Grey clouds blotted out the sun and rain pelted down, soaking anything and everything in reach. Lighting flashed briefly, followed by a low rumble.

Most were indoors, as so not to catch a cold. Here, disease could not be cured so easily. And yet, there were many others who were not only outside but couldn't go inside, even if they wanted to.

It was by the road. A group of people with barely any clothing on their backs were hacking away at stones. Their faces haggard and their eyes dull, they looked as though they were the living dead.

They were criminals on a chain gang.

C-clang. C-clang. C-clang.

The sounds echoed through the air as the law-breakers continued to bang away at the rocks with their meager tools, and guards in uniforms of red and blue with black hats holding rifles loomed over them all. Their faces were hard and cruel, with fingers ready to pull the trigger at any moment should the criminals try something.

One of these officers stood out among the rest. Emerald green eyes colder than ice, curly brown hair, tanned skin, as well as black clothing and cloak set him apart from his paler, darker-haired and red and blue garbed subordinates. He was the head officer, the boss. Should someone ask the others what he was like, despite the different answers, one answer was consistent.

He was the Law.

He upheld every possible rule and regulation and came down hard on every criminal whom he had captured, even if said criminal had committed the tiniest crime possible. Stealing, killing, raping, it didn't matter. They were treated equally harshly.

Because he was the Law. And the Law is not lax on anyone.

The head looked down on the papers he was reviewing with a hard expression. He snapped his fingers, motioning a blue-haired guard with hazel eyes to him.

"What is it, sir?" he asked politely but cautiously.

"Bring me prisoner number 0, immediately," he ordered.

"Yes sir." The guard went off promptly.

A few minutes later, the guard returned with number 0. The criminal was almost bone thin with worn out clothing, almost albino pale skin, black hair well past his neck and over the upper part of his face and blank amethyst eyes. He was clutching a small cloth bag like it was gold.

"Your time has been served and you will begin your parole today," he informed the criminal.

His eyes flickered with surprise briefly.

"I trust you know what that means?"

"That I'm free," number 0 said softly.

The head suppressed a mirthless smirk. Just how naive was number 0?

"No!" he said, all humor gone, "you'll be getting your yellow ticket of leave! You are a thief-"

"I stole a loaf of bread."

"-you robbed a house!"

"I broke a window pane," number 0 said, his tone slowly becoming angry. "My sister and I were starving and I would gladly do what I did again, if it meant her living." he added defiantly.

"You'll starve again so that you finally learn the law."

The amethyst eyes narrowed. "I've had plenty of time to learn the law, especially since I've spent the last nineteen years under its most prominent dog."

The head showed no sign of annoyance but handed him the papers. And number 0 had no choice but to take them.

"Five years. You could have only suffered for five years, yet you continued to try and run,adding more and more time until you had spent another fourteen years, number 0." the head said in a flat tone.

"My name... is Lelouch Lamperouge," he said, voice almost shaking with indignation.

The head simply walked up so he could clearly look Lelouch Lamperouge in the eyes (which was a bit harder than he thought, he was nearly a head taller).

"And I, I am Suzaku Kururugi."

"Do not forget my name, nor myself: number 0."

Lelouch raised his head from the pool. The water was cold and sweet and clear. It quenched his thirst almost after a few helpings. Lelouch looked out from where he was standing. He was at a small farm just outside the city. There were only a few other laborers besides himself working there.

I'm free.

It's what he should be thinking, but he didn't feel free, not in the least. He glanced at the yellow ticket in his hand. A constant reminder of what he went through for nineteen years. His fist gripped the ticket tightly, almost crushing it. Damn Kururugi, damn them all! They were supposed to up-hold the law, yet they allowed his dear sister and himself to nearly starve to death and then imprisoned him for trying to save her life!

The foreman called out for the laborers to collect their money for the day. Lelouch set down his tools and lined up. When he came up, he showed the foreman the ticket as customary and got his wages, which were-

"-is this a joke? I worked as hard as the others, but you barely gave me half of what they have!" Lelouch snapped, gesturing to the small amount of money in his hand.

One of the laborers stepped up defiantly, saying, "You're a criminal, it's there for anyone and everyone to see! Why should you get the same as us honest workers?"

With that, they filed out. Lelouch stared at the ticket in his right hand, the money in his left. He snorted humorously. So this is why. He was branded. Even now, he would be scorned and frowned upon. He gritted his teeth in frustration as he walked outside. He couldn't even go where he pleased, thanks to curfew.

He paid no attention to where he was walking, but he didn't care. Eventually Lelouch found himself looking up at an Abby. It was small and plain, yet it radiated homeliness. Tentatively, he opened the door, only to bump into someone. It was a woman wearing the garb of a Mother Abbess. Her hair was hidden under her cap and butter-yellow eyes looked gently at him.

"Come in sir, for you are weary and I don't believe you wish to stay out in the cold." Her voice was calm and melodious as she lead him inside. Lelouch didn't stop her.

He was seated at a table and chair. Beef stew, warm buttery bread, and cool water were served to him. He ate slowly, forcing himself not to go too fast, or he wouldn't get truly full.

"We may not have much here to offer, but what we have, we share gladly. For it is our way," she said softly, before leaving Lelouch to finish his meal and heading to the main chapel.

Lelouch gave a content sigh. It had been too long since he tasted hot food that actually had taste and could fill someone up. His gaze happened on the silverware in front of him and he remembered his "wages". These utensils were probably worth more than half his wage! Lelouch glanced around for a moment. No one was here...

He grabbed the utensils, loaded them into his bag and dashed out of the abbey, only to run smack dab into two guards, who promptly dragged him before the Mother Abbess. She eyed the scene calmly.

"What is the trouble, my sons?" she asked.

"This man has taken advantage of your kindness and stolen these from you, Mother Abbess!" the guard spat, pouring out the silverware from Lelouch's bag.

This was it. She would tell them what happened-

And I'll be back under Kururugi's heel!

The Mother-Abbess then headed to the inside and reemerged with not only the silver cup but the candlesticks as well and placed them, along with the discarded silverware, into the bag.

All three men held looks of confusion and shock. But the Mother Abbess just smiled. "You left so early, you forgot that I gave you these as well."

She then addressed the guards. "Release this man, for he has done no wrong, but I commend you both for trying to do your duties. May God's blessings go to you." She then nodded her head to them.

"Yes, Mother Abbess," they said politely before leaving.

Lelouch just stared in shock at her."Why?" he all but whispered.

She simply went to his side and gently tilted his chin upward so he could see the tops of the chapel. There were statues of the angels and apostles and in the center of them all, was the crucifix that Jesus had been nailed upon. She then tilted his head to face her, hand leaving his chin before positioning it a few inches away from his forehead.

"By the witness of the martyrs-"

She brought her hand down to his waist.

"-by the passion and the blood-"

She then crossed her hand up to the left and right of his shoulders.

"-God has raised you from the darkness-"

And her hand settled on his forehead.

"-and I have brought your soul to his venerable hands."

Lelouch said nothing but his eyes remained wide as he stared at the still smiling Mother Abbess. She then left him there, going back inside. He stared down at his bag and at his ticket.

What have I done? Is this how low I've sunk? I've become what Kururugi saw me as: a mere thief in the night! Back then..

Lelouch remembered all those years ago. His life, put simply, was an unwinnable war, the worst kind of hell. When he had stolen the bread that saved his sisters life, they took his name, his life and gave him a number, chained him up and left him for dead!

All for a loaf of bread.

The Mother Abbess... He robbed her after she had given him food and shelter. She had every right to turn him in, for what he did was truly despicable. But she gave him the silver, even more of it and his freedom.

She said I have a soul, but she barely knows me!

The guilt and shame squirming in his heart was more painful than a blade (and he knew from experience how sharp a blade was). He looked up to the moon. The night was coming on now. And there, he made the decision.

I will escape this world, the world of Lelouch Lamperouge. Lelouch Lamperouge is nothing now, another story must begin.

With that, he took out the yellow ticket, tore it up and left into the night.

"We had reports of him going into the city but that's it. We can't find him anywhere, Officer Kururugi. I'm sorry."

"So, he has not learned the law after all these years."

Kururugi looked up from the report, eyes flat with anger.

"I will find him and get him, even if I have to drag him back kicking and screaming. Make no mistake Lelouch Lamperouge, you can run all you please, but you can't hide forever, understand? I am the Law and the Law cannot and will not be evaded!"

I'm currently obsessed with Code Geass and Les Miserables though not as much as when I was working in the musical. I'll never let the script out of my possession, it's too awesome! That's also how I wrote this.

Oh, sorry for rambling! See in September, two of my seven siblings and I signed up from the high-school musical Les Miserables. I was in the chorus as a peasant, but I did get one of the few lines of actual dialogue in the musical. I yelled, "It's a runaway cart!" in "The Cart Crash". Anyways, this'll probably get done fairly quick because unlike Knight of Truth, I know exactly how this will end, making it easy to write.

StargateNerd beta'd this for me.

Looking back, I realized I made Suzaku way too cold and the goal for my story was to create the characters in such a way so that they reflected both the characters used and the characters represented. So expect new content in some of the other chapters. Maybe.