Chapter 11.475 Dream

She was wondering if she was still inside a dream; because she could feel Lelouch's hand holding her own right now.

She couldn't see him, yet that didn't mean anything. She did still occasionally had dreams where it was no different than reality; where all that she could see was darkness all around her. This should not be any different.

Yet, if she could thoroughly be honest to herself, she wished that this was no dream. Because all she had ever wanted was to be reunited with her brother, and she wouldn't want even that to be taken away from her.

Also, a part of her had been fearful of the thought that her brother would leave her behind. Was that why he ignored her last night? Was he angry at her for leaving without telling him? Was he resentful of her for letting their big brother Schneizel put her in the position of the viceroy and let herself be used?

If so, she would have readily thrown everything aside. Just so she could be with her brother again. As long as she had her brother again... that'll be enough already.

"Nunnally? Are you awake?"

Nunnally felt her breath catch as she immediately grasped the hand that was loosely holding her own earlier. This wasn't a dream! Her brother was here!

"Brother! Is this really you?"

Nunnally received a hug in response as she took it all in. It was everything that she could have wished for; to feel again the gentle embrace from her brother, to smell again the particular scent that could only be from him... the wave of emotions that she always get whenever he was near!

Nunnally felt a tear drop from her cheek as gentle fingers wiped it away for her.

"I'm sorry... Nunnally," her brother finally spoke before she could feel him gently touching his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry that I went away for too long..."

Nunnally shook her head before leaning in to hug her brother again.

"It's fine... Cornelia was with me all these times, so nothing bad happened. But I did worry before when you didn't come home... and then Sayoko hadn't come back when she went out. I was scared to think that something bad had happened to you two."

And just as she spoke, Nunnally remembered the incident from last night. "Come to think—brother, have you been hurt? Did Suzaku hurt you a lot last night? Why did you collapse so suddenly?"

"It's nothing. You don't have to worry about that. I'm fine."

Chapter 11.481 Trust

Lelouch let out a long sigh. As expected, his actions last night would have had alarmed his sister a lot.

But then, a lot of things had happened since the last time they'd seen each other. And there's a lot of things... he needed to figure out how to tell his sister about. Not just about their present situation, there's also the thing about their mother...

Someone suddenly knocked on the room's door as Lelouch call out for them to enter. He turned to see that it was Bismarck who came to see him.

"What is it?"

Bismarck bowed at him. "Pardon my intrusion, your Highness. But I needed to see you... and I was informed that you're here. Since last night you had collapsed, I wasn't able to tell you about the things I needed to confirm. "

Lelouch nodded. "Very well, what is it? Come to think, I did want to talk to you as well. Since I should be right to assume that you came here with Anya—"

"That is correct, your Highness. I came here due to the summon brought by Anya from the Emperor. And his Majesty had a specific order for me as for what I should do here."

Lelouch raised his eyebrows at the man. "I expected it so. What is it?"

The man nodded. "I am to protect you throughout the time of your stay here in Area 11 and to ensure your safety when you return to Pendragon."

"That was your orders, huh?" he asked before noticing that Nunnally had started to grab on his sleeve in concern. "Well, I still had a few things I needed to do here so I won't be returning to Pendragon until I'm done. In the meantime, I'll leave the security of the palace to you."

Lelouch gave the man another glance as Bismarck remained at his spot. "What else do you want to tell me?"

He could hear the man cleared his throat uncomfortably before speaking. "Regarding that Eleven..."

Oh, it's about Suzaku...

"I've heard about it before. How my brother had arranged for him to be part of the Rounds."

He could hear the man sighing in relief. "Then, should I allow him to remain in his current position or do you want him to be removed? I mean, even when the prime minister had been the one that recommended his promotion—"

"I'll deal with that matter myself." Lelouch snapped, almost at once. Then again, considering Bismarck's position... it would've made sense for him to be wary of Suzaku. And to think that someone of Suzaku's rank even dared to be a part of the Rounds—for a moment, Lelouch wondered if Bismarck knew that Suzaku also coveted his position—was completely absurd!

Yet, regardless of everything that had passed between him and Suzaku... he hadn't the heart to take away anything from that person. As much as the idiot's reasoning about climbing up the military ranks was ridiculous, he was still a good soldier. And a dangerous one too. And heaven forbids, Lelouch didn't want to have to fight him as an enemy anymore. As if his heart could take any of that anymore.

"As you wish, your Highness, " said Bismarck before taking his leave. Lelouch turned his attention towards Nunnally again as she finally spoke.

"Brother, what was that all about? Have you been in Pendragon all these times? Did father make you do things again like last time? Brother, please tell me what's going on!"

Lelouch knelt down again as he held her hands gently.

"It's fine, Nunnally. A lot of things had happened, but this time I'm doing this by my own choice. Please trust me,"

Please trust me...

Lelouch bit his lips. Despite the words that kept flowing smoothly out of his own mouth, he couldn't really feel it in himself to believe in his own convictions. Could he trust himself? Well, for now... he'll have to.

Just realized I had some unresolved loose ends from the last chapter, might as well throw it here. Because these scenes wouldn't have fit in the main story, plus it'll feel more like a filler. That aside, in one of my initial planning, I did originally plan to have Bismarck tell Lulu what was Charles main order for him from the very beginning. But then that went outta the window with Lulu collapsing and him having to deal with Luciano in the background prior to that. XD

That aside, I'm not really intending to turn this series into a full-on bash on Suzaku. The latter chapters would have started to go easy on him... maybe, I do have a sort of love-hate feeling for Suzaku.