It had seemed 'cute' at first, until it quickly wasn't.
It started shortly after Tsuna met his father's "boss" who insisted the five year old little boy call him grandpa, as he certainly looked like it. No one noticed the boy stiffen for all of a few seconds when the old man patted him on the head with a hand that had a rather ornate ring on it.
That night little Tsuna had the worst nightmare of his young life. It had started out fine, with odd dreams about a boy who looked an awful lot like him living a very lonely life until an odd man with black eyes and oddly curly sideburns appeared. Then it shifted slowly into something a bit more scary for the little boy.
There were big fights with really scary people, like the man with mismatched eyes, or the one with a scarred face and angry red eyes that spoke volumes of how much pain he was in. But the part of the dream that terrified him the most was the last part.
A man who looked far too much like his Papa hurt him really, really badly. He woke up in a cold sweat and he had to fight the urge to run and not look back when he went down to breakfast that morning when he saw his Papa, no Iemitsu his young mind supplied, at the table.
It scared him so much that for the entire visit, Tsuna stuck as close to his mother as he possibly could and avoided Iemitsu and "grandpa".
Nana huffed when on the last day of the visit, Tsuna refused to stay in the house alone with either of the two men.
"I simply don't know what's gotten into him."
Iemitsu laughed, though he had to admit his little Tuna-fish was acting extra shy for some reason. Perhaps it was the fact that Nono was with him that scared his son into avoiding them.
Children sometimes had an adverse reaction to strangers in their home, and his little boy was acting extra shy since they arrived. The fact Tsuna was clinging to his mother only cemented the idea in his head that his son was just a little shy around Nono.
"It's fine honey, why don't you take Tsuna shopping with you? I'm sure us menfolk can hold down the fort until you get back."
Nana sighed indulgently, before calmly carrying Tsuna most of the way to the store.
She was completely unaware of the fact that taking her son with her caused a major divergence point in his fate. Tsuna was just relieved to be far, far away from Iemitsu and the grandpa who gave him a really bad feeling.
Though he only really calmed down when the men left, with 'Grandpa' giving him one more affectionate pat on the head while Nana held him.
He worries about the scary nightmare he had the last time the old man touched him.
This time he has the dreams again, except they aren't as scary and are rather comforting.
He dreams of others roughly his own age, like the older boy who resembled the scary kid two years above him in school that liked to hit people and said he would 'bite them to death' that had a pet bird. Or the smiling boy who was in his class that loved baseball, but had made all the wrong friends until the right ones stopped him from doing something that would make his papa sad. Or the one who trained and trained because he didn't know what else to do with himself or the energy he had, and no one wanted to play with him or even listen to what he had to say, not really.
The others came later, but it's those three he remembers when the visit is over.
He is not happy with Iemitsu when he begins to realize that perhaps the nightmare was more of a warning that his 'papa' wouldn't be around much.
Iemitsu, mostly out of concern for the fact that his son had been displaying several signs of going Flame Active at an early age, decides to take his civilian family on a week-long vacation to Mafia Land.
Once again, Tsuna displays an unusual amount of shyness and sticks to his wife like glue and avoiding his father entirely if he could get away with it. If he can't, then he makes sure to keep as much distance as he possibly could without leaving the sight of his mother.
Except this backfires on the little boy and he ends up separated from his parents in an unknown place with people who spoke a language he only knew snippets of. Certainly not enough to get directions, and his instincts told him not to trust just anyone for help.
It was strange, how the odd dreams he kept having seemed to be giving him knowledge of things that by all rights he shouldn't know. Like what Iemitsu (and a lot of the people around him) were saying in that funny language that wasn't Japanese. It wasn't perfect, and the information he was getting was very scrambled, but at least it wasn't the nightmares again.
It was as he was about to give up and start crying that he spotted a figure that was so familiar and oddly comforting, despite the amount of menace and scary aura he was giving off. A man with unusually curly sideburns.
Reborn POV
There was a lost brat staring at him with undisguised fascination. Or likely his side burns.
Despite the irritable aura he was giving off, the brat wasn't scared of him in the least. Then again young kids often didn't know a threat when they saw one.
"Go away, bambino," said Reborn imperiously. He did not have time to deal with lost kids.
The kid looked openly confused, but at least the brat wasn't crying. He hated that.
Reborn shooed the kid away, but they didn't leave.
Did the kid not speak Italian?
Switching to a different language, Reborn didn't get a proper response until he hit Japanese. That at least got the kid to perk up.
Who the hell had brought a Japanese kid this young and didn't keep track of them? Especially since the brat clearly didn't understand Italian or even something as common as English, which were the two major languages spoken in Mafia Land.
"Little one, where are your parents?"
"Mama is off with the scary man who brought us here," said the boy.
Reborn wanted to sigh. For some reason the kid had apparently deemed him as 'safe adult', which meant he wasn't likely to leave the hit man alone at all until his mother was found.
How annoying.
Scooping up the brat, who merely squeaked a little before easily settling into his hold like it was natural, Reborn went to find the nearest help desk. It wasn't like this was the first time a kid had gotten lost on the island.
"Babysitting, Reborn?" said an amused voice.
Reborn glowered at the man who spoke.
However it was the child's reaction that had both men look at him oddly.
"Hibari-san!" he said in surprise.
Fon blinked.
"You know Kyouya, little one?" he asked carefully in Japanese. It wasn't the first time someone had remarked at the fact he looked so similar to Kyouya, and it wouldn't be the last.
The boy shook his head.
"Hibari-san in different class. He likes to hit people a lot, especially adults and bullies."
Fon chuckled, because that sounded like something Kyouya would do.
"What's your name, little one?"
"Tsuna!" chirped the child in Reborn's arms.
It surprised Reborn a little, how calm the brat...Tsuna... was in his hold. Most kids would be frightened of the amount of irritation he was giving off, or by his 'scary' appearance.
This kid however, seemed perfectly happy with the hit man holding him. He was positively cheerful even.
Fon was both amused and intrigued, and without a word joined Reborn in finding the lost and found desk.
However it was the child's reaction to the man already there asking about a boy fitting his description that had them more than a little wary.
Tsuna only had to hear Iemitsu's voice before he immediately stiffened and whimpered in Reborn's hold. The child almost had a death grip on Reborn's shirt, though he was careful not to make any wrinkles.
The poor thing was shaking.
"What's wrong, bambino?"asked Reborn. The kid had been fine until now, so what about Iemitsu caused this sort of reaction.
"Scary man here," he said, practically burying himself into Reborn's neck, as if to hide himself.
"Tsuna!" yelped Iemitsu, finally spotting them.
Reborn was rather baffled as to why the kid only held onto him tighter, rather than go anywhere near an increasingly unhappy Iemitsu.
"Tsu-kun! There you are!"
Finally the kid let go, but he wouldn't go anywhere near the general vicinity of the Vongola External Adviser, something that made the man very unhappy indeed.
There was no mistaking the fact that Tsuna was absolutely terrified of Iemitsu for some reason.
"Where did you find him?" demanded Iemitsu. Reborn almost bristled at the tone and the implied words alone.
"I didn't. The kid somehow found me and wouldn't leave," said Reborn annoyed. "What did you do to that poor kid to make him so scared shitless of you?"
Iemitsu glared at that.
"He's my son. He's just being a little shy," he said flatly.
"That's not shyness. He's is actively terrified of you," said Fon bluntly. "Shyness would imply he would be leery of strangers, and yet he took to Reborn and myself almost immediately, never mind the fact he wouldn't let go until his mother arrived."
Iemitsu had no ready response to that. He was just as confused as to why his own son was openly terrified of being alone with him.
Reborn kept an eye out for the kid, and to his surprise Tsuna managed to find him a second time. Only this time his mother was keeping a much firmer eye on him.
He bent down to eye level with the kid, who happily hugged him around the neck. His mother watched on with wary fondness, as it was clear her son was very comfortable around the strange man whom he had only just met.
"I am so sorry about that. He's normally a bit more shy than this," she said apologetically. She flushed a little when Reborn smiled at her, while easily settling the kid in his arms.
"He's a cute kid, and it's harmless. I'm more surprised he's so calm around me...most kids know enough to avoid me," he said calmly, carefully dislodging the boy who pouted and handing him back to his mother.
Still the kid would remain on the back of Reborn's mind for several weeks yet...mostly because of the fact the kid hadn't displayed an ounce of fear towards him even though he was quite irritated.
Tsuna was seven when the pretty fire came. Unfortunately Iemitsu had been home at the time and saw it happen.
The man paled and immediately bundled them off to Italy on a "surprise vacation".
Tsuna knew that it was no vacation. Iemitsu planned to take the pretty fire away.
The second he was in the mansion and told to stay put in the room, he decided to explore.
He had gotten really good at hide and seek, and by the time Iemitsu brought Timoteo into the room to seal his son's Flames, the boy was long gone.
A panic almost immediately settled into the main house, as the staff promptly scrambled to look for a seven year old boy who could only speak Japanese, as far as Iemitsu knew.
Tsuna had gotten much better at understanding basic Italian, as he learned the funny language was called. It made him giggle as he avoided the maids and other staff looking for him, just by listening to what they were saying.
Suddenly the weird feeling in the back of his head tingled... there was someone here that he had to find. Someone he could trust completely.
Tsuna snuck through the mansion, using his smaller size to an advantage until he found the room where the feeling was the strongest.
He carefully opened the door and slipped in, before closing it.
Hearing a weird sound, he turned to find... the strangely comforting dark man who had brought him back to his mama when they visited that funny amusement park.
The man had to blink for a moment before recognition hit him.
"Tsuna? What are you doing here?" he asked baffled.
Tsuna almost brightened.
"Scary man wants to take the pretty colors away. But he has to catch me first!" said Tsuna pleased with himself.
Reborn looked at him oddly before patting the couch. Tsuna took the implied invitation and happily sat next to him without a second thought. He knew the dark man was a lot safer to be around than Iemitsu.
"What pretty colors, bambino?"
Tsuna gave him an oddly serious look, before an expression of concentration came across his face.
Reborn's gobsmacked expression when he realized the kid had managed to manifest Sky flames of an unusually high degree of purity was rather hilarious. It winked out quick enough, but the fact Tsuna could manifest them at will was a pretty good indicator he was a natural at using them.
Reborn patted him on the head, which got the kid to beam at him proudly.
"Want to see my 'pretty colors', bambino?" he said with a slight smile. The kid was still pretty cute.
Tsuna nodded eagerly.
Reborn created a small amount of Sun flame, and only vaguely heard the staff outside closing in on their room, Iemitsu close by.
He couldn't react fast enough to stop Tsuna from touching his uncovered Flames...and the feeling of harmony hit Reborn like a brick.
It was rare for a Sky to harmonize so fast with an Element, especially someone as strong as Reborn, but it wasn't unheard of.
The door opened, revealing Iemitsu who took one look at the way Tsuna was openly giggling while touching Reborn's Flames before he scowled.
Tsuna took one look at the man's face, before flinching openly and immediately trying to hide behind Reborn. The seven year old clutched Reborn's sleeve without any hesitation at all, and was clearly still scared of Iemitsu.
"Reborn... what did you do?!" hissed Iemitsu, beyond furious.
Reborn... was still reeling from the fact that the Sky he had tried to find for years had almost literally fallen into his lap, and was a seven year old.
"Well fuck," said Reborn.