Summary: Light Aurora Leonheart, daughter of Gabriel Anthony Leonheart, Knight to the Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, and god child of the Empress, Marian the Flash. Light was born a half breed, both Japanese and Britannian, and through her life, she comes in contact with both Lelouch Vi Britannia and Suzaku Kururugi, who both hold deep feelings for her. Will her presence in their life hold any significance in the up coming battles between these mortal enemies and the out come of the world?
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass nor anything relating to it. Light is my own creation.
Britannian Imperial Calender Year 2010 May 12, Japan
It was late spring, still quite cold due to the climate Japan was known for. Of course, that didn't stop the simple request from escaping Nunnally Vi Britannia.
"I want to go to the beach."
Lelouch stopped in his washing of the dishes and gazed puzzling at Nunnally. She was sitting in her wheelchair, as always, her eyes tightly shut. She was both blind and crippled, though, that never stopped her from smiling and helping any way she could. Nunnally finished wiping the plate Lelouch had handed her earlier and was setting it down on the counter as she continued.
"There is a pretty beach nearby, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
The two of them had just finished eating lunch and were cleaning up. Lelouch knew Nunnally's idea had come from Light, having been there when she spoke of her and Suzaku catching fish by the mansion the siblings were now housed in.
"But it's too early to swim, Nunnally. In Japan you have to wait at least one more month to even get into the water."
"I know. Lelouch, I can't swim anyway."
"That's right. I'm sorry."
"But I like the sound and smell of the ocean. If you have time, can you please take me?"
"Sure...."
Honestly, Lelouch didn't like the idea of taking Nunnally outside that much. When they were younger, their mother would ritually take both children out of the palace to play and run around. Lelouch was always a rambunctious boy, and Nunnally a quiet girl, but they enjoyed the moments they had with their vivacious mother. Though, unlike their homeland of Britannia, the foreign land called Japan saw the royal siblings as hostages and invaders. The mansion the two were now living in was a second home to the Kururugi family and had been the place Light would stay over the summer with her mother to visit her relatives; it was far different than the main house Lelouch and Nunnally first lived in up until a month ago. Also there weren't many houses nearby, so the possibility of bumping into someone other than those who lived here were slim.
Plus, Nunnally never asked for anything.
"Okay, I got it. Let's go right now."
"Thank you."
"Do we need to take anything? It's not like it's far, but..."
"Oh, about that....."
Nunnally looked down and began to fiddle with the ribbons in her light brown hair, but then raised her head quickly.
"Lelouch, can we invite Light to come along too?"
Lelouch saw no reason for her to hesitate in asking that question, Light had been one of Lelouch's and Nunnally's friends since the day they were born. Both their parents were on friendly terms, Light's father being the Knight of One to Lelouch's father and Lelouch's mother being Light's god mother. In fact, Lelouch was going to ask her if she wanted to come anyway; he took comfort in knowing that Nunnally had an older female to help her and look up to, especially now.
"Of course, you don't have to ask Nunnally."
".......can Suzaku also?"
"Oh, uh, yeah."
Lelouch had good reason to be hesitant.
Even though it was a vacation home, the mansion was a large residence since it was owned by one of the wealthiest men of Japan, Kururugi. Lelouch had to pass multiple rooms to get to his destination, which was at the far end of the hall way he was now in. Including the servants, there weren't many people who lived here, which suited Lelouch. He walked up to the slightly opened door and peeked through.
There, sitting with his knees tucked in and one eye opened, clad in a dark blue hakama and white dogi, was the young master of the Kururugi household, Suzaku Kururugi. Right beside him was a stick-no, not a stick, but something called a bokuto. He looked to be meditating, but was distracted by the other figure sitting near the window.
A young girl, the same age as both boys, sat on a stool sketching fondly a picture of a hummingbird near the apricot lilies in the garden. Clad in navy blue shorts and a pure white sweater, she was humming the lullaby that she often sung to Nunnally. Like Suzaku's, her hair was a dark brown, but tied back in a ponytail with a ribbon.
Lelouch shifted his gaze back to Suzaku and was surprised. Never had Lelouch ever seen Suzaku with such a content smile on his face. Suzaku then turned sharply at the door, face stern and eyes strong-willed.
"Who is it?"
Light's head shot up and peered at the door, both they're eyes softened as they found out who it was, though, Suzaku's tone didn't change.
"Oh, it's you."
Light hopped off the stool and walked up to Suzaku, giving a smile in Lelouch's direction.
"Hello, Lelouch. How are you?"
Lelouch slid the white paper door open and walked in, smiling sincerely to Light.
"Fine, thank you."
"A prince is snooping? That's not appropriate, Lelouch."
"You're the one who left the door open."
Lelouch's attitude shifted dramatically to match Suzaku's. He snorted.
"You're napping at a time like this? You're slacking off a bit too much, Suzaku."
"This is called meditation. Meditation."
"You mean, a nap. And anyway, you're not going to get very far with that when you let yourself get distracted."
Suzaku's gaze looked away, a red tint coming to his cheeks as both boys glanced at the girl putting away her sketch book. She turned around to the boys and smiled, which caused both boys to look away in embarrassment. Light walked up to them.
"So, Lelouch, what brings you here?"
"Yes, Lelouch, what brings you here. You didn't come here to pick a fight with me right?"
Suzaku laughed and stood up, grabbing his bokuto.
"Oh....."
Lelouch paused a moment.
"Nunnally wanted to know if you both would like to join us and go to the beach."
"I see....how rare."
"I don't necessarily need YOU to come with us."
"That's how you get the opposite result, Lelouch."
"That's because you have a twisted personality."
"I'm not as bad as you."
Both boys gazed on at each other, until Light came between them and grabbed each of their hands. They both looked surprisingly at her smile.
"We would love to go, Lelouch. I mean, Nunnally hardly ever asks for anything, so we would be honored. Isn't that right, Suzaku?"
Suzaku pondered for a little while before answering.
"Yeah......I was pretty bored, so.....okay, I'll come along. You should be thankful of us, Lelouch."
Light began to walk ahead, still holding their hands. Lelouch was looking to Light as he answered.
"Of course."
The beach was natural. Ocean stretching, as far as the eye can see. Skies spreading wide parallel to the seagulls that swam within it. Everything was crystal clear, just simple. The natural element might of also came to the fact that no one resided on the beach. That was expected, it was private property of the Kururugi house.
The hardest obstacle at the time was moving Nunnally's wheelchair on the sand, so midway through Suzaku put Nunnally on his back and carried her near the water and sat her on a small chair that Light had brought. Who did which duty was decided by who had more strength, which the two boys argued over. In the end, Lelouch gave in when both Nunnally and Light reminded him that he had previously injured himself because of Nunnally.
And even now, Suzaku was by her side, taking care of her.
"That's right, Nunnally. I'll support the rod, so reel in the line slowly."
"Like this?"
"Yeah, you're doing good. But you can't reel it in too fast, because the hook will come flying at you and it'll be dangerous. When I tell you, stop. Then I'll throw the hook back."
"This is my first time fishing."
"Really? But you're doing really well."
"Do you think so?"
"Yes. The way you hold the rod is perfect. But Lelouch on the other hand.........well, I guess I really shouldn't say anything."
"It's a work in progress, Suzaku."
"I can see that, Hikari."
Suzaku turned his head in the direction of Lelouch face down in the sand with Light bending over him. He wasn't doing that because he wanted to.
Lelouch was struggling to remove the hook that got caught in his clothes when the line got tangled, and his foot caught the soft sand and fell. He couldn't move because of the hook and the line, and laying on the sand face down with Light trying to untie him, made them look like Lelouch was the dried up squid that hung in fishing villages with Light as the fisherman.
"Lelouch, sometimes I wonder if you ever listen to a word I say. I told you to let me untangle your line, but you went right ahead and did it yourself, as if I didn't even make a sound. Now look at you."
"I do listen to you!"
The statement sounded so rushed and persistent that all heads turned to the boy. Lelouch's flustered face turned even more red as he looked away from Light's curious face. Suzaku having noticed his face looked slightly miffed and spoke loudly so as to reach the pair's ears.
"Lelouch, you should never get stranded on a desert island. You'd never be able to survive."
"That's not true."
Light had successfully freed one section of the line from Lelouch as she replied to Suzaku scolding.
"Suzaku, that's terrible to say such a thing. And anyway, Nunnally and I would be there to help him since we're both naturals at the art, right Nunnally?"
"Of cour-Oh! Suzaku, the reel is heavy."
"Ah, you got one, Nunnally. Reel it in."
"Oh! Oh! It's moving."
"Don't worry. Slowly...."
"Um, uh..."
"That's good. A little more...almost...got it!"
"Did we catch one?"
"Yeah. You caught a fish!"
"Wow. What kind of a fish is it?"
"It's called Gilthead. It's good when you broil it."
"Oh...are we going to eat it?"
"It's a little small. What do you want to do? Should we let it go?"
"Yes. Please let it go."
"Okay."
Lelouch and Light watched as Suzaku pulled the line in, and unhooked the small fish and threw it back in. There was a tiny splash and the fish disappeared into the ocean. Lelouch turned his attention to Light as she spoke up.
"Nunnally is growing to be a beautiful person."
Glimpsing at Lelouch, Light continued on.
"All thanks to her brother."
As appalling as it was for Lelouch to disagree with Light, he couldn't possibly concur with her statement. Choosing the alternative, he asked a question.
"How so?"
Smiling, she answered.
"As twisted a personality you think you may have. I believe its the compassion and nurturing that you give her that's helped. In the long run, this will help her go off and return that kindness to others. It will allow her to go off on her own. Her ideas will be influenced by your past kindness."
To Lelouch, as much as he admired Light's way of thinking, he couldn't help but feel that advice was on part, naive. Of course he felt this way for obvious reasons. Through Lelouch's eyes, the world is cold, having taken away his mother, his sister's abilities, his home and freedom. Who would be there to return Nunnally's kindness? To show kindness to them when already, they have been marked as unkind just for their heritage. Who wou-.
"Let's try to catch a bigger one this time!"
During Light and Lelouch's conversation, Suzaku had taken the rod from Nunnally's hands. Lelouch ceased his thoughts, too absorbed in Nunnally's actions to Suzaku.
"Y-yes."
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you, but our dinner depends on our fishing skills."
"Oh. Really? I didn't know."
"Yes. It's true."
Suzaku tried to sound stern, but his face was still smiling. Laughing sincerely, Light jogged up to the pair and lightly pushed Suzaku.
"Suzaku, don't say that! Don't mind Suzaku, Nunnally. If what he said were true, we'd have to stay here all night just to get all the fish in the ocean to feed Suzaku."
"That's not true! Last time we fished I recall only eating 3! How many did you have Miss Leonheart?"
"Not as much as you! And anyway, I believe Nunnally would appreciate it if you didn't put dinner on her shoulders."
"It's alright, Light. I'm sure with your's and Suzaku's help, I could maybe catch 3."
"That's the spirit! I bet we could even catch more then that!"
Lelouch watched all three of them interact with one another. To be honest, it comforting sight. If he were the Lelouch from before, he wouldn't have allowed a stranger to interact with Nunnally that way, of course, he never saw Light as a stranger. But now it was different. Actually, it was only different with Light and Suzaku.
"That's right. We'll try to catch a...red snapper!"
"Okay!"
"No, Suzaku's just kidding. We can't catch that."
"Huh?"
Suzaku and Light laughed, shortly after joined by Nunnally. Just watching them together comforted Lelouch. It put his heart at ease.
If only things could remain that way, how happy they would be.
'If only'.
In the end, they stayed at the beach until late afternoon.
Suzaku, Nunnally, and Light caught eight fish, and with the help of Light, Lelouch had caught two.
It wasn't a season with short days, but it did get chilly as the sun descended. Nunnally had a jacket that Lelouch had brought, and Suzaku offered his jacket to Light when he noticed she hadn't brought one. Suzaku softly scolded her.
"Hikari, you realize you get ill easily."
"I know, I'm sorry, Suzaku."
"I'm not angry."
Light was surprised, but realized what he meant by his facial expression.
"I understand, thank you."
Light smiled gratefully, causing Suzaku to look away to hide his blush. Lelouch was slightly miffed, but due to Light needing a jacket, he let it slide. Scurrying to take his mind off the conversation, Suzaku commented on Lelouch.
"You're prepared."
Automatically guessing what Suzaku meant, Lelouch answered hotly.
"Nunnally's not used to being outside. Of course, I am."
"You'll become a good 'maid' one day."
"I don't know if you're insulting me or praising me."
Light and Nunnally only giggled in response as they continued down the pine filled, sloped path that led back to the mansion; Light pushing Nunnally's wheel chair. Luckily, the path was sand-laden, but not as soft as the beach so not much strength was required to lead the chair. Walking ahead, Suzaku and Lelouch picked up tree branches to clear the path, tossing them aside as they advanced. It was getting hard to see since the forest was dimming, although there was still daylight left. The boys continued their bickering.
"Anyway, I understand the theory of fishing now. Suzaku, next time I'm going to beat you."
"You hate losing, don't you."
It was more of a statement then a question, so Lelouch didn't answer, just stared defiantly at Suzaku. Light and Nunnally laughed in response, causing both boys to look back at the girls.
"With the way you both exchange conversation, one would think you were born rivals."
"Hee hee, I agree with Light."
"But Lelouch is the only one ever to catch hardly any fish there. He wouldn't of caught any if it weren't for Light."
Lelouch and Light glanced at each other, him turning away in embarrassment and Light smiling apologetically at him. Nunnally was only amazed.
"Oh, my..."
The path turned flat since it wasn't very long; all they had to do was get through the grove and they would reach the back entrance of the mansion. Soon after, the end of the grove came into sight in front of them.
That's when Light stopped in her tracks, in the middle of the path.
Both boys stopped to look at her, even Nunnally, as Light turned her vision to the grove they just came out of. Suzaku worriedly walked closer to her.
"Hika-."
He stopped his sentence and shifted his gaze to the grove as well. Both remained quiet, as if listening for something.
Then Light spoke up, turning to Lelouch with a smile.
"Sorry, Lelouch. Can you go ahead with Nunnally? I forgot something. Suzaku will help me get it."
"You realize it now?"
"Hee hee, I know, right?"
Light laughed as she wheeled Nunnally to Lelouch. Lelouch looked at her skeptically. Shfting his gaze from Nunnally to her, he responds.
"Are you sure?"
Before she answers, Suzaku walks to her and grabs Light's hand, smiling reassuredly at her, Lelouch, and Nunnally.
"Hikari, go back with Lelouch and Nunnally. I know where it is, I'll be back."
Light looks at him worriedly, squeezing his hand a little tighter. Suzaku returns the grip, looking at her directly as he answers, his eyes holding the determination they usually held.
"I promise."
Finally, she nodded.
With that, he releases her hand and retreats back into the woods, but not before turning to Lelouch.
"Take care of her."
Then he was gone.
"I can't believe he has that much energy left," Lelouch mumbled while rolling his eyes.
Lelouch was pretty tired; makes sense since they'd been fishing for half a day. Even if Suzaku was used to fishing, his energy was abnormal. It's as if the day just started with the way he moves, especially with his legs. For as long as Lelouch has been alive, he's never known of a person, let alone an adult, who could be able to run that fast.
"Let's go."
There was no reason not to; Suzaku had told them to go ahead. As well as.....
Having started pushing Nunnally's wheelchair, Lelouch noticed that Light was still facing the direction Suzaku had taken off to. Her hand twitched slightly moving slowly upwards to reach out to where they had just treaded from.
"Light?"
"Oh......yeah."
Turning back toward the mansion when Lelouch spoke up, she tilted her head down slightly. Walking meekly up to Lelouch, she slightly gripped his right hand on the wheelchair. Puzzled, but enjoying the contact, he continued to push Nunnally.
The path widened as they exited the groove; the japanese stlye mansion with the blue roof tiles getting closer. Nunnally piped up when they were almost there.
"Lelouch?"
"What is it?"
"I wonder if Suzaku is okay by now."
For a moment, Lelouch almost stopped pushing the chair, mainly because Light's grip intensified at that statement. Lelouch watched as Nunnally's hair danced in the wind, her baby blue ribbons swaying along. Her hair was getting longer. Nunnaly was trying to grow her hair out, but perhaps he should cut it. It would only be a trim, really.
"Lelouch?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry."
Both Light and Lelouch knew what she meant.
Based off what Suzaku demonstrated earlier with his running; it was apparent Nunnally wasn't talking about his physical state, he was fine.
She had been asking about his mental well being.
Nunnaly had noticed that Suzaku had been different from before. Both him and Light weren't currently attending school and about a month ago, had arrived with Light at the vacation home, right after Lelouch and Nunnally had settled there.
Even though Lelouch asked Suzaku multiple times for an explanation, Light would always answer that they were staying there as well, Suzaku would remain silent.
Something was definitely off, but more importantly, something was different.
Since Nunnally wasn't as distracted with appearnces, since not being able to see, perhaps she was able to sense changes in other people.
Light, noticing this, turned to Nunnally with a gentle smile.
"Nunnally, what do you think?"
"Huh?"
"Do you think he's changed?"
Not prepared for the question Light had asked her, Nunnally looked down and inclined her head. After much thinking, she finally answered.
"I think.....Suzaku is nicer then when brother and I first met him."
Lelouch nodded.
"Yeah.....that's true. He's not violent like before."
Never again.
"He notices things alot more now."
Lelouch turned to Light calmly.
"You're right. He's not as callous."
I'll never use it again.
"I think he's more cheerful, too."
Light laughed contently at Nunnally's input.
"Yeah, he's friendlier."
I'll never use my power for myself.
"But..."
Nunnally looked away from them both.
"Huh?"
Never.
"I'm scared."
Lelouch gazed at her, confused.
"Scared?"
I can't use it, ever.
"I'm scared that one day Suzaku is going to leave."
The smell of the ocean grew as the wind intensified, russling the pine trees in the groove. It tickled the nose.
"Light....that day, did Suzaku...."
"Let's not talk about this, Nunnally."
Lelouch cut her off.
Since the incident that happened that day, neither he nor Light talked about that incident.
To Nunnally, or even Suzaku.
He wouldn't be able to talk about it ever again, not after swearing to Light.
For some reason, Lelouch suddenly had a feeling, but he didn't know why.
Light grasped his hand fully in her left, Nunnally, her right. Looking between them both she smiled confidently and cheerfully.
"Don't worry about Suzaku. The best thing he needs right now is us, our presence. Those who don't judge him."
She released Lelouch's hand and knelt down to Nunnally's level, continuing to smile.
"Nunnally, I promise that if that time comes when Suzaku or any of us were to seperate, I will do everything in my power to bring us back together, I swear."
Nunnally stood completely surprised, then her face broke into a grateful smile, her smile.
"Thank you."
The thick trunk belonged to the biggest pine tree in the grove. It wouln't budge, even when the wind grew stronger. The flow of air was completely blocked.
Suzaku stared at the dimmly lit grove, his back leaning against the trunk as he stood. He continued to look straight ahead, his left hand on the wooden sword at his waist.
Even when dusk turned into complete darkness, the boy stayed there.
LightTwilightDarkness:
Man! That took a while! I'm sorry it was so put out! I'm currently making room for some people moving into my profile, two actually, and working on a collaberation with LeeshaVamp (who you really need to check out her profile! She rocks!!)
Anyway!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and expect some goodies on the way!!
Read and Review, Please!!
LTD Out!