imperial_stage | A Valentine's Date

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A Valentine's Date

Who: Athrun Zala and Euphemia li Britannia
What: The engaged couple spend the day together. It's the Feast of Valentine, after all.
Where: Tsuwano province -- first in the capital's cemetery, then in the town of Rishiri.
When: February 14th. All day.

Athrun sat waiting in the living room of the estate. He was ready to go, but still apprehensive about the whole thing. The idea of having fun on the anniversary of his mother's death felt off to him, even if he should be trying to move on from her death. He was fine with visiting her grave, at least.

Athrun tried to distract himself by looking outside. It looked like a beautiful day for mid-winter, though the islands had mild winters anyway. It would be a good day for this sort of excursion. All he had to do was wait for Euphemia to finish getting ready.

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Once Euphemia finished dressing up, she walked down to the living room where her fiancee was waiting for her. Today was an important date for him and she was quite aware of how much it affected him, so she wanted to at least do her best so he could know that he wasn't alone.

When she reached the room, her voice was calm.

"Sorry for taking so long."

Athrun looked over at her, away from the window where he had been gazing before. "It's all right. We still have plenty of time."

Athrun stood up from his seat. "Are you ready to go?"

"I am. Let us go then."

She moved closer to his side then, letting him guide her to their destination.

Ever the gentleman, Athrun extended his arm for Euphemia, then led her out the door. A coach was waiting in front of the house, and Athrun helped his fiancée up into it, before climbing in himself. The coachman closed the door, and they were off.

"We're going to the cemetery first. I thought we should do that right away."

"I understand. Forgive me for asking, but did your mother have any favorite flowers I could bring her?"

She asked softly, trying to not bring any sad memories to him. It was already a hard day for him after all.

If anything, that eased his mind. There was a little relief in his expression.

"She loved both roses and tulips. I always bring her a bouquet of roses, so you can bring her some tulips."

"I would love to. Thank you for telling me."

Euphemia replied gently, taking his hand with hers with a small smile, full of compassion as well. "Remember, you are not alone, Athurn."

Athrun tried to smile back. It ended up coming out wry. "Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that."

Shortly after, the carriage stopped at the florist shop. Two bouquets of flowers later, they got moving again, this time in the direction of the cemetery.

"Sorry about the ride. We're going to a special cemetery for those who lost their lives in service to their kingdom, so it's closer to the castle than to our home."

She shacked her head gently, to let him know that it was alright. Euphemia hold the flowers close, observing them calmly as he spoke.

"Do not apologize, I do understand." Her voice was gently as she talked to him. "Thank you for letting me join you in this day."

"Of course. I think the company will do me some good."

A little while longer, and the carriage stopped at the cemetery. Athrun climbed out, then helped Euphemia down. He led the way through the gate and down the path a little ways, then turned down a side path and stopped at one particular tombstone, where he knelt down and placed the flowers on the ground.

This tombstone was larger than most of the others, and near the top, had the name "ZALA" engraved into it. Below the family name was the name "Lenore," followed by a year of birth and year of death. Near the very bottom was a quote:

"Those who make a sacrifice for others will never die in vain."

If Euphemia looked closely at Athrun's face, she would notice a small stream of tears flowing from Athrun's closed eyes.

Euphemia knelt down as well, placing the flowers close to the ones Athrun put for the tombstone. She watched it carefully to notice the quote, it is really something she can understand too. Though she wants to believe that someday, those sacrifices will not happen again so people can be full of happiness...

When she looks at him, she can see the tears flowing from his eyes. One her her hands moved to hold his calmly, giving it a squeeze to know that she was there for him. That it was fine to cry and open himself in such situation. Her free hand then gently rested in his face to wipe out the tears in such a lovingly way.

Athrun opened his eyes in surprise, and saw Euphemia's hand. He reached up to grab it with his own.

"I'm sorry." He tried to laugh it off. "I'd been hoping I could do this without shedding any tears."

There was a light shake of her head as an answer. Then she gave him a small smile to comfort him from his pain.

"You do not need to apologize for anything." She spoke calmly, watching him for a few seconds once more. "It is alright to cry when you are feeling like this, Athrun. But this time, instead of shedding the tears alone..." Euphemia gave another light squeeze to the hand that was holding this.

"I am here to wipe them away."

"Well...thank you." Without letting go of Euphemia's hand, Athrun returned to his feet. "I'm sure my mother is thankful for you being here, too."

Watching still hold her hand makes her feel happy inside. "It makes me happy to know that. I shall be always at your side."

"Thank you." Athrun is not one who prefers to depend on another person, but knowing he has the option provides him with a certain degree of relief.

"What do you say we get going? It'll take some time to get to Rishiri from here."

She give a small nod as a reply.

"Could you please go ahead? I wish to speak some words with your mother before departing." Her request was simple, though she would understand if he wanted to deny it.

Euphemia's request earned a surprised look from Athrun. However, his facial expression soon changed to a more serious yet gentle one. He nodded.

"Of course. I'll go wait by the carriage."

"Thank you."

Once he started walking, Euphemia knelt down once more in front of flowers. Her expression was serene, smiling fondly at the memory of Athrun's mother. Her hand softly reached to place the flowers better as she started to speak.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." She begun, her voice still calm as ever. "Your son is such a wonderful person, I am truly glad that I could met him, Madam." Because after all this time she spent with him, she could learn to see many faces of him that she was not aware of it first.

She could see the man that worried for others, a man that was ready to fight for what he believed it was the right thing. A man that could cry for the loss of his loved ones. Even if Athrun tried to act though or just didn't know how to communicate well with others about his own self... Euphemia learned a bit to see what was behind that.

The small breeze felt nice, making the 'princess' to come back from her thoughts once more. "Please, do not worry. As I will do everything I can to protect him from any harm. I know there are battles that cannot be avoided... but as long as I live, you have my word that Athrun will not be alone. That he will see a peaceful world where he will not need to fight."

Her pink hair moved sightly with the wind as did the flowers. She held them gently enough to not damage them, and then give a small smile to them once more. The sweet voice spoke once more before standing up in her place.

"Until that day, I ask you to believe in me."

She gave a small bow with her dress. "Thank you for listening, Madam. I promise you that your son will be safe."

And with that said, Euphemia walked to the carriage where her fiancee was waiting for her.

When Euphemia approached, Athrun helped her into the carriage and climbed in after her. Then, they left the cemetery.

Two hours later, the carriage arrived at a hamlet on the coast south of the capital. The village seemed to be based around fishing, but there was also a beautiful beach there. It was on that beach where Athrun began spreading the blanket. Once it was spread, he took a seat on it and invited Euphemia to do the same.

"So, what are we having today?"

She accepted the offer and took a seat on the blanket with a smile in her face. Then she gently pulled out some dishes and placed everything in the blanket.

"I hope you find this of your liking."

Athrun smiled as he watched Euphemia set the food out. "It's off to a good start. Everything here looks delicious." He begins to serve himself portions of food and put them on his dish.

Euphemia served herself as well with a big smile. Even if he was having a hard time for this day, he still could smile at her for this little date.

"I did not know your favorite, so I had to improvise and asked around the city what would be the best for this situation!"

Athrun took a morsel and placed it in his mouth. After swallowing, he smiled again.

"Well, whoever you asked really knows their stuff. It's as delicious as it looks."

After saying that, he resumed eating.

Euphemia giggled at that.

"Sorry, I promised to not tell the secret about such wonderful food."

Then she started eating once more.

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