*I do not own Code Geass or any of the characters!!!!

R&R!!!

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I was used to being at the Kururugi home by now. Nunnally and Rolo had started to get along with Suzaku after a few months, but I was still on my toes with him. We fought nearly every day over stupid things, but we were getting better.

After a few weeks of getting beat up by other children, Suzaku got slightly defensive and wouldn't allow me to go anywhere without him by my side. Of course I wouldn't listen most of the time, why would I? In my short amount of time that I had been alive, I had learned to be independent and emotionally strong. But when my parents died...I had to be even more independent and emotionally strong...

I had to go to the market to get some fruit so that's where I was headed. I found myself walking up a long trail through the woods. The sun shown through the tips of the trees onto the path. I clutched the brown wicker basket in my hand and heard a stick snap in half behind me.

"You're not very stealthy, Suzaku." I said without turning around.

"Ah, you caught me..." he ran up beside me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the market. Go home."

"No, I wanna go with you."

"Well I don't want you to. I can do this on my own, Suzaku. There's no one here that's going to hurt me."

"But what if you fall down, your highness." Suzaku spoke with sarcasm.

"If you're going to speak to me like that, Kururugi, you can just get lost!"

"Oh, Lelouch, you know I'm only joking with you."

"Well it sure as hell doesn't sound it. Were you raised in a barn? Go home!" I picked up my pace and ignored him.

"Make me!"

"You're so childish, 'make me', humph..." I came to a clearing and looked around. The trees stopped and a large hole in the ground started. It must have been about 200ft deep. The bridge in front of me was old. It was a rope bridge with dirty wooden boards spaced about five inches apart.

"Cool!" Suzaku stepped onto the bridge.

"Don't! It might not be safe."

"It's fine." Suzaku stepped onto the bridge and it creaked and swayed slightly. "Come on!" he started across and turned around about halfway there. "What? Are you afraid?" he stuck his tongue out.

"No!" I stepped on the bridge and gulped. It swayed as I took a few more steps.

Suzaku made it to the other side and danced around on the ground. "Oh hurry up! It's safe!"

"I-I know!" I got halfway across and heard a crack. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

I heard the crack again. "That!"

"I dunno, come on, hurry."

I stepped and the crack got louder. Before I knew what had happened, there was one large crack and the ground seemed to disappear from under my feet. I screamed and grabbed onto the rope that was still beside me as I fell.

"Suzaku!!!" I screamed again.

I looked down and saw the two boards that I was standing on fall to the earth, along with the wicker basket.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku ran across the bridge and knelt down. "Take my hand!"

"I can't!" I was about two and a half feet away from where Suzaku was.

"Just do it!"

"I'm too heavy!" my hands were wet for some reason and I started to slip.

"Now!"

I slipped, but I didn't fall. Suzaku hand me around the wrist. "Give me your other hand!"

I reached my hand up and grabbed onto his arm as he pulled me up. "I told you that it wasn't safe..." without realizing it, I had begun crying.

"That's besides the point, when I tell you to grab my hand you do it!"

I hung my head and looked to the ground.

"Lelouch? Are you listening to me? Hey?" he paused and looked at me. "Are...are you crying...? Oh, your hands are bleeding..."

I didn't say anything in response.

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When I saw Lelouch drop from the bridge, my heart skipped a beat. As I ran over to where he was I was so afraid that I would look down and see that he was gone. But once I got up to the hole in the bridge he was hanging on for dear life to the ropes on the side. He wouldn't take my hand. I don't know if it's because he didn't trust me, or if he was afraid that if he let go that he would fall. But once he did let go and began to fall I fell flat on my stomach and grabbed him by the wrist. I didn't care if I broke his arm and popped it out of the socket. I wasn't going to lose him like that.

He was crying, and I don't blame him. I could have cried too. I held onto his wrists and looked at his hands. They were cut from the ropes and bleeding a lot.

"Why do you bleed so much from such a small cut? You did that when you got beat up too."

"I'm anemic..."

"Anemic?"

"It means I have a less than normal quantity of hemoglobin in my blood."

"What?"

"I bleed easily!"

"No need to be so snippy." I helped him up and walked him carefully across the other half of the bridge. "Uhm, here." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a rag, ripping it in half. "It's a polishing rag for shoes, it will work for now."

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Suzaku wrapped the torn rag around my hands then folded them up for me to apply pressure to the cuts.

"The markets up here somewhere, there should be someone that can get you some real bandages." he brushed my hair behind my ear and looked at me. "Do your hands hurt still? Is that why you're crying?"

I looked up at him. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah...Let's go..." I clutched my hands tighter and slowly began to walk away from where Suzaku was standing. Suzaku might not have liked me, but he sure wasn't about to let me fall to my death.

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I watched Lelouch walk away from me, his head hung low and he had his hands pressed up against his chest.

"Lulu." I ran up to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "Are you alright?"

"...I'm fine Suzaku." he was quiet.

We walked for another ten minutes and came across the market. A close friend of the family lived there and gladly took us into her home, cleaning up Lelouch's hands and wrapping them in some bandages. We thanked her and took off into the market with a new basket that she had given us.

"You should really have the servants get things for you, Lelouch."

"I'd rather do it myself, it gets me out of the house..."

"Okay, well, do you have everything you need?" I looked in the basket I was holding for him. There were a few apples, some cherries and fresh pears.

"Yes."

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Suzaku and I took the long way back. It was twice as long, but there wasn't any bridges that would break apart. I placed the fruit in a bowl on the counter in the kitchen, hoping for the pears to ripen some.

I went outside and across the grass, stopping at the steps that went down into the sand of the beach. The sun was setting and Nunnally and Rolo were in bed, it was the perfect time for me to go sit on the beach and just be alone.

I kicked off my shoes and walked slowly down the sandy wooden steps. I walked over to where the water washed up and sat down with my toes in the wet sand. It was too cold to swim, but not cold enough to just sit there.

"How are your hands?" Suzaku came up and stood behind me.

"They're better...thank you." he sat down beside me with his legs folded.

"Lelouch...I wanna tell you, that I'm sorry." he paused. "Just, sorry for being so mean to you all the time...I know you've had it rough. It's not that I don't like you, it's just that...you're strange."

"I'm strange?"

"I mean, well, you're the only one that's stuck around after fighting with me..."

"Oh..."

We fell quiet for a moment and watched as the sun fell behind the mountains.

"Suzaku...about earlier..." I turned and looked at him. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it...I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I'd let anything happen to you..." his eyes were locked straight ahead.

"Why?"

"I just feel different about you..." I thought I saw him blush a bit before he looked away. "Hey, your birthday is tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yes..." I didn't like to talk about my birthdays.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

"I don't want anything...thank you." I hated asking for things, especially on days that I found embarrassing.

"Please tell me what you want?"

"I really don't want anything."

"Lelouch." Suzaku pushed me down into the sand and sat on top of me.

"What's the big idea!?"

He pressed his lips to mine quickly then pulled away.

"What was that about?! Suzaku!"

"I like you, don't you kiss people that you like?"

"What...? Y-yeah...I guess, but...That's what adults do..."

"Oh...Hm, sorry then...Maybe when we're adults...I can do it again?"

I blushed, "Shut up, please..." I shoved him off and got up.

"Happy birthday Lelouch!"

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I smiled to myself as Lelouch stormed off with a huge blush across his face. I really did like him, he was my friend and I would do anything to protect him and keep him mine.

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Uhh, I kinda sorta don't really have much to say D: eek!!!

Okay, well...I see NOTHING wrong with a little innocent kiss between them. I've read some nice fanfics where they're younger and do more than just a kiss here and there...? But I myself can't write that =/

Soo yeaaa... Reviews? They keep me going!!!