Target 01: Night Tears and Mangos

Prompt: Tsuna has nightmares. Sharing a room with a certain vigilant hitman makes that kind of hard to keep a secret.

A/N: references to the Varia and Future arcs

The first bad dream Tsuna could recall having was when he still a young child. School had been especially difficult to get through that day.

Rin-sensei had called him out during the lesson, which Tsuna had been struggling to understand, and criticized him, prompting him to cry in front of his whole class and further embarrass himself. Later that day, nobody wanted to let him play on their team. With blatant reluctance, he was eventually pushed onto one team and an hour later, they had lost the game. Some of the larger boys became irritated with his lack of skills.

"Useless Tsuna, you cost us the game! You're worse than useless."

"Yeah, you're just no-good at everything. No-good Tsuna!"

"How unlucky, Dame-Tsuna."

After school, he was sporting a handful of bruises and the Tsuna ran outside to quickly hop on his bike and avoid receiving any additional ones. While he rode away, he heard many of the usual snickers behind his back as the other kids saw that his bicycle was still using training wheels.

His dream that night had warped into a terrible re-experience of that day. When the other boys converged on him, eager to beat their frustrations on him, the ground crumbled beneath him and then he was falling into a deep black void.

Falling and tumbling, head first...down, down, down!

He woke up that night, heart pounding and body trembling. He was awake and safe but the phantom memory of uncontrollably falling through the air lingered in his mind. It made his skin crawl. Although shaking under his covers, he refused to go wake his Kaa-chan up for something so trivial, that was obviously his own fault. Otou-san was gone again and he didn't want to trouble her any more.

He lay in bed, in the dark of his room, and tossed around fitfully for a long time before drifting back to sleep.

-o-

Many of the terrifying nightmares he had after that were forgotten. Eventually, he grew out of them altogether. They didn't return until after Reborn had shown up in his life and turned everything upside down and inside out. For the most part, it wasn't the dreams themselves that bothered him. It was the all encompassing thoughts of fear and anxiety that accompanied them.

During the battles for the other half of the Vongola rings against the Varia, Tsuna had come to the very sudden realization that he and his friends could, probably would , lose. They could get hurt, maybe even die , in this stupid conflict. Or maybe with some brilliant stroke of luck, they'd win. But afterwards, Gokudera-kun, Takeshi, Ryohei, even Hibari and poor Lambo, they'd see how unlucky being around him was. This fight was only happening because he was deemed to be the so-called next Vongola boss and now by mere association, their own lives were at stake as well. If any of them had some sense of sanity left in them, they'd leave him while they still could.

After Lambo's fight with Levi, Tsuna had barely gotten three hours of sleep before jolting awake with raw images of how that battle would have turned out if he hadn't intervened in time. Blinking away the scene from his mind, he sat up and weakly tried to force away the feeling of dread creeping through him. Just how were they supposed to win this thing? He was incredibly fortunate to have found friends who were willing to fight through this with him but if they all got through this alive, would they still stick with him afterwards?

Now that he knew what it was like to constantly be surrounded by people who liked him, who laughed with him and spent time with him, he felt a keen sense of loss at the thought of everything going back to the way things were before.

He looked over at Reborn, slightly relieved he hadn't woken up his personal devil incarnate "tutor". The baby appeared to still be sleeping, if that bubble was anything to go by. He lay back down but forewent any effort to go back to sleep. Now that he was wide awake, Tsuna began worrying about the future battles he and his friends would have to face. He thought about Xanxas, his scary smile, and the ominous words words he'd spoken about the Ninth. The flames Xanxus had conjured before that Cervello lady stopped him looked dangerous. How was he supposed to face a guy twice his age with a raging temper and destructive flames like that? Tsuna lay in his bed as the remainder of the night began to inch by while his mind raced from one horrible scenario to another.

"Tsuna, go to sleep."

Startled from his thoughts, he snapped to attention and glanced towards the side of his room where his tutor lay. Reborn was obviously awake and looking back at him (his face difficult to see without the light turned on but nonetheless) whilst holding a penetrating stare.

"Reborn…"

"Your famiglia will make it through this," Reborn interrupted. "they're good guardians and you've chosen trustworthy friends. Are you doubting the strength of their characters? Do you think they are the type of people who would abandon a friend when challenges arise? I hope that you would know them better than that by now."

Oh Reborn, ever the mind reader.

Tsuna mulled over his tutor's words and shame washed over him. His friends were crazy; they were contentious (kind of dangerous and scary at times) but they were good, dependable people. They were his friends...his family? They wouldn't choose to abandon someone if things got dangerous. Even someone like dame-Tsuna. No, abandonment was something that he would have done once upon a time ago if the situation had been reversed.

Reborn was right, what had he been thinking?

"Now go back to sleep."

"But..." Tsuna knew he still wouldn't be able to. "I can't," he mumbled.

His friends were in danger, battling for not just the rings but their lives. And as for himself, just how in the world was he supposed to go against Xanxas and win ? Tsuna hadn't done very much training and while he was familiar with his X-gloves, they were still relatively new.

Reborn gave no immediate response. Then he sighed, "Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna sat up again while Reborn continued. "You are a blood descendent of Primo, not to mention you are my student. If you go to face Xanxus with the expectation to lose, you will fail." Reborn paused, "I don't teach failure students. I have faith that if you trust your instincts and put to use all the training you've gone through so far, you'll survive. Heh, you might even surprise us all and win. Now lay down and go back to sleep in the next three seconds or I will shoot you. Or I'll knock you out with a Leon-hammer. You won't be any good in a fight if you arrive already tired."

I have faith...

Tsuna gaped at his tutor. "Reborn, you-"

Click .

"Hiieee! Alright! Alright!" He lay down immediately and settled among his covers. He looked at Reborn one last time to find the infant already snoozing again.

Why was he even surprised?

He stared up at his ceiling, reflecting on the hitman's words and feeling the waves of worry and anxiety ebb away. After a few minutes, the gentle pull of sleep tugged him into a dreamless rest.

-o-

Tsuna was sitting at his desk at the Vongola headquarters amongst stacks of papers, penning out his signature on the last of document that required his approval for that day. It had been a long and rather uneventful week. He was looking forward to getting to spend time with his family while he still had the chance. A quick knock was the only audible warning he received before his office doors quickly opened.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. Get out there. Now."

Before the man entered and spoke his name, the Vongola Decimo had already sensed his dangerous aura striding down the hall that led to the room he'd been occupying for the past several hours.

Tsuna placed the final paper on his "Completed" pile and gracefully lay his pen on the large mahagony desk. When he looked up, his eyes were greeted to the sight of a rather disheveled and "put out" Hibari Kyoya. Despite the probability he would get bitten to death, Tsuna grinned. It looked like he had another family conflict (reunion) to personally break up and for once, he was looking forward to it.

"I'm coming," he affirmed. The young boss grabbed his stack of finished papers and put them in a file, sealed with his sky flame. He stood up and with a small skip to his step, followed his cloud guardian towards the distant ruckus—

Blood. There was blood. Everywhere.

Tsuna looked down, seeing dark red patches splattering his clothes and drenching his X-gloves. It was warm. It was sticky and thick. It smelt awful. The scent of iron, fire, ash and blood clung to the surrounding mist. Natsu roared desperately behind him. Corpses of his allies, friends, and famiglia were strewn everywhere. There were bodies and there were body parts . He felt like gagging when he thought he recognized some of them. Tears gathered in the corners of both of his orange glazed eyes. This was the side of mafia he never wanted to see; he never wanted his friends to become a part of this; it was a disgusting world he never wanted the kids to know about—and yet they were all wading through this horror show together because this was their lives. The Millefiore...war…

The full effect of his demolishing the Vongola rings was hitting him hard right now. It had been done for a necessary reason. The threat of Byakuran using them against his famiglia was no more. But in light of the inconspicuous slaughter the Vongola, and the world they were subjected to, all hope Tsuna had previously held for his family to win this war relatively peacefully had been completely crushed.

"Operation X," he whispered. He grounded his stance and raised both arms to unleash another another destructive blast. Tsuna let out a scream of rage, despair and burning fury. Heat and flames and smoke and death—

And then he was sitting at the side of a bed in a secluded room where a small figure in a white spandex suit lay sick and dying . The outfit would have looked funny if the situation weren't so terribly serious. By the time Verde and Giannini discovered a successful method of protection against the Anti Tri-ni-set Radiation, its paralytic poison had already worked its way into many of the Arcobalenos' internal organs, spreading throughout their system. The sun-colored pacifier was weakly pulsing a light that seemed to grow dimmer with each day. A familiar black fedora with a thick orange stripe lay on the table. It hadn't been picked up for some time.

The Arcobaleno's skin was pale and his body devoid of strength. It had been a few days since Reborn had lost the endurance to even opened his eyes. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, Colonello, Tou-san, Mammon, Fon, Nono, Verde, even Skull, and now Reborn… Irie Shouichi-kun's proposal echoed in the Vongola boss's head. As more time passed, he found himself more and more willing to accept the risks of possibly the most insane plan ever attempted. Tsuna gently lifted his former tutor up when the former began a harsh coughing fit, using his sky flames to provide any comfort he possibly could—

The scene shifted once again and he was kneeling in front of a freshly engraved stone plaque. Cold tears flowed freely down his cheeks and his body shook with grief. The petite fedora he held weighed heavy between his fingers. Warm and vibrant colors streaked across the horizon. 'They shouldn't be so bright,' he thought. The brilliant spectrum of light receded and the setting sun performing one final dance before it sunk deep into the earth; its comforting rays no longer touched the sky…

Tsuna!

Suddenly, the brunette was aware that his body wasn't just trembling as he sobbed at the memorial site but that someone's hands were wrapped around his shoulders, literally shaking him back and forth. He scrunched open his eyes (he hadn't realized they were so tightly closed) and after a few seconds, processed that he was not twenty-four; he was not outside but in his room, on his bed; and Reborn was—

Reborn.

His tutor was calmly but firmly nudging him awake from a nightmare of future memories that flooded his subconscious when he'd fallen asleep that night. He mentally shoved away any lingering sleepiness and sat up. Reborn removed his small hands from his student's shoulders.

Tsuna and his friends had returned from the future less than a week ago. Everyone they'd contacted reported receiving a collection of memories belonging to their future selves and certain details concerning the drastic consequences of time travel and parallel world crossing. Though Tsuna had been physically present for it all, this universe apparently deemed it necessary that he receive portions of his future self's memories. Not all of them, just enough to vividly recall the emotionally driven moments and points of crisis. And they came to him at night for some reason, disturbing his sleep and hindering his initial mood of celebration.

In comparison to his previous dreams, tonight's had been exponentially worse. Not even his own temporary death via assassination (which was totally disturbing in its own right) had affected him this much.

"Tsuna," prompted Reborn. His voice sounded concerned. Why was he concerned? Tsuna was fine. He hadn't been helplessly subjected to a slow, torturous death like the other Arcobaleno.

The teen's wet eyes met the hitman's dark ones. He focused on his tutor's presence, drinking in his healthy (and very much alive ) state. Without thinking, he reached out and lightly pressed his hand against the home tutor's chest. Reborn seemed to understand and let him.

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum...

He relished that steady beating heart and the small rhythm of movement that came with each breath.

After staying in that position for several minutes, Tsuna slowly dropped his hand. He opened his mouth to assure Reborn that he was okay, that he was sorry for causing all of this trouble, and that he was so glad Reborn was there, alive and well. That had been his intentions, anyway. Instead, what escaped his dry throat was a pathetic, choked sob.

"I'm right here, dame-Tsuna."

It was as if that was all it took for the dam break. He internally wanted to release another angst-ridden scream but instead, Sawada Tsunayoshi collapsed into a full meltdown: tears, hiccups, tremors, and sad bouts of wailing galore. To say Tsuna was a gross crier was a bit of an overstatement (he'd gotten a lot of practice), if the Vongola Decimo candidate could say so himself, but he'd admit there wasn't anything pretty about it either.

He cried for his future self's memories, despite their semi-non existence. He sobbed for Yuni and Gamma and even Byakuran. He cried for his famiglia, dead (kind of) and alive, for his unwanted destiny as the Vongola Decimo and the weight of his future responsibilities. He cried for everyone who had been caught up in his future self's crazy plan, for his pathetic, lonely past, for his mom, his friends, and his family.

Through it all, Reborn wordlessly stayed by his side, allowing him to release all of his pent up frustration, sadness and stress. Tsuna was certain that his embarrassing breakdown lasted for a little over twenty minutes. When his fit subsided to silence, slight tremors, and a couple occasional remaining hiccups, Reborn gracefully hopped off the bed and stepped out of the room. Tsuna felt absolutely spent. He didn't even have time to wonder where he'd left to, when his home tutor return with a box of tissues and an iced fruit drink (where did he even get the drink?).

He first offered the box of tissues to the young teen who scrubbed away his lingering tears and thankfully accepted it to blow his nose. Then the sun arcobaleno handed the cold drink and a straw to Tsuna. Without hesitation, his student sipped the drink, tasting the cool mango flavored liquid slide down his throat and calm his system.

Oddly, Reborn didn't force him to go back to sleep that night. He stayed awake with Tsuna until pure exhaustion swept over and the boy managed to gain a couple more hours of sleep before the next day started.

The memory filled dreams lasted for two more nights, both containing short and comparatively mild informative experiences. After the end of that week, Tsuna and his friends' chaotic "training" schedule resumed in its usual vigor. Tsuna didn't offer an explanation for his breakdown or of his nightmare that night. Reborn didn't ask for one. They didn't speak about it again. But since that night, Tsuna became consciously aware of the fact that Reborn was more than just his home tutor...he was a friend and he was family.

Plus, Mango remained one of his favorite flavors.

A/N: Fun fact! Long after I had already written this chapter and settled with the title name of Mangos and Oranges, I stumbled across an article by sheer coincidence and read that mangos and oranges are fruit that naturally help with fighting depression. Who knew?