Title: Liger and Lion

Summary: Bester didn't expect it, but he took a liking to Natsu.

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Akira Amano

Pairing: None.

Warning: Fluff

For: swanfrost

Unbeta'd.

Liger and Lion

Leone di Cieli, Version Vongola, later on fondly named 'Natsu', was borne on an unknown date and an unclear location, along with his fellow Vongola Box Weapons. They barely had a glimpse of their location before they were sealed into their respective Vongola Boxes and laid to rest in a deep sleep, until their boxes were retrieved by their respective masters.

When they finally woke up, they were involved in countless battles. A fight for the future, a fight for their pride, and above all, their lives.

Yet, despite all, despite all the pains and falls and near-deaths, Natsu was, for all intents and purposes, only a year old. And more importantly, he was a Box Animal―emphasis on the 'animal' portion; he was a lion cub, one years of age.

…and the exact reason why Sawada Tsunayoshi, his beloved master, had his first taste of a heart attack (figuratively speaking) at the young age of fifteen.

Contrary to beliefs, Natsu was capable of emotions that were not reflections of his master's. And on that day, Natsu was feeling incredibly bored.

The Tenth Generation Vongola Guardians had been invited to the Sicily Vongola Famiglia headquarters. Natsu couldn't understand the proceedings very well; his cognitive abilities were still a thing in process (given that he was barely a year old), which was the major cause of his boredom. Luckily for him, his master and the nice old man were talking in the gardens alone, giving Natsu free access to the wide open grounds.

With a yawn and a stretch, the little lion cub was gone, exploring the ground around them.

The first thing Natsu realised after stepping off the cool, hard ground was an even colder coldness, but on a soft white ground. In fact, now that he was paying attention, there were soft white balls falling all around him. He yelped softly when one of those tiny white balls fell onto him and immediately turned to freezing water. Natsu whimpered as he shook his head wildly to rid himself of the water. Curiosity now piqued, Natsu lifted a tiny paw and being swiping at the balls of white stuff falling around him, yelping happily when the fluff melted into shiny, transparent crystals.

Natsu didn't know how much time passed; all he knew was the childlike enjoyment he felt and the bone-chilling cold seeping into his body (which he easily remedied with an increased output of Sky flames to keep him warmth). It wasn't until he sensed fear from his master, one so great that it overpowered his own emotions, did Natsu's attention finally turned away from the fluffy white stuff.

Panic coursed through him.

With his attention solely on the fluffy white stuff, Natsu hadn't even realised that he had moved from his original spot and that he had no idea which direction he had headed towards. There were more of the white stuff falling now, and he couldn't even see the walls of the mansion. All Natsu could see was white, white and more white. The fear he felt from his master, combined with his own panic and distress, left Natsu circling around in a frenzy. He knew he had to get back to his master right there and then, but Natsu just couldn't figure out where to go. The terror sent him running around aimlessly, only to stop when Natsu rammed into something that sent himself tumbling back on the fluffy white ground.

"Watch where you're going, Little One."

The low grumble that came barely a few steps in front of him at Natsu whimpering as he hid in the fluffy white snow. His little body trembled and shook, and the flames that made his mane flickered wildly. His ears twitched as they caught a crunching sound―several crunching sounds, one after another―heading in his direction.

"And what are you doing now?"

Natsu whimpered.

This time, a growl came instead (though it sounded very much like a sigh, strangely enough) and Natsu was picked up by the scruff of his neck. The little lion cub was left dangling above the fluffy white ground and he found himself staring at a very strange looking lion. It looked very much like a lion, complete with a majestic mane and everything, but, unlike a 'normal' lion, this lion had a pure white coat, reminding the lion cub of the fluffy white stuff around them. Natsu found himself extending a paw in morbid fascination, towards the white lion, only pausing when said animal growled in warning. The lion cub yelped and squeezed his eyes shut, half-curling into himself (despite hanging off the ground).

"Little One. I will not ask again. What are you doing?"

"F-Find… Finding master…" Natsu mewled.

"Master?"

"T-Tsu…"

"…Sawada Tsunayoshi, I presume. So you are his animal partner." A whimpered agreement. "And what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Fl… Fluffy white stuff…" Natsu replied, gesturing to the ground they were on. Despite being almost deathly afraid of the animal holding him, Natsu couldn't help but yelp happily when his attention went back to the falling white balls. "Pretty."

"The… 'fluffy white stuff', Little One, is called 'snow'. How old are you, exactly?"

Natsu tilted his head. He knew he had been borned a little while now, but he was also sleeping for a really long time right after his birth. He supposed that period of time doesn't really count since it was right after his birth, but at the same time, he wasn't very good at keeping track of time yet (and said lack of ability was, technically, the reason why he was in trouble in the first place). In the end, Natsu settled for shaking his head, and the lion-tiger gave what seemed to be another sigh.

"Never mind. I presume you are lost. I shall get you to your master this one time, Little One. Be thankful."

"Who… you…?" Natsu asked.

"I am the Ligre Tempesta di Cieli. My master, Xanxus of Varia, calls me Bester. And you, Little One? I'm well aware that you're the Leone di Cieli of Vongola Decimo."

"Master calls… Natsu."

It took mere minutes for Bester and Natsu (who had been picked up by the scruff of his collar―again) to trek back to the their masters.

Once let down, Natsu had yelped in relief and rushed to his master, who swept him off the ground immediately, holding him close, while Bester laid down beside his somewhat amused, but mostly irritated master.

The white lion cracked an eye open and peered at the lion cub. Unlike his own master, Bester bears no ill will towards the next Don Vongola, and the little lion cub had amused him. He had a feeling he might regret it later on, but Bester decided to keep an eye on Natsu for a while.

For the next two years, Tsuna and his Family visited the Vongola estate for two weeks in December, in time for Christmas. Each time, Natsu would slip away to play in the snow and inevitable got himself lost, before running into Bester (literally), who would, in turn, bring him back to Tsuna.

Now, unlike most Box Animal owners, Tsuna never liked to keep Natsu in his Ring form (and later on, an actual Box Animal box), and he allowed Natsu to roam freely most of the time. Therefore, from the third year on, when Tsuna officially moved into the Italian Vongola estate as Vongola Decimo, he'd made sure Natsu knew the commonly used routes in the mansion. The lion cub spent most of his time either staying by his master's side, or wandering off into the estate grounds.

That day, Natsu was wandering off as usual―although it was less 'wandering' and more 'searching for something in particular'. He made his way to the back gardens, trekking through a route that was now familiar to him after three whole years. Natsu yelped happily as he headed for the enormous water fountain set in the middle of the extravagant gardens. He leaped onto the cool marble edge of the fountain and grinned at his own faces. Natsu stuck a paw out, dipping it into the warm crystal water. Natsu yipped, enjoying the feeling of the warm water against his fur.

"Shouldn't you be old enough to stop being amused by water?"

Natsu jumped and fell into the water. Even through the sound barrier of the water, Natsu heard the very familiar sigh-growl before he was lifted out of the fountain. Still hanging in midair, Natsu let out a soft mewl as he shook most of the water off him, and twisted around to yip happily, "Bes! You're back!" The lion cub blinked. "You look different."

The white lion was now sporting what looked like black tiger markings on his body. "This is my full released form. My true designation is a liger―that is, a combination of a lion and a tiger―not a lion." Bester replied, setting Natsu down on the ground. "You have not answered me, Little One. Aren't you too old to play in water?"

"I'll always be a lion cub." Natsu replied cheekily. With a playful yelp, Natsu leaped onto Bester and shook the rest of the water off on the liger before jumping onto the edge of the fountain. "Play with me, Bes!"

"I refuse to frolic around water. I don't understand why you'd even want to touch that foul thing." Bester replied smoothly. He let out a low grumble when Natsu stared blankly back at him. At the age of three, the lion cub had gained knowledge and an improved cognitive ability, enough to carry a proper conversation and understand his own master, but when it came to human conversations as well as the finer aspects of language, those were still works in progress. Bester quickly rephrased himself, "I do not like water."

"But the water is warm!" Natsu whined.

Before the lion cub could splash said water onto him, Bester reached out and picked Natsu up by his collar, before moving them to the nearest gazebo. Without any explanation, Bester laid down on the near the legs of the metal table, trapping Natsu under one of his folded arms.

"Beesssss~" Natsu whined, wiggling underneath the larger liger.

"Stop moving, Little One. Do not make me knock you out." Bester growled.

"You're cranky. You're getting old, Bes." Natsu yipped.

Bester resisted the urge to decapitate the lion cub. "I have just returned from a mission. I am tired and in no mood to 'play'. Now shush and let me rest." That done, the liger shifted until he got comfortable and shut his eyes. Unfortunately, Natsu was unconvinced.

"But why do I have to rest too?"

"You don't." Bester answered dryly (or as dry as a liger could sound). "But I do, and if I let you roam free, you will either get into trouble or, barring that, deprive me of my rest. Therefore, the obvious solution is to make you sit still."

Natsu whined, still not giving up on wiggling out, but Bester was much, much larger, and the liger's weight was too much for the lion cub to get out from. In fact, his wiggles didn't even seem to bother Bester much, for the liger fell into a light nap within minutes. Natsu gave a soft low growl and slumped onto the ground, and soon, basking in the warm air and cool ground had lured the lion cub into a nap.

When the movements finally stopped, Bester cracked an eye open, watching the lion cub in amusement. In the three years that he'd known the cub, Natsu was never really stayed still around Bester (Tsuna had commented that Natsu tended to rest beside the brunet back in Namimori). The liger didn't want to admit it, but the little lion cub had grown on him, and he'd become somewhat protective. Bester shifted again, more gently this time, shifting Natsu so that the larger liger wouldn't crush him in his sleep before closing his eyes once more.

And that was the scene Tsuna and Xanxus had walked in to when the two finally found their Box Animals.

The eighteen year old Vongola Decimo smiled. "I should have known that Natsu would be looking for Bester when you returned from your mission. He really likes Bester." Warm brown eyes glanced at the scowling Varia leader. "In fact, I'd say Bester seems to like Natsu a lot too. Like master, like pet, huh?"

"Don't give yourself credit, trash. I don't like you." Xanxus growled.

"Well, we've progressed from you shooting me on sight to us actually having a conversation; I'd say you like me." Tsuna replied cheekily, ignoring the glare the other shot at him. "Let's head back in. Bester will bring them back when he's done napping. Right now, Grandpa is looking for us."

A/N: swanfrost, I'm sorry I didn't manage to compete your first request. And I hope I didn't screw up your second request badly. Merry Christmas, swanfrost! I really hope you've enjoyed this.

And to my lovely readers, Merry Christmas to all of you. Ciao Ciao~