It’s so reminiscent of their first meeting– How many more times would she leap from windows to greet him? The possibilities were endless, and as long as nothing strange were to happen in this new world, they had all the time in the universe. 

When their bodies land on the ground, she quickly checks two things: One, to make sure that Arthur is alright, and two, that she didn’t accidentally hurt Suzaku. The cat had managed to get away before their collision, and when she looks at Suzaku, he’s smiling. It causes one of her own to form, along with some tears.

“I’m so happy…” She brushes the back of her hand against her eyes, trying her best to get them clear. “Suzaku… I didn’t know when I would see you again.”

It’s hard for her to look anywhere else, now. There’s no need to question if this is the same Suzaku who had spent all those years with her in the city– She knows. Without having to check his hand to see if he’s wearing the engagement ring that matches hers, she knows. She also knows that with their chests pressed together, he can surely feel how quickly her heart beats, in tandem with his.

She’s overwhelmed with emotion, to the point where she doesn’t know what to say next. Her heart’s filled to the brim, and before she knows it she’s dipping her head to do something that was once so foreign and terrifying, but now familiar and comforting.

She kisses him.

every other thought fades away as he melts into the kiss, something he was still ultimately getting used to. even if they had shared warmth in more ways than this, it was still so...different. for so long before becoming a couple, before everything bad happened, Suzaku thought about what it might be like to kiss her. he would try so hard to get rid of the thoughts because, well, he didn’t deserve something so nice with someone as kind as she was. he never even dreamed that the simple wish of kissing the girl he loved would come true.

when he pulls away, he wastes no time in simply pulling her close again. he’d be content in just sitting there with her forever. it was like nothing else mattered when he was close to her-- that’s selfish, though, and he lets her go soon enough. they couldn’t stay in that building forever, after all...and--

“Ow, ow--!”

Suzaku winces at a sudden, familiar pain. he doesn’t even need to look, but when he does, he sees Arthur’s mouth clamped firmly on his hand. at this point, it was a term of endearment...if not a mood killer. he chuckles despite Arthur’s sharp little fangs, shooing the feline away gently.

✯ “Oh my gosh, really? A full, proper wedding? How amazing! Who is the lucky peep that’s bethroded to you?”

That sound… the sound of someone ejecting from a knightmare… Kallen can recognize it anywhere. She can recognize it in a battlefield full of whirring machines, and she recognizes it now, in the quiet of this alley she finds herself in during one of her inspections of the neighborhood she now resides in. In all honesty, moving to this new place takes her back, and she finds herself reminiscing frequently about the last time she had been moved somewhere new– when her mother had decided to move them in with her Britannian father, so that Kallen might live a life without being classified a number. How different this move was, how much more benign.

Her head swivels automatically to take in the source of the sound, and she is greeted with Suzaku’s face. She recognizes rather quickly that seeing her once-rival’s face is unfamiliar to her. She can picture the Lancelot more clearly behind closed eyes than she had ever been able to picture Suzaku. And yet, he looks different somehow now, doesn’t he? At once both more tense and more relaxed, always the perfect contradiction. 

Isn’t he supposed to be dead? Hadn’t she killed him once and for all? And now he, like Lelouch, is supposed to be gone forever? 

The thought of all that churns her stomach now more than it had back home. She had finally had some sense of normalcy, finally been able to honor these two demons in her memories, and now… 

What? 

“Suzaku,” she says, attempting to make her voice flat as it can be. Suzaku alive– what is this swell in her chest of those memories she had finally set aside? A swell of hope, one that is supposed to be dead with them both? He’s dead, she killed him. He’s dead, and so was that other life, the one of war and defeat and victory and death. “How are you here?”

in order for the world to truly change, Suzaku Kururugi had to die.

rather, the person known by that name had to die. he had accepted such a fate, to cast away the name he proudly wore for eighteen years, just to see the world shift from one of war and destruction to one of growth and peace. he would submit himself to a life of solitude and of disguise...because he had promised and he had been commanded to live. such were the terms of his atonement: he would continue living and pretend to be the very being he sought to destroy for so long.

seeing Kallen now, alive and well and seemingly at peace with herself...it struck something akin to heartache in his chest. he wouldn’t wish this meeting on her, even if they had been enemies. he casts his gaze to the ground, recalling their final match. she had supposedly killed him...and she had to live with that in the years to come. they really were two miserable kids, were they not?

“I know this can’t possibly be easy to comprehend,” he starts, slowly meeting her line of sight once again. brows furrow gently and he suddenly feels very naked, as though laid bare before a scrutinizing gaze. never before had he so yearned for the guise of Zero to hide behind. “and I don’t imagine I’ll possibly be able to explain it all very quickly.”

another pause, as he picks and chooses his words carefully. there are so many ways their encounter could go wrong, and yet also so many ways it could go off without a hitch. he silently hopes for the latter as he swallows past the worryingly large lump in his throat.

“If you can find it in yourself to trust me, I’d...like to talk. There’s a lot to discuss, but I understand if you’d rather not be around me.”

after all, how many terrible words had they flung at each other in the past? even if he had to brand himself a traitor yet again in the end, it was for the greater good. he...he truly understands why she, or anyone who knew him before the Requiem, would curse his name.

After her breathing evens out, she stands straight again and brushes her hands on her skirt. From what she can tell, Arthur’s preoccupied with something on the other side of the window– Which should make grabbing him easy, and she can end this chase once and for all.

But… The person who suddenly cried out when Arthur bit them… She knows that voice. No matter how many times she leaves a place and miraculously comes back, she would never forget that voice.

“Suzaku?”

Without waiting, she runs the rest of the way to the window of the abandoned building, gripping onto it before standing on her toes to peek in. All she needs is one look to confirm what her heart’s telling her: He’s here.

“Suzaku! It’s really you!”

There’s only a second for him to react, as she’s immediately heaving herself through the window to get to him. She’s clumsy, but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t care that any normal person would have just tried to go around to find a different way into the building. Her heart’s practically leaped out of her chest already, and she’s not one to deny it.

Besides, she’s not afraid of the fall– He’ll always catch her.

the pain from Arthur’s bite fades away the moment he hears her voice.

since he arrived, the ever present worry that She wouldn’t turn up somewhere in the city lingered in the back of his mind. he was all too familiar with the twisted game these universes played and knew very well that loved ones could arrive one moment and be taken away the next. yet, when he’d arrived with the engagement ring still on his finger, his heart had been filled with hope. 

Suzaku has only a moment to take in her familiar visage, to hear her voice speak his name, before she’s shoving herself through the window. always so impulsive...he wonders if she ever thinks before acting. then again, that’s one of the qualities he loves so much about her. whether she be falling from a window or climbing into one, she’s the Euphie he so adores.

with open arms, Suzaku catches her as he tumbles into his arms, letting her weight knock them both to the ground. in the moment, though, he feels nothing but elation.

Suzaku used to berate himself for never being in the right place at the right time, even though that was very often out of his control. he would beat himself up over missed opportunities and tragedies that were hardly his fault...so, when he finally found himself in a position to help someone, his mind felt at ease despite the intensity of the moment. 

some loose scaffolding had come free from the side of a building, threatening to fall upon the unsuspecting pedestrians below. grateful for the lack of traffic, Suzaku rushes to the very near disaster, catching the falling scaffold with one arm of the Lancelot before it can cause harm.

his voice rings out from the communication system as he sets the large debris down in a safe location.

even in his world, Knightmare frames were amazing. they came in all shapes and sizes, builds and makes, from any country wealthy enough to have them in their arsenal. of course, everyone knew what they were, though; they were never greeted with as much confusion as some of the citizens in this city did. while Suzaku mostly knew the machine to be an instrument of war and destruction, it was still amazing and oddly beautiful, so he never minded explaining how it worked or what it was to the curious city folk.

he found himself once again greeted with a shocked person, a young lady this time. anyone who was not used to technology would be surprised, he guesses, but the humanoid mech standing at around 5 meters was even more startling.

Suzaku smiles and chuckles, ready to explain.

if there’s one thing he never forgets, it’s how it feels to pilot a Knightmare. to have control over such a large machine was incredible, but now that he had it for leisure and not war, it was invigorating in such a different way. it wasn’t just a tool necessary for winning battles, it was like an extension of himself. to freely pilot it down back roads was one simple step in his way to understanding that war was no longer peering over his shoulder.

Suzaku takes a sharp turn and drifts slightly before he halts the machine completely. there was someone there on the mostly empty side street. she looked familiar and upon closer inspection, Suzaku immediately knew who it was.

Kallen Kozuki-- Zero’s Ace.

there was absolutely no turning back. she would recognize the Lancelot in an instant and running would only make him seem suspicious, he takes a deep breath and his one relaxed expression hardens a bit. there was so much to be said, discussed, and understood between the two of them that he almost didn’t want to start. however, running from his problems got him absolutely nowhere, so he ejects himself from the cockpit.

once firmly on the ground, Suzaku greets his former rival.

“Get back here, Arthur! Wait!”

It’s normal for cats to be somewhat freaked out when they’re suddenly brought to new places, right? That’s what Euphie first told herself when she wound up in this new world, with three very disoriented cats. The company was great, of course, since she seemed to currently be alone here, but it wasn’t long until she’d lost track of Arthur.

And Arthur, ever the menace, keeps running away from her whenever she gets too close. Huffing, the former princess picks up her dress again and continues the chase. 

It goes on for another five or so minutes, Euphie weaving through crowds of people and constantly apologizing to those she accidentally bumps into. Her feet begin to hurt, but she doesn’t stop– Not until she sees the feline perch on a nearby windowsill to give himself a bath. She takes another step, ready to scoop him up and take him home, however all her muscles scream in protest now that she’s stopped running.

“You–” Doubling over, she places her hands on her knees and tries to catch her breath.

“You are awfully difficult to take care of without Suzaku around, aren’t you?”

@morniveus

upon arriving, it hadn’t taken Suzaku long to snap back into the very primal perspective of a soldier. with the unfamiliar city in ruins, it was instinct that guided his way and paved a path of careful exploration. the city’s resemblance to a war zone was uncanny; while he was sure others would be immensely uncomfortable in such a desolate setting, the ex-military felt completely calm. there would be time for his anxieties at a later time, and he would welcome the feeling with open arms, but for now, he kept to himself and pushed everything that wasn’t survival out of his mind.

he’d examined his new home for a bit before taking to the streets, attempting to thoroughly analyze every aspect of the city he could. from the rubble and wreckage to the ghostly citizens and equally as lost denizens, Suzaku’s thoughts were racing. he took refuge in a mostly intact building for a bit, crouching by the windowsill to let his mind (and his feet) rest.

the tell-tale mrrow of a cat directs his attention to the sill and he almost loses his balance in surprise.

“Arthur...?”

Suzaku stands, leaning against the windowsill as he inspects the feline. there was no mistaking it-- that was Arthur alright. and, as he reaches out to pet him...

“hi my name is suzaku kururugi and welcome to jackass” *turns lelouch over to the emperor

you probably know him from citta, since he was there, like...5 whole times

post-series, meaning he’s taken up the guise of zero

despite that, he’s keeping all his character development from citta, meaning he’s mellowed out a bit!

engaged to euphemia and they have three cats for kids

just trying to make it on this bitch of an earth

kind but also won’t hesitate to tell you you’re wrong

has the Lancelot so if you like big mechas and cannot lie, hit him up

really he needs friends