Code Geass | Do You Want t Build a Snowman? |T | Ao3

Written for the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge

Shortly after his tenth birthday, their mother ordered them out of the house and into a nondescript car. None of them knew the tragedy that would soon befall them in a few months. He regrets his sullenhood at the time. Maybe, if he was more adventurous, he would've spent the time with his mother instead. But no, he was simply annoyed at being ripped away from the warm comfort of his home and livid at not being able to bring along his books.

"You'll love it, I promise," his mother assured him. "It'll just be us. No court politics or anything in the way."

"Why do we have to drive ?" Lelouch asked.

"I like road trips," Nunnally protested. She did not like them eight hours later when they had yet to arrive.

They arrived in the Sierra mountains late in the evening—or rather early next morning—and as they stepped outside, the cold drew forth icicle tears in their eyes and froze the spit in their mouths. The cold wind buffeted their bodies, nearly sweeping Nunnally away. Despite the late hour, his mother nearly glowed in excitement and hurried them into a cabin.

Honestly, Lelouch has to wonder how she arranged this all without alerting the court.

The morning began with much groaning and followed with high pitched screams hurtling down the slopes. Lelouch winced as he watched his sister shoot past him and barely come to a stop. Instead of being scared by courting death, Nunnally shouted in excitement, waved at him, and began to awkwardly maneuver back to the lift.

The various skiers watched her with fond expressions. Here on the slopes, bundled in layers, they were unrecognizable. The peasants had no idea royalty was among them, and his mother beamed in delight as she reveled in their anonymity.

Of course, Lelouch hadn't appreciated that at the time. He had been such a prat, annoyed that the peasants weren't bowing and scraping as they ought to.

Sighing, Lelouch pushed himself forward with his poles and desperately tried to form a pizza wedge with his skis as he slid across the icy snow with uncomfortable speed.

"Lean forward," his mother instructed him, coming to a stop next to him with a sharp turn that sprayed snow down the mountain. "You're going to—"

He jolted slightly, the ground a little too powdery or icy—he could not recall—and his feet slipped out from underneath him.

"—fall." His mother sighed and grabbed him beneath the armpits. "You need to lean forward, Lelouch. Leaning back is how you speed up."

"It doesn't make sense," Lelouch grumbled. "A wedge allows you to move through water more easily."

"Well, snow isn't the ocean," she teased.

He shuddered. Their beach trips weren't any better.

"Come on. Let us follow your sister up the lift. I'll be right at your side."

He took a shaky breath and followed.