Chapter Seven: Establishing Facts
Suzaku stared into the fire, reaching out to turn one of the sticks to make sure the fish was cooking evenly, looking up with a smile as Nunnally made a sound of contentment. The princess sat back with a long sigh, placing her stick to the side. "That was amazing."
"Really?" Suzaku chuckled before removing his fish, staring at it before shrugging and biting into it. "It's nothing special."
"It is to me." Nunnally glanced down before looking up with the smile back on her face, Suzaku not having the time to apologize for his offhand comment. She looked down at his lap before taking the final fish away from the fire. "But I think I can manage one more, since it seems that big brother is too comfortable to eat."
Suzaku blushed and looked down at his lap, Lelouch's head settled comfortably there. He dropped one hand to rest on his friend's shoulder, giving it a quick rub before turning his attention completely back to his dinner. "His loss."
"Suzaku, that's cruel!" Nunnally hid her laugh in the sleeve of her dress, trying to give him a stern glare. "He's already skinny enough."
"It's not my job to make sure that he eats. I swore to protect him and be his sword, not his baby sitter." Nunnally laughed at that, Suzaku turning the stick in his fingers and trying to keep up his own smile. The reminder of his own promise was doing nothing to help his resolve to get out of contact with Lelouch as soon as possible. He had promised that to the prince on the ride back from burying Euphy and later when he had been in his right mind, or as close as he could get to it with the Geass on him. He had meant it both times, but did the Geass change anything about it?
Lelouch had just ordered him to live; it wasn't as bad as the other things that Suzaku had seen his friend do. But the fact that the Geass had been used on him was still abhorrent to him, to think that there was something that could easily work against his will sent a shiver down his spine. He liked to know that he was in control of himself; it was the only thing he was sure of in this world. There were so many things that could go wrong, but at least he could control himself, at least he had his free will.
Or he had once had his free will before Lelouch.
But, then again, what kind of command was 'live'? A command like that would just keep Suzaku from dying, but nothing else. It was unlike Lelouch to use his power without thinking through all of the possibilities to come up with the phrasing that he would need to exploit that person to the fullest. And yet, he had just commanded Suzaku to live.
"Suzaku?" He looked up at Nunnally's question, watching as the princess picked the scales off of her fish, flicking them to the ground. "You've been big brother's friend for a while now, right?" He nodded slowly, Nunnally glancing at him quickly before looking back down at the ground. "What do you know about the Black Knights?"
"Wha-"
"After what just happened, I can't go back to my uncle." Nunnally sat up straight, glaring into the fire. "I don't know why he would want to kill Lelouch, but he does. He's the only family I have left, Suzaku, so I won't put him in danger by allowing myself to be hidden somewhere far away from him. But I do want to know if I can live with the Black Knights without a burden."
Suzaku blinked rapidly before smiling at her. "We'll have to find you something to do, but I'm sure that it'll be alright." He took a bite of his fish, chewing thoughtfully before smiling. "We could use someone to organize the camp. It's hasn't fallen apart completely, but Lelouch can only do so much on his own."
Nunnally tilted her head to the side, a smile still on her face. "I think I would like that." Suzaku watched as her eyes dropped to his lap, surprised as the princess' smile softened. "So, how long have the two of you been friends?"
He glanced down at Lelouch, surprised to find that his fingers had tangled in the prince's hair, slowly stroking through the black strands. Suzaku swallowed, tempted to stop but unable to when Lelouch gave a soft sigh, pressing his cheek against Suzaku's thigh and settling into a better position.
Nunnally giggled, Suzaku looking up abruptly at her. She smiled and gestured at Lelouch. "Sorry, I've never seen him that relaxed. I'm guessing that he's usually on edge."
"It comes with the life." She nodded slowly, leaning forward and placing her hands on her knees, staring at her brother with a fond smile on her face. Suzaku sighed, looking down at Lelouch and continuing his gentle stroking. "We met when we were ten. My cousin and I found Lelouch and C.C. when we needed them. I was Lelouch's only friend for a while."
Suzaku bit his lip and turned his head away, shuddering as he remembered the time that he had offered himself up as bait to let the three of them go free. His gaze dropped to his wrist where the faint scars still were, licking his lips and swallowing slowly. "We were separated for a bit before I found my way back to him."
"And you became his knight?"
"No. I was Euphemia's knight first." Suzaku ducked his head, his hand rising from Lelouch's hair to rub over his face. "I became Lelouch's knight after she died."
"Zero killed her."
Suzaku stared at Nunnally before shaking his head. "It was a horrible accident." He bit his lip, staring at the ground. Zero might as well have killed her; he wasn't where he had needed to be. But still, it was partially his fault as well. "Just an accident."
Nunnally shook her head, Suzaku glad that the subject seemed to be dropped for the moment. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go into the complicated chain of events that led to her half sister's death. He wasn't sure if he would be able to get out of the aftermath if Lelouch learned that he had told Nunnally. Suzaku flinched at the idea, glancing down and continuing to stroke Lelouch's hair when his friend whimpered.
Lelouch's hand came up to rest on his knee, Suzaku jumping at the contact. He leaned forward to look at Lelouch's face, worried at the pained expression. Lelouch's hand clenched on the fabric of his trousers, Suzaku sure that he heard another whimper from his friend.
He leaned forward to prop his fish back up by the fire, taking his free hand and placing it over Lelouch's. The prince pressed closer to him, twitching and muttering something under his breath. Suzaku brushed a hand over Lelouch's hair, looking up at Nunnally to give her a reassuring smile. "He has nightmares."
"Nightmares? About the night our kidnappers tried to kill him?"
Suzaku stared at her, trying to figure out what she was talking about. He finally settled for shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Nunnally nodded slowly. "The night I was kidnapped, Lelouch followed the kidnappers and got caught himself. He tried to escape with me, but they found us and they...they hurt him horribly and left him for dead." She reached up to wipe her cheeks, taking a deep breath. "They broke my hip so that I couldn't try to escape, even though I was too young to do so. Uncle V.V. came to save me later, so C.C. must have done the same to Lelouch."
Suzaku felt his mouth drop open, swallowing quickly and looking away to gather himself together. Lelouch had told him the story of what had happened that night, and it was nothing like that. He shook his head, shifting nervously and freezing when Lelouch whimpered again. "I'm not sure. He doesn't speak about them, during or after."
Suzaku untangled his fingers from Lelouch's hair, attempting to raise his hand only to have Lelouch reach up to grab it. He scrambled at it for a moment before giving an annoyed groan, flipping the hand that had been resting on Suzaku's knee and entwining their fingers, bringing their joined hands close to his chest. Suzaku blushed but allowed Lelouch the comfort. He waited for Lelouch to let go of his other hand before he lowered it back into the prince's hair, going back to his slow stroking. "The worse they are, the less he wants to talk about them."
"And you just let him?"
"What else can I do?" Suzaku shrugged.
"Well, it's over now, isn't it?"
He felt Lelouch squeeze his hand, sighing wistfully and looking back at the remaining fish. Lelouch had to eat before they moved out in the morning or else he would be less than useless. Suzaku gave Lelouch's shoulder a gentle shake, smiling at the soft groan. "Come on now, get up."
Lelouch opened an eye. "Why?"
Suzaku picked up the fish that he had been nibbling on and held it in front of Lelouch. The prince stared blearily at the stick before sitting up, still not letting go of Suzaku's hand. He took the food and bolted it down, Suzaku shaking his head at the behavior. Usually Lelouch was very careful when he ate, keeping his princely manners despite the teasing he had gotten from Suzaku and the few others that knew his identity; Lelouch was very far gone if he was eating like this.
The stick was thrown into the fire before Lelouch settled back down with a yawn, drifting back off to sleep. "Don't wake me up again."
"Of course." Suzaku smiled as Lelouch grumbled, reaching down to tangle his fingers in Lelouch's hair. The move got a soft sigh, Lelouch pressing his cheek against Suzaku's thigh. The knight shook his head, giving a halfhearted attempt to free his other hand before giving up. He sighed and went back to staring into the fire, enjoying the warmth of Lelouch against him.
He heard Nunnally giggle, raising an eyebrow but continuing his study of the fire. "You two are so cute together."
That got a short chuckle out of him. "Never thought I would hear that."
"No, you are." Nunnally leaned her chin onto her palm, Suzaku turning to look at her as her gaze stayed on them a while longer. "You're really a good team. Big brother was…he was out of sorts when you left."
Suzaku bit his lip at that; sure that Lelouch wouldn't want her to know the details of their relationship. Still, the fact that she admitted to Lelouch sulking sent a pang of guilt through him, but it wasn't his fault; he had made it clear that he didn't think of Lelouch that way. Never verbally, but he thought that the intentions were clear enough on the subject, until he slipped up and they were like this. Suzaku suddenly wished that he had a hard surface to knock his head against.
Of course he hadn't been clear to Lelouch, but everything had been confused under the influence of hormones and grief and he still couldn't sort it out. He knew that it was his fault that Euphy was dead, equally his and Lelouch's fault. They had lost control, multiple times, when they should have been paying attention. Then again, neither of them had settled anything; just let it lie because it was safer that way.
He looked up as Nunnally yawned, reaching back for a blanket and pulling it over her. "Good night Suzaku."
"Good night, Nunnally." He shut his eyes with a sigh, glancing down at Lelouch. Pushing dirt over the fire to smother it was out of the question the way they were tangled together, and Lelouch showed no signs of letting go. He sighed, glancing at the dying fire before shrugging; it would be out in a moment and then he would go to sleep. They were safe enough here, V.V. wouldn't look for them on their own any longer, not with a village of Black Knights supporters just up the road.
Suzaku freed one hand, reaching back for a saddlebag before lifting up Lelouch's head so he could slide it under. He fumbled for a blanket as he twisted to settle down behind Lelouch, grunting in surprise as the prince moved closer to him, still clinging to that one hand. Suzaku froze in an uncomfortable position, one arm twisted above his head and the other groping behind him for the blanket. He gave a long sigh; awkwardly lifting himself up from the ground to pull his hand from Lelouch's ignoring the whimper from the prince.
He pulled the blanket over the two of them, only then giving into the frantic attempts by Lelouch to try and get his hand back. Suzaku allowed him to catch a hand, watching in surprise as the simple motion seemed enough to calm the prince down. He propped himself up on his other elbow, watching as Lelouch relaxed, sliding his fingers against Suzaku's as he took a deep breath. Lelouch leaned back against him, the motion tugging his arm around Lelouch's waist. There was another sigh from the prince, Lelouch tipping his head back and settling down again.
Suzaku stared at his sleeping friend, swallowing before laying his head down on the bags, staring at the back of Lelouch's neck. He hadn't done this since the night of Euphemia's death, and it was strangely comforting. Without meaning to, he leaned forward, burying his nose in Lelouch's hair and taking a deep breath. He found himself relaxing again, wanting to laugh when he realized what he was doing.
Around Euphy he had never been this relaxed, always tense and on edge because he didn't quite know how to handle her. She had always been the princess while Lelouch was just his childhood playmate, and he had loved her because she was a princess and far away, he had never felt that he loved her when she allowed herself to be brought to the same level as he and Lelouch; he wanted her to remain pure and innocent, at least in his mind. He was in love with the ideas that she had represented, but never her.
He wanted to laugh, muffling the short chuckle that managed to escape in Lelouch's hair. He had loved Euphy, the woman, like a sister but loved Princess Euphemia for what she represented.
He must have been tired for him to be thinking like this, or he could blame it on Lelouch's close proximity to him; Lelouch had always made his thoughts run haywire. Suzaku rolled his eyes and pulled Lelouch closer, his smiling widening as their legs tangled together. Lelouch was going to be furious at him when he woke up, but Suzaku couldn't bring himself to care. Right now, with Lelouch in his arms, he was more content than he had been in a long while.
Nunnally opened one eye, staring at the dead fire before lifing her head from the ground, pushing herself up to get something to rest her head on. She froze as she saw two indistinct shapes on the other side of the fire, smiling as she recognized her brother and his knight. She pulled the blanket around her and pushed herself all the way up into a sitting position, staring at the two. When she had said that they were close, she hadn't expected that, she had just assumed that they were very good friends. Then again, it was good that Lelouch had someone like Suzaku close to him, being a prince in hiding seemed like a very lonely life. She was glad that she had Lelouch going into this life.
She adjusted the blanket around her, reaching back to rest a hand on her ankle to keep her balance. She had almost come close to losing her brother today. If she hadn't have found Suzaku, she had no idea what she would have done. A life in a tower had just made her useless, something that was being proven to her frighteningly fast. If this was what she was like in the real world, what would her reign be like if Uncle V.V's plans had gone through? Nunnally rubbed her arms and shivered; she would have been a useless ruler, dependent entirely on V.V.
A rule like that would have been harmful to the people and the Areas. She didn't know what V.V's plans were other than to eliminate the witch that gave the royal family the power of Geass. She didn't even know if he would stop after that. Would he go after the only members of family that she had left? Would he try to kill Lelouch again?
She swallowed and clutched the blanket tighter around her body, letting out a long sigh after she had calmed down. There had to be something that she could do to avoid being used like that. The best course of action would be to ally herself with someone that she could trust, but she couldn't bring Lelouch back into this. And she certainly didn't want to bring the Black Knights into this, not when Britannia hated them so much.
Nunnally sighed, glancing up at her brother and his knight, smiling at the picture that the two made. If they were relaxed then she assumed that she could too, she would always be safe with those two around. She nodded to herself, pushing her worries to the side to wait until morning, her eyes widening as she realized what the next day was. Remembrance Day, the day that she had wanted to witness for what seemed like her entire life. She would wait until evening then, after all of the candles had been floated to talk to Lelouch about what to do. If there was no other way for her to live, then she would chose to go with him to the Black Knights. Pendragon was closed to her; she would just be fed more lies and manipulated.
There didn't seem to be a way out of her situation, and she still didn't like the idea of the Black Knights. She dreaded the possibility of meeting Zero. Despite what Suzaku had said about Euphemia, she didn't know if she trusted the man; he had still killed the others.
Nunnally yawned, shaking her head in a futile attempt to stay awake. She wanted to just look at the area for a moment longer and memorize the beauty, something that was becoming increasingly important to her since the attack. Before, the idea of going back to the tower had been a vague fear, but it had been made real when V.V. had tried to take her back. And it had made her realize how vulnerable her happiness really was. She didn't want to lose her brother so soon.
She looked up abruptly as the horses snorted, both of them trying to turn and look at someone coming towards them. Nunnally swallowed nervously before glancing over at the two sleeping boys, she should wake them now, ask one of them to set up a guard. She threw the blanket off and began to drag herself around the fire when a chuckle right by her ear made her stop.
Panicking, she turned around, reaching out to hit the person behind her only to have her hand grabbed. "Is that any way to greet your uncle, Nunnally?"
V.V. smiled at her before settling onto the ground beside her, still holding onto her hand. Nunnally shot him a frightened look before glancing to where her brother and his knight were. Suzaku would have his sword by him and Lelouch's was with his stuff by the horses. If she could just pull away from V.V. and get something to defend herself or wake one of the boys…
"Nunnally," a tug on her hand turned her attention back to V.V, "I am speaking to you."
"No. I don't want to go back and I don't want to talk to you!"
He released her hand, moving back away from her. Nunnally watched him carefully, noting that V.V. kept his hand where she could see them, but he didn't leave. She frowned and went to pull herself towards the nearest weapon, stopping when she heard her uncle sigh. "I come to warn you and you do this."
"Warn me?" Nunnally turned to look at him, not stopping her slow movement around the fire.
V.V. just nodded, leaning forward to stare at the dying embers of the fire. "I've recently gained new intelligence about Zero and the Black Knights. I assume that Lelouch wants to take you to them." Nunnally opened her mouth to speak only to be cut off as V.V. looked up at her. "Have you considered that he's only doing this to keep himself alive?"
"He's my big brother."
"That meant nothing when Zero decided to kill Euphemia and Clovis. Family means nothing to him because of his upbringing."
"You left him to die!"
"Yes." V.V. folded his hands in his lap. "I admit to that and wish that I had stopped, either to save him or kill him. It would have saved him from making a contract with a witch."
"He wouldn't."
"He has." V.V. glared at her, his gaze softening a moment later. "You trust him so easily; Nunnally, but you don't question any of his actions. You met him not a week ago and you trust him with your life."
Nunnally straightened herself up. "He's my big brother, the only family that I have left. He's the only one that hasn't lied to me."
V.V. laughed quietly at that. "Everyone lies, Nunnally, he just might not be so obvious about it around you." Her uncle sighed and stood up, brushing himself off before looking off into the woods. "Well, I suppose that an apology is in order for this afternoon. I only meant to frighten you two into surrendering, not to have them attack, but I guess my men were too eager for a fight. And for that, I apologize. I shall see you tomorrow at the Remembrance Day ceremonies."
"No."
"Yes, Nunnally. I want one more chance to make you see that you are making a mistake. Lelouch is your brother, but he's not the one that you imagined, he's been twisted by that witch. I will make one more attempt tomorrow and then the decision will be yours."
"You mean you'll stop chasing us?"
V.V. nodded. "Unlike my brother, I am a man of my word." He turned to leave, hesitating before looking back over his shoulder at Nunnally. "Before I go one final thing. You know your brother has a Geass, he must have showed it to you."
"Yes, to prove he was royalty."
"Ah, then how do you know that you are acting under your own will?" Nunnally jerked backwards at that, V.V's benevolent smile never disappearing. "Lelouch can command people and they are forced to obey and, often, they have no memory of the command. He could have ordered you to follow him out of the tower and trust him. Do you trust him now?"
Nunnally stared at her uncle before giving a curt nod, making herself look as intimidating as she could while V.V. left. It was only when her uncle had disappeared into the forest that she slumped, shivering. She had just lied to V.V, she didn't know if she could trust Lelouch after that, at least not completely. But her brother deserved the chance, that's what she had to keep telling herself.
She gave the two another glance before reaching for her blanket, having to stretch awkwardly over the embarrassing little ground she had covered. She wrapped herself up in it, sitting up and keeping watch. She didn't think she could go back to sleep after V.V's visit. Despite what he had said, she was too afraid that he would break his word and try to drag her away in her sleep.
Nunnally shifted into a more comfortable position, glancing at her brother and his knight before giving a resolute nod. She would stay up all night if she had to, just to make sure that they were all safe. If she was going to join the Black Knights, she had to learn to make herself useful any way she could.
V.V. picked his way through the forest, his hands clenched at his sides to keep himself from yelling. Nunnally had chosen the wrong time to develop a backbone. He still needed her to become Empress when Charles died; he needed her to create the world that he wanted. He reached up to rub his forehead before glaring at his hand. He should have moved her when he realized that Lelouch was close by and he should have kept the information about Nunnally's whereabouts in the top ranks of his organization. Still, he could do nothing to change the past. All he could do was exploit her fears and use them to draw her back.
He looked up as he approached the village, ignoring the hostile stares that he got from the people that were still out. Since their liberation by Zero, the inhabitants of Nippon looked down on all those who were Britannian. V.V. pointedly ignored them, preferring to focus on the vision of the future of Britannia, the one where the country would be great again instead of struggling to keep itself and all of its providences in order.
He ducked into a small inn, the only one that would grudgingly serve Britannians. Almost immediately he caught sight of one of his men, the man waving him over to the bench he was sitting on. V.V. glanced around before ambling over, making sure to look like it was just a chance meeting, even going as far to smile. The fact that the man looked terrified about the fact that he was smiling gave V.V's smile a little truth to it.
V.V. sighed and flopped onto the bench, adopting a slumped position, ignoring the years of etiquette training that were screaming at him. "Is everything good on your end?"
The man nodded, returning his gaze to the door. "We found them. The captain should be over soon. The rest of us have them under guard to make sure that they don't run again."
"With the deal we've offered them, why would they?"
"Can't trust deserters."
V.V. smiled again at that, looking up as another man entered the inn, trying his best to look friendly. "I find you can, as long as you know their motives."
They made room on the bench for the captain, V.V. studying the man for a moment. His man's observation that the captain led a band of deserters was immediately dismissed. The captain took too much care of his uniform even while on the run to be considered a deserter, which meant that they would be eager to join up with anything relating to the empire again. And he was sure to join him when they learned the extent of their offer.
He pressed the tips of his fingers together, giving the captain a long look. "So, you took the safety we offered?"
The captain looked uncomfortable before nodding slowly. "There was nothing else to do; I would have lost men if I kept pushing them."
"Making the Britannian border in such a short amount of time is a huge task."
"Especially with those damned rebels chasing you." The captain sighed and let his head drop forward. V.V. raised an eyebrow at that; the captain must be tired if he was allowing himself that. "We had to circle back so many times just to keep from being caught."
"And tomorrow?"
"We keep going." The captain shrugged. "There's nothing else we can do."
"Except hope that you aren't seen as deserters."
That made the captain speechless for a moment, V.V watching him carefully. Finally, the captain seemed to make up his mind, snapping his mouth shut. "I had planned to find a noble or one of the remaining royal heirs that would be sympathetic to us and give them the information that we had gathered during battle."
"And if that isn't enough?"
"We are loyal Britannian soldiers." The words were kept to a whisper. "Even if we have to prove it to them."
V.V. nodded, fighting back a smile. These men would serve perfectly. "Well, I can guarantee that you will not be looked on as deserters."
The captain straightened up at that, staring at V.V. before slowly shaking his head. "How?"
"What if I could give you the honor that came with killing the most notorious criminal of our time? What if I could give you his head as a gift?"
"You…you can give me Zero?" V.V. nodded slowly, watching as the captain took a moment to think over the offer before the man nodded. "How?"
"Tomorrow he will be here, I am sure of it. For the actual capture, I just ask that your men remain out of the way. You will, of course, have the honor of escorting him into the village square and unmasking him as well as guarding him until he is hanged. What you do with the body after that is your choice, I just want something of mine back." V.V. grinned, holding out his hand.
The captain reached out to shake it quickly, V.V. standing up as the captain stared at his own hand, a smile on the man's face. "By this time tomorrow, you will be forever known as the man who captured Zero. No one will call you a deserter then."
"The man who killed Zero." The captain flexed his fingers, giving V.V. a huge smile. "I think I can live with that."
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