Gianna Macchiarolo

Gianna Macchiarolo is an original character created by ParisWriter for the universe of Akira Amano's manga series, Katekyo Hitman Reborn! She is the childhood sweetheart of Tsuna Sawada's Storm Guardian, Hayato Gokudera, as well as the niece of the boss of the Macchiarolo Famiglia, the second-largest family in the Mafia Alliance after the Vongola. The famiglia itself is made up of members all across Europe and in the United States, all of whom are descendants of gypsies and are believed by some to possess mystical powers.
However, it is later revealed that Gianna is the actual named boss of the Macchiarolo Famiglia and has held the title since her mother's death when she was two years old. Her Uncle Antonio has merely been the acting head until she comes of age and can officially take over the position, herself.
==Background==
Gianna Macchiarolo was the only child born to Isabella Macchiarolo and Marco Gallo. Her mother was the head of the Macchiarolo Famiglia, while her father was one of the personal bodyguards of the ninth head of the Cavallone Famiglia. When Gianna was two years old, both of her parents were killed by a car bomb and Gianna's Uncle Antiono - her mother's older brother - was named her legal guardian, and it was decided that she would be rasied alongside Antonio's own daughter, Olivia.
At the age of six, Gianna accompanied her uncle and cousin to the estate of Rinaldo Rosetti. While there, Gianna met Rinaldo's son, Hayato, after stumbling upon him practicing in the music room for his first-ever public piano recital. After the recital - which Hayato consdered a failure due to his sister's Poison Cooking, but all of the guests invited by his father regarded as an avante-garde performance - both of the children were informed that they had been betrothed to each other.
Gianna continued to visit Hayato at his father's castle over the next couple of years and the two got to know each other well. He even protected her when a group of his father's thugs ganged up on her and harrassed her for being a gypsy. After Hayato leaned the truth about his mother and ran away at the age of eight, Gianna also ran away from home and went to stay with her Uncle Romario - her father's brother and right-hand man of the recently appointed tenth head of the Cavallone Famiglia. She refused to return home until Hayato was found and she knew he was safe, and Dino Cavallone himself led the search party which eventually found the boy.
Over the next six years, Hayato attempted to join dozens of small-time mafia families and kept getting turned away. Each time he failed to prove himself to another family, Gianna would comfort him and encourage him - something which bugged Hayato, as they were no longer bethroed and he saw no reason for her to even remain in his life. For his tenth birthday, Gianna gave him a set of dog tags which had been engraved with the name Hayato Gokudera. She had searched for information on his mother for over a year and discovered her name was Lavina Gokudera, then had the tags made for him. He no longer had to go by his father's last name and could truly separate himself from his father's family as he wished.
When Hayato was thirteen years old, he was badly beaten during a fight with several street thugs in Sicily. Gianna immediately rushed to his side to help him and reprimand him for getting himself into a situation where he could have been killed. The fight's outcome wasn't entirely negative, however, as a week after her release from the hospital he was offered a low-ranking position in the Vongola Famiglia. A year later, Hayato was called to Japan by the assassin Reborn, and he left Italy without so much as a goodbye to Gianna due to his eagerness to take on an actual mission for the Famiglia.
Gianna was hurt by his sudden departure, and began to worry about him when she received no further contact with him. She asked Dino Cavallone - a good friend who had always been like an older brother to her - to check up on him when he was set to travel to Japan to meet with the future Vongola Decimo. She was relieved to hear that not only was he safe, but that he had also become close friends with the future Vongola Decimo. At her request, Dino continued to provide her with information about Hayato's well-being and most recent escapades with his new friends each time he returned to Italy following one of his visits to Japan.
It was one of these updates from Dino which made Gianna decide she could no longer sit around and quietly wait for Hayato to return to Italy. He had been horribly injured and mind-controlled by Rokudo Mukuro, and Gianna insisted on being allowed to go see him in Japan to assess his well-being, herself. Knowing her Uncle Antionio would likely see the situation in Japan as too dangerous and would never allow her to leave Italy, she instead sought out the help of her Uncle Romario and Dino Cavallone - who both reluctantly agreed to take her to see him on the condition that she would return home right away once she saw he was fine.
==Personality==
Gianna is a kind and loving girl who supports peace among the clans within her own famiglia. She knows that this ideal doesn't carry well into the rest of the Mafia Alliance, however, and understands that there will always be a need to fight in order to protect her people and those she cares about. She generally does not like raising her hand against those who wrong her, but anyone who threatens her family, her people, her friends, or her loved ones - along with those in her own famiglia who break their rules - will find themselves subject to a side of Gianna which she rarely shows: her complete and unbridled wrath. Bloodshed is still an absolute last resort, however, and she will do everything within her power to resolve the situation without resorting to outright violence.
She is completely devoted to the one she loves and a total romantic, at heart. She's also a bit oblivious to the feelings of others, sometimes. However, she empathizes with Hayato almost to a fault, at times, letting his own depression and anger at himself get to her. She does her best to cheer him up whenever he's down, though, just like she does whenever anyone else she cares about is in a bad mood.
Overall, Gianna is a caregiver who doesn't have an actual mean-spirited bone in her body. But she doesn't mess around when it comes to protecting the people she cares about most in the world.
==Special Abilities==
Gianna is the first member of the Macchiarolo Famiglia in several generations to possess the Flame of Dawn, a special type of Sky Flame unique to their famiglia that allows its bearer to heal others by sharing their own life essence. It is quite a useful ability, but also very dangerous for the user as they must have total control over just how much of their own lifeforce is expended or else they may use too much and end up in a coma or die. The last member of the famiglia to possess the Flame of Dawn was Adelina Macchiarolo, one of Gianna's ancestors and the head of the family at the time of Vongola Primo.
==Relationships==
====Hayato Gokudera====
Antonio Macchiarolo was set to betroth his own daughter, Olivia, to the son of the Rosetti family. However, when he saw the boy with his niece he was afforded a glimpse into their future. What he saw changed his mind and the negotiations were set into motion to betroth Gianna to Hayato, instead. When Hayato dissolved his relationship with his father's family, the arranged marriage plans fell through. Gianna had already grown quite fond of him, however, and kept tracking him down every time he ran away and attempted to join another mafia family. She was always there to support him when he failed to make the cut, and she tended to his wounds whenever he got hurt in a fight - secretly using her healing abilities to speed up his recovery. She has been completely in love with him since they were children and remains fully devoted to him in spite of his insistence that they're nothing more than good friends, knowing that he's totally in denial about the fact that he cares about her just as much as she cares about him.
====Antonio Macchiarolo====
Isabella Macchiarolo's older brother, Antonio, was named Gianna's legal guardian upon the death of her parents. This was so that he could keep a close eye on her safety - as it was almost guaranteed she would be named her mother's successor - as well as to help her develop any special abilities she might begin to exhibit when she got older. He is very over-protective of her, which has begun to drive Gianna nuts in recent years because she thinks he treats her too much like a child and that she deserves some freedom instead of being locked away in the Macchiarolo Estate all the time. She does love him, though, and affectionately refers to him as Papa Tony.
====Romario Gallo====
Dino's right-hand man is also Gianna's uncle on her father's side. He didn't put up a fight when Antonio was named her sole guardian, because he knew of the penchant for members of the Macchiarolo family to develop certain unusual abilities as they grew older and he thought it would be better for her to grow up in an environment which was more suited to helping her develop those abilities. However, Gianna would often run away as a child to go spend time with her beloved Uncle Romario at the Cavallone Estate - especially whenever she was feeling particularly smothered by Antonio's over-protectiveness. Romario assisted Dino in helping her get out of Italy without Antonio's knowledge so she could go see Gokudera in Japan.
====Dino Cavallone====
Dino has always been like an older brother to her. Her father, Marco, was a member of the Cavallone Famiglia and the younger brother of Dino's right-hand man, Romario. When Gianna's parents died, Dino started looking out for her. He and Romario accidentally discovered Gianna's healing abilities, and he promised to do everything he could to help her keep is a secret. He has feelings for her which are stronger than those of a simple protector/older-brother figure, however, but he knows that he's much too old for her and that her heart belongs to Gokudera. Gianna does not know that he secretly harbors such romantic feelings toward her.
====Olivia Macchiarolo====
Antonio's daughter is roughly the same age as Gianna. Her mother died from complications shortly after her birth, and she was named for her. She and Gianna were brought up together like sisters, but they were both aware that they were merely cousins. Olivia was often jealous of the extra attention her father paid to Gianna, not knowing that she had been chosen to become the head of the famiglia when she came of age.
====Tsubasa & Taiki Mikami====
Gianna's twin bodyguards, assigned to watch over her from the shadows after he discovers she has run off to Japan and had no intention of returning any time soon. They also serve the function of a sort of conduit, lending their own life essence to her in order to increase the effectiveness of her Flame of Dawn's abilities without draining her of her own lifeforce. She wasn't all that happy to see them when they first arrived in Japan, knowing that her Uncle Antonio had sent them to keep an eye on her. She grows increasingly fond of them, however, especially after it becomes quite apparent that their lives have been even more isolated than hers. She helps them learn to interact with people, which only serves to increase their devotion toward her as her personal bodyguards and feeders for her abilities.
==Appearances==
====Maggi a Serenata====
The first appearance of Gianna Macchiarolo is in ParisWriter's story, Maggi a Serenata. This story follows the events of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn! anime, starting at the beginning of the Varia Arc. It can be found on several sites, including Fanfiction.net, deviantART, and AO3.
The story begins with a short flashback to the first time Gianna and Hayato met, then returns to the present - where Gianna is sitting in a car with Dino Cavallone and her Uncle Romario, watching the students arriving at Namimori Middle School. Once she spies Hayato among them, she attempts to leave the car but Dino stops her and reminds her that the deal they made was to merely allow her to see that he was safe and that she was now to return home. Gianna pleads with him, wanting to stay in Japan with Hayato, and he eventually gives in and tells her she can stay, but on two conditions: She is to contact him every day to let him know she's okay and she is not to get involved in any fights Hayato and his new friends might involve themselves with. Gianna agrees, and heads into the school to track down Hayato.
Once inside the school, Gianna has a difficult time tracking Hayato down, as the students have already retreated into their classrooms and she has no idea which one Hayato is in. She is approached by a male member of the school staff and fears she has been busted for tresspassing, only to discover the man who caught her is non other than Dr. Shamal, who used to work for Hayato's father and once hit on her at a party when she was only nine years old. Shamal agrees to tell Gianna which classroom Hayato is in, in exchange for a kiss, and Gianna maces him when he tries to collect his 'payment.' Shamal starts cursing loudly, and the ruckus draws attention from students in all of the nearby classrooms. Gianna immediately recognizes the silver locks of her beloved Hayato peeking out from the back of the crowd and runs to meet him. He's surprised to see her, and denies knowing her when Tsuna asks who she is - which hurts Gianna's feelings, even though he only did it to protect her.
Hayato takes Gianna up onto the roof of the school, where they have an arguement. Reborn, Tsuna, and Yamamoto all eavesdrop on the conversation, but only Reborn can understand what they're saying due to them speaking in Italian. Hayato insists that Gianna should go back to Italy, because it's too dangerous for her to be in Namimori, and she yells at him out of frustration because everyone she knows always tells her that she should just sit at home all the time because everything she wants to do is too dangerous and she's sick of it. She thinks she's old enough that she should be able to make some of her own decisions, and thought he of all people would understand her desire to stand on her own two feet for once rather than having everyone else decide her life for her. Hayato then demands to know why she came to Japan in the first place and she tells him that she heard about what happened from Dino and she was worried about him. She almost says that she loves him, but Yamamoto interrupts the conversation before she manages to say the words - which is a relief to Hayato because that would have been the second time she told him that and he still wasn't sure how to respond to it.
Gianna leaves the school, upset by the conversation she just had with Hayato, and runs into his older half-sister, Bianchi. She offers to listen to the younger girl talk about what her stupid brother did to hurt her feelings, and then offer advice on how to help make amends between the two of them. Meanwhile, Gokudera informs Tsuna and Yamamoto about who Gianna is, though he leaves out the part about the two of them formerly being betrothed to one another. Reborn asks about her affiliation with the Macchiarolo Famiglia, having noticed her wearing a gypsy mediallion around her neck. Hayato confirms that she not only has ties to the Macchiarolo Famiglia, but also to the Cavallone Famiglia - which surprises Tsuna because she seems so normal. That afternoon, the three boys have lunch together on the roof and Hayato finally comes clean with his two friends, letting them know that he and Gianna were originally meant to be married to one another when they got older. He also mentions the death of her parents, which piques Reborn's curiosity.
That evening, Hayato is attempting to write a letter to Gianna to not only sate her need for communication from him but also to apologize for being so unwelcoming toward her when she had come so far to see him because she was worried about him. He ends up remembering a specific time when he protected her from some of his father's thugs who were bullying her, and blames the fact that he can't stop thinking about her on the fact that Yamamoto had been teasing him earlier in the day about liking her as more than just a friend. Gianna arrives at his apartment - having gotten his address from Bianchi - and offers to cook him dinner. He reluctantly agrees to allow her to cook for him and also tells her she can spend the night when she informs him she has nowhere else to go and she can't get ahold of Dino to have him take her back to Italy.
After dinner, he apologizes to her for his earlier behavior, but once again upsets her when he reminds her that it's too dangerous for her to be in Namimori. They then argue again when she tries to wash the dishes and he insists on doing them hmself so she can rest. She eventually let him do the dishes, and gives him a kiss on the cheek and tells him she accepts his apology for earlier before going to lie down on the couch. By the time Hayato has finished washing the dishes, Gianna has already fallen asleep. He almost kisses her, and ends up locking himself in his room to prevent himself from doing something stupid he'll later regret.
The next morning, Gianna makes him breakfast but he has to quickly eat and run because even though he would normally have the day off from school, it's a review day and since Tsuna is required to be there he needs to be there as well. Gianna is disappointed that they won't get to spend any more time together, but promises that she will still return to Italy as soon as she is able to get in touch with Dino. After Hayato leaves, Gianna starts cleaning up his breakfast dishes and she sees a dark omen in his tea leaves. Dino arrives shotly thereafter, along with Iemitsu Sawada. They inform her of Vongola Nono's sudden change of heart regarding naming Tsuna as his successor, as well as the imminent clash that will ensue between Tsuna and his Guardians and the Varia over the Vongola Rings. Upon learning that Hayato is one of Tsuna's chosen Guardians, Gianna insists on remaining in Japan. Dino tries to convince her to leave, but Iemitsu supports her remaining in order to have her use her healing abilities to make sure Tsuna and the Guardians are in top form for their upcoming battles. In order to convince the young Cavallone don to allow Gianna to stay in Japan, Iemitsu agrees to take full responsibility for her well-being.
Dino reluctantly agrees to Gianna remaning in Japan for the duration of the battles for the Vongola Rings, and the two of them head off in search of Hayato, Tsuna, and the others before they can be found by Squalo, who had gone to Japan to chase after Basil and Iemitsu's half of the Vongola Rings - not knowing they were fakes and that Dino was actually carrying the originals. They don't find Tsuna and the others at shcool, and Shamal informs them that none of them showed up for their classes that morning. Gianna asks Shamal if he thinks they stand a chance against Squalo - knowing that he had once been offered a position in the elite assassination squad, himself - and he solemnly tells her that, at their current combat level, they don't.
Gianna and DIno eventually discover Tsuna, Hayato, and Yamamoto in a plaza in the shoppiing district, along with Basil. Squalo had already attacked them and they were all seriously injured. Dino instructs Gianna to stay out of sight until he's distracted Squalo. Once Gianna reaches Hayato and Yamamoto, she quickly examnes them both and applies some brief healing to their wounds. Hayato asks her why she's still there and she lies and tells him Dino brought her along with him when he heard they were in trouble, but that she'll still be returning to Italy like they had talked about. Dino then calls Gianna to come along with him, gathering up Basil - who was badly injured and suffering from severe exhaustion as a result of being chased around Japan for three days non-stop by Squalo.
==Trivia==
*Gianna's first name means 'God is gracious.'
*The Macchiarolo Famiglia, unlike many other mafia families, holds to a strict matriarchal structure. Antonio Macchiarolo is the only male member to ever take chage of the famiglia, and he only did so because Gianna was far too young to take over the duties at the time of her mother's death. Women of the Macchiarolo Famiglia often keep their last name after getting married, especially those in positions of power.
*unizeh is the official artist for Gianna and the stories she is featured in.
*Gianna's bodyguards, Tsubasa and Taiki Mikami, were modeled after the Takagi twins' appearances in the Japanese drama, Mei-chan no Shitsuji.
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Category:Katekyo Hitman Reborn