Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

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This is the story of Sleeping Beauty.

A young maiden at the age of sixteen is cursed by a witch to an eternity of solitude. Untouched by time itself, she is merely a spectator as the future walks into the past and the present repeats itself over and over. Faces come and go, taking a part of her with them each time, until she is left completely numb. It is in this state of waking slumber that she meets him, a naive young man with foolish dreams of an impossible future. But for the first time in a hundred years, her frozen heart remembers to beat.

This is the story of Cinderella.

A banished prince and a former slave are dancing, not in a ball, but in a masquerade. She parades around in borrowed clothes. He struts about in a mask and false identities, breathing out lies and halftruths before the world. The clock strikes twelve and a mentally unstable mind-reading geass user pries her away from his side, but only for a moment. For though he may scour the land for allies and pawns in his game, he knows that no one can take her place. He finds her bleeding on the ground, her face a mosaic of regrets. Gently, he picks her up and carries her back where she belongs: by his side.

This is the story of Snow White.

She is a lost lass who has tasted the poisoned apple and is reborn as a witch. Huntsmen pursue her through the ages, armed with different shades of torture. She burns, she bleeds, she dies a hundred deaths. In desperation, she surrounds herself with dwarves, creatures with diminutive hearts too corrupted with power to be human. She offers them the power of kings, fully aware of how it enslaves them. For this she is the vilest of them all.

Why is she called Snow White? Because has lost her human emotions and forgotten who she once was. And yet, he calls her beautiful.

This is the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.

He is a vagrant with no home to call his own, seeking revenge for being cast out by turning empires into ruins. One day he is granted the power to make his wishes come true. But creation requires destruction; for every wish he makes, he trades off another part of his soul, until all that remains is a deep pit of despair. Even this he tries to sell, and actually succeeds. Soon there will be nothing left.

This is the story of Swan Lake.

She is the black swan-selfish and deceptive. She cloaks herself as a fairy godmother, but her wand is cursed, and those she blesses walk the path toward their doom. She traps them with false promises of greatness and laughs as they find themselves entangled deeper and deeper in her net, every step forward an inch closer to endless suffering.

The prince, like all the others, longs for something but finds himself stuck with her instead. Together they dance round and round this red lake of carnage until their feet bleed and the music is indistinguishable from white noise.

This is the story of Beauty and the Beast.

In this tale, it is Beast who teaches Beauty to love and it is Beauty who turns the prince into a Beast. He claims that it was only when he met her that he truly began to live, but it was also when he met her that he began to kill. As he walks this path of darkness, he slowly transforms into a monster just like she is. Ironically, it is only as he loses his humanity that she begins to regain hers.

This is the story of The Little Mermaid.

She strikes a deal with a witch, with her soul as collateral, and transcends time to meet him. He accepts her offer, and she rescues him from drowning in lethargic stasis. They spend their days in his castle (with his army of black knights) making small talk, arguing over sleeping arrangements, and ordering pizza.

She leaves him for a year-though not by choice-and when she returns she finds him with a hundred more cracks in his black heart.

By now, she no longer cares if he fulfills his end of their contract; he has suffered far too much already and she has no right to force on him such a fate. She could leave now-she should leave right now-but then he figures out her true wish (which she herself has forgotten) and she remembers her promise to stay.

But she has only three months to get him to love her, and when the time is up, he will be gone and her newborn heart will evaporate with the morning mist.

This is the story of the Witch and the Warlock.

In this story, the prince wears a bloodstained mask and the maiden's heart is has long been jaded by the cruelty of time. It begins and ends with a contract, a promise, a wish.

"I will grant you the power you desire; in exchange you must fulfill my wish."

But in time a hidden wish is uncovered and the power he desires has changed.

"Don't leave me!" She hears it in the way he screams his rage at his parents during their final moments. In how he holds very few people dear to him and tries his hardest to save them. In his nearly obsessive concern for his sister. He hates losing people, and in trying to protect them, only loses himself. But one by one, all he has is torn away, until nothing remains but despair and memories manifesting as nightmares.

"Love me"—this is all she ever wanted as a child, and all she hopes for still. Centuries pass, generations come and go, the world falls apart and rebuilds itself anew, but she remains alone.

Until he comes along.

He is the first one to say her real name. She is the first one to see him as he is. He is the only one who thanks her. She is the only one who stays.

She is neither lover nor friend, but all those have only ever abandoned him in the end. They are allies, and she dares not ask for anything more.

"I promise to stay with you until the very end."

"I promise you the smile you never had."

A new contract, but exactly the same. She reaches out through all the pain of the past and uncertainty of the future to grasp his hand. And though the burden of the world weighs heavily on his shoulders, suffocating his every moment, the feel of her pressed against his back draws him back towards the light.

In the centuries she has walked the earth, C.C. has made more contracts than she can remember. But this time, it's more than just a handshake. For the first time, someone holds on and doesn't let go.

This is a far cry from a fairytale. This is a tale of treachery, murder, and madness. Bloodbaths in every battle, rebellions from all corners of the earth-life is fleeting and peace is elusive. But through the chaos and despair, through grief and triumph, their contract remains. When he finally lets go, she waits in silence. And when he awakens, she is by his side.

"I thought villains aren't supposed to have happily-ever-afters," C.C. remarks one day, absently fishing for the last crumbs of pepperoni pizza left in the box.

"Who said they did? I'm spending ever after putting up with you and your annoying whims," a rather irate Lelouch snaps back, obviously unimpressed by the specks of hot sauce decorating his chessboard.

"But can we?" A glance in his direction.

"What?" A pointed glare towards hers.

"Be happy?" Her expression seems faintly curious, but the sudden drop of her voice gives away the hesitation she feels. She expects an honest answer, and after all they've been though, deserves nothing less.

This is the perfect moment to confess the truth he has come to acknowledge, that they are more than just accomplices and a single handshake means more to him than anything else. But this is not a fairytale, so he simply returns to his chessboard and makes a move.

"I don't know. Give me time to think it over." (He picks up his white queen.)

"Oh? And just how much time would you need?" C.C.'s gaze is directed at the new Pizza Hut commercial, but she hears every syllable.

"Forever."

(And with a smile, he sets it down beside its king.)

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