AN: We're not talking about the fact this has been sitting in my Scrivener doc- ready to post- since June 2021
KHRrarepairweek2021 Day 2: Zombie Apocalypse AU/Accidental Kidnapping
Tsuyoshi runs a cloth over the blade of his sword, and Nana pours a bottle of handmade sake over the bodies before dropping a match on them. Together, they watch the bodies for any sign of continuing movement until they're burnt enough to definitely be dead. Tsuyoshi shoulders the bag of flour Sato-san was kind enough to grind for them and takes the fish back from Nana.
Nana would never have thought this would one day be her life. If she's being honest with herself, she expected to spend the rest of her days waiting for Iemitsu's rare visits, cooking and cleaning and watching her son grow up and eventually leave her alone. She misses those days a bit. She misses the days when Iemitsu came home for the Summer holidays and they played together as kids more.
Still, she glances towards Tsuyoshi who's once again lost in thought even as he scans the trees around them. She's glad to be in the here and now too. "Ara, I wonder what our boys have gotten up to," she says with a smile.
Tsuyoshi looks at her and visibly relaxes a bit. "Knowing Takeshi, they're still trying to figure out how to play catch in the trees." They share a laugh. They'd come back to camp countless times to find the boys trying to get the well-worn baseball back off the ground. Nana has no doubt their boys would figure it out one day though.
The walk back to camp passes in silence until Tsuyoshi sighs. "Does it bother you?" he asks, drawing her attention from the path they've carved through the grass. "That Tsuna calls me 'Tou-san'?"
Nana blinks. "Why would it bother me?" She looks forward again. "Takeshi calls me 'Mama'." Adjusting her grip on the basket, she takes Tsuyoshi's hand and steps over the fallen log.
"That's different. His mother…" is dead, went by Okaa-san, would never resent Nana for calling Takeshi her own. All these things hang between them. Tsuyoshi shakes his head. "Tsuna has a Tou-san," he finishes.
"He barely remembers Iemitsu." And doesn't that burn just a bit? Two of the most important people in her life and neither have more than a few memories of each other.
"That doesn't change the fact that he has a father."
"Iemitsu didn't come running with enough supplies for four and sword in hand when zombies started roaming the town!" Nana snaps. She spins around into Tsuyoshi's path and stops right in front of him. She shoves the completely illogical, but still there, pain that Iemitsu wasn't the one to do so. He wasn't even in Japan when the world went to hell, and after the airports and docks closed, there was no way for him to reach them, assuming he was even alive. "Why now? Why ask now? Why not three years ago when we started calling them 'our boys'? Why not two years ago when they crawled into bed, our bed, Tsuyoshi, because they were having nightmares? Why not last year when I told Takeshi-kun he could call me 'Mama'? Why not six weeks ago when Tsu-kun finally called you 'Tou-san'?"
She's crying. The tears don't stop coming down no matter how many times she wipes her cheeks with her free hand. Her chest heaves, and her nose is stopping up. Tsuyoshi pulls her into his chest, keeping the fish from pressing into her back. His breath blows across her the top of her hair as he waits, always waiting, always patient. She loves him for that.
"Tsuyoshi," she whispers. "I love my husband just like you love your wife. That's never going to change." Nana pushes back against his chest enough to meet his eyes. "But he isn't here, perhaps forever, and Tsu-kun and I have plenty of room in our hearts for you and Takeshi-kun."
"Nana-"
Nana puts a finger on Tsuyoshi's lips, silencing his protest before it can even start. "If we can love two people at once, why can't Tsu-kun love two fathers at once?"
They stand there for a moment, silent, and looking into each other's eyes. Tsuyoshi sighs, shoulders slumping just a bit. Nana pulls her hand away, but Tsuyoshi catches it and kisses her palm. He holds it to his face for another moment longer before breathing, "I love you, Nana-san."
Nana stretches up on her toes and kisses the tip of Tsuyoshi's nose. A faint blush stains her cheeks, and she smothers the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl having her first crush. "I love you too, Tsuyoshi-san."
When they finally get back to camp, their boys leap from the trees with happy cries. They hold a baseball high in the air as they charge across the grass, yelling all about how they finally figured out a way to get the ball back off the ground. Slamming into their parents who laugh, they hug them tightly.
Nana and Tsuyoshi meet each other's eyes over the tops of their sons' heads. They smile.
"Ara, who's going to help Tou-san with the fish and who's going to help Mama with the herbs and berries?"
"Me!" The boys yell, running off towards the firepit.