Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.
"Here you go!"
"Nunnally… You don't have to…"
"Well, she went through the trouble of making it for you so the least you can do is gratefully accept it," the raven-haired boy said with a huff and arms crossed over his chest.
Nunnally giggled as she handed the brown-haired boy a flower bracelet. "Please, Suzaku, take it!" she said, smiling brightly.
He took it timidly while mumbling something along the lines of 'thank you' under his breath. Lelouch narrowed his eyes grudgingly at his friend. How come his sister didn't make him one? What made this Japanese boy so special? Did she forget that he was the one who landed a punch on her big brother's face the first time they met? Did she forget the time he made her cry? Did she-
"Big brother!" Nunnally called out. Her voice drew him back to reality. She was giggling. "Did you think I forgot about you?" And he stammered. She could be blind but she sure as hell could tell what everyone's thinking. "Here you go," she said with an outstretched hand, and on it lay another flower bracelet, exactly the same as Suzaku's. Lelouch reached out one hand to get it while the other tenderly touched the side of her face. "Thank you, Nunnally," he said, grinning, though he knew she couldn't see it.
"Wait, I'll be back." With that, Suzaku dashed inside the house and a few minutes later, he rushed out again, panting, out of breath. It took him a couple of seconds to compose himself. Then, he straightened up, stepped closer to brown-haired girl sitting in a wheelchair, and opened his palm.
Curiously, Lelouch leaned in to steal a glance and his eyes widened.
"For you, Nunnally," Suzaku said meekly. A color of light pink dusted his cheeks.
A surprised look crossed Nunnally's face as her small hands reached out. "What is it, Suzaku?"
"You'll know… when you feel it."
A gasp escaped her lips when she realized what she was holding in her hands. "Ah! Suzaku…"
Even Lelouch was taken aback.
"Well," Suzaku was scratching the back of his head and speaking shyly. "It was originally my aunt's. She passed it down to my mother and, based on what Dad told me, she was planning on giving it to her daughter, if she ever had any… She didn't, and she died while giving birth to me." He took a deep breath. "I figured I wouldn't have any use for it, so yeah… Here you go, Nunnally." A bright smile broke out on his childish face. "I hope you like it!"
Nunnally clasped her hands tightly around the present. Tears were streaming down her face and a smile that shone brighter than the sun stretched out on her innocent face. "I love it. Thank you, Suzaku. I'll cherish it always!"
Lelouch was watching the scene in front of him with a happy smirk.
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Now, he was staring at said present with a sad smile.
He didn't know why he still had it with him. He should have thrown it away after the Black Knights relocated because it bore with it so many unbearable memories. Memories that made his heart ache and threatened tears to fall. He hated this particular emotion called nostalgia. Yet somehow he couldn't quite bring himself to dispose of this thing in his hand. Gripping it tightly in his palm, he stood up. Then, it dawned on him. The reason why he wouldn't – couldn't – get rid of it was because she had used it, because he had given it to her, and because of their promise, that he just had to keep it with him regardless of how much it hurt.
Lelouch took a deep breath, put it in the inside folds of his Zero's outfit, placed the mask on his head, and walked out of the headquarters.
"That looks right," said Lelouch. He was studying the report and the inventory list that Ougi gave him. So far, so good. Everything was in order, and maybe they would strike sooner than he had expected. Japan would be theirs before all of them knew it.
"Watch out, Zero!"
Lelouch turned around, a gasp escaped him as a Knightmare frame flew past his shoulder. Whether he was yanked back thus saved by Ougi or had enough sense to jump back in time didn't matter. What mattered was that that Knightmare hadn't made soup out of him.
"Watch where you're going, idiot! You almost killed him!" hollered the red head as she stomped forward. Then, shaking her head, she said almost apologetically. "Sorry, Zero. A newbie wanted to try it out and I gave an OK. I wasn't thinking…"
Lelouch brushed off his clothes and cleared his throat. "It's alright."
"So just proceed with the plan," he said to Ougi, giving the report back to him. "Everything looks fine." Ougi nodded, then asked, "You're okay, Zero?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it and don't give that rookie a hard time. Everyone makes mistakes, they just need to learn."
Ougi nodded again before turning on his heels and walking away. An action that Lelouch was ready to follow, only to be stopped by Kallen's voice.
"Wait, is this yours, Zero?"
He glanced down at her open palm and his eyes widened as he quickly and subconsciously gave his chest area a pat. Since when did that fall out?
"Yeah, it's uhm mine," he answered stiffly, suddenly feeling all eyes on him.
She handed it back and a small smile touched the corners of her lips. "It's a beautiful hairpin, Zero."
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"What took you?" the green-haired witch inquired accusingly as she half-sat, half-lied on the couch facing the TV.
Lelouch took off his mask, breathed in the fresh air besides his sweat and threw said mask on the couch, surprisingly missing her.
"There was an incident," he said mildly while pouring himself a glass of water.
"What incident?"
"No matter. Anyway, I didn't expect you to be back so early. Were the Chinese councilmen happy with our terms?"
"Of course. Who do you think you're talking to?" She was smirking in that knowing and mysterious way of hers. "I've been living for so long that I've memorized all the methods needed to get one's consent to seal any sort of deal."
"Right," he chuckled.
C.C. was lifting her silky and long lime locks off her neck. She then twirled it around her hand in an effort to tie her hair with none other than her own mane, it seemed. However, it was too long and thick for her to do all of that by herself, so more than a few strands fell out of her grasp and rested on her shoulders.
The witch let go and started the whole process again. This time, she braided it first before making a bun out of her braided locks. Still, it looked quite hard to accomplish such delicate task without having a mirror. She looked to be struggling, as a matter of fact. Her hair was so plentiful that simply styling it posed such a great challenge to her. At the end, she let out a disgruntled sigh.
Lelouch was watching the scene with interest, and a light chuckle escaped his lips, earning a turned head and a raised eyebrow from her. "What's so funny?" she asked.
"You may know how to manipulate people to do your biddings, but it seems you haven't mastered your skills with hair yet," said Lelouch, amused.
She shot him a cold stare. "Try to have long hair and you'll see, boy."
"Why don't you just cut it off?" That was seriously a burning question on his mind. If it were such a troublesome thing, why wouldn't she get rid of it long ago?
"Because it won't make a difference. Everything that I had on my body before I was given the Code doesn't go away no matter what I do," she was saying. From her tone of voice, it was apparent that she had lost interest in him and resumed interest in her task of fancifully styling her hair. "Like if I cut my hair, it'll sprout back to its full length within ten minutes at most," she muttered while trying to flip her locks upwards. "How do you think I could've glued myself back together so quick-"
She gasped as a pair of warm hands looped themselves in her thick mane.
"You're doing this wrong," he said.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Giving you a break." As he said that, he wound her hair around one hand and flipped it up, managing to catch every single strand in his grip. He kept repeating the action until all of her locks were forming a loose bun…
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"Master, do you want to try?"
"Eh?"
"It's alright, just follow my lead," said Sayoko with a soft smile. She gave him the evenly divided half of Nunnally's long and wavy locks.
His sister was giggling. "Big brother's going to braid my hair?"
"Well, I… I'll mess up," he said miserably, to which Sayoko shook her head. "Don't worry, it's really simple," she replied as she was showing him the steps.
"See, if you just wind it this way, and then wind that that way…"
Nunnally never stopped her laughter. "This is the first time you're ever styling my hair, big brother. It'll be beautiful. I can't wait!"
He couldn't help but smile at her.
"So you think you got it, Master?"
He nodded confidently. He definitely got it. For Nunnally…
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Lelouch's hands hung in the air, limpless.
"Lelouch?"
The witch's cool voice drew him from his past and back into the present.
"It's finished," he said softly.
C.C. reached up one hand to examine her casual bun, and a slight frown slowly formed on her face. "What's this?" she queried as her fingers touched something cold stuck in her hair.
A small smile made its way onto Lelouch's handsome face. "It's a hairpin," he answered gently.
"A hairpin?"
"You need something to hold your hair together, don't you?"
She turned to face him, directing a quizzical look at him. "And you just conveniently had a hairpin on your person?" inquired C.C. with an eyebrow rose so high that it touched her hairline.
He shrugged. "I guess you could've said that."
Silence engulfed them both before C.C. broke it by quietly saying. "It's Nunnally's, isn't it?"
He didn't reply and his poker face didn't betray whatever he's feeling, either. She sighed.
"Lelouch…"
"It's of no use for me any longer," he said suddenly, his voice and gaze turned cold, then he reached over to gather his mask. Putting it in the crook of his elbow, he eyed her bun loosely held by the shiny silver hairpin one last time with an unreadable expression. "You can keep it," murmured Lelouch before he turned around and strode toward his bedroom.
Maybe it's time to let go of the past… Maybe it's time to look toward the future, to move forward… Maybe it's time to… to forget… all the happy and sad memories…
It's time…
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C.C. was walking in the hallway when she was spotted by Kallen. The exceptional red-haired pilot glanced at her absently at first, but once a certain thing caught her eye, she quickly spun around. "C.C.!" she called.
The green-haired woman stopped and turned her head slightly to the side. "What can I help you with?"
"Where did you get that hairpin?" Kallen was pointing toward the silver stick protruding from the witch's loose bun, some of her shorter strands were intentionally left out to cascade down her small shoulders, with slightly widened eyes.
C.C. caressed the object in question with a sly smirk danced on her rosy lips. "You'll have to ask our leader."
-end-
A/N: Wow years have passed and I am still insanely in love with this couple as I was when Code Geass was airing LOL! Well, I guess that pretty much explains why all the new ideas keep popping up in my head and won't leave me alone until I get them out of my system... So here you go! Just a little one-shot. I hope you liked it :)
Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated! And much love! :D