A/N: I'm sorry for having this on hiatus. =_= I can't find the will to write since my notebook is gone. AND IT'S BEEN FREAKING 3 YEARS!

And oh, this is dedicated for my 100th reviewer, scratchart123. I know that this is my first time to see you reviewing my fiction, and that makes you special this time! :D Thanks for reviewing again.

Enjoy!

THE AMIABLE FLAME

© Ellarie Soulhart

April 2012

SEVENTH FLICKER: Missing

Mr. Francesco was in a poker face mood.

Why, you ask?

It was simple. He was discreetly staring at one of his young masters, namely Daemon, who was trying his best to snicker in an unnoticeable way as he stared at the floor which was filled with holes two days ago. The head butler narrowed his head in disbelief. His master had his wires gone off into different places and he was tempted to do some illusions to snap his master back to reality. But knowing that his illusions wouldn't affect Daemon (if not surprised or planned out properly), he decided to hide that thought back in his mind. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that those 'filled' holes were illusions.

Going to Daemon, the mist guardian was obviously happy because he managed to fill up the holes before his co-guardians return. The only ones remaining as hard illusions were some paintings and valuable vases that weren't replaced yet. But fret not, he had done something about it already and in a span of a week, the delivery will arrive. He snickered. He's such a genius. As he was making a few more adjustments, he heard a few noises coming from below that resembled a child's laugh. When he peered down, he saw Takeshi pulling out a resistant but very flustered Mukuro who was being urged by the loud-mouthed Ryohei. The two were being scolded to silence by the hot-headed blockhead Hayato who kept on saying "You two might wake Juudaime up," who was apparently inside his own room, sleeping peacefully. Shortly, he saw a similar purple headed child, Chrome that was, chuckling weakly at the antics of her older twin. She hasn't fully recovered but thanks to what Knuckles prescribed and instructed the nurses (who was very reluctant of treating the twins because of Daemon's orders), the twin sister was getting better. Today was a proof because she was able to walk already.

He looked at the twins with curiosity. Even though there was still the reluctance, he could see that they longed for acceptance.

Does that mean he needed to acknowledge the twins as well?

He furiously shook his head, unaware that Mr. Francesco was still watching him behind with an expensive vase seated on his right arm. The old head butler was wondering if his young master was going crazy due to the recreation of the floor. As for Daemon, he was going crazy to admit that he was (slightly) envious that he has no one to play jokes with (aside from having the fun of teasing his so-called little brother, Kyouya). With that, Daemon collected some energy and braced himself at the railings of the hallway, saying out loud:

"Quit being so noisy or I'll send you to the 3rd circle of hell(*)!"

When that roar came like thunder, the fun was immediately wiped away from the faces of Takeshi, Ryohei, and Chrome, while a frown was plastered into Hayato's and Mukuro's faces. Mukuro was able to easily detach himself from Takeshi who took no offence from the action, and stared at his father. Chrome looked warily as well, feeling all nervous that there might spark an unwanted confrontation between her brother and father again. She doesn't want that. She wanted a happy family, even though they were already missing one. She wished that her father will know the truth and accept them. When Daemon's eyes met with hers, she caught that slight uncomfortable longing before watching her father go. She frowned more. What was that all about? Her thoughts were immediately broken when Mukuro dragged her away from the group. She looked to them and offered a silent apology to the boys whom he left stunned at the sudden act.

The cold silence was broken when Hayato spoke, "What's his problem again?" He received a shrugging answer from Takeshi and a long frown from Ryohei.

"Uncle Daemon seemed to be irritated these days." Ryohei commented, "Is he that EXTREMELY mad of what you guys did?" No one really knew when Ryohei started speaking the word Extreme loudly every day, but it became a signature mark as well as an alarm for all of them, considering the fact that Ryohei always got up very early in the morning.

"Oi! It's not my problem if G left his room open!" Hayato exclaimed.

"Maa, maa, at least no one gets hurt, ne?" Takeshi said and beamed a smile towards his friends. It made Ryohei exchange high fives with Takeshi and exclaimed, "Extremely yeah!" while Hayato was plain irritated.

"Couldn't you get any serious? You're always looking at the bright side of things!"

Takeshi just laughed.

Not far from them was Kyouya who was watching the scene, half happy that Daemon was able to break that flustered face Mukuro was making and half sad because he was not with that crowd. He could care less anyway.

…:[]:…

"Did you find him?" A man in a black cloak asked. He was leaning towards a brick wall as he talked to another strange man.

"Yes," The man in a black beret replied. He made sure that he was leaning at the brick wall that was facing the sidewalk without anyone noticing that he was talking to someone else. "He seemed to get the attention of them all. Shall I retrieve him?"

"No. Let him be. I want to see more progress from them as they have him. Then, when my current observations match my past ones, I will give you an instant call to get him and give you your reward."

The other man snickered and pushed himself away from the wall, "I'll hold to your deal, mister wise-man."

…:[]:…

After an hour, Tsunayoshi awoke with a tantrum. This was the first time it happened and it definitely shook the whole house. Even the wildest persons in the said mansion rushed into the baby's room (which was connected to Giotto's, by the way) and prepared everything that he needed – diaper, milk, toy, new clothes – just for the sake of quieting him down. Daemon immediately scooped the baby towards his chest, and he sent a murderous glare to keep all questioning stares at bay. Who would want to be tied up in his illusions, right? Without further action, Kyouya prepared the milk (surprisingly so), while Mukuro arranged the crib, sneaking a glance and silently wishing that he was the one in his father's arms. Ryohei was the one preparing the diaper and other cleaning materials, just like the older brother he was to his little sister. Chrome was helping Ryohei in doing those and she picked out the brightest clothing for Tsuna. Hayato and Takeshi, however, were too young for this job so they kept their hands to themselves and watched the whole scene unfold.

Daemon tried lulling the baby back to sleep, but he failed. Kyouya fed him with the milk and let him burp, but the little sky still cried later on. Ryohei and Chrome cleaned the baby, put on new diaper and changed into new clothes, but Tsuna was still uncomfortable. Mukuro made the crib fluffier and so after the others made their action, he gingerly yet softly took Tsuna from Daemon's arms, whose eyes looked at him with both anger and awkwardness. And yet, the baby was still crying. They all sighed.

"What's wrong with the damn baby?!" Daemon exclaimed, bringing more tears to little Tsunayoshi's eyes. And because of that, Chrome bravely stood up for the crying child saying, "Please soften your voice. It's not his fault if he's crying."

Daemon was slightly surprised. He was not expecting that Chrome would be that protective over someone she doesn't know. Oh well, why does he care anyway? He chose to remain silent to avoid further commotion.

"Then, what could be the problem?" Ryohei asked, worried about the crying. Crying could mean a lot of things – Tsuna could be feeling something inside that upset him so, or he's irritated, or he wanted something that was not related to what they thought he needed.

They decided, with forcefully having the permission of Daemon, that they would bring Tsuna outside the garden. They were thinking that it may cheer the baby up since he hadn't visited it after Ryohei's incident. Ryohei and Chrome picked all everything they needed for changing and feeding and packed it inside a medium-sized bag pack. With a brisk nod, Daemon let them out in the garden.

In the garden, with the strict supervision of Kyouya (he purposely did not go to school for this), Mukuro placed Tsuna down in a small, improvised basket crib surrounded with roses and filled with soft foam, courtesy of Chrome. It seemed that it calmed Tsuna down a bit, but the tears and the crying sound didn't die down. They looked towards each other, but no one could provide an answer for their query. Hayato and Takeshi tried cheering Tsuna like they used too, only ending up in a senseless battle - shouts from Hayato, laughs from Takeshi and a creepy clanking of metal bars from Kyouya. Mukuro glared at Kyouya and the two started a bout of fight, wherein Chrome was the mediator to keep them both alive and at the same time, stop them from fighting and further killing each other. Because no one was paying attention to the little baby, Tsuna's instinct told him to cry further, and so he did. That made the group stopped and immediately circled the baby (with Kyouya at the farthest back and only hovering down to see). They could see the redness or Tsuna's cheeks and how he curled up as his body shook. They couldn't do anything to make him calm. They were getting worried that Tsuna might be sick and the worst part would be their relatives weren't home. They don't want to give Tsuna to either Daemon or Mr. Francesco because of their grumpiness. They had no choice left.

In a swift blow of the wind, hitting Hayato's face, it made him turn around to see a dance of fallen brown leaves in the air that slightly covered several human-like shadows. At first, he thought that he was hallucinating, but the moment the space was cleared, the silver-haired boy saw six persons in their most formal attire walking towards the garden, chatting happily and oblivious to what was really happening in the garden. His eyes grew wide and his left hand has started tugging Takeshi's right arm. Takeshi heeded the action and turned to see where Hayato was looking at. With a big grin on his face, he exclaimed,

"They're back!"

Oh, how so out of character. Well, they're kids, and seeing their guardian return after two days was a relief, especially from Daemon's and Mr. Francesco's wraths.

Everyone's heads shot up and look to the younger ones' direction and with delight, except for Kyouya, Mukuro and Chrome, waved their hands hastily to attract attention. They were rewarded with five bright (Alaude was an exception) smiles, an acknowledging hand and a heartwarming "We're home!" as they approach the kids. Knuckle greeted as well, but the moment he saw Ryohei, he frowned a little and hid his emotions, only receiving a nod from little Ryohei. Giotto was the most excited of them all because he got to see his precious baby. When he gave everyone a hug, he immediately counted them.

He frowns.

Tsuna was missing.

He was about to spat questions towards the kids when he heard a familiar wailing in front of him. Then he saw an improvised basket with fluffy pillows inside. Beside it were a bag stuffed with baby materials and another bag filled with food. Without further ado, he swiftly walked towards the basket and he saw Tsuna's crying expression.

His heart almost broke.

Carefully, he lifted Tsuna from the basket and rocked him gently. That gesture brought Tsuna's tears to stop, and soft, brown doe eyes peered up to his carrier. The baby recognized that blond hair and golden eyes, making him smile to the fullest. The melancholic expression immediately disappeared from Tsuna's face.

The other children stared in awe. It seemed that they now understood what Tsuna wanted because it was what they also wanted.

They wanted their fathers.

But who could they kid with this matter? They have all been abandoned and even though Ryohei, Mukuro and Chrome have their fathers, they couldn't get in touch with them like Tsuna could. They felt envious but they are not losing their hope. Hayato and Takeshi did the same thing, hugging their guardians and cried. G and Asari were shocked at this, but it couldn't be helped. They missed them too.

NOTABLE ASTERISKS: - ...third circle of hell (*) - You can find this in Dante's Inferno. There are actually nine circles of hells, the ninth being the deepest and the most dangerous of all (if my memory serves me right)

A/N: So…after freaking 3 years, I managed to find my way. Though, this chapter is a little shorter than the others. *sighs* I honestly have the ideas of throwing this away, but seeing the reviews and my story, my brain kept on telling me to continue and recalling the grown bunnies that were shoved inside their cages. And so, here I am, slowly but surely, reopening this story. ^_^