makeste: (I'm not broke)
makeste ([personal profile] makeste) wrote2008-02-14 04:28 am

Reborn! fic - Dieci Anni

Title - Dieci Anni (Ten Years)
Author - [livejournal.com profile] makeste
Rating - PG
Characters/Pairings - Gokudera, gen
Warnings - Spoilers for the Millefiore arc.
Summary - At age 14, he still has hope. At age 24, his hopes have turned to failures.


---


At 14, Gokudera Hayato is still idealistic. To call it optimism would be a stretch—that implies a naiveté that he associates with the baseball freak—but he has dreams and ambitions, and youth enough to believe they will come true. After all, when he’s at the Tenth’s side, it feels like anything is possible and they’ll succeed no matter what. He’ll definitely become stronger. He’ll definitely become the right-hand man, and he’ll definitely overcome any obstacle that dares to cross the Vongola famiglia’s path.

At age 14, he still has hope.

---

At 24, that idealism is long since gone, weighed down by violence and pain and loss until it was crushed. The hopes that Gokudera had for the future died with the Tenth; all that’s left of his dreams are nightmares. The person he dedicated his life to is gone, and the family he swore to protect is dying along with him. They’re fighting a war that seems increasingly futile, and the only reason he still continues at all is because giving up would dishonor Tsuna’s memory. (And because those responsible for Tsuna’s death are still alive, and Gokudera will not allow his boss to go unavenged.)

At age 24, his hopes have turned to failures.

---

At 14, Gokudera is as unpredictable and untamed as the storms from which he draws his title. His temper sparks as easily as his dynamite, and can leave just as much damage in its wake. He is brash and impulsive and more than a little reckless, and risks are not yet things he always thinks through. A lifetime of being neglected and overlooked has left him with an unquenchable thirst to prove himself, and so he jumps at every chance, regardless of the danger, determined to show the world that he is worth something.

At 14, he is headstrong and heedless, unrelenting and unstoppable.

---

At 24, maturity has caught up with him at last, the brashness of his teenage years gradually stemmed by an increasing measure of self-control. His temper is still as quick as ever, but he is far more adept at keeping it in check when there is work to be done. At some point during the past ten years, he has learned patience—albeit a limited sort—and a composure that has served him remarkably well as the second-in-command of the Vongola family.

At 24, Gokudera is still a little reckless, but there is (was) someone to whom he will always have worth, and the need to prove it no longer overwhelms.

---

At 14, he is awkward and graceless both socially and, often, on the battlefield. As hard as Gokudera tries, reliability is a trait that still eludes him from time to time, and his record is more patchy than perfect. He zigs when he should zag, stumbles over himself in his eagerness to serve the Tenth, and has far more close calls than he would like to admit. But each fight he walks away from leaves him stronger, each experience he’d rather not dwell on leaves him wiser, and there is a boundless wealth of potential just waiting to be tapped.

At 14, he is still growing, and “limit” is a term that has no meaning.

---

At 24, Gokudera is nothing short of fearsome, a surging force of firepower and strategic precision. He possesses a degree of confidence where his younger self always hesitated, and fights with the practiced ease of someone who has faced odds far worse than this. Challenges no longer overwhelm him—but they don’t excite him, either. He no longer returns from every scrape bloodied and bruised, but there is a weariness now that lingers long after the battles are done.

At 24, Gokudera knows his limits all too well.

---

At 14, Gokudera adores the Tenth, and tolerates most everyone else. Wariness is an old habit, and the concept of trust is very hard to get used to. That he will protect his famiglia with everything he’s got is a given, but the idea that maybe, just maybe, someone will have his back as well is all but foreign to him. Sometimes he’s grateful, other times it’s frightening, and still other times he doesn’t know how to react, period. When the baseball idiot slings an arm around him, it’s annoying but also strangely comforting. There are people now who, if he ever allowed himself to, he could almost fall back upon.

At 14, he’s starting to realize it’s no longer just him alone against the world.

---

At 24, he’s lost the person most precious to him, and he remembers now the reason he never put his trust in others before. The feeling of loss, of being let down, of letting others down, is unbearable… and yet the alternative is something he no longer thinks he’s capable of going back to. For better or worse, family is something he’s come to depend upon, something he could never bear to abandon. He is not alone in this, and whatever strength he’s still got left, he owes it to them more than anything else.

At 24, he is part of something and they are a part of him.

---

At 14, Gokudera Hayato turns onto the Tenth’s street, and enters the front gate holding a bag of yatsuhashi. Maybe the timing is coincidence, maybe it’s fate; either way, he is standing in just the wrong (right) spot when the bazooka soars out of the window, and ten years pass in an instant and a poof of smoke.

The world he’s in is frightening, once he realizes exactly what’s at stake. But he believes in the Tenth and he knows he won’t fail him. And the thought fills him with surety. There’s no way that they’ll lose.

At 14, the future is still ahead of him, never set in stone.

---

At 24, Gokudera has countless things that he wishes he could say to Tsuna, and only five minutes in which to do so. So he does the only thing he can—he swallows back the grief and regret, and focuses on telling the Tenth the single most important thing of all. The thing that will save his life and end all of this and finally put things right.

And that’s all he can do, because the next thing he knows, it’s ten years ago and Tenth is gone once more, the future left in his hands and those of Gokudera’s younger self. And for the first time in what seems like an eternity, he feels the tiniest flicker of faith once again.

At 24, he still remembers how a boy once saved his life, and he still believes in second chances.

ext_65404: (Default)

[identity profile] kiku.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
G-Guh, this was beautiful. I loved it.

[identity profile] magical-poof.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
Oooh! I really liked this! The contrast bewteen the two ages is very nicely done!

(Though I wonder where all the TYL people go... surely they don't go back to the past, right? I mean, if they were, there'd be TYL!Tsuna's body lying around in the street. o_o Plus they could just fix it themselves if they were in the past... But whatever. It's still a nice fic)

[identity profile] rustedcoyote.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
This is so very good *fangirls*. You wrote the contrasts so well and the observations were so accurate and really fills his charater out! Love♥♥♥

[identity profile] arisuesei.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
Nicely written. I'm not really fond of Gokudera, but I love your fic. Hope to see more from you.

[identity profile] pineapple-nappo.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
Wah~! Pure ♥ Great job!

[identity profile] binnin.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
this is wonderful! loved every word!!
*/fangirling*
I think it really shows a wonderful contrast between 14!Goku and 24!Goku--you really pulled this off beautifully!

[identity profile] morphaileffect.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:58 am (UTC)(link)
♥♥♥

mannn love this piece so much. you wrote Goku and TYL!Goku out solidly.

my favorite passage:

At 24, Gokudera has countless things that he wishes he could say to Tsuna, and only five minutes in which to do so. So he does the only thing he can—he swallows back the grief and regret, and focuses on telling the Tenth the single most important thing of all. The thing that will save his life and end all of this and finally put things right.

<-- i think this fully captures our brief glimpse of TYL!Goku in the manga. wonderful job!

[identity profile] izelmecatl.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
Amazing writing skills! I almost got teary eyed at the very last line~! I think that you captured his character pretty darn well~! I guess hope never really dies in a human being. My mom says that the last thing to die in a person is hope.
Anyway keep up the awesome job~!

[identity profile] aradiantsun.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 11:41 am (UTC)(link)
This is utterly fantastic!

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! ♥

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I tried to show both contrasts and similarities, so I'm glad it worked out well. :)

And I think they must all end up 10 years in the past, since we know that's what happens with Lambo? I'm guessing that in the case of people who are dead, they just don't show up at all (as in Reborn's case). But yeah, they theoretically could just fix it themselves if they were stuck there, couldn't they? I wonder if the manga will ever mention that down the line. XD

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I always worry over characterization, so I'm glad it worked for you here. :)

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you. ♥

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! ♥

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
*may or may not be blushing lulz XD* Thank you!

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
:D :D Thank you!

I've read that scene in the manga like a bazillion times, so I tried pretty hard to do it justice. Glad you liked it. ♥

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
No joke, I must have edited that last line about 20 times trying to find something that ended it right, so I'm really glad this worked. ♥ Thank you so much!

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh, thank you. ♥

[identity profile] lyraes.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
The last line made me go "Kyaa ~ ♪" XD And that is so amazingly out of character for me, but this was a very nice story.

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! Still relieved the ending turned out halfway decent, so thanks for the feedback. <3

[identity profile] natsumi-chian.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn, i love it T___T

[identity profile] demoerin.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The way you portray Gokudera seems spot-on. I love the ending, and how it ties in with the rest of the fic - it makes it seem believable that the child could accomplish what the adult needs done.

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-16 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you. ♥

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-02-16 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you; Gokudera's my favorite character so I was pretty anxious to get his characterization right. :) Thanks for the feedback!

[identity profile] natsumi-chian.livejournal.com 2008-02-16 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
your welcome! x3333
keep it up! x3333

[identity profile] dame-batsie.livejournal.com 2008-07-13 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
WOW
WOW
WOW

I can't stop admiring this. I have to admit it - at first, I wasn't quite sure what you were doing by alternating between 14 and 24. I was thinking that maybe it would be better to group them all separately.

But the last two passages certainly shut me up. Beautiful. It couldn't have been organized any other way.

[identity profile] innerve.livejournal.com 2008-07-13 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
At 24, he still remembers how a boy once saved his life, and he still believes in second chances.

That last line really hit me. Hard. Right in the hard.

Thank you for writing something so beautiful.

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2008-07-13 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the comment. ♥ The last line to me is the essence of what the future arc is about--second chances and putting things right--so I'm very glad you liked it and the rest of the fic. :)

[identity profile] innerve.livejournal.com 2008-07-14 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
... 'right in the hard'. ... hahaha. Obviously, that was supposed to read, 'heart'.

[identity profile] muumuu122.livejournal.com 2010-12-01 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Awesome <3

[identity profile] makeste.livejournal.com 2010-12-02 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! ♥