Title: The Little Wanderer
Genre: Hurt/Comfort,Family,Angst
Characters: Tsuna+Vongola Members
Summary: Tsuna just wants to be free.
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood

Count: 2,419

Sawada Tsuna wasn't supposed to exist.

"Ah? I'm having twins? Wonderful!"

Nana didn't even know she was going to be having twins until the doctor helped her deliver a second baby. The thought of becoming a mother to two gorgeous golden blonde, bright blue eyed babies has always been a dream for her. She was ready to love both of them with all her might but in the end she's presented with one Iemitsu look alike, and a tiny little thing with brown hair and brown eyes.

"That… That can't possibly be her."

Her eyes focus on nothing particular; her face turns red as she cries, but it's a sound nowhere near as loud as Ietsuyoshi's.

Nana stares at the tiny girl for a long moment; she can't find it in her to love the mess of brown hair atop her head, or even the murky brown eyes that focus on nothing in particular. Tsunayoshi looked nothing like her father, or her younger brother.

Ietsuyoshi has everything.

He's got the same golden blond hair, the same tan skin, and the same bright blue eyes that Nana fell in love with at first sight.

If Ietsuyoshi was a diamond, then Tsunayoshi was coal.

"I don't want to touch her."

Nana didn't want to hold her.

"I don't want to look at her."

The nurses don't let her hold Tsuna anyway; she's stopped breathing and there's an immediate sense of worry and panic that seems to wash over their faces as they take her away. There was something wrong; something other than just her physical appearance, of course.

Nana holds Ietsu until it's time for him to be taken to his crib.

She doesn't want Tsuna at all.

Two weeks later when she leaves the hospital with Ietsu in her arms, she leaves Tsuna behind and decides that it's simply fate that brought this illness upon her. Nana signs the adoption papers as soon as they're given to her, and she leaves the newborn being without the slightest glance backwards.

Tsuna grows up in a children's hospital.

No one quite know what's wrong with her but sometimes she'll pass out randomly throughout the day, and it's hard for her to eat the amount of calories needed for her to grow properly without throwing it up.

Sometimes she'll get nosebleeds and other times she'll get a fever so high that she has to be hospitalized. The only way they can help her is by giving her medicine and constantly monitoring her throughout the day, but she makes the best of it.

Tsuna's been following something around ever since she learned how to walk.

No one's sure what it is; but her eyes have always followed something that no one else can see. Sometimes she'll talk to this entity and other times she seems to be practicing things that no one else teaches her; the other children think she's weird. The doctors hope that it's just an imaginary friend.

Really though, no one's sure what to think of her.

"Hey, that kid's talking to herself again."

"Who taught her how to do that?"

"What is she looking at?"

"Who is she following?"

She doesn't really talk to anyone but her imaginary friend.

She calls him 'Gio.'

People have asked her about him all the time but she doesn't really seem to like talking about the things he teaches her, or what they talk about together, but she did things that weren't normal.

She's been speaking in another language recently, and the other day she asked what 'Vongola' was. They didn't even know how she learned that word in the first place.

"Vongola?"

"Gio?"

"Flames?"

Tsuna doesn't like talking to the people around her.

They're different. They don't have any flames surrounding them and there was no friendly haze about them either; Tsuna doesn't really see a need to talk to them anyway. So, she doesn't. Giotto is all she needs.

He teaches her tons of things; millions and billions and trillions of things! He's better than anyone else will ever be, she decides..

"Walking is hard, isn't it?"

"You read it like this,"

"This is how you would pronounce that,"

Giotto's the best; Tsuna loves him with all her heart, but he's not always with her. Sometimes he has to go off sometimes and then he won't come back for days, sometimes even weeks. When he leaves; Tsuna is all alone.

The other children surrounding her aren't her friends, and they're definitely not her family either. She's just four years old when she starts running off; she runs and hides and downright avoids everyone she doesn't know. Most of the other children have frequent visits from either family, friends, or both.

She's moved to a new facility days after her fifth birthday.

It's a bit nicer here, but Tsuna has no one.

No one but Giotoo, but he wasn't here right now..

Right now? Tsuna felt bored.

Bored

Bored

Bored.

Life was boring in this little white building; the bigger people were like children, and Tsuna decided that it was her job to raise them like a mother- but she never had a mother, so winging it would be okay too. The big children come running after her with funny expressions on their faces as they follow her around the building, and even outside of it sometimes!

They seemed to like tag a lot; and since Tsuna's children are bigger than her, it's easier for them to catch her. Surly, they would get bored if she didn't spice things up. So she takes to the vents, hides in different rooms, and uses the art of disguise to make it more fun.

Evidently, Tsuna has fun too, but it's all inside. The big children sure are sheltered… Surly they must want to go outside to play with other big children, right? Maybe they want to go on those things called playgrounds- Tsuna isn't really sure what they are, but she's read about them in books and heard about other small people talk about them.

"How would you like to go out to play today?" She asks the group of big children as they finish their lunch. They send her a bunch of funny looks again; they look just as horrified as they always do. This was normal, of course. Her children were strange.

Up to her usual tricks, she closes the door behind her and it locks. "It's okay! I'll be with you!"

The big children had their first trip outside that day.

Even if they couldn't see her, she had reassured them that she was there and that they didn't have to worry about getting themselves lost. Tsuna was ecstatic to find that her big children had made friends! A bunch of friends! She was so proud of them, and soon enough they all joined in the game of chasing her!

There were so many big children! They were naturals!

Tsuna was so proud of her children that she doesn't pay attention to the curb until she trips over it, and effectively scrapes her knees. Ah, what a shame. It was fun while it lasted, but mommy didn't feel too much like running anymore.

They take her back to the white home again, and she effectively applauds their efforts. "What wonderful children you are!" She cheers as they sprawl out on the ground, breathing heavily and barely conscious. "Ah, it must be time for your naps!" She drags a blanket over them and shuts off the lights. "Let's have more fun tomorrow, okay?"

They must have tuckered themselves out, she realizes when they don't reply.

Lately, they've been asking her if she wanted anything. Obviously, Tsuna had taken her time to think about it. She didn't really want anything, but as she looked among the pleading looks of her children she makes a request. "Parenting books!"

Her children leave their nest a month later. Tsuna's only known them for four years, because that's how long she's been alive for. It was sad to see them go, but this was supposed to be her children growing up and leaving the nest… So she must be experiencing this thing called 'Empty Nest Syndrome'.

Tsuna wonders if she had been a good mother. Her children had always progressed more quickly, they grew faster than her and aged faster than she did. They had jumped from babies to middle aged adults in no time! They must have wanted to stay longer to be with their mother, and Tsuna just knows that they'll be fine out there in the world by themselves…

Now that her job as a mother was done, why was she still here?

The four year old wonders to herself as she lies in the middle of her white bed and stares up at the ceiling. This home called 'Hospital' was somewhere she had explored every nook and cranny of, and she had no real reason to be here anymore.

Her life goal was to have fun, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

The hospital home thingy was extremely busy the next day, in other words, Tsuna's perfect opportunity- which was pronounced in surprisingly fluent English, making one wonder just how much she used that expression.

She doesn't get far, as her eyes wander and fall on a man with pure white hair and a bag of candy in his hands. She tugs at his pant leg. "Did you just leave the nest to? Or do you still need to be raised?"

He raises an eyebrow at her; consequentially, he stops eating his precious candy as well. For a moment he wants to ask if this kid's serious, or if there's something wrong with her, but the serious look in her eyes stops the questions before they arise. "I'm an adult."

"That's what all the big children say."

"No, really. I'm an adult. As in, not a child."

"You're stuffing you cheeks with candy. I don't think you're an adult."

"I am!"

"If you say so, sweetie." She says as she pats his leg gently. "Why are you in the hospital home?"

He blinks at her, still slightly perplexed with her… choice of words…. And actions… and just about everything else about this girl. "Hospital home? Do you live here?"

"Yes, but I'm leaving today! I've raised my children so that they can survive without me, and they've left the nest already! So I want to explore too!"

The teenager then sends her a childish look of confusion; a smile appears on his face after looking into her eyes and catching sight of something amazing.

Dying will flames.

Interesting.

"Oh, but where will you go to?" He asks. "Such a tiny… adult… like yourself would surly have problems getting around, am I right?"

He has a point, Tsuna realizes as she remembers all of the people who seemed intent on keeping her here forever and ever… and ever. Even now, she had to sneak out of the hospital-home just to get anywhere. "That's true… I don't want to go anywhere specific! I'll go wherever I want, whenever I want…!

"You're like a little traveler, aren't you?"

A little traveler? Tsuna shakes her head no; it doesn't sound right. Traveling was like having an objective, a certain destination that she would need to reach. She didn't have a goal or any place she was aiming for specifically. "I'm a wanderer! My name's Tsuna!"

"Oh? The world's a big place you know. There are so many different people and places and languages, how will you ever explore it all?" He smiles inwardly, as his words seemed to have spiked her attention. Her shoulder droop slightly as she racks her tiny head for an answer. "But y'know, I'm pretty good at getting around. Maybe I could help you out?"

"Are you coming with me?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I'll make it easy for you to wander wherever you want." Her eyes shine brightly as she stares up at him, her lips parted in amazement as she watches the big child dig through his pocket and holds out a shiny card towards her.

There's a bar code on it, so it must be a credit card of some sort. It's grew with two flowers crossed over each other to form an 'X', as well as the word 'Millifore' written underneath it. On the other side, the kanji for 'Byakuran' is written underneath an unfamiliar phone number. "Don't you need this?"

"No. Keep it. I have plenty extra." He puts a hand on her head. "With that you can go anywhere and do anything you want. You can ride planes, cars, ships, and trains and you can wander as much as you like without having to worry about anything!"

"Woahhh."

"'Woahhh' is right!" He claps his hands together and pushes her towards the door. "Wander all you want, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Thank you!"

The brunette doesn't bother asking how Byakuran had learned her full name; the white haired teenager smiles widely as he watches her go.

"What will you do now, Vongola?"

A/N: In case you didn't figure it out; the 'big children' mentioned in the beginning are just doctors just trying to do their jobs, even with Tsuna making it difficult for them. 'Tag' is simply the doctors trying to catch her, 'hide and seek' is when they're trying to find her, and the constant horrified looks on their faces is because when Tsuna sets her mind to something, it's going to happen.

In this story particularly, not every generation has dying will flames. Tsuna does, but her brother does not.

Questions, comments, concerns?

Ask away :)

~Crimsy