[Code Geass] - Candles and Frames
Candles and Frames
Fandom: Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch
Pairing: Virtually none
Characters: Zero, Nunnally
Theme: Spiritual, family, friendship
One year later.
The maids who had been in Lord Zero’s room to dust it never failed to notice the most prominent corner of the interior. Despite his being a royal suite, the room was surprisingly void of the grandeur one would expect. There was a four poster near the curtained window, always properly made when the maids went in to clean it up. A small nightstand with a table lamp and an empty photo frame on it stood right next to the bed; no one dared question the purpose of that photo frame.
Of all the noticeably mysterious state of the room, nothing beat the sight of the wall on the left side of the room. The whole length of it was lined with dark mahogany cabinets where countless candles of a multitude of colours sat in silent wait for the time they would be lit up again before burning out and replaced by new ones.
There was always very little to dust in Zero’s room. The man kept it meticulously clean as if he favoured it to be just as prim and proper as he was.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
“Good evening, Zero,” Empress Nunnally greeted the figure standing by the open window, gazing into the starless night sky as if searching for a shooting star that never passed by.
Zero looked at the approaching Empress with a small smile, nodding his head to acknowledge her presence.
She took in the state of the room. The chandelier was out of work as per usual; the only source of light in the room was from the candles lining the wall. The light from the full moon paled in comparison to the vibrant light from the burning candles. They gave off a faint, soft yet terribly nostalgic scent.
The scent of home and love, and just a tiny bit of sadness.
She closed her eyes to keep back the sudden onslaught of tears. Being in Zero’s room always made her feel like crying. As if sensing her distress, Zero patted her shoulder reassuringly. Nunnally looked up to see his expression. He was always distant with his mask on. Without his mask, which she was the only one with the privilege to see, he was just as distant. She once tried to read him. She held his hand but was surprised to see and feel nothing.
But not this night. Not two hours before the anniversary of the late Emperor’s death.
When his hand landed on her shoulder, she felt it. There was a brief pang of something akin to sadness and longing very similar to what she had been feeling all day radiating from his persona. She felt like crying all over again. She didn’t want to cry! She wanted to be strong, just like… Just like…
“Don’t hold back your tears,” Zero interrupted her line of thoughts. Nunnally blinked, wondering if she had just imagined him talking. “Free them.”
The hand on her shoulder trembled slightly. Nunnally almost didn’t feel it, but it was there nonetheless - a faint pulse and a virtually invisible twitch of muscles. It was comforting to know that Zero was more human than anyone ever gave him credits for.
“Everybody else might rejoice, but they don’t know what you know. They wouldn’t cry for him like you would.”
The words came out barely audible, just enough to reach Nunnally’s sharp ears. She choked on her emotion. Why did Zero have to know everything?
Nunnally cried.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Zero stood staring at the burning candles after Cornelia escorted Nunnally back to her room. It was late into the night and he should be getting some rest to face the next day. He blew out one candle after another, leaving only six candles in the middle of the long line. They bore no names, like the ones they left afloat in the small pond. The candles reminiscent of his parents stood side by side, burning and whisking off a scent resembling love. To the left of them was an orange candle, reminiscent of a lost friend.
Two candles reminiscent of a lost princess and a lost knight, pink and green, stood guarding the largest candle standing in the middle of all of them. A large purple candle with the brightest light. The pink candle smelled like understanding, the green one like courage. The purple one had the strongest scent of all - the scent of life. It was reminiscent of an Emperor with a wish so simple like a child’s dream.
His hard gaze softened. Zero turned on his heels and headed to his bed. It was time to rest, and maybe to find comfort in a dream. He wondered sometimes if he only slept for the purpose of dreaming.
Upon reaching his bed, he paused at the seemingly empty frame on the nightstand. The frame was special. The chemical substance on the glass reacted to the amount of light it received. In the morning, the frame was empty but at night, a picture of happiness long gone peeked out of the hidden glass. Zero took comfort in gazing at the picture every night before going to sleep.
Sometimes, he would whisper lightly to noone as he drifted off to sleep.
“All hail Lelouch.”
#
AN: This, before I go into an ending-denial mode and write a slightly happier SuzaLulu-ish fic which might reach 10,000 words...