(Untitled)

[hopeisblind]

[location: somewhere behind cabin #4]

[There is a girl lying in the snow.  She is wearing a red dress and chains, and far more blood than any girl should wear.

A corner of her mind informs her she is no longer in the prison cell the rebels threw her into. Not that she particularly cares.  Instead,  she stares numbly at the wrong sky

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[thekingsgambit]

[Has actually been looking for his little sister since earlier in the day and is returning to the cabin to seek the others' assistance in determining her location. So it can only be expected that his response to finding her prone and almost painted in blood nearby the cabin is dangerously close to a mental shut-down.]

[thekingsgambit]

[Is meanwhile, just trying to put all his rapidly congealing energy into picking her up, only able to manage the task because it has practically become second nature to him by now. He tries to keep his voice steady but soft.]

Nothing will ever be... so I will give Nunnally everything I have left. As mediocre as it may be. It's yours.

[hopeisblind]

Big brother is so stupid. Stupid big brother.

[thekingsgambit]

[His throat tightens ad holds her closer but doesn't respond, as he makes his way toward the cabin.]

[hopeisblind]

[Offers no resistance]

[thekingsgambit]

[We will now fast-forward past the monotony of cleaning up and finding new clothes and go straight to Lelouch holding one of her hands and gazing guiltily at the damaged nails (nails he had always helped her keep so groomed and healthy). Had she broken them ripping at the ground when she first came to, still convinced she was back on that platform? At least they had since gotten rid of the blood (not that that particular stain on Nunnally's soul would ever be fully washed away) -- it had looked so much wronger on her than it must have against his white clothes. All of it had. Cleaned-up and wrapped in a massive blanket from one of the beds, Nunnally could almost be mistaken for the same smiling girl that had wished him goodnight, with warnings about getting too many chocolates in the upcoming weeks. Except for the way every part of her seems to sag with a newly acquired weight, as she sits against upon own bed.

He runs a thumb across a splintered nail, his tone pinched.]

Would... you like me to fix it for you?

[hopeisblind]

[she presses her lips tightly together, turning her gaze away with single shake of her head.]

[thekingsgambit]

[He nods and then releases her hand, instead opting to pull the blanket more around her.]

I should bring Cornelia. She will need to be informed... what has happened.

[Pause.]

Perhaps it may be easier for you to speak with her right now.

[hopeisblind]

[she holds his wrist hard, not allowing him to go.]

Stay.

[thekingsgambit]

[Stops moving but turns away.]

Nunnally...

[hopeisblind]

[pulls him close and holds him tightly]

[thekingsgambit]

[Returns the embrace, stroking her back gently for several minutes, as he tries to think what he could possibly tell her to counter this state. Perhaps if she understood why. Of course, there is no way he can ever make his peace-loving (Still? He had driven her to using Freya!) see why so much death had been necessary or even the endless deceit... And really, there was no viable reason for not telling her about any of this here, before she had to witness it with her own eyes. No reason but a selfish hope of keeping her innocent for as long as he could. More of his obsessively protective nature come to backfire in his face, like it always has. His way of telling himself he knows what's best for everyone. Well, what now? How could a mind that had once orchestrated the greatest scheme his world has ever known fail him now?

No, there was no way to rationalize any of that to her. But there was still one thing he could attempt to explain...]

[hopeisblind]

[she holds him even tighter, unable to cope with the idea of his death, and of his borrowed existence in this place.]

[thekingsgambit]

... At the time, I could see no other way. All that destruction, someone had to answer for it in order for our world to heal. Without it, people would continue killing each other to right each injustice, more people would suffer and die like Euphie and Shirley. And others like you and Suzaku would continue to take the burdens of those needless deaths onto yourselves and become lost forever. After everything else, I could not let that happen.

[hopeisblind]

[she slaps him hard. she is getting good at that]

No other way? What about Euphie's idea? What about mine? Don't you know Area 11 was recovering slowly until you and Suzaku-san... [she makes a vague, nervous gesture to the skies]

Big brother, can't you see I'd happily take any burden with you by my side?

[thekingsgambit]

[Takes it without much reaction. He is good at that too.]

It isn't yours, Nunnally. None of it was.

I never had the ability to achieve what you and Euphie could. It took me a long time to see that, but I am no longer the blind one. But what is done is done. You have chance to realize it yourself, without any obstruction from my personal vendetta and its results. At least my mistakes have given you that much.