A/N: This chapter officially marks the completion of Desserts. I hope you've all enjoyed the ride along with me. I'll be fulfilling the requests that I promised reviewers already and, as a special little something to mark my joy at completing this project, the first ten people who message me telling me correctly which author I'm paying homage to with the opening and closing lines of this chapter. Also, the editor is still not working for me, making this chapter far uglier for layout's than it originally was. I still apologize profusely for this ruination of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Summary: A series of character studies, because every character deserves a tale, even if it is never heard. Part Eleven: Baked Alaska

Chapter Summary: Baked Alaska. Haru, Nana, Iemitsu, Lal Mirch, Colonello, Luce, Bianchi, Chrome, Hana, Tsuna.

Desserts

Part XI: Baked Alaska

Do you love?

i. Haru

And she didn't love him, the man who slipped under her covers with her. She didn't love him in the way he loved her, in the way he wanted for her to love him. Because she had loved before and still loved. Because she loved Tsuna, forever and for now. But Tsuna loved Kyoko. And Haru guessed that meant she should hate Kyoko but she didn't. Because Kyoko was her friend and because she loved her. And because she'd loved them both, because she'd wanted them both just to be happy, she'd given up. But that didn't mean that love ever died and that didn't mean that love didn't kill her every day, didn't make her head pound at the sight of Kyoko's wedding band, didn't make her stomach clench and her skin crawl at the feel of her own wedding ring, at the touch of her husband's hands (not Tsuna-san's) on her skin.

ii. Nana

She cradled the letter to her chest, standing by the mailbox, eyes far away and expression stormy. He'd been gone so long now and she just felt so alone at times. He had loved her; she knew she wasn't imagining that. He'd married her, hadn't he? She'd been a good wife, a good mother, hadn't she? So why did he have to leave her so much? Why was he gone for years at a time? Had she gotten ugly, boring, annoying? Had his love died? Was that why he only sent letters? Is that why he never came back? Iemitsu, do you love me?

iii. Iemitsu

He'd loved her so much, his wife. He loved him too, their beautiful son. He'd loved them enough to walk away from the Vongola once, to go from being Vongola to being CEDEF. To being an outsider. And when the Vongola had called him again to fulfill his duty, he'd loved them enough to leave. He'd loved them enough to keep them from being targeted, to keep them from being part of that dirty life which he had to go back to. And though his heart hurt, he kept away, kept waiting for the day when he could return home. Until then, he had this pen, putting it to paper and letting her know he hadn't forgotten them, could never forget them. And he had his dreams, where he saw them every night. Where he heard her ask him, as she always used to do, if he loved her. And every night, he'd tell her the same thing. I love you, Nana. Forever and always.

iv. Lal Mirch

Did she love? That thought ran through her mind as she stood in the cool night air, her eyes focused on the stars up in the sky, twinkling and winking at her. Yes, she'd loved and she loved still. Wasn't the proof of that in the smooth warmth of her pacifier as she gripped it tighter in her fist? Wasn't the proof of the love she had felt in that? In the image of the beautiful blond haired man as he tried his hardest to save her from this fate, the image that haunted her dreams and rose unbidden every time she closed her eyes? But she hadn't loved enough, had she? Not enough to show her love, not enough to face the fear of rejection, not enough to accept his offer to come with him. Colonello, I wonder where you are now?

v. Colonello

Did he love? What a stupid question. He'd loved and he still loved, loved proudly and arrogantly, like he did everything else in his life. He glanced over the training ground in the darkening evening, the first stars starting to shine in the sky as his hand came up to touch the pacifier around his neck. He wore that pacifier with honor because it was the symbol of his love. It was proof that he'd felt it, that it was real and that he'd tried. But he hadn't been enough for her; he'd failed to make her safe, to keep her happy. He looked up at the stars with a smile, thinking of how she'd always liked stargazing. I wonder if you're looking up at the same stars as me, Lal.

vi. Luce

And Luce had loved and cried and hurt and felt all her life, taking joy in the simple act of feeling, in the one thing that separated the living from the dead. But she'd never fully understood what it meant to cry until that moment, until she stood there in that circle, her body no longer her body but that of a baby. And her hand had drifted down to her swollen stomach, a baby with a baby on the way. She'd known but that didn't stop the sadness from coming. And she hadn't known pain until that first stabbing sensation in her stomach, that first sign that it was time. And she'd known that it would be worth it in the end, but that hadn't stopped it from hurting. She'd never known fear until she felt that cold, clammy hand of terror gripping her heart as the doctor's rushed and yelled, until they cut her open in a last ditch attempt to get the baby out alive, so they could get it out and put it in the incubator so that it might live, so that it might get healthy. And she'd never known love until she felt that first cry, her own tears streaming down. She'd never guessed at how indescribable, how humongous love could be until she looked at her baby's face, hand touching the warm plastic of the incubator as she watched her kicking, squirming baby. And she knew she'd have far too short a time with her, too little time to love and live. I'm sorry, Aria. Just remember, this was all for you. I did this so that you might live in a better world. I did this for love.

vii. Bianchi

And he often heard others describe her as frightening, as terrifying and deadly, as a bitch. And on his best days, he sympathizes with them. Because he remembers her from when he was a child. He remembers the torture she put him through (though he thinks sometimes, lost in memories, that maybe she didn't know that, maybe she just was trying to be a good sister), how much she scared him. And he agrees with them because now even now she can frighten him, because even now she's a formidable figure, when her rage sweeps over her and her eyes narrow and turn stormy, when her hair whips around her, when her anger threatens to melt everything, when he can't see where the mafioso ends and his sister begins. On his worst days, he can't help cursing them for their stupidity and blindness, for not being able to see her, for not wanting to see her.

viii. Chrome

Nagi had loved, maybe too much. And her love hadn't been enough, her love had betrayed her. And when Nagi became Chrome, Chrome swore that she'd never love that much again, that she'd conquer her love and wouldn't let it weaken her again. But she'd failed in that too. Because she loved, she loved so much, even though she knew he didn't love her, even though she knew to him she was just a means to an end. And wasn't it a self-destructive cycle, this love of hers?

ix. Hana

And she hadn't married him for sex or power or money like some said. And she hadn't married him for love like her friends believed. No, she'd married him because he'd asked, because he'd always been there. She married him because it was expected and because she hoped that someday there'd be real, true love. She married him for her hopes, because sometimes in his eyes she sees love, faith, desire, life. And sometimes she doesn't, but sometimes she does and that's enough for her. She marries him for her dreams, because she dreams that someday he'll open up and tell her everything, that someday they'll have the fairytale ending she's always wanted.

x. Tsuna

And he surprised them all and he surprised himself. Because who'd have thought that no-good Tsuna would defeat all those enemies, all those people stronger than him, smarter than him? Who'd have thought that Tsuna would become this determined, calm warrior, taking down Mukuro, taking down Xanxus, taking down Byakuran? Wiser and stronger had fallen to him because they didn't know. They didn't know the secret of his power, they didn't know what he knew, and most importantly, they didn't feel what he felt. They didn't care, they didn't love. But Tsuna did. Tsuna loved his parents and he loved his friends. He loved Reborn; he loved his family, the family he hadn't even wanted at first. He loved himself, despite all his faults and weaknesses. No, he loved himself for those weaknesses. And he loved his enemies because they were real and alive and they just didn't understand, loved them because they were lost souls and they didn't know it. He loved the whole wide world, with all its crime and drama and stupidity. He loved every goddamn molecule in the air because it was real and a part of it all. And when it came down to it, that's all everything boiled down to. Just love.

Do you love?

Yes. And true love never dies.