AN: Actually, this was going to be a chapter full of romance and fluffy loveliness as follows from the last. But then I decided not to do that and instead came up with a more … somber chapter. I hope you aren't too disappointed. (But it's longer! So that makes up for it? _;)
Also, I had been working on a oneshot (5000 words! _) from the CG fandom that was finally finished last month and am now working on another from the Naruto fandom. So... I haven't stopped writing, and I don't plan on giving this story up, no worries.
Part 11
Nunnally POV
A day after Suzaku left, Nunnally found out that Zero felt no more need to stay.
.
Three days after that, Nunnally pronounced the news to the rest of the members of the UFN.
.
Before that meeting with the representatives, Nunnally had a video conference with Kaguya and Kallen.
They agreed with her that, to the world, it would not be out of character if Zero decided to disappear one day.
And so, she and the rest of the UFN decided not to broadcast the news just yet.
.
A month after Suzaku left, the populace was starting to wonder about the fact that Zero hadn't appeared alongside the Empress of Britannia for such a long time.
Major news networks decided that the risk of annoying the political leaders of the world was worth the knowledge that they held of what happened to Zero. "No comment" was getting to be old, anyway, since it was obvious that they weren't worried about the situation.
The polite disclaimers had given them away by the third week.
Since they should be as concerned about the whereabouts of Zero as everyone else is.
They formally asked for an interview directly from the Empress.
.
In an international broadcast, Empress Nunnally vi Britannia announced to the world that Zero had felt the world was stable enough so that he no longer saw the need to oversee it so closely.
"But he will always be watching over us. Of that, I am sure."
The words of the Empress known for her sincerity, amongst other qualities, were accepted.
Though, not unexpectedly, there always would be conspiracy theorists who think of things from other possible angles.
...
...
Nunnally was tired.
For more than a year now, she had had to govern her country without a perpetual presence by her side.
It wasn't because she couldn't handle the work.
No, not at all.
It was just that she had started thinking of Zero's presence as something that she could always rely on for as long as she remains Empress.
Knowing that the person behind the mask cared about Nunnally Lamperouge as well as Nunnally vi Britannia gave her an anchor in her demanding life.
But Suzaku had left her, taking another legacy of her brother's away with him in the process.
.
The silence that privacy granted was no longer soothing. It was increasingly oppressive as the days went by.
Nunnally wondered if she could cope with living in the loneliness of her life for much longer.
.
A month later, she informed her advisors that she would be taking a three-day vacation to an undisclosed location.
She left for Japan an hour after that, in a jet piloted by Jeremiah and attended by Sayoko.
.
She came back looking even more tired than when she had left, though there was an air of determination in how she sat in her wheelchair.
She didn't speak to anyone else, and merely told her aide that all the backlogged paperwork are to be delivered into her private office as well as to schedule any backed up meetings for tomorrow.
From there, she went directly to her bedroom, where she kept every single gift that her brother had ever given her.
.
Surrounded by memories, she smiled wanly.
There was no reason for her to feel lost.
She was the one who had said it, wasn't she? He will always be watching over us. Of that, I am sure.
She doesn't need anything more.
Not really.
During her visit to Japan, she had realized that she felt so tired because she felt lost. And that feeling arose due to the fact that there was no one with her who knew all about her, and love her dearly both as Nunnally Lamperouge as well as Nunnally vi Britannia.
Loved her like her brother had done.
Loved her like Suzaku had done.
Loved her like Zero had always done.
Of the people who knew her both as an ordinary girl and as an Empress, there had always been, and always will be, that distance brought on by power and position.
She had that shown to her quite obviously on her trip to Japan.
She had hoped that her old friends from her time at Ashford would treat her as they used to, but it was not to be.
Certainly, they were less formal than many others were, but they never forgot that she was the Empress either.
She thought that they would understand, since she still kept in contact with them via the vidphone, and they were still good friends. But when she went to see them in person for the first time in ten years, it was as if an invisible wall was erected that she had never noticed due to the presence of a monitor. They couldn't figure out that when she was not the Empress of Britannia, she was only Nunnally Lamperouge. They couldn't understand that the woman who could talk about her school days, and mourn for her lost brother could only be Nunnally Lamperouge.
.
In her unconscious desire to reach for someone who could love her like she had been loved, treat her like she wanted to be treated, she had almost lost sight of the fact that her brother's love for her was eternal, and that he had given her the responsibility of helping to keep the peace in the world.
But no longer.
Even if she could have no one by her side, she would do all that she could to ensure that the peace bought with her brother's life would never be threatened.
This was the least she could promise.
...
...
Life progressed as it always does.
With her mind no longer burdened by the confusion of why she felt lost, Nunnally dove back into her duties and responsibilities, looking to the world like she always had.
Her smile was just as gracious as it always had been, her demeanor equally sincere.
Only the two people closest to her thought that things might not be as well as they appeared. Because she had never lost that tired smile that she had gained after her trip to Japan.
They were glad that she no longer spaced out anymore, as if waiting for something.
Yet they still worried.
Nunnally appreciated their attentiveness, but thought that their worries were mostly unnecessary.
So in an effort to give more support to the Empress, Jeremiah asked for Anya to come to the palace as an additional bodyguard. The former pilot had always got along well with the Empress, and Jeremiah thought that having someone like Anya to talk to would do Nunnally good.
.
The Empress spent a lot of time with her new guard, preferring to have the young Knight of Six as her attending protection whenever there was a party. That way, they could spend part of the time to talk.
Nunnally found Anya calming to talk to. The pink-haired girl had grown up beautifully, though she never lost the attitude that made her seem like she could take anything in stride.
She felt less stressed from her work after Anya came.
But she never lost that tired smile that she only displays when she wasn't performing her duties either.
.
Sayoko worried for her charge too.
Although she had a better idea of what that smile meant than Jeremiah did.
So after her request for a two-day leave was approved, she immediately set out from the palace.
Places to go. People to see.
...
...
Approximately two years after Zero's disappearance, Sayoko once again stopped in front of a small white cottage, painted with splashes of blue that reminded her of Nunnally's eyes.