The bell had rung, signifying the end of another school day. Students began to flock into the hallways, leaving alongside friends and classmates. For Milly, the duties she had as president of the Student Council were far from done. Of course, she knew ways to help things along; most of the time some of the work would be completed. Today had been no different.
As her usual tradition, she had planned for Lelouch, her Vice President, to help sort things out. She packed up her school bag and headed out. Passing by the various classrooms, Milly waved goodbye to many students, including some of the student council members. She'd mostly come across Rivalz as he was leaving the school grounds. She knew that Shirley had a swim meet during after school hours and Nina would always be hard at work with her studies.
She merrily bounced along from time to time, knowing that her destination would always be empty along the way. She'd swing her bag and hum to herself a mellow tune, one of which she remembered singing long ago. The song reminded her of so many things, but none were as strong as the memories of her two best friends, whom had been living at the school.
Coming upon a door, she placed her ear up towards the entrance. The sound she heard was muddled, but she had already known who the voices belonged to. Smiling, she raised her right hand and knocked calmly on the door. Footsteps could be heard slowly coming up to where Milly was standing. The door slid open after a few moments, revealing one raven-haired boy, boy being a relative term in age between the Milly and her friend, standing somewhat at attention. The familiar look of slight dissatisfaction that the boy donned upon his face made her pout playfully in reply.
"What is the problem?" the boy said nonchalantly.
Milly smiled. "The usual things" she replied holding the bag towards him. "I need your help Lelouch."
"Again?" he replied, scratching his head and sighing through his frustration. "Why can't you have the others help you?"
Milly smirked, and then sighed. "Shirley has a swim meet, Nina's always busy, and Rivalz headed home" she replied, counting her fingers as she did. "So that leaves only you, since you have nothing to do but to stay here at school."
"I do have a life of my own" Lelouch retorted, though forcibly under his breath.
"Yes, but when I'm here, your job is to help me through mine" Milly responded back. For a while, the two stood at the door silent. Milly then coughed. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"What?" Lelouch was caught off guard by Milly's request.
"Jeez, Lelouch, you really aren't a good hostess…" Milly giggled while she pouted and soon passed by Lelouch and into the room. "In any case, since I'm already here" she started while turning towards Lelouch, "you can help me out."
Lelouch sighed in frustration until he finally gave in.
"Now, where can we talk?" asked Milly as she looked around the room. She noticed that a teapot had been left on the table along with three small cups, two of which still had a bit of tea left.
"Where's Nunnally?"
"She went to her room. Sayoko is helping her with homework."
"Well then, maybe we can go discuss these things in your room?"
Lelouch shot a glance at Milly and saw the sly smile upon her face. She turned her head towards him and saw the surprised look in his eyes and giggled. Of course, Lelouch knew that they'd always end up in his room to discuss the agenda at hand. So, Lelouch sighed and had once again shown her to his room.
Upon entering, Milly was instantly amazed at how tidy the room was; though she knew it would always be like that. Of course, taking not much time to admire the neatness, Milly often plotted herself onto Lelouch's bedside. She softly tracked her hand across the blanket; the down comforter covering below her fingertips was irresistible. She looked back at Lelouch, smirking when she noticed his frown. Lelouch opened his mouth to speak; however it took no time at all for him to close it back up again. Sighing, he moved over to the desk right beside the foot of the bed.
Pulling a chair out for himself, Lelouch placed himself in and emptied the bag upon the bed. A menagerie of manila and black folders, along with small stacks of stapled papers soon flooded out of Milly's schoolbag. A look of dissatisfaction and grief came over Lelouch.
"And what am I supposed to help you with Milly?" he asked with an even more annoyed undertone.
"Everything" she replied gracefully. Placing her hand over the stack, she carefully laid them out so that Lelouch could see which was which. Of course, to Lelouch, he knew that neither one would be easy to deal with.
Sighing, he took one black folder and a few stapled packets. "I'll do these" he stated and soon turned himself toward the desk.
Milly softly smiled as she turned her attention towards the task at hand.
Time had passed since they started, and so far only one third of the work remained. Although Milly and Lelouch did deliberate upon coinciding topics, most of the time was spent relatively in silence, with neither of them making any unnecessary eye contact. However, for Milly, she had spent some time stealing glances at Lelouch. The way Lelouch acted, mostly caught up in solving one problem or more, made the situation feel a bit tense. Though, she had reminded herself that there was many times that the same situation rose and that she had gotten through it before.
Unbeknownst to Lelouch, Milly had intently gazed at him from time to time, each one either as long as or longer than the previous. She did indeed get through some tasks, but that did not stop her from gazing at her best friend from behind. She'd analyze the manner to which Lelouch had become accustomed to when she would be in his room. She remarked at how professional he looked when he worked; though stiff, she would not let his mannerism bore her. Of course, at times, she would playfully spread herself across the bed, sometimes in a promiscuous position, in the hopes to attract his attention, yet whenever he did turn his head towards her, she'd mostly return to a more professional stance quite quickly, giggling to herself after he went back to solving the problems she had given him. She quite relished the idea of being caught in such a manner, sighing only to herself when the thought came up. In the end, she and Lelouch would always end their time in complete silence.
After the grueling labor was done, Milly would start to collect the work and stuff it all into the bag. Glancing back at Lelouch, she'd always see him leaning back into his chair, eyes closed and arm across the head. Milly could only smile as she pondered what went through the mind of her long time companion.
"Well, I guess I'm going then" she'd say as she headed towards the door. Glancing back, she saw Lelouch turning toward her. "Thanks for your help Lelouch."
"Yeah whatever" he replied in a tired manner. "Anything for you, my dear…"
Milly smirked at how sarcastic his words were. "That sharp tongue of yours will be the death of you, you know" she scolded playfully.
"If not you, then maybe it will."
Milly couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "I'll see you later Lelouch."
The door closed behind Milly and soon she headed out into the main dining room. Along the way, she saw Nunnally sitting at the table, folding origami cranes while listening to the radio. The sounds of her footsteps made Nunnally turn her head.
"Hey Nunnally" Milly spoke in a more light-hearted manner.
"Hello Milly, I thought you might've been here." Nunnally ceased her movement as her nose pricked up. Sniffing gently, she smiled towards Milly. "Were you in my brother's room again?"
Milly felt astonished by Nunnally's senses. "Can you really tell?"
"The smell of his comforter is on your clothes, as is his regular scent." Nunnally pouted. "Was it something like work again? Or was it…"
"It's not like that" Milly replied quickly. "I just needed help with some matters pertaining to being in the Student Council." Milly mentally remarked at how crude Nunnally's assumption was, yet it still made her laugh that a young girl like her would think that way.
"I understand" Nunnally replied. "Are you going to stay for dinner?"
Milly shook her head. "Not tonight Nunnally. Besides, I think Lelouch has had enough of me around here anyway."
"That's too bad…"
"Maybe next time when I am not here torturing Lelouch with my presence."
"Don't say that" Nunnally retorted. "We would love to have you here anytime."
"Thanks Nunnally." Milly admired the girl's effort for trying to stick up for her brother. She planted a kiss on the forehead and headed for the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"See you soon Milly." With that, the doors closed behind her.
Walking down the hallways once more, Milly noticed that the sun was starting to set. Though, she took her time as she walked along the halls and out through the main entrance. A long black limousine was waiting for her outside of the school's front gates. After entering the vehicle, Milly was soon whisked away back to her own home. Turning her head, she gazed out of the window and looked back at the school, now disappearing from her sight. A sigh escaped from her as she waited for the car to arrive at its destination.
For Milly, things were excruciatingly boring as most of the time, she was waited/assisted by the servants of the house. As usual, dinner was quiet and so was the time spent afterwards. When Milly arrived at her room, things seemed more or less boring than the dinner. Milly enjoyed the comfortable life she had, mostly because it was the only life she knew. The sun had set and the night was rolling in. After tending to her usual pleasantries of cleaning and bathing, she dressed for bed.
Her bed was fairly huge, much bigger than most common beds; the sheets were made of the softest, woven cotton with a slight pinkish color. Truly, it was a comfortable bed. However, as Milly once again placed herself within the sheets, she could not fall asleep. Fidgeting around, she tried to sleep in her most comfortable position, but it was of no avail. She did not accuse the bed, for it was just too perfect to hate. Rather, she just could not sleep. The lights were off, the atmosphere was silent, but her head was still buzzing with thought.
Turning to her side, she faced her nightstand and paused; upon it, a picture from long ago. Gazing at the photo, she slowly rose from her bed and took the picture into her hand. The moonlight shinning through the window was adequate enough that it revealed the photo even more.
It was a picture of her at a younger age. She had remembered the day like no other. It was a vivid memory that she treasured. Milly soon smiled as she stared at her younger self, right into her baby blue eyes. Beside her was a young, raven-haired, violet-eyed boy. Milly's heart skipped a beat every time she gazed into his eyes, as if peering into his soul; though, it felt more like his eyes were piercing into hers. Sighing, she fell back onto the pillows of her bed. She held the picture high into the air, her smile slowly turning into a frown.
'How long has it been?' Milly began to think. 'Five? Six? All I know is that it has been so long since those days. Of course, the time spent in those years always seemed the longest. Time has a habit of speeding too fast when you wish for the next day to come. Things come and go; we are no different, aren't we?' Milly brought the picture close to her chest and closed her eyes.
'I wonder if you still remember those days…that time when you came to us and wormed your way into my life…the first time I ever had friends…and the first time I ever…'
Milly soon drifted off into sleep, still holding onto the photo. Her mind soon wandered back to days long passed, days she personally wished she had more time to appreciate. Night would deepen as she dove into her precious memories.
TBC
A/N: Okay, first off, hello to all of you from me, UndyingSpirit. This is my newest story about one of the most underdeveloped characters in the story; Milly Ashford. I've been mulling over this fanfic's creation for some time now and have decided to try and get it out before it eludes me (one of my bad habits is trying to get out new ideas before finishing old ones, hence why most of my fanfics are not completed). I have wanted to do this even during the continuation of my other Code Geass story, "Code Geass: DC al Coda". Now, what I have planned is that I will have created a more in-depth back story to one of Lelouch's first friends, and the only one who knew him more intimately than anyone else, except his sister. Of course, this is going to obviously be a one-sided coupling, Milly x Lelouch, just to adhere to what was explained about Milly from the creators. Now, I will be updating whenever I can, and hopefully more so after I complete my previous story. In any case, this is just a taste of what may come in the next installments. Comments and reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking some interest in the story.