giving flowers to leone abbachio and bruno bucciarati ꒰ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ
which one are their favorites?
cw: angst, no comfort, art by 浦助 on pixiv
Wandering around the florist, you think about what flowers to buy for each of your partners, it’s your fourth year anniversary and you couldn’t think of something better than a bouquet of flowers for them. Well, fiancees, technically. Leone has very special and reserved tastes, in music, in wines, so you think that in flowers too. He’s definitely going to complain about the smell or even the color. You remember the last time you tried to buy him something, a nice bracelet that he never wears.
Bruno is an easier man, not because of his tastes (he still has a very refined taste in things), but because he likes everything to give him. You could give him a rock with your initials on it and he’d cherish it forever.
You need to find two different flowers that compliment each other and that your partners are going to like. That’s a hard mission for you.
You walk slowly past the buckets lined up, your fingers brushing over cool petals without really touching them. Four years already. It does not feel that long, and yet it does.
You stop at the lilies first. They stand tall and elegant, white with faint pink edges, too pure. Leone might like the shape, the way they refuse to be loud. But the scent is heavy, almost funeral-like, the thought makes your chest tighten for a second. You move on.
Next come the roses, classic and safe. Red ones for passion, the shop owner says with a smile, but you know better. Leone would roll his eyes at anything too obvious, you picture his sharp line between his brows when something does not meet his standards. Still, your mind drifts to the way he looked at you last winter, snow caught in his hair, complaining about the cold but leaning into your side anyway.
You keep going. Carnations feel too common. Tulips are pretty but too bright for Leone, though Bruno would probably hold them like they were made of gold. You pause longer at the orchids, delicate and strange, Leone might appreciate that. They remind you of nights spent talking, his voice low in the dark room while Bruno listened from the other side of the bed. But orchids seem too fragile for what you want to say. You need something that lasts.
Your steps carry you to the back corner where the lavender grows in soft purple clusters. The smell is clean, it feels right for Leone somehow, reserved but honest. You can already hear him muttering about how it is not too sweet, not too much. A small smile tugs at your lips despite everything.
For Bruno you find the sunflowers, not the giant ones but the smaller, warmer kind with rich golden centers. They turn toward the light no matter what, just like him. You imagine him placing them on the table where everyone can see, touching the petals softly when he thinks no one is looking.
They do not match perfectly, the lavender and sunflowers, but they fit together in the same way your lives do. Different, yet they make the space between them feel complete. You stand there for a while longer, letting the nostalgia wash over you, the faint ache of time passing and things changing even when you wish they would not. Four years. You wonder if they feel it too.
Finally you walk up to the florist, voice steady even if your heart is not. “Two bouquets, please. One with lavender as the main flower, maybe some white accents but nothing too strong. The other with sunflowers. Make them different but able to sit together nicely.”
The florist nods and starts gathering stems, wrapping them with care. You watch her hands move, the paper crinkling softly. These flowers will not fix everything, but they are yours to give and that has to be enough for tonight.
The walk to the cemetery is always long and tiring for you. It stretches through the old neighborhood, past buildings that have not changed much in four years and the weight of the flowers makes your steps feel heavier than they should.
Guido and Giorno stopped coming with you every week after a few months. At first they tried, showing up with their own small offerings and quiet words, but life pulled them in other directions. You never blamed them for it, some days you even envied how they could keep moving forward without this same pull dragging them back every Sunday. But for you, the path has become a habit you cannot quite break. Your feet know every crack in the sidewalk.
You walk between the rows, the grass soft under your shoes, until you reach them. Leone’s and Bruno’s tombs sit one next to the other, like they always belonged that close. The stones are still clean, the names carved deep enough to last. You set the lavender bouquet gently in front of Leone’s, careful not to crush any stems. You can almost hear his voice in your head, muttering about the color or the way the leaves stick out, but there is no real bite in it. Not anymore.
Then you place the sunflowers before Bruno’s, he would have loved them, you think. He would have smiled and pulled you down to sit between them for a while, talking about nothing important. The air feels thicker here, filled with all the things left unsaid. Four years. It still surprises you sometimes, how time can stretch and shrink at once, leaving you standing in the same spot with flowers in your hands.
You stay there longer than you planned, the breeze moving softly through the petals, carrying memories that feel both close and far away.
Emptiness | Bruno Bucciarati X Leone Abbacchio (Bruabba)
Word Count: 2,285
Warnings: Major Death Spoilers for Part 5 Except one. Angst, pining. Alternate ending to part 5.
Also available on A03!
There was a vivid, horrific image in Bruno's mind ever since the day he laid eyes on Leone's corpse on the Beach in Sardinia. Working for the Mafia, corpses were always going to show up along the line. Hell, Bruno had killed people, he saw death up close and personal. That's how he met Giorno Giovanna in the first place anyways; to investigate Leaky Eye Luka's Death. Seeing a dead body was just a way of life, someone finally meeting their end and completing their life purpose. It was different though with Luka's Death and the others he's seen. Those were just mere people who he had no connection to besides being under the same boss. Bruno didn't have a connection besides common business-related ideals with those people. Bucciarati's team was a family that surely was a bit dysfunctional and built but it was a safe space for everyone. It gave them all a purpose, a roof over their heads, and a job.
With being a team leader, he knew more about each individual probably more than the rest knew about each other. They'd confide in him, look up to him, admire him and Bruno was just like a role model and savior to them all. He'd take the time to speak to each individual to understand and get to know their stories which made his team so special to him. They all may be young, but they'd be in a worse place if they weren't here under his wing. Abbacchio was the only one who was older than himself and could handle himself financially if he needed it but would have a hard time ever picking himself up by getting a real, normal job. Mentally, Leone would be a mess living by himself.
Bucciarati was unlucky enough to make it out alive through the whole battle against the boss. The brunette was a respectable capo, in charge of some smaller groups under him but the downfall was he was almost 2 times busier. Even though he felt as fine as before he met Giorno, he would be reminded of how close he was to death by the scar right under his ribcage. It was a small scar, Giorno had made it almost as if nothing had happened when healing him. He had felt the excruciating pain of what was a fist-shaped hole being punched through his torso afterward but had to push forward on getting rid of the boss. With Abbacchio and Narancia gone, there was an emptiness he felt. The team was never going to be the same again for everyone. Bruno lost the one his heart loved and a son, Fugo was gone, Mista lost a buddy and grumpy friend he could pick on. Giorno lost a new friend and rival. Trish was now orphaned but fully welcomed into Giorno's inner circle now he's boss.
The injuries were healed, no current enemies against Passione, and things were going back to as normal as possible. But there are still the wounds and scars mentally that Bruno dealt with. There's not a day that passes by where he isn't thinking about what could have gone better to ensure that Abbacchio and Narancia had been safe. Some nights he'd cry from all the times he could have told either one of them that he cared for them. When it comes to matters of Narancia, it hurt to see how distraught Mista and Trish were. With Leone's death, seeing his love lifelessly sit facing the sea with a bloodied abdomen- Bruno wanted to drop to his knees, sob till he couldn't anymore but instead he had to bite his lip and be strong for the others.
Leone was always so different around him which made it hurt more. The two had an unspoken love, a mutual understanding that was beyond friendship. As things got more dangerous, Bruno wanted to mention it to Leone in the airplane. It was a perfect moment since Mista and Narancia were asleep in the turtle, Giorno and Trish were in the back. Instead, Bruno kept quiet to let Leone focus on controlling Moody Blues. Bruno was just so hung up on what could have been. They could have stolen a kiss after a confession or made peace in accepting they may not make it. Instead, Bruno planned to check the engines and Notorious B.I.G was back on the plane to ruin their flight. That was the last possible moment alone they would have together. He found some acceptance that they both saw the clouds together in the sky, the dark blue waves beneath them. Seeing the clouds so high up felt peaceful and at least they had that for a moment.
When Leone first laid eyes on Bruno, his world was dark and he was falling into a dark hole he dug himself. As he spent more time with Bruno, his world was brightened. He enjoyed serving Bruno and found himself always wanting to be around him. He was amazed at all the good Bruno would do for citizens, all the good that was in Bruno despite things he had to do as a part of his job for Passione. Leone would follow Bruno to the ends of the Earth which made him cling to life even in his death. Leone had the option of choosing to live in his Heaven or to stay on Earth through the limbo between the living and the dead. He could observe humans and go to heaven when he was ready. The only thing was that if he goes to his own Heaven, he can't go back to watching the living. "You can stay here for as long as you need, Leone. I know you have unfinished business." Abbacchio's police partner had been waiting for him. That was his own unfinished business, to make sure that Leone would be guilt-free about his death and to tell him he did an excellent job while he lived. With those words, he ascended into the afterlife and left Leone.
Abbacchio knew what he had to do then. He wanted to wait for Bruno, no matter how long and greet him in the afterlife. Leone wanted to make sure Bruno would continue and continue to spread the happiness he so easily made people feel. He didn't expect Bruno to be such a mess at night when he saw how normal he looked during the day. Watching over Bruno in the afterlife was something that gave him fulfillment but also great anger and sadness. Things wouldn't have changed if that damn Giorno Giovanna would never have shown up. Now that he had seen the outcome and Narancia had joined him in the afterlife to watch over the group, Leone was a bit pissed off that Giorno had become the boss for selfish gain. At least Giorno would be the last to join them in death, and hopefully, by then Leone hoped he would be in his own Heaven by then. He enjoyed spending his days in the afterlife fly by as he observed Bruno for the most part while other times he was wandering the streets of Naples. He would sit at the café with Narancia eating while they waited for the others. Surprisingly, food pops up whenever they want even though they don't ever get hungry. Narancia always has all the pizzas he ever wants as well as sodas. Leone only drinks wine by habit but enjoys a plate of food when the team eats. Eating with the team even though they can't see or hear him makes him feel alive again even if the conversation is dull.
The days that pass by what seemed like only a few hours, one blink and you miss something. Having nothing to do but watch the living, he saw how fast everything goes by and how fragile life is. He's seen the struggle and grief the people of Naples had gone through when he was a cop, witnessing theft and crime daily. Life is so vulnerable, so fast-paced and yet somehow people make it through and endure while trying to do everything they can to cling to every precious moment. Leone found it hard to cling on when he can't touch anything physically and can't speak to the one he has the most to say to. Ghost life was less interesting than you would think. Endless food, whenever you want to enjoy to just feel human again, was at the command of thought and you could wander anywhere your feet could take you. No money needed, no bills- but something feels like it's missing. Maybe it is the enjoyment of life, the things people had to save up to do, and then the excitement when they have the funds to do so. The thrill of playing the game of life. Leone couldn't grab things besides the ones only he could see and make appear like the food he and Narancia would enjoy from time to time. Across the other souls that would be in the lining between life and death, there was a rumor that eventually got to Narancia where if souls have enough strength, they can make things move in the living world. When Abbacchio heard of this for himself, he had to at least try to contact Bruno in some sort of way. Rumor or not, part of it had to be true and he wasn't going to go a day without trying.
At first, Leone got nothing, trying to push away a pen Bruno had set down for a moment, attempting to push a chair but nothing worked. His own hand would go right through the object and he was starting to think it wasn't ever going to work. In life, Abbacchio wasn't superstitious and whenever a ghost was mentioned, he fought that there always had to be some rational explanation. Being what humans would call a ghost now made him want at least Bruno to consider that ghosts were real and with him instead of hearing Bruno pray for Narancia and himself to be in heaven. Leone often visited Bruno at night, just to see how peaceful he could be while sleeping and imagine he was sleeping well. Sometimes, Leone wished that there would have been more time for the two of them to figure each other out more. Abbacchio would hear Bruno's night cries that he should have said something in the plane just to let him know how much he loved him, how much it hurt to no longer have his friend in the world, and how sorry he was for not being a better team leader. Abbacchio would try to touch him to give him some sort of comfort but again he would just go right through Bruno. He'd been trying for days on end and finally got frustrated. Even though he couldn't do anything, he tried pushing stuff off of the desk, trying to kick the chair, and finally, he had pushed the lamp off of the nightstand. He did a double-take, realizing that he had done something. The lamp didn't break but it was on the floor still dimly lit. Bruno had turned around to see the light on the floor. He wasn't anywhere even close to the thing and there wasn't a pillow or something to push it off. To him, it had just fallen out of nowhere. Bruno got up from sitting on the foot of the bed and gently placed the lamp back on the stand. "Is..." He was reluctant to ask this question, doubting what first came to thought. He shook it off and asked anyways. "Is there a presence with me?" He waited, nothing else happened. Abbacchio was trying to push things again and again but nothing happened. Bruno's eyes were puffed, he felt exhausted and wanted this to be done with.
"Please, show me a sign." In his own mind, he hoped it was his father or Abbacchio or Narancia if there was a thing as spirits. If not, he would feel stupid for calling out to nothing. Leone's frustration turned into a sadness that night. He had been so damn close to figuring it out and letting Bruno he wasn't alone. Tears were forming in his eyes but dripped down to nothing. There was no wetness down his cheek that came with the tears falling only his emotion and the feeling of tears forming. He tried to look around the room for anything that would let Bruno know it was him. There wasn't anything that he Bruno could have possibly kept from when they cleared out Leone's apartment. Abbacchio remembered that they had spent a day giving away his and Narancia's clothes to people that were less fortunate. There must have had been something if Bruno was crying this much for Abbacchio specifically. He remembered one thing that Bruno had framed. It was a photo of both of them that Mista had taken. Abbacchio's hair was growing out then and was still pretty short. Bruno was the same as ever with his black dotted, white suit. He had rushed to the side of the bed seeing the framed photos on the other nightstand. It hurt him to do it, but Leone punched the frame with all his force and energy. It cracked. It was a very noticeable crack and Bruno heard the crack behind him. He looked at the various photos that he had of the group on Christmas and Halloween and then to the only one where it's just him and Abbacchio. It was cracked and even a small piece of glass had fallen onto the wooden surface.
Bruno laughed, his tears falling and he could barely see from how blurry the tears made him.
"Ah Leone... It's you."
