Of all the words she might have chosen to describe the events surrounding the battle on the Damocles, "smoothly" was nowhere on the list. From the point of view of the Emperor, perhaps; his plans certainly had fallen immediately into place in the next two months, but for everyone else -- it wasn't quite the same. She flinched visibly at the comment, briefly glad that he was looking away as her own gaze fell to her lap once more.
As difficult as it had been to begin speaking, now that she had it was easier, the words flowing from her -- like blood from a wound her mind supplied, and she winced again at the thought -- so that she didn't want to halt the momentum even though she could see how much it was upsetting him. If she didn't think about it, ignored the pain twisting in her own chest, blinked back the tears that wanted to fall in reaction to the memories her words were calling up, she could finish. He had to know all of it. Only then would he really understand what she was asking him to change.
"The battle was a decisive win for Britannia, and the last of the resistance wiped out. A victory for the Empire, even if...if Suzaku was reported killed in action." Despite the fact that her voice remained even it grew quieter as she forced herself to end the story, determined to finish what she had begun. "Most of the leaders of the opposing forces had been captured, and two months after the battle...we were supposed to be executed. And transported there in open parade beneath the eyes of the Emperor himself."
She could remember it as though it had just happened yesterday. All of it -- the feel of the platform beneath her, the oppressive and uncomfortable silence of the crowd lining the streets, the grief and despair that weighed down her limbs more than any physical binding could have. And then the procession lurched to a halt, and she'd lifted her head and seen the impossible.
Nunnally swallowed hard, her knuckles going white with the strength of her grip. "But on the way -- Zero appeared, blocking the road. Everything stopped. He passed all the guards surrounding the Emperor's transport and...." That sentence she couldn't finish, no matter how determined she was. Her voice cut off as a tear she hadn't realized was threatening to fall landed on the back of her hand, and she squeezed her eyes tightly closed, though that couldn't block out the images supplied by her memory.
Re: F23
As difficult as it had been to begin speaking, now that she had it was easier, the words flowing from her -- like blood from a wound her mind supplied, and she winced again at the thought -- so that she didn't want to halt the momentum even though she could see how much it was upsetting him. If she didn't think about it, ignored the pain twisting in her own chest, blinked back the tears that wanted to fall in reaction to the memories her words were calling up, she could finish. He had to know all of it. Only then would he really understand what she was asking him to change.
"The battle was a decisive win for Britannia, and the last of the resistance wiped out. A victory for the Empire, even if...if Suzaku was reported killed in action." Despite the fact that her voice remained even it grew quieter as she forced herself to end the story, determined to finish what she had begun. "Most of the leaders of the opposing forces had been captured, and two months after the battle...we were supposed to be executed. And transported there in open parade beneath the eyes of the Emperor himself."
She could remember it as though it had just happened yesterday. All of it -- the feel of the platform beneath her, the oppressive and uncomfortable silence of the crowd lining the streets, the grief and despair that weighed down her limbs more than any physical binding could have. And then the procession lurched to a halt, and she'd lifted her head and seen the impossible.
Nunnally swallowed hard, her knuckles going white with the strength of her grip. "But on the way -- Zero appeared, blocking the road. Everything stopped. He passed all the guards surrounding the Emperor's transport and...." That sentence she couldn't finish, no matter how determined she was. Her voice cut off as a tear she hadn't realized was threatening to fall landed on the back of her hand, and she squeezed her eyes tightly closed, though that couldn't block out the images supplied by her memory.