Six years had passed before Dino spoke to Bel about moving back to Italy again. It had taken a long time to finally make the blond comfortable with the idea of leaving his new life behind in order to return to the one that had broken him in the first place, but soon enough, Dino had been able to promise him that he would never let Xanxus near Bel again, and the younger blond had eventually been able to agree to returning with Dino, especially since the man was bringing Fran with them so that Bel would still have a friend.
They were sitting in one of the terminals of the airport together, waiting for their flight to start boarding. Tsuna and his friends were with them, wanting to farewell the group. While Tsuna and Yamamoto talked with Dino and Fran, Gokudera and Bel sat next to them, cuddling together as they waited. Gokudera had always been good at hiding things, so to an outsider it would look as if he weren't particularly bothered – but inside, he felt as if he were in turmoil; he didn't want for Bel to go back to Italy, but he would never try and control his boyfriend, and if Bel wanted to go back, that was his choice.
Bel himself played with Gokudera's sleeve. His face was damp with tears as he trembled, heartbroken to be leaving behind all he had known for so long, but he wanted to see Squalo again and help him like Dino would. At least Dino had promised to get Bel back to Japan if the younger blond decided he didn't want to stay in Italy any longer; it was good to have such an understanding guardian.
"Bel, we have to start boarding."
The addressed blond looked up at Dino's voice. He frowned deeply as he realised he was going to have to say goodbye to everyone. He whimpered as Gokudera got him to his feet, wishing he could sit there forever with his boyfriend.
"Come on, Bel…" Gokudera sounded sad, and Bel hated to know that he was the reason for it. "Have you got your bag?"
Bel reached down to grab his backpack from his feet. He hugged it tight to his chest as he started following behind the other males. Nothing else was said between any of them until they had lined up at the back of the queue, and while Yamamoto and Tsuna farewelled Dino and Fran, Gokudera hugged Bel tight.
"Message me on Facebook when you get home, okay?" Gokudera pulled away so that he could thread his fingers through golden locks. He leant in to kiss his boyfriend before he said, "Let me know that you're safe. Keep me updated on what's happening, okay? I love you."
Bel nodded. He turned his attention to Tsuna and Yamamoto, who had just come to his side to say goodbye. They each gave him their own hug, and after telling him how much they would miss him, the younger three turned to leave the airport.
Fran looked up at Bel. He wasn't surprised to see how upset his friend was; he knew how close the blond was to Gokudera, and it must have been hard for him to make the decision to come back to Italy. "Are you okay, senpai?"
Bel shook his head. He reached up to wipe at his eyes, and he couldn't help but shuffle closer to the younger male when he felt Fran grab his hand; how glad he was that even if he couldn't bring Gokudera with them, Fran had wanted to come.
"It's okay, Bel," Dino promised. "You have him on Facebook, so you can still talk to him."
Bel nodded. He knew the man was right, but still… It had only been a few minutes and he missed Gokudera already.
"Try and have a sleep on the plane." Dino glanced over his shoulder at Bel as he moved forward to show his ticket to the stewardess. "Hayato said you haven't been sleeping again."
It was true; Bel had been so stressed, he hadn't been able to sleep, even with strong sleeping pills. On the odd occasion he had managed to fall asleep, it wouldn't take him long to jerk awake and lay restlessly in bed for the rest of the night.
"I'll sleep with you, senpai," Fran promised. "Let's go find our seats."
Bel couldn't disagree; he was just so exhausted, all he wanted to do was sit down and try not to think about how miserable he was feeling.
~~XX~~
It had been a long flight, and as tired as Bel was, he hadn't been able to fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. The plane was due to land within the hour, and Dino was dreading it; how could he wake Bel up when he was finally sleeping?
But Dino couldn't just leave Bel on the plane alone, and he didn't want to carry the younger through the crowded airport; it would be so inconvenient, and it looked as if the only choice he had would be to wake Bel up if he didn't wake up himself soon.
The plane landed at the airport, and Bel was still asleep. Dino felt horrible as he reached out to shake the younger awake, and he felt even worse when the smaller blond whimpered and struggled to wake up.
"It's okay, Bel." Dino reached out and pulled Bel to his feet. He supported the younger until he had woken up enough to grab his backpack and leave the plane. "We're going to get our suitcases from downstairs, and then we'll catch a taxi to our new home."
Bel sighed. He was too tired to really notice anything that was going on around him; he barely even heard what Dino was saying to him. He felt like a zombie as he stumbled after Dino and Fran, his head swimming and his body weak. He felt sick, like he needed to throw up but couldn't quite find anything to vomit. Even the people he bumped into on his journey, he barely noticed; just that he had been jostled somehow.
When they had collected their luggage and stepped outside, Bel didn't even register the sudden cool air on his skin, or being helped into the back of a car; all he knew was that he was sitting again, and he couldn't keep his eyes open.
"Senpai's asleep again." Fran didn't mind when Bel's head dropped onto his shoulder in the back seat of the taxi; he liked having the blond trust him so much.
"Let him sleep; he needs it." Dino, who sat in the front, was just glad to see Bel was feeling better.
Fran nodded. He fell silent again during the car ride; he hoped as much as Dino did that Bel would be able to cope with coming back to Italy – but even if he couldn't, they would understand; he had been through a lot here, after all.