Summary: Not able to see the big picture in one of Tsuna's more obscure plans, his guardians shun him as a traitor. They realize too little too late the mistake they've made, and now they face the possibility of losing their sky forever. One-shot. No pairings. Semi-AU.

SkyGem: I've been wanting to do a fic like this for a while now, but I've been too busy. So I decided to just turn my multi-chapter fic into a one-shot. I hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

A brunette lay, curled up, in the middle of his bed, hot, salty tears making their way down his face as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to go to sleep.

Suddenly, he felt a comforting presence, then a gentle hand on his forehead, and looked up to see that his ring was glowing faintly, and his great-great-great grandfather was sitting beside him, the expression in his eyes sorrowful.

"Tsunayoshi," he spoke his descendant's name quietly, making barely a sound.

Never before that moment had the nineteen-year-old wished more that his ancestor was solid; he just really needed some comfort right now; the kind of comfort you could only get from a parent. Over the past two or three years, Tsuna had found himself getting close to the blond who resided in his ring.

"It hurts too much, Primo. I can't take it anymore," said the boy quietly, his eyes closing so he didn't see the expression in the older male's face.

"I know, Tsunayoshi, I know." Then, after a slight hesitation, "Do you regret what you did?"

His eyes still closed, Tsuna shook his head the slightest fraction. "I did what I did for my family. Even if I had to cooperate with them," –he spit out the 'them' with an acidic tone one almost never heard him use– "it's worth it, if it's going to get Chrome some real organs."

"You care for your family a lot," said Giotto, his voice quiet, "some would say too much."

The brunette shook his head, saying, "Not too much…not enough…"

Giotto watched the boy quietly for a moment before asking, "Will you let me interfere, now?"

Tsuna let out a sigh.

For a while now, the blond had been pestering him to let him help, but Tsuna had kept refusing.

Now, though, he was too tired to argue. He just wanted to sleep; to sleep and then wake up find that this had all been some horrible dream.

"Then sleep," whispered Primo, "sleep, and when you wake up, everything will be right with your world again."

It was eleven at night when Hayato Gokudera jerked up in his bed in one of Vongola's Greece mansions with a terrible feeling of foreboding in the pit of his stomach.

Not knowing what was spurring his actions on; he grabbed his phone and called his boss's private cell phone number. It wasn't a number he had used recently. In fact, he hadn't even had a real conversation with the younger male in months.

It was hard to believe, him not talking to the very man he'd practically worshipped since he'd saved his life five years ago, but after what he had done, not even Hayato had been able to forgive him, not that he hadn't tried.

Hayato had tried for so long to come up with excuses for the brunette, but he couldn't. Nothing could justify Tsuna's agreeing to ally (even if only temporarily) with the Dragone, the very family that had kidnapped and tortured so many of their men only a year ago. And that wasn't the worst of it.

Nevertheless, he listened anxiously as the phone ringed on and on, but his boss didn't pick up.

Now he was starting to get a little panicky. No matter what, it never took his boss this long to answer his phone.

Dialling the number of one of the guards, Alfeo, he waited until the man had picked up before quickly asking him to get Decimo.

The man seemed a little confused, but Hayato heard him enter his boss's room nevertheless, and heard the man trying to rouse him.

The next time Alfeo spoke, he sounded terrified.

"Signor Hayato, Decimo isn't waking up. H-he's not moving at all!"

Drawing in a sharp breath, Hayato quickly began rattling off orders, telling Alfeo to call Dr. Shamal immediately and that he would arrive as soon as possible, and let the other guardians know as well.

And as Hayato Gokudera quickly pulled on some clothes to leave as soon as possible, he felt a suffocating fear at the thought that he might really lose Tsuna, his boss, his saviour, his friend.

Hayato was the first one among the guardians to arrive, seeing as his flight had taken only about an hour and a half. At one and a half in the morning, he burst into the eerily quiet Italy HQ and ran up to Tsuna's room, tearing the door open.

There, lying on his bed, was Tsunayoshi, his face so peaceful that you would think he had just gone to sleep; if it weren't for all the life support machinery he was hooked up to.

Dr. Shamal, the famous doctor known for only accepting female patients was sitting in a chair by the young Decimo's bed, looking exhausted.

"How is he?" asked Hayato, feeling out of breath as he walked up to his mentor.

The man looked up, and when he saw who it was, his expression hardened.

"He won't wake," he said, "I've tried everything I could think of, but nothing could get him to wake up, or even let me know why he fell into a comatose state to begin with. For all I know, he was just sleeping like normal." As he finished talking, the man stood up and turned to leave, but not before saying, "I have to go now. I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for our young boss. Call me if there are any changes to his state before I come back tomorrow at noon."

And with that, Hayato was left alone with the man he had admired, then despised, and now whose eyes he only wanted to open again.

Sinking into a seat, he let his head fall into his hands, feeling the tears wetting his palms.

It had been so lonely for him these past months; he had forgotten what it had felt like, not to belong in a family. It just hurt so much.

It was only about twenty minutes later that Takeshi arrived at the mansion.

Bursting through the door, leaving someone else to close it for him, Takeshi ran up the steps two at a time, hurrying to get to his best friend's bedroom.

When he got there, he saw Hayato, his head down and a curtain of silky silver hair hiding his face from view. It didn't take a genius, though, to guess that the man was crying.

His eyes travelling over to Tsuna, who looked so peaceful despite being hooked up to IVs and various other machines the uses of which Takeshi would never be able to comprehend, he walked quietly over and collapsed onto a chair on the side of the bed opposite the storm guardian.

Resting his arms on the bed and using them as a pillow for his head, Takeshi watched his best friend's face, wondering when the brunette had grown up.

In the months since the alliance with the Dragone had been made, Tsuna's face had changed a lot; back then, there was still some of his innocence left in the curve of his cheeks and the constant, slightly upward tilt of his mouth. But now, even in his sleep, Tsuna's expression looked almost severe, all traces of a smile gone from his face.

What had happened to his best friend?

It couldn't be because of him…could it?

Kyoya and Ryohei arrived next, having been on a mission together, and when they arrived to see the rain and storm, sitting depressed around their boss's prone form, they knew that there was something very wrong with him.

For once, Ryohei actually kept his mouth shut and walked quietly over to sit beside Takeshi, watching the little brunette he had once thought of as a little brother. What had happened to that close relationship of theirs? When had Tsuna changed so much?

It was a sign of how bad things were that Kyoya didn't even complain about the crowding, but instead walked quietly over to sit beside his prone boss, wondering what could have happened to the brunette to have made him look so…weak. This was not the same man that always fought so valiantly to protect his friends. This was not the sky that always allowed him to move so freely.

Why was it again that he hadn't been to the base again in so long?

Why was it again that he hadn't even thought to ask the omnivore the motives behind his alliance with that scum?

Why was it again that he hadn't listened?

After them it was the pineapple heads that came. Chrome's hand flew to her mouth as she saw the sight before her, and her one visible eye brightened with unshed tears.

"M-Mukuro-sama," she whispered, and the boy took her by the hand, pulling her forward.

Mukuro couldn't believe it.

This wasn't his Tsunayoshi.

This wasn't the man that had fought him in Kokuyo.

This wasn't the man that he had so grudgingly given his respect to.

This wasn't his boss!

Going to sit on the foot of his bed, the two grieved with their friends.

They'd thought they didn't care about him anymore, that he'd lost all their respect the moment he had agreed to that alliance.

So why was it that it hurt so much to see him just lying there, as if he had no intention of ever waking up again?

Maybe because, deep down, he knew that the boy wouldn't have done it without a reason.

The last of the guardians to arrive was Lambo, who had been staying with his father for the past week.

When he entered his big brother figure's room to see that all the guardians were already there and looking quite depressed, the ten-year-old quickly ran over to the bed and peered over the edge at the brunette lying in it.

What he saw horrified him.

There was the man he respected so much, the smile gone from his lips, looking gentle even in his sleep.

How could Lambo have ever thought that this man could be so cruel? This man, who wouldn't even hurt a fly, if he could help it?

There was no way he wouldn't have a reason for his actions.

Why hadn't Lambo seen it before?

Feeling tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, the small cow child reached out a hand to touch Tsuna's, looking for comfort, but finding only fear as he felt just how cold the boy's hand was.

Did that mean he wouldn't be waking up again?

Dr. Shamal came and went twice, and still, there was no change in Tsuna's condition.

Hayato and the rest of the guardians were forced to face the possibility that they really might never see their boss's beautiful brown eyes open again.

And during all this, Giotto watched the Decimo's guardians closely, wondering why it had taken them so long to get to this point?

Maybe it was because they were just as stubborn as his own guardians.

Letting out a small sigh, the blond 'ghost' finally decided to make himself known.

"Still here, are you?" he asked, and all the guardians' heads shot up to look at him.

Upon seeing him, their eyes became hopeful.

"Primo!" exclaimed Hayato, leaping out of his seat. "Of course we're here!" he said, his eyes burning with determination. He looked as if he were going to say more, but was interrupted by Giotto.

"You say that like it's a given," said the blond, his eyebrows furrowing a little as his pent-up frustration at his descendant's guardians began to show.

"It is!" said Lambo, looking up from where he had been sitting, his face streaked with tears.

"Oh?" asked Giotto in a deceptively calm voice. "Then tell me…where were you three months ago, when Tsunayoshi was ambushed at a meeting with two particularly antagonistic Families and none of his guardians were there to watch his back?"

Hayato and Kyoya both flinched, knowing it had been the two of them that would have normally accompanied their boss. Had he been badly injured?

"And," continued Giotto, his voice rising a little, "Why didn't I see you two months ago, when Tsunayoshi collapsed from exhaustion for trying to do all the work around the HQ that was originally yours to begin with?"

This time, everyone flinched. They all could easily picture the huge workload they had every time they came home from an assignment in another country. They tried to imagine the brunette doing not only one of theirs, but all of them, and when they realized just how much that was, they felt like hitting themselves on the head.

And still, it seemed the blond wasn't done yet; he had one more thing to say, and he knew that this would be the last push they needed. "And then there was last month, when Tsunayoshi waited all night, doing paperwork in his office, hoping against hope that maybe his guardians had remembered his birthday this year as well and were coming home to celebrate it…"

Immediately, the room went deathly silent as everyone's eyes widened with the realization that this last one was the one that had probably hurt their boss the most. Even if he was already an adult, that had been his nineteenth birthday; his last 'teen' birthday. It was a big one, and they hadn't been there to celebrate with him…

There was no way that their gentle boss deserved any of what they had done to him.

Now if only they could tell him that.

"And all this fuss, just because he wanted to do a little favour for one of his mist guardians…" Giotto muttered quietly to himself, and immediately, all the guardians latched onto this.

"A favour for which of us?" asked Mukuro, his eyes narrowed and already having an inkling of what the blond was talking about. And if it really was what he thought it was, well, they were even more screwed than he'd thought originally.

"For Chrome," replied Giotto, seeming not at all surprised that they had overheard.

"What kind of favour?" asked Hayato, feeling something churn in his stomach, somehow knowing that he wouldn't like what he was going to hear.

Giotto bluntly told them why Tsuna had made his decision, Chrome's one visible eye widened, and she fell to the ground, a hand at her mouth as she tried to stifle the sobs. This was his reason? It was all for her?

And…and how had she treated him?

She hadn't even asked him why he'd done it.

She didn't deserve her boss's kindness.

Tsuna felt extremely drowsy.

He felt as if he never wanted to wake up.

But there was something prodding at him; something telling him to pay attention.

And then he heard it; a sound he had been wanting to hear for the longest time now. It was the voice of his guardians.

"Maa, maa, Tsuna, you've changed a lot over these past few months, you know? You look so different. But I guess that must be our fault, for abandoning you like that. You have every right to be mad at us, but please wake up, ne? Did you know...there's this baseball game this weekend, and I was really hoping you'd come with me. But you'd need to be awake for that, so why don't you open your eyes? I'm really sorry, Tsuna, please wake up…"

"Sawada, I'm EXTREMELY sorry! Your onii-san has made an EXTREME mistake! But you can't give up now, Sawada! You need to wake up! Or else we won't be able to EXTREMELY make it up to you! Your family still needs you Tsuna! WAKE UP!"

"Hn. You're really asking for it, omnivore. Lying there on the bed with all those tubes hooked up to you; you're nothing but a herbivore. You better open those eyes right now, if you don't want to be bitten to death. Honestly, making me crowd in here with these herbivores. I will never forgive you if you make it all for vain."

"Gomenasai, boss. P-please, won't you wake up? Mukuro-sama and I, we really miss you. Everyone misses you. Without you, we couldn't exist. What is the mist without the sky? What are we to protect when our most important person is gone? You're our family, boss; we love you so much, it hurts. It hurts to be away from you. Please wake up, boss. Please open your eyes."

"Tsunayoshi, dear, you're making my Chrome cry. Who gave you permission to do that, hm? Or are you trying to get away from us? No one gave you permission to do that either. You leave us now, and we'll never meet again. You know the devil and the angel can't be friends. It just doesn't work, Tsunayoshi. Why cut off the short amount of time we have together on Earth? Had enough of me already?"

"Waaah! Dame-Tsuna-nii! Hurry up and wake up! Lambo-sama orders you to! Dame-Tsuna is too stupid to die! If Dame-Tsuna dies, then what will happen to the rest of us? T-Tsuna-nii promised to change the Vongola, to change the mafia! W-was Tsuna-nii lying? Tsuna-nii always tells Lambo-sama not to lie! Then why can't Lambo-sama lie if Tsuna-nii is doing it right now, huh? Tsuna-nii is a liar!"

"Juudaime, you must be so disappointed. I'm not fit to be Juudaime-sama's right hand, because I deserted him so easily. So please wake up. Wake up so I can receive my punishment! Wake up so I can apologize over and over for my shameful behaviour these past months! Wake up so I can beg for your forgiveness! Wake up...please…wake up…"

Tsuna felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. Were they really saying all this? Could it really be true? Had his guardians finally forgiven him? Or could this be just another dream?

He had to know.

He had to find out the answers.

He had to wake up.

But then…what if it wasn't them?

But then…what if it was all just a dream?

But then…what if he woke up and found himself all alone?

…

It didn't matter.

He didn't care about the consequences.

He needed to open his eyes; to see that it really was them.

Struggling out of the deep void of unconsciousness, he fought to open his eyes with little success.

But he had to keep trying.

He had to see them.

His eyes opened just the slightest crack, and a ray of sunlight fell into them, forcing him to close them again with a small jerk.

This movement, though, didn't go unnoticed, and Tsuna suddenly felt the grips of two different people tighten on his hands.

"Tsuna?" asked the hoarse voice of Takeshi, and Tsuna let out a small groan in reply, forcing his eyes open once more.

What he saw when he did this were the seven hopeful faces of his guardians, leaning close to get a look at him.

When they saw him, their eyes all lit up in relief, and the boy suddenly found himself being dogpiled by all his guardians except his cloud.

"Please forgive us!"

SkyGem: Well, I was debating for quite a while whether or not to write this, since I don't know, it seems a bit…rushed. But then I though, hey, what the heck; I've already got it written, why not just post it already? Just please leave a review telling me what ya guys thought, ne? Oh, and I'll be updating RaF as soon as I possibly can as well, so look forward to that, ne? And if you guys have any ideas about the plot of the future arc, don't hesitate to send them in! And give me LOTS of details! Well, that's all for now! Ciao!

P.S. Navroz Mubarak to all those who are celebrating it!

P.P.S. If you haven't voted on my poll, then go do it now! I'm not going to decide until I get a hundred votes, which means BH won't be updated either!