All three of them find themselves on the hospital's roof like it's a turn of fate. Not that Byakuran is much of a big fan of fate. The opposite actually, if he really has to take a stand on the matter, but with Uni existing right next to him at this moment, and just existing generally speaking, he has to at least admit its existence.
"Byakuran! Uni!" Tsunayoshi says, turning away from where he was looking at the sky. "What are you guys doing here?"
"I just wanted some fresh air," Uni says.
"I saw her going somewhere, and I just followed her," he says cheerfully.
Tsunayoshi frowns. "Should you already be moving, though? I know you're only flying and all, but..."
"That's what I said, but did he listen?"
Byakuran pretends they're not giving him an eloquent look. "What about you, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"Oh, I was here with Reborn, but he went ahead of me."
They walk to each other, flying in his case, as if drawn to each other, and stop in a small circle in front of each other. Byakuran feels compelled to fly down and stand on his own two feet by the sudden quiet and solemn atmosphere that settles over them. Then he finds himself circling Uni, taking in her form like he's playing at spot the differences.
She has no pacifier around her neck, and of course, in her case, she still looks the same as she's ever did.
She looks so different from whom he's always known her to be, almost stranger, it's fascinating to see.
"I guess it's only the two of us now, Tsunayoshi-kun," he says, taking back his spot and keeping his eyes on Uni. "I don't like it."
"Byakuran!" Tsunayoshi chides him. "Don't say that." He looks at Uni for a moment, then smiles. "I'm happy for you, Uni," he says, because of course he does.
Tsunayoshi can be so much fun to be around, but then he can also be boringly predictable. Byakuran wouldn't necessarily mind it, except he probably would anyway, because it's like he's trying to be a predictable bore.
Byakuran doesn't tease him for it only because he wants to hear what Uni has to say on the matter too, so he can't break the serious atmosphere lest she misses her chance to.
"Thank you," is what she says first, smiling that new smile of hers. The one he can't look at for long because it looks nothing like theirs anymore. "It's okay," she says then, looking at him like she says it to him specifically. "Here."
She takes his hand, and removes his Mare ring from his finger.
"Oh?" he says, curious, then laughs. "Are you taking it away from me again?"
"I'm not."
She takes Tsunayoshi's hand next, and removes his Vongola Ring from his fingers too.
Then she holds their hands, with their rings stuck in between, digging in their skin.
Her smile widens as she squeezes their hands, bright and hopeful. "Now it's all three of us again."
Byakuran distinctly hears Tsunayoshi's breath hitch.
If he was still the same Byakuran as the one in the Future that Never Was, he'd have found her words meaningless, but now he hears himself laugh.
He unceremoniously pulls them in an enthusiastic hug, making Tsunayoshi splutter.
"I see," he says in a sing-song tone, grinning.
"Byakuran!" Tsunayoshi screeches. "The rings!"
"So we only achieved our current characters' arcs, and are now starting new ones. As different people, but still the same as before."
"Just be careful not to step on them," Uni warns them, shifting against him.
"Isn't it nice?"
"Your wounds!" Tsunayoshi screeches again. "You're gonna hurt yourself again if you hold us so tightly!"
Byakuran laughs again, louder and more than before, longer than before.
How nice indeed.
Two is too easy to break apart, so the three of them like this is the only and right way it should be.
Tsuna turns around from the ledge when he hears someone opens the door of the roof.
"Byakuran! Uni!" he says, surprised. "What are you guys doing here?"
"I just wanted some fresh air," Uni says.
"I saw her going somewhere, and I just followed her," Byakuran says cheerfully.
Tsuna frowns. "Should you already be moving, though? I know you're only flying and all, but..."
"That's what I said, but did he listen?"
Both Uni and him give him an eloquent look, but he pretends to not notice.
"What about you, Tsunayoshi-kun?" he asks.
"Oh, I was here with Reborn, but he went ahead of me."
They move closer to each other at the same time, as if drawn to each other. They stop in a small circle in front of each other, Byakuran choosing to stand too, the atmosphere suddenly quiet and solemn, and Tsuna finds himself with nothing else to do that wouldn't feel out of place but to silently take them in.
He frowns when Byakuran slowly circles Uni, looking at her up and down intently.
"I guess it's only the two of us now, Tsunayoshi-kun," he says as he stands between them again, without averting his eyes from Uni. "I don't like it."
"Byakuran!" Tsuna chides him. "Don't say that." He means it, yet when he looks back at Uni, he finds himself... sad, like he's losing something. Like he lost something. He finds himself almost bitter, and he hates to be reminded of how selfish he can be at times like this. But Uni looks so, so happy ever since Checker Face removed her Curse, so free, Tsuna can only mean his smile too. "I'm happy for you, Uni."
She smiles back, now with a wide smile like it's already second nature. "Thank you. It's okay," she says then, looking at Byakuran more than him. "Here."
She takes Byakuran's hand, and removes his Mare ring from his finger.
"Oh?" he says, actually raising an eyebrow, then laughs. "Are you taking it away from me again?"
Uni just keeps smiling. "I'm not."
When she reaches for his hand next, Tsuna gives it to her easily, curious too, and she removes his Vongola Ring from his fingers too.
Then she holds their hands, using both hers and theirs to keep holding onto the rings, and they dig in their skin.
Her smile widens as she squeezes their hands, bright and hopeful. "Now it's all three of us again."
Tsuna widens his eyes, his breath hitching.
Of course, it means nothing. She's only being kind, being reassuring. She—
If that was so easy, if just doing something as simple as that could mean something, anything, God knows he—
She's saying she's still the same, for all she now gets to be different from what she's always been up until now.
She's saying she's still the Uni they've came to know, will keep being the Uni they've came to know, for all they get to keep knowing more about her now, to know something new about her, and tears well up in his eyes.
Byakuran unceremoniously pulls them both in a hug with his arms around their necks, laughing, and he splutters.
"I see," he says in a sing-song tone above his head, his arm almost like a choke hold around his neck.
"Byakuran!" Tsuna screeches. He distinctly heard both their rings hit the floor. It's not nearly enough to even scratch them, but still. There's Natsu there too! "The rings!"
Of course, Byakuran ignores him. "So we only achieved our current characters' arcs, and are now starting new ones. As different people, but still the same as before."
"Just be careful not to step on them," Uni warns them, shifting like she's uncomfortable, and Tsuna does his best to adjust himself so to not crush her with his bod, despite Byakuran holding them tight and flushed against him.
"Isn't it nice?"
"Your wounds!" he blurts out, because he's holding them too tightly and close. "You're gonna hurt yourself again if you hold us so tightly!
Byakuran laughs again, louder than before, happier than before too, and he relents before he can choose to. He catches Uni's eye as he rests his head more comfortably against his shoulder.
She bites her lip, laughter in her eyes that's just begging to be let out, and then they both burst out laughing too.
What a relief it's still the three of them, truly.
Tsuna loves his friends and family dearly, he does, but he can't even begin to imagine how to talk to them about things he doesn't even have to say when it comes to these two for them to understand him anyway.
Uni opens the door, stepping outside on the roof first, Byakuran following closely behind her.
Sawada blinks in surprise at their sight when he turns around from where he was gazing at the sky. "Byakuran! Uni! What are you guys doing here?"
"I just wanted some fresh air," she says, reveling in the feel of the breeze against her skin and in her hair, in the smell of laundry from the linens hung to dry.
It's all she's been wanting to do ever since Checker Face removed her Curse, to be outside as much as she can and for as long as she can. To look at the world in front of her, wide and infinite, and feel her head spin, spin, spin knowing she now has the time to discover it all.
Uni will grow up, will become an adult, and then she'll keep on living.
No dream in the world could ever be as sweet as this.
"I saw her going somewhere, and I just followed her," Byakuran says cheerfully.
Sawada frowns. "Should you already be moving, though? I know you're only flying and all, but..."
"That's what I said, but did he listen?"
Both Sawada and her give him an eloquent look, for the second time in her case, but for the second time, Byakuran pretends to not notice.
"What about you, Tsunayoshi-kun?" he asks.
"Oh, I was here with Reborn, but he went ahead of me."
Uni walks closer to him, Byakuran flying after her, and Sawada meets them halfway as if they're being drawn to each other. Byakuran stops flying to stand with them too when they stop in front of each other, standing in a small circle. The atmosphere turns quiet and solemn, and none of them say anything.
It's not surprising. They've been through a lot together, and have been through a lot against each other too. It almost feels like it shouldn't be weighing on them the way it is now, but for how little time they've been in each other's life, they've already left their marks there that will last for the rest of their lives.
Uni only watches curiously as Byakuran circles around her, taking her in. He smiles when he takes his spot again, but doesn't mean it.
"I guess it's only the two of us now, Tsunayoshi-kun," he says, but keeps his eyes on her. "I don't like it."
"Byakuran!" Sawada chides him. Then, in a softer voice, "Don't say that." He looks at her, and needs a moment before he can smile at her, a similar look in his eyes as Byakuran's despite his words. "I'm happy for you, Uni."
Uni's heart clenches. They've been through so much against each other before they could learn how to stand together, and it doesn't feel right they might not be able to keep standing together because she's now more different than similar to them.
She isn't, though. Doesn't have to be.
Couldn't ever be, really, even if she were to try.
Uni doesn't like the idea of them drifting apart, for all she'll be better off than them should it happen, but they don't have to let it happen.
She won't let it.
She smiles at them. "Thank you," she says to Sawada before looking at the both of them, but focusing more on Byakuran. "It's okay. Here."
She takes his hand, and removes his Mare ring from his finger.
"Oh?" he says, curiosity in his voice, and then he laughs. "Are you taking it away from me again?"
Uni keeps her smile steady on her lips, and her voice gentle despite the memories in her head she doesn't like to remember. "I'm not."
She takes Sawada's hand next, and removes his Vongola Ring from his fingers like she did with Byakuran.
She'd put the rings in her pockets if she had any, but she hasn't, and so she keeps them in her hands as she takes their hands in hers, letting them dig in their skin.
She squeezes their hands, giving them her biggest and brightest smile. "Now it's all three of us again."
It's not just her being childish. It is childish, doesn't actually affect their situation or change it in any way, but it isn't meaningless.
There's meaning wherever you choose to put it in, Uni would know, and she couldn't mean this more if she tried.
She'll have them for as long as they'll have her too.
Thankfully it seems they think the same, Sawada squeezing her hand back, tears welling up in his eyes, while Byakuran bursts out laughing.
Then he unceremoniously pulls them both in a hug with his arms around their necks, her surprised yelp catching in her throat.
She ends up squished against him, Sawada squishing her more with his body as Byakuran pulled her against him that little faster.
"I see," he says, meaning the levity and cheerfulness in his voice.
"Byakuran!" Sawada shouts. "The rings!"
Uni dropped them in her surprise, and she winces.
"So we only achieved our current characters' arcs, and are now starting new ones. As different people, but still the same as before."
"Just be careful not to step on them," Uni warns them, carefully moving her feet as she tries to give herself some breathing room.
"Isn't it nice?"
"Your wounds!" Sawada shouts again. "You're gonna hurt yourself again if you hold us so tightly!
He is holding them tightly, like he wants them to disappear in him, but she can't bring herself to mind. The hug's warm, and warmer still when Byakuran laughs again, louder than before and so clearly happy.
It makes happiness builds in her chest too and rise up her throat in the form of a laugh. It bubbles in her throat as she keeps it there, biting her lip, not quite certain she won't ruin something by letting it out.
But then she catches Sawada's eye, the tears in his eyes gone for the fond exasperation he never means and so often wears, and then they both burst out laughing too. Uni turns her head to the side, leaning it against Byakuran's stomach so she can laugh properly, and she laughs, laughs, laughs.
She doesn't know who first hugs Byakuran back, Sawada or hers, putting their hands around each other's too, but it doesn't matter. All three of them hold each other tightly like they're never going to let go, laughing like they're never going to stop.
It's still the three of them against the world they were made to bear, and as they carved the right for her to put the burden on her shoulders down, at the very least, she'll be there for them to make sure they never crumble under theirs.
A/N: And it's a wrap guys! Which you might find a bit abrupt depending on what you were expecting? But this was always meant to be a fic exploring the how they might have managed to build the foundations of a friendship despite all they went through against each other in the future arc, more than a fic about their friendship in and of itself. And on that note, if you find the chapter somewhat anticlimactic too, then it means I wrote it well! Because this is supposed to clearly come off as a beginning for them, one that doesn't forget the past but is more understanding of it, allowing them to build a kinder and stronger present and future for each other. So yeah, hopefully it doesn't disappoint you too much.
Also I'm aware Byakuran's metaphor is too much on the nose here, but I couldn't think of another or better one lol.
I hope you enjoyed this last chapter and the story as a whole. Any and all reviews are appreciated.
Thank you for reading, commenting and for the favorites and follows, whether you only did one of those things or all of them, it means a lot!
- Hope