Notes: This is a story based on the uncompleted drabble I wrote on Reborn/Nana which is on my tumblr, at Megumi-Yukihira . tumblr. com.

I've dabbled a bit with the canon timeline of Nana's character and made her meet Reborn at 21, (when in canon she'd probably already had Tsuna and was married).

In this story she still hasn't had Tsuna and is unmarried, having not met Iemitsu.

Given that I want her to spend a couple years with Reborn, the 'before' canon chapters will take about 2-3 years making her 23-24, when she leaves Italy because Reborn is turned into an Arcobaleno.

I don't want her to immediately jump into a relationship, so maybe a year will pass before she meets Iemitsu.

I say that within months of meeting Iemitsu and Nana and dating, married, and then she is impregnated. So she'd be 25 almost 26 and pregnant with Tsuna.

So when the canon timeline comes up Nana will be 39 instead of 34 (like in canon).

This story as unplanned as it gets, I wrote the first chapter in a fit of spontaneity and inspiration. I don't really know if it will even have regular updates, those of you who follow The Mafia Loves You! know I'm not the greatest at updating on time. It will probably follow the drabble as a very bare bones sort of plot and the rest is up to fate.

Not to say that I don't love this story already.

I hope to have this story flesh out a better character for Nana, than the flat one sided character KHR canon gives us, or the trope of an abusive and neglectful or airheaded Nana.

Is this considered a crack pairing? I don't even know. Well R77 for the win!

I hope everyone enjoys this story, leaves kudos (and if I'm lucky) a comment!

Nana

"Are you sure about this? What if something goes wrong? You'll be in a foreign country with no one!"

Nana's mother frets her last moments with her daughter away, constantly worried everything will go wrong.

"Mama, I'll be fine! I have a dictionary, and I'm sure I'll learn the language quickly once I hear it everyday!" Nana tries to calm her mother, but knows it's a hopeless endeavor.

"Just be careful will you, Nacchan? You know how your mother worries, and it would help your old mans' heart if you called every once in a while." Her father is gruff in voice and physical appearance, but his eyes are shining with unshed tears.

Nana smiles and gives the both of them one last hug, before she runs off towards the terminal to get on her flight, "I'll miss you! I'll call often, and write too! I'll be back before you know it!"

Nana's parents tearfully wave goodbye to their only daughter, as her figure disappears past the terminal. Her mother sighs, "I guess it was time to let go, but I still feel so worried. Do you think she'll be okay?"

Nana's father lets out a shaky laugh, "Our Nacchan is the Queen of Okay! If there's anyone who can do it, it's her. We should get going, we can't hang around here all day like a bunch of unruly teenagers can we?"

Nana's mother smiles weakly, looks back one last time and prays. She hopes her daughter will find everything she's missing, everything she wants to become – even if she had to let go of her daughter in order for it to happen.

Nana's parents go home quietly and somber, - they begin counting the days until Nana's return.

Nana sits close to the window and stops herself from pressing her face against the glass like a child. The sky is painted in hues of orange and red turning into purple, and Nana rekindles her love of the sky.

By the time the sun has set, she's curled into her chair. Thinking, wondering, hoping. Although she is sad to leave her parents, Nana knows she cannot live with them forever, - she cannot stay the same forever.

She refuses to be stagnant.

While many of her friends had gotten a new job, or even a new parter; Nana knew she would not do the same. She craved something more than a new job to have or a partner to hold. She craved freedom; she craved a need to understand herself.

Growing up Nana had been kept away from 'bad influences', it might have saved her naivety and innocence; but she grew up sorely lacking a place to learn and grow into.

Twenty one years alive, and she'd never known a ground other than her beloved Namimori. Twenty one years alive and she'd never known what it was like to really be free.

Part of her quaked with fear and uncertainty, afraid of a world where Japan, Mama, and Papa were thousands of miles away. However, a new, brave, and unchallenged part of her yearned for a new country, filled with new people, - a place she could discover herself.

Sighing, Nana began to flip through her Japanese to Italian dictionary, feeling very foolish that she'd never thought to do so before, "Mou, this is going to be a bit hard! But I'll get through it!"

Shoving a pillow closer to the window, she nestled herself into the hard corner and tried to construct a sentence in Italian.

"C-ciao? Nome is name...how do people understand this? Maybe it has directions on the back?"

Nana continued to mutter to herself, feeling slightly out of depth – but she wasn't a terrified child, she would face the new language head on and understand something before her plane landed.

She flipped page after page and read the back section of her dictionary countless times. When the moon was high in the sky, Nana finally dozed off, mentally strained from learning so many new words.

Nana woke to the hushed whispers of a flight attendant asking if she would like breakfast, she nodded slowly and winced as she felt her back strain from her horrible sleeping position.

By the time Nana had straightened herself out, the flight attendant had moved on to another person, and her stomach grumbled for food.

She cocked her head as a new flight attendant hurriedly came down the aisle, distributing trays of breakfast dishes to those who were awake, before she handed a tray to Nana, and continued her harsh pace. A sudden wave of homesickness hit Nana, as she saw a tray of foreign foods – and the smallest part of her wavered wanting, needing, something familiar.

Timidly she began to eat her breakfast, and it dawned on her that she was alone, completely alone, in a plane, to a country she had never been, with a language she had never spoken. Was she excited? Was she terrified? Butterflies - farfalle, she told herself, made their home in her stomach – and gave way to an emotion she didn't have often, nervousness.

Choking down the rest of a breakfast she couldn't name, Nana shook the thoughts from her head and concentrated on reading the rest of her dictionary.

She could be nervous when she stepped off the plane, she could be nervous when she left the airport, but she refused to let her nervousness sap away any of her excitement for what the trip could be, could become.

With a single minded determination, Nana delved into her dictionary and spent the rest of the flight learning and forgetting in an endless cycle.

A hand tapped her shoulder and broke her concentration, "Signorina? L'aereo è atterrato."

"A-ah, Si, Grazie?" Nana hesitantly flipped through her dictionary while looking upwards at the young man, hoping she hadn't missed an important word.

The young man smiled at her pleasantly, "Terribly sorry, Miss. I did not know you were just learning the language. Welcome to Florence, Italy. When you exit the plane there will be a small shop filled with language books called 'Vita ama Libri', Life loves Books, in the airport. If you need any help with the language the shop would even be willing to provide a translator."

Nana nodded and gingerly got up before collecting the little luggage she had brought with her.

"Thank you for your help!" Nana flipped through her dictionary and carefully made her sentence, "Tu sei una brava persona, g-grazie!"

She waved goodbye, stepping away from the life she'd always known – straight into a new life, excited, terrified, and not that she would admit it; nervous.

Once she stepped off the plane she was ushered to the airport, where people pushed past each other, strangely reminiscent of Japan. Going with the flow, all her luggage in hand, Nana made her way to the small shop the young man had told her about and started looking for a map.

"Permesso," a small woman spoke in a slow voice, "Vuole una mano? Siete nouvi a Italia?"

Nana flipped several pages of her dictionary, trying to understand the small woman, "A-ah, si. per favore..."

The small woman, whose name tag said Marie, led her to a small room with several chairs and a desk.

Nana continued flipping through pages, "Permesso, posso o-otte-nere un t-tradutorre?"

Marie simply smiled and nodded at Nana, "Quale lingua?"

Carefully deciphering Marie's words, Nana confidently responded, "Giapponese."

Marie smiled once again, before she left the room, leaving Nana to her own devices.

Nana fidgeted, unsure if she should sit or stand, nervously happy that soon, a person would actually be able to speak her language.

What felt like an eternity later, Marie came back, with another woman in tow, her Japanese features setting Nana's homesickness at ease.

Bowing at the waist, the woman introduced herself, "Hello! My name is Kasumi, it's a pleasure to meet you! Now Marie here, told me you were in need of translation services, is this correct?"

Nana nodded and resisted the urge to start crying even as her throat seemed to choke with emotion, "Y-yes. I have never been to Italy and I think I'm going to need some help with, well, everything."

Kasumi laughed gently, "Don't worry, you wouldn't be the first. Are you here on a vacation or indefinitely? Depending on your answer you may have to fill out more paperwork, but don't worry, if you need help, I will be here to translate."

Nana sighed in relief, an anxiousness she hadn't known was gripping her had slipped away the longer Kasumi talked.

"Indefinitely for now. I wanted to get away from home, try to find a place that was just for me. Will you really help me with everything?"

Kasumi nodded, "Of course! How could I leave someone like you without any knowledge of Italy? That would be blasphemy!"

Kasumi walked around the desk and gave Nana several sheets, all in Italian. "Now we'll fill this out together okay? Since you don't have a proper place of residence it'll take sometime to sort everything out, but it's doable!"

Nana sighed in relief, - and spent the rest of the afternoon being helped and taught by Kasumi about life in Italy, the endless paperwork, and a strange little story about how carrying around a dictionary had almost made her loose her foot.

Nana stretched like a cat in her chair, weary, hungry, and slightly tired from all the paperwork – they hadn't even gone through half!

Kasumi rubbed her eyes and looked towards the setting sun, from the small window in the room. "It would be best if we continued this tomorrow, Nana-san."

Yawning, Kasumi continued, "My shift should almost be over as well! I'll give you directions to a good hotel, okay? You'll have to take the bus, but it should be fine. Giorgio, the bus driver around this time, knows enough Japanese to speak fluently! One of his stops is in front of Hotel Sofia, it's a good place for tourists or people who don't know too much Italian just yet."

Nana thanked Kasumi gratefully, and made her way out of a much less crowded airport towards the very obvious bus sign. She waited, flipping pages of her dictionary constantly, as people began to crowd around the stop.

A loud yell startled Nana from her fidgeting, and she watched enraptured as men she didn't know argued on the sidewalk; she wondered what they were saying.

She watched their expressions, their tense bodies and how angry they both seemed. A woman stepped between them, smacking both on the forehead. Nana barely managed to catch some of words the woman angrily sprouted off, "Fratello!...stupido...idiota..imparare!"

She stayed still as the woman swept both of them in a hug, before she started to write down what she'd seen and heard.

All the while Nana, had not noticed that the bus had left without her on it, as she'd been paying attention to an argument.

Turning around swiftly, Nana smiled as the bus came into view; she prepared her bags, and quickly got on once it stopped.

Nana inserted money into a small machine for her bus fare, and hesitantly called out the bus driver,"A-ano, are you Giorgio? Kasumi-san told me about you, this is the bus that will take me to Hotel Sofia, yes?"

The bus driver turned around and looked at her in bewilderment, "Cosa hai detto? Che lingua stai parlando?"

Nana stood stock-still, as she saw the name tag on the man's shirt, 'Luca.'

Flipping through her dictionary she said quickly,"A-ano, dove è Giorgio?"

The man closed the bus doors, and began to drive,"Giorgio? Che lavora su un altro autobus."

Nana carefully sat down and translated his words. Helplessness curled in her gut, as she realized she didn't know where the bus would take her. She didn't know what she could do. Nana's hands trembled slightly as she remembered there would be no one there to help her.

Trying to calm herself down, she took deep breaths, but couldn't stop feeling worried.

She startled when a finger tapped on her shoulder and a voice began to speak slowly, "Scusa, ho sentito tua conversazione, hai bisogno di aiuto?"

"Per favore. Ho preso l'autobus-s sbag-gliato."

The man sat next to her and Nana realized he was a very, very handsome man. He had striking curly sideburns, that made Nana want to twirl them in her fingers, cutting black eyes, and a smile that could make the pope faint.

"Please do not worry too much. This is a problem that can be resolved easily."

Nana barely managed to speak through her shock, "Y-you! You can speak Japanese?!"

The man laughed, "Yes, I can. Not a language I can practice so often, so when I hear it, it really stands out. We can get out on the next stop, which won't be for a while, and then wait for another bus. Where are you heading? The bus route is fairly straight forward, so you shouldn't get too lost."

Nana smiled at the man, "I was headed towards Hotel Sofia. I managed to get a translator at the airport and she's helping me with most of my paperwork as well. She recommended I stay there while we try to finish all the paperwork."

The man nodded in understanding, "Are you going to live here indefinitely, then? It's a rather nice surprise, we don't get many foreigners from Asia wanting to live here. It's usually too different for them to adjust – comfortably at least."

Nana tucked her hair under her ear and beamed at him, "My name is Nana, by the way, Sawada Nana. It's nice to meet you! Thank you for your help!"

He smiled at her, his eyes and curls gleamed in the last rays of the sun, his voice a comforting timbre, "A pleasure to have made your acquaintance, my name is Reborn."