Title: Acknowledging Change
Chapter: Prologue - Beginnings
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Pairing(s): Reborn/Lambo
Author: Athame (a.k.a. Ghost of a Rose/Morrigan Moonwater/Nephthys Snape/Soundbreaker)
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and the characters therein, belong to Amano Akira. I make no profit in their use.
Summary: Lambo thinks over how things have changed for him.
Rating: G
Words: 457
Author's Note(s): Written for 100 theme challenge. This is, of course, set in the future; roughly 12YL. There may be slight OOCness. It is hasn't been beta read. As there will be, likely, at least 100 chapters, most of them are likely to not be too long. Especially this prologue.

***

In all honesty, Lambo had no idea when his feelings had begun to change, when being noticed wasn't about pride or duty. No, being acknowledged had taken on a whole new meaning, and when he wasn't . . . The usual need to stay calm, to tolerate was for whole new reasons, with whole new reactions. He wasn't sure that anyone had noticed that, still ignoring him as they almost always had done.

Oh, he was sure Tsuna knew; Tsuna always knew these things, had always been there to pay attention to him, to care. And, it wouldn't surprise him if Yamamoto knew, but who could tell what the tall man was thinking with that same smile constantly plastered on his face. He never got to spend much time with either man, anyhow. Tsuna was kept busy with being a don and Yamamoto with being a hitman and guardian, something Lambo himself was rarely called on to be. It left him feeling inadequate.

He remembered, in the beginning, how simple life had seemed. To a five year old, that was to be expected. Even if said five year old carried pink grenades and a purple bazooka mixed with the candy in his hair, tried to kill his rival on a regular basis, was nearly immune to electricity, and not to mention the Vongola Thunder Guardian. Everything had been about eating and having fun. Oh, and the need to be noticed, acknowledge by people in general, but especially by his self proclaimed rival.

Yes, things had been simple then.

But, now . . . Each time he went ignored, there was no mantra, no tears. He had matured, if only marginally, and the new feelings he was experiencing seemed to only be maturing him more. Not that it helped in any way.

He still got into arguments with Gokudera, still got chased by I-Pin, but it was somehow different, too. Gokudera was still an asshole that liked to pick on him, but Lambo didn't mind anymore. He began to fight back instead of just try to tolerate and run away. Maybe if he could prove to the silver-haired man he wasn't weak, others would notice, too. It didn't matter who, as long as someone, anyone started to see he wasn't a little boy that did nothing but cause trouble.

Still, even if others began to notice that he'd grown up, Lambo knew, no matter what he did, Reborn would never acknowledge him, not as anything more than a 'stupid cow'. Just like so many others. But . . . the others didn't matter. With his new found feelings, Lambo knew that things were just beginning, and life around Reborn was going to be a whole lot more complicated.