There She Was, Five Minutes Left

And there she was. She was sitting at the corner as she watched the other guardians struggled until their very last strength to protect what they wanted to protect.

And there she was. She was idly watching over her spiky brown-haired innocent boss as he unleashed his benevolent yet fierce orange flames that wishes nothing but the safety of his beloved ones.

And there she was. She couldn't do anything but to wait for their protection. Again.

However, she refused to become the burden! She don't want to burden the family anymore!

Even though weakened by the massive loss of blood, the eye-patched girl pushed herself to stand up and attempted to close the distance between her and her beloved good-natured leader.

"Boss! I want to help..."

The Vongola Decimo threw a flamed-enhanced punch against his ferocious enemy before he faced the girl. "Don't come here, Chrome! Stay right there."

For him, Chrome is just a young, sweet girl that must not be involved in any fight. Sawada Tsunayoshi will make sure that there will be no more victims because of the mafia's dilemma — even if the girl is now a soldier and one of his guardians.

Chrome knew this, though. She was fully aware what the boss was thinking about her. But she refused to do nothing for the one who truly accepted her besides Mukuro-sama.

Mukuro-sama.

She was very fond of him. He was her savior. If it wasn't due to the interventions of the very same man on her supposed death, she wouldn't meet everyone. If he didn't proclaimed that she has talent to become a soldier, she wouldn't even try to overcome her own silly timidness. She wouldn't even find her true desire to help everyone. To help Mukuro-sama.

"If you'll die, we'll be in trouble."

She remembered that masculine voice. She still clearly remembered the day when the Cloud guardian stood beside her in order for her to draw out the power of the Vongola ring. She barely managed to cling unto her pitiful life.

If it wasn't for the older raven-haired Cloud guardian, she won't be alive until today. Chrome won't be able to fight together with the other guardians. The girl won't able have the chance to meet Haru and Kiyoko.

She would be nothing but a broken marionette that dance around death.

She also wanted to fight. She wanted to fight to protect the life she just got. She wanted to spend more time with the other guardians. She has many to talk about with Haru and Kiyoko.

For that moment, Chrome wanted to live!

"I want to help... I want to fight... I want to protect all!" she proclaimed at the top of her lungs.

With her remaining strength, the eye-patched girl released tremendous mist flames that enveloped

Gokudera Hayato, Tsuna's self-proclaimed right hand man, gasped in shocked when he saw the familiar indigo flames.

"That woman," he uttered. "She's way too reckless!"

"And stubborn to the EXTREME!" Sasagawa Ryohei, Decimo's sun guardian, shouted in a very loud manner.

"Hahahaha! She must like Tsuna that much..."

"Shut up, baseball freak!" Gokudera reprimanded.

Yamamoto Takeshi, the baseball player and the rain guardian of the group, only lighthearted laughed at the silver-haired storm guardian.

Their little talk came to a halt when the enormous mist flames became 6 gigantic blue bowerbirds, similar to Mukuro's Genjū Mugaia. However, in this Chrome's version, the birds began to form different weapon-like illusions that relentlessly attack the enemy's underlings.

"Nebbia di Bowerbird… Eterno Version: Intensa!"

Everyone was astonished. Everyone was flabbergasted. Chrome's will to help the Vongola Decimo amplified her great power thus giving birth to a new technique she herself has developed.

The remaining guardians used that chance to gather their greatest attacks against their greatest foe.

"I am quite happy to see the growth of your guardian, Tsuna," 'he' commented.

"I still don't understand! Why you have to do this, Reborn!"

Chrome could only grimaced on how dire their situation was... And how deep Reborn had fallen into darkness.

"Aggregate Art: Jiunoka!"

"Rocket Bomb version X!"

"Sunshine Counter!"

"Hn."

"X Cannon!"

With their last remaining strength, Tsuna and his every guardians sans Lambo and Chrome attacked Reborn who had lost himself in the darkness.

Alas! The former arcobaleno has already expected their moves. He went straight ahead towards Tsuna, his once beloved and cherished student that his heart had forgotten due to the darkness that enveloped him.

"It's chaos time."

He was no longer his tutor. He was no longer Vongola Nono's most trusted hitman.

Reborn was just... a doll. A broken soulless doll.

Even though Tsuna was born with his hyper intuition, he couldn't still see his impending death on the hands of his tutor.

"Juudaime!"

"Tsuna!"

"Sawada!"

"Herbivore."

Plip plop. Plip plop. Plip plop.

And there she was. She was still trying her best to protect the one who gave her the chance to meet such wondrous people.

And there she was. She was doing everything she could do to help her boss that she moved purely based on her instinct.

And there she was. She protected her beloved boss with her own fragile body from the dangerous attack of their enemy.

"Chrome..chan..."

"Boss. It's alright... I'm v-very hap..py that..I m-meet...e-eve..r-ry..one."

"Chrome!"

And there she was. She gave her life to protect her family. Her new family.

There she was. For the last five seconds left to her, the violet-haired girl smiled sweetly to her boss.

"Thank you."

Thank you for everything.

Author's note:

Hello everyone! After several attempts (failed due to lack of motivation or idea), I finally made a Reborn! fan fiction. I wanted to give Chrome a better ending but since my very soul was already in the plot, I could not pull myself was also supposed to have romance, but I ultimately failed.

This is also the story I submitted in a writing contest. I hope for everyone's enjoyment.

Ciao!

~Maeve Arte