When Lightning Strikes Twice (KHR Fanfiction)

Chapter 20

He found himself surprised by the tinge of regret that surfaced at the thought.

He supposed it would make sense that he didn't want to leave. This place, these people, they were a connection to his happier times. If he left, he left the only remnant of his past. Future. Whatever.

But he had no right to play god here and try to prevent things from happening. These were people, not just distant figures in history. He had already changed things enough. Distantly, he wondered how the attack had happened in his timeline.

Lambo exhaled loudly and tried to settle into a meditative state. He tuned out any background noise and focused on the steady inhale and exhale of his breaths. Gradually, his eyes slipped close and he entered his mindscape.

The dismal view of his mindscape almost made him reconsider. But he was a stubborn ass, if anything. He would go through with this or further wreck his mindscape trying.

Sighing, he turned to a random spot in the wall and summoned his flames, forming a triangle on the tips of his fingers. Then, he crouched and plunged it into the bottom of the hallway. He dragged it up, left, and down, and the space glowed green for a moment before an empty space. The door would lead to a random memory since he didn't specify, but he did make a frame of time. It wouldn't do to bring up memories that wouldn't bring closure.

He stepped into the room. Suddenly, he was in a small body at the dining table with the rest of his family. The room was quiet, and the others were viciously cutting into their steaks.

"Tsunaaaaa." He heard himself whine. Viewing memories was an extremely odd experience. One would exist on a purely parasitic level. You would have echoes of the emotions you had at the time without actually feeling them and sense what they sensed. You could hear your thoughts and know the reasoning behind it. Obviously, you couldn't change the way you acted.

"Yes, Lambo?" Tsuna said, his voice showing just a bit of strain. His eyes focused on him, and there were large bags under his exhausted eyes, but they were as warm as always. His seven year old self felt so keyed up and anxious that he completely disregarded this. After all, Tsuna- not Tsuna-nii, since they were in Italy now and Reborn would kill him if he mixed languages- had been wearing that look for months. But Lambo was sure that they would come out on top; after all, Tsuna could do anything!

But now that the gaze was focused on him and him alone, he doubted his plan. But no! His self-indulgence reared up with indignation. They hadn't gone out on a trip to that awesome sweet shop in weeks! An injustice that demanded retribution! Still, his voice was only a little higher than a mumble when he said, "Can we go to-"

Suddenly, Gokudera swung his gaze to the child and snarled, eyes spitting fire. His lips were pulled back into a deep frown, and bags of the same size as his boss' hung beneath his eyes. "Stupid cow, can't you see that Tenth is exhausted? Besides, your stupid sweet tooth should be satisfied by all the cookies you've been sneaking from the kitchen. Don't be so selfish!" Lambo's eyes went wide with hurt, but his lips weren't trembling and his eyes just got dust in them or something! Tsuna shot the Storm Guardian a sharp look. Gokudera sighed and tried to tamp down his temper, but made no move to apologize.

"Lambo, don't take it personally. The last few weeks have been rather stressful for us all, and we haven't gotten much sleep. But when it is bit safer, I promise I'll take you, alright?"

Lambo sniffled a bit and nodded silently. They resumed eating.

And with that, he was spit out of the memory. He stumbled a bit and fell on his ass, trembling. He etched their faces into his mind with desperation. Silent tears slid down his face from the freshness of the memory, and he took a few minutes to gather himself.