Ranger24: Okay review level lately is kinda annoying me but I'm still going on with this.

Chapter 10: Lucien.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The next day, in the Gray city.

Kallen silent sipped from the cup of coffee she'd gotten from the small tavern Tamaki had set up in the city. She silently watched the crowds of people moving about the city on whatever bussiness they had, wondering what the heck she was even doing there.

In the past few day of serving as one of Zero's personal guards she'd hoped to perhaps catch a glimpse of his face or at least learn something about his past. Her hopes however had been dashed to peices rather quickly. Zero was secretive, he never said anything of himself or his past and when she had tried once more to ask any of the other members of Zero's guards she'd come up empty handed.

Kanda had shrugged her off with a grunt, Wriny had simply stated that she didn't really no much about Zero, Ed had told her she was being nosey, and just about everyone else had told her that what little they knew about Zero personally they couldn't talk about. To say that Kallen was somewhat frustrated with her job would have been an apt observation.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit down? All the other tables are full." A male voice asked.

Kallen looked up from her coffee to see a young man either the same age or older as her self with mid length black hair and an unusual shade of violet eyes. She had a strange feeling of familarity from the man's apperance but she couldn't queit place it.

"Sure go ahead," she replied.

He smiled and sat down.

"Your one of the members of Zero's bodyguard aren't you?" He said taking a sip from his own coffee.

"How'd you figure that?" She asked.

"More than a couple of people in the city know at least the faces of the guards," he answered.

Kallen could tell his accent was Britannian, most likely from the more southern parts of the empire where the majority of the major cities were located.

"So, who exactly are you?" She asked.

"Nobody really," He admited. "My name is Lucien, Lucien Gray."

"Kallen, Kallen Kouzuki."

There was a pause.

"So what do you do exactly?" Kallen asked.

"Honestly, I'm a bit of a gambler." He replied.

"Cards, dice, or fights?"

"Chess."

"You're kidding," she said incredulous.

"High stakes chess," Lucien corrected.

"I didn't even know there was high stakes chess," Kallen replied.

"Its underground, mostly for the nobles and upper class types of people."

"So I guess you really haven't got anyone to challange around here."

Lucien nodded somberly. "Country folks really don't have many people who know much about the game or have the money for it to be worth a the play."

"We're a people in hiding, we're not supposed to have a lot of money." Kallen said bitterly reminded somewhat of her father's own fail in the area of money.

Lucien seemed to preceive that he'd just hit something sensetive.

"So what about you? You don't sound to much like many of the other people around here. Where are you from?"

"The south," Kallen replied noticing somewhat that she was telling a lot about herself to a guy she didn't even know. "My family used to live in the cities. We hit hard finacial times and my dad crossed a few people. After that my mom..." She took a deep breath as she remember the flash of a sanghelli's sword as it was plunged into her mother. "Took my brother and I north, where she used to live. My brother was killed in a sanghelli raid some time ago. My mom fell ill and I took care of her as best I could..." Once more sences from the attacks flashed through her mind. The sanghelli being slaughtered by Calares men, the town being set on fire, the pain in her hand from the sanghelli blades. "But then we were attacked. By Sanghelli and Britannia, and my mother was killed just because she was to weak to move on her own."

Lucien looked at her somberly. "Do you hate Britannia?"

"I hate what its done to me, my family, and my friends," Kallen replied.

"So you fight them for revenge?"

"Britannians elite takes from its poor and takes over other countries for the sake of stupid rivalrys, there is nothing anyone can do to fix it, someone has to drag it down and fix it."

Kallen suddenly started to get at what Zero had been saying. The system was corrupt and needed to be changed and since no one was changing it from within it had to be changed from without.

"A goal thats noble but the chance of sucess is pretty low. If Britannia goes under the Empire and the Fire Nation will start taking what chunks of the country they please." Lucien said taking another swig from his coffee.

"I lost my arm because of Britannia!" Kallen snarled putting her automail arm on the table. "I don't care if we have to take down the Empire and the Fire Nation along with Britannia. I just want the pain to go away! I just want it all to stop!"

She hardly noticed a tear sliding down her face. When she finally realized it she quickly wiped it away.

"And what about you? What do you live for?" She demanded.

"I live because I must," Lucien replied simply. "I really have no purpose in life except to move on."

Kallen was about to speak but Lucien continued. "I have no ties left to my family, as far as they know I'm dead. I've never gone home."

"Don't you think they might be worried?" Kallen asked.

"Why worry about a dead man?" Lucien countered.

"Funny," Kallen muttered.

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Meanwhile in Domino.

Suzaku rubbed his eyes from exhaustion as he looked up from the massive lists of scrolls concerning the affiars of Govoner Calares. The man had been invovled in everything from illegal pit fighting and gambling to embezalment of funds meant for the cities improvements. Still nothing he'd yet found pointed towards anything that might explain what happened at Shinjuku. This exercise was really getting him no where.

Suddenly there came a hard knocking on the door.

"Yes?" He said trying to keep his exhaustion out of his voice.

"Sir Kuurugi, you're needed in the council chamber." A man's voice answered.

Suzaku sighed and rose up from his chair.

"I'll be right there," he replied rolling up the scroll he'd been looking over. He belt on his sheathed longswords and made his way out of the chamber. Several minutes later he arrived at the council chamber and entered bowing.

"Sir Suzaku Kuurugi, reporting as ordered."

"At ease," Cornelia answered.

Suzaku straightened and noted a man in his twenties with blonde hair and green eyes standing next to Mustang. He wore the armor of an offical knight of the empire. Rather than be a personal knight for a member of royalty or a lord, there were many knights who were simpy officers in the army.

"Since we're all here you can give your report now Sir Aker," Cornelia said as Suzaku took his place beside Euphie.

The knight, Aker, bowed. "I'm a messanger from the reinforcement forces you requested Princess Cornelia. Our forces will be arriving here by tommorrow and will be ready for your orders."

Cornelia nodded. "Very well then, we can finally start finalizing the plan of action."

"How long exactly do you guess that it will take to do that?" Euphemia asked.

"Not long. The basic plan we've got and we have the forces we require now." Cornelia answered. "I'd have to guess we only need a day or two."

"Then we'll finally be getting on with this," Mustang muttered.

"Correct, besides holding position here for that long should catch the eye of the Black Knights." Cornelia concluded.

'So this is it,' Suzaku thought to himself. 'We're going to actually fight the Black Knights in the open at last.'

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Several hours later, the Gray city.

Kallen stumbled into the door of her home, her head buzzing. How she'd ended up spending the enitre day hanging out with Lucien she had no idea. Somehow it had lead to them drinking enough booze combinded to kill most people. She had a bad feeling she'd hate herself in the morning but still she couldn't help but smile somewhat as she made her way up the stair case to her bed room.

Lucien hadn't at least acted in the way she expected most men to act around a woman who'd been drinking. He'd had the decency to help her home and not take advantage of her. She entered her room and collapsed onto her bed head still buzzing. She didn't quiet agree with some of Lucien's observations on people but he was a pleasent enough guy.

Unbidden a memory floated into her mind.

"You really should find youself someone, it would be nice to see this family growing."

Kallen pressed her head against her pillow as a sudden wave of sadness killing her buzz.

"Mom," she muttered a tear sliding down her face into the pillow.

Ranger24: Not along chapter but it develops some relationships and advancing the plot some more. Until next time, read and review.