The idea popped into my head and I needed to get it written down. Please review. I hope you enjoy it.
They weren't exactly a normal couple. They were both quiet, shy, meek at times. Neither of them showed their support or loyalty in the same way as Gokudera or Ryohei; They were quiet and calm about it. And, probably most importantly to them, they weren't exactly the best at expressing their emotions.
In fact, no one knew they were even in a relationship until Chrome asked MM to be her bridesmaid and Tsuna sent out the invitations. They were sent back with various responses of surprise and shock. Except for the usual suspects who either ignored the invitation, sent them back with various explosives, or chose to visit Tsuna personally and try and teach him how stupid he was being, trying to marry the student of the man who looked at his body like a new suit.
But, when it really comes down to things, Tsuna can put his foot down quite well.
After everyone got over the shock that Tsuna and Chrome had been in a relationship for a reported five years, they began to barrage them with questions, the most asked one being "How do the two of you get over your nerves to say embarrassing and romantic things to each other?"
The honest answer? They don't. At the time they developed feelings for each other, they were very much interested in other people. It wasn't a conscious thing for either of them. They didn't have any big turn arounds or shift in viewpoints. They just slowly started finding the more time they spent around the other, the happier they were. It took about a year for the both of them to come to terms with their feelings. And then they just followed the logical steps.
But the important thing was that they really didn't change, they just noticed the other person, in their entirety. Which means they were still pretty clumsy when it came to expressing their feelings with words. Instead, they took a bit of a more romantic path.
They found that it was easier to get the other person to understand what they wanted to say when they kissed instead of actually coming out and saying it. Whether it was because Tsuna would unconsciously hijack Chrome's link with Mukuro and read her mind, Chrome would somehow manipulate him into thinking what she wanted him to, or if they were really soul mates, they didn't know. But it worked for them, so that's what they did. Throughout their whole relationship.
When she first met him and kissed his cheek, she was pledging her allegiance to him.
When he pecked her forehead on the way back from Shimon's island, it was because he wanted her to know it was all going to be okay.
When he came to Kokuyo, a battered Mukuro on his back, but free, the first thing she did when she got him alone was kiss him in thanks.
The kiss he put to her ear as she cried in the forest around Kokuyo wasn't him telling her not to cry, it was him telling her that he was going to stay with her until Ken and Chikusa came back and apologized for abandoning her...it was also the only kiss that ever ended prematurely, as shortly after, he pulled away from her to punch a meek Ken in the face for ever making his Chrome think she wasn't wanted.
The day after she entered Namimori, she cornered him behind the school. He kissed her as she fumbled for words, letting her know he understood.
When she pulled him close and pressed her lips to his neck after Kyoko and Haru both confessed to him in the same day, it was her desperately trying to hold on to him. His response -kissing her scalp and holding her tightly- was his way of reassuring her that she was his one and only.
The only time they had ever gotten close to breaking up was when he went to visit her at Kokuyo only to find her in Ken's embrace, staring at him with a glittering eye and a blush across her cheeks. He walked in just as Ken began to lower his head. After gripping the doorframe so hard it cracked, he turned and fled, ignoring Chrome's pleas for him to come back. She had finally caught up with him when he tried to fly away and she used illusions to drag him back before kissing him, his shy mist guardian using tongue for the first time to convince him that there was nothing between her and Ken.
When she walked into his house, having long since gotten a key, to find him leaning against a wall, tears slowly going down his face as he stared at a picture of Nana, the first thing she did when she dropped to her knees by his side is bury his face in her shoulder, kissing the back of his neck as he slowly began to hug her, the sobs escaping his throat like dirty secrets.
When she kissed him over and over, holding the small velvet box in her hand, she was trying to dispel her dream, trying to find some way to prove that this wasn't happening, because there was no way he would choose her of all people. When he got off his knee and kissed her back, he brought her back to reality.
The kiss he gave her as she scooted closer under the covers of their bed, in their new house, was his way of telling her that was wonderful...lets do it again.
When she burst open the doors on the meeting he was hosting between the allied families to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him with a passion that he had seen less of then an angry Yamamoto, he didn't have to see the pregnancy test in her hand to know what she wanted to say. We're going to be parents!
When he kissed her softly as she prepared to go on her last assassination -ever, if he had any say in it- he conveyed what his pride in her strength would never let him say, but what the hand that rubbed her slightly round stomach screamed. Please come back safely
When he kissed his palm and placed it to his left cheek as he ran down the halls of Vongola HQ, Mukuro and Ryohei at his sides, the others restraining the bastard Vongola commanders that had dared to betray him -dared to set Chrome up- it was his way of praying for her safety.
When she lightly kissed his exposed neck and collar as he carried her broken, bent, bloody body out of the rubble that had used to be a five story mall, even as she whispered "Dame-Tsuna, don't put yourself in danger." it was her way of thanking him over and over for coming for her, for saving her.
When he kissed the hand that he held as she rested in the hospital bed, wrapped in bandages, he was trying to tell her all the happy plans that he had for the three of them -Tsuna, Chrome, and their child- that he couldn't force past the guilt and fear in his throat.
When she momentarily woke up and looked to her side to see him with his head against the wall, sleeping, she smiled sadly and kissed him on his lips, not wanting to wake him and have to tell him Thank you for everything.
And all that is why, as he stood in the bright sunny day, watching the coffin lid be closed on his beloved wife's face, then the whole box being lowered into the ground, he felt empty and cold. Because he hadn't been able to say goodbye. His throat had seized up with pain and sadness, his heart had been gripped by the loneliness of losing your whole family, and he didn't have the strength to just lean into the coffin and give her his final farewell. He had just stood in front of her and cried like a little girl. He showed his weak side.
Behind him stood all of his friends. The Guardians had been her pallbearers, Bianchi had catered for the funeral (The one time her food isn't poison is the one time Tsuna would have begged it to be), Kyoko, Haru, and I-pin had all helped decorate the funeral home with Chrome's favorite skull and various goth-y decorations. The whole kokuyo gang had turned out, telling stories about Chrome, and all the times they'd had together. The leaders of the Foundation were there to pay their respects to the strongest woman they had ever met, and make sure their boss didn't run off early. Iemetsu and Reborn had both shown up with Basil, all three of whom tried at some point to comfort Tsuna.
But he wouldn't have any of it. The people around him were his friends, bodyguards, fellow warriors. They were all close. But none of them ate more food in the sugar food group then all the others combined. None of them could have the saddest smile and the brightest eyes at the same time. None of them could comfort him simply by being there. He had never felt more alone in his whole life.
"We had everything picked out." Tsuna rasped. You wouldn't have been able to hear it if you weren't listening for it, but some of the world's top hitmen were in the room. They quieted everyone else as Yamamoto spoke up. "What was that, Tsuna?" he asked, his voice containing a hint of emotion.
"We had everything picked out." he repeated, not bothering to raise his voice. "We had a room set up either way, whether it was going to be a boy or girl. Two rooms, right next to each other. A blue and a pink one. Whichever one got used, the other would become a nursery and play room. We were already planning on having more then one anyway, so when we had our second, they would share a room until they were old enough to sleep on their own."
The little calm that had spread over the room was shattered. Almost everyone began crying. The hardened mafiosi in the room didn't, but they had to look down. They couldn't watch their once proud, tall boss be reduced to this small, wasted figure he was becoming.
"We had these little playful, teasing discussions over what we should decorate the rooms with. We never actually argued. Chrome had bet that the one she was carrying was a boy, and wanted to implement her own tastes into the decorations. I was betting that it was a girl, and wanted to go the fluffy teddy bear route. She won when she pulled out her deer look. It's this look she had, where she would bow her head slightly, looking you in the eye as her eye began to sparkle. Almost like she had a little switch that she could flip whenever to make her eyes glow. God she was cute when she had that look going, especially if she smiled-"
"Please, Vongola." MM said. "Stop."
Tsuna walked in a quarter circle so he would still be looking at where Chrome's body would be and could still be facing MM. "She didn't use the look very often. And when she did, she almost always let me get what I wanted anyway. The only time she had seriously pulled out that look with every intention of destroying my logical argument is when we were trying to decide godparents. She was adamant about who it had to be. She insisted that you and Mukuro would be perfect for the job."
They both stiffened. Tsuna barreled on. "She said that even if you guys didn't have the best parenting skills you did have soft spots in your heart and she was sure that you two, as her friends, would watch out for our child if anything happened to the two of us."
MM began to shake slightly. Mukuro closed his eyes. "I think that's enough Tsunayoshi." he said.
"She loved our house." Tsuna ignored the pleas from everyone, continuing to talk as if it would somehow bring Chrome out of that horrid box and all that dirt. "She would spend every second she could in the house. If she wasn't on a mission, she was in the library reading. If she wasn't training illusionists, she was watching a movie in the living room. If she wasn't with me at a meeting, she was practicing her cooking skills. Of course she wanted me to do everything with her."
He smiled at a long passed memory. "She was a horrid cook, and it took her a while to realize it. I always swallowed down all her food anyway, but dinner became considerably happier when we started taking cooking lessons. After we finished our meals, she would always sit at the table for a moment before deciding if she had passed her own test or not. When she found out she was pregnant, she insisted that I do all the cooking so that we wouldn't 'Poison our child.' She quickly took this back when I forced her to cook so she would have something to do and suddenly she couldn't get enough of the same food that three weeks earlier was turning our faces green."
"Tenth." whispered Gokudera. "You...you need help. Please. Let's just, just go find some help, okay?" his voice cracked the last word.
Tsuna shook his head. "Through thick and thin, she stood by my side. Now she's cold and alone, having to protect our child all by herself. She needs to know I'm nearby, that I still care. She needs to know..." he trailed off, walking over and sitting by the headstone.
"Sawada, don't do this to the extreme." said Ryohei, a few tears escaping his eyes as he stared at the man he respected so much. Tsuna stared back at him blankly. He leaned slightly to look at Hana and the small child between them. Tsuna smiled. "Hello."
He looked back at Ryohei. "It must be nice, to be able to go home after a rough day to a loving wife, a smiling child. What's it like to be able to hold the woman you love, or to be able to pick up your son and swing him around as he giggles happily? How lucky you are-"
"Sawada!" Yelled Ryohei, his tears now in free fall. "I'm sorry that Chrome died! I'm sorry that you lost your wife and child to people you trusted! I'm sorry that you had to watch as she was lowered out of your reach! But it's extremely NOT. MY. FAULT. So DON'T you DARE try and bring my family into this!" he was shaking with anger and sadness.
"C'mon, Vongola." Said Lambo, still in his new middle school uniform. "Let's go get some ice cream or something. You know, something Chrome would like. Yeah! Lets get out of this scary place, and go have some fun!" He looked at Tsuna, upbeat and hopeful, trying to bring the man who had been his older brother for most of his life out of his misery.
Tsuna shook his head. "I'm sure Kyoko or Haru will take you later anyway. I'd rather stay here." and so saying, he rested his head against the stone as his eyes went out of focus. Almost everyone was trying to get him up, calling to him, begging him to get up and go somewhere.
"Let's go, Tsuna!"
"C'mon Tenth!"
"P-please, Tsuna-san."
"Tsu-kun...you're going to make things worse the longer you stay here."
"Why not go set up a shrine back at your house, Sawada?"
"Boss."
"Y-yeah, that's a great idea Ryohei. Lets g-"
"WHO!" Tsuna shot off the ground, glaring at everyone. "Who would DARE tarnish her memory here?" He shouted, lightly growling at the stunned onlookers.
His eyes darted around till he saw the glowing mist ring. "Mukuro, you BASTARD! Did you think you would get me to move by trying to impersonate Chrome?" Mukuro looked at him with a genuinely shocked face. "What are you talking about, Tsunayoshi?"
"I'm talking about you using mist illusions to fool me, that's what!" Tsuna pointed angrily at the mist ring as it flared, a fireball shooting over his shoulder before quickly slamming into the ground.
Everyone would have been pissed at Mukuro if they didn't see the fireball get back up before changing shape. All the Guardians had seen this phenomenon before in middle school, and it had started happening again recently.
Tsuna stiffened as he felt a familiar presence. "No...it's impossible." He whispered even as he felt a familiar hand intertwine with his. "Is it really?" said a sad, bell like voice behind him. "All the previous generations can do it..." The voice got closer to Tsuna as Chrome rested her head on his shoulder.
"...Why can't we?"
In a flash Tsuna spun, pulling her in. "I don't have long Boss." She said, hugging him back. "I'm still not too powerful, and this is going to burn a lot of energy."
She looked up at him, smiling even as her eye began to water. "We're probably going to have to make this quick." She whispered.
Tsuna nodded. "Why?" he asked, getting the one word out as fast as he could before his throat closed up again, cutting off the rest of his question
"Because we never really got to say goodbye." She whispered, understanding. Her eye almost closed as she fought the tears. "So..." she said, looking away. "Go...good...b-bye." She chocked out.
Tsuna pulled her closer, feeling his eyes begin to sting painfully as new tears prepared to begin flowing. "Bye." he whispered back.
Chrome broke their embrace, taking a step back. "There...there's someone else you have to say bye to." She said.
She looked down over her shoulder and said. "You can come out now, honey."
Tsuna's eyes looked down behind her legs as an orange and indigo ball of flame quickly appeared and disappeared. He stopped breathing and his eyes widened to a painful size as a small toddler peaked out around Chrome's leg, holding onto it for support as it stared at Tsuna with an orange eye, chocolate brown hair slightly covering it.
The little figure quickly ran around Chrome's leg, tripping over it's own feet halfway to Tsuna. It fell, but quickly got back up and ran to Tsuna, hugging his leg tightly.
Tsuna looked from the toddler clinging to him up to Chrome, who turned the edges of her lips upwards as she bit her bottom lip, a single tear going down her red face. "Well...pick her up." She said. Tsuna looked back down and picked up the child, placing his hand's under her armpits and bringing her up to eye level.
She had Chrome's face, rounder with her young age. In fact, she was the spitting image of Chrome, with three exceptions. Her hair was a messy chocolate brown. Her eyes were too big for her face. And they were orange.
"G-goodbye daddy." The girl in his hands said, giving him the same deer look Chrome always did, only without the smile.
Tsuna nodded, dazed. "Goodbye...honey." He said, the tears finally falling again, in full force.
The girl looked down, before turning her head to look at Chrome, who walked over to take the young girl...to take their child.
She pulled the girl close as the girl asked "Why can't we stay longer, Mommy?"
Chrome began to cry again as she tried to explain. "W-well...we don't belong here anymore. We have to go back."
The girl looked at her, panic in her eyes. "B-but I haven't spent any time here! I didn't talk to any of daddy's friends. or see my room, or meet friends, or go to school, or-"
Now even Reborn was pulling down the rim of his hat and biting his bottom lip at having to listen to this. At having to watch his former student and now boss's face contort in agony along with his wife's at their unborn child's pleas.
Chrome shook her head. "I'm sorry. But, we can't stay. We have to go soon. I-I'm so...so sorry." Chrome closed her eye as she hiccuped, trying to keep the sobs in. She was a mom. She shouldn't be showing such weakness.
The little girl understood that nothing was alright, and that they had to go back.
"When do we leave?" she asked sadly.
"Now." Was the cold reply from next to Mukuro.
Everyone turned to see Daemon Spade standing behind Mukuro, looking at Chrome the way Alaude would. No compassion. No care. Just the cold facts. "You're time is up, Dokuro."
Chrome nodded. The girl in her arms however, wasn't as calm. "NO! I..I don't want to go near that scary man...I don't want mommy to...I want to stay with daddy..." the girl began to sob.
"I'm sorry. But that can't happen." Said a slightly more caring voice from next to Tsuna.
Giotto walked up to Chrome. "She is of my blood." He said. "So she may stay with me, if you wish it."
Chrome thought about it. She nodded, handing her daughter to Giotto.
"Wai- Mommy, wait, come too!"
"I can't sweety." She said. "But you can come visit me whenever you want, okay?"
The little girl nodded, sniffling.
"It's time we all left then," Said Giotto, looking at Spade and Chrome, who had gone to stand next to him. He looked at Tsuna. "Decimo...I'm so sorry." was all he said, unable to meet his heir's eyes. He turned and became flame, taking Tsuna's daughter with him.
Spade sighed, putting his hand on Chrome's shoulder. "It's our turn then-"
Chrome broke from his grasp, running back to Tsuna and wrapping herself around him, kissing him passionately.
Until then, Tsuna had thought Chrome was being unbelievably strong. He thought she had accepted her fate and let it all go. But she felt the same as her daughter. She didn't want to go. She wanted to dig up her body and somehow possess it. She wanted to go back to the home she loved so much, give birth to their daughter, and grow old with the man she loved. She didn't want to go back to the ring, watching him from a distance as he grew worn, cold, alone. She didn't want to watch him possibly fall in love with someone else. As much as she could never say it, she didn't want him to move on.
This time it was Tsuna who broke away, pulling her tight against them as they both began to sob. They stayed like that for close to ten seconds before Spade sighed. "I'm sorry but I have to do this." was all he said before he snapped his fingers.
He disappeared instantly. Chrome didn't. She slowly faded. Even with his eyes closed, Tsuna knew she was leaving. He could feel the circle his arms made get looser and looser around her body before with a last "Boss...", Chrome Dokuro left the world.
Tsuna fell to his knees, openly sobbing. He didn't react to anything. Not the similar noises going on all around him. Not the pair of sleek shiny dress shoes that moved till they were right in front of him. Not the small drops of water he felt fall onto his head and neck.
Until he decided to look up and finally noticed that the shoes belonged to none other then Hibari Kyoya, who was currently taking deep breaths as a few tears streaked his cheeks. "Stand up herbivore." he said.
Tsuna shook his head.
"Stand up herbivore. Your daughter is watching you from that ring on your finger. Are you going to disappoint her?" he asked, his voice shaking at the memory of that tiny babe hiding behind Chrome's legs. Even aloof clouds get shaken up by frightened small children.
Tsuna looked at Hibari. "I...I can't." He gasped.
Hibari nodded. "And that's where we come in." he said, squatting and wrapping his hands around Tsuna's chest. He stood up again while holding Tsuna, bringing the shorter man to his full height. But Tsuna's knees still couldn't support his weight, so Ryohei got on his other side and grabbed an arm, and then Tsuna was being walked toward the exit by his two most athletic Guardians. Then Yamamoto and Gokudera walked in front of them, each picking up a leg and putting it on one of their shoulders. Then Lambo and Mukuro came up in between the two groups and supported Tsuna's back.
The same positions they'd had for carrying Chrome into the cemetery, they carried Tsuna out.
Tsuna thought about what Chrome had told him. All the previous generations could do it... why can't we? He looked at the mist ring on Mukuro's finger. He unwrapped the arm that was around Hibari's head, and took the mist ring off Mukuro's hand. He lifted and folded his legs, gracefully falling onto his feet and straightening up.
Looking down at the mist ring in his hand, he softly kissed it before handing it back to Mukuro. No one really understood why he did it.
Except for a consciousness deep in the ring that had just begun to reawaken after using up all it's power earlier.
Chrome smiled from the depths of the ring. She knew what it meant.
I will come back to you eventually...my one and only.
For how else could Chrome and Tsuna express their undying love in anything...but through a kiss?
When I first imagined the story, I admit, I cried during the whole burial scene. Then when I transferred it to words, I think it lost some of it's potency. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading.