brother figure.
"Hello, Knuckle," she replied. "Was there something you needed to talk to me about?"
Knuckle didn't waste any time in saying, "I want to know how you feel about this, Sylvana."
"How I feel?" she repeated.
"That's right," continued the priest. "What was your first reaction when you found out you were pregnant?"
The girl thought for a moment, then said, "Shocked, but…kind of happy."
Knuckle nodded to himself. "Happy that you were going to become a mother, or happy because Lampo was the father?"
"I…I'm not really sure," she replied after thinking for a while. "The latter, I think."
Knuckle smiled a little to himself. "I see. And if, hypothetically, Lampo wanted to break up with you?"
Sylvana's breath caught when she heard this, and she had to remind herself that this was purely a hypothetical case. Taking a breath, she replied honestly, "I would try to raise our son or daughter to the best of my abilities."
Knuckle found himself liking the girl more and more. "Good. Well, then, Sylvana, that's all I need to know for now. I'm sorry, but I'll have to hang up to talk to Lampo. I'll call you back as soon as we're done, okay?"
"Okay. Thank you so much, Knuckle," said Sylvana gratefully. Before she had talked to Knuckle, she had been so stressed out about the situation, but now she felt calmer.
"No problem," replied the priest. After he had properly said goodbye and hung up, he turned to look at Lampo, who was staring up at him with wide eyes. Sighing, he sat down on the couch beside the greenette. "And how do you feel about this?" he asked the lightning guardian.
For a second, it looked as if he wouldn't reply, but then Lampo's eyes went from shocked to uncertain. Turning to the sun guardian, Lampo said in an unusually serious voice, "I'm not ready for this, Knuckle!"
"For which part of it?" asked Knuckle, who had a lot of experience in these kinds of issues.
"For all of it!" shouted the young man. "I'm not ready to become a father! I'm not like you guys! I don't have what it takes to be like what Giotto is to Tsuna, or what you are to Ryohei! I don't have the confidence to raise a child properly!"
Knuckle was taken aback by his sudden outburst; Lampo was usually so confident, and it was rare to see him looking so…vulnerable.
Getting over his momentary shock, Knuckle said in a soothing voice, "First, take a deep breath." When Lampo complied, he continued. "Okay, for now, forget about all that. Just answer me this; how do you feel about Sylvana?"
"I…I need her," said Lampo quietly. "She's different from the other girls I've dated before," he continued in that same quiet tone. "She's beautiful, and kind, I don't know how I'd ever live without her."
Knuckle nodded. "Have you thought about marriage?" he asked, and the greenette looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Marriage?" he asked.
Sighing, Knuckle said to the young man, "Lampo, you need to grow up; you're not a child anymore. You say that you love Sylvana, and that you need her. Well, if you want her to stay by your side, then you have to let her know that, and just saying so won't work. You need to show her how much she means to you, and the best way to do that is to propose."
"But marriage seems so…final."
"Do you love her?"
"Of course!"
"Will you ever want anyone other than her?"
"Of course not!"
"Then what are you hesitating for?" Knuckle's voice was exasperated, but he was wearing a smile. "I know you, Lampo, and I know that you're a good judge of character. If you love Sylvana so much, then she must be very special. So why not let her know just how special she is?"
Lampo seemed to think about it for a while. "But what about the child?"
"You don't need to worry about that," Knuckle replied, knowing that he had won the battle. "Lampo, being a father is something that just comes naturally; it's like walking. It may be difficult at first, but you'll get better with practise. And if you're ever unsure about anything, or if you need advice, you know that the other guardians and I are here for you."
Lampo hesitated for a second more, then nodded his head determinedly. "I'll do it."
Sylvana was starting to get worried. It had been over two hours, and Knuckle still hadn't called back. Did that mean something? Was Lampo upset?
The twenty-four year old was in her room, staring listlessly out the window with her right hand resting protectively against her stomach, which wasn't yet showing signs of the little life growing inside of her.
Suddenly, the door to her room was slammed open, and she whirled around in surprise to find none other than Lampo standing there, his green hair dishevelled, looking as if he had run all the way to her room from the front door (which was no easy task).
"Sylvana," he breathed, slowly approaching her.
Still surprised, the young woman forced her legs to take her forward, and when the two of them met in the middle of the room, Lampo captured her in an embrace, and she felt her breath taken away.
After a second, he stepped away and looked down, not meeting her gaze. Seeming to steel himself, the man took a deep breath, then took her left hand gently in his own. Placing a feathery kiss on her knuckles, he looked up and met her eyes, saying, "I'm sorry; I'm not the romantic type, and I don't have a ring, but I must ask; would you do me the honour of being my bride?
SkyGem: Hey~ I'm back. Well, for the last day and a half, I've been battling with a mild case of the stomach flu, and I'm still not completely better yet, which is why this chapter took so long. I'm sorry if it totally sucks, but please, do leave a review and let me what you all thought of this chapter, okay? Oh, and I've decided to leave the last three guardians (Giotto, G, and Alaude) single, since I really can't see either G or Alaude getting married, and, like most of you, I don't want a woman trying to barge into Tsuna and Giotto's close relationship. Well, until next time ~ciao~
P.S. I just now realized! We're already at the twentieth chapter of RaF! I can't believe it! It feels like just yesterday I was posting the first chapter, wondering what you all would think of it, and now, it's already become so popular! Thank you all so so much, and I look forward to your continued support.