Code: KHR-PWH-MC

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the featured media, all rights go to their respected owners.

Media: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Title: Patchwork Hearts

Notable Sub-genre: [Past Sawada Iemitsu/ Nana] [Yamamoto Tsuyoshi/ Nana] Strong, independent Nana with a backstory.

Chapter: Multichapter

Rating: "M" for Gore, Violence, Coarse Language and Dark themes; not for the faint hearted. Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Prostitution, Death, Assassination and other Mafia Problems. Though not always descriptive, please do proceed with caution.

Chapter: Multichapter

Status. In progress.


The Beginning.

The first time it happened Tsuna had been newly born with rosy cheeks and wide eyes full of wonder at the new world, around him. It was half-past ten at night and she had just settled down on the sofa she had bought with her first pay check, pleasantly tired from taking care of her beautiful bundle of joy and thanking Kami-sama that he was a quietly content baby, and didn't raise a fuss like so many of the midwives had warned her he would do.

Her muscles had barely unwound, her hand half way to the television remote when she heard a loud bang that echoed from her back-garden. She stilled and a frown appeared on her face though she tried dismissing it a moment later even when something in her stomach tightened. Nana glanced back to the remote however instead of grasping hold of it her fingers curled back into her palm without her notice as she quietly but swiftly stood and without reason, turned the living room light off from the switch behind her head.

There was another bang and her heart stuttered as the noise seemed to have gotten closer than before. She tensed as she clumsily but swiftly made her way to the stairs, climbing two at a time and her son's crib in mind when an unexpected shatter made her freeze.

Her eyes widened in fear and she quickened her pace in a shaking tempo, hurriedly going to her son's nursery that was still in process of being made; boxes filled with toys in one corner, her DIY kit in another. She shut the door without sound and didn't dare to turn the light on as she went to see her baby still in his wooden frame. However he wasn't as peaceful as he had been the last she had seen him, and instead had started to shift restlessly.

Nana thought on picking him up but her terror stopped her as she heard heavy footsteps downstairs. Foreign footfalls looking around the bottom of the house she had moved to after her marriage – a house, that was barely a home and which her husband of a year had only stayed in twice.

Her heart hammered violently and she swallowed the warning of danger crawling into the pit of her stomach, as it lurched and her mind flashed with horrible images of mangled bodies and shrill screams. A shiver rocked her form and she looked back to her baby: the baby she had longed for after years of broken relationships, and watching woman give up the chance of being called "mother."

His cameral eyes peeled open and she was shocked to see their hue lighten and brighten into a golden colour, as his small hands made fists unhappily and his face wrinkled with distressed. She jolted forward, knowing that Tsuna was seconds away from giving away their position.

She quickly leaned over and stroked his hair and rubbed his little palms from where his nails had started to dig into new skin, quietly cooing and inwardly cursing why it had to be now that Tsuna decided it was the right time to cry. 'Shhh… Shhhh Tsu; it's not safe. It's not safe. Please baby, please baby be quiet, stay silent.'

She babbled, she voice halting whatever action Tsuna was about to take however she almost swallowed her tongue when she heard the stairs creek ominously. Terrified eyes swung to the wooden door in need of paint and her vision palpitated with the race of her pulse.

No…

She turned back to her baby of only a few short months, reliving her lonely pregnancy and was shocked to see the soundless, fat tears trailing down Tsuna's cheeks. He began to wriggle and she was beginning to think that this was no normal fit as he waved his fist towards the closed door.

The footsteps drew closer and with the fearful tingling in her spine knew, she had to do something. She looked around the room her movements frantic for anything she could use to protect her son, and came to a sudden halted when metal glinted in the moon illuminated room. She was at her kit like a rocket, her fingers fumbling the heavy hammer that she had been using to put up sleeves and the baby's crib, before her mind had really caught up with her.

She heard a noise from the landing; doors opening and closing and with the hammer held to her chest Nana moved to one side of the door. The side she knew it would open on so she wouldn't be seen when the intruder came.

Her mouth was as dry as the desert and she felt dizzy: distantly she remembered her doctor telling her to take it easy. Sweat began to prickly her brow with her panic that she didn't realise she had closed her eyes as she listened and listened and began hearing for the first time the discreet breathing and the shifting of clothing.

Something gripped her heart as her eyes snapped open when the door started to slowly turn, the hinges beside her allowing entrance. Light flooded the room and touched her son's crib who let out a piercing scream that made her hold tighten on the plastic handle, her knees bending; ready to rush over and comfort her son even when she held herself back, and forced herself backwards instead as the door came dangerously close to her body.

'Well…well.' A deep accent voice hummed and she could only see board shoulders, a flashlight in one hand and another more sinister object in the other. 'Vongola junior; my greatest apologises for interrupting your nap.'

And to the horrified mother's incredulous, mockingly bowed before straightening and looking around the room as he stepped further inside. 'What humble beginnings you start from; and to think in a few short years yours will be the generation of the worst blood shed since the start of your cursed forefathers.' The man readied his gun, the muzzle pointed directly for her baby. 'Thousands will be thankful that you will not be there to continue on the Vongola's sin.'

Without warning Nana knocked the door out of the way and allowed it to slam back into place, with enough force to startle the man as he tried to turn. Her small frame billowed into his, knocking him to the side. He fell into the crucifix, arms spread just so with the torch shattering onto the floor and the gun rattling as it slid away from them.

The light was gone and they were sent back into the darkness with the only witness the moon and golden eyes, but Nana could see enough for her next act.

She had him pined with how she had straddled him and thanked small mercies that her knees, were on top his elbows: allowing her more control even with her slight form. The man barely time to widen his eyes, before Nana brought the point of the hammer down in a quick jab hitting him in the head. The blow wasn't anything special but powered with adrenaline and the determination of a desperate mother, it was enough to weaken him.

But not enough to stop him and knowing that his gun was still somewhere near by, Nana raised her hammer again and swung downwards, aiming for his head.

Again, ignoring his yells and muffled, foreign words.

And again, ignoring how his hands reached towards her.

And again, ignoring how he kicked and struggled underneath her.

And again, ignoring how his face craved in with a sickening Crack.

And again, until the man beneath her moved no more.

Blood sprayed forwards and bile rose in her throat as Tsuna continued to cry in that horrific high-pitched sound: a sound he had not produced to such an extent after his first, when he was born.

The wetness slid down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut, horrified. Nana's fingers lost strength and her shoulders got heavier as she continued her defence until the body underneath stopped its struggle and went slack.

With shuddering breath and great hesitance, she peeked down and stumbled backwards with disgust when she saw for the first time what she had done: the damage she had inflicted onto another human being.

The hammer dropped with a loud, hollow clatter and she staggered to her feet, swaying as she desperately reached for her son. The only thing that mattered.

As soon as he saw Nana he stilled, cries chocking in his small throat as he peered up at her and after one fearful moment, Nana was terrified that he would reject her until he reached up with shaky limbs.

She didn't waste a moment before she swopped down and picked him up in her own trembling arms, ignoring the pain that ached from them as she did so. Nana held him tightly and nuzzled his fair hair.

'Its alright. Its alright.'

Nana breathed in his scent in frantic breathes as their tears flowed into one and shuddering sobs escaped her as she looked back to the faceless corpse sprawled on the floor; unmoving and all too still.

Her knees were weak as she tried to take herself to the rocking chair, not giving thought to the drying paint as she all but collapsed onto it and in a shocked numbness, started to rock them back and forth, humming in the back of her dry throat to try and aid Tsuna into settling.

Her mind circled to the last few moments, surreal as they are, to Tsuna's mental health, to the mail order she had sent for yesterday...All the while staring out into the far corner of the room, until small fingers brushed against her flushed, dirtied cheeks.

She looked at Tsuna's troubled and anxious face and bowed her head so their brows touched. 'Such a good boy.' Nana whispered. 'Such a good boy to Mama. You won't have to worry ever again because Mama will protect you.'

'Mama will always protect you.' She repeated again and again like a mantra; an oath to herself in the knowledge of how close she had come to failing the only person who depended on her.

However even with her quiet murmurings she couldn't quite forget what the man had said; like you're cursed forefathers. Vongola's sin. But – but what did that mean? She was of an all too modest background and people didn't just go to the trouble of breaking in, with gun in hand if they were unsure of the people who lived there and Iemitsu…Iemitsu had never mentioned…Vongola Junior should say something onto family, however…

Her turbulent thoughts were broken with an urgent knock to her front door.

Her insides cooled and she tightened her hold on Tsuna who while startled, didn't seem too frightened with another visitor. Nana observed him mutely and noticed that his eyes had gone back to normal and somewhere in her hysteria, she wondered mildly if she had imagined it.

When another knock echoed to her, this time more frantic than the last she steadied herself and stood, wobbling her way to the window to look out into the street. The flash of police lights and an officer in uniform on her doorstep made her mouth drier than the desert.

Her breath stuck in her throat and she looked between the window and the man in fright. Oh Kami-sama no.

Nana was in the right of course…The man had obviously broken into her home, intent to harm if not definitely kill and she had been protecting her child, but – but what if...what if that didn't matter? What if all the policeman saw was a body and a murder? A Murderess.

They couldn't take her baby from her!

Nana was all Tsuna had with Iemitsu never around. Tsuna was all Nana had with Iemitsu never around.

With desperate movements and the words Vongola Sin resounding in her head, she laid Tsuna back in his crib (who didn't look too impressed with being left but allowed it, all the same) and she hurried to the pile of blankets that had been a present for her baby shower to quickly hid the body.

Another knock and she barely looked back when she skidded out into the hall only to stutter to a halt, when she saw her reflection in the mirror that hung on the wall. Her clothes were out of order with crimson liquid splattered on her skin and her maternity shirt and loose dress.

She rushed to the bathroom and without thought, striped herself of the sordid outfit and hid the evidence by throwing it into the waste basket and running the tap; splashed water over herself, not noticing in her rush how the clear water turned pink as her trembling fingers scrubbed with a sponge at her skin.

Because she couldn't be caught like this; shecouldn'tshecouldn'tshecouldn'tshecouldn't…

Anything but this.

She checked herself with flickering eyes to see if she was clean and then, looking at her support bra, shed that as well and turned, graphing her silk red nightgown that left little to the imagination (something she would have worn on her honeymoon) that hung on a hook, and left.

Nana all but flew down the stairs and had just opened the door when a frowning man was about to knock again.

The exhausted pant that was about to leave Nana's mouth was pushed through her nose instead and she composed herself, her tired form leaning against the doorframe and as she quietly took in the widening of the policeman's eyes - how they weakly glanced to her bare legs – wondered what on earth he must be thinking when she suggestively closed the front of her gown by crossing her arms to keep the silk there and to push up her breasts, still swollen from beast feeding.

'E-er…. Sawada-san?' The Policeman asked unsurely, taking a step back as he struggled to keep his eyes on her face. Nana tilted her head and allowed one side of her nightgown to slip down her shoulder and even as she inwardly cringed, she did nothing to right it.

('Use wha' ya' got girl and nah'one will louk closer.')

'Hai?' she purred, as she urgently did a mental check to think of anything out of place, worrying if there was anything that gave her away.

'W-we've been called out with a concern over…' The Policeman shook his head; trying to refocus. 'Over concerns of a break in?'

'Break in?' She repeated, trying to do her best impression over a puzzled woman even when flashbacks blurred her vision. 'Well I'm afraid,' she simpered 'that I've been a little…distracted.'

The Policeman turned red and looked distantly uncomfortable as he cleared his throat. 'Well, of course.' He glanced back to his patrol car, which obviously contained his partner, watching intently from where he sat. 'I'll let you get back to…' he gestured to her and something uncoiled unpleasantly in Nana's stomach.

'We don't mind…' She murmured from the back of her throat from years of practice. 'You could always -' she allowed her eyes to trail down his body and thought back to the dead one upstairs. 'If you joined us; it could be… fun.'

The Policeman took another step and tried to keep his expression polite but Nana could all too easily see the disgust swimming in his eyes. 'I'm afraid I'm… on duty, Sawada-san.'

Nana did her best to look disappointed while trying not to wince at the reminder, of what could only be described as the marriage from hell. 'Maybe next time.' She allowed.

Nana was already closing her front door when the policeman called out to her again.

'Sawada-san!' She halted in her movements and instantly rewound the last five minutes of conversation to see if anything had given her away. The officer stepped back towards her door. 'What happened to your arms?'

She barely paused when she looked down to the scratches that she hadn't felt during the…attack, nor her brief wash. Nana stared at them in morbid fascination, looking at the angry lines that decorated her white flesh. They were deep and red – bleeding. If she looked close enough she could see the rivets from where the blunt nails had lost connection in the scuffle.

'A-ah...' And for a moment her mind went blank; how was she meant to explain…?

Nana smiled coyly, fluttering her eyelashes as she did so. 'This one can be…territorial.'

The officer's lips tugged further downwards and without more than a nod, he turned and left without another word. Probably not having the respect enough to spend anymore time in her company, but Nana couldn't find it in her to care as she quickly shut the door and with a quivering breath, slumped against it - never having felt more drained in all her life.

Nana dragged her legs up to her chest and hid her face with her knees, ashamed and tired, all too disgusted and feeling like although she had saved her baby boy, that she had also lost something she'd never get back.


Con/textual Vomit: This is probably the most violent thing I have ever written. I started it some time last year, while I was very stressed and under pressure to get things done and it was meant to be this One-Shot of "what if" but its grown a bit too big for that, and developed too much.

So...hope this isn't too, um, you know.

OZ

(First Uploaded: 08.11.2015)