Oh, goodness, it's been a while since I've written anything. Well, you see, I just recently got a new kitten. He's a thirteen-week-old Bengal kitten with marble markings :3 He's been taking up most of my time, and school just started recently, so I've had to deal with THAT. Algebra homework isn't all that fun, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Anyways, here's your new chapter.

Summary: And she's chosen where to be, though she's lost her wedding ring—somewhere near her misplaced jar of bougainvillea seeds.


It was the morning after their little confrontation. Lelouch had woken up alone, curled up on the carpet by the fireplace and wrapped in a quilt. He had a headache; not a bad one, but it was the first thing he noticed when he stood. The second was that he had no clothes on, so he wrapped the quilt around himself and went to the bathroom to shower. Suzaku was nowhere to be found, but the shower walls were wet and the mirror was still fogged up so he assumed he was outside in the garden.

His muscles were sore, and he had bruises on his hips. He noticed them as the hot water fell over his skin. He tried to ignore them and began to wash his hair. In his haste, he hadn't been paying attention to which bottle he was grabbing and accidentally chose an old bottle of Suvi's favorite shampoo. Lelouch noticed the familiar scent of mint and roses after the suds were already formed in his hair, and he had to let out a deep breath to refrain from tears. He could remember sitting next to her at the breakfast table, after she had showered and the smell of her shampoo lingered in the air. She would always smile and her eyes would glitter in the morning sunlight while she nibbled on her toast.

He got out and tied a towel around his torso, moving in front of the sink to brush and floss his teeth. In the drawer, he saw a pair of her spare glasses. Out of frustration, he slammed the drawer shut and stormed out of the bathroom. He had apparently missed a few things when packing away any trace of Suvi he could find. It didn't help that television stations were still broadcasting footage of her funeral or programs about her life. He couldn't even watch his cooking show without seeing a commercial for a collection of her life's work.

Lelouch pulled on a white knitted sweater and some black pants, as well as some thick socks. It was starting to turn cooler outside and the hardwood floors were fairly cold. The window in his room needed to be fixed as well. There was a leak somewhere in it, and the cool air was starting to creep inside. He had considered moving into Suvi's room, but he'd quickly shot down that idea after remembering the nights he spent at her bedside, simply not wanting to be alone.

Some strange thought crossed him, and before he could change his mind he found himself standing in the doorway of Suvi's room. He walked inside, footsteps creaking softly against the wooden floorboards. The room still smelled like her, even though all of her things were gone and all that remained was bare furniture and a bed sporting a quilt that wasn't hers. Lelouch had planned to use this room as a guest room until he could muster up the courage to move in himself. It was larger than his, with its own bathroom. But there was no way he could sleep in here if it still smelled like Suvi. So until then, he would stay in the room with the drafty window.

He walked to the other side of the room and made to sit on the bed, but the floorboard his foot made contact with sent out a loud, creaking groan. He stopped and stepped on it again, receiving the same sound. It gave slightly under his weight, which piqued his interest. He fell to his knees and ran his hands over the floorboard. It moved loosely in the slot where it fit with the other boards. Using his fingernails, Lelouch pried the loose board up out of the floor and set the dusty thing to the side.

Underneath it was a large jar, full of what looked to be seeds. Flower seeds. A piece of masking tape had been slapped on the surface of the jar, and the word bougainvilleas had been written in black marker. He gently lifted it from the compartment and set it on the floor next to him. Beneath that was a box. It was a shoebox, made of cardboard that advertised some brand of women's shoes. His curiosity getting the better of him, Lelouch pulled it out and blew the dust from the lid. Inside were envelopes. There had to be at least thirty of them. He picked one up and read the front. It was addressed to Suvi, from a Kiyoshi Nejikawa.

He felt awful. Like he was invading Suvi's privacy. But he supposed it didn't matter now. He opened one of the heavier envelopes and spilled its contents on the bed. A small stack of photographs fell on the blanket, as well as a letter covered in handwriting. Lelouch picked up the pictures and sifted through them. Most of them were of Suvi; she was young, maybe a few years older than he himself was, and she was stunningly pretty. In one, she was wearing a colorful swimsuit on a beautiful beach. In another, she was sitting at a table, holding a pair of chopsticks over a bowl. Another had caught her in a wetsuit, pulling a pair of oxygen canisters on to her back.

In a few of the pictures, there was a man with her. He was a handsome Japanese man, with pale skin, smartly styled black hair, and dark, almost coal-colored eyes that flashed behind a pair of glasses. He was tall, and in one of the pictures he had his arm around Suvi. They both wore matching grins and biking shorts; he had his helmet on and Suvi had hers under her arm. There were other pictures: Suvi in summer clothes sitting on the side of a sailboat, the man atop a chestnut colored horse, the both of them walking along a beach against a bright, red sunset.

Once he was sure he had seen all the pictures, he moved on to the letter. He skimmed over the first few lines.

Suvi,

I got the pictures from Phuket developed. They're enclosed with this letter. I hope you like them. Any ideas as to where we should go next? I was thinking maybe we could fly to Moscow. But you said you wanted to look at a trip to Egypt. I'll leave it up to you.

Mother wants to know when you plant to visit Japan next. Perhaps your mother and Toivo can come along?

He remembered the name Toivo. Suvi had had two brothers. Toivo, her older brother, was five years older than she was. Lauri, her younger brother, was three years younger than she was. He had died of pneumonia when he was five and Suvi was eight. Toivo had been killed in a hostage situation in Area 9, which was now known as Germany again. A group of German terrorists had held a class of college students and their professor hostage. Toivo had been the professor. He was thirty-eight.

The rest of the letter was just an update on Kiyoshi Nejikawa's side of the world, which happened to be Tokyo, Japan. The letter was dated 2005, so this was before Lelouch had been sent to Japan and before it had been invaded for its Sakuradite resources. Kiyoshi worked in the production and sales of Sakuradite, as was explained by a few excerpts from his letter. By the looks of it, he made quite a bit of money. His father had been the CEO of the company, known as Nejikawa Industries. It seemed that he lived quite comfortably.

The next letter he picked up contained pictures as well. Pictures of Suvi in a cobalt-colored evening gown, with a white lily entwined in the bun her hair had been twisted into. It looked like she was in a restaurant, seated at a chair with a plate of some kind of pasta on the table in front of her. There were mascara tracks down her cheeks, but she was smiling brightly, looking down at her hand. On her finger was a bright gold ring with an impressive diamond sitting in the middle of it. In another picture, Kiyoshi Nejikawa kissed her cheek sweetly, and her eyes were closed but the smile was still there. Lelouch swallowed thickly. In the letter, Kiyoshi said that he promised Suvi a summer wedding in Santolini, on the beach at sunset, with all their family. She would walk down the aisle barefoot, toes in the sand, and they'd live happily ever after.

The next letter started to delve into a forming tension between Britannia and Japan. Kiyoshi said they were becoming more demanding in their Sakuradite supply, even sending a few veiled threats. He said it would probably be best if they put off the wedding until the connections with Britannia smoothed out. Kiyoshi's father would need all the help he could get with work.

In the next letter Lelouch read, relations between Britannia and Japan had nearly grown hostile. Kiyoshi suggested that they change their wedding plans and get married in Tokyo instead of Santolini the following year. He said he knew Suvi had wanted to get married on a beach, but he didn't think it would be save for him to travel very far, and he couldn't wait long enough for them to be married.

It almost pained him to read the next letter. Kiyoshi told Suvi that they might have to cancel the wedding altogether until he could safely leave the country. He said that he didn't want Suvi to come to Japan until Britannia's influence had lessened. Britannian Sakuradite buyers had threatened his father to sell the company, but the man refused. He said he would leave Japan and take his mother with him, and they would go to Suvi and her family in Finland. His father was a stubborn man and refused to leave his company to Britannian dogs. He said that he promised to marry her the day he landed in Tampere. The letter had been dated 2008. Suvi had been thirty. It had been three years since they'd started planning the wedding.

The next letter wasn't from Kiyoshi. It was from a Nejikawa Industries employee. It said that Kiyoshi Nejikawa and his father, Satoshi Nejikawa, had been killed in their homes the night prior. Lelouch didn't need to read any further to know that the killer was probably Britannian, and after the Nejikawa Sakuradite distribution empire. He could just imagine Suvi sitting in her home, clutching the letter in her hand and crying. He could see the heartbreak in her eyes and the tearstains on the paper.

He couldn't read anymore of the letters. Beneath them, in the box, was a pair of wedding rings. One was the ring Suvi had been wearing in the picture, and the other was a gold band with little veins of white gold laced in. He removed them from their dusty resting place and placed them on the bedside table. Curling into his sweater, he rested his head against a pillow and stared into space. Soon, tears began to gather in his eyes and fall, one by one.

Britannia had snatched away Suvi's chance at happiness. She was supposed to get married, have children of her own, and eventually have grandchildren. She wasn't supposed to die at the age of forty-three, unmarried and childless, living with the former ruler and tyrant of the world, measuring how she would function during each day by the number of pills she took that morning. She wasn't supposed to be in pain every day. But she had been.

He didn't realize how loud his weeping had become. The more he thought about it, the more hysterical he became. Why didn't she ever say anything? She was dying, for god's sake. Not long after he'd buried his face in her pillow, footsteps raced down the hallway. Suzaku rushed into Suvi's room and found Lelouch balled up in the middle of the bed, letters strewn about him and face shining with tears. His eyes softened. He went to him and pulled him into a sitting position, pulling Lelouch into his arms and resting his head on his shoulder.

"Shhh," he murmured. "It'll be okay."

"She was supposed to get married, Suzaku!" Lelouch drew in a shuddery breath. "Suvi was supposed to get married. She was supposed to have a wedding on the beach, walk barefoot in the sand; she was supposed to have children." He wiped his eye on the sleeve of his sweater. "Her fiancé was Japanese. His family business was in Sakuradite; he was killed by Britannian rivals. They killed him!"

"It's all right now, Lulu." Suzaku kissed his forehead. "They're together now. She's with him, and she's going to live happily ever after. Just like she was supposed to."

Lelouch continued to sob into Suzaku's shoulder. Suzaku's eyes traveled around Suvi's room. He noticed the pair of rings on the bedside table. "Are those…?"

"Huh?" Lelouch looked up, eyes wet. His followed Suzaku's gaze. "Um, those were supposed to be their wedding rings. I found them." He picked up the shoebox and showed him the jar of flower seeds. "Everything was under the floorboard."

Suzaku leaned over the edge of the bed to see. "Maybe… maybe she was trying to forget about it. She might not have wanted to spend her last few days thinking about sad things like that."

"Maybe."

Suzaku took the rings from the bedside table. Gently, he took Lelouch's hand in his and slid the diamond ring on his ring finger. Lelouch couldn't say anything. He only watched as Suzaku took his other hand, put the gold band in his fingers, and guided over his own ring finger.

"There," he said. "Suvi wanted these rings on the fingers of two people who loved each other from their very bones. I think it's a good way to honor her memory."

Lelouch didn't reply. He only examined the diamond on his ring finger, tilting his hand to see it in different light. Suzaku placed a hand on his face and tilted it up. When he kissed him, Lelouch could taste his soul on his lips. He melted into Suzaku, leaning towards his touch until he was nearly in his lap. When they separated, he buried his face in Suzaku's neck and just breathed. If he didn't time his breaths, he didn't think he'd remember to breathe at all.


They had just finished dinner. Lelouch was in the kitchen, putting away dishes from their meal and wiping down the countertops. Suzaku sat in the sitting room, going through his mail and drinking a cup of tea. The television was tuned into the news. The station was awaiting an announcement from the Empress of Britannia. Lelouch usually tried to keep track of every public Nunnally made. It let him know that she was still all right, and gave him a chance to see how much she had grown up.

He glanced out the window. It was growing dark; the stars were just beginning to come out. Waves crashed against the beach downhill. Fireflies danced in the garden. He sighed.

"… It is with great sorrow and regret that I tell you this. Lord Zero was pronounced dead earlier this morning. It was about three weeks ago that I sent him on a private and classified trip to Kuwait. He caught a peculiar fever there. Although he fought bravely for one week and three days, his body couldn't overcome the disease. He perished at 9:04 this morning."

Lelouch abruptly left the kitchen to glance at the television screen. He heard a smash, and the tea Suzaku had been drinking puddled on the floor.


Soooo. This chapter was kind of shitty. But I wanted to get it out before my Word trial expired, so here you are. A rushed, shitty chapter. Please review.