Ottava Finestra: Anello di Pioggia

"If this is one of your stupid jokes…"

"It's not, it's not. Gee, why must Hayato always think the worst of me?"

Gokudera was fuming. He had been tricked, and by an idiot like Yamamoto nonetheless. It had seemed suspicious when the Rain Guardian came to him and said "Tsuna called to say there's a super important party tonight and that we should wear our best tuxedos", but Gokudera never imagined his lover would use the Tenth to deceive him. So he put on his Armani and did what could be done for his unruly hair. And then, before he knew what was going on, a blindfold had been put on his eyes and his wrists held together to keep him from taking it off.

"Don't fret, it's just me, it's me!" Yamamoto chuckled merrily, his mouth too close to Hayato's ear for comfort. "Humor me a little, please? I have a surprise for you." And he pulled him inside a car in which they'd been driving for the past forty minutes. Gokudera was growing impatient, and he had to make a real effort to hold back the itch to take off the piece of cloth from his eyes. Not that there was anything physically stopping him, but he'd decided he'd play along Yamamoto's plan for now.

The car came to a halt and Gokudera felt Yamamoto tugging at his arm, indicating him to get down. "Just a little longer, we're almost there".

The first thing Gokudera noticed when they stepped out, given the noise of voices and steps, was that they were in a public place. He really hoped there weren't many people around; they'd think he was an idiot for walking around with blind eyes. Yamamoto laced their arms together and helped him to climb a set of steps blindly.

"Can't I take this shit off already?" he complained when he noticed they'd gone inside a building with marbled floors.

"Not yet, not yet! Bear with it just a few more minutes, I beg you." Yamamoto said one last time as he let go of Gokudera's arm and started walking away -Gokudera could tell from the sound of his voice growing distant.

"Oi, you asshole, don't leave me here like that! I'm taking this shit off this instant, bastard!" he screamed, suddenly realizing the sound of voices, whispers and giggles surrounding him. His hand was already halfway to taking off the blindfold when another arm slipped around his, but it was most certainly not Yamamoto's.

"Keep it down, kid; you shouldn't be screaming such profanities in this place."

Hayato was puzzled. "Shamal?"

The doctor grumbled. "Well yeah, who else? Consider this a special service. Bianchi wanted to do it, but she feared the ceremony would be ruined if you got sick all of a sudden. Ah, you can take that off now, everyone's staring."

Hayato had little time to process what Shamal had said as he took the blindfold off and looked around him, not really sure if he understood what was going on. The place was full with people in formal clothes, mostly from Vongola, and all of them were staring at the front of the room where he was standing, as if waiting patiently for something. It was then that he heard the music and saw the man in the middle of the room, holding a thick book and a stack of papers.

"A wedding?" he asked baffled. "Is the Tenth getting married?"

Shamal laughed. "Damn, I couldn't believe Yamamoto when he said you didn't know anything, but it turned out to be true, huh? Look over there." He pointed to the opposite extreme of the room, right in front of them. Yamamoto was standing there with Tsuyoshi Yamamoto holding little Fuuko –dressed in a super cute little dress- standing right beside him. The Rain Guardian blushed when he noticed Hayato's stare and waved his hand while smiling nervously.

"This is your wedding, you idiot."

Gokudera's neck almost snapped from the speed with which he turned to look back at Shamal, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Hey, don't look at me like that; I don't know the full story either. All I heard from your sister was that Yamamoto got on his knees in front of her and said something along the lines of 'I humbly request you grant me the honor of having your brother' which I suppose…"

The Storm guardian didn't hear much past that; his brain was under a heavy stun effect and was barely capable of dealing with its essential functions –for instance, telling his heart to beat and his lungs to breath- . He was perfectly conscious of the beet red color that had spread over his cheeks and that now everyone was staring at him, but all he could think was what-the-fuck. There was no way he could wrap his head around the concept of standing in the middle of his own wedding without the slightest clue of what was going on. And he didn't even have time to settle down about it because as the music continued, Shamal tugged on his arm and pegged him to start walking down the aisle holy shit. Then he started wondering why it was Shamal of all people giving him away and he realized everything was really fucked up.

In his numb state of mind, he realized that Fuuko –three years of age and cute as ever- was holding a small bowl from which she was producing white flower petals and showering them clumsily on the floor and on top of his father and grandfather's head. Gokudera decided he must be dreaming. This was all too ridiculous –even for Yamamoto- and that he'd most definitely wake up any given moment.

When they reached the center of the room, Shamal let go of his arm and stepped back into the crowd, whilst Yamamoto senior made a low bow and murmured "I'll leave them in your care" leaving Fuuko on the ground. The little girl giggled and threw more flowers around.

Gokudera scowled at the other man. "You better explain what the fuck is the meaning of this, and you better do it fast."

Yamamoto chuckled nervously. "I just wanted to surprise Hayato? Haha" he scratched the back of his face. The Storm Guardian decided to ignore the minister who was looking at both of them quizzically.

"Whatever made you think you should plan some wedding without even asking my opinion about it?"

Yamamoto's face was suddenly drained of color. Okay, so maybe it had been kind of a crazy idea from the beginning, but he'd thought that, like always, Gokudera would roll his eyes and play along. It's not like this wedding meant anything, anyway, since whatever piece of paper they received in Italy would be completely worthless in Japan. Yamamoto only wanted something, a little ceremony, to show the world how much they loved each other, to become an "official" family. There was also, of course the passing thought that, should anything happen to him, Gokudera would at least be able to make a case to the Italian legal system to let him keep Fuuko. It never quite occurred to him that his love would react so negatively to the idea "I-I just ah… this is embarrassing… I mean… because I love Hayato and uhm… I…"

Murmurs started to rise among the crowd. Yamamoto felt like crying so he turned his gaze away from Gokudera, who let out a heavy sigh. "You're so stupid. If you wanted to do something like this, you should've asked me, it's insanely rude to just assume I want to marry you."

By now, even Fuuko had noticed her father's state of distress. Yamamoto couldn't speak due to the big lump that had installed itself in his throat, so he remained quiet, with his eyes glued to the ground and trying to will his legs to run away.

He was startled by Gokudera flicking his forehead with his finger. "Oi? Are you even listening? What's up with that face, you're scaring Fuuko."

Yamamoto forced himself to chuckle. "Haha, sorry I-I just… haa… I didn't expect Hayato to re-reject me."

The green-eyed man huffed in annoyance. "I can't believe you. You're just gonna make me say it, aren't you?"

Yamamoto didn't reply since he had no clue of what Gokudera was talking about, so he remained silent. When the other man apparently got tired of waiting, he huffed once again.

"You have to p-propose."

Eh?

Yamamoto looked up, completely confused.

"If you want me to marry you, you have to propose first, you blockhead!"

Gokudera was blushing, Yamamoto noticed, but his brain was still pretty fuzzy to fully comprehend what was going on. This seemed to irritate Gokudera even further, for he crossed his arms across his chest and turned his back on him, but didn't move from his spot.

"It will be the first and only time in my whole life getting married; the least I can expect is to follow proper protocol. Y-you'll jinx it otherwise"

He heard Yamamoto laughing at his back and turned around to see that the other man was already down on one knee and looking up at him with a huge grin plastered on his face. The baseball fanatic grabbed his hand and brushed his lips against his fingertips.

"Gokudera Hayato, would you humble me with the honor and greatest joy of marrying me?...Oh,sorry that I don't have a proper engagement ring."

The Storm Guardian flushed beet-red and rolled his eyes at the extreme formality at the same time. He didn't really expect for Yamamoto to propose right-here-right-now, but who was he kidding, the guy had orchestrated a whole wedding in secret. He was about to say 'yes' in a way that didn't sound like he was totally into this, but neither totally against it, when Fuuko tugged on Yamamoto's sleeve.

"This is ring." She said coyly, giving Yamamoto a thin white ribbon she'd been wearing. The man smiled at her and ruffled her now loose hair.

"Whoa, this is just perfect, thank you sweetie."

Gokudera smiled at the scene and for once decided to drop his bitter tsundere act –not that he was admitting to being a tsundere, he was not and he didn't care what Takeshi's stupid Japanese fetishes had to say about it-. "How could I say 'no' with such a perfect ring?"

Yamamoto's grin widened (if that was even possible) and he tied the ribbon around Gokudera's finger to make it look like a ring.

It seemed that everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief when Yamamoto stood back up and signaled for the minister to continue. Gokudera didn't pay much attention to the man's words, too busy feeling embarrassed with the whole situation, but he didn't protest when Yamamoto wouldn't let go of his hands throughout the whole ceremony.

"Hayato is so mean. You gave me a scare, I thought I'd become the bride that gets abandoned at the altar." He whispered with a nervous smile.

The Storm Guardian rolled his eyes (he seemed to be doing it a lot today). "One would expect that even an idiot like you would have a little more faith in my feelings." He too whispered, turning his face away to hide his embarrassment.

Yamamoto's face brightened and he seemed like he was about to say something else when the minister cleared his throat and announced they should be reading their vows now. Gokudera froze on the spot –he didn't have any vows- and glared at his to-be-husband to signal his anger. The Rain Guardian smiled and squeezed Hayato's hands in his.

"I'm really terrible with words" he started, raising his voice. "but I suppose that's not really a problem, because there's no way my feelings for Hayato could ever be put into words anyway." The crowd "aww'ed" and Hayato blushed even harder if that was even possible. "I don't know if there's anything an idiot like me can offer to Hayato;" He continued, his own cheeks turning a little red. "just that who you were, who you are and who you will be… I promise to love all of them no matter what."

Gokudera's heart skipped a beat over the raw sincerity of Yamamoto's speech and the brightness of his smile. He was still pissed because he hadn't had any time to prepare anything and was just about to make a fool of himself in front of half of Vongola, but he wiped those thoughts away and squeezed back at Yamamoto's hands.

"You're an idiot." He began, causing Yamamoto to chuckle. "You're such an idiot that you can look past all my flaws and accept me in spite of them." He paused, took a deep breath and looked up into Yamamoto's eyes, a small, gentle smile drawing itself on his lips. "You're also my family, the bright light that shines to my darkness… my safe place… my home. And so long as you keep seeing any light in me… I promise I'll always find my way back to you... to both of you" He squeezed Yamamoto's hands tighter and smiled when he noticed the taller man flushing beet-red.

Yamamoto chuckled and fidgeted as he slid a proper ring down Hayato's finger "T-that took me by surprise, haha. I didn't expect Hayato to say something so r-romantic. I'm going all doki-doki , what should I doooo?"

Hayato didn't reply. He too placed the ring on Takeshi's finger and then moved to sign the marriage act when the minister called them to do it.

"I now proclaim you officially married. You may now kiss the groom."

Gokudera wasn't sure of when he'd started to go with the flow of things, but he realized he was already more into it than he'd ever admit. He slid one arm around Takeshi's waist and used his free hand to grab at the back of his hair and pull him down for a kiss. He felt his husband holding him by the hips and pulling him closer, the kiss completely stealing their breaths away as the crowd cheered.

When the kiss broke, Yamamoto grabbed his hand and picked Fuuko up with his free arm, pulling him out of the hall. The crowd cheered and clapped as they threw flowers at them. Yamamoto threw a flower bouquet towards the crowd (and it landed on an unexcited HibariKyouya's lap) and then rushed outside the building, where a car was waiting for them. The three of them got inside and Yamamoto burst into laughter when the vehicle started moving.

"What's gotten into you?" Hayato quirked his eyebrows as he picked Fuuko up and sat her on his lap.

His husband smiled and scooted closer to both of them. "Nothing. I just couldn't be happier." He confessed as he leaned in to capture his beloved's lips in a deep kiss.

Gokudera indulged for a couple of seconds, allowing himself to be swept away by Yamamoto's enthusiasm, but finally pushed the other man back. "Fuuko is watching, don't be so irresponsible." He ignored Yamamoto's pout and pinched Fuuko's nose affectionately. "When did you even have time to plan all this, by the way? For how long have you been scheming this thing?"

"You make me sound like a suspicious person. Last month I heard from Tsuna that we'd be coming to Italy for work, so I asked him to give me the chance to pull it off. It's been on my mind for a while too, you know? Marrying Hayato and becoming an 'official' family. It's impossible in Japan, so I thought now was the chance. I even asked Bianchi-san for Hayato's hand. She laughed at me; that was really mean." He grinned, clearly not as offended by it as he wanted to pretend.

"Me help!" Fuuko welped suddenly, raising her hand in the air.

"That's right! Fuu-chan was a lot of help! She helped me pick the rings and my suit. Oh, and the cake too!"

"Wait, cake?! There was no cake at the registry, what are you talking about?!" he bursted while Fuuko giggled happily at hearing all her accomplishments being listed and recognized.

"Why, of course! The cake is at the reception, we're heading there right now. Oh, Fuu-chan also helped me choose the piece for our dance! It was so hard to decide, you know? It's the song that will become 'our song'; I couldn't make up my mind on my own. Fuu-chan was a lot of help" he smiled giddily, ruffling the girl's hair and scratching at his chin when a deep tint of red spread over his cheeks.

Gokudera finally gave up and smiled. He'd learned long ago that Yamamoto was a hopeless romantic and he found that side of his husband to be particularly cute. That the 'natural born hitman' was blushing red over the thought of 'their song' was adorable in its own peculiar way.

He leaned his head on Takeshi's shoulder and hummed pleasantly, one of his hands lacing with Yamamoto's. He smiled when he saw the rings in both their hands and thought that Yamamoto had been right earlier. This was perfect. He couldn't be happier.

-Finito-

Clumsiest ending ever.

I wanted to upload this for Yama's birthday, but I was so busy with school and having fun that I totally forgot D:. I really apologize for the late update, but I hope the chapter itself makes up for it, it's one of my favorites so far, and I think it gathers together all the important themes I want to highlight in this series, especially the part about family and home, and Gokudera finding the place where he belongs.

It's very likely that I won't be very active for the following three months since I'm currently studying one semester in Japan and between school and tourism I don't spend that much time on the internet as usual. I'm slowly writing up a few more stories, but I'm not feeling quite inspired now, so I apologize in advance.

Anyway, this chapter was very difficult to write, but it was one of the first I envisioned when I started writing these short stories. I hope their vows weren't too cheesy, I wanted to keep them kind of in character ehhh… I don't know what I'm saying anymore.

I hope everyone likes it, and I promise to try hard and update as often as I can. Please R&R