Tsuna stared uncomprehendingly at the scene in front of him, horror in his eyes and tear stains on his dirty and beat up face. There was Enma, his strange eyes open wide but stared at nothing, some blood dribbling out of his lifeless lips. Xanxus's body hung limply on a blood stained tree, a sword through his chest. A charred body was still smoking, and the little skin still intact showed Dino's tatoo's. Countless other bodies littered the scarred and smoldering field.
It had seemed so easy, so simple! The Arcobaleno competing to be freed of their curses, Tsuna and his guardians of course fighting for Reborn. But if there was one thing he had learned and should have known was that nothing is easy and nothing is simple. It would haunt his dreams forever, the things that had happened today. All the Arcobaleno had become Vindice. Colonello, Lal Mirch, Verde, all of them. Even Reborn.
They had all collapsed in pain as their bodies grew back to adult size, and there had been a brief moment of relief, as if now that they were back to their original sizes they could be okay. But a second later bandages began to spring out of nowhere, wrapping around their bodies. They all immediately began to help each other to attempt to rip them off, even though they sprung as soon as they were taken off. It was then that Tsuna realized that they were a familia, as they tried so hard to help each other. Then the Vindice came, chains springing out and dragging away the Arcobaleno, who still attempted to fight. And seeing them helplessly being torn away. Then making eye contact with Reborn's chocolate orbs, determined and strong, even in his last moments, until those too were covered in bandages and the Arcobaleno were gone.
After that, Checkerface… took care of everyone else.
Well, not everyone. Tsuna thought to himself as he momentarily shook out of his stupor to look around. His guardians were standing more or less in a wide circle, all in similar states of shock. He turned to the guardian to his right, which was ironically Gokudera, and opened his mouth. His cracked and felt weak, as though he hadn't used it in years, not minutes.
"What now?" The words hung in the air as he gained the attention of the only active people in within at least a mile radius. But before anyone could muster themselves to give response to a question that had no good answer to it a light shone in the center or their loose circle and seven clear pacifiers floated in the air. Tsuna's eyes widened as a sphere of light appeared around the pacifiers and slowly began to expand.
Their feet felt rooted in place and the first person the light came to was Ryohei. His face screwed up in pain and he let out a roar as bright yellow flames were ripped out him, and floated int eh air for a moment, taking on the form of a kangaroo before being absorbed by one of the pacifiers. Ryohei slumped to the ground, his face pale and his eyes looking like all the fire was out of them, which in a way it was. The now yellow pacifier floated down to Ryohei and as soon as it came in contact with him light exploded, and a scream echoed through the clearing, grating on Tsuna's ears at the pain that filled the voice.
Then, the circle began to expand again.
Terror gripped Tsuna. And then he felt a hand grab his leg. For a split second he considered that on top of everything else a zombie apocalypse was starting since as far as he knew everyone else was dead. But then he saw Byakuran's corpse – or rather Byakuran's very alive body, struggle to stand up in front of him.
Apparently Byakuran had managed to survive Checkerface, but by the wounds littering his body, hair that was stained red with blood, eyes that were clouded as though he was already piercing the veil, Tsuna knew he must at least be swapping secret handshakes with Death himself.
"B-Byakuran." Tsuna chocked out as the wail of his five year old lightning guardian entered his ears.
"Tsuna," His lack of an honorific surprising Tsuna. "…let me take your place."
"No!" Tsuna yelled as the green flames became a bull.
"I can buy us time."
"No!"
"Just let me-"
"Byakuran-"
"Sawada-san!" Tsuna's eyes widened. Byrakuran was never formal with names, ever. "Do you trust me?" A green pacifier began descending.
"No. But you're out only chance." Byakuran managed to smile, or all things, and as he raised his hand it became elveloped with sky flames.
"Perfect, Tsu-chan, then we can start." He gripped Tsuna's wrist as the world became black.
Tsuna came to in a large open field with long grasses swaying in the wind. A blue sky reached across the horizon and a tree line could barely seen at the edges of his vision.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Tsuna whirled around to see Byakuran sitting on an outcropping of rock facing an ocean. Had that been there a few seconds ago? He walked up to Byakuran, not sure what to say, but found that he didn't have to.
"You know, this is where I was prepared to die, way back after that whole ordeal in the future. She came and stopped me. Uni, that is. I was prepared to atone for all I had done, to everyone, to her, and she stopped me from killing myself." Tsuna sat down next to his white haired friend.
"…But now my savior is need of some saving, isn't she?" Byakuran turned to look at Tsuna, his expression serious. "Oh, and I guess the rest of the Arcobaleno and you're guardians too." He winked.
"Where the heck are we?" Tsuna asked as the waves crashed against their little cliff.
"In between parallel worlds, it's like its own little sphere that becomes whatever you consider 'paradise' to look like." He said. Tsuna looked at his surroundings. Was this really what Byakuran considered paradise to look like? That surprised him for some reason.
"Okay, what's the plan?" He said it with determination in his voice.
"No so much of a plan as a gamble. Since you have really strong flames with an extra boost of my own special abilities and flames I can boost your soul to fill the spot of a you in a different world where you just died of sudden heart failure. Don't worry, I've done it a ton times accidentally with Sho-chan." Tsuna sweat dropped at that. "Since times in between worlds is fluid you can spend years researching ways to reverse the Curse of the Rainbow and heal Vindice while significantly less time will pass in our world and…. And you're looking at me like I've grown two heads." He stated the last part with an eyebrow raised.
"I mean, you're just acting like you know stuff."
"Oh Tsu-chan, you wound me~" Byakuran said dramatically, one hand raised to his forehead.
"Will the you of that world be able to help me?" Tsuna asked, and Byakuran's face darkened.
"The me of that world is in a coma, but the doctors haven't noticed that there hasn't been any brain activity for years. He's already gone."
"I- I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I've died worse deaths." Byakuran stated with a smile, and Tsuna realized that with Byakuran's ability, he must have endured life times' worth of pain. Sympathy trickled through him.
"Anyway, I might be able to enter that body and help you, but the curse has already started to touch my soul, so it might be hard. The more I become part of the trinsette of our world, the harder it will be to able to leave it. Our souls are always connected to our real bodies, so even if I do manage to get to this other world, the curse will come with me." Byakuran shrugged. "But since you're so dame I'll probably have to help you anyway~"
"I-I've gotten way better!" Tsuna argued defiantly, to which Byakuran just rolled his eyes, his lips in a smile.
"Sure you have, Tsu-chan~" Byakuran's hand lit up with flames one again, and he spread it out towards Tsuna. Tsuna looked at the hand. His ticket to the only chance he had to saving his friends and family. As he gripped the sky flames his vision blurred until everything became white.
Byakuran clutched at his chest, coldness washing over him as Tsuna's form disappeared, his own flames with him. Apparently his flames were also regenerating slower. Great. He wouldn't be able to return to his own body right now without risking not being able to leave it, and he had far from the necessary amount of flames to send him to his body in the world he just sent Tsuna to.
"Crap!" He exclaimed as his hand hit his forehead. He had forgot to tell Tsuna how the world he was going to was different. Ah well, he'd have to figure it out on his own. Hopefully he wouldn't freak out too much.
Okay, some of you might notice, this isn't a really a new chapter, I just rewrite the first chapter since I hated how I wrote it and I want to go in a little different direction ;) Tell me what ya think?