A/N: I cant stop writing, the scenes just write themselves!
In response to a couple of reviews; first in regards to the Japanese honorifics, I apologize for misusing them, I'm not a full blown weeb or otaku so I don't fully know all the details and may have bungled that up. So I fixed that up a bit.
Someone also said I got Nunnally's birth year wrong. That was a typo I didn't notice, did an edit for that.
Lelouch smiled brightly as he put the finishing touches on his latest masterpiece.
It was odd, really, he knew he had experience cooking because of all the time he spent helping Sayoko prepare supper to make sure Nunnally liked it. But he never expected himself to actually be 'good' at cooking. He only realized his potential a few months ago when he made Takoyaki for Kallen and the resistance members.
After that, he slowly found himself getting into it more and more. If he could make Takoyaki that good on his first try, then he could only imagine how good his cooking could be if he practiced it regularly.
Slowly he took over the duty of head chef for himself and Nunnally, taking that task over for himself much to Sayoko's chagrin. He had definitely improved, and of course any leftovers from the previous night's dinner where given to Kallen, much to the redhead's absolute delight.
She always had this wonderfully happy grin whenever he gave her some of his latest work. Sometimes it was something new that he experimented with, sometimes it was a staple with a spin, but he was almost always trying something new. She always loved it, and that knowledge gave him confidence, and seeing her smile... it made him warm and fuzzy inside in a way he couldn't quite explain.
Today he had done something that he hadn't tried before. He baked a cake. To be specific a chocolate cake with strawberry and vanilla frosting, with raspberry jam filling that he had made from scratch. It was time consuming, and painstaking, but it was worth it, 100%.
Because today was Nunnally's birthday. The cake he baked was for her. It wasn't very big granted but it should be enough for a handful of people to share and all have a nice big slice.
He had finished putting on the frosting- a buttercream based one. He piped it onto the cake with delicate precision rimming the edge with little white flowers and spanning from the center to the edge was a rose flower pattern of the creamy sweet concoction.
He smiled, admiring his work before setting the frosting pipe down and putting the cake on the counter to set. Luckily dinner wasn't going to be his duty today. Nunnally insisted that he relax and spend time with her today so he agreed to get takeout instead of spending even more time on the oven.
Besides, who could say no to KFC?
He took another moment to admire his work before walking out of the kitchen, he saw Sayoko preparing to head out and get their take-out order when there was a sudden knock on the door to the student council room, and then it was unlocked from the other side.
The she-devil poked her head through.
"Lulu!" Milly chirped. "I hope you didn't start the festivities without me!"
He laughed, seeing the evil blonde always gave him cause for concern but today at least he knew he was safe from whatever prank or scheme she could possibly have in store for him. She wouldn't do anything to mess up the party for Nunnally, even Milly wasn't that evil... or suicidal.
"Of course not Milly, what do you take me for? I knew you would be late."
"Fashionably late!" She defended playfully. "Never forget that, but I have a good reason, I brought a plus-one!"
Lelouch raised an eyebrow.
He had never told anyone his or Nunnally's birthdays. He always wanted to treat it as a private affair, plus it was evidence of their true heritage if anyone did research on the Vi Britannias for whatever reason so he had been tight lipped on the subject.
Milly knew that, which is why Lelouch's smile turned into a frown. He trusted Milly, but who could possibly-
His eyes lit up and his smile came right back when she swung the door open completely, revealing that Kallen had been standing behind her. She was holding a big, red gift-wrapped box of some sort with a neat little blue bow and ribbon. The moment her eyes met his she smiled back just as brightly.
If it had been anyone else- other than Ruben of course- he probably would have been mad. But Kallen?
No he could never be mad about that. She was Lelouch's best friend, and Nunnally's as well, she was more than welcome here, at any time.
He was ready to kick himself. 'That's right, I should have told her and invited her here myself... guess I owe Milly.' Lelouch groaned internally.
"Please come in." He offered. Sayoko stepped up to help Kallen, gingerly taking the gift that the redhead had brought and setting it on the table.
Kallen trotted forward and wrapped Lelouch up in a hug that once again completely ripped through his wall of measured calm and made him blush, but he hugged back.
Kallen let go after a few moments. "Sorry I'm late! I had to pick up Nuna-chan's gift but there where a bunch of stupid delays." She whined.
"It's no trouble Kallen!" Nunnally giggled. "I'm just happy you're here!"
Kallen turned to look at Nunnally walked over to her, gently hugging the little girl in her chair, and the hug was immediately returned.
"How are you Nunnally?" Kallen asked.
"Great now that you're here!" Nunnally chirped, making Kallen giggle before seeing Lelouch jog into the kitchen, and he came back out with a basket of freshly washed assorted fruits.
"Sayoko was going to pick up KFC for us since I baked a cake and Nuna didn't want me slaving over an oven any longer, you're more than welcome to join us." He offered, setting the basket down on the table.
"Ya know what it's been like forever since I had KFC. I know it was a popular franchise in Japan before... yeah, anyways, I remember this one time when our house had to get fumigated so we popped over to visit a relative of my mother over Christmas and guess what we had?"
"KFC?" Milly asked.
"KFC." Kallen confirmed. "I thought it was hilarious."
Lelouch chuckled, and then nodded to Sayoko. "Go ahead and tell Sayoko what you'd like and she'll add it to our order, I need to grab something from my room."
"Okieokie." Kallen agreed, and while she was speaking to Sayoko, Lelouch jogged up to his room, grabbing the present he got for Nunnally, gift-wrapped in purple with gold ribbons and a bow. He picked it up and quickly brought it downstairs, setting it next to the one that Kallen had brought.
When he came back down, Sayoko was already out the door, leaving Kallen and Nunnally in idle conversation. He did notice earlier that Kallen had eaten less than usual at lunch, she was probably hungry.
Without sparing another moment to think about it, he grabbed a piece of fruit, a peach out of the fruit basket and offered it to Kallen.
She turned to look at him, and suddenly an overwhelming sense of Deja-Vu washed over them... why did this feel so familiar?
He blinked
She blinked back
And then suddenly a realization washed over both of them
"That was you!?" They both blurted out at the exact same time, pointing fingers at each other like the Spiderman meme.
Nunnally was just confused. "Huh?" She asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong, we just realized we met before the invasion." Lelouch answered calmly. "Of all the crazy luck..."
Kallen couldn't help but start laughing. "Oh my God you where such a Tsundere!"
"Was not!" The Tsundere whined, crossing his arms. "I was being nice!"
"You where a brat." She giggled.
"I was with Suzaku." Lelouch grumbled, flushing red. "That arse was getting on my nerves that's all!"
Kallen frowned, remembering the interaction. "He hit you."
"I- well, yeah..."
"Was he your friend?"
Lelouch nodded in response. "My first."
Kallen looked sad. "Friends aren't supposed to hit each other like that. Roughhousing is one thing but he was smacking you for even the smallest things..." Kallen said, crossing her arms. "It's not right."
"No..." Lelouch admitted. "I suppose it's not, but it didn't bother me, I'd gotten far worse before, what he was doing was more annoying than anything." He tried to rationalize.
"It was abusive." Kallen hissed.
The redhead was worried. Hearing something along the lines of getting worse before, like he was used to it... used to being abused, what kind of awful childhood did her best friend have to take physical assault so casually? Especially by someone who was supposed to be a friend?
Nunnally herself was miffed. She had thought before that Suzaku had tempered himself with Lelouch, the Japanese boy was always nice to her and never did anything mean around her, but they weren't always together... was Suzaku really so cruel? She didn't want to believe it...
"It's in the past." Lelouch said in a hushed tone, his body language went from relaxed to guarded, there was a pain hidden deep in his eyes.
Kallen wouldn't push this, as much as she wanted to know more about Lelouch, she wouldn't make him do anything he wasn't comfortable with.
She sighed, deciding to drop the topic, then walked over to Lelouch and gave him a hug, one that he instantly accepted, his shoulders relaxing from their stiff position as he returned the gesture.
"Thank you Kallen." He said quietly.
"Of course." She answered. "I don't want to see you like this, I wanna see you smiling, you look better when you're smiling!" She said, releasing him from the hug and poking his cheek playfully before taking the peach that he still had in his hand. "Thank you too."
They both flushed, with pink dusting their cheeks, they had been staring into eachothers eyes and both seemed to realize it at the same time, quickly looking at the floor, wall, ceiling, anything but the person in front of them.
Milly, of course, saw this entire interaction, and through the course of it her expression went from jovial, to sad, and then devilish as she saw them embrace and then act awkward.
'Well well- looks like I get to play matchmaker~' Milly preened internally, walking up to both of them and wrapping her arms around the back of their necks, pulling them closer together into a hug with her.
"Now now, let's not get off topic. It's Nuna's birthday! I say we do the present opening first!"
"Already?" Lelouch asked, the mentioning of his beloved sister ripping him out of his flustered state. "Typically we do that after the cake."
"I know but I'm excited to give her my presents!" Milly chirped.
"Presents as in plural?" Lelouch asked.
"Duh, besides I know both of you went and got her more than one thing in those boxes, don't play dumb with me." Milly tsked.
Lelouch rolled his eyes, it's not that he didn't want Milly to give Nuna presents, but he felt bad for needing to be accommodated by family friends and couldn't help having a guilty feeling when Milly went out of her way to give something out of pocket. The Ashfords already took care of all their basic needs, that was enough of a present in itself as far as he was concerned.
Kallen smiled. "Well I suppose there's no harm in it, present time Nuna?"
"Present time!" Nuna cheered.
"Well you heard the boss, present time it is!" Milly said with a wink.
"Alright, alright you win." Lelouch drawled with a smile and a roll of his eyes.
Kallen closed her eyes and shook her head. "You're whipped."
"You be quiet." Lelouch said indignantly.
"No." Kallen said as she opened her eyes and smirked, causing Milly to giggle.
Lelouch sighed, but he just couldn't stop smiling. He gently pulled himself out of Milly's over-the-shoulder side hug and walked over to Nuna. "Who's gifts would you like to open first?" He asked.
"I'll open Milly's first since she's so excited!" Nuna answered enthusiastically.
Milly happily reached into her purse, and pulled out a few gift-wrapped items. The first was obviously a book just by looking at the shape, the second was a ball of some sort and the third was a small box with a slight curve to the lid.
The first one, the book was handed to her and she quickly opened the gift wrap, searching for the braille title, she found it and smiled.
"Oh- a book of clean jokes! Thanks Milly!"
"I would have gotten you the dirty joke book but then Lelouch would bury me."
"Damn straight." He answered instantly, shaking his head.
Nunnally laughed at that, and was then handed the ball, she opened the light wrapping to feel it. It was soft, and somewhat firm, but a bit squishy.
"It's a stress ball. Rai told me that he noticed you gripping your chair whenever you get antsy and thought this might help."
"Oh, how thoughtful!"
Lelouch gave Milly a questioning look, and she shrugged before answering the unspoken question. "Rai is the chaperone that helps teachers with special needs students, I think he's studying to become a therapist?" Milly mused.
Lelouch mulled over that information and nodded, he was happy that someone was being observant like that, he'd have to thank Rai later.
The final gift, the small box with the curved lid came up. She took off the wrapping paper and opened the small box. Reaching inside, she felt smooth metal, a small chain attached to something else, a texture she wasn't familiar with, it was smooth to the touch like glass but not quite...
"A pearl necklace. I thought you could use some fresh fashion and found that little number, I just knew it would look great on you."
Nunnally smiled wide. "Big brother-"
"I'll help you get it on Nunnally." He answered, gingerly taking the gift and unhooking the chain, before very gently putting it around her neck and securing the latch to make sure it would stay on.
"These gifts are wonderful." Nunnally said with a gentle tone and soft smile. "Thank you so much Milly."
"Anything for you Nuna." Milly answered sweetly.
"Who should be next?" Kallen asked.
"Big Brother's I think, I don't need to hold his hand to know he's excited to give me his." She chided, turning her face towards Lelouch's direction, making him bashful, but he was happy to go next.
He set his gift in her lap, and she opened it up, reaching inside she felt the familiar touch of textile.
"Some new clothes to go with the necklace Milly gave you, I know you can't see them but I promise they'll look great on you.
Nunnally giggled. "Big brother it's the clothes that make me look good."
"Nope, definitely the other way around." Her big brother said confidently, making her laugh even louder and smile wide, feeling their soft fabrics. They felt so cozy~
She gently set the box down on the table. "Thank you so much big brother! I can't wait to try them on, I'm pretty sure I felt some pajamas in there that will be oh so snuggly!" She cheered, making the others smile and laugh a bit.
"Good thing you saved the best for last." Kallen mused, playfully shoulder-bumping Lelouch who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah- let's see what you got from Kallen now."
"It's heavy." The redhead warned. "I'll help hold it up for her so that she doesn't put too much pressure on her lap."
Lelouch nodded, helping Kallen with the box, finding that it was indeed rather heavy. Nunnally reached out and eagerly tore the gift-wrap open and reached inside. Her fingers grazed the very familiar texture of bound leather, a hard cover for a book. Her hands slipped down and found that there where multiple books stacked on top of each other. With her limited strength she hefted the first one out, and ran her fingers down the spine.
Her small smile became a bright beaming one.
"I don't believe it! You found the Lord of the Rings saga in braille!?" She asked excitedly.
"I had it custom ordered from the Britannian homeland a couple months ago. I heard how much you love reading from Milly and always see you with a book nearby so I thought it would be the perfect gift."
"It is!" Nunnally insisted, and Lelouch melted at how genuinely excited his sister sounded, her hands gently holding the book as she felt it, and took in the feint scent of treated leather, paper and ink. "Thank you so much Kallen!"
Kallen gave Nunnally some headpats in response. "I told Lelouch he was whipped but I'll be honest I think I am too." She admitted, and this earned a hearty laugh from Lelouch and a fit of adorable giggles from Nunnally.
Milly decided to dog-pile the lot of them by grabbing Lelouch and Kallen once more and pulling them into a 4-way hug with Nunnally, causing all of them to laugh and embrace each other.
It was then that Sayoko came back, walking in with the food she picked up, she smiled the moment she saw the group hug.
"Miss Sayoko!" Nunnally called the maid's name. "Join us quick before Nii-sama tries to worm his way out!"
Sayoko felt her heart warm and walked over to the group, setting the food down before walking behind Nunnally and leaning over to join in the hug.
They stayed there for a little longer, before they all eventually let go.
"Well I dunno about you guys, but I'm starving! C'mon Lelouch I wanna have an eating contest with you!" Milly declared her challenge.
Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "Why...?"
"What?" Milly asked, smirking like he had just walked into her trap as she picked a drumstick out of the KFC bucket. "Don't tell me you're... chicken."
Nunnally and Kallen both burst out laughing at the awful pun, and and even Sayoko couldn't help but cough out a small laugh. Lelouch just stared blankly at Milly.
"You're terrible."
"Thanks."
"Wasn't a compliment."
Milly shrugged. "Real friends have a duty to make you question your sanity, I'm just filling my quota."
The meal passed by quickly, everyone was quite famished and the takeout food hit the spot. Everybody loves fried chicken after all.
Then came the cake, decorated with candles. While Nunnally couldn't see it, Lelouch described it to her and she began to practically salivate just at the mention of the treat her beloved big brother made for her.
"I'm so thankful." She smiled, and cried, but they where happy tears. "I'm so thankful for all of you, for Kallen and Milly my best friends, for you Sayoko, and of course for you big brother!" She sniffled. "I love you all so much!"
Lelouch quickly moved to hug her, and she hugged him back as tightly as she could, her eyes became waterfalls, she was so touched, she felt so loved, so happy to have this, these moments, she would treasure them forever.
It inevitably devolved into another sappy group hug, with everyone smiling and crying happy tears in the emotional moment, but nobody seemed to mind. Eventually then everyone went back to their seats.
She flushed red, cutely embarrassed as they all sang happy birthday for her, before she leaned forward and blew out the candles, thinking to herself, of her one true wish.
'To live my life, happy with the people I love...'
Then the cake was sliced by the chef who made it, and portioned out to everyone, making sure Nunnally got the first slice of course, and then went clockwise around the table, giving the last piece to himself, though everyone waited patiently to start until he was ready, and they all took a bite.
Everyone, even Lelouch himself was floored at how good it was.
"Thish ish amashing!" Kallen complimented, her mouth full. Even though Naoto wasn't here Lelouch could practically hear him telling her not to talk with his mouth full and had to stop himself from laughing, but blushed at the compliment.
Milly, Nunnally and even Sayoko where left speechless at how good it was, their faces bright as they shoveled the delectable treat into their waiting mouths and savored it. Everything from the creamy frosting, to the soft fluffy cake, and the raspberry jam, it was perfect.
They talked a bit more after that, about nothing in particular, how things where going, upcoming events, the nearing holiday season, it was all a bit of a blur as Lelouch leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile.
The little boy hadn't felt so relaxed... so at peace before, not like this, especially not since his mother died. He savored it, this moment in all its beauty, its perfect honesty and wholesome simplicity, the affection he felt radiating from the people around him.
He wished every day could be like this.
Eventually, goodbyes had to be said, it was a Wednesday after all, a school night. So with that, Kallen and Milly both said their farewells, exchanging well-wishes and birthday tidings with Nunnally, giving her one last quick hug. Kallen hugged Lelouch as well, once again catching him off-guard, but he didn't mind in the slightest.
After they left, Lelouch let out a satisfied sigh, his face hurt from smiling so much, and he didn't mind that either.
"Sayoko, would you mind tucking Nunnally in? I'll be up later to wish her goodnight of course but I want to get some of this cleaned up."
"Of course young lord." She answered, taking the yawning and sleepy Nunnally to her room. Sayoko dutifully helped Nunnally out of her chair and into her bed, preparing to tuck her in.
"Miss Sayoko?" Nunnally murmured.
"Yes lady Nunnally?" Sayoko asked.
"Thank you so much, for watching over us, taking care of big brother and I." She yawned, reaching her hands out, she cupped Sayoko's cheeks. "You do so much for us, you're always there to help no matter what... you're like our mom..." She whispered.
Sayoko's eyes went wide and her heart nearly lurched out of her chest. She smiled. She smiled so wide and so brightly, something she doesn't recall having ever done before as happy tears flowed freely. Nunnally felt them and used her thumbs to brush away the wetness.
"Are you ok, miss Sayoko?" Nunnally asked.
"Better than ok, lady Nunnally." Sayoko answered, her voice uneven, she took Nunnally's arms and laid them down on the bed before leaning in to gently kiss Nunnally's forehead, making the little girl smile.
"Goodnight miss Sayoko."
"Goodnight lady Nunnally."
Nunnally heard Sayoko shuffle towards the door, heard the click of the light being turned off and the creak of the door before it clicked shut.
She was half-asleep when she heard Lelouch walk in. He smelled of cleaning products, but she didn't mind. He walked up to her bed and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight Nunnally, and happy birthday."
"Thank you big brother..." She murmured. "For the best birthday ever..."
That was all Lelouch needed to hear to set him completely at ease. He ruffled her hair a little, before stepping outside and gently closing the door. He went back to his room, flopped into his bed, and fell asleep a minute later with a grin on his face.
That night there where no nightmares, only flashes of smiles, soft laughter, and a flash of red hair.
Lelouch sighed.
He did not like his birthday.
He didn't know why, that's just how it was.
It reminded him of things he'd rather forget and ignore. But unfortunately- or fortunately depending on how one looked at it- Nunnally never allowed it. She always insisted on celebrating, even if it was small.
This birthday however she was ESPECIALLY insistent on having a proper party, at least as good as the one he threw for her.
His biggest gripe is that he wasn't allowed to help. He wasn't allowed to set up decorations, cook, clean, none of it. Sayoko was adamant that today she was taking care of everything with help from Milly.
He groaned as he laid on the couch, bored, he hated being bored. The worst thing for him was having nothing to do, his mind always needed a task to focus on or else he would go bloody insane.
The young boy rolled onto his side and huffed. He heard Sayoko at work in the kitchen, wishing it was him preparing the food.
Thankfully he wasn't stuck like this for long. Nunnally saw fit to grace him with her presence. She rolled out of her room and up next to him. She didn't even have to call out to him to know where he was. It's almost like she had a sixth sense.
He didn't mind one bit though, his intelligent and pragmatic side was intrigued by the implications and possibilities of her having such an ability.
His 13 year old teenage boy side thought 'Cool, my little sister has superpowers.'
He smiled and reached out to give her headpats, which she accepted with glee.
"Happy birthday big brother!"
It was only a couple short months ago that he had said happy birthday to her. His heart melted hearing the affection in her voice and he sat up straight, his hand moved subconsciously to hold one of hers.
She felt his hand, and she relaxed, a peaceful smile on her face.
The black mark of his painful past was still there, buried deep. Beneath love, the love he had for her, and the love that she along with all his friends had for him. It had diminished. The all-encompassing darkness that threatened to consume him was now naught but a speck, a shadow in the light of his swelling hope.
He hadn't let go, of course, the scars of the past would always be there, no matter what happened. But now it wasn't threatening to swallow him whole as it once did. The pain had become bearable.
And Nunnally knew who to thank.
'You're doing it Kallen... big brother is better now, he has a new best friend, he has you, you're saving my angel... he's not eating his wings anymore.'
Of course, she knew Milly had a hand in it as well, she wasn't his best friend but she was still close and they cared about each other, and obviously Nunnally knew she was important to him too. But Kallen was different, there was something more to his relationship with her. She couldn't pick it out, nor could she explain how she knew. She could just tell.
It made her so happy.
There was a banging on the door. "Knock Knock!" The voice of Milly came through before the door to the student council room opened. Kallen and Milly walked through, the former carrying a wide gift-wrapped box, and the other carrying a box that was labeled by a high class local bakery.
"Oh there you are!" Nunnally called out, recognizing the voice of Milly, and subconsciously detecting Kallen's presence.
"Sorry, this time we're fashionably early!"
"Oh don't worry the place is mostly cleaned, Sayoko is in the kitchen right now and decorations are... well." He shrugged, not really caring about the decorations, it wasn't exactly a big party and he wasn't one for pomp.
Unfortunately for him, he was wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, after all it was only 20 days away. He wasn't strictly Christian, or even 'spiritual' for that matter. He wasn't a believer but he at least liked Christmas for the family aspect. The idea of being with family, exchanging gifts, being cozy with loved ones next to an open fire with some good food and drinks?
He couldn't find anything wrong with that. Christmas was one of the few days of the year that he was happy and carefree back at the Ares Villa.
At least he wasn't alone. His ugly Christmas sweater was a collection of very poorly stitched reindeer faces. Milly's was an unreasonably buff Santa flexing in a speedo (she was lucky Nunnally couldn't see or he'd be pissed) and Kallen's had a Charlie brown style sad Christmas tree with a single ornament hanging off and Snoopy smoking a blunt beneath it.
How they managed to wear those inappropriate things around the school and not get busted by the staff he may never know.
"Oh don't sweat it! We don't need decorations, it's just us!" Milly said, seemingly on the same wavelength as Lelouch, and Kallen shrugged, having no opinion on the subject.
"I'm gonna go help Sayoko in the kitchen. Nunnally would you be so kind as to help set the table?"
"Absolutely!" Nunnally answered, rolling along next to Milly as the blonde walked to the kitchen area with the cake. Meanwhile Kallen set Lelouch's present down on the table, the box landed with a somewhat heavy thud. Lelouch was curious to see what his gift was, but he could wait of course.
Kallen walked over to him, and plopped down on the couch next to Lelouch with a warm smile.
He smiled back automatically.
"Hey." She greeted him.
"Hey." He replied in kind.
"How ya doin?" The redhead asked.
His smile faded slightly, and her eyes softened, looking at him with concern.
"The holiday season used to remind me of happier days, but my old memories are... they're bittersweet now, with everything that happened."
"Is it about your old family?" She asked quietly, and he nodded sadly.
"They... most of them aren't good people, the opposite in fact, most of them are rotten, and I called them out on that you could say. I rejected it, their way of thinking, their ideology. I thought they where cruel... after my mom was murdered... father didn't care, he got rid of me, got rid of Nunnally because he saw us as useless..."
He took a shuddering breath. There was a weight on his chest, on his shoulders, this was hard to talk about, but he felt like he had to, that Kallen should know at least some of his background and that he would feel better telling her.
"They're wrong." Kallen said firmly.
Lelouch was startled by that, turning his gaze to look into her eyes and finding compassion.
"You're smart Lelouch." She began. "Really smart, so smart it's scary to be honest. You rob the nobility with Naoto like taking candy from the baby and you're a year ahead of everyone else in ALL honors classes. You're literally a child prodigy."
The compliment made his heart skip a beat and he flushed red, his eyes went wide as he felt a pleasant tingling sensation roll up his spine. He felt... warm, so warm and fuzzy inside.
She continued. "And you're nice... you're so, so wonderfully sweet to the people you care about, you're so thoughtful, you always want your friends to be happy no matter what. When I'm sad you're sad, when Nunnally feels hurt you feel hurt, when Milly's asshole parents come around you get pissed on her behalf." She smiled.
Your heart is so big Lelouch, it's big and it's so very strong. I can tell you're hurt. You're hurt bad but you keep pushing on in the face of everything, you have the kind of willpower that ordinary people can't even comprehend... You're special Lelouch, special to me." She said, flushing a shade of red that matched her hair as she held his hands. "You're my best friend."
Lelouch smiled and cried, pulling Kallen into a hug, and she hugged back nice and tight, having a wholesome little moment with each other.
Eventually, he loosened his grip and they pulled away, still flushed and smiling they stared at each other for a moment before Kallen nodded her head towards the door.
"Let's step outside." She suggested
He didn't bother to argue, if she wanted to go outside with him, then he'd gladly do so.
He slipped on his coat- black of course, and put a hat on to cover his head and ears along with a scarf. She put on her own coat and hat as well, and he slipped his snow shoes on.
They left the student council room and went out into the courtyard. There where a few small clouds in the air, but the bright full moon was still visible, and illuminated the courtyard as they stood next to each other.
Lelouch looked up at the moon, and Kallen looked up with him, before her eyes trailed up to his face, he looked forlorn, still sad like something was eating at him.
'Time for a distraction~'
Lelouch stared up at that moon, remembering the crystal clear nights he spent outside with Nunnally and his mother, when they where little, staring up at the stars-
THWAP
He was shaken from his reverie as a splash of cold ice smacked into the side of his head, exploding into bits as the powdery snowball fell apart on contact.
He yelped, and turned to look at Kallen who was standing a few feet away, she was leaning forward, pulling one of her eyelids down and sticking her tongue out at him.
'Oh so that's how it's gonna be?'
Lelouch grinned, quickly scooping up a snowball and hurling it at her. She got smacked in the chest and dramatically clutched at the "wound" she had suffered, falling to her knees and throwing a hand into the air. "I'm hit! I'm hit! Man down!" She cried out.
Lelouch rushed over to her and she fell back into the snow, kneeling next to her. "Yes! Victory is mine!" He grinned, only for her to crack an eye open, scoop up a handful of snow into her hand and lightly slap him in the face with it. And they both began to laugh uncontrollably.
Nunnally sat at the kitchen window, overlooking the courtyard. Milly and Sayoko where next to her. All 3 of them smiling brightly. The little sister heard their vibrant laughs while Milly and Sayoko both watched the interaction.
'Well... maybe I don't even need to play matchmaker, we'll have to wait and see how things go.' The blonde thought to herself, tilting her head, there was a knowing glint in her eyes.
After goofing around outside for a bit longer, they came back in, and Lelouch looked significantly more relaxed than he did before, an easy smile on his face.
"Dinner is ready senpai~" Milly said jokingly, and everyone sat down for their meal at the table, this time it was home-cooked. Beef stroganoff with fresh-baked French bread, it hit the spot. And after that was cake. Lelouch was a light eater, so Milly opted to get an angel food cake since the dinner beforehand was on the heavier side, served with whipped cream and assorted berries.
There was only one gift this time, but Lelouch didn't mind one bit, he was happy to get anything, it was signed by everyone else in the room, so it must have been a group project.
He opened the gift wrapping and looked at the top of what he immediately recognized as a chessboard. But given its size he realized that it must have also doubled as a chest that contained the pieces.
What stood out was the fact that this definitely was NOT something you could just buy at the store.
The tiles that made up the board where carved out of what looked like a checkered pattern of white marble and black granite, and the rest of the board looked like it was workshopped by hand with some nice engravings worked in. His breath caught in his throat, hitching as he was taken aback by its beauty, he was falling in love with it.
He looked down and saw there was a white-gold latch for the chest, he flipped it open and lifted the lid, looking inside he saw the hand-carved pieces of matching marble and granite. He picked up a piece, the black queen, feeling its weight as his thumb gently ran across the carved stone. A wide, toothy smile graced his face.
"Its from everyone, our friends in Shinjuku included."
"Oh?" That caught him off-guard.
"Yup!" Kallen chirped. "The idea was originally Nunnally's."
"And then I used my skills as a savvy little socialite to find the materials and tools at a good price." Milly pitched in, and Kallen nodded.
"Then Naoto used some of the savings from your assisted gambling matches to buy everything and had it brought back to the old hideout. Everyone wanted you to have a good birthday so they all worked together to workshop the board and all the pieces. They even carved their initials into the pieces they made."
Upon hearing this he looked at the bottom of the black queen chess piece he was holding and saw that Kallen's initials where carved into the bottom.
He was speechless... there where no words to describe how he felt. It was the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given him. He cried happy tears, tightly clutching the chess piece, it was almost too much as he choked, bringing his other hand up to his face. It was beautiful.
Kallen leaned forward from her seat and hugged him tight. This was followed by Nunnally, Milly and Sayoko.
He smiled, he smiled so wide, he was so happy, he felt so loved, he hugged them back.
Milly took this chance to make her move. She held up her phone, turning on selfie mode and made sure everyone was in view of the camera.
"Say cheese!" She ordered, and Lelouch went along with it, everyone said the word at the same time and she snapped the photo.
Kallen didn't let go.
"Happy Birthday Lelouch." She whispered.
And it was, it was the happiest birthday he ever had.
A/N: Ah its so fluffy! Wholesome overload!
Review please :3