SkyGem: Gonna take a moment now to write a short note to the Guest who reviewed chapter 17 anonymously and was extremely rude. Honestly dude, why would you immediately assume the OC was me? I didn't like any of the canon female characters, so I made a random fucking OC. And even if it had been based on me, why the hell would that mean my story was bullshit? Are authors not allowed to base characters on people in their personal lives? What the hell is your problem? And next time, why don't you leave a review with an actual account so I can reply to you privately, coward?

His Father...Their Father

"DAD!"

Twenty-seven-year-old Ienari looked up, his expression tired, to see that his brothers had just barged into the infirmary.

Getting up, the Vongola heir stretched his body, which was now stiff from sitting by his father's bed for hours, before going to approach the two that had just arrived.

As Ienari approached, he could see his older brother eyeing him with disapproval.

"Nari, just what do you think you're doing? You look absolutely terrible! Why aren't you resting in bed like you should be?" asked Ieyasu in a soft voice, his expression set into an unimpressed frown.

Ieharu cast his gaze to the floor, not wanting to see the disapproval in his older brother's eyes. Ieyasu was the only person other than his father that could make him feel so thoroughly chastised with only a few sentences; not even his mother could do that, and Ienari had long ago deduced that it was the power of the eyes. No doubt Ieharu would also be making his future children feel guilty when they hadn't even done anything wrong.

"I just wanted to make sure that dad was alright," replied Ienari, feeling tears well up in his eyes at the thought of his father.

Ieyasu suddenly stiffened, the momentary distraction of worry for his brother suddenly disappearing as he remembered why he'd been called here.

"How is he?" asked Ieharu, speaking for the first time, looking worried. "I heard that the injuries were really bad, and we all know dad isn't as young as he used to be."

Suddenly, a sob escaped Ienari's throat, and he threw his arms around his younger brother, sobbing into his shirt.

"T-they said he probably won't make it."

There were sharp gasps at this, and Haru's arms came up to wrap tightly around him.

"He got hurt that badly?" asked Ieyasu, sounding dazed.

Ienari nodded, his voice muffled by his brother's shirt as he said, "The injuries w-were pretty bad all by themselves, b-b-but combined with the sh-shock of l-losing all his gu-guardians, it's too much for dad to handle."

"What?" demanded Ieyasu, his eyes widening. "Hayato-jii-san and everyone else are…dead?"

Ienari nodded, feeling miserable. "All of them except Hayato-jii-san and Takeshi-jii-san died during the battle…those two died in the infirmary a yesterday, within hours of each other. A-and…dad is going to…he doesn't have much longer left.

"Ieyasu…I'm not ready for this! I'm not ready to lose dad, and I'm not ready to take over the Vongola! I just can't do it!"

Letting out a sigh, Ieyasu pulled both his brothers into an embrace when he saw that Ieharu had also started crying.

"When are you ever ready to lose a loved one?" asked the redhead, unknowingly echoing his grandfather's words all those years ago as he rested his cheek on Ieharu's head. "But if his guardians are dead…maybe it's kinder for him to die. You know how much he loved them."

Ienari didn't reply, merely huddling deeper into his older brother's arms. Ienari knew that, out of all of them, Ieyasu was perhaps the closest to their dad (maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was actually old enough to remember and miss their grandpa Giotto), and he couldn't help but wonder just how Ieyasu could remain so calm in a situation like this.

But then, he felt a tear splash onto his face, and he looked up to see an absolutely heartbroken expression on his older brother's face, tears escaping from under his closed eyelids.

About to ask if Ieyasu was alright, Ienari was suddenly interrupted when there was a soft groan from his father's bed, and all three Sawada boys looked over to see Tsuna's eyes flutter open.

"DAD!" cried Ieharu, running to his father's bedside and taking the frail hand into his own.

Looking over at his youngest son, Tsuna smiled a small, tired smile, and breathed out, "Ieharu…you're here…"

"So am I, dad," said Ieyasu quietly, coming up to place a kiss on his father' cheek. "It's good to see you again."

Tsuna's smile became just a little wider at this and he replied, "I'm so…happy to see…you both…before…"

The once-brunet trailed off, not finishing his sentence, and Ienari felt another sob escape him.

"P-please…please get better, dad. I-I don't want you to die!" he sobbed, clutching at his father's hand.

Tsuna looked over at him seriously, his grip on his son's hand tightening, and he smiled sadly at him, saying, "All good things…must come to an end…Ienari. But…you must remember…every ending is…a new beginning…I'm sure you'll…make a good Don…"

Ienari didn't reply, but just kept sobbing, and Tsuna gently disengaged his hand from the boy's grip before running it gently through his hair.

"Will you three…do something for…me…?" he asked.

"A-anything," breathed out Ieharu, "W-we'll do anything for you, dad…"

Tsuna smiled gently at all three of them before resting his eyes on his youngest, asking, "Will you sing for me…?"

Immediately catching on to what his father meant, Ieharu felt the tears threatening to escape again, and he nodded, clearing his throat to make sure that this last present to his father would be absolutely perfect.

And so, just as Tsuna's father had sung him to sleep every night at the beginning of his life, so too did his sons sing him to sleep at the end of it.

We'll love you forever,

We'll like you for always,

As long as we're living,

Our father you'll be…

The End

SkyGem: So yeah, the ending is kinda really cheesy and super dramatic, but...yeah…I think it actually came out quite well. Exactly like I pictured it. Anyways, I promised I'd tell you where the lullaby is from, right? It's from the picture book "Love You Forever" by the American-born Canadian author Robert Munsch ( That guy was a huge part of my childhood, you know?). Read it if you can ever find it. Despite being a picture book, it's really deep and has an important message in it, just like all his books do.

Anyways, now that that's over, I'd just like to say: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S FINALLY OVER! This was a pretty long journey, and I just want to thank you all so, so much for staying with me for this long! Your support means so much to me, minna-san! I'm very proud with how well this drabble series has turned out, and it's all thanks to you guys! You're absolutely amazing!

Goodbye minna-san, and I hope to see you all again in future fics! SkyGem out~