Chapter 3 Summary: Suzaku's Family Portrait

Last chapter, Prince Lelouch is slowly captivating Suzaku's heart with his genuine concern and appreciation for the little boy's abilities and self-worth. A family portrait drawn by Suzaku created a way for the boy to finally open up to his nii-chan about the night of the tragedy that took away his family. As the lost prince sheds a brand new light into Suzaku's once empty life, a bond that will stand the test of time is beginning to form between the two boys.

Chapter 4: Nii-chan is a Prince!

A pair of amethyst eyes under heavy eyelids sleepily gazed around its surroundings. The place was bathed with golden rays of sunlight peeking through the cave's entrance. The scenery before him felt surreal, as if he was in a dream and he was inside another person's body whom he could not recognize. Keeping his eyelids open, his vision gradually readjusted and became much clearer. Finally, a wave of recognition washed over him.

He just spent his first night in this unknown place with an identity that no one, not even himself recognize.

Who am I? Why am I on this place? Where is my family, relatives or anyone who knows me? Where are they now? Aren't they looking for me? Probably they are, if only they knew I'm still alive. The questions keep running endlessly in his head.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air allowing the gravity of his situation sink in. Right now he just felt like a piece of flesh, which was allowed to breathe but not really live. He had no past, no memories, no family, no name. He had no idea how to continue his life. He didn't even know where to pick himself up in the first place.

Even, there is this inevitable possibility that he may never be found again. He may spend the rest of his life in this island so there was no point continuing an old life that was nonexistent as far as his memories can or cannot recall. He probably needed to start anew.

A new life? Easier said than done.

He let out a huge sigh while his eyes remained closed, completely resigned to his present fate. The sleepiness was no longer there. By keeping his eyes closed, his other senses became extra sensitive. He suddenly became aware of the hard wooden board against his back which reminded him of the bed where he laid down and eventually succumbed into sleep last night.

He stretched his limbs in all directions, feeling refreshed and well rested after indulging in several hours of sleep. As he stretched his upper body, the fabric of his white polo shirt inevitably brushed against his cool skin. Even though his hands and feet were freezing due to the cold morning weather, he strangely felt warm. Then he noticed his purple suit covering his torso like a warm blanket tucked by a loving parent. He didn't recall arranging it that way before falling asleep.

As the remaining sleepiness in him slowly washed away, he focused his thoughts about the events of last night. He remembered having a hearty meal of unfamiliar vegetables and fruits with Suzaku which the boy miraculously harvested out of nowhere. He was talking to Suzaku about the little boy's life in the island. The events afterwards where a bit hazy which was probably when he already fell asleep. Speaking of the little boy…

Wait! Where is Suzaku?

He immediately scanned the area for any signs of Suzaku. His gaze busily roamed around the area but the boy was nowhere in sight. The cave wasn't that big for him to miss a boy no matter how small he is.

He had been occupying the entire bed—Suzaku's bed! Where did the boy sleep or did he sleep at all? Or maybe he woke up early? When the realization hit him, he bolted upright from the bed, and immediately swung his legs towards the floor, readying to walk towards the cave's exit and search for Suzaku outside. Only he was stopped midair when a figure on the floor caught his attention.

"Suzaku?" It was Suzaku on the floor, sleeping peacefully. He was lying on his side in fetal position, with his face turned towards nii-chan, his hands were under the side of his face. He could see the slow upward and downward movement of his tummy, as he took in breaths. He looked so peaceful and cute, with that small smile on his face, like he was dreaming of something wonderful.

Why would Suzaku sleep on the ground? He can't help but wonder. Oh, I must have occupied the entire bed when I slept last night. Poor boy, he could have wake me up. This is his bed. I should've been the one sleeping on the floor. The older boy thought disapprovingly yet at the same time this little selfless act of Suzaku endeared him.

He wasted no more time. He bent down and lifted the boy from the floor, winding his arms under the neck and the other under the knees. The boy was extremely light weight, as if he was not carrying anything at all.

This boy weighs next to nothing! What has he been feeding himself?

The boy on his arms stirred a little, moving his face unconsciously against nii-chan's chest as if seeking for more warmth. As the boy moved closer to him, he heard a soft voice coming from the little boy saying "niichan". At first he thought the boy was already awake, but he appeared to be still in deep sleep, with a strange small smile on his face.

Is Suzaku dreaming?

He gently laid him down on the bed, careful not to wake him up. A few brown strands of hair fell on his face, which nii-chan brushed away with the tips of his fingers. The older boy sat on the ground and contentedly observed the boy in front of him. He was glad to see him sleeping soundly. The last thing he wanted was to see the little boy in any uncomfortable position.

Who would have thought this small boy is going to be my savior? I could have been found by a whole lot of other people. This place could be a terrorist hideout where they could easily killed or ransomed me. Or I could have been enslaved by people who are not a fan of Britannians like myself. Or worst I could have been the only person in this island with no forms of communication, left here until I die and rot. And yet none of this happened, I was found by this child.

"Thank you, Suzaku." He whispered softly on the sleeping child.

OOO

Half an hour watching over the boy, Suzaku finally woke up. He began rubbing both his eyes with the back of his hands. He let out a small yawn, his mouth forming a perfect huge 'O' shape, which resulted to watering of his eyes as he sleepily opened them up, "niichan?"

"Good morning, little brother," Nii-chan smiled, his face leveled with Suzaku's, who is lying supine on the bed. Nii-chan was still sitting on the ground beside the bed, with both his knees propped up against his chest and his arms folded on top.

"Nii-chan! I finally know about your past life!" The boy declared out of nowhere. He quickly sat up on the bed as soon as the handsome face of his nii-chan dawned on him. There was a huge confident grin on the boy's face, which made the older boy listen intently to whatever he had to say.

"You meant you dreamt something about my past?" the older boy clarified, clearly it was a dream as Suzaku just woke up from sleep.

"No it wasn't just a dream!" Suzaku said slightly offended. " You have to believe what I have to say. This is real because everything I saw was very clear! I can even draw it for you if you want!" Suzaku said seriously.

Niii-chan can't help but let out a soft chuckle at the seriousness on Suzaku's face. Suzaku was still a child after all; a big part of him still believes in dreams. He looked cute just insisting on how real his dream was.

"Nii-chan, don't laugh at me! You've got to take this seriously." Suzaku frowned.

"Okay! Okay!" Nii-chan held up his hand in surrender. "So what did you see in my past then?"

"You're a prince, Nii-chan! And you live in this HUUGE palace where everything was made of chocolates, candies and sweets." Suzaku revealed excitedly as he sat Indian style on the bed while animatedly moving his arms to emphasize how huge the palace was. His emerald eyes were shining brightly, like he just discovered a very important secret.

"A prince in a chocolate palace eh?" The older boy continued to chuckle, suppressing a laughter from escaping out loud. He didn't want to offend Suzaku further by laughing right at his face. So he just went along with the child's story, "That sounds mouthwatering!"

"Yes, nii-chan! that place seems so real! No, it was real 'cause I was there too! There was a lake of white chocolate and a mountain of brown chocolate! The entire forest including the flowers, trees and even the rainbows were made of candies. The grass tastes like peppermint. Everything tastes so delicious. And since you're the prince, you can eat everything! And since I'm your little brother, I can eat as much as I want too!"

"I bet we're both fat!" Nii-chan said amusedly, as he looked at the boy in front of him, who seemed to be out of breath from telling about his wonderful journey in the kingdom of sweets.

Suzaku shook his head. "Nah! We're still the same even though we eat, eat and eat. Day and night. the candies never run out. Until we are so full that we fell asleep. And then, the next thing I knew, I woke up and I'm back here in Kamine Island." Suzaku said, half disappointed and half contented.

"Do you wish to go back there? After all, I'm the prince of this wonderful candy land maybe I can pull some strings," the older youth said proudly, riding along with Suzaku's little story.

"Can we go back there? Please Prince Nii-chan!" Suzaku clasped both his hands in front of his face, his eyes still speak a very strong belief in his dream.

"No you silly boy! It was just a dream!" the older boy stood up from his seated position on the ground, and stretched one arm, reaching a hand towards Suzaku's head and ruffling the boy's dark brown mop of hair in the process.

"Nii-chan! You never believed a thing I said, didn't you?" Suzaku pouted his lower lip, his round cheeks becoming more prominent. The older boy felt a small guilt for having to squash his little brother's dream like that.

"Hey, Suzaku don't be mad," Nii-chan tried to peek under Suzaku's long bangs by moving his face closer to the little boy, this time he was seated beside the little boy on the bed. But Suzaku didn't budge, his lower lip remained pouted, his cheeks puffed and his eyes downcast. The older boy found it too cute, maybe he'll let Suzaku in a sullen mood a little long.

"Suu-zaa-kuu!" Nii-chan said in a sing-song voice, while playfully tickling Suzaku on his belly. The little boy was short of breath from laughing as he bent down at his waist, preventing nii-chan from assaulting his tummy.

"Hahah Nii-chan please stop! Hahahaha Okay I agree with you Nii-chan! Everything was just a dreammm!" the little boy continued to giggle, by now he was holding both his nii-chan's wrists, preventing it from reaching its target.

"Good," the older boy smirked.

"Nii-chan, Congratulations! You survived your first night in Kamine Island! I hope you had a WONDERFUL sleep!" Suzaku exclaimed, a proud smile on his face.

"Yup. Thanks to you Suzaku. I did have a wonderful sleep" His nii-chan let out a cursory smile which was immediately replaced by a serious look on his face. "Which reminds me, how did your sleep go?" Suzaku stared at his nii-chan's face, gauging his facial expression. All of a sudden, he looked serious and not happy at all and he had no idea why. The air was suddenly tensed for some reason.

"Me? I—" Suzaku paused, his eyes darted from the floor to the bed and back again. He recalled waking up here on the bed today, which was strange because last night, he was sure he slept on the floor to give way for his nii-chan who fell asleep on the bed. He decided not to wake him up because he's already in deep sleep.

"I found you sleeping on the floor when I woke up this morning so I lifted you back to your bed." What followed was an awkward silence. Suzaku doesn't know what to say, his nii-chan doesn't seem happy at all. Did he do anything wrong?

"Suzaku, this is your home, your own bed. If anyone should be sleeping on it, it's you. Don't worry about me, I can sleep anywhere. Next time?," Nii-chan let out a small smile towards Suzaku whom he probably accidentally scared off and thought he was being reprimanded. "But I really appreciate the gesture."

"But I can sleep anywhere too, even on the floor," Suzaku insisted stubbornly, hoping his nii-chan would just drop it and let him take the floor. "And you're my guest so you should take it!"

"No, I'm your big brother remember?" the older boy was taking his big brother role seriously. "What kind of big brother would let his baby brother sleep on the floor?"

"Please nii-chan! I won't be able to sleep unless I know you're comfortable! Please take the bed!" Suzaku sat up straight on top of the bed, with his knees folded, his small hands interlocking together and pressed in front of his chin. The puppy emerald eyes before the older boy was just too hard to resist.

Knowing his little brother won't easily drop it, Nii-chan raised both his hands, assuming a surrender position. "OKAY! You win!"

The little boy was already rejoicing when Niichan said, "But wait—"

This caught Suzaku's attention, he paused waiting for the older boy for whatever he had to say. Nii-chan continued, "I would only sleep on the bed if you sleep on it also! We could actually share the bed. I guess it could accommodate the two of us. That's the only way I would agree to sleep on the bed, if you sleep on it also, Suzaku." Nii-chan smirked. In the battle of stubbornness, he won't easily surrender.

After a long pause, some few thoughts and seeing the triumphant smirk on his Nii-chan's face, Suzaku finally said "Umm… I guess I can't say no?"

"Okay that's setted then!" Nii-chan announced.

The truth is: Suzaku doesn't mind sharing the bed with his nii-chan. In fact he liked it even better. It reminded him of the time, his father and mother put him to bed when they were still alive. Suzaku smiled inwardly. He truly wasn't just gifted a big brother, was he?

There was a moment of silence, when suddenly it was broken by a sound of growling stomach coming at the same time from both boys.

"Oops! I guess our tummy is saying something!" Suzaku chuckled as he pressed both his palms against his stomach.

"Well, at least they are agreeing with each other."

"I know where to find food!" Suzaku stood proudly.

"Count me in!"

"Do you know how to fish, nii-chan?"

"I can learn,"

"Nii-chan and Suzaku are going fishing! It's going to be fun!" The little boy announced excitedly, as he jumped off from the bed. A huge smile lighting up his innocent face.

The older boy can't help but feel the contagious happiness radiating from Suzaku. This little boy who lost his family and yet still find a reason to smile…

His savior.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he wasn't just a piece of flesh allowed to breathe. Maybe it wasn't true he had no past, no memories, no family or no name. It's just that He hasn't fully realized everything yet.

He may or may not regain his memories or his old life back. He may be robbed off of his past, but he knew he'll never be robbed off of his present.

His present which is now together with this wonderful little boy in front of him

Maybe starting a new life won't be too hard at all…

There may be a lot of unanswered questions or a lot of maybes, but that's the beauty of life, isn't it? It's uncertainty and its ability to catch you by surprise.

A/N: WEEE! I finally updated, this story never once left my head! So the delay in my update is not really because I lost interest in this story but there are just a lot of stuffs getting in the way, that is why! Plus, sometimes I can't get to satisfy myself with my own writing because of so many petty reasons that in the end, I realize what the heck 'JUST WRITE!'. Most importantly, I really miss these two cuties so much and I badly want to add more cuteness in their lives and mine—so there, an update! : )

Special thanks to these wonderful people who reviewed last chapter: guest, Emkatw1luv, InsanePurpleLove, the allen walker, hellokitty70705, Mairposa!

Thank you also to those who added the story to their fav and alert lists! Bellflower's tale, alefictal, Yukari99, missysj87, hellokitty70705, Serella, AyaRaiden, Mai96, shinydragonmist, Aren Kamelot, Reklaw41, reanseih, thecatleader, lilleil, tsubasa shiki, MoyashiGirl, skepsis66, Bloody3lue, Mairposa, Le-Anime-fan

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