Me: It's me again!
Suzaku: And, I suppose, me also.
Me: Don't be such a downer. Buck up!
Suzaku: You expect me to be happy? Last chapter, you shot me!
Me: Get over it. You're fine.
Suzaku: Still, no one likes to be shot.
Me: Yeah, whatever.
Now, onward and upward!
The two soldiers dropped Suzaku onto the hard ground, where he lay lifeless. The general stood stoically at the center of the room, his gun still pointed at the spot that Suzaku had stood.
He lowered the gun, then turned away. "Leave the bodies," he ordered. "The orders were to bring back the girl alive. We'll pretend we haven't seen them, and change the data so it shows we hadn't responded to Kururugi's signal. It will appear as if they were shot by the terrorists."
"Yes, sir!" The soldiers replied in unison. The general began walking down the tunnel, and his squadron followed him in perfect formation.
As soon as their footsteps had stopped echoing down the damp tunnel, the girl stood up. Her green hair swung behind her as she surveyed the scene. Finally deciding that it was safe, she began walking the opposite direction from the soldiers.
"Wait," a voice croaked behind her. "Wait." It repeated, the tone a little stronger. Utterly surprised, she turned around slowly.
"It… it can't be. I didn't sense a code…" she said aloud. But yet, right before her eyes, Suzaku was sitting up. He looked and felt terrible, but was alive nevertheless. The girl crept over to him, and then knelt down. "What happened? Do you know how you're alive?"
"I don't know," he said. "But I saw something. A bird? It was glowing. It flashed, and then I woke up. But I was shot, wasn't I…" He felt his forehead and reached the wound. Inspecting it closely, he realized that it had sealed up and was no longer bleeding.
"Geass…" the girl said to herself, then stood up. "This certainly is new." She smirked, and then looked down at Suzaku. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Considering I just came back from the dead, I think I deserve a few minutes." He said, then lay down and exhaled. "What happened?" he turned to the girl. "How am I alive?"
She sat down cross-legged on the ground. "Geass, the power of the kings. Yours apparently allows you to come back from the dead, but I'm not sure if that's exactly what it can do. We'll have to test it out before we know its powers and restrictions."
"I'll take it. Then, who are you?"
"You can call me C.C." She twirled a piece of her vibrant green hair in-between her fingers.
"I'm Suzaku Kururugi," he said, the sighed. "C.C. I don't think I've ever met anyone who ever went by their initials."
"I'm usually one of the first people to do things."
He took in her green hair and calm expression. "I can believe that." They sat for a moment. "What else?"
"What are you referring to?"
"What else can you tell me about yourself?"
She started intently at the wall, and then turned her gaze back to Suzaku. "There isn't much. I have no memories but the ones since I became a witch. I have no friends. I have no family. Every enemy or ally is swept away by the river of time."
"That's rough. I've lost all of my family too, but not in the way you did. Immortality must be a curse."
"Indeed, it is."
"What's it like? I seem to be immortal now as well."
It was obviously a touchy subject, as she stood up and turned away from him. After a moment, she turned back, her amber eyes cold and unemotional. "Are you ready yet?"
"I think so," said Suzaku, not wishing to force the mater. He propped himself up on one arm, and stood up, wincing. He then stood up straight, his emerald eyes shining with the questions that he held back.
"Let's go." She said brusquely.
The two set off in silence down the damp tunnel. The made quite the odd pair, an Honorary Britannian supposedly dead and a witch that should have died long ago.
Both not sure what to say or do, they let the silence deafen them.
scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak
Half an hour later, time found the pair aboveground in the ghetto.
"What- What happened?" Suzaku said quietly, his eyes grazing across the dead civilians. His gaze lingered for a moment on a small child, still clutching her doll, laying motionless on the ground. He broke away, tears in his eyes.
"There seems to have been a massacre." C.C. said nonchalantly, here eyes sweeping the scene. Her face was impassive, and as always, she allowed no emotion to be portrayed by her features or body language.
They stood motionless for several minutes. Finally, Suzaku stood up straight, his face impassive as well. "There's nothing we can do. Let's keep going." They moved on through the ghetto, sidestepping people lying on the ground. Again, they walked in silence, neither sure what to say.
C.C. was absorbed in her own thoughts. She pondered how it was possible that Suzaku was even alive. She was almost sure, no, she was positive, that he didn't have a code. But if he didn't, could his Geass possibly have brought him back to life? The power to resurrect oneself, that was a useful tool. But also a curse, as it made the bearer immortal. Could Suzaku bring other people back to life? It could be possible, but they would have to test its limits sometime.
Immersed in thought, she ran into Suzaku as he stopped abruptly. She followed his gaze to ten feet away. It lay on one body in particular, a tall teenager with slightly long black hair. Blood pooled around his chest, and it was obvious that he was dead.
Suzaku stood completely still, utterly shocked. "Lelouch? It can't be. But…" With that, he broke his stance and ran towards the boy.
Pushing back a lock of raven hair, he peered into the person's still open eyes. They were a deep amethyst gazing blankly at an unknown point far into the distance. "Oh, God. Oh, God, it really is Lelouch," said Suzaku. Tears welled in his emerald eyes, and he collapsed over Lelouch's body.
C.C. stood above him, observing quietly. She wondered how Suzaku had known this dead boy.
Then she remembered.
Seven years ago, two boys were scrambling up a hill. One had light brown curly hair, the other had straight black. The brown haired boy was obviously the more athletic, as he scampered up the hill without any effort. He, however, was not the one that intrigued her. It was the other one, the one having immense difficulty mounting the slope.
All at once, she had known that he would be the one to take her code. He would be the one to lift her burden. He would be the one that would be able to kill her for real. She observed the pair with rapt attention, trying to figure out the best way to approach him.
It happened all of a sudden: The brown haired boy pointed into the distance, and the raven-haired one squinted past his finger. They both started for a moment, and then ran off into the trees. "Wait!" C.C. had called out, but they hadn't heard her over the incoming aircraft. She followed them on foot, trying to catch up. But it was too late; she had lost them.
Ever since that day, C.C. had kept an eye out for this boy, her savior. She hadn't found him, hadn't found his trail, and hadn't caught a glimpse of him since.
And now he was laying right in front of her, dead. But there was one possible way to bring him back.
She knelt down beside Suzaku. "Suzaku," she said softly. "Suzaku," she said again, a little louder this time. He looked up, his face red from crying.
"What?" he replied meekly.
"You need to try something. There's a possible way that you can bring Lelouch back."
"Th-That's impossible." He said, his face innocent and unbelieving.
" Suzaku." She sat him up and squared his shoulders. "You just came back from the dead. Nothing is impossible. You need to try. If you can do it, you'll know."
He nodded. "I'll give it my best." He knelt down again, and laid both hands on Lelouch's body. Closing his eyes, Suzaku concentrated as hard as he could, trying to find any power that might be inside him.
He touched something, felt something foreign residing inside his body. He tugged on it with his mind, pulling it to the front of his concentration. All of a sudden his eyes flew open.
The right was emerald green, the left a deep red. A glowing bird shape resided in his left, giving his entire face a magical look. Determination spread across his features, and bird flapped and flew out of his eye.
Lelouch absorbed it without a sound. The bird and red color faded from Suzaku's eye. He and C.C. stared at Lelouch with rapt attention, waiting for something to happen. Suzaku quietly took his hands off him, and folded them neatly in his lap.
After a moment, Suzaku was about to stand up, his efforts wasted. Then came a cough. Suzaku turned back to Lelouch in time to see the bullet wound stitching itself up. Lelouch blinked once, twice, then surveyed the scene. His gaze landed on Suzaku, and deep violet eyes moved up and down the former soldier's body.
"Suzaku?"
Finally, that's done! Sorry it's taken me FOREVER to update. But, well… some stuff happened. We'll leave it at that.
Suzaku left to get me a slushie. Lately, I've been craving those. Especially the Coke ones. Yum :)
Well, I've got nothing else to say. Might as well not waste your time.
R&R?