Without knowing how he got there, Suzaku found that his knees had hit the floor. The shaking in his hands had begun to infect the rest of his body, creeping up his arms, past his shoulders, to his torso, and both north and south from there. The blind fury, bordering on pure, true contempt, that he had held for his own best friend was…wrong.

"I—I didn't know," he choked. "He didn't—he never told me."

Nunally and Kallen watched him, tears beginning to gather in their own eyes. The Black Knight Ace took the younger girl's hand and squeezed her tiny fingers firmly when she found them shaking. Nunally was a master of composure, but even she couldn't be entirely calm when telling her late brother's best friend that there had been a colossal misunderstanding between the two of them.

"Why didn't he just tell me?" Suzaku whispered brokenly, the first hot tears sliding down his face. "If he had just told me the truth…Why didn't he tell me?!"

He ended somewhere near an agonized scream that made Nunally glad that the rooms in the building were all soundproof.

"Lelouch didn't think it would make any difference," said Nunally.

"He thought it wouldn't matter to you," added Kallen quietly. "That you would just think he was making an excuse."

"How could he think that?"

"By killing Euphy, he thought he put himself beyond your forgiveness. He didn't think the reasons would make any difference at that point," answered Nunally.

Suzaku made a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

"Lelouch had a habit of calling everybody else fools," he whispered. "Usually, he was right. But…he was the biggest fool this world has ever known. Maybe that's why we were such good friends. I'm a fool, too."

The tears were streaming thick and fast down his face now as wave after wave of guilt crashed over him. Lelouch, the student. Lelouch, the leader of the rebellion. Lelouch, the knight for justice. Lelouch, the emperor. Lelouch, the masochist, the martyr. Lelouch, his very best friend. The man that would always be his very best friend, and the man he had hurt and driven back in spite of that.

Lelouch, the person who would never be forgiven for his sins, because no one would ever know that he committed them in order to wash away everybody else's.

Suzaku had let Lelouch die believing that he was completely beyond redemption, that even his best friend could never, ever forgive him.

"What kind of friend was I to Lelouch?" he wondered weakly. "I killed him. The only reason I could do it was because of Euphy. If I had known…If he had just told me…"

"He wanted you to kill him," said Kallen. Despite her tears, her voice was strong. "It was his choice. He didn't try to earn your forgiveness, Suzaku, so you can't really blame yourself for not giving it to him."

The brunette said nothing. He just knelt on the carpeted floor, hands fisted in his lap, tears flowing unchecked down his pained features.

"What about now?"

He blinked and glanced up. Nunally was looking at him, tears still falling down her round, porcelain cheeks.

"What?" he mumbled.

"What about now? Can you forgive him now that you know the truth?"

That lump in his throat was back. Had it ever actually left?

"For what?" he said thickly. "The only thing I held against him was Euphy; the Princess Massacre. Now that I find out that—that it…It wasn't something that needed forgiveness. There was nothing, really, nothing to forgive!"

"That's not quite right," said Kallen gently. "Regardless of the reason, he did kill Euphy, and he did lie. He definitely though that there was something to forgive. The question is: can you?"

Suzaku stared at Kallen for a long moment.

Once upon a time, eight years ago, he had been the only one who could see into Lelouch's heart so easily. It used to be only he that could read his best friend's every action, every expression. Yet, he had fallen out of practice, and others had stepped up. Kallen was one person who had managed to grow close to Lelouch. He was grateful that, in his absence as Lelouch's friend, Kallen had slid into place as another person who could understand him, along with Shirley and Rivalz and the others.

Lelouch had lived a hard life, and Suzaku hadn't truly been there for him for half of it. Still, it turned out his friend had not been entirely alone, and for that he was grateful. That emotion right there was the only answer he needed.

"Yes," Suzaku said, so softly it was a wonder the girls could hear him. "Yes, I can forgive him."

"Me, too," said Kallen, smiling through her tears.

In the next moment, she was kneeling beside Suzaku, and they were in each other's arms as they lamented the loss of a great leader, a loving brother, a good friend, and the bravest person they had ever known. Nunally slid from her chair to join them and they pulled her into their embrace, knowing her pain was the worst out of all of them.

How long they knelt weeping in each others' arms, they weren't sure, but eventually the tears slowed, and they pulled back. Kallen reached behind Suzaku; when her hand came back to her lap, it held Zero's mask. The mask that had made Lelouch famous as a mysterious and powerful leader of the rebellion. The mask that he had since passed on to his best friend Suzaku, knowing that the brunette would be a perfect knight for justice.

"Make him proud, Suzaku," Kallen murmured, handing her friend that sacred object. "Live up to Zero's legacy. Rebuild the world to be the peaceful place that Lelouch wanted for us all."

Suzaku nodded, his features hardening to steely determination as he accepted the mask from Kallen. He would do it. He would do the one thing his friend had always wanted, the thing he had died for.

"I will, Kallen," he promised.

"Lelouch is already proud of us, I think," said Nunally. "I wonder if he's happy, wherever he is?"

"I'm sure he is, Nunally," Kallen replied.

Nunally smiled and wiped the last lingering tears from her delicate cheeks. The other two did the same, and when they all looked at each other, they couldn't help but laugh. Once, they had all been enemies, yet there they were, hugging and crying for the one thing they all had in common.

"Put on your mask, Zero," Kallen grinned. "It's time to face the world again."

"As you command, Lady Kallen," Suzaku chuckled, and pulled the black covering over his nose before sliding the mask back on. Kallen laughed.

"Uhm, guys?" said Nunally.

"What is it, Nunally?" they said together.

"Can someone help me back into my chair?"

End! I hope you enjoyed it! Please please please, R&R my lovely readers!