Swans
Waking up in the morning had never been his strong suit, especially when he was already dead set on making himself comfortable for the rest of the day. After all, being the Cavallone Boss wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Lots of things drew his attention away from the idea of relaxation. And so on those rare occasions when he wasn't needed to do much of anything, Dino was determined to make the most of it. Kick his feet up, throw all his cares to the wind, and sleep in till it was time for lunch…
That was the plan, anyway. But as soon as his phone rang, he knew he might as well forget it.
Groaning like a wounded animal, he opened one eye against the glaring light of his phone. The number that registered on the screen wasn't familiar to him; moreover, it was five in the morning. Unbelievable. How can anyone be up at this time? He thought, taking the call anyway. "Hello?"
"Good morning, Uncle Dino."
Almost instantly, his sleepiness left him, supplanted by curiosity and enthusiasm. It was a good thing that he remembered to leave the boy his number last time he saw him. In fact, Dino had been waiting to hear from him, although he certainly wasn't expecting it to happen as early as 5 a.m. Nevertheless, it was a welcome gesture and he greatly appreciated it. "Hey, Angelo," he said brightly, sitting up in his bed. "You're up pretty early. Why's that?"
On the other line, he heard the sound of a slight chuckle. "I'm always up this early. Why, do you usually get up late?"
Dino couldn't help but smile. So the kid was a morning person, huh? Strange, considering how neither one of his parents were like that. Must be some genetic phenomenon. "If I can help it, yes. Do you usually make phone calls during this time?" he asked, attempting to keep amusement from his voice but to no avail.
"Nope," Angelo replied, "but I want to ask you something, though. Are you doing anything important today?"
"Actually, it's my day off." He didn't even have to think twice about that one. Dino would've dropped everything for the kid, just as he would have done for his mother. "Why, did you have anything in mind?"
Before the boy could even voice out his request, Dino had already caved in and said yes.
"Uncle Dino can you hang out with me today?"
One moment, he was completely submerged in some blue liquid like an alien hatchling. After a sudden surge of electricity sent violent spasms throughout his body, Xanxus thought for sure that he was going to have to climb out of the Time Chamber and blast a fucking hole through Giannichi's face for inventing the stupid contraption and putting him in it. Prototype, my ass, he thought, ready to start swinging even though the electrical shock earlier rendered his body unconscious for a moment. Still, his mind was hell-bent on payback. Fucking piece of trash screwed up and for that, I'll make him pay. Groggily, he dragged himself up to a sitting position, his hands scraping against something rather abrasive…
Carpet?
For the first time since he opened his eyes, he was completely floored. Literally. The Varia Boss found himself sprawled on the floor of someone's room. Judging by the countless rows of shelves packed with books, he guessed that he was in a library. But the real question was whose library it was. The interior didn't look like anything he'd seen before. Everything else was unfamiliar, save for a vase of lilies sitting on a large wooden desk. It filled the room with its scent, reminding him of one other person who loved those flowers so much that she just had to have them around whenever possible…
Slowly, he stood up and walked around the library, inspecting it. When he found that there was nothing in there of importance, Xanxus prepared to leave when the door swung open, revealing a woman. Crimson eyes widened as her face registered in his mind.
Mira.
But no…it couldn't be her. The eyes were all wrong; they were grey instead of the blue he was used to. Other than that, she was the spitting image of his dead wife. "Hello," she said cheerfully, smiling at him. "I don't think I've seen you around before. Oh, I know. You must be one of my husband's guests."
Rarely was he ever rendered speechless by circumstances; however, this time would be one of them. Husband, huh? Then perhaps he didn't travel too far into the future. It was the past. The woman just had to be Mira's mother. The present conclusion made sense, of course. At least now he knew who she took after, though the realization didn't really prove anything. This is fucking useless, he thought. I'm not here to meet in-laws.
Nevertheless, he had no choice but to answer her civilly. "Yeah. Looks like I made a wrong turn when I came in here."
"That's fine." That stupid, cheerful, Stepford wife smile. "C'mon then, I'll take you back to the party. The birthday girl should be blowing out her candles soon."
Xanxus followed the grey-eyed woman out of the library, his gaze boring into the back of her head with suspicion. She didn't ask for his name, but simply assumed that he was her husband's associate. Was she really that naïve and stupid? If that truly were the case, then she fit the role of a housewife to a T. Weak. Gullible. Docile. Everything Mira wasn't.
"Emilia!"
Xanxus watched as the grey-eyed woman turned to the source of the sound,—a red-haired male running towards them—responding to her name. So she was Emilia. It was the first relevant piece of information he gathered since his arrival at that time. Now that just left the redhead, who was now giving him a wary look as he skidded to a stop right in front of them. For a while, Xanxus held his gaze, unblinking, until the redhead turned his attention to Emilia once again. "I can't find her. I swear I've been everywhere," he said, breathing rather hard. "Gianfranco's already asked for her. What are we going to tell him?"
The cheerful smile was gone, replaced by something deep and pensive. However, when she caught Xanxus briefly glance down at her, it returned again, as bright and as fake as it was before. "She must have gotten nervous after seeing all the people that came here for her," she said, grinning sheepishly, although the expression never quite reached her eyes. You're not fooling anyone. Still, he decided that he wasn't going to call her out for it. "Why don't you go on ahead without us? Straight down the hall and turn left," she continued, already walking away from him. "I've got to find my daughter."
With that, she left in the opposite direction, the redhead following closely at her heels but not before he gave Xanxus yet another suspicious look—one lingering stare as if he really was trying commit his face to memory. The Varia Boss glared back, completely unperturbed, and turned on his heel to go where the party supposedly was. Straight down the hall and turn left. He did as Emilia instructed and he could already hear the distinct chatter of the guests when he felt another presence. Small, unthreatening, but a presence nonetheless. And it sounded like it was crying.
He knew he ought to just go on his way, but he couldn't help but wonder. And so Xanxus walked a few paces backwards, stopping just in front of a marble replica of Venus de Milo. After hearing a small hiccupping sob, his gaze traveled down towards the base of the statue, and there she was.
Messy silver-hair tied back with a blue ribbon that matched her dress and eyes, only those were brimming with tears as they looked up at him. In her hands she held a broken glass figurine of a swan that was missing a wing. "Please don't tell my mom," she said, her little voice slightly quivering. "I just wanted to have something of hers. I didn't mean to drop it."
Xanxus got down on his haunches, meeting her at eye level. With her knees pushed all the way up to her chest, she looked even smaller. Still, there was no doubt that it was her. He'd know those eyes anywhere. Briefly, his gaze left her face and settled down on the broken swan. Without warning, he picked up the fallen wing, his rough thumb casually stroking the smooth, detailed surface. Then he scowled at little Mira. "Now why the f—" he paused for a minute, not quite sure how he was supposed to talk to a little girl. Goddamnit, she just had to be a fucking 10-year-old. "Why would you take something that isn't yours?"
The little girl wiped her eyes with the back of her arm, sniffing. "Renn said we're going back to Tuscany tomorrow. And it's going to be a long time before I see my mom again."
"Who the hell is Renn?" He figured talking like that would be almost passable. Xanxus simply wasn't capable of wholesome speech.
"The scary ginger man. Mom says he's supposed to protect me." She hugged her knees closer and rested her chin on top of them. "I don't like him. He says bad things about Papa."
Xanxus remembered the red-haired man from earlier; so that was Renn. And this whole time, little Mira has been evading him, too. He thought back to the short exchange before Emilia went on her search for her daughter. 'Papa' would be Gianfranco, Boss of the Montecarlo Family. Based on what little he knew, the Montecarlo made plenty of enemies due to their excessive dabbling in politics, helping out those who they thought would be useful and disposing of those who were not in a decisive manner. Despite the success of their manipulations, they were an easy family to cut down because they mostly counted on government officials to protect them. It was a miracle that they weren't completely obliterated after multiple waves of attack from enemy families. However, it all changed when Gianfranco became Boss. Rumor has it that somewhere along the line, he just snapped and became a deranged recluse. The Montecarlo Family, in a way, turned into an armadillo, balling up to protect itself from outside forces. But the problem itself lay at the heart of their organization. Instead of an enemy taking over and destroying the Family, it imploded from within by a coup of an unknown instigator.
"Hey, Mister?"
Xanxus looked up, realizing he'd been staring at the swan's broken wing for a long time now and so he returned it to her. "What?"
She tilted her head to the side, her blue eyes glittering with childish curiosity. "I've never seen you before. What's your name?" Carefully, she put down her knees and laid the swan's broken pieces gently on her lap. Extending a hand towards him, she introduced herself. "I'm Mira, by the way."
I know. He remembered what Reborn told him back at the warehouse so he didn't bother introducing himself. Nevertheless, he shook her hand anyway. "No one told you not to talk to strangers?"
The little girl only laughed, her small mouth opening just enough to reveal pearly white teeth. "It's okay, Mister. Besides, you're not very scary." She then reached up to him, her fingers toying with his hair accessory. At first, Xanxus's inclination was to move away or take the child and throw her into the nearest wall; instead, he just sat there, watching as she marveled at her newfound plaything. "I like your feathers, Mister. They're really pretty. I wish my mom would get me ones that look just like yours."
Somehow, Xanxus couldn't help but smirk in amusement. "Don't," he said as he stood up, getting his feathers out of the child's reach. All the while little Mira gaped up at him as he pulled himself to his full height. "They won't suit you."
He kept walking towards the direction he was going earlier, towards the party. Without looking back at the little girl, he said, "You better get to your party soon or they might blow your candles out without you."
And with that, a small pair of feet followed behind him, headed to a roomful of people eager to see the birthday girl.
Apparently, Angelo's idea of hanging out involved scouring various antique shops and showing them his book. When Dino asked him why he was doing that, the boy only replied, "I like old books, Uncle Dino. And I wanna know where Uncle Lussuria got mine. And…"
They entered yet another shop and Dino was holding the door open for him as he paused. "And?"
"I wanna find something for Dad so I can give it to him when he comes back."
Dino watched as Angelo headed straight for the back, searching for the shop's owner. Somehow, he couldn't help but envy Xanxus; the man had everything he ever wanted and yet he took them for granted. Nevertheless, he said nothing. He was simply there to provide guidance and assistance to the boy should he ever need them, because heaven knows the people he lived with probably didn't give him enough of those things. Hands deep in his pockets, Dino headed to where Angelo was. Surprisingly enough, the boy wasn't talking to the owner as he'd done in all the other shops; instead, he lingered in front of a glass case, entranced by the trinket trapped in there. "Dad probably wouldn't want that, but it's still pretty," he said, his breath fogging up the glass.
Dino stood beside him to have a look at the trinket and shook his head, agreeing with the boy's previous statement.
It didn't look like it was Xanxus's style. That man would never want to have a glass swan with a broken wing.
/AN:
Yes, I am aware that this is a deviation from the fairytale-theme. Don't worry tho, there will be more Grimm stories to come...as soon as I find some really good ones, that is ^_^
Reviews?