Tsuna startled awake around 4 in the morning, only to stare with awe up into the night sky. The open roof, he had never thought to have one before.

Now, he wasn't sure how he would ever be able to live without one again. Above him was the deep midnight-blue night, dotted and streaked with diamonds or maybe snowflakes or even thousands of angles that twinkled and stared down at earth with heavenly eyes. A meteoroid flew by, a phoenix of white and green, and then disappeared out of sight.

Tsuna hastily wished for an open roof wherever he happened to settle. And then he laughed at himself. Lambo would have been proud of him…

With that out of the way, he pondered on what had woken him up… it hadn't been Mukuro, who was dead to the world against his heartbeat, face smooth and unbothered in rest. The early morning was calm and quiet. Yet he felt… he felt like there was something he was supposed to be doing… but what? What could be bothering him at 4 in the fucking morning? He shouldn't be awake! On any other occasion, he knew he wouldn't have been. He wasn't a morning kind of person.

Already, he was trying to fall back asleep, eyelids heavy, yet still the sensation persisted. Something was calling to him, he just knew it… something he had to do, something he had to do…

Exasperated, he wiggled out from under Mukuro and slid off the side of the bed. Behind him, the plant remained completely oblivious.

He padded softly across the floor, stepping over the lotus that had rooted itself in the panels, and continued to the front door. Wearily, he walked outside. It didn't occur to him to lock the door, he doubted he was going to go far… besides, if any robbers did come by, Mukuro could take care of them easily.

He walked for a while, just moving without saying a thing or really thinking a thing except for 'damn, I wish I was asleep right now' and 'what am I looking for?' which churned and revolved and rotated around each other till they were a string of thought that wouldn't leave him be.

He strode past the construction sight and towards the woods. Branches and twigs snapped beneath his feet, stones scrabbling beneath his soles, and he was suddenly rather happy that he had fallen asleep with his shoes on.

He tripped and stumbled his way through the dark and unlit woods, weaving through the trees towards something he wasn't even sure of. At any moment, he promised himself, he was going to turn around and head back to bed. For one thing, it was really creepy being in the woods so late at night (or early in the morning); for another thing, he had no clue why he was outside to begin with.

He staggered over a protruding root and face said hello to dirt before he could catch himself. Spitting out dead leaves, he gingerly sat up and rubbed his face as clean as he could, or at least as clean as he thought he could considering he didn't know the damage.

He groaned, eyes pinched shut. He wanted to sleep… his day had been a mess and he just wanted to sleep until he could sort it out and decide what to do next.

He stood up and he kept going. Why, he couldn't quite tell. But there was something he was missing, something he needed to find, something he was supposed to do… he let intuition lead him. For what could have been miles or maybe just circles.

He tumbled through a brush and landed painfully on his butt. "Ow, ow, ow, ow…" He rubbed abused flesh tenderly, righting himself with eyes pinched shut in agony.

A glowing behind his eyelids dulled the discomfort. Slowly, very slowly, he opened caramel orbs to see what it was that was so fiercely lighting the night.

There in front of him was a crater, trees and bushes around it caved in towards the newly made crevice with shocks of electricity racing up from it. A white heated globe was in the center of the hole, pulsing like a heart that was feeding light to its bright green veins.

Even as he watched, the glow began to dim and then disappear, the electricity dying out the longer he stared and his vision was impaired by tears and growing spots; it was too bright, like staring into the sun or watching a thunderstorm.

And then it was gone. In the center of the crater was a small boy wearing cow-print pajamas; his hair was a wild afro that seemed bigger than he was and he had huge green eyes in his small pixie face, a huge grin on his chubby cheeks.

Tsuna's breath stuck in his throat. "Lambo…"

His brother laughed like he had once used to: raucously and full of fake bravado. "Big brother!"

He sobbed and he ran, not quite sure if he was running in the right direction until he felt no earth beneath his foot and tumbled down the side of the crater; he couldn't see through the watery haze. He fell and flew, head over heels, until he finally fell still off the slope of the depression.

He lifted his head, one cheek throbbing, and saw the truth. His baby brother was really standing there. "Lambo!" Never before had it felt so good to hug the little maniac, to squeeze him to his chest till he was pretty sure neither of them could breathe. "Lambo, Lambo, Lambo…"

"B-Big brother… c-c-c-can't… breathe! WAAAAH!"

With a choked chuckle, he gave his brother a few inches of distance. He looked down at him, drinking it all in that his brother was there and he was warm and he felt alive…

Alive… but…

The joy died slowly yet it was the most torturous thing he had ever felt. "But you're dead…"

"Of course I am, stupid big brother!" Lambo huffed, as if they were talking about how great he was (which could be equivalent to talking about the weather). Then he smiled again. "I love you, big brother. I just wanted you to know that." How mature… how strangely mature, almost as if Lambo wasn't five anymore…

Or did death do that to people? Make them older than they really were? Because Lambo, had he lived, would have only been 10 years old. He felt like he was looking into the eyes of the universe, all knowing and all accepting and so very beautiful, like an embrace of life.

"I love you and I want you to be happy! I want you to live 'cause I never got the chance too, so you've gotta live twice as hard for the both of us, got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna tell Reborn and he's gonna come over and kick your ass!"

Okay, that sounded somewhat more like his baby brother. Tsuna laughed weakly. "I understand… Lambo?"

"Yeah?" Big, curious eyes peered up at him.

"I love you too… and I will never forget you."

"You better not!" His grin got wider. With the patience that shouldn't belong to children, he leaned up and gently kissed Tsuna's forehead. "'Cause I'll always remember you as my big brother. Always."

He felt so full and content, so very warm and untouchable, like Superman had passed onto him his gifts and none of his weaknesses or heartaches… he felt forgiven and he felt light.

He curled around Lambo, refusing to let go, no matter what. His baby brother held on just as tightly, squeezing into his chest till it felt like bone, skin, and muscle could honestly not deter the child.

He shut his eyes and he soaked the moment in. Yes… this was what had needed to be done. Did he have the strength to pull away now that it was over?

"Big brother," Lambo yawned against his shoulder, "I'm tired…"

"Yeah… I am too…" No, the strength wasn't with him at the moment…

But he would pull away, eventually. Because it couldn't be real. Lambo was dead; Lambo had even admitted to being dead. So the night would end and with it would the illusion of his baby brother in his arms, wise and yet still so very childish – himself and something else completely, all in one.

However, for now, he would stay. He would revel in the dream, the reality, the mystery, the whatever-it-was that was happening.

With that unbending resolve in mind, his eyes slid shut and he finally let exhaustion carry him under like a wave in a hot spring.

Lambo's voice echoed in his ear, "make a wish, big brother!" Drowsily, he murmured his desire; to mind came the green and white meteoroid, making him wonder if maybe that had been Lambo. Lambo laughed and shook in his arms. "Stupid big brother," a small gloved hand patted his cheek. "You already have an open roof! So I'll just give you something better."

Author's Note: Was it a dream?