By the Black Rose
<b>AN:</b> Not as short as the last one, but still short-ish. And a little more romantic.
This is a sequel of sorts to my last fic "Closer". It takes place in episode 5, after Closer but again before Suzaku and Euphie reach Shinjuku. Both of these fics are based on my observation (however meaningless it may be) that before Suzaku and Euphie arrived in Shinjuku, she referred to him as Suzaku-san or Private Kururugi, but once they're in Shinjuku, she refers to him simply as Suzaku (more familiar). My hypothesis is that something happened "off screen", that perhaps was being alluded to in the way she referred to our dear Honorary Britannian. ^___^Thank you to those that will read it. Love, Rose
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<b>Collide</b>
Suzaku held her hand all the way to the train station, while they checked the map for which train would take them to Shinjuku, and even as he spoke to an attendant to find one that was still running. And he continued to hold it as they crossed several tracks to find and wait for the emergency line that ran into that part of the city ? to take excavation, city, and medical workers, as well as mourners to the site of the massacre. Reports in other parts of the world were claiming the deaths of many Elevens as well as the entire Britannian Special Forces department of the army as due to poison gas.
But no one that lived here ? Britannian or Eleven ? believed such a report.
Suzaku's hand tugged hers in a downward motion. She blinked and let him pull her into the seat next to him.
"They say the train will come in about twenty minutes."
Euphie nodded. The fingers of her right hand felt cool outside the jacket of his palm. She glanced down at where his lay on top of his left thigh. <i>Such warm hands?</i>
"Euphie."
She turned her head to look up at his face where he towered over her. His sunglasses still hid those green eyes. <i>Warm eyes.</i> "Yes."
"H-how?What's it like? Living in Britannia?"
She smiled and shifted back into her seat. "It's?"
<i> "You're the only one of my children that dares to waste time in these ridiculous schools. The tutors I provide the others are more than sufficient." The Emperor of Britannia glared down from his throne. Euphemia felt the air turn cold. The skin of her arms prickled, and she had to resist the urge to fold them across her chest for warmth.
"Father." Cornelia's voice resounded in that clear tone that sounded lofty and confident. Her older sister stepped onto the carpet beside her. "Euphemia is near a break in her semesters. I ask that you allow her to finish?"
"The only thing these schools seem to teach my children is not to speak for themselves! I will grant no such?"
"I want to continue, father." Euphie raised her chin and forced air from her lungs to practically shout at the Emperor. She hoped her voice didn't waver even as her hands trembled where she clasped them at her waist. "And not just until the end of the semester." She stepped forward, leaving Cornelia behind her. "I wish to complete my studies in the same schools as the people we rule. I think I?"
Her father roared. "You believe you have been taught to think?"</i>
"Euphie."
Someone touched her arm. She shook her head and the image of her father's harsh, grey complexion and powdered wig dissipated. In its place was Suzaku, his head tipped down to look at her over the tops of his sunglasses with those concerned green eyes of his. "Yes?"
"Are you?"
"Fine." She glanced down at her hands where they smoothed her skirt over her lap. "Oh. I was in the middle of saying something, wasn't I?"
"You were telling me what it's like in Britannia." His hand gripped her wrist, and stopped her from fidgeting with her skirt. "Euphie, is something wrong? Did I?" His hold on her arm felt heavy, uncomfortable. She pulled from his grasp. "I'm?I'm sorry."
The weight of his touch lingered on her skin. "It's-it's all right. I was just?thinking of a way to describe it. But the only thing that comes to mind is?" She swallowed and looked up at him again. "Britannia is?" <i>Not for someone like you.</i> "?it's cold."
"Cold?" He tilted his head towards his right shoulder. "You have lots of snow, then. And ice?"
"Yes." She lowered her gaze towards the concrete floor. "In some parts. I didn't live in those places, though. I could have lived on a beach in the tropics, and it still would have been cold."
"I don't?guess I understand." His eyebrows rose to form a peak above his sunglasses.
"I suppose I was talking more about?the people. Or specifically, my family."
"Your family? Ah, you didn't get along, I take it."
"I did. My sister is very kind to me, and though I didn't know him well, my brother?Well, one of my brothers." She folded her left hand on top of her right to keep it from shaking. "I'll miss him."
"Is he still in Britannia?"
"Y-yes." It was a lie she wished she could believe. That Clovis hadn't died, that he hadn't been killed in Shinjuku during the battle. That they weren't about to visit the place where he died.
"You sound like you have a large family."
"Yes." She nodded and glanced at him again. He was smiling. The expression gave her the impression that if she touched his cheek, he would feel warm. "I do? I have one sister, and several brothers." She wished she could see his eyes behind those lenses.
"What about your parents?"
"I?I don't think any of us gets along with my father. Most of us?disagree with him on some level."
"Your life sounds so different than mine." His voice sounded husky and deep. It sent shudders of warmth down her spine.
"Oh? What makes you say that?"
"Well, I was an only child. And my father?"
"Captain Kururugi?"
"Yes. He was?" She saw the hand that had held hers so gently before?it balled into a fist. He shot out of the chair to his feet.
"He seemed a very kind person. From what I've read about him. He was a good ruler, and a brave man."
Euphemia rose to stand beside him. After a long moment ? silent between them, but filled with the sounds of a train station. The clack of a train moving down the tracks, the sound of a horn announcing its departure. The distant drone of conversation? Suzaku turned towards her. "Are you cold? You're shivering."
"Oh. I-I?yes." He peeled his jacket off his shoulders and wrapped it around her. She clutched the opposite edge in each hand, to keep it in place. Warmth spilled from his hands to sink into her body. His lips? They seemed to move like he was saying something, but she couldn't hear a thing. Euphie reached up and pulled his sunglasses down from the bridge of his nose. His green eyes stared at her?.Long, dark lashes framed his eyes. His face was lean, angular, with smooth-looking skin. The bandages on his cheeks?
She felt something scorching settle in her stomach. It bit into her abdomen, sending sparks that weren't quite painful, but more like tiny, blazing embers scattering throughout her body. The urge to touch him, have some physical connection to him, lit a cold fire in the tips of her fingers. She raised her left hand to rest on his cheek. "Suzaku?"
She leaned forward and craned her neck just enough to bring her mouth to his. Euphie parted her lips, and gently?
She cradled his lower lip with her mouth, soothing the warmth from his body?. It seemed like forever before he responded, clamping his upper lip down on the rest of her mouth. His kiss felt moist and a little sloppy, but still so? She pulled back, just a breath away. His was faster, now, puffs of heated air brushed her cheeks. Euphie smiled and leaned forward again. She traced his mouth with her lips, coaxing him into a gentler connection. The scattered embers found their way back into her stomach, taking root and sending heat deeper into her body.
His hands slipped down from her shoulders and moved around her back. Suzaku pulled her closer; Euphie slid her fingers from his cheek to cup the back of his head.
"Euphie?" He broke the kiss and started to pull away. She couldn't help it. She clung to him. Her right hand clutched the fabric of his shirt. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't?I mean, I'm not?And y-you're a?"
<i>Britannian.</i> She finished for him. Her heart clenched as he slipped from her grasp and turned away. He had no idea how much farther apart they were from Britannian 'noble' and an Eleven. Even though he was given honorary status, even though he fought in their army. Had she been an ordinary citizen, being with him might be seen as merely disgraceful. But she wasn't?
She swallowed against the lump that had formed in her throat. "Suzaku." She reached for him; the fingers of her left hand grasped his elbow, but she didn't think?in the end that he was the one who moved.
"Yes." His voice wavered. His arm trembled?
"I'd like it if you'd kiss me again."
You go girl!