Lisbeth stood beside Zero's seat, her stance was stiff, she barely moved an inch during Zero's entire speech. But her eyes were darting all over the place, studying people's expressions, stances, everything she could study she did. She had commited the blueprints of the room and those surrounding it to memory, along with the layout of the decorations. She had gone over a million scenarios and carefully planned out several actions she would take should any of those situations occur.

He sat next to her, her sensitive nose could smell his cologne and his deodorant, and if he hadn't been wearing the mask she probably would have been able to smell his toothpaste as well. There was a time in her life when she had convinced herself that she loved the man behind the mask, but he had changed now, so much that there barely was any trace left of the person she spent the better part of her childhood, and some of her teenhood, with. She wished she could help him go back to being that person but all hope for that had been lost when he agreed to the Zero Requiem. All she could do now was help him make the best of what remained of his life, and make sure that what remained of his life would be long and prosperous.

The guests were mingling now, drinking champagne and whispering amongst one another, so far nothing out of the ordinary had occured but she didn't rule out the idea from the near future. TV stations from all over the world were here as well, cameras had been pointed at where she stood only moments ago, now the cameras were switched off and the reporters were jotting down notes and tidbits of information in their notepads. She expected one of them to come up and ask for an interview in the near future.

"Lisbeth, please sit. There is no need for you to remain standing" Zero gestured to the chair beside him.

"If something were to occur-"

"Please. We've been here for an hour what on earth could possibly happen which hasn't already?"

"You never know"

"You're just being paranoid." Zero reached up to place the tips of his fingers on her cheek, his touch was gentle and caring, two things that most people would never associate with the former terrorist "Please"

His voice was smooth, the gentlenedd of his touch was nothing compared to the tone of his voice. Even though his face was hidden by a mask Lisbeth could easily picture the look on his face, it was one which he had given her many times before, it was one he used when he sought her out and requested that she become his personal bodyguard.

She closed her eyes and pictured his face, his chocolate brown tresses fluttering around him in the wind, his green eyes squinted against the sun. The rest of his face was placid though, and a small pleading smile graced his lips.

"Fine" Lisbeth sighed, picturing the tabloid headlines which were whirring through the reporters' brains now as they focused their cameras on the pair.

She made her way over to the chair which had been set up for her, and previously ignored, on Zero's left. She sat down, crossing her legs and pinching the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed as she breathed in and out deeply.

"Headache?" Always so caring, always thoughtful.

"No, but I expect one soon" Lisbeth gestured her head, very slightly, towards a reporter and a cameraman making their way over to them.

"Would you like me to tell her to go away? I have the power to do that" there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Of course you do, you're Zero for fuck's sake" Lisbeth mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"You say that like it's a bad thing"

"In some cases it would be, don't you agree?" She allowed sarcasm to seep into her whisper.

"Hello, my name is Nami Mizaki and I'm with the Japanese National Programming, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind" the fair-haired reporter had a huge smile plastered across her face.

"Hello Mizaki-san. Lisbeth?" Zero turned to Lisbeth, she could tell he was an arching an eyebrow at her.

Lisbeth eyed both the reporter from head to toe, neither of them seemed to be carrying any weapons and neither of them looked like they could even fire a handgun.

"Go ahead" she murmured, adding a negligent wave of her hand.

"Thank you very much." The reporter signalled the cameraman and he turned the camera on, balancing it on his shoulder and pointing it in their direction.

Lisbeth did not smile.

"I think the question which is plaguing all of our minds is: Where have you been for the past 11 years? You just disappeared off the face of the earth, now you're back and everyone's wondering where you had disappeared to"

"I thought these questions were for Zero?" Lisbeth gave them both a cynical look.

"Yes well-"

"I was presumed dead, actually. As for where I went, I really don't see how that's relevant to where I am today"

"True. But like you said, people thought you were dead. Don't you think they deserve to at least know where you had gone to?"

"An occurrence in my life made me realize that I wasn't, and still aren't, cut out for royalty. What reason did I have then to remain there?"

"The occurrence you're talking about is the death of your mother?"

"Perhaps. It was definitely around that time which I made the discovery of course."

"But you were so young. Only five years old"

"Can age truly be considered a factor in anything? If an 18 year old boy could become a world dictator in only a few of years I'm sure a five year old girl can choose whether or not she wishes to become a princess, do you agree?" Lisbeth raised a questioning, looking amused.

"Yeah." she laughed. "It must have been difficult though, to just pick up and leave though? Leave your entire world behind"

"It wasn't as difficult as you make it sound to be. It took a while to adjust but in the end I think I made the right decision" she could feel Zero's intense gaze on her, even though his face was hidden behind his mask.

She was being rather truthful, she wanted to make sure that the Britannians knew she wasn't going to come crawling back, expecting to reclaim her title as Princess. She was asserting her indipendance and she was telling them that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She had, after all, managed to stay alive for all this time.

"And now you're back to do what? Protect Zero? Why?"

"I made a promise to someone which I intend to keep. I feel strongly about what he's trying to do and I suppose this is my way of contributing to society. However, if he had not come to find me I probably would not have searched for him." Lisbeth glanced at Zero before cocking her head at the reporter.

"Really? Zero, how did you learn of Lisbeth? And why did you choose her, I'm sure there are dozens of other soldiers who would be much more capable?"

"Do you say that because she is a woman? Or because she is young?" he sounded offended on behalf of Lisbeth who probably hadn't even noticed that the comment was referring to her age or her sex.

"A little bit of both I suppose" she laughed nervously, picking up on her mistake.

"I would like to tell everyone who is listening that Lisbeth is the most capable-" a loud crash cut Zero off.

Lisbeth stood her hand automatically closing around Zero's wrist, her eyes had narrowed into leery slits as she eyed the ceiling, waiting for the debris to clear so she could assess the situation at hand. The hazy outline of a Knightmare frame appeared among the dust which was all the reason Lisbeth needed to pull Zero out of his chair and stand in front of him and drawing both of her katanas in an offensive stance.

"Stay behind me" she commanded.

"Of course" he sounded calm, he obviously had a very high level of confidence in her and was not worried at all.

Lisbeth could hear Nami Mizaki telling the camerman to keep the camera on her, she apparently brought another cameraperson with her which she told via walkie talkie to keep shooting the Knightmare. The Knightmare approached the place where Lisbeth and Zero stood, it fired a bullet which Lisbeth deflected, and another and another. Lisbeth deflected one bullet after the other, she tugged on Zero's wrist and the pair of them ran out of a backdoor entrance which they had initially used to enter the room.

Minutes later another Knightmare Frame came crashing through the wall behind the throne, there was nothing notable about it's size but it was a unique model, it was painted in the colors of Lisbeth's uniform and it looked like it could comfortably seat two people.

Kallen stood outside the infirmary, waiting for Zero and Lisbetht to emerge from inside. Lisbeth had insisted that she make sure Zero hadn't been hurt in any way. The attack was hardly an actual risk, dealt with in ten minutes, maybe even less than that. Only a couple of kids who had heard their fathers talking and managed to get a hold of a couple of Knightmares. Lisbeth had seemed positively furious once she caught sight of the attackers. She had them arrested on the spot, handcuffing them herself, very roughly, and stuffed them into the back of seperate police cars. Kallen was supposed to wait for them and follow up on the incident.

Lisbeth emerged, shutting the door behind her quietly. She stood outside the door, arms folder over her chest, looking extremely hostile and agressive. She raised an eyebrow at Kallen, giving her an expectant look. Bitch Kallen couldn't help but think, a growl building up inside of her. Kallen relayed everything they knew, and Lisbeth didn't even bother hiding her boredom as she listened. She did seem to be waiting for something though, probably a specific bit of information. By the end of Kallen's report Lisbeth didn't seem to have heard what she was waiting for.

"Do we have anything on how they managed to obtain the Knightmares?" Lisbeth asked, frustration lining her voice.

"No, not yet. But we aren't done interogating them." Kallen glanced at the door behind Lisbeth "Is he okay?"

"Yes," Lisbeth answered coldly, glaring at the door, her lips curled back in a sneer.

Kallen glanced at Lisbeth, it was the first time she'd been able to get a good look at the raven haired girl since that meeting with where she had been introduced as Zero's Knight. She looked exhausted, there were dark, heavy circles under her eyes and her steely gray eyes looked dull and faded. Besides that, of course, Lisbeth looked the same as always. Same stiff, alert, posture, same expressionless disposition on her face.

Lisbeth gave Kallen another quick, curious one over before spinning around and striding back into the infirmary. Kallen stood and glared at the place where her head had been for a while, before turning around and leaving herself.

Lisbeth stood beside Zero's bed, watching him as he pulled his uniform back on. She was glaring at him, her eyes narrowed into slits and her jaw clenching and unclenching.

"Lisbeth," he sighed, exhasperated.

"What?" she seethed through clenched teeth.

He reached forward and cupped her face in his gloved hands, bending down to press a soft kiss to her forhead. His green eyes bore into hers and she could see the pleading in them, the desperation. She knew what he wanted.

"Zero-" she began, but he cut her off by pressing a long finger to her lips.

"The mask is off," he said quietly.

"But-"

"No buts," he interrupted again, "Please."

Lisbeth could understand why he didn't want her to call him Zero, especially when he took his mask off, but someone could overhear, someone could walk in, it was too risky. She'd attempted to explain this to him before, but he insisted on being called by his name. She sighed.

"Very well, Suzaku," she made sure to emphasize his name especially.

"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow, looking rather amused. "Are you going to say that you forgive me?"

"No, I was going to say how I don't actually."

"Well, I can't have that now, can I?" he smiled and put the mask back on.

Lisbeth glared at the back of his helmeted head as he pushed the door open and head out. She followed him, close on his tail, however the sullen expression remained on her face as they made their way back to the hall for Zero to address the issue. The journalists and their camerapeople were all huddled together, making sure they got all the footage, working on their stories for whatever newspaper, magazine, or news station they worked for. They all surged forward at the sight of them and Lisbeth sighed, knowing that it would be a very long day.