"The life of an immortal traveler fills with pain and sadness.

One can only observe.

Time is an illusion,

so is love."

xxx

"Hello, are you by yourself, boy?"

A small, raven-haired eight years old boy looked up and met her bright golden eyes. He stopped pushing his swing.

Over the horizon, the sun was slowly setting.

"I'm with my mom," he answered.

She smiled, glancing around. "Better get with your mother, boy. It's getting late. A kid like you shouldn't be by yourself after dark."

"I can handle myself," he said with dignity.

She couldn't help but smirk knowingly.

"Is that so?"

i.

"Lonah, wait for me!"

A tall, slim and handsome raven-haired teenager stopped running, spun around and waved frantically at the beautiful blond girl sprinting behind him.

"Hurry, Lucy! We're gonna miss the bus!"

"Like I haven't noticed!" she yelped, puffing for air. Her small feet carried her so fast as if she were gliding on the wind.

As Lonah turned around, he bumped into a woman.

"Ah!" Seeing that he'd made her drop her purse, he quickly bent down and picked it up for her. "I'm so sorry," he said quickly.

A pair of bright, illuminating golden orbs peeked out from under the wide brim of a hat, and Lonah's breath caught in his throat.

"It's alright," she said softly, taking the purse from him. "Thank you."

He stared at her for a split second.

"Have we met?"

Before she could answer, Lucy ran past him, grabbed his arm and pulled him along.

"Hurry! The bus is here."

She was watching the pair with an amused expression. Lonah couldn't spare a glance in her way as he was being ushered onto the bus by his friend. But she'd seen him. She knew. She knew long ago that he would turn into this gentleman named Lonah. And that she would meet him again. And that she would lose him again.

And that their meeting would be fleeting.

It's all an illusion.

An illusion of time is what saves myself from despair.

ii.

"Seems like we can't escape each other."

Lonah looked up from his book. A puzzled look crossed his face and he quickly put down said book.

They were in a library, and he was reading a history book about the creation of the United States of Japan. She smirked when she saw the title.

"You again…" he said softly. Standing up, he extended his hand. "I don't think we've ever formally introduced," he said with a small smile.

"No we haven't," she returned the smile as she took his hand. "We've only occasionally bumped into each other."

"Occasionally and coincidentally," he added. "My name is Lonah."

I know.

"I'm Celine." She glanced down at the book. "Isn't history fascinating? What do you make of this? Of the character Zero and the tyrant Lelouch?" she said.

Lonah followed her gaze.

"I think what he did was heroic. He and whoever this Zero was. I don't think Lelouch was a tyrant. Sure, his regime was chaotic and lots of people had died and lots were imprisoned, but at the end world peace was achieved. He must have done something to trigger that. Some serious and grand sacrifice must have been made."

"That's because Zero came to save the day. Zero was the hero. Without him, the tyrant would still live and oppressiveness would go on."

Lonah looked at her funny. There was a twinkle in his eye as if he were laughing at her logic, at what she'd drawn out of this, as if he saw through her illusion.

"It all seemed too smooth, don't you agree?" he asked. "A king of the world, an untouchable ruler parading the city, yet security was so loose that an assassin could easily sneak through and kill him."

"He was a great fighter, this Zero."

Lonah shook his head. "No matter how you put it, I still don't buy it. Lelouch must have pulled some strings. There must be something else larger going on. This was all too simple."

Celine smiled.

Only you would get yourself, Lelouch.

This is how I am able to find you every time you reincarnate.

Time is meaningless in our world

because it's all an illusion.
"What's so funny?" Lonah asked, blinking.

Celine shook her head. "Nothing. Just thinking that my partner also shared the same view as yours."

"Is that so? I would love to meet that person."

"He died. Long ago."

"I'm sorry."

She looked down at his finger.

"You married?"

He touched his diamond-crested ring and smiled. "You're a straightforward woman, aren't you?"

"I've heard that before."

"Yes," he nodded. "Our second child is on the way."

"Congratulations, Lonah, and good-bye."

As she turned to leave, he grabbed her elbow and spun her around gently.

"What do you mean "good-bye"? Don't say it like that. We're bound to bump into each other again."

Don't die looking like that. At least smile. Smile big because your wish is coming true, isn't it?

She smiled and gently removed herself from his grasp.

This is it for this lifetime, Lelouch.

You've turned out quite well.

I'll see you in your next reincarnation.

"Goodbye, Lonah." With that, she turned and left.

He never saw her again.

iii.

"Give it to me!"

The boy punched him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain and fell to his knees. Blood trickled down his lip.

"I won't forgive you…" he muttered through tightly gritted teeth.

The older boy laughed. As he picked up his foot to land another hit on the smaller boy, a young woman with bright lime-green hair stepped in and grabbed his arm.

"Leave him alone," she growled.

He flustered, lost his balance and fell onto the ground.

She bent down and yanked the loaf of bread from his hand. Her eyes burned with anger while her face remained passive.

"Leave now or you'll regret it," she said stonily.

The boy scrammed away.

Turning to the boy on the ground, she asked softly, "Are you okay, boy?"

He only stared at her with cold and dead violet eyes. There were no emotions in them whatsoever. She sighed.

"Here you go."

He didn't hesitate to reach out. Snatching the bread from her hand, he quickly stood up and ran in the opposite direction. Not even a thank-you was said.

She could only look after him with saddened eyes.

iv.

"You're just an illusion," he said softly.

"I can guarantee you I'm not. I'm as real as you want me to be," she answered as she stroked his hair.

"Then where were you when I needed you? You're not real."

"I've always been watching, Lenah. Your every step. Ever since that incident in the valley, I've always kept watch over you."

He sucked in a breath. "You're lying." His breathing was ragged. "These past nineteen years of my life… You never came back… I was hoping you would but you didn't."

She never stopped stroking his soft brown hair that was matted with sweat. "Who do you think pulled the fire alarm when you're about to break into that bank?"

"You spoiled our gig." There was anger in his tone.

"I saved your life. There were police everywhere, all undercover. Someone tipped them off. Probably one of your goons. The police knew. They were just waiting for you."

Lenah sucked in another breath. He squeezed her hand harder as she tried to apply more pressure onto his chest where a bullet was residing. Blood and lots of blood were flowing out, like a river.

"Then there's this one time when I tried to warn you of a potential backstabbing in your circle but you didn't listen," she said.

"She was my girlfriend."

"Who backstabbed you and cheated on you with your so-called best friend."

A tiny smile crossed his handsome, blood-stained face. "I did listen," he said, "I followed her and saw what they were up to. I tried to shoot them both but they outgunned me."

"And they escaped along with your millions," she finished for him with a sigh.

He pressed her hand further down and a moan of agony escaped his lips.

"You were always in the shadow," he said. His bright violet orbs were observing a streetlamp directly above them. His breathing was so uneven and his voice was almost a whisper. She had to lean further down to hear him better. "You made me doubt myself," he continued, "I didn't know if you're just an illusion. I didn't know if you're all in my head."

She touched his cheek, his blood-stained cheek. His eyes fluttered closed. "I've always been by your side. Illusion is the time in our world; it's meaningless for we'll meet again," she said softly.

"We will?" His chest slowly rose then fell. A pause. Then it rose and fell again. So uneven and she just knew.

"I screwed up, didn't it?" he struggled to speak and forced a bitter laugh. "I should've listened to you. This is déjà-vu again. The police didn't know but my… so-called friend betrayed me."

"In your world, there's no such thing as friends. I'm the only one you could've trusted."

"And I should have. I'm sorry."

She bent down, closed her eyes and placed a light kiss on his sweat-stained forehead.

"Don't be. We'll meet again under better circumstances, hopefully," she whispered and opened her eyes.

He never did.

Good-bye, Lelouch.

See you again in your next reincarnation.

May it be a thousand times better.

v.

No matter who you are in this lifetime,

no matter if you're a charming prince, a scholar or a killer, a psychopath.

I'll always be by your side, guiding you,

like a Northern Star.

Showing you the way and protecting you,

like I promised millenniums ago.

So don't be afraid, my little Prince.

vi.

fin.