Disclaimer: Code Geass obviously isn't mine. How can you be sure? If it was, the ending would have been different. T.T

Chapter One

"Ash?"

Entirely oblivious to the muffled voice in the hallway despite the fact that the voice belonged to someone undeniably close to him, a young boy of six sat at his table. The room he was in was luxuriously large and decorated, sparing no expenses whatsoever. Furniture of the highest quality dotted the vast bedroom, including a tall four-poster bed that was obviously too large for a boy such as himself. Born to such surroundings, Ash barely paid any heed to these things. Rather, swinging his feet back and forth – his legs couldn't quite reach the floor yet – his hands worked diligently, his face a mask of determination.

"Ash? Do you hear me?" the voice called again but still, it fell on deaf ears. Licking his lips, the boy readjusted the table lamp for the umpteenth time before refocusing on his tiny project.

Ash was always remarked as a 'handsome little boy that took after his father'. Ash, himself, had never really been sure about the 'handsome' part but the later always pleased him beyond words. He was skinny, almost to the bone, despite all the efforts of the people around him. He had very tame red hair but his mother had always said her favourite part of him was his violet eyes. The expensive clothes he wore were actually quite plain, much to his relief. He was excused from all the stuffy clothes that filled majority of his closet when he wasn't due anywhere.

"Ash? Are you in here?" One side of his double door entrance opened, letting a small stream of light from the hallway stream into the dim bedroom. A curious face peered in, his expression a mixture of worry, puzzlement and the slightest hint of frustration. His hair was blond, and his eyes were blue. Wearing a formal white uniform, a gold-trimmed green mantel was draped over his arm, evidence that he had just escaped from the clutches of a meeting with someone high up in the status quo. Catching sight of his quarry seated quietly in the corner, relief softened his features.

"So there you are," Gino Weinberg said, coming from behind the lad.

It was then when Ash looked up, startled. However, that expression was immediately replaced with one of clear happiness. "Uncle Gino," the boy greeted.

"Hello there," the knight grinned widely as he ruffled the boy's hair, sending said boy into a fit of giggles.

"Stop that, Uncle Gino," Ash protested half-heartedly.

"It's punishment. Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to find you? You had me screaming my throat hoarse for you, and you didn't even bother answering back. I'm still waiting for my due apology."

"I'm – I'm sorry," the six-year-old squealed between giggles.

"That's right," Gino said with a tone of mocking finality. "Now what on earth are you working on that you would ignore your favourite uncle?"

Ash gave his self-dubbed 'favourite uncle' a toothy grin before presenting the fruit of his labours. "See!" he said proudly, almost beaming.

Gino raised an eyebrow at the small paper figure no bigger than a child's palm. A purple origami crane sat silently on the table while its creator looked expectantly at the knight, waiting to be praised, no doubt.

"Wow, kid," Gino half-exclaimed. "This is great. It's perfect! Did Empress Nunnally or Sayoko teach you this?"

Entirely pleased with his uncle's approval, Ash shook his head at the question. "Aunt Nunnally was going to, after she told me about them, but then someone came in and asked for her. I figured it out myself after she showed me hers."

Gino blinked, shocked. He figured it out himself? Origami wasn't exactly child's play. Gino knew he couldn't do it, at the very least, not unless someone showed him the steps first. And yet, this boy, at a glance of the finished model, was able to mimic the art without flaw. Gino always knew that Ash was a bright lad with a knack for puzzles but truly, it was moments like these when he looked at him, and he knew, without a doubt, that he was his father's son. In a way, it was as scary as it was amazing.

"I'm sure your mom would be proud she's got such a bright kid for a son."

There was a pause as Ash fidgeted in his seat, as if debating if he should say something. Finally, he gathered the courage to. "Father too?"

"Yea…" the older man confirmed with a soft knowing smile, barely hiding the melancholy in his words. "Him too."

The fidgeting did not end though. "Hey, Uncle Gino, did you know?" His small hands fingered his paper crane. "The Japanese believe that if you make a thousand origami birds, your wish will come true."

"Ho? Do you have a wish, kid?"

Ash pursed his lips in thought. "I have a request," he offered, neither confirming nor denying Gino's enquiry.

"You know, with your status, you could order me in a heartbeat. There's no need for you to request anything of anyone." Gino pause before adding with a small laugh. "Except maybe your mother. I don't imagine she'd find it amusing for you to be ordering her around."

"I'm serious here," the child protested though he did giggle at the thought of ordering his mother to do something. He'd probably be grounded for a whole year. "Besides, your 'Uncle Gino'! I can't even begin thinking of ordering Uncle Gino to do anything."

"Alright, alright, you sweet talker, what do you want?"

"Uh…" Ash stammered, the usual air of confidence around the boy evaporating. "Could you… take me to see Father?"

Ash knew for a fact that his uncle wouldn't deny him. His mother would probably have made up some excuse but not Uncle Gino. At least, he hoped so. It was the frown on the man's face that shook his confidence. He knew he was asking for too much but –

"I just want to see him."

That line seemed to be the decisive one as, after a moment longer of thought, the blond sighed. "Alright, but only for a bit."

Immediately, the boy's face brimmed with joy.

Ten minutes later, both males stood inside a moving elevator. Honestly, Ash felt a little bad for saying what he did, even if he did mean every word. Aunt Euphemia would say it was just being truthful with yourself; Aunt Cornelia would say it was just getting the job done; Uncle Schneizel, however, would plainly say that it was being manipulative. Ash watched impatiently as the numbers on the screen slowly decreased as he held his paper crane protectively in both hands.

"Only for a bit," Gino repeated again, as if Ash would forget that fact in the blink of an eye.

"Mhm."

"You do know what to tell your mother if she asks where we've been, right?"

"Yup. That we were not visiting Father."

Gino groaned. "Don't say it like that. She'll know for sure that way. Say I took you out to play in Tristan or something."

"But Uncle Gino… I'm six."

"So?"

"Tristan is a giant knightmare that blows up buildings. I don't think mother would approve of you taking me out to play in Tristan… In fact I think that's worse than visiting Father."

"Crap, I forgot about that."

"That Tristan is a giant knightmare that blows buildings up?" Ash grinned, "Oh, by the way, you're swearing again."

"Yes… uh, I mean no. I mean sorry." Realizing that he was making a fool out of himself, his Uncle Gino playfully shoved at his head. "I will not be made fun of by the likes of a six-year-old."

"How about we were playing with Arthur?" Ash continued innocently though he had yet to wipe off his grin.

"What about chess? You like chess."

"Yea... but you hate chess, Uncle Gino."

"I could learn to like it."

Ash looked at him sceptically. Gino looked back.

"Let's go with the Arthur story," the blond said finally, moving his attention back to the shifting numbers.

"Are you teaching me to lie to my mother, Uncle Gino?"

That was the final straw for Gino as the man strangled sighed. "You're definitely your father's son; I can never win with you."

Ash just grinned.

There was another stretch of silence as the numbers dipped below ground floor.

"Why doesn't mother like me coming down to see father?" Ash said, reverting to his child self.

Gino looked askance at the lad. "It's not that she doesn't like it. Well… you'll understand someday."

The six-year-old's eyebrows creased. "I want to know now," he half whined. "I'm sure that if everyone trusted me a little and told me, I'd understand."

"You'll understand when you're older."

"That's what everyone says…"

"If everyone says that then it must be true."

"It's not fair."

Something flickered behind Gino's eyes. "No, the world isn't."

DING. It was like a burst of excitement inside himself.

The moment the elevator doors open, all argument was forgotten as the boy rushed out, taking down a long corridor, leaving Gino to follow. He was already waiting at a steel door for the older man who was sauntering at his own pace.

"Hurry, Uncle Gino!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

It seemed like an eternity before Gino got to him. Ash watched in anticipation as Gino pulled out a black card and held it up to the scanner. Light blinked across the screen. A robotic voice emerged. "State your name and rank, please."

"Sir Gino Wienberg, Knight of Two."

More lights blinked.

"Identification verified. Access approved." With that, the door unlocked and swung inwards.

With something akin to a suppressed whoop of joy, Ash hurried inside. After all, Uncle Gino had said this visit was 'only for a bit'. He was oblivious to the fact that the knight hesitated for a while at the threshold before entering after the boy, a steely expression on his face.

The room itself wasn't big but it was spacious. It held a table to the left and a chair that was placed beside a long machine. Apart from its grey exterior of metal, the top portion of it was cylindrical with an orange glass cover. It was a machine very familiar in the eyes of the knight, to ever veteran of war, in fact. It was a Britannian Infirmary Capsule. He even knew the inside of one very well and had, more than once, visited a friend under these circumstances. Whether this situation fit into that category was quite another question. Ash was already pulling the chair across the room and mounting, being too short to see the inside of it otherwise.

"Good evening, Father," Ash greeted, pressing a palm against the cold glass. Stepping further into the room, Gino came to see the face of history's most notorious person: the 99th emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, the Demon Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia.

Lelouch was… just as he always was: regal and calm, albeit give or take seven years older. Black locks of hair framed his face that was a mask of serenity. If nobody was the wiser, they would think him asleep, though, that wasn't too far from the truth. He was taller now, dressed in silver-trimmed black in a fashion that befitted a member of the Royal Family. His arms were calmly by his side, one of which was pierced with a single needle that connected to what looked to be an IV drip. Beside that was a screen with a constantly moving green line making regular beeps that measured his heart rate. All in all, it was a demon king sleeping in his coffin, unawares to the time flowing by while he slumbered, refusing to acknowledge the world and its happenings.

To Gino, he was a man that bathed the world in blood, a man that deceived everyone he loved, a man who, quite frankly, saved the world from itself and died with a smile on his face.

God, how he hated Lelouch vi Britannia.

"—so I had to figure it out all on my own," Ash was saying. "It was a bit confusing at first but I got it in the end. Uncle Gino said that I was really smart! I know that I only made one but it's a start anyways. Hopefully I'll finish the rest before my next birthday so you can come have cake too."

Gino's throat constricted.

"I think Mother would like it too if you came," Ash said, lowering his tone. "I think she'll a little lonely."

That was much more than the knight could stomach. "Ash, we better get going."

For a moment, he expected Ash to start protesting again but true to his word, the boy just nodded slowly. Looking at the paper bird, he considered before looking up at Gino. "Can I put this inside?"

Gino just nodded. Moving to the capsule, he pushed a combination of buttons and the orange glass slid up and off. It was strange looking directly at Lelouch like this. It had always been either behind the mask of Zero or behind the orange tinged glass. He was even more haunting. Ash's gaze lingered for a while. It was then when Gino realized that this was probably the boy's first time looking directly at his father as well, sans orange glass. Recovering, he reached for his father's hand – the one without a needle – and turned it over. With that, he placed the purple crane in the silent figure's palm and, without a word, withdrew gracefully even though it was clear he wanted more time to stay.

Ash vi Brittania was, through and through, a Britannian Prince.

Said prince hopped down from the chair. "Goodnight, Father," he bid before turning around. He paused mid-action and added an afterthought. "Don't worry, there's still lots of time before my birthday. I'll finish the others by then so don't worry."

Neither having the strength nor the want to say anything, Gino closed the capsule again. Just as he was about to turn around to follow the prince out the door, Ash spoke again, but this time, it was not to him and not to Lelouch.

"Mother." His tone was both surprised and calm.

Gino, however, was not so apt at keeping his composure. Turning around, he came face to face with the raised eyebrow of a flaming red head. "Kallen," the knight gulped. "What a nice surprise."

"What a nice surprise indeed," Kallen replied flatly. In her mid-twenties, Kallen was a voluptuous woman with a fiery attitude. In that sense, Gino supposed that Kallen hadn't changed at all. He had yet to get used to the Kallen that wore dresses instead of pilot suits but both looked equally good on her in his opinion. Today, she wore a deep red one that set off her colour of her hair very nicely. Gino wished time and time again that that was the only thing that changed about her but no matter how you looked at it, something always haunted behind her blue eyes these years… or rather… someone.

Gino suddenly had the urge to pour a handful of needles down a certain person's throat.

"Ash, isn't it past your bedtime?" Kallen asked. "What are you doing here?"

Gino prayed to God that Ash wouldn't say that were playing with Arthur.

"Just saying goodnight to Father," Ash said. Gino didn't give the boy enough credit.

Kallen's gaze softened. "That's nice," she said. "I'm sure he heard you. You should go to bed now. Classes start early, remember? I don't want you sleeping in class."

"But I never do," the boy protested.

"And I don't what you to start. Now, go on ahead. Your Uncle Gino and I are going to have a little chat first."

"Don't get mad at Uncle Gino," Ash said, "I was the one who wanted to come."

"I know," Kallen said, nudging the boy in the direction of the door. The boy then bode both adults goodnight and went ahead.

Both waited for his footsteps to diminish and the sound of the elevator moving upwards. "He's a good kid," Gino said.

"He is," she said, averting her gaze.

"How long were you there?"

"Long enough."

"I must be losing my touch then."

Kallen offered a small smile. "Maybe." She walked into the room to stand beside Gino. Her blue eyes skimmed the orange-tinted sight for the millionth time, willing, wishing for him to open his eyes. She then caught sight of the crane in Lelouch's hand. "I just…" She searched for the words, shaking her head. "I want him to know who his father is but I don't want to put too much hope in him... in case Lelouch doesn't…" The sentence was left unfinished.

"You know," Kallen said, unusually calm, "Rakshata and Lloyd say that there's nothing wrong with him physically. He just doesn't want to wake up. He doesn't lack the will to live, but it's actually worse than that: he wants to die." Both scientists were actually more engineers than medical doctors but their knowledge of science, inclusive of Cecile's seemed adequate for the task. It couldn't be helped since they couldn't trust anyone other than those who already knew concerning Lelouch's survival. Rakshata insisted that there wasn't much of a difference between a human's body and Guren's body. Although Lloyd had agreed, Kallen had been a little worried about that statement…

"He'll wake up," Gino said suddenly with a confidence spawned from all faith and no evidence.

Kallen eyebrows drew upwards. "Are you going to fill me with false hope too?"

"He'll wake up. It's not a hope; It's a fact."

"Thank you… Gino. I… needed to hear that, I think," the female said before turning around. "I'm going to see if Ash is in bed so I'll head back first. Goodnight."

And then the knight was alone. Well… alone minus the breathing corpse of a demon king. Running a hand through his hair, he stared accusingly at Lelouch's oblivious face. "I'm not much different from you now, am I?" he said, even though he could just as well just be talking to a wall, "I'm also lying to the people I care for. Thanks to you, I might very well have to swallow needles myself. Then, what are you going to do about that?"

Shaking his head at his own monologue, Gino made his way towards the door. Stopping at the threshold again, he looked back. "You better wake up, you hear me?"

With that, he shut the door, effectively locking the chamber where the most blood-drenched emperor to date rested.

Unbeknownst to all three who graced his chamber that night, though, Lelouch's fingers seemed to tighten weakly around the purple origami crane for a fraction of a second before relaxing.

The Demon Emperor slumbered on.

Ash wandered into his bedroom, dejected.

Nobody ever told him anything; nobody ever wanted him to hear anything. He was a child, physically, but really, he wished everyone would stop protecting him from something he didn't know a thing about. Closing the bedroom door, he sighed. He held another white crane in his hands. He had folded it on the way up to his room. After all, a thousand was a big number. It was then when he noticed something.

He was not alone in the room.

Looking up, he saw her: a woman with long, green hair and dressed in a white outfit, possessing an alien beauty. She stood at his table, as if waiting for his return. When she saw him, she smiled. A smile mixed with hints bitterness. It reminded him of the way his mother smiled. She walked over to him with cat-like grace.

"Who are you?" the young boy asked.

"Me?" she echoed. "I'm… a witch."

"A witch?"

"Yes, a witch."

Alarm bells rang off like no tomorrow. A part of him wanted to run from the room and find help because he knew, he just knew, this lady with green hair was dangerous in her own way. However, at the same time, he was mesmerised. Her gold eyes flickered to the crane in his hands and he instinctively turned his hand over, protectively hiding it. She smiled again and knelt down so that she was eye level with him.

"I know many things because I'm a witch," the woman said. "For example, your father… he'll wake up very soon."

At the single mention of his father, Ash completely shut out his alarm bells. "He will?" he asked, careful and slightly wide-eyed.

"Yes, but he'll leave again very, very soon."

That line alone crushed him. He could feel unbidden tears rise up. Why? Even though all that statement was, was words. They woman could be lying, saying things with no basis. He learnt from Uncle Schneizel never to trust people too easily, especially people he didn't know. He had no reason to believe this… witch.

And yet… he did.

But what could he do?

"You don't want it to end like this, do you?" the woman continued, purring, taking down his defences. "Do you want the power to keep your father? To keep him here with you and your mother? To stop him from leaving?"

Reaching out, she touched his overturned hand lightly. Ash was too stunned and shaken up from the fear, the reality of his father leaving, the possibility of never seeing him again, to react. His father couldn't leave when Ash hadn't even gotten the chance to be with him yet.

"Do you have a wish, little boya? If so, shall we make a deal?"

Author's note:

I haven't written in a long, long time, mostly due to myself finally taking school seriously. However, I've just finished the biggest and meanest highschool exam and am faced with a six month break (although I will be working, I think). So I thought: why not? I'm sorry to say that while I have full intentions of finishing this project if it is well received, I won't be continuing my old series, mostly due to the fact that I can't quite remember the fine details of the animes I based them off.

I've been meaning to write this for quite some time now. I'm honestly not sure if this is a good story or if I have enough material to make it a good story xD. So meh, I thought I'd put up the first chapter to see how well it's received.

I personally am more of a LelouchXCC girl than a LelouchXKallen one but for the sake of the storyline, it had to be this way. So yea, let me know what you guys think.

Until inspiration visits me again,

Could be more Original.