The Day It May Come True
Full Summary: At age twenty-six, Sawada Tsunayoshi has become a successful Vongola boss, but is still haunted by memories of being bullied as a child. His guardians can tell Tsuna is distancing himself, but don't know how to help him end the cycle of bad memories. That is... until a familiar blonde from 200 years ago appears in the Vongola mansion because of a wish. After all, no one is better at starting revolutions than the Vongola Primo herself. Tsuna/fem!Giotto
Notes + Warnings: in this AU, Tsuna is descended from the Vongola Secondo, Ricardo. Nono is Iemitsu's uncle. Not an incest fic. The only pairing will be fem!Giotto x Tsuna.
"You're nothing but a useless, stupid kid!"
Tsuna awoke from his nightmare, eyes clenched shut as if the fist headed towards his face in the dream would still land a blow. "No, I'm-" he said aloud, but then remembered where he was.
In bed. No longer fourteen, no longer a kid, and not even in Japan anymore. He was twenty-six years old and the most powerful mafia boss in Italy. He had guardians and friends, and a really, really nice mansion. However, at the moment, the king-size bed and gigantic room he lay in did nothing to help the childish fear lingering from his dream. His memory.
Useless. Tsuna sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes, any desire to sleep long past. He patted around in the darkness of his room for a shirt and some slippers. Nighttime walks always made bad dreams fade.
The average bedtime of his guardians and friends who lived in the headquarters with him was about one am. Judging by the absolute quiet and darkness of the halls, it was around three. Through past experience, it was expected that no one was up at this time. Tsuna sighed. It's the third time this week nightmares have kept me up.
The headquarters of the Vongola was a ridiculously large mansion, with winding hallways that all spun out from the center of the home. At this center was a large living room, though the term 'living room' was loose. The size of a cathedral, the center was where most everyone (except Hibari) spent time together at meals, meetings, and the occasional go-fish game.
Tsuna sat at the long table that ran down the middle of the cavernous space. During the day, the windows in the ceiling and his guardians would fill the room with bright light and chatter, but at this ghostly hour, it was near pitch black. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. It's been twelve years since I was at Namimori. Can't these memories leave me alone?
The dream had been particularly vivid. In elementary and secondary grades, before meeting Reborn, Tsuna had been friendless and failing at school. An easy target for bullies. An easy, useless victim. The bullying had slowly wound down before the whole "tenth vongola boss" situation had started, and so none of his guardians knew fully the pain he'd suffered.
It's interesting, Tsuna thought. He'd been granted the power of a dying will, and if he willed it, he could burn down the very room he sat in with a wave of his hand. He had a literal army of people loyal to him and his famiglia, who would give their lives for the Vongola. He was the leader of the richest vigilante group in the entire world.
Yet, when he thought about the words his thirteen-year-old self had been called by his tormentors, he felt just as broken as he once was.
In the darkness, the moonlight glimmered across the oil paint of the portrait that hung highest on the wall in front of the table. Giotto, the first boss of the Vongola, smiled serenely down at the room. Tsuna observed the painting for the thousandth time. He had first seen those golden eyes and hinting smile at age fourteen, when Nono brought him to the headquarters and shown him the paintings of the previous nine bosses. Now, the face was familiar. Reborn told him that the first boss was the most trouble-making of them all. To Tsuna, the person in the picture just looked like a distant, royal figure.
"I think I haven't changed at all," he said, as if talking to the portrait. "I'm nearly the same as that "dame Tsuna.""
The woman in the painting was just as still as the rest of the room. The dying will flame on her forehead, colored blue by the shifting moonlight, was the only thing he could make out in the darkness. "I am sorry that your famiglia was inherited by someone as useless as me, Primo," he murmured.
Giotto Leandra Rossi di Vongole wondered, for possibly the ten-thousandth time, why she couldn't have been named something less… artistic. Her ailing grandfather, losing his memory with old age, referred to her as a boy every time she visited. He kept mistaking her for her namesake, an old Italian painter.
"Grandfather, it's me, Giotto, your granddaughter," she reminded him as he fiddled with his glass eyepiece. "I've come to wish you goodbye." She had wished him goodbye several times in the conversation previously, but Grandfather kept forgetting. She attempted it again. "I am going to Japan."
"My granddaughter? Has she finally stopped lighting herself aflame, and gotten married?"
Giotto heard G's and Lampo's snickers from behind her, and she sighed, fighting a grin of her own. They always loved to come with her when she visited her aged grandfather, for they found it to be great entertainment. "I was never... on fire in the first place," she muttered to herself. Dying will flames were hard for the general public to understand.
"If you see her, advise her to remove that horrid cloak. Quite unbecoming of a lady." Giotto turned, shooting her two guardians a warning gaze before they burst into laughter. It's not that comical, G, Lampo.
"I rather like that cape, actually," she said childishly, a little peeved. "It protects me from all kinds of unladylike-things, such as bullets, fire, Daemon Spade... Stop teasing me, G, Lampo." G coughed, hiding his mirth.
"Japan, you say?" Grandfather said suddenly, forgetting all about the cloak. "Is she betrothed to a Japanese man?"
"She is right here, Grandfather, and no, I am not. I am going to retire to that country with my friends." Somehow, in every conversation I've ever had with this infernal relative, he connects it back to me getting married. "I will be sending you and Uncle many letters, as I do wish to stay in contact." He still looked at her expectantly, waiting. She groaned internally. "To keep you updated as to my marital status."
"Good, good," he said, setting down the monocle. He sounded more conscious. Giotto and her friends perked up, expecting something more comprehensible to be said. He often had moments of lucidity, though they were few and far between. "However, do you know who should have been married years ago? My idiotic granddaughter."
Giotto deflated. She hadn't visited him in a month, due to Vongola business and tying up loose vigilante-related ends, but now she remembered why she normally stayed away from her childhood home. "Thank you, Grandfather. I will remember that." She tried to not laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
At age twenty-three (nearly twenty-four), Giotto was an old maid in the Italian culture she had been raised in. Had she not met G and Cozart Simon, and chosen the career of beginning a vigilante group, she would have been married at age fifteen and had borne three children by this age. It is not as if I am not planning on getting married, she thought to herself in irritation. There are simply some things I need to do beforehand.
One of those things was creating a smooth transition from her leadership as the Primo to Ricardo, the Secondo. The past ten years had been filled with amazing, wonderful changes to Italy brought about by the hands of the Vongola, but after the events with the Shimon family and the violent end of Daemon Spade, she was tired of being Primo. She'd lost Cozart and Elena, and she didn't want to lose anymore to this vigilante group.
Thus, retirement. When she had brought up the idea to her guardians, they had agreed. Alaude had decided to continue with the Vongola as the CEDEF head with Lampo, but G, Asari, and Knuckle had voiced their desires to stay as friends and retire somewhere peaceful. They had settled on Japan, Asari's birth country. Far, far away from Italy.
Giotto fiddled with her ring finger, absently missing the weight of the Sky Ring. Sepira's gift (and the imbued wills of Giotto and her guardians inside of the rings) had been passed onto Ricardo the previous day, nearly finalizing the inheritance of the Vongola and the start of a new age for them all. All that was left was for her to leave Italy.
"I think he has fallen asleep," G said. Giotto blinked, realizing this was true. Grandfather's head had lolled to one side and his breathing was slow and even.
"He's always been a sleepyhead. It was a nice goodbye. I only hope he remembers it." She stood and kissed the aged man's forehead affectionately, smiling. "It is time to depart."
The docks were filled with all sorts of people, loudly yelling and cursing and chattering away. Giotto held her suitcase close, weaving carefully between sailors and commoners alike, following Asari's tall back towards the boat that would provide passage to Japan. Her long blonde hair drew several glances but she ignored them. In the Italian culture, women of her age pulled their hair back as a sign of having been married, and so to see a twenty-something woman with freed locks was odd. Giotto preferred it this way, though. It was comfortable.
Stepping over a dead fish, she wrinkled her nose. "I hope our ship leaves soon from this harbor." Anticipation about the upcoming journey and excitement of seeing Japan for the first time made her nerves tingle.
"What, do you not like the smell of fish?" G teased from behind her. "You'd had better get used to it. That's all the Japanese eat."
"Untrue," Asari called over his shoulder. "There is also plenty of rice, my dear Primo."
Giotto laughed. "Eating rice for the rest of my life sounds like a pleasant retirement."
They reached the end of the dock, where a boardwalk stretched between it and the ocean vessel they would be taking. Giotto stared up at it. "It's smaller than I expected," she observed. "What do the symbols on the side mean?"
"Maguro," Asari read. "The name of the ship. It means "tuna.""
"A cute name." Giotto knew spoken Japanese a little bit (due to Asari's tutoring) but absolutely nothing about the written language. "It's a lovely little boat."
"Do you even like eating tuna?" G asked. Giotto shrugged, playfully sucking in her cheeks and making a fish face. They both laughed.
Asari and G stood to the side, gesturing for her to step onto the boardwalk first. Knuckle was already on Maguro, lecturing the sailors on the importance of having clean and godly language, but her other guardians were waiting for her. To make the next step.
She turned, surveying the port behind her with a smile one last time. Italy was a beautiful land. She had spent the last twenty-three years of her life here, fighting for justice and equality and happiness of its people. Not only was it her birthplace, it was the birthplace of her precious Vongole.
What will become of Vongola now? she pondered. In five, ten generations, long after I am gone, will it still stand for what is right? I wish I could see.
Taking in the beautiful Italian scenery and sky for one last breath, Giotto turned and stepped onto the boardwalk.
She disappeared.
"You're up rather late," Reborn called from behind his newspaper and coffee as Tsuna stepped into the center room. Tsuna yawned again, padding over to a seat in his slippers and robe. "Didn't sleep well?"
"Not too bad," Tsuna said noncommittally, reaching for the box of cereal on the table. Gokudera looked up from his phone, his glasses halfway down his nose.
"You got some dark circles, Juudaime."
Tsuna stuffed his face with cereal so that he didn't have to respond. It was a childish way to end a conversation, and he knew it. However, he didn't want to go into detail about some dumb bad dreams. Yamamoto and Chrome, also at the table, wished him a good morning, and he nodded.
"Any pressing news happen while I was asleep?" Tsuna said, after swallowing. Gokudera tapped his phone.
"The Sicilian police have made an official statement to the public that they have nothing to do with the Vongola, but they did that last year and still helped us out with the fish crisis, so that's nothing new," Gokudera's voice trailed off as he continued reading his notes. "The Piede family says they want a larger share of the cheese import profits."
"We're already at one-third with them, I'm not going any higher," Tsuna said, waving a hand. "I'll send them some numbers later. Anything else?"
"Hibari says the pool is getting too warm and that we should turn down the heater."
"Mukuro wants the water at 21 degrees, so tell Hibari to take that issue up directly with him."
"Tsuna-kun, they haven't talked in 38 days," Chrome reminded the boss. He groaned.
"I forgot about their Pact of Silence. Chrome, can you communicate between them?"
"Yes, boss!"
"Good. Anything else?" Tsuna asked.
This was the morning routine. Even though no one would ever say it to Gokudera's face, he was an amazing secretary and kept the Vongola running smoothly. Every morning he would tell Tsuna of any news, Tsuna and Reborn would sometimes argue, and then the small issues would be solved. After morning, it was workout time in the gym, and then shower, and then paperwork time. Meetings with other families and sections of the Vongola happened sporadically.
"One more thing." Gokudera put down his phone. "Xanxus is getting angry again. Some of the CEDEF are acting up about separating from the Vongola and starting their own group. The Varia want to know the plan of action."
This wasn't good news, although Tsuna had been expecting it. Xanxus and the Varia were loyal to him and his guardians (even if they'd never say it aloud), but other parts of the CEDEF were leery of the headquarters. "That is troubling," he mused.
"You could, you know," Gokudera said in a scary voice, "ice 'em." Tsuna laughed.
"For heaven's sake, Hayato, you sound like a mafioso from the 1930s. Anyways, I'd prefer to not use zero point breakthrough on them. Xanxus doesn't like seeing that power after the whole succession battle."
"You'd rather burn them with dying will flames?" Reborn said innocently. "That's harsh, Tsu-kun." Tsuna rolled his eyes. His old tutor loved to poke at Tsuna whenever given the opportunity. Tsuna had thought that with gaining his adult body back, Reborn wouldn't be as cynical, but it turned out to be the opposite.
"Don't call me that, Reborn. No, I don't want to use any flames at all. I'd prefer to just talk with whoever is having issues." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. Should've gotten more sleep. "I'll call Xanxus later."
"What time did you go to bed?" Yamamoto asked.
"My sleep patterns must be incredibly interesting to you all," Tsuna said sardonically, pouring himself more cereal. "I'm fi-"
In one moment, there was nothing on the table but breakfast food, newspapers, and emptied plates. In the next, there was a person.
It was only because of their highly trained reflexes that no one screamed. Within a second, Tsuna was out of his chair, a flame burning on his forehead and across his palms. Though his gaze was focused on the sudden intruder, he could see that Yamamoto had his sword ready, Gokudera's hands were suddenly full of dynamite, Mist flame surrounded Chrome, and Leon watched carefully from Reborn's shoulder. All of this had happened in the course of a silent moment.
The person on the table didn't move, at first. Tsuna blinked, clearing his gaze from focusing on the person as enemy to observing their actual features.
Her features.
A woman knelt on the table, as if having fallen from somewhere above. She had a long black cape, black pants, and wore a pinstriped… corset? over a white blouse. His gaze moved up her figure, to her face. It was framed by long blonde hair and thick, wavy bangs. Her bright golden eyes glanced frantically around, evidently just as confused as him. Familiar golden eyes.
"Holy crap," Gokudera whispered, having come to the same conclusion as Tsuna. Judging from the tightening of Reborn's jaw, he knew too.
"Where am I?" the woman said, looking around at them, then down at the table she knelt on. "Is this.. a table?"
Tsuna swallowed, his attentions caught between her and the painting that hung ten feet up the wall behind her. "Your name," he said, "what is it?"
She gave him a strange look. "I am Giotto. Why am I here?"
His stomach dropped as she verified his suspicion. Giotto di Vongole, the first boss of the Vongola family from two centuries ago, was sitting on his dining table.
One minute she'd been stepping onto the boardwalk in the Italian harbor, the next, sitting in a cathedral-sized room on someone's table. Giotto stared, openly confused, at the people around her.
"I don't know," the brunet said, in response to her question. She focused her attentions on him. He had soft-looking brown hair that was rather messy, standing up in places, and, she noticed, a dying will flame flickering on his forehead.
"You use a sky flame," Giotto whispered. Without thinking, she clambered off the table and onto the floor, stepping towards the man, and ran her fingers through the fire. He was too surprised to move away.
The flame was warm, but as with her own sky flame, didn't hurt. It was real. How? Cozart knew how to use a similar flame in his gravity power, but this hyper intuition flame is most definitely a Sky. "I thought I was the only one," she whispered aloud. "Who are you people?"
A man behind her spoke. She turned to face him, observing his jet-black hair and odd, curled sideburns. "Miss Giotto, we are the Vongola."
The words made her world reel. "The Vongola? As in…"
"Your Vongola." There was a twinkle in his eye as he continued. "This is the tenth generation of guardians."
"Che palle," she swore, which was out of character but she was too shocked to hold in. "Ten generations?"
He gestured to something behind him, and Giotto's gaze followed her finger to one of the paintings on the wall. It was her. I remember posing for that portrait, she thought. To see it hung, in this unfamiliar room, felt like a dream. She remembered the thoughts she'd had right before appearing. "It came true," she laughed, the fear she had felt suddenly turning to giddy joy.
"What came true?" the brunet man asked. She turned back to him.
"We were about to board for Japan, and I wished that I could see what Vongola would look like in the future before I left Italy." Giotto grinned, her happiness coming over her. "By some strange power, I ended up here!" She spun slowly, taking in the surroundings. "What is this beautiful place?"
"This is the Vongola headquarters mansion," a new voice said. Another man, tall, with short black hair and a scar a long his chin, smiled at her. "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi." He reached across the table, extending his hand.
Giotto shook it. "You must be the rain guardian. You are the spitting image of my dear friend Asari. Are you related?"
Yamamoto nodded, smiling back. "He's my great-great-great grandfather. We've met you and all your guardians through the Vongola rings, but seeing you in person is different."
That means imbuing our wills in the rings turned out to be successful. I was worried about that, but it turned out. The woman next to Yamamoto introduced herself as Chrome, the mist guardian. She was also startlingly familiar to Daemon, but looked to be lighter and less… 'Daemony.' The 'holy crap' man, with gray hair and green eyes, was the storm guardian named Gokudera. The sideburns man was 'Reborn' (a strange name, for sure, but she herself was named after a male painter, so she couldn't judge), and gave no word as to where he was in the famiglia. Finally, the brunet man reached out his hand.
"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. You can call me Tsuna," he said, giving her a tired smile. Giotto observed the dark circles underneath his bright brown eyes, and how gentle his handshake was.
"And you are…" she started, but then realized. The sky flames. The dying will.
"Vongola Decimo," he finished. "It is nice to meet you, Primo."
She stared at his face for a long moment, so overcome with the knowledge that her precious Vongole had lasted ten generations of bosses. "Decimo.. the tenth," she whispered. Tsuna met her gaze, then looked away awkwardly.
"Yep. That's me."
After a long pause, his storm guardian spoke. "I think I'd better go get Hibari and Mukuro."
"That sounds good," Tsuna said. "For now, let's keep this under wraps. I'm slightly familiar with the effects of time travel, so Miss Giotto traveling here might cause some ripples. It's better if less know of her being here."
"Familiar with time travel?" Giotto said, nearly interrupting him.
"When bossu was fourteen he had to go to the future and fight Byakuran," Chrome said, as if that explained everything. Tsuna internally smiled.
"O-oh," said Giotto. "Yes, if that's what Decimo- I mean, Tsuna thinks is good, that's fine." She looked at Tsuna, meeting his eyes again, and he quickly looked away.
"Reborn, can you seat Miss Giotto?" he asked briskly. "I need to shower. And change." There's no way I'm talking to the Vongola Primo herself while I'm in slippers and pajamas.
"Shower?" Giotto asked.
"Bathe oneself," Chrome whispered to her. The blonde nodded slowly, understanding.
"Thanks," she whispered back, smiling at the purple-haired woman.
"I'll take care of it," Reborn said, waving Tsuna away. Tsuna left the center room, walking as confidently as possible.
Shutting the door to his private quarters behind him, Tsuna stared at the room. His mind was caught up in everything that happened in the past five minutes.
"Vongola Primo… is in my house," he whispered. The reality of the situation was starting to hit him. The woman who had started the Vongola, who invented the use of dying will flames, zero point breakthrough, and heck, even his X-gloves, was down the hall. If Tsuna was considered a true 'boss' of the Vongola, then she was like… the mega-boss. The legendary first generation.
When he was fourteen, he had met the ghost of her and the first generation guardians' wills through the Vongola Rings. She'd been a wondrous spectre, an inhuman, god-like visage with wise advice in the battles he'd faced.
Now, meeting the real thing was so strange. She's nothing like the ghost the ring possesses, he thought. The Vongola Primo he'd just met was real. Human. Much brighter and happier than he had expected, with eyes far deeper than the portrait captured. Also. She's not as muscular as the painter made her seem, he thought to himself humorously. I thought she was a female bodybuilder by all the stories of her deeds. "Miss Giotto" looked softer and more feminine than the large painting in the center room.
The mirth in his heart faded, as his thoughts continued. How did she arrive here, really? How long will she stay? How will she get back to her own time period? How badly will this affect our timeline?
One thought twisted up his innards and made his nerves shiver. Since she's the original boss.. what does she think of me? Do I even come close to measuring up to her expectations for what a Vongola boss should be?
He didn't know. He didn't want to find out.
In her twenty-five years of life, Chrome never expected to actually meet the woman in the highest portrait on the wall of oil paintings in their house. She hadn't recognized the blonde at first. However, after a few seconds of observing Giotto's bright eyes, Chrome knew.
"Please sit down, Miss Giotto," Reborn said, pulling out a chair for their unexpected guest. Chrome, after a moment's pause, sat down next to her.
"Thank you," Giotto said politely, smiling at them all. "I, um, do not know what to say."
Reborn sat on the other side. "I think we are all just as speechless as you." He winked at Chrome. "Miss Dokuro looks like she has some questions, though."
He had seen her gaping at Giotto like a fish. Chrome, swallowing her embarrassment, spoke the first that came to her mind.. "H-How old are you?"
Giotto blinked, not expecting that question. "I am twenty-three. Nearly twenty-four, as my birthday is in two month-" she paused. "What month is it here?"
"May," Chrome said.
"Oh. Then my birthday has… already passed?" Giotto said, then grinned. "Or perhaps it hasn't come yet."
"Are corsets comfortable?" Chrome asked, then flushed. "S-sorry! I-I've just heard terrible stories about girls breaking ribs and n-not breathing, and your portrait is up there and I've always wondered how you could fight Daemon Spade with a corset and I'm sorry, never mind," she finished in a rush. Giotto burst into laughter.
"Y-You do not commonly wear corsets in this time?" she choked out, cheeks red from laughing so hard. Chrome shook her head, feeling mortified for even asking. Yamamoto and Reborn chuckled too.
"That's a good question, Chrome-san," Yamamoto said in a warm voice. Giotto nodded.
"I do not mind, Miss Chrome. Corsets are quite comfortable. Unless one wishes it, they are usually laced with enough room for movement and breathing." Giotto slipped off her cape, then lifted her arms to show Chrome. Underneath, she wore a long-sleeved white blouse with a lace collar, and a corset that buttoned just underneath her chest down to her waist. "This particular size is wonderful for hiding small weapons, should one require," the blonde said with a glint in her eye.
The rest of her outfit was simple, with black pants and tall boots that stopped below her knee. The familiar gloves that she had seen so often on Tsuna's hands were also on Giotto's, but had a silver "I" engraved in them, and were smaller, to fit Giotto's slender fingers. Chrome nodded in understanding.
"Any other questions? I can talk for many minutes about my boots," Giotto said, grinning.
"I'm sure you have questions for us, as well," Reborn said. She looked down at her hands, more serious.
"Yes, I suppose I do. Where are your sun, cloud, and lightning guardians? Also, the time-travel business that was mentioned earlier. 'Byakuran.' I have many questions about that." She waved a hand at the wall behind them. "All these paintings- are these past Vongola bosses?"
"Yes, they are. Not including Tsuna, our current boss, those are all the others." Reborn paused. "The time-travel is a long story, and I think we'll have to wait for Tsuna to even begin to explain that mess."
"Gokudera is getting our cloud and mist guardian, Hibari and Mukuro. The sun and lightning guardians are named Ryohei and Lambo, and they're in Japan visiting family," Yamamoto said.
Giotto glanced at Chrome. "I thought that Miss Chrome was the mist guardian."
"We both are," Chrome said. Giotto studied her carefully, then shrugged.
"Again, another long story, I'd expect?" she said. Chrome nodded. Giotto sighed, but then laughed. "I've noticed many things that are different from my time, but one thing is a surprising constant. You all bear similar faces to my own guardians."
"We've been told that a lot," Yamamoto said. "I guess we'll have to become friends too, so that you can compare us to them better." Giotto nodded. Chrome watched her fiddle with her own fingers, unsure of what to ask next.
"Your boss- he is good?" she asked finally, after a moment of silence, looking up at them.
"Of course! Boss is the absolute best, most kind boss," Chrome said, without hesitating. To her, it was true. Tsuna was one of her most precious friends and an amazing leader.
"Tsuna is like a brother to us," Yamamoto said. "He is stronger and wiser than any other sky could be."
After a pause, Reborn spoke. "I suppose you'll have to get to know him just as we do, Miss Giotto. Tsunayoshi, though he may not look it or even think it himself, is a good boss." Chrome nodded her agreement.
"I am excited to talk to him more, once he finishes bathing."
Yamamoto and Chrome glanced at each other, covering up their laughter at hearing such an odd term. "Yes, of course. Once Tsuna is done bathing," Reborn said with an even tone.
to be cont.