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Tears of the future, Trials of the past.

Chapter.01.

They weren't ready - they aren't ready to live without him.

Without their Sky, what are they? …

The church was packed, though no one was paying attention to the beautiful coloured glass, or the shinning ointments, for this, was no ordinary ceremony. People filled in seats - leaving no spaces free while bowing their heads in respect, and some in loyalty. Others were lining outside silently, ignoring their tired muscles as they stood.

The service had been long, words of kindness were spoken from the lips of the most precious; but it wasn't enough; they couldn't explain how much they owed him - it wasn't enough. Some were still in shock while listening, theirs minds were trying to make sense of the current situation; he was gone - killed.

The boss of the Vongola had been murdered - that warm man, the man that the world so needed was gone.

Anger and sadness were the two emotions that seemed to be oozing into the weighty air; anger for the treason, and sadness for the loss. He wasn't finished, he wasn't done yet!. He could have done so much more - lived so much longer, and to think it took but one bad, terrible second for all that potential - all those promises to be broken.

Hours passed until the friends and family started to stand once more; done with their thanks, and done with their goodbyes, they quietly left through the thick wooden doors that were wide open. The sunset aura stopped short of the frame; unable to make its way into the gloomily building and do anything but guide the mourning man home.

In the end only few remained, all stood at the back of the church in front of the coffin; sobbing and wailing - after all, how much did they owe this one man?, how many times had he saved their lives or put them first?.

For all he had done for them, they had sworn their loyalty to him; to protect and service.

His guardians.

A feeling of regret washed over them, their eye's were locked on the pale face in front of them that was framed by limp chestnut locks. They were unable to look away, as one thought repeated itself 'what good had they been?' though there were his friends; his protectors, but he always stood in front of them - arms wide and defensive. He gave them more then acceptance. He gave his life, because even if they didn't understand it now, they knew that somehow, he had done it for them.

Hayato stood numbly near the head of the white casket, tears flowed down his cheeks, in a never ending current, while hoping beyond hope that he would once again see those beautiful, expressive, chocolate eyes flutter open. He Laughed to himself with little humour; wishing for a miracle was the only thing he had been doing recently - he wished his boss hadn't been so trusting. He wished he could have talked the Tenth out of going. He wished he could have reacted faster. He wished that he could have fought better. He wished he could have stopped the bleeding.

Shaking his head, he tried to block those frantic ten minutes from his mind, because that's all it took; ten minutes. Just that, for the man he most admired to die. Despite how short it was, it had be agonizingly long; watching helplessly as the kindest person he had ever had the fortune to meet, slowly drain dry, while clinging to life, the man didn't believing all the bull-crap about how 'everything was going to be okay' but trying all the same.

Emerald eyes cringed, that's all Tsunayoshi ever did really, try. He was a fighter through-and-through, and now the world he never wanted to be apart off, but embraced anyway - had killed him.

"Tenth didn't even want a funeral" Gokudera strangled out. His throat was dry from screaming, his heart was sore from hurting, his head was throbbing from smoking too much, his stomach was empty from not eating, but he wasn't the only one and that wasn't the only thought that was swimming in his mind.

Yamamoto's frown deepened 'That's right, this is what we wanted: we're pretty selfish, right Tsuna?' he thought while remembering a conversation the two of them had had with their best friend; it had been quite out of the blue really - one of their agents had been murdered and as the boss, Tsuna was planning their wake when he uttered something that made both he and the right-hand go cold.

"I don't think someone like me should be in a crunch..." the brunet had murmured "…not when I die…"

Takeshi put a gentle hand on the right hand's shoulder, and for once, it wasn't pushed away 'What else?, what else could we have taken from him?' his eye's sadly drifted from the man's white face to his folded hands.

He Flinched as he tried to contain himself - those hands; those warm, strong hands had saved him. They pulled him from the darkness that had been surrounding him and pulled him on into the light, so why had he been so completely useless?; why couldn't he have done something? - just something for his saviour.

He peeled his hazel eyes away, and ignored the after image that stuck itself to his vision as he looked on to everyone else that was still in the room - shoulders were bobbing up and down as sobs and sniffling wheezed their way into the air. 'No' he thought 'It wasn't just me, was it, Tsuna?'

Lambo's legs wobbled, as warm liquid rolled down his face. His sight was fixed on his big brother; the father figure he never had was laying still - unmoving and broken, "It's not fair!" he cried. The man who had protected and shielded him - the man who had smiled and laughed with him was gone, and would never be coming back and there was nothing he could do to change it - nothing.

If only he had been stronger, if only he wasn't so weak; he could have helped his boss more. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Why couldn't he have taken his job seriously when he was younger?, he had wasted so much time! - time he could have used to train.

The teens breath hitched with realisation "Big…brother…wouldn't-wouldn't have wanted that…" he murmured softly; not noticing that he was talking to himself.

Ryohei balled his fists; his knuckles turned white, while his teeth gritted as memories of that day came springing to the forefront of his mind; his adopted sibling was sprawled across the floor, and the other guardians were rushing to his side.

he had been in such a daze, that he wasn't really sure what was going on; his feet just automatically ran to Tsuna's side; desperately trying to stop the blood - all that blood. But it had been hopeless; they were helpless.

His own crimson liquid dripped from under his nails but he didn't seem to notice. Why couldn't he buy more time?, and those few minutes he had managed to get - what were they worth when they were only filled with more pain for his little brother?. The man sighed, his grip relenting, as that forgiving voice rang in his ears.

"Its alright, its okay Big brother. Its enough"

That day, he had been completely defeated, because there's no rematch for a lost life.

Mukuro held his counter part as she fall into him, his hands were supportively holding her up - he, in all honesty, was very grateful for the warmth, though they were both probably thinking the same thing; how could this have happened?. He wasn't meant to have died just yet!. Mukuro bit back the tears that threatened to surface, and cursed at his own weakness; because this is what happens when you start to feel for you target.

At that damned meeting, when everything started to go wrong, he knew - he knew that his boss was going to die. After five minutes he had known that; and he had also seen the resignation in those child-like eyes he had come to know so well - it only proved his point all too well. Tsunayoshi didn't take it lying down though, and had started to mutter to something to each of them; it only made everything so much more painful.

But no one could say that death had made a coward out of him. He faced it head on; like he did everything else.

The pineapple head had stood over the Vongola, trident in hand, and to every other guardians shock - was preparing to strike, when a small smile stopped him; it was weak and trembling, and God knows how Tsunayoshi managed even that much - but it was enough to halt the attack.

"You can't do that now" Tsunayoshi whispered. The illusionist's teeth was on full show as he ground them together. The people around him were afraid to move; in fear that that would course him to take the finishing blow.

"Why in the hell not?" Mukuro had yelled. It had worked with Chrome, was his thinking; it could work with Tsunayoshi too.

"I'm too far gone, besides…" the brunet trailed off, as he gathered himself up - his eyes were half-lidded, and he was coughing back blood as he tried to talk "we would be mentally linked if you were to do that. T - thank you for caring,… but it would put your mind under too much stress when it fails"

Those words; those pain filled words - that held so much conviction, despite being so weak had frozen him to the spot; he had always known that Tsuanyoshi's heart was stupidly big, but that, that, had done it; how could the man still be thinking about everyone else when he was on his breath bed?.

Chrome could feel the frustration, the guilt and the grief in Mukuro's hands as he held her to his hip and for once, they were the prefect copy of one another as she felt the same; they were charged to protect Tsunayoshi because of a deal. But their relationship with the small brunet had grown far further then that.

He got Mukuro out of Vedice, despite the repeated threats to his well-being by said guardian; he had taken care of the man as he recovered from the after efforts of the tanks. But that wasn't all; all those times when he was nothing but a teen - he had been kind, he had been giving and he hadn't looked through her, even if she was just a vessel.

To Chrome, he was other worldly, and the only other person from Mukuro, who knew her and her name.

Hibari for once, was staying close to the group; he wasn't complaining or huffing - just being silent. More silent that he ever had been as he felt like he had lost his voice; no, it felt worse then that - something else was missing, and he knew that it Tsunayoshi Sawada's fault.

Hibari, despite his threats and glares of having to fly to Italy every so often, appreciated Tsunayoshi, more then he would admit to and more then he could say. The herbivore that he had known for at least half his life - was no longer the herbivore he had known for at least half his life.

Tsunayoshi had grown; but it was more then sheer strength - he was determined and understanding; he was accepting to a fault and would always put someone else first. He could read Hibari, and although the man didn't always like the way the guardian did things - he would always hear him out and help him if the signs were there that he had asked.

That day - that wasn't meant to happen, the stupid omnivore was meant to have went back home with all the other herbivores who he loved being around; he wasn't meant to slowly bleed to death!.

His shoulders squared, and his whole body ached; it was heavy with tiredness and another emotion he wasn't used to; regret.

Reborn's obsidian eyes rested on his student; this was undoubtedly his greatest shame, and he would burn it into his memory, because he didn't just fail as a tutor and advisor - he had failed Tsuna; for he didn't read his opponents well enough, for letting Tsuna get shot!, he was always going on to his student about keeping his guard up and not underestimating the opponent, so where the hell had his brain been that day?.

Growling lowly under his breath, he half-wished his curse hadn't been broken; if it hadn't, if the Vongola hadn't tried so damn hard to break it, he would have had more flames to use - he could have saved his charge "In the end, you really weren't meant for the mafia, were you?" he whispered "Your kindness was always going to be your undoing" he had known that from the start of course, and now a good man was gone.

He had watched Tsuna since he was thirteen after all, and knew him better then his own father did, but he had always hoped that Tsuna was going to be strong enough to over come that - that his kindness would bring more good then bad in a world that needed light.

Tsuna bought that; like the sun did in the day time, and when night rolled around, the moon was just as good. The Tenth of the Vongola had his faults; everyone close to him knew, though there were few, they were big. But Tsuna wasn't the one who failed; they did.

Forcing himself out of his own self-pity, he immediately commanded Leon's gun form, he turned on his heel to the tingling sensation, and his eyes widened upon seeing each and every guardians ring's resonating; glowing their respected colours, "What the hell?" he swore, as the shocked figures stared down at their hands before being engulfed in the light.

Reborn was on-guard as he aimed his gun; and was more then willing to pull the trigger as his hawk like eyes traced the room for any hints of any other Mafioso. A faint echo ringing in his ears, of a voice that he knew too well not to recognise - and hope to God to both remember and forget "Take care of them, Reborn"

The man was almost frantic as he ran up to the pillars of flame; he had never lost his cool as much as he did right then and he knew it was completely out of character; but he would at least keep this promise -he had to. Because when he knelt in front of the Tenth of the Vongola at the inheritance ceremony, and kissed the sky ring and swore his allegiance; he meant it.

He owed those kids everything, as they owed him too; but to him, it wasn't even and it never would be. So when, after five years of training one of his best students and they asked him to be his advisor, Reborn had been a little thrown; his contract with the Vongola had been coming to an end after the Ninth retired. But he stayed.

He thought that he wanted Tsunayoshi to be safe; he didn't want his student to be a victim of the mafia world, but he had failed, Tsuna was gone and his last words were that of a promise.

He stopped short when they disappeared into thin air; leaving no trace behind, and he knew than that he had failed again; first his student and now his promises.

"Shit!"

Translation -

'Decimo' - means "Tenth"

A/N -

I wonder if you can tell how badly I've got writers block?, I've been trying to think of the next chapters for DTL, HB, and LF so writing this probably wasn't the best idea, but I' am completely stuck with what to do - when letting my mind wonder I just started coming up with this...but I guess that's completely useless to the people who are waiting for an update, huh?, I'm sorry!, I did try and write something for those other stories and did start some, but I just couldn't finish anything...*Sigh* adding this to everything else I've got on my plates is pretty stupid but I needed to put this into words so I hope it's descent - I can't tell anymore.

Update/ Alright so I finally got around to proofreading this again. I hope I fixed it for you - 24.07.12

I Apologise if there are any mistakes in my spelling/ grammar, or if you find anything I have written offensive.

Thank you to everyone who added 'Tears of the future, Trials of past' to their favorites/ alerts or who took the time to review. You also have my gratitude for reading.

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