Little Soldiers [closed]

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Characters: Zechs Marquise, Sakura Kinomoto
Content: The new navigator goes in search for the man named Zechs Marquise.
Setting: Zech's office
Time: Mid-afternoon
Warnings: really cute teenager flashback in italics, please ignore rank confusion

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Said Commander was sitting at his desk. He looked up, the confused expression hidden by the silver mask he wore. Setting down his pen, Zechs rose to his feet and walked over to the door. Still silent, he opened the door.

Now, that was not what he was expecting. "May I help you?" he asked. His voice was low and a bit gruff, but otherwise he showed no intent to frighten the young girl.

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Sakura's initial reaction was that of shock. This man was so tall. In fact, he dwarfed her by at least five inches. It forced her to step back, not in fear, but in a little awe. She shook it off immediately. Staring was also highly disrespectful.

"C-Commander Marquise?" she squeaked, tucking her fingers into the folds of her dress.

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"Yes..." Zechs replied, "And you are?" He raised an eyebrow, but that action was hidden by the mask he wore. He was dressed in white pants, knee high black boots, a white shirt with a black vest over it. The chain for a silver pocket watch glittered against the black of the vest. A red thigh length jacket was sitting across the back of his chair.

The office was neat, meticulously so. Everything was in it's place and, neat.

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At the question, the little brunet lowered her hands and straightened, trying to both appear taller and respectful to her superior, but mostly coming off as excessively stiff and trying too hard.

"Sub-Lieutenant Sakura Kinomoto, sir. I was just assigned to be the new navigator. I've been on the ship for a short time, but I... felt it would be necessary to introduce myself, in case there's any doubt of my.. my capabilities in the future." She swallowed, shifting her weight equally onto both feet. "I thought it would be... important."

This was sounding so rehearsed already.

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He gave a small smile and the reached up, removing his mask. It was revealed that he had pale blonde, nearly white, hair that went down to his waist, and icy blue eyes.

"Come on in Sub-Lieutenant." He said stepping to the side to allow the teenager inside the office, "Please, make yourself comfortable.

Though Zechs could be intimidating, it was obvious he was also a kind man.

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Clearly relieved and more at ease, Sakura loosened up and allowed a first smile to grace her lips. "T-Thank you, sir," she returned gratefully, clasping her hands against her abdomen and stepping inside. Emerald eyes wandered curiously, but didn't linger too long.

The chair across from the man's desk was empty and waiting for her, and figuring she would be uncomfortable standing, she lowered herself into the seat, fingers once again crawling into the safety of her dress folds.

"I'm... I'm not interrupting you, am I?"

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Zechs walked around to the other side of his desk and sat down. He set the mask down on the floor, where it was out of sight.

"Of course not Sub-Lieutenant. I do have a question though. Why did you feel the need to make yourself known to me?" He leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other as he studied the auburn haired girl that sat across from him. Something that was odd about the young Commander... He wore a pair of white leather gloves, even when he was working...

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The girl blinked to allow herself to adjust to the sight of his face, now that it was free of the mask. It was then that the question began to sink in, and tension settled in her stomach.

"W-Well..." she began on a stutter, clicking the toes of her shoes together. "I figured that if I'm going to be on this ship for a long time, I should get to know my superiors. If they put a face to my rank and meet me in person, maybe... they'll have more faith in me sooner than later, i-if I don't happen to meet them soon."

A soft flush painted her cheeks. "So that's why I wanted to meet you, Commander. I hope... that's not too strange."

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"How long have you been out of the academy Sakura? Is it alright if I call you that?" he asked moving his long bangs out of his eyes. How an accomplished soldier managed waist length hair was quite a mystery.

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Genuinely surprised, Sakura nodded her head, auburn tendrils swiping at her face. "Yes, it's more than alright!" she insisted, bunching up the material of her dress at both knees. "I've been out of the academy for about four months, but I had to wait even longer to be assigned to the ship because of a... spider problem?" Her explanation branched off into a questioning tone. The full details about the invasion were never offered to her.

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Probably to Sakura's surprise, Zechs actually laughed.

"Oh the little mechanical monsters. Yes... Our ship was infested with mechanical spiders. It was quite interesting." Unconsciously he put one hand over his left hand, covering his ring finger.

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Something flashed in those emerald eyes, and Sakura straightened in her chair, alert and fully interested. "How did they get onto the ship in the first place?" Now that she finally had an outlet of information, she could at last get the little details that'd been plaguing her put into their rightful place. It was killing her, not knowing.

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Zechs focused his icy blue eyes on Sakura, his gaze intense. "I don't know how they got on the ship. In fact, no one knows how they did." He replied. He brought hand up, running it through his bangs.

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Curiouser and curiouser. "Was.. Was anyone hurt during the invasion?" Sakura further inquired, uneasiness stirring inside. The situation had already been solved, so it seemed despite her lack of details, but still she couldn't help but feel drawn to his words.

Under his gaze, the girl swallowed and allowed her eyelashes to flutter, and then averted her own eyes just a little.

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"No one was hurt. A lot of people were angry though." Zechs didn't quite realize the impact he has on people. He had only been raised as a royal for six years, but that was enough. It had impacted his life. Combined with his years in the military... Zechs was a man hard pressed to ignore.

His kindheartedness, hidden by the stern personality... It proved to people that Zechs cared, that he knew what he was talking about. The Prince turned Soldier studied Sakura carefully.

She was timid, scared, nervous... A small smile tugged on his lips. A lot like his dear sister. "You remind me of someone very dear to my heart."

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Relief flooded into her face. It was good to hear that no one had been hurt; she'd heard a lot of strange and sometimes outrageous rumors, so Sakura was glad things were now relatively straightened out. Zechs didn't want to know what images her brain was conjuring up about the attack. They were ridiculous.

At his compliment, she noticeably relaxed more. There were many pleasant things one should want to hear in one's lifetime, and resembling someone important to someone else was among the top. Whether it was for good qualities or bad ones, she had no idea, and hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Commander?" The girl didn't know what much else to say than that, but questioned in such a way that perhaps he would continue on that vein.

( ooc: gee, thanks for resetting her icons in the log, stupid lj. 'ppreciate it. 8] )