Chapter Four

C.C. slammed the car door shut before leaning down to smile at the couple.

"Thanks for the ride."

"Don't mention it," replied Suzaku.

"It was nice seeing you, Euphie. I had a good time."

"I'm sorry we could only have dinner. I would have liked to do something more."

"It's okay. I'm tired, and I'm sure you are too from your flight. Not to mention the fact that you and Suzaku have a lot of catching up to do, and I'm sure you wouldn't want me there. Though I wouldn't mind watching," she teased.

Even in the dark, she could see the two blushing, and her smile widened in amusement. Poking fun at them always cheered them up, on account of them never failing to deliver a reaction, and they both pulled through again. Tapping the hood of the car, she straightened up and said, "I'll see you two later ten."

"Y-Yeah."

"Good night, Euphie. Bye, Suzaku."

"Good night, C.C.," chirped Euphemia. "Thank you for everything!"

Suzaku waved as the young woman stepped away under the shade of the awning. She watched as the car pulled away and stood still until the tail lights vanished around the bend. Once she was alone in the lonely street, she heaved a sigh and let her hand fall to her side as she finally slipped off her mask.

She was happy for the two. She was glad that they had finally reunited, even if it was only for a week or two before Euphie had to board the plane again to go back to college. She genuinely was, especially after Suzaku's constant fretting, but there were times when it hurt her to see them smiling and holding hands and being with one another. It reminded her far too strongly of a certain man she didn't particularly want to think of, in fear of the inevitable loneliness and yearning that set in whenever her thoughts wandered to him.

She rubbed her arms as if she were chilly, despite the warm spring breeze. She didn't feel ready to go back inside yet. No one was waiting for her anyway, and she suspected that if she were to go home to dark shadows and empty rooms after an evening of watching Suzaku and Euphie fawn over one another, she'd burst into the tears she had been trying to hold for the past few weeks. So she decided to go to the convenience store on the corner near her apartment. Even if she didn't need anything, or would only stand there and study the rows of microwavable food, it was better than sitting home by herself all night long. Anything would be better than that. Thus, she turned and began a slow, treacherous walk under the protection of the blossoming cherry blossoms, guided by the soft light of the full moon.

. . .

She had been sitting in front of the convenience store, in one of the flimsy, plastic chairs, when it happened. She had been dutifully drinking away a six-pack of cold beer and chewing on a bag of seasoned and dried cuttlefish, when the man walked out. He was obviously drunk out of his mind - she could tell from his stumbling and muttering - and was making a fool out of himself. He was fairly average-looking, and his drunk side was just a terrible mess, and there was no way she would ever find him attractive but...

But someone else probably still had. Someone else had probably fallen in love with the ungraceful lump of a man, and that someone else was most likely waiting for him to come home and ask him how his day was, and sit across the table from them and listen as they recounted the latest gossip at work, occasionally reaching across and wiping the pizza sauce from her lips, and... And...

She missed him immensely. There was a great big hole where her heart had once been, where he had once been, and the pain was insufferable. She had waited for four years for the hole to be filled again, but the four years had been for nothing. Sure, they had written emails, and they had called, and they had video-called one another, but it wasn't the same. She couldn't touch him. She couldn't feel him. She couldn't kiss him or be kissed. They couldn't express their love for one another without saying it aloud, which was a foreign concept to the two who found it extremely difficult to be so forward with their emotions, and as a result, frustration had slowly built up inside of her for the past four years.

C.C. had tried her best to be understanding. She knew that he didn't like being separated either, that he was as desperate as she was to be with him as much in the physical sense as they were in the emotional sense, but sometimes, it was just so difficult for her to be understanding. She felt the selfishness bubble up, demanding to know why he couldn't just come home like he promised, why he had to keep accepting the scholarships and offers, why he didn't want to be with her... Except he did want to be with her.

He had held her so tightly at the airport, and though he wasn't inclined to cry, his eyes hadn't been dry either when he pulled away before kissing her for the last time. He had been the first to say, "I love you" too. Normally, he would have never said anything so intimate without any prompting, but as they stood in the bustling airport that morning, he had kissed her fingers and whispered to her how deeply he felt for her, and she had treasured that bittersweet memory ever since, the bittersweet memory that was tormenting her...

She stood up so abruptly, the drunk keeled over and sprawled all over the quiet street. Gathering up the half-eaten bag and remaining two cans, she stuffed them into her purse before marching off in the direction of home. She was going to stop this ridiculous pining. It was stupid, to want something that wasn't going to happen. She and Lelouch had discussed his return countless times - he wouldn't be coming back until May, and May was only two months off. She had waited four years - she could wait two more months.

Opening a beer, she swallowed its frothiness as she walked at a smart clip. She was going to go home - to hell if no one was waiting for her! - and she was going to take a hot, relaxing bath, and then she was going to watch movies until she fell asleep. So what if she missed him? That couldn't stop her from having fun on her own. She wasn't dependent on him, her happiness wasn't based off of whether he was with her or not, she was her own woman, and she was determined to...

The only sound was the muffled impact of the pizza box falling to the asphalt. Normally, she would have been indignant and angry at such an act of disrespect to Pizza Hut, but she was too dumbfounded - and a bit tipsy - to notice because there, in front of her, only a few feet away stood Lelouch vi Britannia. He looked extremely haggard and scruffy, but there he was in the flesh. There he stood, right before her, with his own stupefied expression.

There Lelouch vi Britannia was.