A/N: Yaaaaay! New chap guys! :) AND THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS/FOLLOWS/FAVS they really make my day~~ And I'm gonna be leaving this fic for maybe a few weeks/a month or so? Because yeah, I gotta study for my exams and school is so demanding ;-; I just kinda have a break for this week or so, which is why I managed to finish this HAHAH

Hope y'all enjoy!

Warnings: I officially give up on this thing

Dedication: U.s.a.g.i.n.e.k.o-c.h.a.n, one of my most frequent reviewers ^~^ Thank you so much for your support!

Disclaimer: Don't own KHR or Coming Home by Dirty Money


"Maybe our favourite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting." - John Green

Chapter 6

A muted thump and a haunted whisper of 'no, this can't be...', before hands replaced his, wrapping tightly around Tsuna's frail shoulders. His head lolled limply at the side, his eyes still closed. If Reborn hadn't known, hadn't touched his cold skin just moments before, he would have thought the brunet was in a deep, peaceful sleep.

But death really was just an eternal sleep, wasn't it?

Ienashi was shaking his brother, voice growing more and more hysterical by the second. Reborn wanted to stop him, wanted to tell him that he shouldn't treat his brother like this, but couldn't feel enough strength to do so. Strange. So strange… He hadn't felt this way for a long time.

It certainly had been a long time since he had not managed to protect someone he had vowed to protect. And he had sworn - long ago, when he grudgingly admitted that perhaps he had gotten slightly attached to Dino - that he would do everything he could before he allowed any of his students to die on his watch.

But Tsuna was dead, wasn't he? Still, motionless, lifeless… Dead.

"-dead! He's dead, he's dead, he's dead! You liar! You said you'd help him! You said you'd save him! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" Ienashi spat, his Hyper Dying Will mode no longer active but his eyes remaining a dangerous, angry orange.

There was no answer, because truthfully, there was nothing to say. Reborn had not, of course, intended to kill Tsuna, but intention and reality were two separate and often contrasting things. There was no use denying it. He deserved the blame.

Turning once more to his brother, Ienashi began to scream and shout, too confused by the wild and frantic emotions swirling in him to think beyond the grief and pain that shrouded him with confusion and trapped him in its dark recesses.

He was gripping Tsuna's shoulders so tightly that some part of his mind was almost afraid he might injure him, but he could hardly think or care about it. He felt as though he was slowly drowning, his lungs heavy and filling with liquid, the tide uncaring and unfeeling, dragging him down and down and down and down… He was sinking further and further away from the surface, a hand reaching up but there was nothing to grab on to, and he found he couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't think, couldn't believe it-

But he could hear. Everything was muffled, like he was listening through a thick wooden door, but he could hear. There was someone, half-pleading, half-screaming, someone who sounded oddly ...like him.

"Nii-san! Wake up, nii-san!" A chuckle, more hysterical than anything else. "This isn't the time to play a prank on me! I know you're awake, just open your eyes and stop pretending!" A thump, then pain searing up his right arm, but it felt like nothing compared to the fist squeezing his heart so tightly that every heartbeat hurt like a million knives stabbing him.

His voice softened, becoming a mere whisper of a breath. "Don't leave me alone." Hands that felt like his shakily reached out for the brunet. "I'm scared; won't you come back? Ne, nii-san?" His heart was pounding loudly in his chest, his breaths shallow and quick. "You promised to protect me, nii-san. Don't leave me. Please don't leave me alone..." There was only a muted silence, roaring, overwhelmingly loud. His head hurt; he couldn't take it. He couldn't.

With all the strength left in him, the voice screamed, "You promised to protect me!"

Tsuna was lying on his back in one of his dreamscapes again.

It was the same place as that morning - his favourite. The field, the sky, the quiet summer rain.

He had always liked rain. It cooled his heated skin, cleansed his tainted soul. He could almost feel peaceful with the raindrops steadily drizzling on him.

He could stay like this forever, staring up at the endless, cloudless blue sky.

That moment felt perfect.

Closing his eyes, he began to sing, one of the songs that gave him peace instead of strength.

First humming the melody, he slowly merged into the song,

"I'm coming home,

I'm coming home,

Tell the world I'm coming home.

Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday,

I know my kingdom awaits,

And they've forgiven my mistakes.

I'm coming home,

I'm coming home,

Tell the world I'm coming home.

Back where I belong,

Yeah, I never felt so strong. (yeah)

I feel like there's nothing that I can't try,

And if you with me put your hands high

If you ever lost a light before, this one's for you

And you, the dreams are for you."

His voice was unbelievably melodic and sweet, soft but strong at the same time, rising and falling perfectly. Humming a little more, he launched into the chorus again, his favourite part of the song,

"I'm coming home,

I'm coming home,

Tell the world I'm coming home.

Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday,

I know my kingdom awaits,

And they've forgiven my mistakes.

I'm coming home,

I'm coming home,

Tell the world I'm coming home…"

He trailed off softly, leaving him in a state of calm and assurance that he hadn't been in for who knows how long.

He felt like he was out of time altogether, and he wondered whether death would feel similar to this. It wouldn't be too bad, he supposed.

A loud crash of thunder jolted him into snapping his eyes open, and he was almost horrified to see that the once-blue sky had darkened in seconds, now covered with thick black clouds, streaks of lightning zipping through the stormy sky. Dumbstruck, he raised his right hand up and watched as a viscous crimson liquid pooled in his cupped palm.

It was raining blood.

It was then that he suddenly remembered he really was supposed to be dead. He barely had time to come to terms with this realisation before thundered boomed once more, and somewhere in the deafening, resounding sound, he heard the words,

"You promised to protect me!"

Promise… promise… promise…

Panic crashed through him as memories flooded to the forefront of his mind. Smiling at his brother, trying to ignore his own pain, he patted the head of brown hair and comforted the sniffling Nashi, "Don't worry! Nii-san will always protect you!"

Brutally, he was thrown back into reality.

I can't die now.

Eyelids fluttered open, revealing bright orange irises, filled with determination and a dangerous calmness. Ienashi was suddenly sucked back into his own body, and a sharp gasp tore itself free from his vocal cords. Lightning fast, hope and relief raced through him, thawing the ice in his veins. Barely a second later, the eyes had shut again, but there was a warmth spreading through the body in his arms, no longer so stiff, no longer so cold.

It was like the water had suddenly receded, and he found that tears were rolling down his cheeks, dripping onto his trembling hands, and he didn't know whether they were tears of grief or tears of happiness but it didn't matter to him at all because he was burying his face into his brother's shirt and crying and sobbing and laughing, because he could feel the steady rising and falling of Tsuna's chest, he could hear Tsuna's heart beating, because Tsuna is alive Tsuna is alive his nii-san is alive.

And as Reborn stood at the side watching the colour slowly return to the older twin's skin, the only thing that he could think was that this was a miracle. Going straight into Hyper Dying Will mode without training… It could only be brought about by the purest and most intense of emotions, and even then, it was rare. He had not known that the two brothers cared for each other as deeply as this, hadn't realised that their potential was so great.

Pulling his fedora down to hide the tiny smile that floated onto his face, he allowed himself to hope that perhaps this family wasn't as far gone as he had previously thought.

~Gokudera~

In all the lonely years of desperation after running away from home, he had never wanted to join a Famiglia as much as now. Having been born and raised in the Mafia, he knew without a doubt that his life and fate were so hopelessly intertwined with its corruption that he could never hope to be salvaged. Often, he resented that fact.

But if the Tenth boss of Vongola wanted to take him in, he would gladly plunge himself back into the dark world of the Mafia and throw away everything - even his life - for him. He would follow his boss to the end of the world if that's what it took, and through Hell and back. That was how deeply the brunet had touched him.

His grief, his pain, his fear…

In the mafia, there was never anything as undeniably genuine as the brunet's tears were. It was a place full of lies, a place where love can't thrive and all inherent kindness slowly wastes away.

Truthfully, the bomber hadn't felt so warm since… the last time he had laid his hands on the piano and poured his soul through his fingertips and into every key, every note. Since he had last opened his heart and allowed all of his emotions to flow free.

Wistfully, Gokudera recalled that the piano lady had once told him that the most amazing thing about his playing was neither his skill nor his talent, but rather the feelings he could bring out in the piece. He had been elated, eyes sparkling brightly and excitedly.

However, he didn't tell her that he had never stopped thinking of his own playing as, at the most, a poor imitation of hers. The music she created was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. Not because of the feelings she could bring out inthe piece, but rather the emotions she could evoke with the piece.

She really created music. Her music danced and sang in the hearts of her listeners, and he still keeps every key and every note close to him, a sacred memory of the only person in the world he had truly loved.