A/N: I gotta say, this story has really been a joy to write so far. I'm used to writing a lot of dark stuff, so writing something lighter is a good change of pace for me. Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this third chapter. I think it's probably the longest one so far, but hopefully it contains a lot of laughs and cute moments for all of you to enjoy. To all of you who have read and reviewed so far, thank you very much and God bless you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. This is a Fanfiction made for entertainment purposes only. My Best Friend's Wedding is also not mine. It is merely used as a framework to build this story upon.
Warnings: Nothing I can really think of at the moment.
Chapter 3
Reunions, Requests, and the Laughter of Hyenas
March 19th, 2028
Pendragon City, Britannia
10:15 a.m.
Trying to freshen up in a tiny airplane bathroom was about as feasible as a spotting a penguin in the Sahara desert, but C.C. attempted this impossible task anyway as she stood hunched over, raking a brush through her thick and somewhat tangled green tresses. With the plane scheduled to begin its descent in the next fifteen minutes, she had a limited window of time to make herself presentable and not like a woman who'd been trapped on a plane for an entire day.
"We haven't seen each other in person in almost two years," she thought distractedly while yanking the brush through the ends of her hair before glancing down at the beige, off the shoulder sweater she was wearing. "Probably should have worn something less prone to wrinkles. Oh well, at least my butt looks good in these jeans..."
The instant she thought this the eye-shadow palette she had open on the sink tumbled over and landed on said jeans thanks to some mild turbulence. A variety of earth-tone colors dusted her thigh, mocking her with hyena-like laughter only she could hear.
"Fabulous." With a deadpanned expression C.C. reached down and picked up the palette while simultaneously tossing her brush into her open purse. Then, with the palette in hand she began to put a touch of makeup on her eyelids. She decided not to do anything super fancy. Her alluring amber eyes had been more than enough to compel a multitude of men to instantaneously fall in love with her over the years, but for Lelouch she knew needed a little touch of something to catch his attention. He wasn't someone easily impressed after all.
"Better touch up the eyeliner too," she mumbled after she was finished with the eye-shadow. Closing the palette she gently placed it in her purse then picked up her liquid eyeliner.
Examining her eyes carefully, C.C. gently opened the tube of liquid eyeliner and carefully touched up her left eye first. Once satisfied with her newly made cat's eye, she started to work on the right when...
"Ooof!"
Another small bout of turbulence shook through the plane unexpectedly, causing C.C. to accidentally draw a line from the corner of her eye to halfway down her cheek.
C.C., exasperated by this new disaster, simply let out a sigh. At that exact moment, someone started banging on the door.
"Excuse me, but you've been in the bathroom for over ten minutes and my son really needs to go."
Once more, C.C. merely let out a sigh and, without answering the woman outside the door, got a makeup wipe to remove the streak of liner as well as some of the blush she'd already touched up earlier.
This mission to steal back her man was not off to a promising start. Clearly someone was conspiring against her. Once more, hyena-type laughter echoed in her mind as if to solidify the ludicrous idea.
"Mommy! I don't think I can hold it anymore!"
"You got to be...ugh..." the banging sounded again. "You've got five seconds to get out of that bathroom! One!"
C.C.'s expression fell into a deadpan. "Look, I know that trying to steal someone's fiance is a bad thing, but come on! Cut me some slack, okay? Okay!"
"Two!"
The green-haired woman flung the door open, heedless to the fact that she'd violently smacked the other woman in the face with it. Her child rushed into the room a second later, and C.C. gracefully shut the door behind him so that he'd have some privacy while his furious mother rolled about on the floor, clutching her bleeding nose. C.C. stood motionless, watching the spectacle with a blank stare.
"I'm not even surprised at this point."
"Why you wretched witch!" The irate mother screamed. "My nose better not be broken or I'll sue you for every penny you have to your name."
C.C. raised a brow, smirking as a truly villainous idea came to mind.
"To my name you say?"
"Did I stutter you ingrate? What's your name?"
"Shirley," the witch responded, her smirk widening a bit as she wracked her brain for the girl's last name. Lelouch had rambled quite a bit about his soon to be wife. At one point he did mention her last name. What was it? Ferret? Fennel?
"Fennette," she stated once the name came to her. "Shirley Fennette."
~Thirty minutes later~
C.C. marched off the plane with a triumphant smile. The crazy woman she encountered assured her that she would be hearing from her lawyers. True to form, the witch insisted she direct those lawyers to call the front desk at Pendragon Ritz since she would be staying there for the rest of the week.
Of course, those calls would get patched through to Shirley, not her.
A truly brilliant plan.
However, at that particular moment, all C.C. could think about was that in a few moments she would be reunited with the man she'd loved for over nine years. She was nervously tugging at her sweater to get rid of the wrinkles in it while glancing about the area, looking for any sign of Lelouch. Even though there were ways to see him virtually, the two of them had never really opted to use such methods. They enjoyed the pleasure of seeing each other in person far more.
And so, when the beautiful food critic finally spotted him a little ways down the aisle, she smiled, her breath catching in her throat as the crowd passing in front of the prince broke. She saw the back of his head first, though only for a second as he turned. It was almost as if he knew she spotted him. The instant their gazes locked, Lelouch smiled, truly smiled at her in a way she'd only had the pleasure of seeing a few times before.
And then, in the next instant, both of them were running toward each other. C.C. recklessly tossed her bags to the floor as she ran to him with joy exploding in her heart. It had been too long since they'd seen each other, held each other, kissed each other...
When the two collided, Lelouch barely caught her, holding her just a breath away from him so their lips wouldn't touch on accident. C.C. giggled in spite of herself and Lelouch chuckled right along with her. They were together again and it felt perfect.
"Well, hey there," she murmured sweetly.
His violet eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth, but they also held a hint of nervousness. "Can you believe we're actually going to do this?"
It took a second for C.C. to remember why she was in Lelouch's arms to begin with, and when she did, all she could do was shake her head and laugh. "No. I can't. It's completely unbelievable."
Another sardonic chuckle shook through the raven-haired prince and C.C. felt her insides do several somersaults as his laughter shook through her. For a moment she continued to stand there, taking in his handsome features and his trademark burgundy jacket, which he wore over his favorite black, turtleneck t-shirt and matching slacks. His hair, styled in its usual way, seemed a lot glossier than normal and C.C. was tempted to run her hands through it out of curiosity but stopped herself once she realized his gaze was traveling away from her and towards the crowd behind them.
C.C. followed his gaze just as the crowd broke apart again, revealing a most dreadful sight as far as the witch was concerned.
A few paces back, pushing along a cart that was meant to hold C.C's luggage, was a woman with strawberry blonde hair that, quite frankly, might as well be orange, bright, leaf-green eyes, dainty designer sunglasses atop her head and a navy-blue, short-sleeved wrap-around dress paired with white pumps. Upon noticing the two of them, she smiled and waved before beginning her march toward them.
Staring at her romantic rival, C.C. felt a distinct lack of hatred. This Shirley girl was perfectly nice-looking. Beautiful even. Her smile alone was so genuine and radiant that it was almost blinding. She was light personified, which was a stark contrast to Lelouch's hidden darkness.
That contrast became even more apparent when Shirley, without any hesitation, wrapped her arms around C.C. in what could only be described as a bear hug.
"This is so perfect!" she murmured sweetly before pulling back. "From the second Lelouch and I started talking again all I've heard is C.C. this and C.C. that." She glanced at Lelouch, her smile still glowing. C.C. watched him tenderly return the girl's smile without a word.
In the next second Shirley was talking to her again, saying, "I've never had a sister before you know. Sure I have cousins who basically treat me like their little sister but this..." she trailed off and outright squealed in delight. "This is better! I'm so excited to have this chance to get to know you!"
All C.C. could do was smile awkwardly in return. "What the heck is wrong with this girl? Does she not know that Lelouch and I dated? In college we were so hot and heavy that our friends could barely stand to be around us. There's absolutely no way she knows about that or she'd be trying to get me on the next flight back to Japan."
Shirley suddenly peeked around my shoulder. "Are those your bags on the floor back there? Let me go grab them."
"I..." C.C. could only watch as Shirley cheerily bounded away to pick up her abandoned bags and suitcase. With a look of clear confusion she stared at Lelouch and with her expression muttered, "She's picking up my bags. Why is she picking up my bags? What's her deal man? Something's not right here."
But for some odd reason, Lelouch couldn't read this in her expression, almost as if his ability to read her thoughts through her expressions alone had faded into oblivion. Instead he winked at her and directed his attention to Shirley, saying, "Let me get those, Shirley. They're probably heavy."
"Oh no, I got it," Shirley insisted, smiling over her shoulder at him as she bent over to grab the straps of her two duffel bags. Though her gaze was locked on him, C.C. saw something almost mischievous in her gaze.
"Is she blatantly trying to seduce him in front of me!?"
She heaved both bags onto her shoulders with the ease and grace of a swan. "Besides Lelouch, we both know your upper body strength is nonexistent."
"Ha! Very funny!" he retorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked toward his fiance. "However..." Once he was standing close enough he leaned toward her, whispering something in her ear. All the while C.C. stood there, reeling in confusion and a hint of rage as Shirley's face abruptly shifted into a crimson hue.
"Did they plum forget I'm here?" C.C. wondered turning away from them as a vein threatened to pop out of her skull. "This woman is going to be a tougher opponent than I thought. I can see that now. I better stay on my toes in case..."
"C.C.!"
The witch let out a short yelp then coughed to cover up the fact she'd been startled. "Y-yeah?"
"You're in for a treat!" Shirley bellowed excitedly. "Lelouch said I could drive!"
~Another thirty minutes later~
"Oh dear Lord, she knows! She knows I'm here to stop this wedding and she's trying to kill me because of it."
Shirley, with her designer sunglasses over her eyes, weaved through the heavy city traffic at roughly 100 miles per hour. C.C. was in the passenger seat, holding on for dear life as the woman driving sped up to get into another lane. Lelouch was lounging leisurely in the backseat of the highly expensive red convertible, which C.C. internally dubbed "Death Machine 5,000."
With the wind billowing loudly around them, C.C. didn't hear Shirley when she started speaking.
"What was that?"
"I said I have this monstrous favor to ask you!" Shirley exclaimed, the wind carrying strands of her newly pinned up hair about as if the girl were posing for the front cover of a high-fashion magazine. " Well, Kallen got pregnant after she and Gino eloped a few months back. She was supposed to be my maid of honor since Milly insisted she focus on planning the wedding, but in the last two weeks she's really popped, and now she's feeling way too conspicuous to be part of the wedding party, so...be my maid of honor?"
C.C.'s mind blanked for a second as it was caught between the question and Shirley narrowly avoiding a collision with yet another vehicle when she changed lanes for the tenth time in less than a minute. The food critic could have sworn she heard a burly truck driver curse loudly at them, but the orange-haired woman seemed completely oblivious to it.
"I'm sorry. What?"
Lelouch leaned forward then, chuckling in a way that made C.C. certain he'd known Shirley's driving would send her into a state of panic. "She's asking you to be her maid of honor, witch."
"Oh, Lelouch don't call her that..."
"No, it's fine," I replied, interrupting her. "It's kinda our thing. About the the maid of honor thing though...um. Don't you think you should phone another bridesmaid or...I don't know, someone you've known for a least forty-five minutes?"
"My bridesmaids are my two cousins and Lelouch's sister Nunna," Shirley supplied. "Milly already declined thanks to the whole wedding planning business, and while I love Nunna a ton already, she's incredibly shy and I think the extra attention would make her uncomfortable. And besides that, since you and Lelouch are so close, it's only natural for you to be part of the wedding in some way...oh wait the exit!"
Shirley violently turned the wheel, speeding through four lanes in half a second. C.C.'s stomach did at least two flips during the wild swerve along the road, and by the time they were scooting along the exit ramp, the food critic was ready to vomit out the side of the car. The only reason she didn't was because she knew she had to save face in front of Lelouch.
The attempt was a failure though. He'd been quietly chuckling at her discomfort the entire ride.
"At any rate," Shirley continued. "I have exactly five days to make you my new best friend."
"Or I could just be the best man," C.C. muttered humorlessly, but Shirley still laughed.
"Suzaku's already taken that spot silly."
C.C. took in those words, realizing all too late that the Japanese knight of the round must have known about this wedding business long before she did...and didn't bother to tell her about it.
"I'm going to rip him apart the second I see him again. Then I'll stuff him in a duffel bag and throw it into a raging river..."
"So, for our first order of bonding, we're going shopping!"
"Shopping?"
"For your maid of honor dress."
"But I haven't..."
"Shh, don't worry about it," Shirley interrupted sweetly, far too sweetly to be believed. "It'll all work out great."
~An hour and thirty minutes later~
"Do you like the color?"
"I think it's beautiful."
"Just perfect for her, isn't it?"
"Absolutely."
C.C. felt a tug at the strap the seamstress was adjusting, but paid it no mind as she glared at the strawberry blonde demon sitting directly in front of her. The girl was appraising her as if she were a Barbie doll rather than a human being at this point.
"Now this is going to be tighter." The seamstress gestured to C.C.'s chest while tugging at the strap again. "You don't want those things to fall out, you know?"
"Someone kill me," C.C. moaned internally. "Someone please kill me."
"And I don't want her to trip, so I'm going to take up the hemline about a quarter-inch, maybe a touch more."
"That should be fine," Shirley answered, examining the bottom of the baby blue, form-fitting dress C.C. was now wearing. The food critic had to admit to herself that the color looked stunning on her. The style of the dress was also something C.C. liked. The skirt of the dress flared out some at the bottom before narrowing in at the waist, showing off her hour-glass shape. The dress had a halter top but was embellished by a beautiful off the shoulder sleeve detail that complimented her bust and hid the otherwise exposed floppy skin of her under-arms. C.C. dully noted that it might be a good idea for her to start some toning exercises...or just any exercise in general...once this wedding mess was settled.
"Do you not like the color?"
C.C. blinked, shaken out of her thoughts. "Oh, no the color is beautiful. I just...thought all bridesmaids wore the same dress."
Shirley smiled. "Not you. You wouldn't be comfortable unless you were distinctive."
For a couple seconds the food critic could only stand there in confusion, her mouth threatening to hang open at the disturbingly accurate assessment of her character. Of course it was during those fleeting seconds that C.C. realized Lelouch was the one responsible for Shirley's insight, which prompted her to hesitantly ask the following question:
"What else did he tell you about me?"
"Well, he said you're obsessed with pizza," Shirley began, a slight frown overtaking her features. "And admittedly I'm jealous that you can keep such a great figure if he's correct about how much pizza you actually eat on a regular basis..."
"Anything else?" C.C. cut in.
"You hate weddings," the girl proclaimed, rising to her feet to grab a delicate, diamond necklace from off a nearby counter in the spacious dressing room. "You're not up for anything conventional or anything that's assumed to be a female priority..." she trailed off a moment as she stepped onto the podium C.C. was already standing on. "Including marriage, romance, and even..." She stopped as she held the necklace out in front of C.C. to see how it would look with the dress.
"Love?"
Shirley blinked, her mind circling back to what they'd been talking about. She smiled gently as she stepped off the podium with the necklace tucked safely in her right hand.
C.C., uncomfortable with the silence muttered, "He and I were a bad fit right from the start."
"He said that too."
The food critic almost groaned in frustration. "Dang it. Walked right into that one."
"Of course, he said the same about me during freshmen year," Shirley continued, a forlorn look crossing over her leaf-green eyes for a moment. "So you're in good company there. Back then I was really shy about pursuing anything with him because we became such great friends so fast you know? When I had to move after freshmen year, I remember crying to him on the phone about it for over an hour. It was honestly pathetic."
C.C. nodded in agreement but thankfully Shirley didn't notice.
"But as time passed, I got over it," she mused, smiling now. "Out of sight, out of mind I suppose. We lost touch and soon enough I wasn't really concerned about love or romance anymore. Just like you."
"So what changed?"
"Lelouch decided to reappear one day I guess," Shirley answered, her eyes darting about as she looked for some shoes to go with C.C.'s dress. "And suddenly it was like we were back in high school. Only this time I was brave enough to share my feelings." With a giggle she directed her attention back to C.C., having found a pair of baby blue stilettos she deemed perfect for the dress. "And now, all those old high school dreams are coming true for me. Amazing, huh?"
"Amazingly sappy," C.C. thought irritably, yet a gnawing sense of guilt started to chip away at the cold exterior surrounding her heart. Clearly this girl loved Lelouch to pieces. Worse than that, it was painfully obvious that she wasn't trying to manipulate him or con him out of money. Every time she mentioned the guy her eyes would glaze over with affection and pure, unrestrained happiness. She was hopelessly and irrevocably in love, and Lelouch's unabashed flirting earlier was a good an indicator as any that he felt the same way.
Quite frankly, if he was happy with Shirley, what right did she have to stand in the way of that? She should just play her part as best friend and let these two get married peacefully, right?
But as the seconds continued on and Shirley kept smiling at her with that blissfully happy expression, C.C.'s heart began to churn with bitterness. She could feel herself beginning to sweat too because certainly the beautiful, kind girl sitting at her feet wasn't so stupid that she couldn't see or feel how awkward this situation truly was. There's a reason why ex's aren't typically allowed to the wedding, but apparently, basic logic had flown out the window and C.C.'s nerves were plummeting right behind it.
And so, given the fragmented state of said nerves, C.C. took a step forward to get off the podium, muttering, "I need a cigarette."
Unfortunately...
"RIIIIIIIIIIIIP."
"Oh, no..."
To the shock and horror of the three women in the room, as soon as C.C. took a step off the podium, one of the seams on the skirt of the dress ripped, showing off C.C.'s thigh as a result.
And all C.C. could do in response was sigh.
"This just isn't my day."
As a final nail in the coffin, the green-haired critic heard the hyena-like laughter in her head yet again.
"Also, I'm going insane apparently."
Meanwhile, in the waiting area of the boutique, Lelouch Vi Britannia sat on a couch, absorbed in a romance novel his soon to be wife recommended while a frenzied fiasco began to break out in the dressing room. In the distance he could faintly hear C.C. cursing up a storm as well as the seamstress's shrieks of panic. He could even hear Shirley loudly apologizing about the rip in the dress and that she'd pay extra if the rip in the dress could be fixed right away. There was another bout of yelling from C.C., and Lelouch could only assume she was being tortured in there, which prompted a malicious smirk to overtake his features for a moment.
Back in the dressing room, C.C. was forcefully yanked out of the dress, leaving her clad in only a lacy black bra and matching underwear.
"THIS! THIS RIGHT HERE IS WHY I HATE SHOPPING!"
Back in the waiting area, Lelouch outright laughed at the witch's loud proclamation before focusing back on the novel. He paid no mind to the next eruption of screaming as the seamstress stormed out of the dressing room with Shirley a couple paces behind, muttering quiet apologies. The two women hurried right past him, completely ignoring his presence, which he delighted in.
As the chaos settled into a state of calm, the raven-haired prince flipped a page in the book. "I should start taking notes on the daily antics surrounding my life. Might make a good novel someday."
It was while he was thinking this that his cell-phone vibrated in his pocket. Blinking in surprise, he set down his book and quickly retrieved the device to see who was calling.
"Oh, it's Suzaku," he said to himself before answering. "Hey. You calling to explain why you aren't here yet?"
"Something like that," was Suzaku's instant reply. "A personal matter came up, but don't worry I'll be getting on a late flight tonight. So I should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon."
Lelouch raised a brow. "Nothing's wrong I hope."
"Don't worry it's nothing too serious. Just an unexpected delay."
"Good to hear," Lelouch answered, watching as his soon to be wife ran across the room and opened the dressing room door. In the next instant she was out again with her purse in hand. "I definitely need you here since Shirley has taken C.C. from me."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Shirley asked C.C. to be her maid of honor..."
Lelouch would have continued speaking but stopped when he noted Suzaku practically howling with laughter.
"Um...Suzaku?"
"I'm fine," the Japanese knight breathed after another second of hysterics. "I'm uh, laughing at something else. So, C.C. is maid of honor? How did she take it?"
"She was pretty shocked," Lelouch replied, his eyebrow climbing up to his forehead this time. "But beyond that initial shock, she and Shirley have hit it off extremely well."
"That's great news!"
Both of the prince's eyebrows were raised now. "Why?"
There was a pause and then...
"Anyway, Lelouch, I have to go now. Getting another call. Just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way! See you soon, man!"
"Alright...see you soon."
As Lelouch placed the phone back in his pocket, he got the distinct feeling that Suzaku was hiding something.
Back in Japan, Suzaku moaned as he noted the incoming call from C.C.
"Just what I need," he thought, letting out a sigh. "I just know I'm in for an irrational tirade."
"S-Suzaku?"
The brunette quickly turned at the sound of Euphemia's voice as she emerged from her bedroom, still clad in her lavender flannel pajamas. Her pink hair was an unruly mess, the color of her eyes had dimmed a bit, and her skin was looking a touch feverish.
"Euphie, you need to get back into bed," Suzaku replied, gently placing his hands on her shoulders after pocketing his phone.
"I know," she mumbled. She leaned her forehead against his chest. "But I need cuddles before you go."
Suzaku chuckled softly, pulling her into a hug. "Euphie, if I explain things to Lelouch, I could just stay here. You're sick for crying out loud."
The princess shook her head and moaned. "No. You're the best man. Lelouch needs you. C.C. needs you too. I'll be fine by myself, Suzaku."
"But I really rather not leave you like this," he whispered, resting his hand along her cheek. "You're really burning up, Euphie."
"Brother Clovis said he'd come by and help me out tomorrow," Euphemia stated simply, her arms slowly winding around Suzaku's waist. "He doesn't really get along with Lelouch anyway."
Suzaku's phone rang again in that moment, but instead of a normal ringtone or the chipper J-Pop song he had exclusively for Euphie, a death metal song blared loudly throughout the room.
Euphie giggled. "C.C.?"
"C.C."
"Sounds like you're in trouble." With a short yawn, the princess took a step back from her knight. "You better answer her. I'll be waiting for you in my room. Don't take too long, okay. I demand my cuddles before you leave me."
He placed a chaste kiss along her burning forehead. "As you wish, your highness."
Satisfied with his promise, Princess Euphemia Li Britannia walked back into her bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her. Suzaku watched her go, his heart sinking for a reason he couldn't quite place, although he imagined part of it had to do with the death metal song still shrieking through the room.
With a sigh, he reached into his pocket and finally answered the witch's call.
A/N: And that is the end of this chapter. I have started work on the next chapter, though I don't know when it will be done just yet, so as per usual I won't be making any promises on when this story will be updated again. So far we've been getting lucky and I finally have the writer's kick I've been needing for the last two years, but at some point my brain will be like, "Nope! No more!" At any rate, I hope all of you who have been reading are enjoying this story so far. If you feel so inclined, please leave a review, and if not...that's cool too. Best wishes everyone! God bless you all!
