AN: I'm finally attempting my hand at a novel-length story, and an AU one at that. I've learned from my previous lessons to plan the outline of a longer story before attempting to write it, and I'm pleased to say I have 7 pages' worth of plans. This prologue only covers one-half of the first paragraph of this plan, so it's safe to say I'm in this for the long haul.

I've been a fan of Reborn! ever since it was still in serialization, but haven't attempted fanfic in their world until today. It's also been a while since I last read the whole manga, but I made sure to do all the research. If you still spot any inconsistencies, please let me know. It's also best if you've read Reborn! up to the Future arc. But without further ado, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I have no claim over Katekyo Hitman Reborn!.

The Golden Canary
by ten

One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a funeral, four for a birth,
Five for heaven, six for hell,
Seven for the devil, his own self.

Prologue: The Magpie

The head of the Sawada household was stretched out on the cool wooden boards of the front patio, eyes closed but not asleep. He'd finally, finally been able to return home for a short break due to an unusual lull in activity at work, and the look on his lovely wife's face when he'd swooped her into his arms yesterday was priceless. It'd been a whole year, one month, and seven days since he last saw her, and in his eyes she'd become even more beautiful than before.

Only my wonderful Nana-chan can make time stand still, he sighed, heart already bursting at the seams.

With his eyes still closed, he grabbed the nearby sake bottle and took a swig, savouring the sweet burn despite the summer heat.

This is the life.

And indeed it was, listening to the lazy drawl of cicadas coming from the trees and the rustle of leaves as hot wind dragged through. And just a few steps away, was his cute, chubby-cheeked–

"Otou-san?"

–Tuna-fish. Iemitsu watched through slitted eyes as his only son tumbled towards him, still half in disbelief that the tiny baby he'd held not too long ago was now six years old and even cuter than he's ever been.

Huh. I guess he takes after Nana-chan in more ways than one.

Soft and clumsy hands patted his bare shoulder, hesitant at first, then with slightly more force.

"Otou-san?"

He could hear the confusion in his son's voice, but kept pretending to be asleep, curious as to what he'd do next.

A moment of silence reigned before the shaking started up again.

"Otouuuuu-saaaaan!"

With a booming laugh, he scooped the boy into his arms and beard-tickled his round cheeks in delight, and the boy squealed with laughter.

"Hieeee! Stop! Stop iiiiit!" The father refused, cuddling until the overflow of love in his heart was satisfied. "I give! I give!"

Iemitsu finally relented, swinging the boy around one more time before sitting up and placing him in his lap. The boy looked up at him with accusation in his brown eyes.

"You wasn't really sleeping. Otou-san is a meanie!"

Tsuna puffed out his cheeks in an attempt to look threatening, but it only made his father laugh.

"It's weren't, not wasn't. Is Japanese still too difficult for you?"

"Ts-Tsuna can speak fine! Otou-san is really a meanie!"

To Iemitsu's horror, tears began to pool in his son's eyes, and he hurriedly tried to fix what he'd done.

Yup, definitely more like his mother.

"Shhh, shh. I'm sorry, okay? Otou-san is a big meanie and he will try to be nicer to Tsuna."

Tsuna sniffed, allowing the 'meanie' to hug as an apology.

"So? What did my wonderful boy want from me while I was pretending to sleep?"

It is easy for children to forgive and forget, and Tsuna was no different as he rubbed away the last of his snot and tears with an arm, and beamed at his dad.

"I wanna show you something! Something really cool!"

With that, he tugged his father's hand, and Iemitsu followed.

They went through the yard and stopped at the far wall next to the gate, where several trees were lined to give the house a little more privacy, then Tsuna looked up with squinted eyes. Iemitsu mimicked his son, wondering what he was looking for.

"There! Can you see? But be v-e-r-y quiet!" The boy's voice dropped to a conspiring whisper, and pointed a finger for his dad to see.

Iemitsu's eyes followed the imaginary line, and spotted the golden-brown bird with a light grey breast. It had a short line of darker grey feathers stemming from the corner of its eyes, and it was cocking its head this way and that, twitching in the way birds do. Iemitsu was about to whisper back, but the bird lifted its head and twittered its song.

"Hoh-hokekyo! Hoooookekyo!"

"Now that's rare," Iemitsu whispered in between the bird's chirps.

"Hmm? What's rare?"

"This bird usually sings in spring. It's called a bush warbler."

"A bush warb?"

Iemitsu stifled a chuckle.

"Warbler."

"War-ber?"

"Eh, close enough. Anyway, want a closer look?"

Tsuna's eyes lit up in excitement, and held up his arms in the classic 'pick me up!' pose. His father obliged, settling him on his broad shoulders as Tsuna's eyes sought the bird out once more.

"Hoh-hokekyo! Hoh-hokekyo!" Tsuna mimicked the bird, causing it to turn his way.

"Hoh-hohohokekyo!" It called back, tilting its head in confusion.

"Hey, that's a pretty good imitation! Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Just now. Weren't you listening to the bush warber?"

It didn't really answer his question, but Iemitsu smiled anyway.

"Awwww! My little Tuna-fish is so clever!"

Tsuna blushed in happy embarrassment, and continued to mimic the bird's song, trying to make the slight pitch changes sound better so his otou-san would praise him again.

"Singing with the birds is Tsu-kun's new favourite pastime."

Both boys swung around to catch Nana walking through the front gate with a soft smile and an armful of groceries and leaflets, and Iemitsu was torn between staying where he was or running over to cuddle the love of his life. Tsuna had no such reservations, and nudged his father's head towards his mother.

"Okaa-san! I'm singing the bush warber's song!"

She laughed, and saved her husband the trouble by going over and allowing Iemitsu to give her a crushing hug.

"That's nice. You should sing the songs you learned at school for papa too; I think he'll like them more."

"Mi~dori tanabiku, nanimori no!"

"…What's that? Your school's song?"

Tsuna grinned and nodded. "Mummy doesn't seem to like it as much though."

"Oh, I like it just fine, unless you sing it too often," she replied dryly. "Anyway, darling, I need to prepare dinner for tonight. Can you take Tsu-kun to Kokuyo Land? We usually go on Wednesdays for the discount, but since you're making a surprise visit you might as well go today. It might be a little late for there to be many songbirds left in their outdoor section, but you can probably find a few that stayed like this bush warbler. If all else fails, take him to the bird sanctuary, although he's getting bored of them as they're always the same birds."

Iemitsu raised an eyebrow. "Birds again?"

"Like I said, his new favourite pastime. You should have seen when we went in spring; he was practically shaking with excitement." She grinned at the memory. "If possible, try to get him to sing some of the songs they teach him at Namimori-sho(1): his music teacher keeps praising his voice, even though he sometimes messes up the lyrics. I always knew he has a gift, but who knew our little Tsu-kun could impress his teacher too?"

"That's my boy! Impressing all the ladies already!" He lifted Tsuna off his shoulders to give the embarrassed boy another cuddle, then set him down on the ground. "Shall we go then my little Tuna-fish? Or maybe I should call you my little birdie now."

"Otouuu-saaaan…"

The eye-roll told him exactly what Tsuna thought of the nicknames, but he took his father's hand anyway, excited to go to the amusement park with his rarely-home father.

"Okay. We'll be back by five-fifteen, maybe five-thirty if you include travel time."

"Perfect." Nana popped the front door open, disappearing inside for a few seconds before re-emerging with a small yellow backpack. "I packed this this morning; some water and money, and a jacket in case Tsu-kun gets cold."

Iemitsu declared that his wife was the best in the world, and promptly dumped the backpack on Tsuna. "It's filled with your stuff so you should hold on to it."

He received a small glare, but Tsuna was too excited to protest. They were going to Kokuyo Land!

"Come on slowpoke; let's go!"

He proceeded to drag his son through the gate, but was stopped by his wife's urgent call.

"Darling, at least put on some pants first! And Tsu-kun needs his shoes!"

(1): "Namimori-chu" stands for "Namimori-Middle", while "Namimori-sho" stands for "Namimori-Elementary". Their school anthem has the exact same lyrics, only it's changed to "-sho" instead of "-chu".

AN: This story will, in many ways, follow canon events, but I will be pruning away a few characters while placing more emphasis on a few minor characters. I will leave most of the main characters in though, up to and including the Varia arc. All OCC-ness will be due to the events that follow.

Leave a review if you'd like to tell me what you think! Criticism and other observations are also welcome. I will try to keep writing ahead; around 1-2 chapters further than the most recent update.