What a strange thing the sands of time is.

A shiver ran down Conan's spine as he hugged the red mug closer to his body relishing in the small degree of warmth it brought. Yet he couldn't tear his eyes from the intense gazes from his parents, despite the small blur of their faces (somehow or another his eyesight gradually began to blur images together but it wasn't terrible) he observed the creases wrinkling their young yet aging faces. He observed how red and puffy their eyes became with the crying when they saw him. A strange feeling passed over him. They were crying over him. Over him. The last time he saw a pair of parents crying over him was when… His throat tightened and he gripped the mug tighter. He noticed the scrutinizing eye of Yusaku. Conan paused in a moment of awe at Yusaku, he noticed the small movements, he is as impressive as he has been told. But he pushed that awe away as he realized that like Shinichi, this man is analyzing him. That didn't surprise him but it did make him feel extremely uncomfortable, especially since he was made aware of his papa's existence. He shifted his observation toward his mother, she gazed back at him with all of the longings in the world. He couldn't help but stare back. She was so different from mama. Mama…

He closed his eyes in a poor attempt to stop the distraught emotions trying to escape from him. He felt a pang of guilt soar through him. A few months after living on the streets, he managed to learn (and that was quite the story) that the Kudos were his biological parents. After another few months of trying to pass the brutal reality of betrayal from mama and papa, he finally determined that he wanted to meet his biological family. He ignored the warm feelings and the thought of betraying papa, and he hyped himself each day to wanting to meet his actual family. And with the naive trait that only a child can obtain, he wondered (he wouldn't dare say fantasized because while living on the streets for the amount of time he did, fantasies were always crushed by reality) how the first meeting will go. He contemplated the worse to the best scenarios. The worst being that the Kudos flat out reject him and he continued to live by himself; or the Kudos accept him on the grisly terms of obligation (in this case he had conjured several ideas on how to remove himself while he also had no clue what he'll actually do if that situation actually occurred). The best was that the Kudos accepted and wanted him, and in this case, he would eagerly accept this and incorporate himself into the Kudo household. Yet he is watching his best scenario crumble before his very eyes over his person being stuck into the past. A past that originally separated him from his true family. Just what did that say about him?

He wanted to laugh or cry at his own pitifulness.

"Conan," He shifted his gaze toward his father. Yusuku started slowly. "I understand this may be difficult to grasp, to fully comprehend what emotions to feel in this situation." Conan just stared at the mustached man whose eyes softened as he searched him. "While I am deeply curious as to what happened to you, I am not going to force you to tell us right away. You can tell us when you feel ready."

Conan continued to gape at the man. He guessed he really is more like papa than he imagined…

"But Conan," Yusaku continued. "I want to confirm that this chance meeting is not a fleeting moment?" Yusaku asked hopefully and Conan hanged his head. He immediately understood that Yusaku wanted to know if there were anything, specifically anybody, holding him back from rejoining the Kudo family. Really, it was only a memory that is.

Conan eventually shook his head keeping his gaze to the floor. "No," His voice croaked and he gripped the poor mug tighter. "No, papa died and I've been living out on the streets…" A small gasp from his mother and a concerned look mixed with some other emotion from his father were the responses he received. He forced the cooling hot chocolate to his lips, forcing himself to swallow the sweet drink. He brought the mug back down and stared at the concerned expressions of his parents and brother who moved closer to them. "I would, if it's okay, want to live with you. It's kind of hard to live by myself on the streets… And I want to know you better." He shyly muttered. A part of him wondered why he is being so shy all of a sudden, he is much more confident than this.

Yukiko gently wrapped her arms around him careful to not jostle the nearly full mug he held. Yukiko closed her eyes and gave a gentle squeeze. "My baby boy, of course, we want you. I've always wanted you. You have no idea how much I wished for you to return back to my arms." The tears fell softly against the top of his head and Conan heaved a content sigh. Yukiko pulled away but still held him in her arms. "You never will have to go sleep on the streets again or go hungry again. Since its a holiday today, I doubt that many stores will be open now. But tomorrow, we are definitely are going to go out and go shopping. I can see you borrowed Shin-chan's old kiddy clothes but something newer will be nicer than something from ten years ago. And we'll get anything else you might need." A soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips when he witnessed the energy of his mother. Much more than his hot chocolate in his hands, a warmth passed over him. He could tell Yukiko spoke the truth.

"And we'll also get your eyes checked," Yusaku added to the list of things to do tomorrow, and Conan stared wide-eyed. Yusaku's statement drew in a confused stare and 'huh' from everybody else. Yusaku naturally gave a small smirk as he locked eyes with Conan. "Your eyesight is a bit blurry, isn't it? I noticed the small squinting."

Conan could only nod dumbfounded in awe at his father. He had tried not squinting too much (really due to his denial of needing glasses). He heard an annoyed comment coming from both Shinichi and Hattori as they realized that they both missed that small detail from him even after seeing him for the past twenty-four hours and Yusaku noticed it within the last twenty minutes. Yusaku is amazing.

Yukiko giggled; it was obvious to Conan that she was used to this type of reaction and enjoyed it. She snuggled on the couch next to him after asking Shinichi to get her a mug of hot chocolate, he grumbled but went to the kitchen anyway. Yusaku made himself comfortable on the couch next to him. Hattori sat down on the opposite couch along, Hakase joined in the kitchen a few feet away from them. "So Conan," Yukiko started in such a soft but inquisitive tone. "Tell us more about you. What do you like?"

Conan took a brief sip of his hot chocolate. It kind of surprised him to be asked that question but as he thought more of it, it really isn't unusual. They knew nothing about him and he is seven so of course he had to develop some interests by this point. "Um, I like to read." That answer seemed to invoke another giggle from Yukiko.

"So I guess you're like Yuu-chan and Shin-chan in that aspect then." She commented with a smile that Conan wasn't sure on how to comprehend so he ignored it. "What genre?" She asked.

He gazed into his cup. He knew his answer would be different than what they're expecting. "Um, I read a lot of history type novels." Yet his answer pulled out another laugh from Yukiko though it sounded like small laughter of relief.

"It's great to know that it isn't just mysteries that runs through this family." Yukiko giggled earning a small protest from her husband and Shinichi (who brought her the hot chocolate and sat besides Hattori) and earning a laugh from both Hattori and Hakase. Yet Conan couldn't bring himself to laugh so he sipped his hot chocolate.

"I also like action movies and foreign clips," He added as an afterthought. Watching movies was a big thing in Papa's house. It seemed like his answer brought a wider smile on his mother's lips. Oh yeah, he forgot for a brief moment that she's an actress.

"We're going to have so much fun." She squealed in delight and he noticed that Shinichi groaned. Conan frowned slightly at that, was he supposed to feel excited or terrified?

"Why are acting like that is such a bad thing?" It seemed like the mix reaction also confused Hattori as he addressed his question toward Shinichi. Shinichi only huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Have you watched a movie with an actress?" Was Shinichi's annoyed response, and Hattori simply stared at him back confused.

"Uh, no. But what difference does that make?" Hattori questioned back thinking that his friend might be exaggerating just a bit. Honestly, Shinichi is really one for dramatics as much as the blue-eyed teen denied it. Though meeting Yukiko, he kind of understood why his best friend was like that.

"A large difference." Hattori only managed to shake his head at the dull response. Shinichi was without a doubt being a tad dramatic. And it seemed that Conan acknowledged that as well as he huffed in annoyance. He really likes movies and the experience that came with it and he was excited to indulge in it with his mother who seemed eager to do the same.

Yukiko only brushed off Shinichi's comment and looked down at him with a smile. "Ignore Shin-chan, he's just being a bore," they ignore the small 'hey.' "How about we watch a movie tonight Conan? I have a large collection, we'll watch anything you want." Conan smiled brightly in response. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Shinichi focused on his little brother in between his parents. He watched as the kid smiled brightly and his father ruffling his hair. Shinichi wasn't sure what to feel at the moment; it was all so surreal. This heartfelt moment seemed so picturesque and so fragile. There are so many things they all had to work out and his mom's superficial comment on movies irritated him a bit. It just didn't seem important, or well it didn't seem like a priority. His eyes searched that boyish face and he inwardly sighed. Well, Conan is only a child so he guessed they had to approach all of this in another direction. He had to be patient and try his best.

Because maybe we can all put this behind us.

Note: 2016, god damn. The excuse? My life has been busy. Lame but true. I graduated high school, moved, enrolled in university and simply have been trying to organize my life. All my writing nowadays have been dedicated to essays and research papers, which I have been enjoying because of my love for history. And in my free time, I just have been practicing my art instead of writing. Yet my love for Detective Conan still hasn't died down, so I did write this (sorry again for it not being really edited) and other stuff that hasn't been published; I even rewrote "A Shrunken Life" and began rewriting "A Possessed Tantei" because my writing from back then was crap. I will hopefully publish those soon. I'm sorry and I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but it needed to progress. The next chapter will finally take us out of the holiday (finally) and focus more on incorporating Conan. Honestly, sorry for Conan being too OOC but I can't make him exactly like Shinichi.

Hope y'all enjoyed though and thank you for reading.