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code_geass2006-11-18 09:27 pm
defade.livejournal.com) wrote in code_geass2006-11-18 09:27 pm
Entry tags:
[fic] Fate/Rendezvous & Trouble Stg. 3
Title: Fate/Rendezvous & Trouble
Rating: PG-13 for Britannian soldier-ness(wtf does THAT mean?)
Word Count: 3,676(I swear I nearly died)
Characters: Lulu, Mokona, Nanaly, find out the rest yourself.XD;;
Genre: Humour, Drama, Angst(?)
Summary: Some say meetings are precious moments in one's life and often brings hapiness, but to Lelouch, meeting a certain someone in a certain someday only brings trouble. And thus, his organized life is turned upside down.
WARNINGS: NO. The pink-haired girl is NOT an OC. There. I said it.
Disclaimer: Code Geass belongs to me! MUAHAHAHA.*is shot* I mean, Code Geass doesn't belong to me, but to all those Sunrise ppl that created this wonderful anime. Oh, and to Pizza Hut.XD;;
Previous Stages
Stage 3. Nightmares & Dreams
Two people sat on the railroad passing through Shinjuku. One of them just sat there with his eyes closed, uninterested in anything, the other seemed quite content drawing strange pictures in the dirt.
Around them there lay about fifty Britannian soldiers, all knocked out.
"I wonder why they attacked us all of a sudden..." Fay wondered out loud, while scribbling on the ground.
"Hmph. How would I know?" The latter replied.
When they landed in this place after being separated from the others, the first thing they saw was a bunch of people in gray clothes carrying guns surrounding them. One of them demanded, "What are you guys doing here? Don't you know this place is off-limits to commoners?" to which they replied with a blank stare. The former continued.
"You guys are very suspicious, with weird clothes and weird hairstyles. Terrorists, aren't you? Anyway, catch them first."
About ten of these men rushed forward to capture Kurogane and Fay. Fay easily hopped over one -smashing his would-be captor's head into the ground in the process of doing so- and delivered a kick across another's face. Kurogane just lazily smashed his opponents' faces with the hilt of his katana. All of the ten men were knocked out within one minute. Fay was still in a good mood and joked, "Wasn't that a warm welcome we just received, Kuropon?" while Kurogane just replied with a "Hmph. Annoying bastards."
The leader of the troop seemed to be genuinely shocked, he pointed a shaking finger at them and ordered-
"Fire!"
Let's just say before the Britannian soldiers even had time to shoot, everything went black for them.
"But Kuropon, you really went all out on them, didn't you?" Fay commented while poking the forehead of an unconscious Britannian playfully with his stick. That particularly unfortunate one actually had the guts to call Kurogane "that damned black bastard", and was of course met with Kurogane's wrath. Which certainly wasn't a pretty sight at all.
Kurogane's reply was a simple word – "Hmph."
Another few minutes went by with Fay poking a few of the unfortunate soldiers just for fun. After a long period of silence which seemed like eternity, Kurogane finally spoke up.
"We were separated."
It was Kurogane's way of asking "Why were we separated?" and "Where are the others?"
"I think another power is disturbing Mokona's flow. Dunno about Syaoran and Sakura, but Mokona is probably very near to us, since we can still communicate. This isn't our first time, right?"
Kurogane silently agreed as he recalled the incident in the Ashura Kingdom, in which they had arrived a year earlier than Syaoran and Sakura.
"...so you think that we arrived at different times?"
"That I cannot say for sure. But it is a possibility." Fay answered absent-mindedly as he jumped onto the rails.
"Hpmh." Came the answer. Again.
Silence had arrived again as Fay examined the railroad with interest. A few moments later, though, Fay looked at Kurogane.
"No trains had passed this railroad ever since we had arrived here."
Kurogane stared.
"This railroad must lead to some other towns, maybe even bigger ones."
Kurogane didn't react, but waited for Fay to reveal what he wanted to say.
"So why don't we just walk along this railroad and see where it takes us?" Fay smiled happily.
Kurogane wanted to bang his head against a pole.
"What good can it do anyway?" He asked, annoyed.
"Hmm..." Fay looked as if he was considering something. "Then do you have any better ideas, Kurorin?"
"..."
"See?"
Fay again smiled broadly as he tugged a protesting Kurogane along the railroad. Destination: Unknown.
-
After a series of arguments, threats and crying fits, Mokona finally agreed to reside on Lelouch's shoulder. When Lelouch finally got home, though, he found out that Nanaly had a fever.
Nobody was in the living room, and, sensing that something was wrong, Lelouch started making his way into Nanaly's bedroom. There he found his sister lying on her bed, looking very pale and fragile. Sweat was dripping all over her face, and beside her, their faithful and ever hardworking maid, Sayoko was busy drying a wet towel.
Sayoko noticed his presence, and, with a simple nod, returned to her task at hand – taking care of Nanaly.
Lelouch walked over. Nanaly didn't look good at all. Although two blankets were covering her, she was still shivering, and occasionally a word or two escaped her shaking lips. He felt Nanaly's forehead, it was searing hot.
"Nanaly-sama must be having a nightmare." Sayoko said, while placing the half wet towel on Nanaly's forehead.
"Was she already like this in the morning?" Lelouch questioned worriedly.
"Yes. Nanaly-sama woke up today feeling unwell, said that she only had a bad headache, but it was more than that."
Lelouch worried a lot about his sister's health and safety, but right now, he could do nothing but just stand and watch over her. A few moments of silence passed before a small voice could be heard.
"Onii-sama..."
Lelouch did not hesitate to cup his hands around Nanaly's stretched-out hand. Nanaly seemed to reassured by his action, for a peaceful smile lit up her soft features.
-
She was in a nightmare.
Drip drip drip...
Blood.
Drip drip drip...
Everywhere. On the floor, on the stairs, on her knees, and...on the figure crouched above her, arms around Nanaly as if in an embrace.
That was her mother, and this was the night.
The night that her mother had died, still so clearly embedded in her mind even after all these years.
Her body had lost its freedom; she had lost her sight, but most importantly, her own mother, who had cared for her and her brother all those years. Her mother was the only parent that she knew. Her father...was a figure in distant land, never to be reached.
Bullets were shot. The sound of shattering glass was heard. And blood splattered everywhere.
Yet she was unable to do anything but let fate take her into its hands.
She was in a nightmare, unable to fight back or speak.
Destiny was a cruel thing.
-
A dream.
She was floating.
Floating...towards where? She didn't know and didn't care.
Darkness surrounded her, trapped her in its arms.
Suddenly she was falling. Towards the depth of darkness. Around her were fragments of memories, those days of pain, of laughter, of tears. Time flowed. And they faded away.
Somehow, she was walking through a tunnel.
Her body didn't feel tired, and it only sent out one message to her – walk. So she walked on.
-
After what seemed like hours, days, months to her, she could finally see a light. The hint of light was so small that it might just go unnoticed if not for the darkness surrounding it. It grew larger, and after some time, the light engulfed her, taking her into its warmth.
But in the light, she saw something.
Two overlapping circles.
Two circles...two dimensions...yet the same world.
The circle on the left was white, the circle on the right was black, and where they overlapped, gray.
She saw two people, but she could not make out their faces. One of them carried a key, one of them carried a will.
The first person was handing the key to the other person. It did not look like a key at all, but from somewhere in her heart, she knew it was.
Two dimensions...and the key connecting them.
Darkness surrounded her again, and she drifted away.
-
"Ahh!"
"Careful, Princess!"
"Thank you, Syaoran-kun."
Syaoran and Sakura had been dropped on a beach. The beach, apparently, was very close to a main city, as lively sounds could be heard, and the pile of giant but flat rocks leading up to what seemed like a plaza proved the point. Seeing that there was no other way to get out from the beach than to climb the flat rocks, Syaoran and Sakura had no choice but to start climbing.
Syaoran helped Sakura most of the way up, but she accidentally slipped and nearly fell. Syaoran caught her hand at the last second.
Syaoran pulled Sakura over the low fence separating the beach from the city, and here they were, standing in the plaza.
"Wah! What a lively town!"
Sakura, who was an optimist and therefore always kept up her cheerful attitude, quickly noticed the movements going on inside the busy and lively town. Lots of people were on the streets, chatting to each other, buying food and other supplies from the market in front of them. In the plaza, a few elderly people sat on benches and watched the pigeons in front of them, picking on the ground. A group of boys played a game of tag, they all seemed to be very happy.
Together they walked through the streets, observing their surroundings. There were all kinds of shops everywhere. Occasionally, Sakura checked out things that had caught her eye, and Syaoran simply followed.
It was not long, though, before they experienced the inconvenience of not having any money.
Sakura's stomach grumbled.
Syaoran stopped in his tracks. "...are you hungry, Princess?"
"N-no, not at all!" Sakura quickly explained while blushing, "I was only-"
But another grumble had revealed the truth.
Sadly, they did not have any food with them, and buying some was out of the question. Plus Fay and Kurogane were nowhere to be seen. Syaoran was a bit worried.
They were now in what seemed like a deserted part of the town, for no people nor shops can be seen anywhere.
"Ahhh! Watch out!"
A voice from somewhere above cried out. Syaoran immediately turned his head, and saw a...girl falling down towards them?
Keeping Sakura safely at his side, Syaoran caught the falling young girl before she hit the ground.
The girl looked about sixteen. She had flowing pink hair which reached her waist, and her eyes were a sapphire blue.
"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked worriedly.
The girl seemed surprised at something at first, but she dismissed it with a shake of her head.
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Uhh...sorry about that...I didn't think anyone would be standing below." The girl answered shyly.
"No, it's okay. I didn't expect someone to fall from above either." Syaoran replied.
"Are you...in some kind of trouble?" Sakura asked curiously.
The girl looked at Sakura for a moment, she seemed to be considering something.
"Yes!"
The girl answered with such brightness in her tone that both Syaoran and Sakura were a bit taken back.
"Actually, I was being chased by bad guys, so I had no choice but to jump down...from there."
She pointed to a window on the second floor. A white cloth was dangling from the windowpane. Obviously, that's where she jumped off.
"Then we better hurry up. Princess?"
"Yes!"
Sakura seemed a bit confused about the situation, but she followed them anyway.
-
"We should be fine now."
They were a few streets away from where they first met the young girl, in a plaza. A fountain was in the middle of the plaza, and lots of people were walking around – but not so much that you'd feel too crowded.
"Thank you! You can call me...Yufie! What about you?"
The girl who called herself Yufie asked Syaoran and Sakura.
"I'm Syaoran."
"I'm Sakura, nice to meet you, Yufie-san!" Sakura said with a smile and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you too! And just ‘Yufie’ is enough, Sakura!" Yufie said, shaking Sakura's hand.
"Yufie...why were the people chasing after you?" Sakura questioned.
"Ah...that...uhh..." Yufie seemed to be bothered by something for a moment, as if thinking of the right thing to say.
"You were lying about that, right?"
It was Syaoran who spoke.
"Yes...because I just wanted...to hang out with someone once in a while..." Yufie seemed to be saddened by something. "Sorry." She mumbled.
"It's alright, Yufie." Sakura assured her.
Suddenly, someone's stomach grumbled again.
Yufie seemed surprised for a minute, but a smile immediately lit up her features.
"Aha! Feeling hungry?"
Sakura nodded.
Yufie immediately grabbed Sakura's hand and beckoned Syaoran to follow her.
"I just happen to know of the perfect place! The food they serve there are delicious!" Yufie smiled innocently.
"Oh, and don't worry! It's all on me!" She added.
-
Yufie was right. The restaurant was a splendid place. It was decorated with many glass panes, each of them different from one another. And you can also get a nice view of the sea due to the glass panes on the sides of the restaurant. The food they served also looked wonderful. Their appearance and scent seemed to invite you to taste them. Just looking at them made Syaoran's mouth water.
"Now don't hesitate, please!" Yufie said cheerfully from her seat.
"But..." Syaoran opened his mouth hesitantly.
"I told you, didn't I? Everything's on me! So don't worry and start eating!"
Syaoran and Sakura started drinking their soup, which had a mild red color, but it was not spicy at all.
"So, how is it?" Yufie asked, leaning forward.
"It's great, Yufie. Thank you!" Sakura answered.
"I'm glad. So, eat as much as you want!" Yufie seemed pleased.
"Yufie..."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you eating?" Sakura noticed that Yufie hadn't even touched her spoon yet.
"Oh, me? You don't have to worry! I had lunch already."
The word 'lunch' made Syaoran remember something he had wanted to ask ever since they arrived in this world.
"Yufie...can you tell me what date today is?"
"The 4th of March. Is there something about it?"
"No, not at all." At least they knew the date now.
The more info they gather of this world, the easier to navigate through it. Syaoran made a mental note to get a map of the area they're in.
-
"Ah, I'm full. Thank you again, Yufie!" Sakura said as they exited the restaurant.
"You're welcome. But now...can you take me to a place?"
"A...place?"
"Yes, you see, today was the last day of my holiday. So I just wanted to see Area 11 once, especially Shinjuku."
Syaoran was dumbfounded. Area 11? Shinjuku?
Seeing his expression, Yufie asked, "Could you guys possibly be...tourists?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. We just arrived here."
Yufie seemed to be satisfied with that answer.
"Since you seemed to not know what Area 11 is..."
"Umm...could Area 11 be the place we're standing on?"
"Of course! You must be tourists from somewhere far away. Your clothes are a bit odd, and you knew nothing about this place."
"Yufie, can you explain it a bit for us, please?"
"Of course!" Yufie nodded her head, and beckoned for them to sit on a bench in the shade of a tree.
"You see, I was born in a country called Britannia. And this place...Area 11, was conquered by the empire."
"So that means...this place isn't the only pice of land that was conquered by Britannia?"
"Yes. The motherland had conquered about one third of the world...the latest addition being Area 18, from what my sister had told me. Area 11 was used to be called 'Japan' before it was conquered."
Japan...? Wasn't that the name of Kurogane-san's country? Syaoran thought.
"Area 11 is currently divided into two areas...Sokai and Ghetto. Sokai is where Britannians live, and Ghetto is for Elevens...Japanese. These two areas are...different." Yufie put emphasis on the word 'different'.
"Shinjuku, the place where I want to go, is in Ghetto."
Syaoran, from Yufie's tone, sensed that the world they arrived in might not actually been what they thought it was. Everything had two sides, and of course, this world is not an exception.
"But since you're tourists...I guess I'll have to go myself." Yufie stood up to leave.
"No, wait! If I could get a map, I can take you there!" Syaoran offered partly out of his curiousness of the place called 'Ghetto', and partly because he didn't want to disappoint Yufie after she helped them.
"Really?" Yufie seemed to be reassured.
"Yes."
-
"No way..."
Sakura stared in disbelief at the sight in front of her. Destroyed buildings were everywhere, huge piles of rocks were scattered among the barren land. A few poorly made graves can be seen here and there. This place seemed like the land of dead to her.
Syaoran was also shocked at the difference of this town between the town where they first arrived. They seemed like two different worlds. One is paradise, one is hell. The difference between Britannians and ‘Elevens’. The difference between the winning and the losing. The two towns spelled out 'inequality' right in his face.
Yufie stood solemnly beside them, silently observing the land before them.
"This place had just suffered a terrorists' attack."
"Eh?"
"A lot of people, unhappy with their status and unwilling to give up their pride will try to fight back. A few days ago, this place was ruined due to the clashing between the empire's army and the terrorists."
"Pride?"
Yufie turned around to face Syaoran.
"There is a way for Elevens to escape their poverty – swear loyalty to Britannia. That way, they'll gain the same rights as a Britannian citizen. But for anyone to do that, they’ll have to give up their pride."
"That's terrible..." Sakura muttered.
Everyone stayed silent.
The silence was broken, though, when a few armed Britannian soldiers approached them.
"Hey, what are you guys doing over there?" A man aimed his gun at them. "Didn't you know that this place was just attacked by terrorists a few days ago?"
"We were...only visiting."
The man was not convinced.
"Hmph. As if I'd believe that kind of crap. Let me tell you something, fella, nobody, absolutely nobody comes to Shinjuku right now except for soldiers and terrorists. And one hour ago one of my troops had just sighted two terrorists. So spit it out, what the hell are you trying to do?"
"We told you, we were only visit-"
The man rudely waved his hand in front of Syaoran's face.
"I guess you won't admit it anyway. Get them first, and then we can make them spit everything out back at the headquarters." He ordered his subordinates.
Five men carrying guns neared them. One of them was trying to capture Sakura. Before he could lay his hands on Sakura, though, Syaoran delivered a flying kick across his face.
"I won't let you touch the princess!"
The man seemed annoyed at him.
"Hmph. Acting all hero-like? Just who do you think you are? Fir-"
"Stop it!"
Everyone's attention was focused on the pink-haired girl.
"Both of you, stop it! I order you in the name of Britannia's Third Princess, Euphemia V. Britannia!"
Syaoran was surprised, the girl who had jumped off a window was now acting all queen-like, giving orders to a bunch of men who looked ready to beat the crap out of anyone who stood in their way.
The first to respond was the leader of the troop. He immediately bowed down.
"I am very sorry, your highness. I had no idea." And, seeing that everyone else on the troop was dumbfounded, he added "What are you doing? Bow down!" Soon the whole troop was bowing before the girl who called herself Yufie, but was actually the Third Princess, Euphemia.
"Yufie...you were actually a princess?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
Euphemia turned around to face her.
"Yes. And the reason of why I wanted to visit Shinjuku was because…my brother, Clovis, had died here a few days ago. No- murdered by terrorists."
Sakura covered her mouth. "I'm sorry...I didn't know."
Euphemia just smiled at her.
Suddenly, someone called out to Syaoran and Sakura.
"Hey!! Syaoran-kun!! Sakura-chan!!"
They turned, only to find Fay waving at them on the railroad with Kurogane behind him.
Syaoran was relieved. He originally planned to ask people around them for any sightings of the blond magician and the short-tempered samurai.
"Fay-san!! Kurogane-san!!" Syaoran waved back.
"I'm glad that you're okay. I was quite worried about the two of you." Fay said as he walked towards them.
"Hmph. We even thought that you might have arrived at a different time." Kurogane added, obviously annoyed at Fay's public display of care.
"Sakura-chan, you okay too?"
"Yes. Thank you, Fay-san."
Fay noticed Euphemia's presence.
"And who might this lady over here be?"
"She is Yufie, our friend. We met her when we first arrived." Syaoran said before Euphemia could open her mouth.
"Ah. My name is Fay D. Flourite, but you can just call me Fay, Yufie." The ever-smiling magician held out his hand. Behind him Kurogane muttered something about being too friendly with too many people.
Euphemia seemed to be thinking about something as she held out her hand.
"You...look a bit like my brother."
"Ah. Is that so?"
The leader of the troop, who was silent all the time, was now bursting with the intent of capturing Fay and Kurogane. For they fit the reports they have been getting about two terrorists who 'after mortally wounding about fifty Britannia soldiers, had fled in fear of being caught'. A tall blond man with blue eyes and slim features, a black-haired man with a huge build, both of them wore strange clothes.
He wanted to catch them right now, but the princess had ordered him to stay silent. So he had no choice but to stay there and pout.
Being a Britannia soldier sure isn't easy.
-
A few hours later...
"Kururugi Suzaku, declared innocent due to lack of evidence!"
Upon hearing this, Suzaku felt both surprised and relieved. Surprised that he could get off this case without much loss, and relieved at the fact that the court revealed the truth, just as he had hoped.
He gathered up his belongings and prepared to leave. He made sure to wear a pair of sunglasses so that nobody would recognize him.
Before he was even a few steps away from the door, though, a young girl bumped into him.
She had pink hair and blue eyes.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Dude, I LOVE writing these. Anyway, writing Euphemia is such pain. And that goes for Sakura and Syoaran too, since I didn't watch Tsubasa for a long time. Syaoran is a bit easier, since he's really protective of Sakura and all...but Euphemia and Sakura...*headdesks*
Anyway, this chapter is mostly about trc characters...Lulu appears for only one scene. So...yeah.
And it is such a pain in the a$$ to convert word quotation marks to LJ ones. Especially when the whole thing is so long. And yes, Nanaly's dream has a meaning, and those of you who watched X would probably feel a sense of deja vu. I had such fun writing her dream and nightmare.:DD So...feedback, and no flames!
Rating: PG-13 for Britannian soldier-ness(wtf does THAT mean?)
Word Count: 3,676(I swear I nearly died)
Characters: Lulu, Mokona, Nanaly, find out the rest yourself.XD;;
Genre: Humour, Drama, Angst(?)
Summary: Some say meetings are precious moments in one's life and often brings hapiness, but to Lelouch, meeting a certain someone in a certain someday only brings trouble. And thus, his organized life is turned upside down.
WARNINGS: NO. The pink-haired girl is NOT an OC. There. I said it.
Disclaimer: Code Geass belongs to me! MUAHAHAHA.*is shot* I mean, Code Geass doesn't belong to me, but to all those Sunrise ppl that created this wonderful anime. Oh, and to Pizza Hut.XD;;
Previous Stages
Stage 3. Nightmares & Dreams
Two people sat on the railroad passing through Shinjuku. One of them just sat there with his eyes closed, uninterested in anything, the other seemed quite content drawing strange pictures in the dirt.
Around them there lay about fifty Britannian soldiers, all knocked out.
"I wonder why they attacked us all of a sudden..." Fay wondered out loud, while scribbling on the ground.
"Hmph. How would I know?" The latter replied.
When they landed in this place after being separated from the others, the first thing they saw was a bunch of people in gray clothes carrying guns surrounding them. One of them demanded, "What are you guys doing here? Don't you know this place is off-limits to commoners?" to which they replied with a blank stare. The former continued.
"You guys are very suspicious, with weird clothes and weird hairstyles. Terrorists, aren't you? Anyway, catch them first."
About ten of these men rushed forward to capture Kurogane and Fay. Fay easily hopped over one -smashing his would-be captor's head into the ground in the process of doing so- and delivered a kick across another's face. Kurogane just lazily smashed his opponents' faces with the hilt of his katana. All of the ten men were knocked out within one minute. Fay was still in a good mood and joked, "Wasn't that a warm welcome we just received, Kuropon?" while Kurogane just replied with a "Hmph. Annoying bastards."
The leader of the troop seemed to be genuinely shocked, he pointed a shaking finger at them and ordered-
"Fire!"
Let's just say before the Britannian soldiers even had time to shoot, everything went black for them.
"But Kuropon, you really went all out on them, didn't you?" Fay commented while poking the forehead of an unconscious Britannian playfully with his stick. That particularly unfortunate one actually had the guts to call Kurogane "that damned black bastard", and was of course met with Kurogane's wrath. Which certainly wasn't a pretty sight at all.
Kurogane's reply was a simple word – "Hmph."
Another few minutes went by with Fay poking a few of the unfortunate soldiers just for fun. After a long period of silence which seemed like eternity, Kurogane finally spoke up.
"We were separated."
It was Kurogane's way of asking "Why were we separated?" and "Where are the others?"
"I think another power is disturbing Mokona's flow. Dunno about Syaoran and Sakura, but Mokona is probably very near to us, since we can still communicate. This isn't our first time, right?"
Kurogane silently agreed as he recalled the incident in the Ashura Kingdom, in which they had arrived a year earlier than Syaoran and Sakura.
"...so you think that we arrived at different times?"
"That I cannot say for sure. But it is a possibility." Fay answered absent-mindedly as he jumped onto the rails.
"Hpmh." Came the answer. Again.
Silence had arrived again as Fay examined the railroad with interest. A few moments later, though, Fay looked at Kurogane.
"No trains had passed this railroad ever since we had arrived here."
Kurogane stared.
"This railroad must lead to some other towns, maybe even bigger ones."
Kurogane didn't react, but waited for Fay to reveal what he wanted to say.
"So why don't we just walk along this railroad and see where it takes us?" Fay smiled happily.
Kurogane wanted to bang his head against a pole.
"What good can it do anyway?" He asked, annoyed.
"Hmm..." Fay looked as if he was considering something. "Then do you have any better ideas, Kurorin?"
"..."
"See?"
Fay again smiled broadly as he tugged a protesting Kurogane along the railroad. Destination: Unknown.
-
After a series of arguments, threats and crying fits, Mokona finally agreed to reside on Lelouch's shoulder. When Lelouch finally got home, though, he found out that Nanaly had a fever.
Nobody was in the living room, and, sensing that something was wrong, Lelouch started making his way into Nanaly's bedroom. There he found his sister lying on her bed, looking very pale and fragile. Sweat was dripping all over her face, and beside her, their faithful and ever hardworking maid, Sayoko was busy drying a wet towel.
Sayoko noticed his presence, and, with a simple nod, returned to her task at hand – taking care of Nanaly.
Lelouch walked over. Nanaly didn't look good at all. Although two blankets were covering her, she was still shivering, and occasionally a word or two escaped her shaking lips. He felt Nanaly's forehead, it was searing hot.
"Nanaly-sama must be having a nightmare." Sayoko said, while placing the half wet towel on Nanaly's forehead.
"Was she already like this in the morning?" Lelouch questioned worriedly.
"Yes. Nanaly-sama woke up today feeling unwell, said that she only had a bad headache, but it was more than that."
Lelouch worried a lot about his sister's health and safety, but right now, he could do nothing but just stand and watch over her. A few moments of silence passed before a small voice could be heard.
"Onii-sama..."
Lelouch did not hesitate to cup his hands around Nanaly's stretched-out hand. Nanaly seemed to reassured by his action, for a peaceful smile lit up her soft features.
-
She was in a nightmare.
Drip drip drip...
Blood.
Drip drip drip...
Everywhere. On the floor, on the stairs, on her knees, and...on the figure crouched above her, arms around Nanaly as if in an embrace.
That was her mother, and this was the night.
The night that her mother had died, still so clearly embedded in her mind even after all these years.
Her body had lost its freedom; she had lost her sight, but most importantly, her own mother, who had cared for her and her brother all those years. Her mother was the only parent that she knew. Her father...was a figure in distant land, never to be reached.
Bullets were shot. The sound of shattering glass was heard. And blood splattered everywhere.
Yet she was unable to do anything but let fate take her into its hands.
She was in a nightmare, unable to fight back or speak.
Destiny was a cruel thing.
-
A dream.
She was floating.
Floating...towards where? She didn't know and didn't care.
Darkness surrounded her, trapped her in its arms.
Suddenly she was falling. Towards the depth of darkness. Around her were fragments of memories, those days of pain, of laughter, of tears. Time flowed. And they faded away.
Somehow, she was walking through a tunnel.
Her body didn't feel tired, and it only sent out one message to her – walk. So she walked on.
-
After what seemed like hours, days, months to her, she could finally see a light. The hint of light was so small that it might just go unnoticed if not for the darkness surrounding it. It grew larger, and after some time, the light engulfed her, taking her into its warmth.
But in the light, she saw something.
Two overlapping circles.
Two circles...two dimensions...yet the same world.
The circle on the left was white, the circle on the right was black, and where they overlapped, gray.
She saw two people, but she could not make out their faces. One of them carried a key, one of them carried a will.
The first person was handing the key to the other person. It did not look like a key at all, but from somewhere in her heart, she knew it was.
Two dimensions...and the key connecting them.
Darkness surrounded her again, and she drifted away.
-
"Ahh!"
"Careful, Princess!"
"Thank you, Syaoran-kun."
Syaoran and Sakura had been dropped on a beach. The beach, apparently, was very close to a main city, as lively sounds could be heard, and the pile of giant but flat rocks leading up to what seemed like a plaza proved the point. Seeing that there was no other way to get out from the beach than to climb the flat rocks, Syaoran and Sakura had no choice but to start climbing.
Syaoran helped Sakura most of the way up, but she accidentally slipped and nearly fell. Syaoran caught her hand at the last second.
Syaoran pulled Sakura over the low fence separating the beach from the city, and here they were, standing in the plaza.
"Wah! What a lively town!"
Sakura, who was an optimist and therefore always kept up her cheerful attitude, quickly noticed the movements going on inside the busy and lively town. Lots of people were on the streets, chatting to each other, buying food and other supplies from the market in front of them. In the plaza, a few elderly people sat on benches and watched the pigeons in front of them, picking on the ground. A group of boys played a game of tag, they all seemed to be very happy.
Together they walked through the streets, observing their surroundings. There were all kinds of shops everywhere. Occasionally, Sakura checked out things that had caught her eye, and Syaoran simply followed.
It was not long, though, before they experienced the inconvenience of not having any money.
Sakura's stomach grumbled.
Syaoran stopped in his tracks. "...are you hungry, Princess?"
"N-no, not at all!" Sakura quickly explained while blushing, "I was only-"
But another grumble had revealed the truth.
Sadly, they did not have any food with them, and buying some was out of the question. Plus Fay and Kurogane were nowhere to be seen. Syaoran was a bit worried.
They were now in what seemed like a deserted part of the town, for no people nor shops can be seen anywhere.
"Ahhh! Watch out!"
A voice from somewhere above cried out. Syaoran immediately turned his head, and saw a...girl falling down towards them?
Keeping Sakura safely at his side, Syaoran caught the falling young girl before she hit the ground.
The girl looked about sixteen. She had flowing pink hair which reached her waist, and her eyes were a sapphire blue.
"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked worriedly.
The girl seemed surprised at something at first, but she dismissed it with a shake of her head.
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Uhh...sorry about that...I didn't think anyone would be standing below." The girl answered shyly.
"No, it's okay. I didn't expect someone to fall from above either." Syaoran replied.
"Are you...in some kind of trouble?" Sakura asked curiously.
The girl looked at Sakura for a moment, she seemed to be considering something.
"Yes!"
The girl answered with such brightness in her tone that both Syaoran and Sakura were a bit taken back.
"Actually, I was being chased by bad guys, so I had no choice but to jump down...from there."
She pointed to a window on the second floor. A white cloth was dangling from the windowpane. Obviously, that's where she jumped off.
"Then we better hurry up. Princess?"
"Yes!"
Sakura seemed a bit confused about the situation, but she followed them anyway.
-
"We should be fine now."
They were a few streets away from where they first met the young girl, in a plaza. A fountain was in the middle of the plaza, and lots of people were walking around – but not so much that you'd feel too crowded.
"Thank you! You can call me...Yufie! What about you?"
The girl who called herself Yufie asked Syaoran and Sakura.
"I'm Syaoran."
"I'm Sakura, nice to meet you, Yufie-san!" Sakura said with a smile and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you too! And just ‘Yufie’ is enough, Sakura!" Yufie said, shaking Sakura's hand.
"Yufie...why were the people chasing after you?" Sakura questioned.
"Ah...that...uhh..." Yufie seemed to be bothered by something for a moment, as if thinking of the right thing to say.
"You were lying about that, right?"
It was Syaoran who spoke.
"Yes...because I just wanted...to hang out with someone once in a while..." Yufie seemed to be saddened by something. "Sorry." She mumbled.
"It's alright, Yufie." Sakura assured her.
Suddenly, someone's stomach grumbled again.
Yufie seemed surprised for a minute, but a smile immediately lit up her features.
"Aha! Feeling hungry?"
Sakura nodded.
Yufie immediately grabbed Sakura's hand and beckoned Syaoran to follow her.
"I just happen to know of the perfect place! The food they serve there are delicious!" Yufie smiled innocently.
"Oh, and don't worry! It's all on me!" She added.
-
Yufie was right. The restaurant was a splendid place. It was decorated with many glass panes, each of them different from one another. And you can also get a nice view of the sea due to the glass panes on the sides of the restaurant. The food they served also looked wonderful. Their appearance and scent seemed to invite you to taste them. Just looking at them made Syaoran's mouth water.
"Now don't hesitate, please!" Yufie said cheerfully from her seat.
"But..." Syaoran opened his mouth hesitantly.
"I told you, didn't I? Everything's on me! So don't worry and start eating!"
Syaoran and Sakura started drinking their soup, which had a mild red color, but it was not spicy at all.
"So, how is it?" Yufie asked, leaning forward.
"It's great, Yufie. Thank you!" Sakura answered.
"I'm glad. So, eat as much as you want!" Yufie seemed pleased.
"Yufie..."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you eating?" Sakura noticed that Yufie hadn't even touched her spoon yet.
"Oh, me? You don't have to worry! I had lunch already."
The word 'lunch' made Syaoran remember something he had wanted to ask ever since they arrived in this world.
"Yufie...can you tell me what date today is?"
"The 4th of March. Is there something about it?"
"No, not at all." At least they knew the date now.
The more info they gather of this world, the easier to navigate through it. Syaoran made a mental note to get a map of the area they're in.
-
"Ah, I'm full. Thank you again, Yufie!" Sakura said as they exited the restaurant.
"You're welcome. But now...can you take me to a place?"
"A...place?"
"Yes, you see, today was the last day of my holiday. So I just wanted to see Area 11 once, especially Shinjuku."
Syaoran was dumbfounded. Area 11? Shinjuku?
Seeing his expression, Yufie asked, "Could you guys possibly be...tourists?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. We just arrived here."
Yufie seemed to be satisfied with that answer.
"Since you seemed to not know what Area 11 is..."
"Umm...could Area 11 be the place we're standing on?"
"Of course! You must be tourists from somewhere far away. Your clothes are a bit odd, and you knew nothing about this place."
"Yufie, can you explain it a bit for us, please?"
"Of course!" Yufie nodded her head, and beckoned for them to sit on a bench in the shade of a tree.
"You see, I was born in a country called Britannia. And this place...Area 11, was conquered by the empire."
"So that means...this place isn't the only pice of land that was conquered by Britannia?"
"Yes. The motherland had conquered about one third of the world...the latest addition being Area 18, from what my sister had told me. Area 11 was used to be called 'Japan' before it was conquered."
Japan...? Wasn't that the name of Kurogane-san's country? Syaoran thought.
"Area 11 is currently divided into two areas...Sokai and Ghetto. Sokai is where Britannians live, and Ghetto is for Elevens...Japanese. These two areas are...different." Yufie put emphasis on the word 'different'.
"Shinjuku, the place where I want to go, is in Ghetto."
Syaoran, from Yufie's tone, sensed that the world they arrived in might not actually been what they thought it was. Everything had two sides, and of course, this world is not an exception.
"But since you're tourists...I guess I'll have to go myself." Yufie stood up to leave.
"No, wait! If I could get a map, I can take you there!" Syaoran offered partly out of his curiousness of the place called 'Ghetto', and partly because he didn't want to disappoint Yufie after she helped them.
"Really?" Yufie seemed to be reassured.
"Yes."
-
"No way..."
Sakura stared in disbelief at the sight in front of her. Destroyed buildings were everywhere, huge piles of rocks were scattered among the barren land. A few poorly made graves can be seen here and there. This place seemed like the land of dead to her.
Syaoran was also shocked at the difference of this town between the town where they first arrived. They seemed like two different worlds. One is paradise, one is hell. The difference between Britannians and ‘Elevens’. The difference between the winning and the losing. The two towns spelled out 'inequality' right in his face.
Yufie stood solemnly beside them, silently observing the land before them.
"This place had just suffered a terrorists' attack."
"Eh?"
"A lot of people, unhappy with their status and unwilling to give up their pride will try to fight back. A few days ago, this place was ruined due to the clashing between the empire's army and the terrorists."
"Pride?"
Yufie turned around to face Syaoran.
"There is a way for Elevens to escape their poverty – swear loyalty to Britannia. That way, they'll gain the same rights as a Britannian citizen. But for anyone to do that, they’ll have to give up their pride."
"That's terrible..." Sakura muttered.
Everyone stayed silent.
The silence was broken, though, when a few armed Britannian soldiers approached them.
"Hey, what are you guys doing over there?" A man aimed his gun at them. "Didn't you know that this place was just attacked by terrorists a few days ago?"
"We were...only visiting."
The man was not convinced.
"Hmph. As if I'd believe that kind of crap. Let me tell you something, fella, nobody, absolutely nobody comes to Shinjuku right now except for soldiers and terrorists. And one hour ago one of my troops had just sighted two terrorists. So spit it out, what the hell are you trying to do?"
"We told you, we were only visit-"
The man rudely waved his hand in front of Syaoran's face.
"I guess you won't admit it anyway. Get them first, and then we can make them spit everything out back at the headquarters." He ordered his subordinates.
Five men carrying guns neared them. One of them was trying to capture Sakura. Before he could lay his hands on Sakura, though, Syaoran delivered a flying kick across his face.
"I won't let you touch the princess!"
The man seemed annoyed at him.
"Hmph. Acting all hero-like? Just who do you think you are? Fir-"
"Stop it!"
Everyone's attention was focused on the pink-haired girl.
"Both of you, stop it! I order you in the name of Britannia's Third Princess, Euphemia V. Britannia!"
Syaoran was surprised, the girl who had jumped off a window was now acting all queen-like, giving orders to a bunch of men who looked ready to beat the crap out of anyone who stood in their way.
The first to respond was the leader of the troop. He immediately bowed down.
"I am very sorry, your highness. I had no idea." And, seeing that everyone else on the troop was dumbfounded, he added "What are you doing? Bow down!" Soon the whole troop was bowing before the girl who called herself Yufie, but was actually the Third Princess, Euphemia.
"Yufie...you were actually a princess?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
Euphemia turned around to face her.
"Yes. And the reason of why I wanted to visit Shinjuku was because…my brother, Clovis, had died here a few days ago. No- murdered by terrorists."
Sakura covered her mouth. "I'm sorry...I didn't know."
Euphemia just smiled at her.
Suddenly, someone called out to Syaoran and Sakura.
"Hey!! Syaoran-kun!! Sakura-chan!!"
They turned, only to find Fay waving at them on the railroad with Kurogane behind him.
Syaoran was relieved. He originally planned to ask people around them for any sightings of the blond magician and the short-tempered samurai.
"Fay-san!! Kurogane-san!!" Syaoran waved back.
"I'm glad that you're okay. I was quite worried about the two of you." Fay said as he walked towards them.
"Hmph. We even thought that you might have arrived at a different time." Kurogane added, obviously annoyed at Fay's public display of care.
"Sakura-chan, you okay too?"
"Yes. Thank you, Fay-san."
Fay noticed Euphemia's presence.
"And who might this lady over here be?"
"She is Yufie, our friend. We met her when we first arrived." Syaoran said before Euphemia could open her mouth.
"Ah. My name is Fay D. Flourite, but you can just call me Fay, Yufie." The ever-smiling magician held out his hand. Behind him Kurogane muttered something about being too friendly with too many people.
Euphemia seemed to be thinking about something as she held out her hand.
"You...look a bit like my brother."
"Ah. Is that so?"
The leader of the troop, who was silent all the time, was now bursting with the intent of capturing Fay and Kurogane. For they fit the reports they have been getting about two terrorists who 'after mortally wounding about fifty Britannia soldiers, had fled in fear of being caught'. A tall blond man with blue eyes and slim features, a black-haired man with a huge build, both of them wore strange clothes.
He wanted to catch them right now, but the princess had ordered him to stay silent. So he had no choice but to stay there and pout.
Being a Britannia soldier sure isn't easy.
-
A few hours later...
"Kururugi Suzaku, declared innocent due to lack of evidence!"
Upon hearing this, Suzaku felt both surprised and relieved. Surprised that he could get off this case without much loss, and relieved at the fact that the court revealed the truth, just as he had hoped.
He gathered up his belongings and prepared to leave. He made sure to wear a pair of sunglasses so that nobody would recognize him.
Before he was even a few steps away from the door, though, a young girl bumped into him.
She had pink hair and blue eyes.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Dude, I LOVE writing these. Anyway, writing Euphemia is such pain. And that goes for Sakura and Syoaran too, since I didn't watch Tsubasa for a long time. Syaoran is a bit easier, since he's really protective of Sakura and all...but Euphemia and Sakura...*headdesks*
Anyway, this chapter is mostly about trc characters...Lulu appears for only one scene. So...yeah.
And it is such a pain in the a$$ to convert word quotation marks to LJ ones. Especially when the whole thing is so long. And yes, Nanaly's dream has a meaning, and those of you who watched X would probably feel a sense of deja vu. I had such fun writing her dream and nightmare.:DD So...feedback, and no flames!
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lol And then Kurogane would go "OMG!!DADDY!!"(NOT EVER). I don't remember what Kurogane's dad looked like exactly, but I think he's like an older version of Kurogane. So Toudou=Old Kurogane=Kurogane's Dad?XD;; Made of the same soul?XD;; When you mess with CLAMP universes and do crossovers, the possibilities are endless.
Actually, my favourite genres are angst and crack.-_-;; Two extremes, really. And also, I prefer serious fics with a nice long plot(and where the author can spit the whole story out and not give up somewhere in between), but those are rare.DD: Nearly every lemon fic I've read is either very embarassing or overdramatic, fluff, on the other hand, leaves you with this fluffy feeling in your stomach(most of the time), as the name indicates.XD;; Affection always owns passion when it comes to Suzaku and Lulu. I much prefer a cuddle or two than anything....out of hand.XD;;