Authors Note: Finally, here's chapter 7, some sad moments in this one. Enjoy!

"Hello" – Speech

'Hello' – Thoughts

Chapter 7: The Promise

Cielo was surrounded by darkness. He could barely make out his own hand when he waved it in front of his face. He opened his mouth to shout but wasn't able to get any words out.

Clutching his throat, his eyes darted around hoping to find something, anything that could tell him where he was.

He figured out he was immobile from the waist downwards, which meant his legs were unable to move so walking wasn't an option.

After several minutes of standing still and panicking over his lack of movement and unknown location, a flash of bright white light encased him. It would have probably blinded him if he hadn't brought up his arm to cover his eyes.

When the light died down and he could finally see again, there was no longer any darkness. He was standing in the middle of a nicely lit room. He quickly realised it must be a living room of an average family house.

For some reason his was no longer immobile and could move, but was still not able to speak. He walked slowly in the direction of an archway which he could see led to the hallway and stairs. It was only when he reached the archway did something catch his eye causing him to come to a stop.

Turning to view the left side of the archway, he crouched down and he could see multiple horizontal lines leading, only reaching about a quarter, possibly slightly more, up the archway.

By each line was a number. The first line had a number 1; the next had a 2 then a 3 and so on.

The brought up his index finger and traced the last line, next to it was the number 7. It was probably used to measure a child's height.

'I know this place.'

He finally recognised where he was. It was his old family home, the one he used to live in with his mother. His old home, his and his mum's old home…

'Why am I here?' he thought to himself, standing up and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, a huge BANG sounded around him. Cielo squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his hands.

After a couple seconds, he opened his eyes once again –but leaving his hands on his ears – he gazed at the living room. It no longer looked as he remembered. It looked a lot like a warzone, or a bomb had just gone off. A number of fires, which were slowly dying due to a large hole in the roof that was allowing rain to trickle in. Parts of the walls were peeling or falling off.

He dropped his hands. His eyes widening at the destruction, 'What just happened?'

Another sound reached his eyes causing him to walk further into the living room. The cries of a young child drifted through the air.

"Look at me, baby," A voice he immediately recognised as his mother called. He could tell it sounded a little strained.

Cielo spun around and looked in front of him. It was definitely his mother but her face and hair was hidden a little by shadows. She was sitting uncomfortably on her knees in the middle of the room, wearing a white skirt which now was covered dirt and muck, along with a white and pink blouse. One of her arms clutching at her side.

The cries of the child turned into whimpers, Cielo could now see a younger version of himself looking up at his mother.

"Okaa-san?"

The child was around 7 years old, he had brown spiky but fluffy hair that looked the spit of Cielo's, and he had eyes that seemed to glow amber. He was wearing a pale green hoodie and brown pants.

Cielo moved around so he was beside his younger self. The child had teary eyes, ready to come out at any given moment. 'No… No…' Even Cielo's eyes widened and started tearing up.

His mothers' hand reached out and shakily cupped the child's cheek.

"Listen, okay. I need you to listen to me okay Tsu-kun?" His mother also sounded like she was on the verge of tears but was holding back for his younger self. (A/N: Tsuna will be the child and Cielo is the teen version)

Cielo nearly choked when he heard the nickname. Tsuna nodded, "Ok."

His mother nodded back, "You remember on the weekends," She took a deep breath, "When we used to watch movies a-"

"And play games!" Tsuna finished cheerily.

Cielo chuckled and continued watching, not noticing the tear that had started to rub down the left side of his face.

His mother made a strained chuckle but it immediately changed to a hissing sound. Cielo crouched down and looked his mother over. Cielo made to touch his mother's shoulder but his hand just traveled straight through her. 'Damn it…'He sounded dejected, dropping his hand back by his side.

Tsuna tilted his head to the side in a confused manner and wore a panicking expression. He could tell that there was something wrong with his mother.

His mother noticed the expression and quickly brought Tsuna into a one armed hug to reassure him. Pulling back to watch Tsuna nodding before she spoke, "I'm fine Tsuna." She smiled, "Anyway, on the weekends when watched movies and played games, what was the one game you could never beat me in?"

Tsuna had a thoughtful expression as he tried to remember. "Snakes and ladders…wait, no I've beaten you at that… chess…no…" Pausing again to think, "Draughts?" He looked up to his mother to see if he was correct.

She nodded and put on a strained smile, Tsuna smiled back. "Correct, that's it. Now, when you get older I need to remember that game okay?"

Tsuna wore a confused expression but nodded anyway.

Cielo knew what was about to happen next, but for some reason he never remembered this little talk that had before it. 'Did this really happen or was this just a dream?'

His mother started coughing. Now this he remembered… although he wished he didn't.

"Okaa-san?" Tsuna's eyes widened.

His mother slowly looked up to Tsuna, "Promise me something Tsuna."

Tsuna nodded and knelt down to try and help his mother.

"Promise that you won't turn out like your dad okay? I don't want that for you. I want you have your own life. Please can you do that for me?"

Tsuna's eyes turned teary again. Cielo could hardly see them now because his eyes were blurred as he was already crying.

Both Tsuna and Cielo nodded but only Tsuna could speak. "Yes Okaa-san. I promise. I promise Okaa-san."

Cielo didn't move; his gaze stayed on his mother.

His mother tried to take another deep breath but started coughing once again. Only this time, she reached a hand up to cover her mouth and when she brought it back down there was a large amount of blood trickling through her fingers.

"Okaa-san?" Tsuna was panicking again, he had noticed the blood.

His mother gave him a bright smile. She pulled Tsuna into a hug and whispered in his ear. "I love you sweetie." That was all she said before she went quiet.

Tsuna pulled back and lowered his mother to the ground. Her eyes were closed. Cielo continued to watch on, tears continuing to run down his face. "Find… Gi.. Giotto." She got out before her body finally shut down.

"Okaa-san? Okaa-san?!" He shuck her shoulder. He was crying now. "Please Okaa-san? Please wake up!"

Tsuna lent over his mother and put his head on her chest. He wasn't checking for a heartbeat, he just wanted to be closer to his mother. "Okaa-san…" his voice was hoarse from crying.

Tsuna buried his face into her blouse and cried loudly, he squeezed his mum tightly. Cielo moved around to the other side of his mother, he brought his knees up and buried his face in his hands as he wasn't able to touch her.

Both versions of Tsuna cried together.

It was about an hour later –or what he thought was an hour- before Tsuna brought his face back up. He was no longer crying but his eyes were red and puffy. Tear tracks could be seen running along his face.

Cielo heard movement and looked up, his eyes the same as Tsuna's.

Tsuna had stood up and walked to the phone. It was still working and rung for an ambulance… even though he knew there was nothing they could do, even as a seven year old, he knew what had happened.

Cielo watched him for a few sort moments before turning back to his mother. 'I…I'm sorry Mum. I tried to keep my promise.. I still ended up like m-my dad..' He had some trouble saying my dad, 'I still ended up in the mafia…" He took a deep breath to hold back more tears, 'I wish… I wish you were still here. It's his fault this happened and when he was needed most.. He was never there... Every time.'

Cielo lent down and put a kiss over his mother's forehead, as he couldn't touch her he just hovered above her forehead.

Cielo stood up, he looked straight ahead, his eyes widened. In front of him was himself. Not the younger version but the one standing there was the same age, had the same clothes, same hair, same everything. Their surroundings had frozen.

His clone spoke, "You never turned out like you dad, Tsuna." His clone was using his real name. His voice was exactly like Cielo's.

Cielo choked on a cry, and looked straight at his clone. As he couldn't talk his just used his thoughts, 'What do you mean? Of course I did! I ended up like him! In the mafia. Working for them mafia! How am I any different from him?' He was shouting in his mind.

His clone tilted his head to the side before walking towards Cielo. "You are different, Tsuna." Cielo looked at his clone.

"Believe in yourself, you never turned out like him." His clone pulled him into a hug and buried Cielo's head in his chest.

The room disappeared into darkness… his younger self disappeared and finally so did his mum.

In the darkness, both the clone and Cielo was standing together hugging one-another.

'Please, please tell me how I'm different.'

"When your mother asked you to make that promise, she didn't at any point mention you not being able to work in the mafia. She just said not to turn out like your father." The clone pulled back from the hug but kept hold of Cielo's arms.

Cielo nodded and looked up at his clone. 'But.. That still doesn't make me different just because she never mentioned the word mafia, it doesn't mean that she hadn't meant it.'

"You're not him, you went ahead and created your own life. You did what you wanted to do. For you it just meant that you ended up working with the mafia. All she wanted for you was to do what you wanted to do in your own life, not what you were told to do. You are very different from him." The clone moved his hands and put them on Cielo's cheeks, using his thumbs to run away the last of the tears.

Cielo understood but still needed to ask, 'I never broke the promise then?'

The clone smiled softly, "No, you never did. You never turned out like your father. Your feelings, the emotions you show to everyone are real. That's how you are different." The clone chuckled, "You don't fake how you feel. You may sometimes try to hide them but they are still there. Trust me when I say, you don't hide them as well as you might think."

Cielo chuckled and pulled away, smiling, 'Thank you.'

"Your welcome, Tsuna," The clone dropped his arms to his side again.

Cielo tilted his head, 'What are you?'

The clone pointed at Cielo, he smiled fondly. "You. I am you." That was the only answer his gave. The clones' eyes flashed amber for a few seconds before turning to normal.

Cielo blinked, 'What? How can that be?'

"You'll figure it out. Remember your mother and what she said." The clone smiled and slowly started walking backwards.

'But what if I…'

He never finished as the clone was no longer there. He, like the others, had disappeared.

Cielo felt his eyes slowly dropping. He fell gently to his knees and then onto his side. He eyes fully closed and then it went blank.

Cielo slowly opened his eyes. He blinked away the tiredness, and rolled over onto his back.

He stared at the ceiling. He could feel that he had cried during the night. "Okaa-san," he whispered and brought himself into a sitting position.

He smiled to himself, 'Thank you Okaa-san and weird clone thing,' He thanked them in his mind.

He laughed to himself as he threw off the bed covers and made his way into the bathroom.

Turning on the shower and heating it to a nice temperature, he stepped in as he thought back to the dream… memory? He wasn't sure what he was supposed to call it. Maybe half a dream and half a memory?

The water pouring down helped clear his head and think back to what his clone said before he left.

'Remember your mother and what she said.'

Well, the first part was simple, He thought about her every day. He missed her, and he felt slightly fulfilled, now that he realised the promise he made to his mother wasn't broken and he never betrayed that promise.

The second part… Now he had to think about that bit. At first he thought he was talking about the promise but then quickly disregarded that idea. Was it about the bit about games and movies? He stuck with that for now and filed it away in the back of his mind, so he could come back to it after breakfast.

He smiled as he stepped out of the shower. Cielo proceeded to walked back to his room, get dressed and head for breakfast. He didn't wear his hoodie this time, just a pair of black jeans and a blood-red t-shirt.

Cielo walked into the kitchen/computer room. The smell of food cooking hit his nose. "Yum.." He sighed.

"Good morning Cielo!" Byakuran was still here but was leaving today.

"Morning. What you making?" Cielo asked, he walked over the kitchen counter and jumped up to sit on it. His legs dangling.

Byakuran hummed, "A bit of this and a bit of that." He pointed to some bacon and some pancakes.

Cielo stole a piece of bacon from the plate that had been set out. "It's nice…" He paused, "Hot... but nice." Cielo used his hand to try and fan his mouth.

Byakuran laughed, "I only just got them out the pan," He finished with the pancakes and flipped them onto another plate he had set out.

Cielo jumped down and went to steal another piece of bacon but Byakuran tapped his hand out of the way. "Ow…" Cielo pouted, rubbing his hand.

"That never hurt, you big baby." Byakuran picked up the plates and moved them to the island counter which had two chairs. "Here," Byakuran offered Cielo a plate.

Walking round to the other chair, Cielo took the plate and began eating.

"Sleep well?" Byakuran asked.

Cielo had bacon in his mouth so couldn't answer but used his hand to make a so-so sign.

Byakuran frowned, "Why? What's up?"

Cielo swallowed his mouthful of food before his answered. "I think I had one of those memory dreams," Byakuran hummed. "It was when my mum died."

Byakuran ruffled Cielo's hair and went back to eating. "You ok?"

Cielo nodded, "I remembered something about before she died. I think I had a conversation with my mother before she died and she told me abo -"

Byakuran interrupted, "Are you talking about the promise again?" He didn't want to bring it up as most of the time it made Cielo upset.

Cielo smiled at the concerned tone but shuck his head, "Not this time, I'll explain that part later. I mean before the promise part. I had this conversation with my mum. She started talking about what we used to do on the weekends and made me remember some stuff." Cielo's eyes teared up again but this time wouldn't let them fall.

Byakuran smiled and patted Cielo's head.

Cielo continued, "She talked about the board games we used to play, she mentioned this one game, Draughts, I could never beat her in it." He laughed causing Byakuran to chuckle too. "She told me to remember it when I was older. I'm still not sure why… I haven't figured that part out yet."

Byakuran nodded and hummed, "Maybe… there's some special meaning you've forgotten about? Maybe?"

Nodding back, Cielo picked up his now empty plate and put it into the sink. "Maybe…"

Byakuran followed behind and started washing the dishes.

"I'm going to miss you doing that for me every day," Cielo pointed to the dishes as his reached into the fridge to get his favourite energy drink.

Byakuran laughed. "I fed Galaxy by the way, he's curled up on your chair over there." He motioned his head towards the computers.

"Thanks."

"'Welcome."

Cielo walked over to Galaxy and stroked his fur and behind his ears eliciting a purr.

"What did you want to say about the promise?" Byakuran looked over his shoulder.

Cielo looked up, "I realised that I never broke it in the first place."

Byakuran smiled, "Really?"

Cielo looked over to the kitchen and nodded. "Yes, I realised that being in the mafia doesn't automatically make me like my dad. I made my own way and did want I wanted to. I just happened to do that with the mafia."

Byakuran hummed and nodded, understanding how happy Cielo was right now.

"I think I might see if I can visit her grave. I haven't been able to do that for a couple of years…" Cielo whispered to himself with a small grin.

"Did you get in touch with Flame-brain about moving?" Byakuran shouted from behind him.

Cielo picked the snow leopard up and carried him comfortably back over to the kitchen. "Kind of, I asked him to come and visit when G come to pick you up. Told him that I needed to speak with him." Cielo spoke quietly.

"Promise me you will speak about it and not leave it like last time."

Cielo smiled, "I promise I will speak to him about it and not leave it like last time." He drawled.

"Oi, don't be cheeky." Byakuran smirked.

Cielo had a look of innocence, he placed his hand flat on his chest. "Me? Be cheeky? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, yeah"

Cielo giggled, "You love me anyway despite my 'non-existent' cheekiness." He made quotation marks with his fingers.

Byakuran snorted and waved his hand in dismissal, "Yeah, yeah." Smiling at the repeated words.

A purr caught their attention. Galaxy had chosen that time to wake up.

"Hello Galaxy." Cielo smiled and stroke the cub.

The cub let out a small whine and let Cielo stroke him.

"Did we ever figure out if the Estraneo Famiglia did anything to him?" Byakuran walked around the island counter and scratched behind the cub's ear.

Cielo hummed, "So far no I don't think so, if they did, it probably won't be anything big since we believe he had only recently arrived and didn't get the chance, thankfully." He smirked at Byakuran.

Byakuran looked behind Cielo before quickly glancing at his watch. "Oh, the puppy and flame-brain should be here in about 5 minutes. My, my, doesn't time fly when you're having fun."

Cielo laughed, "Indeed it does. Marshmallow-man!"

Byakuran smiled brightly at that, "It makes me sound like a super hero," He paused and put on a thoughtful expression. "I like it." He out-stretched his arm in front of him like super-man.

Cielo raised his eye brows and smiled back.

Cielo placed the cub onto the floor to let him roam around. "Oh.. Would you look at that." He turned around and caught the camera that was outside his building.

"They are early," Byakuran pouted. Cielo grinned.

"At least everything is still tidy," With a chuckle, Cielo ran back to his computers.

Byakuran stayed where he was and shuck his head in amusement. Cielo seemed to always bounce back no matter what happens. He smiled in fondness. "Well then, let them join the party!"

Cielo looked over at Byakuran in confusion, "Party? There are two people and a leopard cub…" Cielo just laughed as Byakuran pouted.