AN: Introductory chapter to the AU background, in the perspective of a very important character. I admit, I based it on The Deathly Hallows. The amount of characters fit after all…

Disclaimer: I don't own either fandoms.

Chapter 2.5: Greying Interlude

Once upon a time there were three brothers. They had one other, but he was different – far different from the other three. He alone was incapable of one thing, and it separated him from his three brothers.

They were all princes of a secret country, the sons of a feared old man. But as feared as the old man was, even he couldn't beat time, the years that aged his body, degraded his muscles, and weakened his senses. And so, the king of the secret country decided to send his sons one by one into their journeys, deciding the one who returned would succeed him.

The oldest was the wisest. The strongest, and the most respected, every one expected him to return first, pulling along his two brothers (and one). But days, weeks, months passed – he did not return. Only when the second brother send a message back to the kingdom did the people know that he was shot down in battle.

And so, the kingdom turned to the second oldest. He was smart – wily and cunning, he knew the ways to fool everything and everyone, tricks of every trade and the mind to twist anyone's wills to his tune. Surely, he would be the successor, they thought.

However, it was not so.

The youngest, the weakest and kindest of them three, was the one who found out. He saw his brother's body in a river, lungs filled with water as he drowned after he was thrown into it with all his limbs tied with rope.

Tears sprinkled all over the letter that he sent back to the king, and then, he realized.

He alone didn't want to become the successor. Everyone knew that – that's why nobody thought that he would even go ahead on the journey. However, there was one other.

The other brother, the ruthless bloodied brother.

He alone was different, that other brother, for he alone was adopted. He was incapable of being the successor. But the other brother cared little for that – all he wanted was to become the king of the bloodied secretive kingdom, and the younger brother knew he would do anything to get what he wanted.

Even if it meant killing them three.

And so, the third brother, the weak-willed, innocent brother ran. He ran from kingdom to kingdom, from country to country, knowing that the other brother would come after him. And when he felt that he would be caught – when running wasn't enough – he grabbed for the last thing he knew, an old legend that the three brothers had laughed about a few years ago.

Once upon a time, there was a monster.

Blond hair colored red, flames followed everywhere he went. He killed, he pillaged – wherever he stepped, murder was sure to follow. But then, the kind feared king of a secretive kingdom put him down, defeated him and bound him with chains.

These chains however, weren't physical. They were the promises, morals, family that the kind king gave the monster in exchange for his loyalty. In time, these chains changed the monster himself, broke his curse and turned him into a single blond man, with the blood replaced by smiles and the murder replaced with the king's code of honor.

The three brothers only met this man once, and they never believed the story. They knew it was true in their minds, but in their hearts they never believed the blond man used to be a monster, a man-killing machine.

However, that was enough for the frightened youngest brother, and he ran home, ran back in hopes that it would be enough.

And so, when the other brother came to kill the youngest brother, there was the monster-that-turned-into-a-man.

But when the other brother attacked the third brother, the favored brother, the man didn't do anything.

When the third brother begged and screamed, he didn't budge.

This continued, until one thing happened that made the monster snap.

The third brother prayed for his father, for the king left behind in his lonely bloodied throne. He wished it had gone differently, that the other brother had not been so brutal. And when he did, the monster saw someone else. He saw someone else, left behind in a country by his father.

Little did everyone know, the monster was related to the kind king by blood.

Iemitsu saw the youngest of the three brothers, and the other with his gun pointed at the praying one's face.

Little did everyone know, the monster had a wife and a son.

Iemitsu then didn't see the two brothers anymore – instead, he saw his own son, Tsuna, in the place of the youngest. He saw his beloved son, bloodied and begging, as he was dragged into a world that he had no choice to be in.

No doubt, if the three brothers were killed, his family would be the next to be targeted.

He saw red.

The man, realizing that fact-

He burst into flames.

-decided to break his own chains, if only for a moment, to turn back into the monster. A monster, for the sake of his family.

He only woke up, hours later, drenched again in blood as the youngest looked at him in both awe and fear, and the other brother dead in his hands.

Then, the monster ran. He ran to the kind king and begged for forgiveness. He then begged for a chance to meet his own family again, not the king's own, just for a moment, just to ensure the safety of his own son and wife.

He ran, he ran, and he continued-

"I apologize, Sawada-san. Your son has been in the hospital for two weeks now."

-only to find that he was too late.

He had been there to save the son of the king – and murder the other – but failed to save his own.

"My son, are you sure?"

He nodded. "Don't worry about me too much. I'm alright now, and we have plenty of people around Namimori already, right?"

He then laughed. "And Reborn's here too anyway. I have to go now."

Closing his cellphone, the Decimo entered the classroom, turned, and gave a smile.

"He would be a transfer student from Italy." The teacher announced to his waiting class, "Welcome him please. Now, would you introduce yourself?"

He only widened the smile and bowed, "My name is Federico Vongola. I hope we all get along nicely."

Federico's eyes then searched for a single brunet before sending him a grin.

"I'm happy to meet you Tsuna, my far-off cousin!"

AN: Quick update, in preparation for the next chapter.

Yeah, it's short, and pretty much difficult to understand. I do hope you guys understand what most of it means though…

"Sometimes… all you have to realize is to start looking at all of your mistakes – and then laugh. Was this all that you were worrying over? Surely, by within weeks, you would've learnt from them, if not forgotten them entirely. We humans can be like that. Because you know, sometimes… all you have to do is to accept everything as they come."

- ReaderDreamer5625