SkyGem: Whoo! So after almost two years, this is finally getting an update! I'm so sorry it took so long, minna-san! The thing is, a lot has been going on with me lately and it's been hard to find time to write, and I've gotten really lazy, you know? But lately I've been trying my best to get back into writing so you'll hopefully see updates more often. It'll be pretty sporadic at first, but I hope I can eventually get back to updating every day. Anyways, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for!

There was a deathly silence in the room after Takeshi had finished his tale; all that could be heard was Tsuna's somewhat harsh breathing.

The air grew pregnant with a tension so thick it was almost tangible and in the end, it was Nana who broke it.

Looking down at her son, the elder Sawada gently brushed aside a few of his matted brown locks, drawing a drained smile from the young man.

Without looking away from him, she spoke in a quiet voice to the others, saying, "I'm sure Tsu-kun is exhausted, talking so much after being alone for so long. Maybe we should let him sleep for a bit. We can discuss things later, isn't that right, Tsu-kun?"

Leaning his face into his mother's touch, Tsuna let his eyes fall slowly closed, sighing out the word, "Yes."

The other occupants of the room exchanged glances, hesitant at leaving their boss, their sky, so soon after they'd gotten him back.

But in the end, they complied with Tsuna's wishes, taking one last look at the young Decimo's face before filing slowly out.

Tsuna, who was already so close to drifting back off to sleep, fought his eyes open to watch them leave.

The last person to leave was Reborn, who sat watching Tsuna as long as he could, and just as he was about to stand to (reluctantly) take his leave, Tsuna called, "Wait."

Looking down at his bedridden student with something akin to hope in his eyes, Reborn asked, calmly as he could, "Is there something you needed, Dame-Tsuna?"

The corners of Tsuna's eyes crinkled slightly with a smile at the old nickname, and he asked, "Stay...with me?"

Reborn assessed the brunet for a long minute before finally sitting back down.

"Sleep," he said finally. "I will watch over you."

Tsuna smiled again sweetly at his tutor before letting his eyes slip closed.

Nana eyed the hitman suspiciously for a moment before looking back down at her son.

Running a hand gently through his hair, Nana began crooning a lullaby to Tsuna in a soft, lilting voice that reminded him of simpler times as he drifted into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

Tsuna wasn't exactly sure how long he slept after that, but whenever he woke up, it was only for a few minutes' time before he was plunged back into the world of unconsciousness.

The first time he woke up, Reborn was still in his seat at the foot of his bed, watching over both Tsuna and his now slumbering mother.

Upon noticing that Tsuna had awoken, Reborn spoke in a quiet voice, "Go back to sleep, Tsunayoshi. It's only been a few hours."

Tsuna shook his head, wanting to protest that he felt too hot, like he his blood was boiling in his veins.

Before he could even open his mouth though, Reborn smirked, as if reading his mind, and said, "The sweating is good for you, Dame-Tsuna. No I will not remove your covers."

Tsuna did his best to scowl at his tutor, who smirked in reply and, making an expression as if he were doing Tsuna a great favour, he brought out a water bottle, saying, "I supposed it wouldn't do for you to become dehydrated and die after all the trouble we went through to save you."

And as he held the bottle to Tsuna's lips, the younger male drank greedily.

Too soon though, the bottle was taken away, and Tsuna made a noise something like a whine in the back of his throat.

"Now, now, Tsuna, too much water isn't good for you either," chided Reborn, and Tsuna couldn't help but pout at his amused tone.

Tsuna huffed quietly and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to claim him again.

And just as his mind was starting to drift, he heard Reborn say, quiet as a whisper, "I'm sorry."

It was the only time the hitman would allow an apology to pass his lips – in the safety of this sleepy little room where they could make themselves believe they were the only ones alive to hear the confession.

Before Tsuna passed completely out of the realm of consciousness, he breathed out, "I know."

And that was the end of that...for now.

The next time Tsuna woke up, he noticed that both Reborn and his mom were gone, and Lambo was sitting at the foot of his bed instead, reading a book.

Tsuna didn't immediately alert the younger boy about the fact that he was awake, instead taking a few moments to study the boy he thought of as a younger brother.

He'd grown a lot – he'd even stopped wearing his hair in an afro, and instead of the cow onesie he always used to wear, the child wearing a pair of sweatpants and a cow print tank top.

Seeing how much Lambo had grown, it finally occurred to Tsuna to wonder how long he'd actually been in the Vendicare prison. There had been no way for him to keep track of time, having spent his days floating in the water prison, barely conscious.

"Good...morning...Lambo," said Tsuna, and his young lightning guardian's head shot up.

"Tsuna-nii!" he breathed, putting his book aside and crawling towards him a few steps before stopping, unsure.

"Lie...with me," said Tsuna, and Lambo's face lit up in a bright smile.

Lifting up the covers, Lambo crawled under them and snuggled up to his big brother, breathing in his scent and taking comfort in his presence.

Tsuna moved to wrap his arms around the younger male, but was worried to find that he could barely move them at all, no matter how hard he tried.

Lambo, as if noticing what Tsuna was trying to do, took one of his hands in his own.

"You've been gone a long time, Tsuna-nii," he whispered, clutching desperately with tiny fingers.

"How...long?"

"...five years."

The silence thickened after he'd said this, and Tsuna tried to comprehend what he'd just learned.

Five years.

Five of what were supposed to be some of the best years of his life, wasted away in the Vendicare.

"Your muscles have deteriorated," said Lambo, tears in his eyes. "You won't be able to move properly for a long time. "

"But...I will get...better," insisted Tsuna, wishing he could wipe away Lambo's tears and offer him one of his favourite grape candies, like he used to do.

Lambo looked, down, not replying, and Tsuna breathed out a sigh, deciding to leave this topic aside for the moment.

"What...has happened...while I was away? Have you...been good?"

Lambo nodded at this, seeming to brighten up a bit as he started telling his nii-sama how good his grades were and how he never caused trouble for his teachers.

And somewhere along the way, Tsuna found his eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

The last thing he remembered was listening to Lambo talk about I-Pin kicking the ass of a stupid classmate of theirs who'd made the mistake of making fun of her large forehead.

When Tsuna woke up for the third time, Dr. Shamal was in the middle of one of his routine check-ups.

Upon seeing that his young charge was awake, the doctor threw him a smirk.

"Finally awake, little prince?" he asked.

Tsuna's brows furrowed a bit, and he didn't reply, instead choosing to look around, hoping that he hadn't been left alone with this man.

Noticing that the bathroom door was open, Tsuna was able to relax when he caught a glimpse of Ryohei in the doorway, wringing out a towel at the sink.

When he looked back at Dr. Shamal, Tsuna noticed that his expression had darkened a bit, as if he knew exactly how rocky his footing was with the young Decimo.

"I don't come here often, you know," he said. "I leave most of the care-taking to your two suns, but I still need to come in for check-ups every once in a while, to make sure you haven't died yet."

Tsuna nodded, not wanting to talk to the man.

Logically, he knew he shouldn't be very upset at the doctor. They hadn't really known each other that well before, and it wasn't like the man would have been able to do anything, anyways.

But despite this knowledge, Tsuna was finding himself unable to act very friendly towards him. In fact, he was finding it hard to act friendly towards anyone in the mafia other than his guardians and his tutor and his big brother.

But he was grateful to Shamal for understanding his feelings, at the very least.

It would be a long time before he felt comfortable being alone with anyone without any of his guardians present.

Jotting down a few more things on the clipboard he was holding, Shamal took one last look over Tsuna, gave him a nod, and left without another word.

Soon after he had left, Ryohei returned with the towel he'd been wringing out and smiled an almost sad smile at Tsuna.

Before placing the cool, damp cloth on Tsuna's forehead, he first pressed the back of his hand to the brunet's forehead, and nodded.

"Your fever has gone down a lot," he said in a relatively quiet voice that did not suit him at all.

"Ryohei."

"Of course, you'll probably be extremely sick again soon," continued the older male, as if he hadn't heard him. "I mean, I know it can't be very f-"

"Ryohei!" interrupted Tsuna, and this time, his sun guardian looked at him. "Tell me...what's wrong."

There was a long pause as Ryohei stared at Tsuna, as if trying to decide what to say.

Finally, he collapsed into the chair Reborn had been sitting in who-knows-how-many days ago, which was still by Tsuna's bedside.

"Three days," said the sun guardian finally. "It's been three days since you first woke up. And it's been so...different."

Tsuna didn't say anything, just listened quietly.

"It's just...what you said, about us standing up for you? It's changed everything. No one will talk about it without you there, of course. It's like...it's like time came to a standstill that time. No one goes out on missions. We just stay at the HQ, trying to keep ourselves busy with the paperwork and wait for our turn to watch over you, hoping that you'll wake up, and at the same time hoping you won't. No one will bring it up, but everyone is wondering what the others did, to not lose your trust. And I just..."

He stopped, looking as if he were about to start hyperventilating.

"You...don't think you deserve...to be counted...among them?" asked Tsuna, perplexed.

Ryohei didn't say anything – just kept his gaze cast to the ground as he picked at his boxing bandages, a nervous habit he seemed to have retained even for the five long years since Tsuna had last been with him.

"Ryohei."

The sun guardian was quiet for a moment before finally saying, "It's just...I'm not like them. I didn't go on some kind of heroic mission to bust you out of the Vendicare like Takeshi and Hayato."

"But you...took care of them," enquired Tsuna.

"I waited outside like a coward," spat Ryohei, disgusted at himself.

"You healed their...wounds," insisted Tsuna, somehow sure of this knowledge. "You...made sure they didn't die."

"I didn't fight," countered Ryohei, his eyebrows drawn together as he glowered down at the floor, hating himself.

"You...did something more...important. You protected."

Ryohei didn't say anything.

"Lambo..." said Tsuna quietly, and Ryohei's expression softened.

"He never was fully convinced you'd done it," said Ryohei softly. "He'd listen to everyone insult you, and he never said anything – he was a child after all, who would listen to him? – but you could see in his eyes. He was furious. And sometimes I'd pass by his bedroom, just as he was getting ready for bed. And you know what I would hear?"

Tsuna didn't say anything.

"I'd hear him praying. He'd pray every night that all the idiots around him would be cured of their stupidity," said Ryohei with a chuckle. "He'd pray that they'd all get punished for insulting his nii-sama. And they would pray that his nii-sama would return home soon so that he could tell him all about what he'd missed. Can you imagine that? For five years he prayed. And finally his prayers were answered. Children are so amazing."

"They're naive," replied Tsuna quietly. "And when they...believe in someone...they believe...with all their little hearts."

SkyGem: The end! For now. So, what did you think? Not much plot progression here, but you can see the guardians slowly mending. Their sky really is amazing, isn't he? But Tsuna isn't a saint – even he will find it difficult to really forgive anyone. Anyways, so sorry again that this took so long. Hopefully the next one won't take two years XD Well, please do leave a review and I'll see you all next time!