Episode 27: The Original Storm
"She's a good girl; she loves her mama. She loves Jesus, and America too. She's a good girl. She's crazy 'bout Elvis. She loves horses, and her boyfriend, too."
-"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty

X G. X

He still remembered the first day he met Nami. She was so young, and so was he. He was at the ball with the rest of the Vongola, which was what they'd decided to call themselves. They were just a band of vigilantes who protected the weak and made sure that the town was all right.

G. sighed, taking another sip from the elegant wine glass. "You okay?" a voice asked. He looked up to see a girl with black hair, sipping wine as well, in a dress that fit her form perfectly. The grimace on her face told him that she didn't want to be there either. "You look like you want to get out of here."

He scoffed. "You bet I do. I hate formal shit like this. It's not really my scene." He shrugged, taking another sip of the wine. "What about you? You don't really look like you want to be here, either."

"Damn straight," she retorted, downing the rest of her drink in a very un-ladylike display. "My father runs this kind of thing. I hate it," she grumbled. "What's your name, stranger?"

Looking up at her, he replied, "G."

She raised on eyebrow. "That's it? No last name, just an initial?" He nodded, scanning the room for his boss. "Well, I guess it'll have to do. My name's Nami."

"No last name?" he mocked.

Nami shook her head. "You get what you give, kid." She grabbed the expensive bottle of wine that was on the table and plopped into the seat next to G. Pouring herself another glass, she grunted, "I cannot wait for this thing to be over."

G. shrugged. "Live with it."

"Same to you." He smirked; he liked this girl. She was fun, easy to talk to, and hated this kind of get-together just as much as him. "Damn you, Daemon Spade," she muttered. "If you and Elena hadn't run off somewhere, I'd be out of here by now."

Scoffing, G. told her, "I think that happened to my boss, too. Knowing him, he's distracted himself with something or other."

She giggled a little, taking another sip. "Great boss you got, eh?"

"Despite his abandonment in this… hell, he's a great boss. He really is." She smiled a little. "Have you heard of the group called the Vongola?"

Nodding her head, Nami poured more wine into the empty glass and replied, "Yeah. They're that wicked awesome group of guys who protect people in need of help." She had an almost dreamy look in her eyes when she said that. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "My boss is Giotto."

Her eyes widened. Everyone knew the name Giotto. He was the leader of the Vongola, and one of the most amazing fighters for justice that their little town had ever seen. "Wait… you're that G., aren't you?"

"The one and only," he replied in an almost sing-song voice. "Nice to meet you, Nami." He held out his hand for her to shake.

G. sighed. They'd become rather close after that day. Nami had joined the Vongola with her childhood friend Daemon Spade. She'd become his closest female friend, and the only person G. had ever fallen in love with.

"Nami." Said girl looked up from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. "I'm home." A bright smile overtook her face and she stood up. He opened his arms and embraced her tightly.

She looked up patronizingly and said, "You said you'd only be five days, but it took you eight to come home. Did something happen?"

He sighed and pulled her closer, sitting on one of the chairs. "We ran into more resistance than we would've liked."

Nami looked really worried at this point. "Now that the Vongola has gotten this big, we're bound to meet more resistance than we would've liked. It's been two years since Elena died, and now we have more enemies than ever."

It was true; Elena, Daemon Spade's lover, had been murdered when another Mafia Family they'd managed to anger sometime in the past invaded the Vongola's newly acquired territory in Italy. She died fighting, but it wasn't enough.

"I think the Vongola should step down," Nami finished hesitantly. "I think that we've gotten to big, and now, we're going to pay the price. We're part of the Mafia now, G. I think we've gotten in way too deep now." G. looked at his lover in shock. "I know, I know, you and Giotto have put too much into this to give up now, but all I can ask is that you at least get the Vongola out of the Mafia."

G. sighed again, running his hand through his hair. "I know how you feel, but we really have to keep going. We're still the Vongola Family."

She'd always stood by that, from there on. She wanted the Vongola to be taken down, since it put his life on the line every day. Finally, there was the betrayal. All of the things that had been happening for the next few years finally drove her to the edge, without her even knowing it.

Daemon laughed darkly. "You don't even know, do you, Nami? You gave them doubt, and the seed of doubt was all I needed. You managed to tell them that the deaths of their friends were for nothing because of what happened."

G. growled a little, but kept fighting the Mafiosi as they neared him, taking them out with his archery.

Nami was shaking, he knew that. "I did this?" she squeaked, sounding regretful and upset. "No…" G. slammed another arrow into a man's chest, before hearing Nami yell, "Giotto, look out!"

G. kept fighting, even when he heard a loud bang, coming from the gun. "G." He stopped fighting, looking over to Giotto. He didn't have to look far. The first thing he saw was Giotto leaning over Nami's bloody body. His eyes widened in horror and he ran over to the two of them.

"What happened?" G. demanded softly, pulling her close to him. He was rewarded with a shake of the head from Giotto. "No… no, Nami, you can't leave me… Not you," he practically begged.

G. was never a person to beg anyone for anything. But at this point, he'd do anything to keep her close to him. He'd even exchange his life for hers just so she'd live. He wouldn't be able to live without her. There was no way that he'd be able to go on if she wasn't there next to him.

Her brown eyes opened weakly and she managed to say, "I'm sorry…" What was she apologizing for? G. didn't know if it was for dying or for betraying the Vongola. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes closed again.

"No!" he shouted, pulling her even closer. He didn't care if she was bleeding on his shirt, all he cared about was the fact that the only person that he ever really, truly loved was dead, and she died with regret. A few tears slipped from the Storm Guardian's eyes, and he buried her head in his chest. "No, Nami… Nami, you can't leave. Please, please, please come back to me."

Giotto put a hand on his shoulders. "She's gone, G. I'm sorry… She died trying to protect me."

G. grabbed his bow and let his fingers curl around the wood. A dangerous glare took over his face. "Then we shouldn't let her sacrifice be in vain." He stood up and began to slaughter the men, with no remorse showing on his furious face. Giotto was staying with Nami's body, protecting her from anymore harm.

G. looked down at the Storm Guardian. Hayato Gokudera… he had a relationship with Najika that almost mirrored the relationship between himself and Nami. He just hoped that it wouldn't end in Najika's death.

He wouldn't allow his great, great, great granddaughter to be killed over something as trivial as a mistake. He sighed and whispered, "You're lucky, Hayato Gokudera. You can still make things right." The teen moved around in his sleep, and G. chuckled quietly. "Don't fuck up like I did."

Hayato Gokudera rolled over to face the Primo Guardian, his eyes still closed, and he muttered something that the Storm Guardian didn't quite catch. But he knew the movements of the mouth. He smiled at what the teenager was saying.

Najika…

G. smiled a little bit. He knew now that he would never leave her. He would never allow the descendent of the first Storm to be killed. He sighed, putting a hand on Hayato Gokudera's desk. A picture caught his eyes.

Najika was smiling at the camera, her eyes still glassy and unfocused. The boy had his arm around her, and was clearly holding up the camera. His face was lit up with a huge smile, his green eyes glowing with happiness. She made him so happy… and he made her happy, too.

Now G. knew that for sure, and he knew how many other people cared about Najika. That Varia boy, Belphegor, and the CEDEF operative, Basil cared about the Wave Guardian, too.

"So, you're making sure he'll never hurt her, aren't you?" G. turned to see Giotto watching him, then turned back to the desk that had three pictures of the boy and Najika. "You know he won't ever abandon her, you know that, right?"

The Storm Guardian nodded. "I know. I just wanted to make sure." He turned to face the Primo. "How long have you known? About… Nami… and Najika…?" he asked, looking his boss straight in the eyes.

Giotto smiled softly. "Since I first laid eyes on her. She had the same look in her eyes as you did when you were her age. She has the best traits of both you and Nami. Nami's eyes and her beauty, as well as her maternal instincts. Your fighting style and your temper."

G. chuckled. "I'm not sure if that last one is a good thing or a bad thing."

"True."

Looking back out the window, G. asked, "Primo… do I have your word that I can look after her?"

Primo nodded firmly. "Yes, G. You have my word that we will do everything in our power to make sure she has a great life." G. smiled a little, turning away to hide it. "You don't have to hide your smile. I won't ever reveal that you have this side to you, G. You have my word on that, too."

Scoffing, G. retorted sarcastically, "Thanks." Giotto sent him a stern look, and G. sighed. "I know, I know… I can't keep this secret forever. She's bound to find out, but I want to keep it hidden from her for as long as I can."

The Vongola Primo smiled a little. "I understand why you don't want to tell her about this." He looked out the window, up to the stars. "I also understand how she'd most likely react."

G. nodded, agreeing with him. "Yeah, probably because she's never known her real family. These guys, the Decimo Family, are all she really has. I just hope that they'll never abandon her."

"Do you want her to regain her memories of her first ten years?" Giotto asked quietly. He couldn't do that at the moment, but he could sure as hell find a way. He wasn't the Vongola Primo for nothing, after all. G. looked away, biting his lip. "It's perfectly fine if you say yes, you know."

Looking back to his boss, G. replied, "Yes, and no. There're certain memories that she shouldn't know, or they'll tear her apart. I know that much. I just want her to remember her family."

The boss looked down to the sleeping Decimo Guardian. "This is her family, G. She deserves a little more time to make new memories with them before she learns who she is." G. nodded in a silent agreement. "It's time to go, G. We should've gone back to the Rings hours ago. Everyone else is waiting."

Both of the Primo Family Guardians looked up, their Flames engulfing what was left of them. The red Flame flew back into the Storm Ring on the boy's finger, while Giotto's flew out the window, back to Tsunayoshi Sawada and the Sky Ring. It was peaceful once more.

G. knew that he wouldn't be able to protect Najika from the world, but he was going to try.

Welcome back to all my old readers, and hello to all my new readers!

I don't know if any of you are still reading this, but thank you for a thousand years! I'm going to do my best to continue this story~ I'm going to do my best forever and ever! I'm so sorry for taking so long, but - and I know that this is no excuse - I'm preparing my portfolio to send off to different art schools. My top choice is SAIC, for sure. I'm so excited and so nervous, and I'm preparing a novel to send in as part of my portfolio and maybe send it off for publishing.

Wish me luck guys, and please forgive me for taking so long to update!

Love and kisses!