author's note: I don't really want to change the rating to M, so here's a warning before hand - there is going to be a sex scene at the end of the chapter. :p
"Suzaku, how do you suppose I'm able to come up with a good story as to explain why I can walk?" Nunnally asked the boy reposing against her chair in a very Lelouchian posture.
"We could release to the press that we've been privately seeking treatment at a medical center," he suggested. His mask was still on, as always. It stopped bothering her a while ago; she knew he would take it off for her when she asked him to.
"Then the nobles would pester me to cure their sick relatives," Nunnally said, frowning.
"How about a confidential doctor who fitted you excellent prosthetics?"
"No. The secret would come out, and I would be forced to admit the truth. The exploitation of the Geass is not something I wish to our country to begin. My father and mother have committed a mortal sin because of that very power."
She crossed her hands together in quiet contemplation. When C.C. had given Lelouch the power of control, he had changed the world with his sheer will.
Perhaps Philippa expected the same from her. She began to think, pacing up and down in her slippers.
"Suzaku, do you think you could find me a double? A double who is about the same size as me, crippled, and is about the same age?"
Kallen was free.
As the engine buzzed and rose hundreds of feet above the ground, she could feel her problems wash away. Her euphoria was intoxicating, and she let out a whoop before she remembered Gino could hear her. The Knightmare moved to her every touch as if it was directly connected to her mind. Lloyd had introduced to her specially crafted gloves that were touch-sensitive, something that Lakshata had never applied to her previous Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.
He laughed. "Good, isn't it?"
"It's amazing!" Kallen said enthusiastically, and did a figure eight in the sky. "Fucking awesome!"
He laughed even harder at that. "It's too bad we can't fight right now, they've set up airspace limits."
"So where can we fight?"
"Let's ask Cecile," he said gaily, and the violet-haired woman popped up on both of their screens. "How about it?"
"Lloyd says that it's acceptable to fight over the sea. He designed all emissions to be environmentally-friendly."
"Okay!" Kallen said and cranked the accelerator. "Let's race!"
"You're really getting the hang of Isolde, haven't you?" Gino asked, as he shifted into his battle-plane mode. It was a feat of engineering that allowed Tristan to shift from a mecha to a jet plane. Isolde had the same capabilities, but it was sleeker and possessed invisibility, meaning that it would render radar useless if one specifically tried to detect Isolde.
"I don't know," Kallen said into her mouthpiece. "I haven't tested it out yet."
And as a joke, she fired a small but deadly missile, which he caught and altered the direction so that it imploded safely.
It was funny, when they both talked about their fight later, how it ended up in a tie. They didn't fight seriously; it was all good fun, and none of their equipment had been damaged. They were good enough pilots to know when to go easy and when to go full-out. Kallen flew Isolde back to the government building where Lloyd assured her that she would be free to access the Knightmare as long as she had proper government identification.
"The Empress has been making regulations regarding war since the peace is quite fragile," Gino said thoughtfully once he drove Kallen home. "I suppose this might be time to tell you goodbye."
Kallen looked up sharply. "You mean you can't stay here?"
"No, Kallen, I can't. As soon as I can I have to fly Tristan back to New Pendragon."
"But... "
"I promise if something happens to you, Kallen, I would willingly fly back to you."
Kallen looked away. Her life had been a mess, and she had depended on him to make it right. For the first time, she had willingly forgave herself for the death of her mother. It was easier now knowing that someone still accepted her.
"Nunnally trusted me to do the right thing," he said. "I can't stay any further from her, especially when someone needs to protect her."
"She has Zero," Kallen said, as selfish as that sounded.
"I don't trust him," Gino replied. "He's a masked vigilante. I know that you used to work under him, but he's still a symbol of anarchy."
Kallen had nothing to say to this. It was all true.
"Britannia needs someone who isn't afraid to take responsibility - someone who can get us out of this mess."
"And that's you, right?"
He smiled his wonderful smile. "Right. That's me." Gino braked the car to stop at her house. "Well. See you."
Kallen made to exit, but right there and then she wanted to admit to him that this whole afternoon was like a dream. Everything was light and happy, and she could not bear that she had to go back to her lonely apartment without any warmth or any of his silliness or charm. She needed him as much as she needed air.
"Would you like some tea?"
Anya has been distracted for the past month, Jeremiah thought as he packed the harvest in bushels. When he raised this to Sayoko, she grinned mischievously and said, "You think this has anything to do with that boy she met at the wedding?"
He only made a grimace. "Teenage infatuation, you say? I should hope not."
But it seemed like all the signs were pointing to it. The other day Anya had asked him, "Do you think I'm pretty?"
He tried to analyze the implications of the question. "What do you mean?"
She sighed. "Never mind," she mumbled and locked herself in the bathroom for twenty minutes as the cyborg stood, trying to figure what Anya wanted.
"She's only sixteen," Sayoko said reasonably as she patted his metallic shoulder while they were sharing a cup of coffee later in the night, long after Anya locked herself into her room. "Frankly I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier."
Jeremiah said nothing in respond to this, sipping the strong brew. He had developed a taste for strong coffee, like Sayoko did.
"I never really understood girls when I was her age," he said seriously. "I think maybe I was a little too ambitious when I was her age."
"You don't say," Sayoko remarked. "I didn't have much of a choice. Father enrolled me into ninja academy ever since I was very young."
"Did you ever try to escape?"
Her laugh was beautiful and infectious. "No, of course not! My whole family is from a clan of ninjas, trained to respond and hide in the shadows. I myself specialized in the Royal Families, and as you remember I took special care to hide the fact that Lelouch was still living and of the Imperial family."
"Do you miss him?"
"Lelouch-sama, you mean?"
He nodded, and she considered it.
"I don't know if I miss him, really... What he did was incredibly selfless, of course... " She tucked her hand under her chin, lost in thought. "I think if I was much younger, I would have fallen in love with him. I admired his brilliant intellect..." She paused, and then suddenly narrowed his eyes as if she had said too much.
"But why did you ask me so many serious questions lately?" Sayoko asked him politely. "Does this have anything to do with Anya?"
"No. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"That's all right," she said, and put her mug into the sink, intending to wash it later. "Goodnight, Jeremiah-san." She disappeared into the bedroom.
"Goodnight," he said.
The truth was, he was curious about Sayoko. No other woman was more delightfully charming than her - like Marianne, she was kind and sweet, yet fiercely protective towards the ones she loved. Both of them were fully capable of killing those who threatened the security of their kin. Both possessed an elegance that could not be mired by blood nor corruption.
He rubbed his temple. Don't go there, he reminded himself. Marianne is dead. And you know that.
She used Anya to selfishly gain immortality. She could not have loved her children if she banished them to Japan. She gave you her burdens so that she could purify the world - without you.
Yet she didn't kill herself; she could only hide Anya from her memories before Charles went so far...
"Jeremiah?" A pink mop of hair peeked at him. "What are you doing so late at night?"
"Thinking," he said, which was the truth for once.
"About?"
He smiled. "You."
"Don't joke like that."
"I'm not. Would you believe me if I knew your parents at one point?"
"No," she said staunchly. "I don't have any parents. I'm an orphan."
"Even orphans have parents. The difference is that the parents are conspicuously absent from their children's life."
She frowned. "Well, I think you're lying. You and Sayoko are enough for me."
"You don't think it's a bit weird?"
"No, where did you get that idea from?"
"Nothing."
"Hey, Jeremiah."
"What?"
"What does it feel like to be in love?"
"Love?" His eyebrows were raised. "What's with you all of a sudden?"
"Never mind," Anya said, blushing as she looked away. "I just wanted to know."
"Love is pain," he said bluntly. "Love isn't like the movies, Anya. It's ninety-percent worrying about someone who doesn't reciprocate your affections even if deep down, she'd like to."
"You seem bitter."
"Am I? I suppose I am. I've never gotten married."
"Why?"
"Because the woman I loved wasn't able to love me back."
"What about Sayoko?"
"I don't look at her that way."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"But she's pretty, isn't she?"
"Yes."
"And strong, too."
"Yes, but Anya; just because she possesses those qualities doesn't mean I'm going to marry her."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm a little too tired and old to care about a wife, that's all. You might not understand at this age, but I screwed up a lot of things when I was in love a long time ago. I don't want to do it again."
"Then why take care of me here? You like me, right?" Anya asked reasonably.
He didn't answer the question. "It's late, Anya. I'm going to bed."
"Oh - okay," Anya said, a little hesitant. And hurt. He would tell her the entire story later, perhaps. "Goodnight."
Goodnight, Anya. Sweet dreams.
Kallen set the teakettle on the stove. It would take some time to boil.
"When do you leave?" she asked him as she took out cups and saucer plates, her back facing him. He approached her and placed his arms around her tiny waist, lips softly kissing her neck and shoulder.
"Midnight. I was planning to pack later." His blond hair drifted across her skin, a sensation that made her shiver ever so slightly. She stopped her hands from moving and turned her head for better access to him. She smiled and kissed a corner of his mouth, sweetly and languidly.
"I notice that you don't have pictures of Lelouch in your pocket notebook anymore," Gino said.
"Yeah," Kallen said softly. "It was time to move on."
She received another lingering kiss. And another. And another, until she had decided she wanted more than his adoration.
Somehow they had landed on the couch, and somehow she was straddling him. It was a most peculiar sensation. Kallen had never used her own sexuality as a weapon, but her curiosity overcame her trepidation.
"Um - I've never done this before," Kallen confessed, and Gino could see the outline of her breasts through her blouse.
"You're joking," he said, eyes widened in disbelief.
"I had the opportunity before," she admitted, eyes downcast. "But I didn't want to at that time."
He considered this, and then decided it didn't matter. "It's better if we do it on the bed." He picked her up for the hell of it, grinning when she cried out, "Hey! I can walk there just fine by myself!"
"Yeah, but this is sexier," he said cheekily.
He placed on her bed, a big enough bed, and started kissing her collarbone. Kallen could slowly feel her body becoming limp at his ministrations, his gentle and tender caresses lulling her into a daze. As his lips were brushing against her sensitive spots, he was unbuttoning her blouse.
It was when he was attempting to unhook her bra that she said, "Wait - I can do this myself."
Her cheeks were pink as she slowly undid the clasp, revealing her breasts. Her blush bloomed even further when Gino said, "Kallen, you are so sexy."
"I wish they were smaller," she muttered, averting her eyes from him.
His response was to kiss her left breast which electrified her. Then he shoved his hand into her hair and held her close, his lips moving over hers. There was nothing gentle about the kiss; it turned fiery in an instant. Her soft whimpers almost snapped his self-control. His hand swept over her breast, stroking her sensitive skin until she arched her back and pressed her nipple into his palm. He smiled against her mouth, then broke the kiss and let his lips wander over her cheek, her temple, the corner of her eye.
She threaded her fingers in his hair, tightened her grip. Her hips jerked above him and she let out a strangled moan.
Gino couldn't help smirking. "You like that, huh?"
"Shut up," Kallen said weakly. Her hands were busy unzipping his jeans, she could feel his hard-on.
She'd seen penises before - saw her brother's when he was still alive, seen a few in the locker room when the resistance movement was full of hot-blooded men. But to see someone's fully aroused and standing up was different experience.
"See how hot you make me? Sometimes you don't even realize it," Gino whispered, kissing her shoulder.
"Gino?"
"Hm?"
"Can I touch it?"
He straddled her and ran his fingertips from her chest to downwards. "Touch what?"
Kallen closed her eyes. He knew what she meant. For some reason he wanted her to say it.
"Your cock, Gino."
He rested his chin lightly between her breasts, smiling his wonderful, boyish grin. "Kallen, you know as well as I do that you have full reign to touch me anywhere."
He led her hand to said cock, and it was hot and hard as a rock. She, with some hesitation, began to stroke it with her thumb, which elicited a groan from her lover.
"Am - am I doing this right?" she asked.
"I don't think there's a wrong way to do it," Gino said, his breath heavy. With her other hand, Kallen began to stroke his chest, running her fingers over his nipples. She liked that every movement, despite how inexperienced she was, brought out a strong reaction from him.
"Christ. You're so hot, Kallen."
"So are you," she whispered, nestling her body closer to his. She had never been as aroused in her life before this moment. Continuing to stroke his dick, it was only then that she realized something.
"Are you going to hurt me?"
"I'll try not to," he promised. He reached for his wallet from the nightstand, removing a condom from the wrapper and smoothed it over his shaft. "Good thing I had this, although I figured we wouldn't be having sex until later."
She giggled softly, and then confessed, "All I want is you inside of me."
His cock throbbed. "Are you sure, Kallen? This could very well be painful for you."
She nodded. "I want it to be good for you, Gino."
"Oh trust me, this is good," he groaned, and he ground his hips against hers, rubbing his dick against her clitoris. She let out an erotic moan that sent his senses haywire.
He stroked himself against her several times until he decided it was the moment to plunge himself into her.
She gasped, feeling herself expand by his fullness. Tears sprung against her will, and as much as she wanted it not to, it did hurt a lot. Kallen could feel Gino restraining himself, his fingers quickly brushing away her tears as his way of apology.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Did that hurt you?"
Kallen took a deep breath. "Not too bad. I think it's going away now - ah. Fuck." She winced as he shifted himself.
"Maybe I should come out - "
"No," Kallen said firmly. "Keep still," she instructed him, and she began to gently thrust herself on his dick, trying to find a comfortable position. It was slow and torturous, but Gino stayed true to her word, knowing that the pleasure would come soon.
The pain finally receded, and she felt more confident in her ability to encourage Gino to add more friction. He kept it deliberately slow, rocking his hips in a languid motion while pulling her closer. "Does my cock feel good inside of you?"
"Yes," she breathed. "How about you?"
"You have no idea how good this is for me, Kallen."
He stroked her skin, kissed her on the neck; whispering words of encouragement. All of these made her feel utterly feminine; it was a whole new perspective on how she usually felt about her own sexuality. The gentle pumping of his dick made her moan, sparks of pleasure streaked across her body.
"Can you do it harder?" she asked him. He kissed the corner of her mouth playfully and asked her, "You mean, you want me to fuck you?"
Sounded perfect, in her opinion. Her blue eyes met his own and he needed no further answer.
"Well, just tell me when to stop," he said, lifting one of his legs and placing it over his shoulder.
"I won't," Kallen promised, and it was that confidence that turned him on even further. He grinned and suddenly it was like they were on the opposite sides of the battlefield again. They were partners, but also rivals.
"I like a challenge," he said, in his husky voice, and her nipples tightened involuntarily. He looked at her straight in the eye, and drove his cock straight into her.
Kallen nearly bowed over from the pleasure. Eyes closed, she relished each powerful thrust, and she took her arms away from his back to caress her sensitive breasts. The ecstasy coursing through her body was consuming her.
Gino angled his thrusts so that he could have better access to her clitoris, and her erotic moans came in reckless abandon, gasping and panting with each electric shock of pleasure.
It wasn't long until an enormous pressure began to build up, and she felt as if she was about to burst. It was just too much; too much, really - and then -
She cried out his name, and arched her back, pushing every part of her body against his. A final moan that left her slightly out of breath followed, the aftershock leaving her limp, like a rag doll.
"Kallen, you're so beautiful," Gino said tenderly. His hands caressed her face with such love it almost wanted to make her cry.
"Come inside me," she said softly, and she wrapped her legs around him. He kissed her and then gave one final thrust to which a series of events followed; his body tensed, emptying himself inside of her, and he groaned deeply against her neck. Then, as if his limbs had run out of strength, he collapsed on her.
Kallen closed her eyes in peace, breathing in his musky cologne and the smell of his sweat. In her years of living, she had never realized that having sex opened up a deeper connection than simple physical gratification. She was glad that her first time was with this boy, this boy that she trusted so much she could hardly breathe without him, who wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Gino kissed her, very lightly, on the mouth. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Everything," he said. And then, he whispered into her ear four words that made her feel like she was on top of the world:
"I love you, Kallen."
author's note: Writing a lemon... is surprisingly hard. Especially when you're a virgin. I underestimated the challenge of writing something like this, so I hope you like it.
On other note, I'm also sorry that this chapter is not as long as I'm sure many of you loyal readers have anticipated. I know it's almost been a year. But I still am in love with this story, I truly am - even though it's been two years since I've begun and my productivity is not as good as I would like it to be - I do know that I intend to finish it. If it takes ten years, fine; it'll take ten years!
Please review; it would make my day :D
