Howdy peoples! I'm so so sooooo sorry that this has taken so long. But I promise you that with moving and other personal issues I have not been able to write or post anything. But I will be trying to get back on top of things now.
Beta'd by the marvellous mercyn~~
Definition of Family
Six months old: Storms aren't always scary, with Papa-Fon
Fong was extremely surprised when one morning on his way to the Vongola training room he almost ran straight into a rather curiously frazzled Reborn.
"Whoa," the man managed to gasp out as Reborn stopped, cool faced and expressionless. "How are you doing this morning, friend?"
Fong bowed politely.
Reborn nodded, "How are you?"
"I find myself well actually," Fong chuckled, covering his mouth with his sleeve, "a little restless if I'm honest; I haven't had a single job these last few weeks." His face grew sombre, "Even the Triad have been distant, and it's somewhat concerning."
"Hmmm, they've given you no reason?" Fong shook his head in reply and crossed his arms over his chest.
"That is strange." Reborn murmured with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I've been told that a third party is involved; are your jobs happening as usual?"
Reborn sighed this time, shifted his fedora to shade his eyes. "That's actually the problem. I haven't had a hit in almost six months, now all of a sudden Timoteo says his hands are tired and he needs me to do the hit; even Colonello has had to drop everything for the next two months."
"How odd," Fong eyed the Hitman with concern, usually the Reborn that Fong had grown fond of (to know and cherish as a close friend) would have scoffed this entire thing off; but now the man reeked of worry and frustration.
"Is everything alright, old friend? You seem concerned about something."
Reborn actually seemed to grimace and Fong was taken aback by the very human –non-Reborn –gesture.
"You know, as a Hitman it wounds my pride that you can look through me so easily."Fong chuckled lightly, because as an assassin it was his job to see through hitmen and dangers. "There is actually a problem."
Fong politely refrained from teasing the man as Skull or Colonello would have done; it was a rather great show of the confidence that Reborn had in Fong that the Hitman would even admit he had a problem to Fong.
"Is it something I can help with, friend? I'm sure I owe you at leave one favour." Fong explained with an easy smile and was pleased when the Hitman relaxed his shoulders slightly.
It looked like Reborn was about to mention something when his eyes widened slightly –barely enough for even Fong to notice –and his head turned back towards the way he had come. He shot a quick, "'scuse me, Fong." over his shoulder before shooting off. Fong was quick to follow, curious and concerned at the man's sudden enthusiastic concern.
Reborn ran into a hidden room, that's to say a room tucked away inside another which was, in itself, uninteresting and set between two others, all in all the room that Reborn sprinted into would be the last room someone entered –a Hitman, an enemy, a danger- by choice. This was enough to thoroughly wet Fong's interest.
However, of all the scenarios that ran through Fong's head for Reborn's sudden sprint, none came close to the near-sobbing child that was cradled in Reborn's arms; especially considering the two facts: Fong hasn't heard a child even begin to cry, and Reborn looked positively natural cradling the child; something that Fong would never have considered normal when talking about Reborn.
As if prompted by Fong's thoughts the child turned intelligent brown eyes on him, apparently he wasn't sure about either Fong's presence or the look of stunned surprise on the martial artist's face, because after blinking at him a few times the child clutched closer to Reborn and started sobbing, though only a tad louder than before.
Reborn whirled around, eyes flashing and the child tucked neatly away in his arms and against his chest, so much so that Fong knew not even a sniper would never get a shot in without going through Reborn first; an impossibility in itself.
Fong tried to look as non-threatening as possible as he stared down the barrel of Reborn's signature gun, but he only relaxed from his own subtle defensive position when Reborn's pupils contracted back to normal once again.
"Fong," Reborn sighed, surprisingly enough, as if to make sure.
"Reborn, I'm sorry; it seems I've startled the child."
Reborn looked down at his child and smiled softly, Leon scuttling back to kiss the child before going to the rim of Reborn's hat. Reborn cooed slightly, patting the child on the back and bouncing just slightly.
"Tsunayoshi, this is my friend, Fong. He's safe. I didn't know he'd followed me."
Reborn spoke to the child, who could be no older than six months old, as if he understood; when brown eyes sparkled with orange looked over Fong in curious calm Fong was inclined to believe this child did.
"Reborn….who is he, surely not-!"
"No, he isn't mine!" Reborn snapped, but not in an offended tone, but in frustrated sadness; Reborn already considered this child his and truly wanted it to be true. "This is Tsunayoshi Sawada, Timoteo's grandson and son of Iemitsu 'Young Lion of Vongola' Sawada."
Fong stood star-struck, staring at the young boy with a whole new myriad of emotion. This child, this tiny, curious child was the prince of the mafia; the most sought after sight by both enemy and ally of Vongola. His blood line –a very well known but rare bloodline –alone was enough to put him at the very literal throne of the mafia empire, but add to that the people that surrounded him, even at only six months old and this tiny child was already on hit list after hit list; the only reason he was still alive was the intricate fabric of deceit woven and the pure threat of war and destruction by the Vongola famiglia of which young Tsunayoshi was officially a part.
Fong continued to stare until the child grew restless, at which point Fong's eyes shot up to meet shaded onyx. "I heard that he was older, that he was in the midst of being trained; hidden away with his father and a spattering of high-ranking names in Vongola and its allies." Fong stressed, looking at the child in fear of his future. If people found out how old he really was, that the child was only in one of the backrooms of the Vongola mansion... "That's why," Fong grasped suddenly. "It's all a lie."
Reborn smirked, rocking Tsunayoshi back to sleep, "No matter how popular the child, if the mafia really wants to hide him do you think it's that hard to slip the suggestion that more time had passed than other famiglia think, or to convince a don that he had the wrong date written down?" Reborn smirked broadly, a shiver sprinting down Fong's back at the sight.
"This little boy is loved," Fong sighed when the entire situation sank in, knowing very well that even he –one Reborn's only trusted friend –would have to fight off a thousand of Reborn's lives if he had a singly ill-intention for the young babe that was drifting off to sleep in the Hitman's arms.
Reborn sucked his teeth, "You have no idea." Reborn continued to rock the child before cradling him more comfortably and starting to stroll out of the room, Fong followed, deciding not to comment on the man's lack of action to put the baby back in his crib.
"So what was the trouble you were talking about friend, before we were interrupted by this little one waking up?"
Reborn hummed for a moment, walking into the office reserved for his needs while in the Vongola Mansion. "I have no one to look after Tsunayoshi." he stated suddenly.
"What?"
"I am his primary caregiver besides Timoteo, but he has other parental figures; Xanxus, Colonello, Luce, and Lussuria. Not to mention the rest of the Vongola and Varia." Reborn explained. "But they're all busy."
"And his parents…?" Fong asked hesitantly.
The fury in the obsidian eyes as Reborn took a seat in his office chair would haunt Fong for years; he had not seen the man so furious since that man had dare try and make a move on Lal and Luce years ago. He hadn't seen any of them so furious since. Until now, and this fury was greater.
"They haven't been back in months; I don't know nor care where they are." Reborn spat and Tsunayoshi started crying, even though Reborn's voice hadn't pick up that much. The man's eyes softened and he sighed, rocking the child and kissing his forehead.
Fong simply nodded at the man, "I understand, no need to stress yourself out over it, friend. He is well loved, I can see." Fong smiled, knowing full well that if it were anyone else Reborn would have at least shot a few rounds at them for the insinuation; if not, filled them with lead.
Reborn shot Fong a simmering look before he pulled out some files. Fong took a seat in a chair across from the Hitman, sighing in relief before opening his mouth to suggest some courses of action. "Don't even bother, Fong." Reborn chuckled, "I could warrant leaving him in the care of a maid for a few days –a week at dire straits –but as soon as he was abandoned by his parents I vowed never to let that happen if I could help it. He isn't some mafia brat, Fong." Reborn spat out, his eyes were seething and the child fussed again until Reborn hummed something under his breath.
"And no one else is here?"
"No." Reborn replied, the humming dying on his lips. "The Varia are away until Christmas and Tsunayoshi have already shown what he thinks of that, and you know Luce is busy with her own famiglia. Aria is being rather difficult right now."
"Well she is six and is spoilt rotten by the famiglia."
"You're telling me." Reborn had visited Luce only two weeks ago to see if the woman could handle having Tsuna. The woman adored the boy and had said she would take him in a heartbeat; but apparently Giglio Nero children don't get their terrible twos until their older, which was an oxymoron to their short lives. With Aria acting out Reborn couldn't give Tsunayoshi to Luce even if the woman had assured him she could handle it.
"And Timoteo?" Fong winced a little at the thought of little Aria, she was a spitfire that was for sure. Fong himself had suggested the girl take up martial arts or boxing to cool her spirit and give her a constructive outlet for her energy.
"Ideally he would take Tsuna, but there are a number of bosses coming to the mansion who believe, like you did, that he's older. We can't afford to risk Tsuna needing Nono and the bosses seeing it. Really I need someone to look after him for a week, two at most, then Nono is free and Colonello would be back in a month at the earliest."
Reborn scrubbed his face and stood from the desk. Fong watched curiously as the man prepared a bottle with one hand, snagging two mugs
Fong chuckled when Reborn started using his chin to hold the bottle while his left hand –the one supporting most of Tsunayoshi –started typing away, and the right hand scribbled some notes. The martial strict ignored Reborn's scathing glare and plucked the child from the Hitman, barely disturbing the child's eating.
"Really, friend. You need to learn to relax and take time out; you try to do too many things at one. What if you miss something important?"
"I never do." Reborn sucked his teeth and leant back in his chair, finishing his notes before typing more quickly now that his burden was lifted.
Fong frowned, settling back into the chair and adjusting the baby so he could eat properly, he sent a disappointed look at Reborn that had the Hitman's typing stopped.
"Do you know how quickly this child will grow, Reborn?"
"Of course I know-"
"No, you don't. Do you know how quickly he will change and grow and learn? Tsunayoshi is a baby now Reborn, but you need to remember that one day he won't be, one day he won't rely solely on you." Fong sighed in slight frustration –at Reborn for being so naive and himself for getting angry on a strange baby's behalf –but he could see that his friend adored having the child depend on him. "You should take more time out to spend with him and not just pawn him off to get work done. I'm sure what you're doing can wait."
An awkward kind of silence settled over them, Reborn observing the way Tsunayoshi responded to Fong's cool rain like properties. It was a strange kind of how energy-wise Fong was a storm and Colonello a rain; but as a Sky Tsuna responded positively to both.
Tsuna finished his bottle, but before Fong could burp him Reborn had him out of the martial arts expert's arms and in his own, his face shaded by the angle he stood.
"I understand that." Reborn gritted out in a condescending tone. "But I'm a Hitman, he shouldn't depend on me."
Fong rubbed a hand along his face. The one thing with being friends with Reborn was the ability for their conversations to go completely astray. Reborn was a stoic Hitman with hidden emotions enough for ten teenagers and Fong was a storm, and although Fong loved to believe that he had a great understanding of his emotions, being around someone like Reborn who refused to accept that he was an emotional man and tried to act like a stone always riled Fong. Reborn was a stubborn man and Fong was a storm, he was nothing if not stubborn in his own way.
"What are you going to do?" Fong asked as the child burped and gurgled.
"I'm giving Tsuna to you."
"You can't be serious. I only just met the child; you can't possibly think leaving him in my care is a good idea."
In the flurry of movements Fong didn't notice the painful frown in Reborn's eyes, or feel the tension in his arms as he handed Tsunayoshi back to Fong. All Fong was aware of was the stretched grin and triumph.
"You'll be perfect. Thanks for offering to take care of Tsunayoshi during my mission." With that raven haired man rocketed out of the office to gather Tsuna's supplies, only letting a frown reach his lips when he was out of sight.
Fong was suddenly left with an armful of baby, whose eyes were just too wide and too knowing for such a young baby. But as he rocked the child, Fong already felt a connection; this child was going to be important to him in the future.
"I guess we'll be getting to know each other better from today onwards, Tsunayoshi."
The baby babbled and smiled at Fong, and the man smiled in return, loving the feel of the child in his arms. His aura was clean and warm; like the sky after a storm, perhaps.
It was almost embarrassing how unsuitable Fong was to caring for babies, though he gave himself the leniency of admitting that he had never actually ever cared for one. So when he stumbled into his home, three bags barely balanced on one arm, and Tsunayoshi clutched in the other, Fong ignored Lichi's outright babbling. Which he knew was laughter.
"Go take these to the dojo, Lichi, please?"
The white money sighed and grabbed the basket and other bags from Fong, pulling them gently along the floor towards Fong's dojo. Fong would prefer it be taken to the bedroom, but since he needed to sort which contents needed to go to the bedroom and which ones to the kitchen the dojo was a nice half way point.
In the meantime Fong walked into the living room, bouncing Tsuna and giving him a tour. The child wouldn't remember anything, but it felt right to give Tsunayoshi a tour and get him acquainted with the simple home.
Something in Fong told him that Tsuna would not be a stranger in his home for long.
The day was lazy and slow, Fong getting reacquainted with the child and the care he need. Tsuna napped and cried and was silent. He was a nice companion for Fong though. Even the sudden screams and the neediness was welcomed because usually it was just Fong and Lichi in the home and though they both relished their privacy and the silence of their home, there was something fresh and organic about having the child in their midst, depending on them and mixing up their monotonous routine.
By the time they went to sleep Lichi had figured out how to entertain Tsunayoshi while Fong was in other rooms or was getting bottles and diapers ready for the babe, and Fong thought perhaps Lichi could even learn to make bottles himself if he wanted to.
Of course, that didn't mean that Fong hadn't managed to put Tsuna's diaper on backwards at one point, or Lichi hasn't tried to feed Tsuna a banana.
They were learning to cope with another persona in their home; but certainly neither man nor beast disliked it.
Fong's intuition was nothing like the fabled Vongola's or even on par with say, Colonello; but in some instances it was better than Reborn's and other it was worse than. But Fong's intuition was good enough that he could feel that heavy static in the air and knew that a storm was brewing, though he couldn't understand his growing jitteriness and Tsunayoshi's restlessness. Fong thought perhaps it was the lack of familiarity. After all it had been two weeks since the boy had seen Reborn.
Suddenly baby screaming echoed through the traditional, Chinese home. The only other occupant opened his eyes suddenly, having been in a state between sleep and awake, before making his way towards the back bedroom where the child was sleeping.
Kneeling before the low-railed crib, the man smiled gently at the crying baby and picked him up. "Now now, what has got you so upset, young one?"
Even within the man's grasp the child continued to cry, and a frown appeared on the man's delicate features. He stood and started to rock the baby, gently singing in the hopes it would calm the small child.
Reborn had said that it worked.
Just as Fong became frustrated at himself for not being able to calm the child, a roar echoed through his house and the room lit up in a flash of light. Rain suddenly pelted the windows and the child let out another unhappy screaming cry.
Then the baby stopped crying and was looking up at him with curious, but happy eyes as the thunder stopped for a moment.
"Oh my, looks like you don't like the storm."
Fong cradled the child close to his chest, rocking gently as he walked through the house. He had been curious about this child since the time Luce and Reborn brought him to one of their Arcobaleno meetings; if for no other reason than Reborn being the one cradling the child and not Luce. Of course he had only seen the child in passing then, he had been on his way out and had only glimpsed Reborn and Luce; he had put the strange image of Reborn cradling a child to his imagination and misinterpretation until earlier that week when he had met Reborn in the hallway and had been formally introduced to Tsunayoshi.
Fong was not a fool, he knew of Reborn's protective and sentimental side. However, he had never seen Reborn actually act on it, and the sheer blood-lust he sent out when Fong had snuck up and startled the child in the Vongola mansion, Fong knew that maybe he would finally get to see something amazing.
"Hush, Tsunayoshi." Fong cooed, smiling down at the child when his cried began again. "The storm isn't so bad."
There had been small instances, he had seen, where the child was just too aware. He was only six months old, and should not be doing things like he was.
For one, Fong was four before he learnt to predict the claps of thunder and flashes of lightning; and he was a rarity. But here was Tsunayoshi, crying in frustration and fear because of something he obviously didn't understand.
Another thing was the way that Tsuna reacted to Reborn; he cried when Reborn was frustrated even when the Hitman didn't allow a single tonal change when he was. Now, obviously the child spent much time with the Hitman, so it wasn't surprising that he picked up the Hitman's tells especially given the boy's intuitive nature. But only two weeks in Fong's care and the boy was picking up his tells, enough that it made Fong's workload much, much lighter.
None of it posed well for the child, especially when so young his mind was flooded with knowledge and emotions that he couldn't even dream of understanding. Fong knew that he'd need help when he was older to control it all.
His mind immediately put himself in that position and it startled the Chinese man. It had been a long time since he took a student on, and longer since he had actively wanted to.
"What terrifying power you have, young one." Fong muttered, though his eyebrows creased in frustration as his rocking did nothing for the child's screams.
And when the little boy's eyes dropped the martial artist knew it wasn't because he had done anything special, he knew the babe had completely exhausted himself mentally and physically.
With an annoyed sigh Fong made his way through his house to his dojo. Resting the child in the mosses basket he had set up Fong stripped his shirt of and took some soothing breathes.
Katas were the most relaxing thing he could do when his temper was flaring, his sensei swore by them and now Fong felt the same.
Even as the lightning and thunder raged around him Fong found solace in the practiced, rhythmic movements; though Fong had always found peace within the storm.
As a heavy silence settled, the Chinese home finally sitting in the eye of the storm Fong took another breathe and paused. Katas were great, but meditation was needed too.
Fong felt the telltale bristle of being watched, though far less invasive than one would expect, so his eyes snapped open and moved to the mosses basket on the stand beside him and he was startled to find big brown eyes watching him intently. The boy followed his movements, far more precisely than a child should, though Fong could see that there was little comprehension.
"Do you want to try, Tsunayoshi?"
Fong knew that Reborn treated Tsunayoshi as if he were older, so he would too.
He picked the child up and held him securely with one arm. Then, slowly so as to acquaint himself with the new weight and shifted center of mass, Fong moved into one of his more gentle katas, moving his legs and his free arm gently, letting the huffs of air rush past Tsuna's face.
The storm was rumbling in the distance, but Fong just continued to move in controlled formation, shifting and altering the movements to keep a steady hold on the baby.
Another crash of lightning lit the room as thunder rumbled the air. But Tsunayoshi continued watching Fong with adoring eyes, his brown irises were flecked with orange and Fong just smiled down as he spoke soothing nonsense to the boy in Chinese, continuing the stretches and movements.
Storms weren't so scary apparently, and Fong couldn't help but chuckle at the amazement Tsunayoshi showed on his tiny face when Fong would do a more exaggerated movement, staying still and allowing the man to rock him to sleep.
"What a strange, wonderful child you are, Tsunayoshi." Fong smiled as he kissed the dozing child's nose. "I am very glad to have met you though."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hint time xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Ha! Tsunayoshi I am so proud of you!" the lanky man grabbed the boy under the arms and spun him around before hugging him close.
"I did it, Papa!" Tsunayoshi giggled, hugging the man's face and gripping the white jacket his Papa wore. "I'm a big boy now!"
"Of course you are, Tsunayoshi." the man chuckled, pulling out a book from his pocket. "Do you want to put the sticker in the book?"
"Yes!" Tsunayoshi cheered, pulling a sheet of sparkly, kitten filled stickers from the same pocket that the book had previously come out of. He picked one that looked like a little lion before his papa opened the book.
There was a row of stickers and dates; not that Tsuna understood that. His papa pointed to a blank square at the bottom and Tsuna grinned when he put the sticker there.
"I am the best, Papa! Like you!"
The man smiled softly and kissed the boy's cheek. "Yes you are, Tsuna." he chuckled. "Now that you've finished that; what do you want to learn next, son?"
Tsuna thought for a moment, his tongue poking out of his teeth before he smiled wide and held his Papa's face.
"Letters! Tsu wants to learn letter, Papa!"
"Alright, alright. Starting next week we'll start learning the alphabet. Do you want to learn to write too?"
"Course! All stuff, Papa!"
Hint: Eighteen months – three years: Potty training isn't as easy as it looks with: You all might have a lot of trouble with this one since he's pretty OoC here. But meh, a challenge is always fun, eh?
So I am greatly sorry, my dear readers, for abandoning you all so long. I cannot even begin to explain how much trouble and happiness I am experiencing in my life right now, and it means that I find writing my fics difficult.
I also entered NaNoWriMo and that took a lot of time by itself.
Please understand that I love all you lovely people and this is my apology. A pathetic, short, chapter of DoF.
So Aria is canonically about 10-15 years older than Tsuna, Wiki wasn't really clear so I've said six or seven since my story has a time-wibbly-wobbly rather than a timeline.
Please review, and thank you eternally.
~~Bleach-ed-Na-tsu :3