Hello everyone! :D
This is my first delve into this fandom, for this site, so I must admit I'm a little bit nervous... ^^
There isn't much to say, only this fic is set after the end of the Future Arch, and after the teenager!Vongola family has gone back to the past.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but what I wrote.
Ja ne,
Temari 88 :)
Awakening
... A cough, dry and rough, cutting through my throat... a small wrinkle forming between my eyebrows, I realize it's normal to have trouble swallowing through what feels like sandpaper—how long has it been?
I swallow again, cough a second time. I open my eyes a crack, less than an inch, and almost expect to see the total darkness of a coffin, instead it's the blinding light to meet me and I close my lids immediately... a second later, I blink them open again, slowly, slowly.
Shoichi.
I recognize the face right away, the green eyes and the reddish hair, the glasses... he hasn't changed much since the last time I saw him.
His expression is one of awe and I see other feelings in it too.
Nostalgia.
Relief.
Happiness.
Bit by bit Shoichi smiles, then a bark of laughter shakes his shoulders as he stretches his hand and helps me stand up. I've been lying on my back for so long a time... but I'm glad to see I can stay up on my own without problems. "... Welcome back, Tsunayoshi-kun..." Irie tells me, a hand squeezing my shoulder and a reassuring smile.
A nod of my head is the only answer I give, coupled with a slight lifting of my lips as well. "Thank you, Shoichi-kun." I look around and notice the others lying on the ground a few feet away from me, still unconscious, and a sliver of worry etches itself inside me—are they all right? Is everyone here?
"Don't worry for them, Tsunayoshi-kun, they're fine." says Irie, "It'll just take awhile for them to wake up..." I keep silent, while watching my family sleep peacefully... I wonder how much they have suffered during all these years. I've hurt them, pretending to be assassinated and not telling about my plan to any of them safe for Shoichi and Hibari-san... I need to rearrange my thoughts, put them in the right order. I need to see the clear blue sky again, feel the wind on my face, see the trees and the city... I need to see this world again, because I played a dangerous game and I risked to destroy it completely. "... Shoichi-kun... I—yes, I think I'll go first. Please tell everyone I'll wait for them in the forest near the hideout."
"Certainly. Go, after all it's been two years..."
Two years...
Twenty-four months.
Without my family, my friends...
A knot lodges itself in my throat, and have to swallow it down as I walk towards the exit. "Yes... two years."
EDIT: After Reidluver 's suggestion, I thought it was probably best to divide the story into paragraphs as I usually do, seeing as my experiment of writing the flashfic 'novel-like' didn't work very well :P I hope this way it's easier to read. :)
Now, as it's an anonymous review so I can't answer via PM, I'll just put a response to xD 's question here: the Tenth of the future is woken up (by Shoichi, that's why I say he's the first person he sees) BEFORE the other guardians - including also Kyoko, Haru, Basil, Bianchi, ect. If you remember the last episode, after the younger family goes back to the past and the adult family is woken up, Yamamoto (or Gokudera, I don't remember exactly which of the two) asks where's Tsuna and Shoichi tells them something along the lines of "He woke up a little before all of you and went outside" and we see Adult!Tsuna standing before the 'fake' coffin. Is that clear?
I'm pretty sure that's what happens, but if I'm mistaking, feel free to correct me. ^^