A/N: This chapter will probably seem confusing, but it's because Chrome's missing her organs, so I figure that's got to mess up someone's perception of time and stuff, right? So sorry if it feels too sudden, or Chrome feels weak (because she is SO cool and awesome), it's just that she's nearly dead, so… yeah?
Chrome woke up in a strange world, with only the sun man by her side and jumbled up memories in her mind.
"Sun man?" Chrome whispered as she shook his shoulder, swallowing when she realized that despite their surroundings seeming totally unfamiliar, they didn't seem to be stuck in an illusion.
Ryohei groans for a moment, before his eyes slowly blink open, and he gapes at her, before asking, "Where's Tsuna?"
Chrome can feel a lump growing in her throat, can feel herself panicking as she remembers that nobody is with them and what happened, and…
"I can't feel Mukuro-sama's presence." She could feel her throat closing up as she gasped, "Where is he? What's happening?" Pain. Chrome pressed a hand against her deflating stomach as her breaths started to come out more quick and short than before. "Mukuro-sama… what's happening?" Fear flooded her senses, and the world seemed to fade around her, and her stomach hurt, and…
A warm hand on her shoulder brought her back to the real world. "Chrome-chan, look at me."' Ryohei sounded scared as he gently shook her. "I'm going to use my sun flames to stabilize you, and you need to tell me what's wrong."
Trying to fight away the overwhelming pain, Chrome told him about how she had used to be Nagi, how she had lost some organs, how she should have been dead, and how she couldn't survive without the illusions supporting her.
The terrifying conclusion was that Chrome would have to create illusions on her own in order to save her own life. "I can't do it." She whispered, pulling her knees into her chest. "I can't, I'm too weak, I…"
"You can do it." Ryohei's gently words are the only thing that keeps Chrome from crying. "I believe in you. Before you know it, you'll be up and at them, and we'll go and find Tsuna together, okay?"
Chrome nodded halfheartedly. "I don't have my trident, though." She whispered. "The cow child has it."
"It's okay. We'll find him in time." Ryohei offered her a weak smile, but the lingering fear in his eyes showed that he was starting to panic as well. "It's going to be okay. For now I'll just use my sun flames, and them…"
"And then what?" Chrome hated how her voice was starting to break. "Then we just find him? How?"
Ryohei just shook his head. "Somehow." He replied sadly. "Here, get on my back. I'll carry you around so that you won't get too tired, and then we can go and see if we can find him. Sound like a good idea?"
Chrome nodded, her throat closing up. "Yeah." She agreed as she pressed her chin onto Ryohei's shoulder.
Ryohei smiled brightly at her as he pulled her up a little higher onto his back, and stood up. They had barely stumbled a few steps before the sound of cursing reached their ears.
Chrome cocked her head to the side, swallowing when she realized, "It's Italian…" At Ryohei's tilting of the head, she added fearfully, "…and it's using terms that only Mafioso know."
Ryohei looked confused for a moment, before paling and whispering, "You don't think… it couldn't be that…"
Chrome shook her head. "I don't know." She whispered, her eyes prickling again. We just woke up… I'm just burdening Sun man, and what if we get attacked… what if they want to capture me, and Sun man gets hurt trying to protect me? What if he's taken to Vindice as well, what if—?
Her panicked thoughts were cut off by the surprised exclamation of, "Is that you, Ryohei, Chrome?" There was a sound of a gasp, and before she knew it, there was a gently hand on her forehead, and the worried whisper of, "What's happened to her?"
She could hear Sun man whispering to the man that she couldn't sustain herself without illusions or her trident, and there was a thoughtful pause, before the stranger asked, "What if she uses her flames without a medium?"
"Impossible." Chrome finally spoke, her vision clearing slightly as she realized that it was Bomber man who had come to them. That's good. Her mind decided. Even if he couldn't help her, perhaps it was selfish… but she was glad that there was someone else who was familiar to be with her. It was almost like… no, she couldn't say it. Famaglia was for mafia, and she was the mafia's enemy. She couldn't be like them, as nice as the thought was. If she said it out loud, surely the others would be disgusted with her. "That requires intense training. Even boss can't do it."
Hayato stared at her in surprise. "Mukuro can't produce flames on his own?"
Chrome shook her head. "Mukuro-sama also can't produce flames without a medium, but I meant Tsuna. Tsuna is boss…" She paused uncertainly, and at Sun man and Bomb man's shocked expressions, she added in a small voice, "…Right? A-am I wrong?"
Hayato shook his head. "No, no, you're not wrong…" He replied in a voice that seemed almost hesitant. "It's just that… I haven't heard anyone call him boss since I was his servant and he was the heir to the Vongola famaglia. It just felt a little… strange." He held his hand out in front of his face and stared at it blankly, eyebrows furrowed as though he were trying to figure out a puzzle that only existed in his memory.
"Oh." Chrome flushed. "Boss needs his gloves to channel flames, right?"
Hayato's eyes were still blank, so Ryohei had to tap his shoulder and repeat the question (in a much louder rendition), to which Hayato nodded and pulled his fingers into a fist, ducking his head down. "Sorry." He mumbled. "I just… remembered something."
Chrome nodded, and Ryohei tossed him a look of concern. "We'll find Sawada." Ryohei declared somberly. "For sure."
Hayato offered Ryohei a pale smile. "Yeah." He agreed as he stood up, a forced smile already finding it's way onto his lips. "Well, what are we sitting around for? Let's go find him!"
As they walked out, Chrome made sure that her hand was in Hayato's. After all, as shaky and strange as it was, they were becoming a famaglia. And famaglia was always there for you. No matter what.
0o0o0o0
Being inside the Vongola mansion after Tsuna had revealed the darkness that was inside it was… unsettling.
Not for the first time that day, Takeshi felt a pang of loneliness wash over him. This wasn't right… Vongola was the center of everything that that Tsuna was against, that Takeshi had learned was filled with darkness. But at the same time, it had been everything that he had wanted as a child…
To be praised by Vongola Nono, his father told him, was a dream come true.
To be against Vongola Nono, his tutors taught him, was a certain death sentence.
To be wary of Vongola Nono, Tsuna warned him, was a way to survive.
But Vongola Nono wasn't here.
He wasn't even alive yet.
This had to be a dream. Because time travel shouldn't have happened in real life, especially not to him. And yet, he had known about the 10 year bazooka. He had known about parallel universes. He had known so much, and yet…
And yet, I know nothing.
He stopped at an empty wall. Smooth, unblemished, faint red. So different from his time. In the future, the wall would be filled with pictures, expensive paintings, covered by a suit of armor or a particularly rare flame ring, the silent reminder that Vongola was powerful, rich and strong.
This is all wrong.
Barely resisting the urge to throw up, Takeshi looked away. Lambo. He thought, half dazed. Does he feel the same way?
He didn't know if Lambo fully understood… he was only a child, after all. But being raised in a world as dark as this one, surely he knew enough of this situation to be slightly wary.
But if he was back in this time… and this had never happened… would he affect things so badly that he would never have existed?
But if he created a parallel universe, then he would continue to exist.
But then what about when he went back to the future? Would he then go to the future of this current past, or the future where he belonged?
Takeshi shook his head. Don't waste too much time thinking about it… He chided himself.
"What's wrong?" A slightly amused voice cut into his thoughts.
"Asari-san!" The words slipped out of Takeshi's lips before he knew it, and he instantly flushed, embarrassed at slipping back into Japanese. He quickly switched to Italian, and asked, "What brings you here?"
"We're having lunch, now." Asari replied. "Giotto told me to go get you… are you alright? Lambo said that you would be fine once your mysterious Tsuna came, but from what we got out of him, apparently you time travelled and that sounds like quite a stressful experience, so…"
"I'm fine." Takeshi offered Asari an artificial smile. "I… I don't really have any attachments, anyways. We just go from place to place, so it's not like there's anyone that I really need to return to."
Asari surveyed Takeshi, his eyes dimming slightly, (Did he notice?), but said nothing except a crisp, "I see." They walked in an awkward silence for a while, before Asari asked, "This Tsuna of yours… what's he like?"
Takeshi froze. "He…" He shook his head and sighed, "I can't quite get a grasp on him. He's kind, gentle, caring… but he's also cold, distant, and independent. He can't really do anything without us, and yet at the same time he's so much higher than us. He's humble, but really, he's far more important than us. Tsuna… part of me hates being with him. He's a reminder of everything that I can't have. But at the same time, he's the light in our dark world. He doesn't belong in the mafia, not really… but at the same time, he was raised to be it's leader."
"It's leader?" Asari prodded, startled. "He's supposed to lead the mafia?"
You shouldn't mention Vongola. The sensible part of Takeshi whispered, and he quickly shook his head. "I… I can't expand on that. It's too important, I can't change the future too much."
Disappointment washed over Asari's features—but with it came understanding, and he nodded brusquely. "I understand." He replied coolly.
"Sorry." Takeshi mumbled as he idly rotated the ring around his finger. "The future… it's, it's complicated. Things aren't quite simple. I think, honestly, being in the past might even be better for Tsuna. In our time he has a lot of people after him…" He paused, and his mind flickered to the sword back in his time… Prepared to kill Tsuna, a boy he barely knew, a boy he thought he knew, he was going to kill Oyaji… "Dangerous people."
Asari stared at Takeshi curiously, gauging his expression. "You think that he'd be better off living here?"
Takeshi twisted his mouth to the side. "Perhaps." He admitted reluctantly. "Not that he isn't strong… because he is. He's the strongest person that I know. But perhaps that's why I can't stand the idea of him holding up all these burdens by himself. The strongest ones are the ones who refuse help the most."
Asari eyed Takeshi oddly, and replied quietly, "You're quite strong as well, Senor Takeshi."
Takeshi shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "I'm not that strong." He mumbled. Not strong enough.
Asari shook his head, looking oddly sad as he took Takeshi's hand. "You're very strong." He replied. "Perhaps you share more in common with your Tsuna than you think."
Takeshi's eyebrows drew themselves together in confusion, but before he could ask Asari what he meant by that, they had arrived at the dining hall, and began to eat.
Strong enough. Asari thought as he eyed the boy from the future. But still alone…
A/N: Sorry that I've been so late in updating. School is a lot more time consuming (which irritates me), but I'll try to write when I can. (However, this is still a side story, so the updates won't be as fast as my other stories... sorry, guys.) Thanks for not flaming me?
