tampered | log; complete

log; complete

When; Christmas afternoon
Rating; PG
Characters; Euphemia li Britannia and Lelouch vi Britannia
Summary; Euphemia and Lelouch enjoy a hopefully sweet ~~and probably awkward~~ Christmas together after reuniting only six days ago.
Log;

Things were going well initially. She had managed to find and wrap a gift for Lelouch without him noticing. At least she didn't think he noticed. She even smuggled in some decorations for their shared apartment which she put up after making an excuse to get him to leave for awhile. Her allowance was running a little thin already, but there was enough left over for food. Of course, to properly surprise Lelouch, she was going to have to actually do the cooking herself. It looked easy enough when other people did it, but it wasn't turning out that way.

"Oh..."

She didn't notice him return as she stood there looking sadly at the dishes she'd tried to cook. The oven hadn't been on.

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The timing caused confusion. Lelouch was aware that it was still considered December here, thought it certainly had not been back home. Of course the fact that Euphemia was here, and alive to a degree threw another wrench into the workings of his mind. He had observed some of her behaviors recently and was becoming slightly suspicious. True, Lelouch had no evidence either way at this point... Though it really didn't matter to him in the end. Right now he was far too focused on finding a way back to complete Zero Requiem. So far there was little information our there that was of any use to him. Most of what he had heard or attempted to seek out hadn't been helpful at all. Perhaps he really would have to simply be patient and wait.

It was actually one of the things that he had been out doing: observing. Lelouch was starting to form a detailed map of the area in his mind. When he figured he had waited long enough with Euphemia's prodding, Lelouch returned. What he didn't expect to see was his sister attempting to cook. True, he didn't believe that she would really have the practical know-how to be as elaborate as he, but it was somewhat endearing that she would even make an attempt. The former prince shook his head upon closing the door. There was a slight smile on his features and he was doing his best not to laugh at her expense.

"Need help?"

"Lelouch! Oh, it was all supposed to be done when you got back." But the disappointment only showed on her face for a moment as she pushed it away with a smile. "Merry Christmas!"

She walked away from the uncooked food to get closer to him. "I know we don't exactly celebrate it, but everyone else was speaking so fondly of it, and I thought it would be nice to do something."

And there was a little something of years of missed holidays and birthdays in this celebration. She couldn't make up for them with a few candles and a wreath, but it was something.

"It's always the thought behind it that counts, right?" Lelouch stated, allowing that small smile to be seen.

Really it was touching but also heartbreaking at the same time. He loved Euphemia, he truly did. Yet Lelouch was also her murder. It was a pain in his heart that never healed and never fully went away. Looking at her was a reminder and though he tried his best to push on beyond it... There were still moments that he barely masked all the guilt.

Yet he made his way over to where she had been preparing the food. Lelouch tapped a finger to his chin in thought.

"Shall we see what we can do to salvage this?"

While they were not a religious family by any means, Lelouch remembers plenty of celebrations related to the holiday. Of course, the majority of these were spent with Milly and Nunnally...

There was so much the two of them hadn't talked about since his arrival. They had just settled into a friendly pattern of figuring out the City and making their apartment comfortable. She didn't mention the nightmares she'd been having. She didn't really want anything to change the good parts of being there.

"Yes, please." She watched him evaluate the food, hopeful that he could help. "When did you learn to cook? Was it at school?"

"I learned because I was taking care of Nunnally."

That was really all there was to it. Lelouch actually does a sample here and there before picking up one of the dishes to make it more presentable. Euphemia did have a sense of making it look nice, but the flavor was still a bit bland. Lelouch didn't think less of her for it or for the differences in their lifestyles. This wasn't really her fault. Perhaps he would teach her...

"I was a little selfish in the sense I wanted to be the only one Nunnally looked to to take care of her," he admitted, getting a few more ingredients to fix this mess.

"I'm sure you both depended on each other quite a bit." She touched his hand when it came to rest on the counter for a moment. He always seemed so warm. She hoped he wasn't ill.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

While he seemed warm, Euphemia was far too cold for Lelouch's liking. His brows furrowed a bit at the thought. Didn't she notice it? After a little chuckle to hide his worry, he gives her hand a pat with his free one,

"I'd like to think we did with the help of the Ashfords and Syaoko."

But if he really needed help... Lelouch didn't really. "Set the table for me?"

"I can do that." She smiled and set about the task. This one was easy enough. "I'm glad they helped you both. Nunnally looked lovely when I saw her. She's really grown up. Does she have any admirers?" She might have been teasing him a little.

"No!" Lelouch sputtered, perhaps a little too quickly.

Really... How embarrassing! No one was going to lay their dirty fingers on his little sister. She was far to pure and precious for any man. Oh no no no... Lelouch was not ready to hear those sorts of things.

She had to giggle a little at that. "Maybe in a couple of years then."

"Never..."

"Lelouch," she said in a very gently scolding way.

Lelouch looked over his shoulder. A slight pink dusted his cheeks.

"A-ah?"

Edited 2009-12-25 23:25 (UTC)

She followed it with a gentle smile. "We couldn't fight over marrying you forever."

Her gaze turned thoughtful as she tried to work the napkins into some kind of decorative shape. "I keep listening to the network, wondering if maybe Nunnally or Cornelia or Suzaku will arrive."

"I wasn't even referring to that..."

He muttered this while he brought over the fixed dish while fetching another. Lelouch paused in thought. Cornelia... Nunnally... Suzaku... It would be difficult with them near. There was a space in time in which none of them would be too pleased to see Lelouch. For Eupehmia's sake, he nodded in response... He still wasn't able to stop the slightest bit of dread that seeped into his heart at the thought of any one of them being brought here.

When he only nodded in reply she decided to change the subject. Of course he wouldn't want to think about being separated from Nunnally. Cornelia didn't even know he was alive and if she knew about him being Zero...

"There is something for you to unwrap after dinner."

"Unwrap?"

Again, there was confusion. Euphemia wouldn't have...

"Gifts are more fun when you unwrap them."

Lelouch stared at her for a while. A touch of sadness crossed his eyes.

"You didn't have to."

"You don't get gifts because..." Her words trailed off and her smile broke while watching him react.

"Lelouch..."

"I realize this, but now I certainly feel bad since I have nothing I can offer in return."

She watched him a moment longer. She felt like there was more to it than just that.

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad. Maybe we can share this gift."

He wasn't about to let on that there was any more to it than that.

"Is it one we can share?"

"Yes. It almost has to be shared in a way. You can open it now if you want. The food needs some time to heat properly, right?"

"Well yes..."

It was true. Now that everything had been fixed to Lelouch's liking all they were able to do was wait. He took a towel to his hands as he approached his sister.

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