I was just blown away by the response I received from the previous chapter! I really did not expect that! That makes me super happy, thank you so much to those who reviewed, favourited and followed! It's amazing motivation for me :D :D (Replies to reviews can be seen at the end of the chapter)

A/N: Lass may be 5 years old but she is still Sawada Nana you see. Also, did you know that Mukuro loves chocolate -

So for the first part of this chapter, they are speaking in Japanese and it will switch back to Italian once Lass switches to Italian.


Random Fact #5

Ursus arctos lasiotus is a sub-species of Ursus arctos in the genus Ursus (bear) in the family Ursidae


"I'm so, so happy I got to finally meet you here!" the young girl cried out in Japanese. Dia awkwardly placed her hand behind her back to rub circles around it.

"M-Maman, um…"

The young girl stepped back and looked at both of the teens' faces. She gave a fond smile and placed her pudgy hands on their cheeks like how they've seen her with Ipin, Lambo, Fuuta and Yuni when they were younger. It felt weird to Calen and Dia. Despite their respect and love for Nana, they never did interact with her closely save for when Tsuna passed away. They couldn't comprehend what was going on in her mind at that moment. She just smiled.

In the body that she was in, she didn't look anything like Tsuna and yet that smile of relief and contentment was so much like their Sky. It only strengthened their desire to find him.

"What are your names?" She asked after a moment.

Calen and Dia snapped out of their trance. Out of habit, they stood up and stepped back. They both bowed respectfully at her.

"Riccio Calen, Maman."

"Kufufu… Riccio Candia."

"Oh my, no need to be so formal with me! I've told you that already didn't I? Both of you are family, my sons. Well, I suppose Mukuro-kun, you're now my daughter hehe." She chastised lightly with a giggle. Calen and Dia found themselves smiling softly as they stood up straight.

"I'm Lass." She added with a grin, "But I still prefer if you called me Mama. What about the both of you? Would you prefer I called you by your current names?"

"Whatever you're most comfortable with, Maman." Calen replied. Dia nodded in turn.

"Then I'll stick with Kyoya-kun and Mukuro-kun! Ah, forgive me for speaking in Japanese. I'm still five years old you see. Still learning how to speak proper Italian. I never did get to learn Italian even back then since everyone knew Japanese. I'm so relieved to have met both of you! It's such a struggle to communicate, you see." She explained.

"Maman,"

"Hm? What is it, Mukuro-kun?"

"How did you get your memories back?"

Lass smiled as she pulled something out from her pocket. When Calen and Dia peered closer, they saw that it was an A-class Lightning Ring with a small crack on its head.

"Ms. Thera and I went camping a few months ago, you see. I found this in the forest. It's also where I got this." Lass turned around and pulled up the back of her shirt.

Calen's eyes narrowed upon seeing a horrible scar marring most of her back, "What happened?" He asked darkly.

"Kufufu… Who did this?"

Lass blinked before she laughed, "I'm fine, both of you! It's just a scratch!"

"Maman, I don't mean to oppose you but that looks far more than 'just a scratch.'" Dia commented.

"You worry too much! She looked too much like Ku-chan so I couldn't help it!"


FEW MONTHS AGO

"Don't go too far."

"I won't!" Lass grinned before running off into the woods. Thera called out to her to be careful but it only fell on deaf ears. The teacher suppressed a sigh before shaking her head. Lass was always eager to explore and learn about everything. As a teacher, that wasn't a problem but she couldn't help but think that Lass somehow had an innate fear of missing out and not knowing all there was to know. It was as if Lass was afraid someone might get hurt without her knowing.

It was an odd thought and yet it didn't seem too far from the truth in Thera's opinion.

Meanwhile, Lass had found a little clearing. Within the weeds, there was a shiny object glinting against the light. She walked closer and crouched down, her mouth opening agape in wonder. She picked up the tiny object, which seemed to be a ring.

A sharp pang coarsed through her head. She dropped to her knees and hissed at the pain. Memories of a previous life came rushing through.

After a few minutes, the pain subsided and she stared at the Lightning ring she dropped. Looking around, she recognized the clearing. This was where she used to take her box animal for a walk: a brown bear whom she called Ku-chan. She was her partner in the kitchen. Ku-chan helped her out whenever she wanted to cook dinner or even make some Poison Cooking.

A small rustle behind her took her by surprise. She whipped her head around and into the clearing, came tumbling a small brown cub. The little animal gave a tiny cry as it sat upright and rubbed its eyes.

"A-Are you okay?" asked Lass as she crawled over to the cub.

The animal paused in its ministrations and looked at her. Lass gasped as her eyes met bright electric green.

Just like Ku-chan's eyes.

"Ku-cha-"

"LASS!"

Lass felt herself yanked from behind. Just as her head fell against Thera's chest, she heard a loud roar followed by the excruciating pain of the skin on her back being ripped apart.

She screamed.

"YOU BASTARD!"

The last thing Lass saw was Thera's angry red eyes before she passed out.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

"... Do I have any say in this, Tsu-kun?"

"Sorry mom… No."

"... Can I stop you?"

"..."

"J-Just like your father…"

"Mom, you know I don't like it when you say that."

"Then… M-make sure to spend some time with your mother before you go. O-Oh and, make sure t-to at least say goodbye… I-Iemitsu… He didn't get to…"

"Don't worry, mom. I'll make sure of it."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

"..ss?"

Lass opened her eyes to see a worried Thera over her.

"M-Ms. T-Thera?"

"You… You were crying… Does it hurt that much?"

She remembered the peaceful smile on her son's face as he took his last breath and she nodded.

Yes it did. It hurt.


PRESENT TIME

"Mou… I've survived an entire lifetime being surrounded by mafioso. I can handle a bear scratch." She pouted. Calen sighed as he leant down to pick her up.

"Maman, it's getting late. Where are your parents?"

"Kufufu… You should really be careful when you're picking up children, Kyoya. You might get seen as a pedophile."

"I don't want to hear that from you. You literally stole that annoying frog from his grandmother."

"Annoying frog…? Oh, you mean Fran. Quite frankly, his grandmother was happy to give him away as long as he visited once in a while. I hardly call that stealing." Dia replied with a shrug.

Calen rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Lass who giggled, "What's so funny?"

"Hehehe, it's just nice to hear both of you bicker like you used to. Both of you always got along so well." She said happily.

"We do not!" They said in unison.

"Haha… I'm so relieved you see…" Lass' eyes teared up once more as she wrapped her arms around Calen's neck and rubbed against his shoulder.

"I really thought I was the only one who was like this. I would have been so lonely. Meeting both of you just gives me hope that everyone else would be the same, especially Tsuna… I want to see him but I'm still too young to venture out on my own you see. I can only hope that Tsuna is with a loving family. Because not everyone is so lucky… " She whispered.

"I promise you Maman. I will find Tsunayoshi." Calen said with determination. Lass pulled back and looked at Calen with hopeful eyes.

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"By the way, when he says 'I,' he means 'we.'" Dia added.

"No I don't."

"Come on." Dia whined - much to Calen's annoyance - "We've been going at this for three months. You still think this is a solo mission?"

"Yes. I absolutely cannot handle both of you pineapple invertebrates." He replied.

"Both?" asked Lass.

"Cavallone is our uncle, Maman." Dia said.

"Oh! Dino-kun?! That's great! I would love to see him again. You have to come visit me with him next time so we can have a little play date!"

Calen's brow twitched but he didn't have the heart to correct Lass and reject her proposed 'playdate.' He nodded with only the slightest reluctancy.

"So Maman, your parents?"

"Ah… I don't have any." She replied sheepishly. Calen and Dia raised a brow. The young girl could feel their killing intent leaking filled with overprotectiveness. Lass smiled.

"I never met my parents but like some of the kids here, I am an orphan, under the care of the Sawada Foster Home you see - I'm surprised that my little care home survived for this long! - Don't worry though, I'm currently with Ms. Thera! She's super strict and scary at times but she's super nice to me! I'm really hoping she will adopt me!"

"And where is she?"

"Hey, who are you and why are you holding her?" came a threatening voice speaking in Italian.

They turned around back towards the daycare where a young woman stood whom Calen and Dia assumed to be Thera.

"Ah! Thera-sens…" Lass stopped herself to switch back to Italian, "Ms. Thera! I met these nice people today!"

"Is that so…" The teacher said unamusingly. Her eyes landed on Calen's hold on Lass. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes as if daring Calen to do something wrong or indecent to her. "What did I tell you about speaking to strangers?"

"Then let's not be strangers then." Dia said with a small smirk. She stepped forward and held out her hand towards Thera.

"I'm Candia Riccio. That's my brother, Calen Riccio."

Thera raised a brow, "Riccio? From the self-defense gym, huh. I've invited your parents to give a presentation in my class before."

"Ah, not-strangers then. That solves everything doesn't it?" Dia smiled. She tried to not let her annoyance show when Thera refused to shake her hand. She let it drop to her side. Thera crossed her arms.

"No, it doesn't. Lass, come. We're going home."

"Okay!" Calen let go of his hold as she jumped down and ran towards Thera who crouched to her level. Lass gave her a tight hug and the Riccio siblings didn't miss the small smile on the stern woman's face. Once Thera placed Lass' tiny bag on her back, she stood back up and almost automatically, Lass' hand latched onto her extended finger.

"Can they come and play with me sometime?"

Thera glanced at the teenagers. To her, they didn't seem like the most playful people. Lass was a smart girl and she somehow had an innate sense of who was a bad character and who wasn't. Almost like a mother's instinct. Despite not knowing them personally, Thera knew of the Riccios' reputation. At least their parents. They were highly regarded in their community after all. Perhaps she could give them some benefit of the doubt and trust them.

Somewhat.

"... I'll think about it. Now let's go, it's getting late."

Lass pouted, "Boo… Ah, Bye Calen! Bye Candia!"

Calen gave a short nod while Dia waved, "Bye-bye~"

Once they were out of sight, the sun had already set past the horizon and the small glimmers of stars had started to show. With the fall chill of the night, Calen and Dia could see their breaths as they started their walk home in silence. Everything happened so quickly that for both of the introverted teenagers, they were mentally exhausted. Not that either one of them would admit it.

They were only 2 blocks away from their home when Calen took out his phone. He had 2 missed calls from his best friend along with 3 text messages, 7 missed calls from Rus, and 2 missed calls from his parents. Just as he was about to turn it off, Rus' caller id filled the screen as his uncle attempted once more to call Calen. Heaving a deep sigh, he answered the call and paused in his tracks.

"What is it, uncle?"

"Oh it's Cavallone? Count me out... Mm… I'm craving chocolate. Kufufu… Is that an ice cream stand I see?"

Calen watched her go to a nearby ice cream stand. He couldn't understand how she could have ice cream despite the temperature being below zero.

"Oh Calen! Where have you been? Did you forget that it's Wednesday? Your parents and I have been waiting for you at home so we can head to La Mer!"

"We got held up by something. You herbivores can't even be bothered to wait?"

"Says you! You always get antsy when something's not done on time or when someone's late! You're not in any danger are you?"

Calen rolled his eyes, "Really? That's your question? I'll bite you to death for even doubting my strength."

"... Sounds like you're fine. Candia is with you right?"

"Yes, she i-" Calen's eyes widened as he whipped his head towards where Dia stood, where she was licking a chocolate ice cream. He hung up as he marched over towards her with a glare.

"You idiot!" He shouted as he smacked away the ice cream from her hand.

"Kyoya what are yo- Oh… Oh god…" She immediately fell to the ground with her hand held against her mouth.

He crouched down and put a hand on her back. He turned to the ice cream vendor and growled at him.

"Call the ambulance right now!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

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A/N: - and that Candia Riccio is deathly allergic to chocolate?

Now don't worry, she won't die. XD Let me know what you think of this chapter! I received some great ideas regarding box animals so I'll pull that poll up again in the next chapter so that it's not lost in anybody's minds hehehee

MaskedRiderEnzo - Legit, I really didn't realize how obvious it was until you mentioned it ahahaha! Thanks for that!

ObscureScryptic - I actually really liked the swan idea! But I reaalllly wanted her box animal to help her in the kitchen and I couldn't imagine a swan cutting vegetables while Nana is stirring the pot. Thank you for reviewing!

Mikazuki Kira - I was actually stuck on crane or bear! Bear for mama bear and the crane because of the Japanese folklore. (Also cause I could also see the crane helping out the kitchen ahahha!) I feel like your Lancia one is spot on! He doesn't get enough love in my opinion and I love Lancia, he's a great character! Also thanks for thinking about the other characters as well, I keep those in mind for sure!

Silverfox579 - Woah... Just woah... I LOVE the thought and effort you've put in, in thinking about this and in adding one for Fran as well! The ideas for Fuuta, Tetsuya, Levi, and Kyoko really resonate with me. I might think of something different with Enma but I haven't thought of having it in contrast to Tsuna's so I'll probably do that! THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZINGLY LONG REVIEW

Lunary - Ehem... I won't comment much hehehe ;)

kawaiiecho312 - Thank you, and I hope it will continue to be because we're just getting started!

BoyishBlue - Thanks for noticing that! I just thought that you know how sometimes, certain people remind of you of someone you know. I was going for that. Especially here with Lass, she is still Nana who loves all of her children - by blood or not.