Title: Confessions of a Mafia Bride
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Pairings: implied Tsuna/Kyoko, Gokudera/Haru
Summary: Kyoko knows why Tsuna really loves her, and so she cries.
On her wedding day, Kyoko cried. She didn't cry from happiness, not really, but because she knew her fate; she had realized her place in this world.
To Tsuna, she was precious. Not because she was herself, but because of what she was not. She was precious because she was normal; Kyoko herself was not related to the mafia (though her brother was, and she was partially unaware of this fact even now. Maybe he'll tell her tomorrow).
To Tsuna, she was something to treasure, to protect. She was kind and beautiful, and above all else, she was normal. She was not in the Mafia. Her hands had not been stained by the blood of their enemies, their allies, their friends, family and anyone close to them. Not like Tsuna's, Gokudera's and Yamamoto's hands; not like her brother's and everyone close enough to know.
Tsuna and Yamamoto and Gokudera - everyone else, as well - they saw her as an innocent. Even her dear brother sees her as a precious, innocent child that should be shielded and protected from all the ugly things in life. After all these years, this is how they continue to think of her. Even Mukuro's girl, Chrome, says that she is innocent and should not be dirtied with the truth.
Little Lambo-kun and I-pin-chan, too - the children she had helped raise while she was a child, herself - say that she is too precious, to pure, for this life. They say that she must be protected.
She is the only thing left in their lives that remains "normal." She is the one that they all view as normal - pure and untouched by the evils of their world - and no matter what, they will not change their views of her.
Haru has never been normal to them, Kyoko knows. Haru has always been happy and adventurous, always upbeat and outgoing and ready to do anything. She has always been prepared with a smile, no matter the situation, acting carefree even as she knew what was happening. She was not shielded as much as Kyoko - after all, Haru knew about the Mafia much longer than she has, and accepted it while Kyoko still has trouble.
Mama - Tsuna's mother, but doesn't everyone think of her as their own? - has always (at least, for the time that Kyoko has known her) been nice-nice and taken care of everyone, not batting a lash when Tsuna came home with seven others who claimed to be close to him, even though he had never had a friend before in his life.
Bianchi-san is the oldest daughter of a Mafioso (but Kyoko just found out recently about the Mafia and even Gokudera-san's past. Tsuna had to tell her, couldn't hide it from her anymore. He wasn't like his father; she had to know what was happening) and is Gokudera-san's older sister, able to rend him completely immobile with just a glance. Beautiful and dangerous, she could never be "normal."
All she knows about Chrome is that she, too, is precious. Chrome is precious to Tsuna, though her worth is judged differently than Kyoko's (and that alone makes Kyoko jealous, for a moment). Everyone else gives Chrome acceptance, though they do not welcome her.
Chrome is Mukuro's girl and for some reason that makes her even more important, more precious. Being precious to Mukuro makes her precious to others - to the boys called Ken and Chikusa, and to Hibari-san, too. She isn't sure why, but she thinks that Mukuro is the key.
All the girls are precious, she knows. They are all treasured by the boys. There is a difference, though, between the reasons.
Kyoko is the only one who is useless, who cannot protect herself. Chrome, Bianchi, I-Pin - they are strong enough to fight, to protect. Haru, as well, has strength that takes people by surprise, and she can use it at will.
Kyoko is the one who needs to be protected. She is Tsuna's beautiful princess, waiting for him to save her from the tower that she has been placed in. She is waiting for her knight in shining armor to save her, always. That will never change.
And so, aware of this, she cries.
Haru is there and she's trying to make Kyoko smile again, but it's not working. She's pretending to be jealous of Kyoko for marrying Tsuna (and maybe she really is jealous, even though she's given up on being the Boss' bride) and making faces until it just isn't worth trying to make Kyoko smile anymore, so she just hugs her close and promises that everything will be okay.
Kyoko wants to believe her, so badly, but she knows that it won't be. She will always be the princess who needs protection that she doesn't want. She will always be the one bit of "normal" in Tsuna's life.
As much as she loves Tsuna, she knows that her normalcy is the only reason that he loves her.
She is not strong like Haru, able to accept the reality of being a Mafia wife and be the support that her husband will need. Haru will be able to do that - she will be able to share Gokudera-san's burden, if he lets her. Haru will be able to help in any way she can and make things be okay. She will be the strength and the happiness that will hold their relationship together.
Haru would make a better wife, she knows. Tsuna knows this, too, and yet… he chose her, for the escape into normalcy.
She resents him for that, but once she is calmed and her makeup is redone and she's asked if she will take no-good Sawada Tsunayoshi as her husband, she still smiles and says, "I do."
-End-
