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What I've felt,
What I've known.
Never shined through in what I've shown.
Never free,
Never me.
So I dub thee Unforgiven.
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The moon reflected its inviting light onto the still waters as Zechs stood watching from its soft banks. He was completely silent, as if to be reverent to its beauty - to its perfect and haunting silence.

The forest around him did not make a sound. He breathed in, deeply, as the cool, clean night air filled his lungs and calmed his raging spirit. All of his feelings were in disarray - he had lost the control that he had worked his entire life to perfect… the control that Suzuka had taken from him in one, fleeting moment that he blamed himself entirely for.

However, he still tried to figure out why she did not push him away when he touched his lips to her trembling own. As much as he still despised the thought of having done it for his own pride's sake, as much as he tried to push it from his rushing mind, he still remembered every single detail about that one moment. He remembered her intoxicating, yet beautiful scent, how it filled his lungs with more calm than the night air, and more passion than his own withered soul could profess. He remembered her soft lips and her sweet blush. Still now, he couldn't bring himself to admit what had compelled him to kiss her.

He knew that he had to get her out of his thoughts. He knew, that after what he did, she would probably never return - contract or not. However, upon thinking of the contract, lists began to form in his mind… Lists of people who would have the money and the right mind to send an assassin to kill him on his own compound grounds.

Even though many names raced through his mind, he knew only one was truly possible. It would have to be a man with great wealth beyond belief, and a mind that had always known the tactics to create the perfect war, and end it in his own way, exactly as planned.

A man named Treize Khushrenada.

---

It had been more than eighteen hours since her capture. Blood ran like an intricate spider web down both her arms and to her shoulders, the result of her constantly pulling upon her wrist shackles to no avail. Her body ached, and she was beginning to feel the light pangs of hunger within her stomach. Although her wrists bled, she had lost practically all feeling from her shoulders up. The room had not been opened once since Treize had left, but the darkness provided some comfort among her racing thoughts.

Again, she tried to pull her shackles from the ceiling, but only received the warm sensation of blood as it covered more of the pale skin on her arms. She too, had always been in control of every move, but Zechs and Treize had taken it from her alike. Treize had indeed made her an offer, but she had already vowed that if that was her only option, she would choose to die.

Now, as she hung in the middle of the darkened cavity, she began to wonder about Zechs. If he ever knew of her capture, would it be too late? And if not, would he even try to save her? Would he give a damn?

"Probably not," she said to herself and to the void, with a sad, yet knowing smile on her face. "All men are the same, after all…"

Suzuka felt light headed and weak. She had never truly felt so vulnerable. Treize had humiliated her and her pride, and he knew it, all the same. As far as she could tell, there seemed no real way to escape, unless she tried to bend to Treize's wishes…