Chapter 1: Please, Delay the Inevitable.

Disclaimer : I don't own Code Geass. If I did, we would've seen the scene of the Emperor using his Geass on Rivalz and the others.

AN : Here it is, the first chapter of part 2. At first, I've planned to put it as an Epilogue for the first part and the way I wrote it is completely different.

It is set up one month after the events of part 1.

June 30th, 2017.

In an ordinary classroom of a prestigious academy at the Tokyo Settlement, an ordinary student was hearing a presentation from one of his classmates. It was on the Duke of Britannia, the one who created the Britannian Empire. How generous of him.

'So, Benjamin Franklin decided to embrace the cause of a wonderful Empire in America instead of a country freed from monarchy.' The student thought sarcastically. 'Ricardo von Britannia managed to persuade him to give up arms and later on to persuade the old Queen to give the throne to him. Did my great-great-great-great-grandfather have a green-haired witch at his side to bring him luck? I should ask her after class.'

"Lelouch, it's your turn!" The History teacher shouted.

"Yeah, yeah." The student named Lelouch replied boringly while standing up from his chair.

"You're not taking your notes?" The teacher asked to Lelouch who was now approaching the blackboard.

He shrugged. "Why should I? The character I'm going to present doesn't use any for his speeches."

The History teacher raised an eyebrow. "And what is the historic character you chose?"

Lelouch looked at the class and said with a mysterious tone. "Let me to talk to you about … Zero."

There were several gasps coming from the most patriotic sheep of the class.

"Why him, of all people?" The girl who was next to Lelouch in class -Eleanor or something- asked with an annoying tone.

"Because he's manly." He retorted.

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Begin already!"

Lelouch began to speak. "Before his appearance, Area11's resistance force was composed of numerous groups in the Ghettoes or in the mountains. One of them set his hideout in the Shinjuku Ghetto. During an operation of 'pacification', Zero appeared and led the group to victory. Those were the testimony of Kaname Ohgi, the former leader of this group and now co-administrator of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan. But in fact, we all know those terrorists had released poison gas by accident and that the army was forced to intervene in order to save those poor Elevens." He faked a couch, and some of his classmates snickered, really thinking that the terrorists released poison gas.

"But I'm digressing." Lelouch said casually, and then continued his presentation. "Zero appeared out of nowhere like a God sent or something and killed Clovis la Britannia, the Third Prince of the Empire. Two days later, the Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, saddened by the loss of Prince Clovis, worked hard in order to retrieve the culprit and found a suspect: our classmate Suzaku Kururugi, who is absent today because of his work."

Some students made a sigh out of disappointment. Suzaku was the only celebrity they had on his class, or so they thought.

"Later on." The other celebrity continued. "It had been proved that, at that time, he was testing a prototype for Milly's former fiancé so he couldn't have perpetuated the murder. But he is the Japan Prime minister's son and he could have become a symbol for the resistance. When Kururugi was being led to his martial court, Zero appeared to intercept the convoy. He threatened to release some poison gas if the commander of the convoy – the infamous Kewell Soresi – wouldn't release Suzaku. After revealing that he was the murderer of Prince Clovis, Zero revealed to the World the Banana Affair. Kewell had been interrogated quite often on this subject, and the only substantial thing he had said concerning Banana was, and I quote: 'I will do this interview if you agree to buy me a bottle of banana liquor, hiccup!' After the incident, Kewell have been forced to quit the military and Jeremiah Gottwald decided to disband the Pureblood Unit because he didn't trust his subordinates anymore. Soon after Cornelia li Britannia, the Chief General of the Imperial Army, became Viceroy, she decided to set up a trap to lure Zero out in the Saitama Ghetto."

"It hadn't been confirmed." The teacher interrupted him.

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! It's obvious that it was a plan to capture Zero. In any case, the terrorist group of the Ghetto, the Yamato alliance, had been wiped out and rumors affirmed that Zero was the one to lead them. I personally disagree."

"Why?" Nina asked.

"Well." He continued. "Soon after the operation, an enormous explosion occurred and an official tried to kill Princess Cornelia while profiting of the confusion. Personally, I think it was a tentative of coup d'état coming from some members of the Area 11's Government who didn't want her to look at their business."

"It's merely a conspiracy theory." His teacher said.

Lelouch shrugged. "Is it more logical that the minister of defense decided to embrace to cause of Justice for no apparent reasons?"

"Point taken." He admitted.

"So." Lelouch continued. "Days after, a faction of the Japanese Liberation Front led by Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe took the Lake Kawaguchi hotel in hostage during a conference on the Sakuradite distribution." He looked at Shirley and Nina. "Some of the former hostages are in our class."

Shirley and Nina blushed out of embarrassment.

"Princess Euphemia was among the hostages as well. After Zero liberated them and killed Kusakabe, he revealed to the world The Order of the Black Knights, a group who would reestablish Justice whenever she isn't applied anymore. In my opinion, Zero wanted to liberate his country by using the ideal of Justice to boost the masses into cooperating with him. With his actions, he showed that the methods used by the terrorists were not the ones to follow if people wanted to rebel against Britannia. After that, the Black Knights made some actions to gain the masses' support, like declaring war against corruption and the Refrain market." Lelouch looked at Kallen. "We don't really know if he did that for public support or because he had personal reasons."

Kallen grinned.

"Princess Cornelia decided to eliminate the Japan Liberation Front in the Narita Mountains." Lelouch continued. "But Zero was there and nearly obliterated the Britannian forces. Cornelia's royal Guard was defeated, her knight Guilford was killed in action, and the Goddess of Victory herself fell in combat. No one knows where she is at that time, even Kaname Ohgi and Diethard Ried. Soon after the disappearance of Cornelia, General Andreas Darlton took the power temporary in the Area but was soon killed by Zero when he tried to capture General Katase of the former Japanese Army. The mainland named a new Viceroy, Euphemia li Britannia."

Nina grinned.

"The newly-appointed Sub-Viceroy, General Jeremiah Gottwald, managed to capture Lieutenant Colonel Todoh, a high figure of the resistance. He set up a trap around the prison to ambush Zero, but he predicted it and it turned in his favor. Todoh had been liberated, and the whole World saw the superior skills of the Black Knights in military combat. But in the meantime, Euphemia decided to knight Suzaku Kururugi, even though he lost against Zero. Soon after, Euphemia declared the establishment of a special Zone in order to recreate Japan, and she asked for Zero's cooperation. In the meantime, General Gottwald found one of the Black Knights' hideout and destroyed one of their ships. Zero declared that half of their men have been killed, and that most of his Knightmares had been destroyed. We can assume that Zero was forced to associate with the project, but would he have still cooperated if this tragedy hadn't happened? Now that Japan has been created, Zero has disappeared, but will he come back? And if so, in which circumstances? Personally, I think that Zero wanted his character to be the symbol of revolution, and he considered that there was no need to do a revolution in Japan right now; that's why he disappeared. But only Zero has the answers, and unfortunately he's not in this class."

Suddenly, the bell rang.

Somewhere at the North East of China, a military base was hiding two thousand members of the organization this student had created. One of them was inside of the gigantic metallic dome, testing a Knightmare prototype.

"Takeshi." His superior's voice resonated on his cockpit. "This float system is unique. Don't damage it."

Takeshi sighed. "I've already tested aerial piloting with the Gawain, there's no need to worry."

Suddenly, enemy units appeared on the screen of his cockpit. Takeshi was testing Knightmares this way: the machine didn't have any ammo and there were no enemies but this special cockpit provided fake images, reproducing a battle situation. Takeshi would have to destroy imaginary enemies using the commands of his prototype, in order to gather data for the future productions.

This prototype was named the Ronin. It came from a joke told by a member of the Black Knights who compared the order to a bunch of samurais without master. It was true that Zero had disappeared, but he would be back when needed and the order would retrieve their leader. Still, the term stayed to name the Knightmare Takeshi was helping to create. It was mostly based on two units: the first one was the Gurosuta, an upgrading of the Gloucester, and the Akatsuki, an upgrading of the Gekka. Those two machines were only pre-production test types, but were destined to be the main units of the Japanese Army, Takeshi was sure of it.

He launched the simulation and his unit. The enemy Sutherlands coming from the air and the earth started shooting at the Ronin. Instinctively, Takeshi avoided the hits and used the shield from his machine's right arm. Of course, he wasn't installed yet but Rakshata had already put the command on the prototype. He shot a salve of missiles to the aerial units to counter attack. Then, he slashed a Sutherland with his MVS and used his machine gun to finish off the remaining units.

Takeshi was mostly testing the ergonomics of the next generation Knightmare frames. In clear, he was helping preparing the next war. He knew that the peace Zero and Euphemia created could end at any time.

He, along with all the Japanese, knew that only too well. Japan had been invaded by Britannia because they finally overcame Europe and China in terms of military strength. The place where Takeshi lived, the Saitama Ghetto, had been wiped out because Cornelia wanted to stabilize the Colonial Area. True, he had been saved, and he still didn't know how, but Takeshi knew that the same scenario would happen again. Sooner or later, Britannia would try to capture Zero by using violence. Sooner or later, war would break again.

More enemies popped up on his screen and Takeshi activated the float system.

'But if war breaks again, it would be Britannia's fault, right?' He thought anxiously, remembering what Zero had said to Kirihara. 'But for this world to be peaceful, Britannia must be destroyed.'

Ohgi was on his office, receiving diverse people. Day after day, Japan was growing and more people wanted to help develop the zone. He didn't have the competences to be an efficient bureaucrat, so he used the Diethard as a counselor. His mission was to develop the public image of the Zone and to help Ohgi in his work. But sometimes he wasn't needed: the other day, Ohgi received the CEO of a construction company, Lady Smythe, in order to discuss about the creation of a university of Fuji. The woman was repeating that she would do anything in order to develop Japan. It was strange, because Diethard affirmed that Lady Smythe was a known supremacist. Well, just like the Sub-Viceroy, and he was working for Zero. You couldn't judge people according to their reputation; it was what Ohgi learned from this.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Come in." He said casually.

The door opened and revealed a Britannian sub-officer. He looked pale and livid, and it was something that intrigued Ohgi.

"I am Lieutenant Diego Martinez." The soldier said, saluting the co-administrator of the Special Zone. "My regiment is going to supervise the incorporation of the Shizuoka Ghetto into the Special Administrated Zone of Japan." The he showed him a document. "I'm also charged by the Minister of Internal Affairs to make you sign this document. The signature of the two administrators of the Special Zone is needed."

Ohgi read the contract: The Colonial Government was proposing to cede the Shizuoka Ghetto to Japan. More than 1 millions Japanese entered the Zone and the country needed more space to build housings and industries. The sub-Viceroy sent his assistant, Villetta Nu, in order to negotiate the moving of the borders. The woman was nice, even if it seemed like she was a bit off. He didn't know if she was one of Zero's agents but the two of them managed to find an agreement rather quickly.

Ohgi signed the contract and gave it back to the soldier. "Martinez … it's not a Britannian name, isn't it?" He said casually, to strike up the conversation.

"Yes." The lieutenant replied. "I'm an Honorary Britannian. I'm from Area 3."

"And you're that high in the hierarchy." Ohgi said without any second thoughts.

Martinez stiffened.

"Oh, well." Ohgi continued casually. "Suzaku Kururugi is a Knight after all."

Lelouch was entering the clubhouse with Kallen.

Her mother was on the living room, along with Sayoko, Nunnally and C.C. They were drinking some tea.

"Hey girls." Lelouch said casually.

"Would you want some tea?" Sayoko asked.

"Yes, please." Kallen replied while sitting at the table.

"So, are you finally on holiday?" Kallen's mother asked while Sayoko was serving the tea to Lelouch and Kallen.

"Yes, Shihobu." Lelouch replied. "The school is finally over."

"It was a rather eventful year." Kallen added.

"Yes." Nunnally said teasingly. "You were out quite often, big brother, but now I know why."

Shihobu cleared her throat. "So do you, Kallen."

Lelouch took a slip of his tea and thought at his sister of his timeline. 'I hope that Suzaku is taking care of her well. It saddens me to know that she's in another world, thinking that I'm dead. I still remember what she said over my dead body and I think that I should use my Geass to bring her back. But the Nunnally of this world would become Empress and that could be highly problematic…'

"You two should announce it to the others." His sister said, snapping Lelouch's thoughts.

"Why?" Kallen asked.

"Because it's not good for Shirley to give her false hopes." Nunnally lectured.

'I understand why she's the Empress in another timeline.' Lelouch mused. 'She's good at ordering people around.'

"We can share, you know." C.C said suddenly in a teasing tone.

Kallen blushed, thinking at what the green-haired witch was implying.

"The reputation I'm going to have." Lelouch said while massaging his sinuses. "But you're right, Nunnally, I should tell her."

His sister smiled. "Though, I appreciate what you did for Milly."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"C.C told me." She replied simply.

Lelouch shrugged. "Well, I only guessed that Earl Asplund wanted to marry Milly only for the Ganymede, so I told Ruben to sell the machine to the Government."

"We won't be able to do giant pizzas, though." C.C said, slightly annoyed.

"But, in the meantime." Lelouch declared while standing up. "I order a private reunion of my two partners in crimes."

Kallen and C.C stood up as well.

"In your bedroom?" Kallen asked.

"Yup." C.C grinned.

Once they were out of the room, Sayoko approached Nunnally.

"You do know what they're going to do, right?" She asked.

Nunnally grinned. "Of course! But I can't wait to have nieces and nephews!"

Shihobu gulped.

Lady Alstreim was a brilliant Knightmare pilot cadet, but that was because she trained hard since her childhood. She had always dreamed of becoming a Knight of The Rounds and now her wish had been granted. She was The Knight of Six, the same title that was holding Marianne when she entered the Rounds. Anya was called by the Emperor on his private quarters, but right now, it wasn't Anya who controlled her body, it was Marianne.

"Hey Charles!" She exclaimed.

The Emperor sighed. "Now we can talk freely. Do you have any news of Lelouch?"

"Straight to the point, like always." Marianne replied. "C.C told me he was in an existential crisis."

He chuckled. "Can you translate?"

Of course, Charles didn't consider the fact that Lelouch was a teenager. Well, that was logical since his son was a revolutionary leader.

"He doesn't know if he wants to continue his rebellion or not." Marianne explained.

"That makes sense." Charles said. "He has everything he wants now. Peace, Japan, I'm sure he doesn't really care about the rest of the World. According to what Clovis said to me, he didn't seem to have any wish for revenge and C.C's declarations imply that my son doesn't want to fight after suffering a great loss among his forces."

"Do you think that C.C could lie to us?" She asked suddenly.

"But why would she lie?" The Emperor retorted. "She wants Ragnarok too so there's no reason for her to deceive us."

Anya's body shrugged. "I don't know; it's just that I'm bored and I hope that my son is preparing something big."

Charles frowned. "If he does that I won't have any scruples sending V.V to capture him."

Marianne made Anya's body raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It would mean that he prefers war over peace." The Emperor said. "And that he didn't learn anything."

"Maybe he wants peace on his terms." She retorted.

Charles scoffed. "Those who want war also want peace on their terms."

"Well, you're the Emperor after all." She admitted with a sigh. "And even if he dies, we'll be reunited when God will be destroyed, so there's no point to worry. By the way, do you have any news from V.V?"

"He had said that his code was weakening and that it was surely a message from the world of C." Charles said.

Marianne snickered. "But he's stupid! A code can't be weakened. The one who have it is immortal, period."

At the other side of the Ocean Pacific, Lelouch was doing one of his favorite activities.

"After the establishment of the United Federation of Nations, Russia would join us because they'll want to regain their lands in Siberia." Lelouch said to his two accomplices, showing them a world map on his computer. "If we liberate Area 9 and Area 12, we'll be able to launch a major offensive on the continent through The Arctic and the Pacific. Britannia will have to be distracted on a full-scale war with the EU for this offensive to work correctly."

Kallen tapped his shoulder. "But we should make love, not war."

"We can do both." C.C proposed.

"I don't really want to make war right now." Lelouch said more seriously. "But I agree with you, Kallen."

"Of course you do, lover boy." She replied while licking his earlobe teasingly.

"By the way, C.C." Lelouch said suddenly, ignoring Kallen's doings for a moment. "Did you meet my ancestor? The one who created Britannia, I mean."

"Ricardo?" C.C asked rhetorically. "Yeah, I gave him a Geass."

"So that would mean …" Lelouch began.

"That Britannia's creation is your fault!" Kallen snapped.

C.C closed her eyes and said seductively. "Yeah! Let the anger flow through the both of you, it makes you more aggressive in bed."

Lelouch became suddenly interested by C.C's declaration. "What did his Geass do?"

"Absolute Trust." She replied boringly. "He used it on Benjamin Franklin, The Queen and Napoleon to do his evil plan."

"And what was his evil plan?" Lelouch asked, suddenly interested by his ancestor.

"Peace." The witch replied simply.

"Peace isn't evil." Kallen retorted.

"It depends: Schneizel wanted peace, too." Lelouch said, thoughtful. "So, my ancestor decided to unify Europe while leaving the British Isles. It makes sense, Europe was ravaged by countless wars at that time and the Atlantic Ocean would guarantee peace between the two superpowers because of their primitive technologies. But he didn't think about the future."

C.C shrugged. "He was human after all, like you."

Lelouch sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"Why do you still want to destroy Britannia?" Kallen asked suddenly, forgetting that she knew something Lelouch didn't. "I mean, I just ask out of curiosity, I don't judge you."

"There's still the matter of Ragnarok." C.C said quickly, staring at Kallen.

Kallen put a hand to her mouth; luckily Lelouch didn't pay attention.

"C.C is right." Lelouch arbitrated, and then lowered his eyes. "And there's also something else."

Kallen raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I am an exiled prince, it's true, but I still have royal blood." Lelouch vi Britannia declared. "The thing won't change unless monarchy is completely abolished."

"Do you hate your condition that much?" She asked.

Lelouch stared at Kallen tenderly. "No, that's not it. But, when I've brought you back in time with me and when you accepted my feelings, I became obsessed by our future."

Kallen blushed, and C.C squeezed her cheese-kun. "You're always obsessed by the future, nothing has changed."

Lelouch chuckled. "That's why you love me."

"What did you mean by that, exactly?" Kallen asked, eager to find his new reasons to destroy Britannia.

Lelouch took a deep breath and said. "My family is cursed, cursed by the thing we call 'claim to the throne'. When someone has it, and isn't satisfied by the power he has with his blood, a prince who wish to be Emperor for example, hatred and jealousy will always overcome the desire for peace. In order to finally live a peaceful life, Britannia must be destroyed. I must destroy the superiority my blood has, because…" He stared at her beautiful blue eyes. "I wish to have children with you."

Kallen widened her eyes and did nothing but staring at Lelouch silently.

"I see…" C.C said coyly. "It explains a lot."

"I would like that, too." Kallen replied lowly. "In a future without any danger …"

"… A future without Britannia." Lelouch concluded.

After a moment of silence, Kallen finally said. "Alright, I'll help you destroy Britannia. For our sake."

Lelouch grinned.

"But." She raised a finger. "Please, delay the inevitable. It may be selfish of me, but I truly like that peace."

"I understand." Lelouch replied. "We can stay like this for 6 months, 8 months maybe. Whether it is for tactical reasons or not, I need time to prepare myself for war."

"It's more than enough for me." Kallen replied.

Lelouch smiled. "We'll have to cherish the moments we spend during that truce."

Euphemia was on her new office in the Fuji Administration Bureau. It had been one month since the Special Administrative Zone had been created and she transferred the Viceroy's bureau to the capital of Japan. It was way easier for Euphemia to administrate the two areas at the same time if she had only one office. Jeremiah was taking care of the Area's most sensible matters and she let Ohgi take the majority of the decisions concerning Japan. Like Lelouch said, it was a good thing to give the country some independence.

Suzaku entered her office.

"Euphemia." He looked worried about something.

"It seems like there is something on your mind." She stated.

"Well, yes." Suzaku admitted. "It's something about Lelouch said a while ago."

She tilted her head. Euphemia knew her half-brother was Zero, but Suzaku ignored that.

"What did he say?" Euphemia asked.

"He had said that peace couldn't be made until either Britannia or those who resists them disappears. But they haven't disappeared, they cooperated with us." Suzaku said.

"Maybe it's our duty to prove him that he's wrong." Euphemia replied simply, but internally she thought about her half-brother declaration. 'The Empire needs to be disbanded' She knew that Lelouch had wanted to destroy Britannia, but had he renounced? He was human after all, he could change his mind.

Suzaku smiled naively. "Yes, you're right."

"How about we do him a surprise?" She asked in her Euphie-fashion.

Kallen was in the living room, waiting for Lelouch and Sayoko to finish the dinner. She was thinking at what Lelouch said earlier, about his reasons for destroying Britannia.

She sighed. Things were so simple when she was just doing what he said, whether it was to with with him or against him. 'I think I understand Nunnally when she learned that Lelouch made war for her.' She thought finally. 'But now that Japan has been rebuilt, my mother and I can live a normal life again. It would be logical of me to stop the fighting, but …'

Suddenly, someone rang at the door.

Kallen went to the entrance and opened it to see who it was.

It was Suzaku. And Euphemia.

"Kallen?" He asked confusingly.

"What are you two doing here?" She asked with a straight face.

Euphemia grinned. "We wanted to make a surprise to Lelouch."

She watched the couple dumbly for a moment.

"Come in, then." Kallen proposed finally.

Lelouch was doing some pizzas with Sayoko and C.C. Well, C.C was only supervising the work.

"Make sure that the dough is mellow enough." She ordered. "But the pizzas are to be baked enough too."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

Sayoko snickered. "It looks like the master of the World isn't the master in the kitchens."

Kallen's voice saved him from his duties. "Lelouch! You have guests!"

"I'm coming." He shouted back.

Lelouch went to the living room, still wearing his apron, and what he saw left him dumbstruck.

Euphie was talking with Nunnally while Suzaku was speaking with Kallen.

Lelouch cleared his throat in order to have their attention. "Hum, hello."

Euphemia noticed him. "Oh, hi Lulu!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

Suzaku was worried about something. "But…"

"We all know about Lelouch and Nunnally's secret here." Kallen interrupted him. "So it's alright."

"You're living here?" Suzaku asked, confused.

"It's a long story." Lelouch said. "How about we discuss about this while waiting dinner? Sayoko is preparing pizzas."

"So." Suzaku began after everyone was settled. "Can you explain?"

"I'm living here because I've ran away from home." Kallen said.

"Why?" Euphemia asked with genuine concern.

Kallen sighed. "Because I'm half-Japanese."

Shihobu Kozuki had finished her shower and was walking to the living room. During these last months, she didn't count the extraordinary things that happened to her. She had been suffering the indifference of her daughter, and she knew that Kallen was fighting against Britannia. The knowledge of her daughter risking her life like Naoto was the thing that pushed her to take refrain. But one day, Kallen went to her and finally understood that she stayed here in order to stay close to her daughter. It looked like her perseverance finally paid, and Shihobu was sure it had something to do with Lelouch. Lelouch, this extraordinary guy that dated her daughter and cured her addiction, he was a revolutionary and a caring brother, an exiled prince also… Well, it was the ideal son-in-law.

Shihobu entered the living room and noticed two familiar faces.

It wasn't like she was that surprised to see an Imperial Princess and her Knight sitting at a table in the living room.

Her daughter cleared her throat. "Euphemia, Suzaku, this is my mother. Mom, I present you Lelouch's friend and Lelouch's half-sister."

"Nice to meet you." Euphemia exclaimed cheerfully.

Kallen, her mother, Nunnally and Euphemia were discussing while Lelouch and Suzaku were setting up the table for dinner.

"So, are you with Lelouch?" Euphemia asked to Kallen.

Lelouch shuddered and Suzaku looked at him with amusement.

"Yes, they are." Nunnally replied for her. "And they make a lot of noise."

Euphemia blushed hard.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Suzaku asked.

Lelouch shrugged. "It's been more than a month you didn't show up at home. I may have forgotten to tell you."

"But it was because of my work in the Special Zone." Suzaku explained. "And I live in Fuji now."

"Suzaku is a great help." Euphemia declared proudly. "He's working hard and the Japanese like him a lot."

"That's great." Nunnally said sincerely.

"Why thank you." Suzaku replied with embarrassment in his tone.

"So." Euphemia turned to Kallen. "How did you meet my brother? In which circumstances? I want to know everything."

Lelouch massaged his sinuses. "I guess it's not good for Nunnally to hear everything, if you know what I mean."

Euphie put a hand to her mouth, realizing something Suzaku couldn't know about. "Oh, you're right."

Like it couldn't be any worse, C.C entered the kitchen with Sayoko and the pizzas. The green-haired witch was wearing one of Lelouch's skirts and seemed to wear nothing underneath.

"Hello, you two." She said with a coy smile, knowing what that would imply.

"Who's she?" Euphemia asked.

"Our room-mate." Lelouch lied.

C.C served the two plates she had in her hands with the pizzas in it and approached Lelouch seductively.

"I'm more of a bed-mate to him." She said, invading Lelouch's personal space.

Euphemia blushed again. "You mean … the three of you …"

"I didn't expect that of you, Lelouch." Suzaku mused.

"He is full of surprises." Sayoko said with a not-so innocent smile on her face.

After everyone sat down to eat, Euphemia exclaimed. "Itadakimasu!"

Kallen and her mother looked at her oddly.

Lelouch chuckled. "Suzaku, is that you who taught her that?"

"No." Euphemia replied for him. "It's his cousin Kaguya."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "I heard she was cooperating with the Special Zone."

"Yes." Suzaku replied. "The other Kyoto representatives as well. They are funding schools and creating factories. Kirihara helped opening a Dojo the other day."

'Well, it's a subtle way to train my future soldiers and weapon manufacturers.' Lelouch mused.

"Tomorrow the special Zone will grow." Euphemia declared. "And we've began the rebuilding of the Ghettoes."

"I'm glad." Nunnally said innocently. "The World seems to be more peaceful."

Lelouch winced.

The dinner went well, with Nunnally and Euphemia discussing about the good old time at Aries Villa and Suzaku telling stories about the Kururugi shrine. Kallen's mother was watching the scene with amusement; surely she didn't expect some members of the Imperial family to be like this.

Suddenly, Euphemia exclaimed. "It's 10PM already! I didn't see the time pass."

'I won't see the time pass either during the incoming months.' Lelouch thought.

"Do you have any work today?" Kallen asked.

"Suzaku and I have to supervise the rebuilding of the Shizuoka Ghetto; we have to get up early." She declared.

"We won't keep you any longer, then." Nunnally said.

Lelouch was leading the Royal couple to the front door.

"Well, it was a nice little reunion." Lelouch said casually. "We should do this again, when you have time."

"Yeah." Suzaku replied. "I would never have guessed that you and Kallen were together."

"Everyone has their secrets." Euphemia said.

"Well, it was less obvious than you two." Lelouch mused.

The two concerned blushed like maidens.

"It's merely the relationship between a Viceroy and her Knight." Suzaku said, trying to sound convincing.

"We're not as energetic as you, Kallen and Ceetoo." Euphie added.

"You should profit every instant of happiness." Lelouch declared. "Because it may not last. I know it from experience."

There was an awkward silence after that.

"But I'm digressing." Lelouch continued. "Bye bye!"

Soon after Euphie and Suzaku left, Lelouch turned on his computer and was looking at the files of the Government workers and soldiers in Area 11.

'I've cast my Geass on those who update the data.' Lelouch thought. 'Every Geassed employee has a distinctive sign in their file, so I would recognize them instantly. It will take at least 6 months to put everyone under my control and things are better this way. Kallen is right: the war can wait a little bit longer.'

He removed the decryption key and turned off his computer. C.C was already asleep, or she faked it. Suddenly, Kallen opened the door of the bedroom, having finished her shower.

"Hey, I've realized something." Lelouch said suddenly. "Today is my Birthday."

Kallen raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were born in December."

He chuckled. "Yeah, but if you consider the two timelines …"

"… He would have been 19 today."

Somewhere in the North American continent, at a military cemetery, the two most important people of this World were visiting someone's grave. Ironically, it was near Lord Aston, the Captain of Clovis' Royal Guard and the first man he had ever killed, that Lelouch was buried. Sergeant Lelouch Lamperouge, it was written in his modest grave, a friend and a brother.

The Empress was on her wheelchair, wearing a coat to protect her from the cold. Zero was wearing his costume, as always. But right now there were no Zero and no Empress, there were only a sister and a friend.

"Lelouch." Suzaku began. "You may have been a murderer and a liar …"

Nunnally stiffened.

"… in the end, I'm guilty of the same things." Suzaku finished.

"So am I." She added.

"But for your memory, we will move forward into the future, trying to make this world a better place day after day, just like you were trying to do it by using your methods."

"Happy Birthday, big brother." Nunnally said.

"Happy Birthday, my friend."

They stayed silent for a couple of minutes.

Nunnally broke the silence. "I don't think Lelouch cast his Geass on Kallen. I'm sure there's another explanation for her memory loss."

Suzaku frowned. "It is also my opinion. I've interrogated Todoh and some events didn't seem to match. It seemed like his memory has been altered, like with Rakshata."

'I don't know what is happening.' Zero thought. 'But it has to be something big. Some people close to Zero seems to have their memory being wiped out, and the common point is that the last thing they remember is the sight of Lelouch's face. I'm sure there is something to do with Geass, but is it really the Geass of Absolute obedience? I have to find C.C, she might know something about that. But in the meantime, I have to foresee what would happen in the future. If people like Cornelia may lose their memories it might be a problem, and if Schneizel loses his Geass it would be an even bigger problem. I have to neutralize the two of them first. Cornelia is merely a counselor for Nunnally, and she will understand the situation. As for Schneizel, I still need his gray matter. I need to investigate on this thing, because I'm sure it is something more than the after effects of Lelouch's Geass. It was like he was trying to communicate with us, trying to show us that he was still alive, somewhere…'

"Suzaku." Nunnally said, snapping his thoughts. "Do you think my brother is still alive?"

"I don't know." He replied.

"And if he is, would you like to see him again?" She asked.

"I don't know."

AN : Yeah, in my story, Lelouch is born in 1999.

There is a difference of 523 days between the two timelines.