Chapter I: Graviora manent (Sawada Household / Namimori / Present Day)

You didn't think I'd abandoned this, did you? Just because the KHRfest distracted me a bit doesn't mean I'd ever abandon my love child with Ai-chan! Thanks again go to thi_hoai for beta reading! She's my hero as always. Chapters will start again regularly now, so please enjoy them!

In this chapter, you're getting a few hints of the future while Tsuna gears up to move forward in life a little bit more. Enjoy!

A few days after his talk with his mother, Tsuna found himself sprawled on the floor of his room, having lost the first round of his tug-of-war with Lambo over his game console. He hadd known Lambo would take it badly when he'd told everyone about the impending move, but he was honestly surprised at how badly Lambo was taking it. In the past three days, the boy had unpacked every box Tsuna tried to pack, hidden some of his more important possessions and fought him almost desperately for every item in the house they used together or had shared at any point in time.

Lambo had done all of this silently, absolutely refusing to speak a word to Tsuna, settling for directing hurt and betrayed looks at him instead. This surprised Tsuna, because Lambo had for the most part outgrown the crybaby petulant habits of his younger years. It was the first time he'd really realized how sensitive the boy's heart really was. That was why, rather than giving up the fight, Tsuna dove back into it, tugging relentlessly. He realized that this was the only way Lambo could find to spend time with him without giving approval for the move.

Tsuna also knew that trying to tug the ten-year-bazooka away from an upset Lambo was always a dangerous idea. It never ended well, and especially for Tsuna, and it had been particularly traumatic the last time he'd tried it. Of course, he'd never thought Lambo would bring it out over a game console controller. So when it went off in his face, he went down the flashy tunnel to the future swearing and pissed, mostly at himself. It wasn't that he didn't want to see what the future was like, now that he'd started changing things in the current time, but that fear of what he'd seen before still remained.

When he landed hard in a chair and his chin thumped on something solid, he swore again before straightening up and rubbing at his aching chin. Looking around, he saw an entire group of men looking back at him. All of them were familiar, if a little older. He blinked at them curiously and they blinked right back. Tsuna, remembering his recent experiences with various members of his Family from the future decided that laying down the law now was the best idea.

"You all just stay on that side of the desk, and no one gets hurt," he warned them, crossing his arms grumpily. "There'll be no molesting, touching, fondling, groping or otherwise playing with the cute young Sawada Tsunayoshi, are we clear?"

They blinked at him again and then as a group started laughing. Tsuna supposed it was a good thing that his future office had so much furniture in it, because as they fell down, clutching their sides, they all landed on something padded instead of the floor. He'd have felt kind of bad if they'd hurt themselves laughing at him.

"Fucking perverts," he muttered, leaning back in the chair to watch them. "Like being a teenager isn't confusing enough, what with all the mafia stuff and high school." He paused, a horrified thought crossing his mind. "I have a test tomorrow, and I was wasting time fighting with Lambo!" He flailed, trying to figure out a way to get himself back to when he needed to be. "If I fail, Reborn's going to kill me. I'm too young to die!"

He pointed at Lambo accusingly. "This is your fault. I want to know where the hell you hide that fucking thing so I can take it away from you and slag it."

"Tsuna-nii," Lambo started, holding up his hands innocently. "I was nine! How can you hold that against me?"

"I'll do whatever I want, dammit," Tsuna grumbled, slouching. "You're not the one who's going to be trained until he dies just for failing a math test. I bet he won't even wait until I can retake it before punishing me. It's bad enough that I missed most of the week last week."

"He's right," The dark, deep voice came from behind his chair, and Tsuna found himself wondering how quickly he could make it over the desk and out of the room if he ran for it. "I probably will. He let himself get hit with that stupid cow's toy, after all."

Tsuna counted two windows and at least one door. That left him with at least three ways to flee the room if he was fast enough. Painfully slowly, he slid his hands into his pockets in search of his gloves. A little extra speed never hurt anyone, and he was not about to let them do anything inappropriate to him here, knowing he'd probably reappear in front of a child, or worse, his mother.

"It's kind of nice, seeing you all like this," he said, trying to buy some time. "I mean, all together, and adult and all." His fingers slid into the gloves slowly. "I'm sorry I interrupted your meeting, though. I hope it wasn't urgent?" He'd suffer with guilt if he caused his Family too much trouble.

"Nothing important, boss," Hayato told him, grinning at him from the sofa to the left of his desk. "We were just setting schedules for the month. Reborn-san just got back into town a couple of days ago, so this is our first meeting since then. You vanished for a couple of days when he got back."

Tsuna flushed a dark, deep red at the thought of why Reborn returning meant that the older Tsuna had vanished. He glanced at all of them again, hoping they wouldn't feel the need to give him any sort of details. He was sure his brain couldn't handle it. It was as he was looking at them that something caught his attention and his mind refocused, looking at each of them more intently now. His eyes widened and then he spun his chair around to look at Reborn just as intently.

Reborn was leaning against the wall behind his chair with a casual laziness that spoke of years of taking that same position in meeting after meeting. There was something both dangerous and reassuring at the same time about it, but that wasn't what had caught Tsuna's attention. He pulled his hands out of his pockets to avoid setting his pants on fire when his will flared, flame sparking on his forehead and hands and his intuition kicked into overdrive, his eyes focusing more intently now.

Giving Reborn a thorough once-over, he turned back to the others again and stood, prowling over to them thoughtfully, looking at each of them with hyper-focused eyes. They all blinked back at him nervously, obviously confused about his intensity. Tsuna stopped in front of Lambo for a little longer before nodding to himself. Then his eyes scanned the walls, looking for pictures. He found them easily and moved over to stare at one of his Family standing together in front of the estate and his eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded to himself, more pieces falling into place.

"Tsuna," Reborn said softly from behind him, a strong hand landing on his shoulder. "Don't overdo it. You're throwing them off."

He blinked and turned to look at his Guardians again, only to find some of them staring at him with wide eyes while others were looking at him with dangerous interest. Shaking his head, he calmed himself and tucked his gloves back into his pocket. He'd found the key he'd needed to one of his puzzles, although he didn't fully understand it yet.

"Sorry," he offered, blushing a little. "Something just caught my attention that I hadn't noticed before."

He could see that they were catching on, as their gazes sharpened and they turned to look at each other thoughtfully before standing as a group. It became obvious that they weren't going to tell him anything as they nodded at him and all retreated, leaving him with Reborn and closing the door securely behind them. Tsuna sighed in frustration.

"Calm down, Tsuna," Reborn told him, settling himself in an elegant sprawl on the sofa that had been vacated. "Come here." He held out his hand in invitation.

Grumbling under his breath and blushing at the same time, Tsuna moved closer, only to find himself pulled down onto the sofa between Reborn's legs. Embarrassed at his situation, he started to pull back, only to have Reborn's arms wrap around him and tug him closer, pinning him down against Reborn's chest.

"You're trying to distract me again, Reborn," Tsuna accused him quietly, pace pressed into against his neck slightly. "Just like the last time, when you came to the past. You're trying to avoid telling me anything."

"I have to follow the orders my boss gave me, Tsuna," Reborn replied, nuzzling along his jaw and down his neck, breathing his scent in. "It helps that you're so cute when you're still so innocent. The you of my time doesn't blush nearly as often as you do. I really have to work hard to make it happen, and then I get hit."

"I think you're dodging the issue here, Reborn." Tsuna tried to squirm upright, only to turn bright red as his wriggling over Reborn caused what most would consider a natural reaction for both of them. Whimpering, he sank back down and hid his face against Reborn's shoulder. "This is so fucking embarrassing."

Reborn simply chuckled and tightened his grip, holding him close. "I can't tell you what you want to know, Tsuna. There are things you still need to do to get to the answer, and if you skip those steps, you'll lose things and people that are precious to you. Everything will happen in its own time. The you of my time is working hard to be sure of that, just as hard as you are in the past."

Tsuna was about to argue when a soft sound from behind the far couch caught his attention and he sat up, pushing Reborn away in his curiosity. He was surprised when Reborn let him go so easily this time, and he slid off his lap and moved over to look, expecting to find maybe a pet of some sort. The small, portable cradle behind the couch shocked him past words. The two small, sleeping forms in it surprised him even more.

"Ah," Reborn said from behind him, looking over his shoulder. "I was hoping you might miss them entirely. That's why they're still here, instead of being carried out when the others left. They're usually dead asleep this time of day."

"Reborn," Tsuna began, turning to look at him with a sheet-white face and wide eyes, "those are babies."

"It's good to know all that schooling hasn't gone to waste, Tsuna," Reborn teased gently, smirking at him. "Yes, they are. Human babies, even."

A horrid, terrifying thought looped through Tsuna's head for a long moment and the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. "There's no way you're making me into a woman and making me have babies. I forbid it! No way, Reborn!!"

"They're not ours, Tsuna," Reborn chuckled, highly amused now. "Verde can do a lot with science, but he hasn't managed to impregnate men yet. Not that you'd ever let me do that to you anyway, no matter how cute you'd look."

Tsuna slumped slightly in relief and blushed a bit, embarrassed again at being anything but calm and cool in the face of the Reborn he'd obviously been in a long and loving relationship with. "Then who do they belong to, Reborn?"

Leaning closer to look at them, it became obvious that one was a girl and the other a boy. Neither looked anything like the other, which surprised him. He glanced back up at Reborn, eye shining with interest.

"Are they related?" he asked, curious now. "They don't look alike."

"They aren't," Reborn answered, settling on the back of the couch and reaching into the crib to scoop the girl up gently. "But they were born within days of each other. Let's see if this helps you figure it out any." He tugged the baby cap off of her head carefully, not wanting to wake her, and fluffed her little silver curls gently.

"Hayato," Tsuna wheezed, his eyes wide at the sight of those adorable curls. "Hayato has a daughter ten years from now… I mean then… how?" He glanced up at Reborn in confusion. "I mean, I know I tend to lean towards men more than Hayato, but he's not attached to any woman that completely. Was it an accident?"

"Not at all," Reborn rocked the baby gently in a way that had Tsuna wondering how often the babies took their afternoon nap in his office. "Isabella here was very well planned. Hayato and his partner were the first to go for it, but I had to nag excessively to get anyone moving on the idea. The Vongola need a future generation, whether they become mafia or not, because having someone to protect makes the Family stronger."

"So you mean that Hayato and Takeshi…" Tsuna's voice trailed off at the sad look in Reborn's eyes. "Not Takeshi then?"

"Not Takeshi," Reborn agreed quietly, "although both are very happy right now. Things became difficult between them and they had to step away from each other more completely. It was for the best, but it was hard on everyone."

"You won't tell me who Hayato had a baby with?" Tsuna asked, curious.

"I won't, but only because it was your choices that brought them fully together in the end by bringing him home to help Hayato, and I don't want to influence that. He's happy, very happy, and that's what matters." Reborn smiled, relaxing again.

"But Reborn that still doesn't tell me how two men can have a baby," Tsuna frowned at him.

"The Cervello have been making up for their sins. A few years ago, they approached me with the idea of acting as surrogates for various Family members. After all, they have many women, and a huge rift with the Vongola to heal. It was their offer of absolute loyalty." Reborn put the girl's cap back on and set her back in the crib. "So these two are the result of fertility procedures."

Glancing down in the crib, Tsuna focused on the other child. "So Hayato's daughter, and who is this little guy, Reborn?"

"Ah, this one's a bit of a surprise," Reborn chuckled and scooped him up carefully. "But he's a darling." With a careful move, he slid the little cap off, exposing thick, blue hair. "He's always such a good boy."

Staring down at the blue hair, Tsuna's mind spun wildly. "Chrome?"

Reborn chuckled at him. "Guess again."

"No way, Reborn," Tsuna stared again, eyes getting wider and wider. "That's just… Mukuro?!"

"He looks just like his father, doesn't he?" Reborn rocked the boy gently. "Little Akira here took most of us by surprise, but Mukuro's always done exactly what he wants, hasn't he?"

"That's not the point here, Reborn," Tsuna stared at him like he was insane. "That's a baby you're holding. Mukuro's baby!"

"Of course I'm holding him, Tsuna," Reborn kissed the top of the boy's head. "I'm his godfather, after all. It's my duty to look after him."

Clearly he'd gone into some weird alternate future, Tsuna decided, because none of this was making any sense at all. The last time he'd gone into the future, the Vongola were being hunted. This was a strangely different future altogether.

"You're thinking too much again, Tsuna," Reborn chuckled at the look on his face. "Ten years is a long time. You have a long way to go to get to this point. All of you do."

Tsuna was pondering that thoughtfully, getting at what Reborn was trying to tell him, when there was a knock at the door. Before either of them could speak, the door opened quietly and Takeshi leaned in, smiling cheerfully at them both. Realizing he wasn't interrupting anything terribly embarrassing, he stepped in fully.

"Sorry Tsuna, Reborn, I forgot to pick up this little guy on my way out," he said cheerfully, moving over to steal the boy from Reborn's arms. "I'd be in real trouble if I made it home without him."

"You'd better hurry then, Takeshi," Reborn replied, amusement gleaming in his eyes.

"I will," Takeshi answered cheerfully, handling the baby like a professional as he leaned down to pick up a blue bag from the floor as well. "It was nice seeing the younger you, Tsuna! Take good care of us in the past!" With that, the other man was out the door, pulling it closed behind him.

Waving a vague farewell to the door, Tsuna stared with his mouth gaping open. "Reborn, that was Takeshi."

"Did you hit your head on your way here, Tsuna?" Reborn asked, looking a little concerned now. "I wasn't there to see you get hit with the bazooka, so I don't know."

Ignoring the question, Tsuna focused on the problem at hand. "Why is Takeshi picking up Mukuro's baby and going home, Reborn?"

"Well," Reborn glanced down at his watch and then back up to Tsuna, "that's kind of a complicated question, Tsuna. I'm not sure it's really my place to discuss that with you." He stood, making his way back over to him, and gently closed Tsuna's mouth. "You'll be gone again soon."

"Already?" Tsuna looked up at him then, distracted from his train of thought. "But I wanted to ask you a lot of things, Reborn, as long as I'm here."

"It's better this way, Tsuna," Reborn told him, leaning in to drop a soft kiss on his mouth. "You're doing just fine. Everything you need to know will come to you at the right time, and I'll be right there by your side the entire time."

"You promise?" Tsuna knew it sounded childish and desperate, but he didn't care as he wrapped himself around Reborn tightly.

"I promise," Reborn replied, holding him close and resting his chin on Tsuna's head. "You won't have another day in this life without knowing exactly where I am, and how I am. I promise."

Soothed, Tsuna gave up on asking questions for now. He'd gained a lot with this accidental visit, and he had a lot of things to discuss with Verde when he returned to his own time. So for now, he decided it was better to just enjoy the warm, strong arms holding him and breathe in that dark, dangerous scent that always gave him so much comfort, even when it came from a form that barely reached his knees.

When the soft poof of smoke came, Tsuna trembled slightly as the arms around him vanished and he fell to the floor of his room again. Sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, which had smacked into the side of his bed, he noticed Reborn sitting in his chair by the window, drinking coffee serenely. For some reason, the sight soothed him again and the hurt, anger and frustration of losing those arms around him faded into something tolerable.

"Did you see something interesting, Tsuna?" Reborn asked him, smiling slightly. "The future you seemed pretty amused to find himself here, and seemed to think you'd find your visit helpful."

"I did, actually," Tsuna said, moving over to settle next to him on the floor, resting his cheek against the back of Reborn's chair, wanting that scent again. "I think I found clues. Good ones. I'll need to talk to Verde soon, and give him what I found." He paused, and then smiled slightly. "And then there were the babies."

Reborn's curious look got him talking, and he spent the rest of the afternoon telling him about what he'd seen in the future, much to Reborn's amusement. Both agreed they'd keep the knowledge to themselves, however. Reborn had been clear that while there'd been pain for Takeshi and Hayato, both were happy now, and that was all that mattered in the end to Tsuna. He would simply do as Takeshi had said, and keep taking good care of all of his friends in the meantime.

*Title translates to "heavier things remain".