Facebook Challenge: Week Two
Nunnally's thoughts on the loss of Lelouch.
Restrictions: 600 word minimum.
Blind Spot
"Ambassador Nunnually, we have arrived."
Nunnually looked up from her gently clasped hands and out the window. The sight almost brought tears to her eyes. "Thank you, Stamford. Stay with the car. I won't be long," Nunnally instructed and without waiting for her driver's response she opened the door and
Ashford Academy.
It looked just how she'd imagined it. A large campus with large brick buildings sprawled over acres of carefully manicured lawns. For many years this place was her home and funnily enough it still felt like it, even though she knew who she was and where she belonged, this school still felt like home to her.
As difficult as her life had been, fought with danger of discovery and assassination, she had been happy here with her brother.
Lelouch…
Classes were in session now, so Nunnally didn't expect to be seen by any of the students, or maybe Stamford had called ahead and made arrangements to block off the surrounding area; it wasn't as if he couldn't guess where she was heading.
It took her a while to find the right building; the old student council building looked like every other campus building. If it hadn't been for the tiger lilies growing at the entrance Nunnally wasn't sure if she would have found the place at all.
Lelouch had planted them for her. Their familiar fragrance filled her with nostalgia and a sense of peace.
Nunnally made a note to herself to have lilies planted in the penthouse suite where she currently stayed. Maybe she could convince Stamford to pot one of the lilies here and take it with them.
She moved on into the club house. The dry smell of dust and musky scent of cotton balls tickled the back of her throat. She cleared it and wheeled her chair over to the service elevator. It had been modified in order to suit her needs a long time ago. Even though she had ridden inside more times than she could count this was the first time she'd ever been able to see what it looked like.
She reached her floor and exhaled deeply, steadying herself for what she was about to see. The elevator doors dinged open and she found herself staring at a short corridor. There was a door ahead of her. It was her old room. Silently she wheeled herself towards it. She was slightly surprised to find out unlocked when she turned the handle. With a push the opened the door and was engulfed with the scent of lilies again. She drove in and looked around. The painted walls where bare and there was an aluminum bar that lead around the length of the room. Lelouch had had it installed as a guide so she could have some independence. Tentatively Nunnally reached out and touched the cold metal, running her fingertips along the top.
She moved into the room when something on the floor caught her attention. It was only when she got closer did she realize what it was: a pink piece of paper folded into the shape of a bird. A paper crane.
After some maneuvering she managed to pick up the crane and held it delicately in the palm of both hands as if it were made of glass. She remembered how excited she was when she first learned to make them. And the surprise in her brother's voice when he came home to find her room surrounded in folded birds. The sight of the bird made her thoughts turn to her brother.
Lelouch.
Too late. She had realized his plans, his motivations, and his dreams all too late to stop him. It was all because of a stupid wish she made a long time ago. How naïve she was. Of course she wished for a gentler world, who hasn't? But she should have known that only Lelouch would take her word as an order rather than a naïve dream. She should have realized there was nothing that could have stopped Lelouch once she wished for a kinder world. She should have known just how far her brother was willing to go to make her happy, because he always did. He would give it his all, sacrificing everything to make it happen.
And she loved him for it, but she also hated him for it because it cost her the one thing she needed to make her truly happy; him.
She should have chosen better words, a said she wanted something easy and superficial like a pony ride, perhaps if she had then Lelouch might still be alive.
She had been his blind spot, just as he had been hers. She should have seen the danger in the path he was taking just as he should have realized her true wish to be by his side.
She could felt pressure behind her eyes as they welled up with tears. It was a mistake coming here. Nunnally had hoped to gain some sense of closure by coming here one last time, but instead it made her miss her brother.
Closing the door she headed back to the elevator. She'd lingered too long any moment Stamford was going to come searching for her. It was easier leaving than it was coming in. And she found she was relieved to get out of this place.
There was a trash bin near the gate and as she passed it she tossed in the paper crane. It was worthless to her now. It didn't matter how many thousands she made her wish could never be granted.
Stamford stood with her door open for her. "How was your visit, Ambassador? Did you get what you needed?"
She smiled at her driver but refused to answer. Stamford seemed to understand and didn't press the issue.
He gently closed her door and jogged around to the front to the driver's seat. "Where to next, Miss?" he asked, looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror.
"Home," Nunnally said sadly. "But first I want to stop by the marketplace."
"May I ask what for?"
Nunnally sat back in her chair and stared out the window. "Just some flowers."
