Ghost of the Past (Katekyo Hitman Reborn/Xanxus) WATTYS 2017

2 4 - E n d

How does one describe a funeral parlor?

A wake?

The atmosphere?

It's a strange thing, really.

There's conflict on whether to be sad...

Angry...

Maybe even happy...

But it'd surely be the fake kind unless you were one of those plastic bitches who wanted to see the dead,

Well. Dead.

There were many different Mafia funeral traditions. Others do the traditional way of cremating or burying their dead, while others had different rituals.

The Cavallone famiglia themselves had their own way of bidding their loved ones farewell.

After all the words and tears are shed and done with, it starts with the dead being placed in a carriage, built in with a bed inside.

Friends and relatives of the deceased each put a flower of their preference around the body before the horse that is connected to the carriage is led to a big lake near the Cavallone manor.

The bed is then placed on a small boat, filled with scented oil, with the deceased and pushed into the water.

The ceremony ends with the families two best archers firing flame-tipped arrows at the boat. Prayers are said as the boat catches on fire and the flames rise up to the air along with the fragrant scent of the oil lingering in the air.

It's sad, yet beautiful to think that this was one of my earliest memories...

And tge ceremony was was held in honor of my mother.

Divina Cavallone.

I could barely remember the scent of lavender in the air.

Father claimed that mother loved the scent.

But it only made me dizzy.

I remember holding someone's hand...

Dino's...

My brother's...

I'm still holding someone's hand right now.

Not Dino's.

Squeezing the hand in mine, I looked at the person I've grown to love and he looked back at me.

"Dina... Are you okay?"

His arm wrapped around my waist instinctively and I buried my face into his chest where I let myself drown in his scent to avoid smelling the oil.

I nodded. But that was a lie... Who would possibly be 'okay' in my situation.

Karen stood in front of me with Hiro, sobbing into his chest.

I couldn't bear to watch.

I knew it wasn't my fault. I wasn't to blame...

But I also knew that if I made a different decision somewhere along the way, this wouldn't have happened.

Things would've been different.

Noelle would still be with us...

But would she have been happy?

Kuroi slowly moved towards us and Xanxus'-- no. Vitto's grip tightened and he narrowed his eyes.

Kuroi slightly raised his arms in surrender, a way of showing he wasn't going to try anything.

"Dina... I just wanted to say... I'm leaving."

My eyes widened and my grip on Vitto's hand tightened.

"But... we just got you back... Hiro just--"

"I know... It's just that... with Noelle gone, I need some time to think on my own for a bit..."

I nodded in understanding.

"You do what you have to do... Just don't disappear again, okay?"

Kiroi gave me a small, strained smile before he tipped his head in Vitto's direction.

"Take care of her...She deserves it."

"Of course I will." He replied, his rone firm.

And then Kuroi was off.

I knew that some part of me would always love Kuroi no matter what happened or what was gonna happen next but I knew that my affection for him wasn't the same as what I felt with Vittorio.

I raised Vitto's hand and gazed at Noelle's slowly disappearing boat.

"Hey." He tilted his head silently, waiting patiently for what I was about to say next.

"I love you, Vitto." I said as seriously as I could while looking him in the eye. "You saved me... from myself. From everything. But I don't love you just because of that. You're cold sometimes, distant but you always seem to bring warmth to my heart. You act like you don't care but your actions prove otherwise. You don't talk about your family often but when you talk about your mom, your eyes light up and I don't know why I'm saying this now, when it's so inappropriate but I do. And I always will."

~•~•~•~

He smiled brightly at her words as a tear ran down his face.

She paused in awe and raised her fingers, grazing his face with them and wiping away his tears.

Vitto's smile was truly worth so much more than this world could offer.

He grabbed her hands in one of his own and pulled her closely by the waist with the other.

"I love you too." He replied, eyes shining. "So much. You saved me too. From darkness. From forever believing I wasn't good enough. From never moving on from my mother's death. You save me. Right now, you bring me life. You are now the only reason I live. I love you. I know I don't say it much but I wish I could hear you say it back as long as I'm alive because I love and- damn it feels good to say it to you."

She cried out softly. In that moment, Dina knew she was no longer a ghost. Of the past, present, or the future.

She was here.

Alive... So alive... like a flame that would never die out.

"I love you so much."

Then he pulled her in even closer and brought their lips together.

More than you could ever know.