0-0-0-0-0

Chapter 1: Adumbration

0-0-0-0-0

A groan escaped Kallen's lips as she slowly came to. She immediately regretted her decision to do so, as she found her mouth full of sand the second she opened it. She instantly sat bolt upright, frantically spluttering out the sand, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun overhead.

As her vision became accustomed to the intense light, she surveyed her surroundings; taking note of the pristine white beach she was on, and the rolling blue ocean and lush verdant forest on either side. For a moment, she was reminded of her trip with Naoto when she was much younger to Okinawa. It couldn't be Okinawa of course; the beaches were far too free of noisy tourists, but the environment was similar. Perhaps she was on one of the many islands in the Ryukyu archipelago. If that was the case; she was still in Japan somewhere.

Stretching her aching muscles, she tried to remember how she appeared on the deserted beach. She recalled capturing Suzaku and his Lancelot in the Gefjun disturber field they had set up for him; how Zero had cornered the honorary Britannian Knightmare pilot, and how the Britannian military parked their flying gunship above the two, ready to fire...

She pursed her lips and scrunched up her eyebrows in intense concentration as she struggled to recall what happened immediately after that. Letting out a frustrated growl when she ended up calling a blank, Kallen clutched her head and fell to her knees.

"Calm down, Kallen," She whispered to herself, "You'll be no use to Zero if you lose your head now. Just sort this out logically; you're on an island, and you have no idea how you got here. Maybe Zero's here too. If you can find him, things will be a lot easier; he'll be able to figure a way off of this rock. If you can't find him..." she trailed off, sweeping her gaze across the nearby treeline.

A growl from her stomach interrupted her thoughts. Glancing down at her offending body part, she realized that it had been a while since she had last eaten. That thought, combined with the fact that she had no clue as to just how long she had been laying on the beach, made her come to the decision to find something to eat.

As she walked towards the trees, she gave her armpits a sniff. Scrunching her nose in disgust at the smell, she murmured, "Maybe I should find a stream and wash up first."

The sudden rustling of leaves to her right put her instantly on her guard. Reaching into the pocket of the jacket of her Black Knights uniform, she extracted her pouch knife, readying the blade. Crouching low as she skirted the spot she had heard the noise come from, she prepared to strike as soon anything emerged from the trees.

A flash of pink entered her field of vision, and she pounced. Tackling the figure that had exited the trees, she brought her knife to the throat of the person below her. Pale violet eyes, wide in shock stared up at her as she as she felt her own narrow in recognition.

That face; how could she not recognized it? It had been all over the news for the past month. Gripping her knife, she pressed the sharp edge of the blade against her captive's skin, drawing a thin trickle of blood. She watched with grim satisfaction as the face of Euphemia Li Britannia contorted into an expression of terror.

The fear didn't last however, as the princess took on a countenance of determination.

"You're the ace of the Black Knights; the one who pilots the red Knightmare frame," the princess said, staring up at Kallen. "I saw you on Shikine."

"Yeah," Kallen growled, "That's me."

A relieved smile spread slowly across Euphemia's face. "Then please," she said, "Before you kill me, can you please tell me one thing? Zero; is he Lelouch?"

Kallen made a noise similar to that of someone who was being strangled as an image of her dark haired classmate entered her mind; the very person she had once suspected of being Zero. "Lamperouge," she whispered, not realizing she had voiced her question out loud.

Relief visibly filled Euphemia as tears leaked down her cheeks. "So he is alive," She said, "Thank goodness."

With a growl, Kallen stood, heaving Euphemia to her feet along with her. "Listen, puppet princess," Kallen snarled, slamming the pink haired girl into the trunk of a nearby tree, "I'm not telling you anything about Zero, even if you drop the names of my classmates that Suzaku's no doubt told you-,"

"Suzaku?" The princess gasped, interrupting the redhead, "He's your classmate? Lelouch too? I wonder why Suzaku never told me."

"Shut it!" Kallen snapped, roughly shaking the girl before her.

Looking slightly crestfallen, Euphemia spoke, despite Kallen's orders. "Please; is Lelouch Zero?"

"What's it to you?" Kallen hissed, attempting to sound as uncaring as possible to the Britannian girl.

In her own mind, however, she found herself trying to discern the answer to the princess' question. Kallen had suspected Lelouch immediately following the Shinjuku incident, and his explanation for his comment when she had cornered him didn't quite sit right with her. However, Zero had contacted her while Lelouch was in her presence; it couldn't be him.

Her thoughts then wandered to the meeting between the Black Knights and Taizo Kirihara of the Kyoto House; how C.C. had impersonated Zero then. Was it possible she had done so before? It wouldn't have been hard to use a voice changer, or perhaps even a recording of Lelouch's voice over the phone. Had C.C. been acquainted with Zero that early on?

Kallen was snapped out of her reverie when Euphemia spoke; answering the question Kallen had asked her, "I just want to know where my brother is."

"Your... brother?" the half-Japanese girl breathed. Every joint in her body seemed to weaken simultaneously, forcing her slackened fingers to involuntarily drop her knife.

0-0-0-0-0

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, bringing the gun in his hand up to point directly at its target. Before him stood Kururugi Suzaku, who glared at him defiantly.

"Zero," the Japanese man spat; the venom in his voice was palpable.

'Suzaku,' Lelouch mentally growled. He cursed his trembling fingers as they ghosted over the trigger of the weapon in his hand.

The exiled prince didn't want to hurt his friend, but if it meant the difference between escape and capture, he would have no choice. A bullet to the foot would suffice to slow his opponent down without mortally wounding him. The Britannian military provided enough training in first aid that Suzaku would be able to stave off any bleeding from the wound and keep it from getting infected.

Before he could react, however, the dark haired Britannian found himself toppling over backwards when Suzaku lunged at him. Lelouch grunted in pain as he was flipped over; his chest pressed harshly into the hard, rocky ground. He then found his arm being forcibly twisted in an unnatural angle behind his back.

Having to choose between keeping a hold on his gun and having his shoulder dislocated, he picked the less painful of the two options and let go. He let out a reflexive sigh in relief when he felt the firm grip on his arm relinquish. The relief was short-lived, however, when her felt the muzzle of his gun dig into his spine, squarely between his shoulder blades.

"The mask," Suzaku growled, "Take it off."

Slowly, Lelouch brought his hands up to the sides of his helmet. A mechanical whir was heard as he disengaged the seal that kept the helmet firmly secure around his head. Suzaku, who was apparently growing impatient with Lelouch's slow movements, swatted away the gloved hands that held onto the mask, and with a swift tug, pulled the helmet off.

Lelouch then found himself being violently flipped over onto his back. His eyes locked onto Suzaku's as they widened in recognition and shock. Before Lelouch could say anything, the Japanese man standing over him brought his fist up over his head. With a grunt of exertion, Suzaku brought his fist down into Lelouch's face. The violet eyed teen registered a brief flash of pain, and then his world went dark.

0-0-0-0-0

A small fire crackled to life on the beach, slowly growing to engulf the pile of wooden shavings Kallen had carved from a stick with her knife. Carefully, she added small sticks to the flame as kindling until the fire grew large enough that she was able to add larger branches for a controlled burn.

Picking up a fish she had caught and gutted earlier that day and skewering it with a stick she had carved a sharp point into, she held the fish above the fire to cook it.

"It smells delicious," Euphemia said cheerfully, inhaling the aroma of the roasting fish. She sat on the other side of the fire from Kallen; her wrists tied together with one of the sleeves of Kallen's Black Knights jacket that the redhead had cut with her trusty pocket knife.

"I didn't say you could talk," Kallen grunted.

"Then gag me if you must," Euphemia replied, staring defiantly at her captor.

Kallen mentally gave the princess a round of applause, albeit grudgingly, for her nerve. "Do you want to eat?" Kallen asked, "Because I can quite happily let you go hungry."

"Do as you must," the pink haired girl replied, turning away from the Knightmare pilot.

Pulling the fish she was cooking away from the fire, she prodded it with her finger. "Should be cooked enough," she muttered, before taking the fish off of the stick and tossing into the princess' lap.

"I thought you were happy to let me go hungry," Euphemia said, watching the half-Japanese girl place a second fish on the end of her cooking stick.

Kallen shrugged. "I need you alive long enough to bring you back to Zero," she said. "I can't have you starve to death. A hostage is only valuable if they're alive."

"It's not even been a day," Euphemia replied, daintily raising an eyebrow, "I highly doubt I'd starve to death so quickly."

"Just eat," Kallen snapped, turning her gaze towards the sizzling fish.

Silence reigned over the makeshift camp as Kallen directed her attention to cooking, while Euphemia struggled to pick her way through the scaly skin of her meal with her bound hands. Kallen, meanwhile, had decided her fish was cooked enough, and began to dig in, aided by her knife.

After eating her fill, Kallen tossed away the bones and cast a glance over to the princess, who was still struggling with her meal. A resigned sigh escaped the redhead's lips as she slowly stood and approached the pink haired Britannian.

Pulling the limp fish out of Euphemia's fingers, Kallen plopped down in the sand beside her and began to shuck off the scales with her blade. Upon finishing the task, she thrust the fish back into the princess' hands.

A few minutes later, after Euphemia's fish had been consumed, the pink haired girl stared into the fire; a faint smile gracing her lips. "You know," she said slowly, "this is the first time I've had fish in a while. Sister Cornelia doesn't like fish, and neither does mother, so our maids never served it."

"How awful," Kallen drawled, rolling her eyes.

Ignoring the half-Japanese girl, Euphemia continued, "The only time I ever had it was whenever I went over to Aries Villa. The cooks there made the most delicious herb crusted Cornish brill fillets. It was always Lelouch's favourite."

"Still going on about Lelouch, are you?" Kallen scowled. The mention of her classmate sent her into a worse mood than she was in already.

The entire day, Euphemia had regaled Kallen, who was very much uneager to listen, with stories of her childhood with Lelouch and Nunally. By the time the sun had begun to set, Kallen was forced to acquiesce that the possibility existed that Lelouch Lamperouge was indeed royal, as Euphemia so adamantly stated. The princess simply knew too much about Lelouch; his mannerisms, his personality, for her to have simply been told by Suzaku. She knew from first-hand experience.

If she was right about something so difficult to believe, such as the Ashford Student Council Vice President and his paraplegic sister being an exiled prince and princess, could she be right about the identity of Zero?

Kallen immediately shook her head sharply to clear her mind of such thoughts. There was no way; the Lelouch she knew was much too apathetic to do something so drastic as to don a mask and lead a rebel army against the might of the Holy Britannian Empire.

And Zero was far too charismatic of an entity to bear such an unimpressive identity as that of a high school student; he was Zero for crying out loud! The existence of someone with his extreme strategic brilliance and indomitably commanding persona was almost unthinkable. He would almost have to be a god; a king, or at the very least, some form of royalty... damn it.

Letting out a huff of irritation at her own mind, Kallen took her knife in one hand and the remnants of her Black Knights jacket in the other. With a few furious motions of her knife, she took her frustration out on the jacket, cutting it into strips of black fabric.

She then grabbed the princess by the wrists and began using the strips of cloth to tie her hostage up more securely. She then took the longest strip she had and tied one end around her waist, fastening the other end to the bindings on Euphemia's arms.

"So that you can't wander off," the redhead explained, noting the questioning expression in the princess' face. "Now let's get to sleep. The sooner I can get back to Zero, and be rid of you, the better, and searching for a way off this rock will be a lot easier when the sun is up."

As the two women lay in the sand, trying to find a comfortable position in which to sleep, Euphemia turned to look at the redhead; her face barely illuminated by the dying embers of the fire.

"I never did get your name," the princess said quietly.

"Kallen," her captor grunted irritably, "now shut it and go to sleep."

"Kallen," Euphemia repeated, a smile gracing her lips. "I'm glad my brother has someone like you to protect him," she said, before closing her eyes as sleep took her.

0-0-0-0-0

"Why?" That was the question on Suzaku's lips the moment Lelouch finally awoke.

With a grunt of pain, he slowly sat up from the dirt he sat in. Reaching up a hand to his still tender nose, he felt something wet and sticky. Pulling his hand away from his face, he found blood on the tips of his fingers. Wiping the crimson liquid off on his sleeve, Lelouch turned his gaze to the Japanese man in white. Suzaku immediately turned his head away, refusing to make eye contact. Instead, he merely glowered at a nearby tree.

Suzaku's frown deepened when Lelouch didn't speak. "You've killed a lot of people, Lelouch," he said quietly, his eyes tracing the furrows of the rough bark. "You've reignited a war that ended years ago. There was peace for seven years, Lelouch, and now men and women are picking up arms; men and women with families. Innocent people are dying, and I want to know why you're making them do so." Suzaku turned his head to stare at Lelouch; his eyes brimming with emotion; anger, betrayal, sadness. "Shirley was devastated when her father died. Do you remember how he died, Lelouch? In a mudslide that you created! Or have you forgotten about her; about Shirley? How many more families like hers have you torn apart?"

Lelouch deliberately stood, fighting off a wave of nausea as the blood rushed from his head."Do not dare accuse me of such things!" he shouted. Suzaku's words pierced inside of him like a sword. "Not a day goes by that I don't remember; that her face that day doesn't haunt my nightmares. But whenever I do, I remind myself of one thing.

"You have heard of the ancient Japanese legend of the Senbazuru, have you not?" he ask, schooling his features into his stone-faced Zero persona. Suzaku merely watched him in silence. "'Anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will be granted one wish'. It was Nunally who told me about this legend. Do you know what her wish was? Her wish was for the world to be a gentler place."

Suzaku immediately sprung to his feet. "And what do you think she would say if she knew just how much blood your hands are stained with?" he snapped. "Do you really think violence is the way to a gentler world? You're just propagating the cycle-,"

"Shinjuku!" Lelouch snapped, effectively cutting off the Japanese man. "Do you know what happened there? Do you know the truth, and not the censored and heavily modified garbage that the military fed to the public? Because I do. I watched as Britannian soldiers slaughtered innocent people; families with children. Not once did they question their orders. Had I not intervened, thousands would have died. And you stand there, telling me that there was peace for seven years? The war never ended; it was merely shielded away from public view."

Suzaku growled. "Maybe you're trying to save lives; maybe you're trying to grant Japan its freedom," he said, "but your way is not the way to do it. You're merely giving Britannia more reasons to hate the Japanese. What do you think will happen if you fail? Things will get worse; way worse. Put away the mask, Lelouch; help me show Britannia the good of the Japanese people. Without the bloodshed."

Lelouch shook his head. "I can't do that, Suzaku. As you say; my hands are stained with blood. If I walk away now, I will have stained them for nothing. I must continue until either my goals have been achieved, or I am dead."

Suzaku sighed dejectedly. "Nothing I say will divert you from your path, and nothing you say will make me join you," he said. "I guess for now, we'll have to call a truce; at least until we can find a way off this island. If we work together, that task will be much easier."

The corners of Lelouch's lips tugged into a smirk. "Unilaterally deciding to enter a pact of cooperation with the most wanted fugitive in all of Area 11. That normally isn't what one expects from a knighted soldier of Britannia?"

Suzaku frowned at his friend. "Right now, you are Lelouch, my friend," he explained. "However, do not expect me to pull my punches if I meet you on the battlefield. Zero is my enemy. There is a distinction between the two."

"I'm surprised," the violet eyed teen admitted, "although, I am grateful. Well then; if we are to work together, where do you propose we start?"

"Well, the human body's most important need is water," Suzaku said, surveying the area, "so I say we try to find a stream of some sort, since we don't know how long we'll be stranded."

"Excellent plan," Lelouch replied, nodding towards where the beach could be seen through the trees. "In that case, I suggest we head to the beach, since all water flows to the ocean."

As Lelouch turned and began walking in the direction he had indicated, he watched out of the corner of his eyes as Suzaku still clutched the pistol he had taken from Lelouch in his hand.

'Though he trusts Lelouch, he's prepared in the event Zero emerges. Troublesome, but logical thinking on his part,' the exiled prince thought, silently appraising his friend's tactic. 'Offer one hand, but arm the other.'

0-0-0-0-0

"Get up."

Euphemia groaned as Kallen incessantly jabbed her in the ribs to rouse her.

The princess was slow to comply, stifling a yawn as she propped herself up on her elbows. "What?" she murmured in confusion.

"Time to wake up," Kallen persisted, untying the makeshift rope that attached her to her hostage.

Rubbing her still heavy eyelids proved to be difficult with bound hands, so instead, Euphemia settled for blinking rapidly in order to fully awaken. Peering around camp, she noted that the sky was a dark grey. Just over the horizon, where the sky met the ocean, the sun's rays had begun to creep into view.

"There's someone else here," Kallen said, wrenching Euphemia's attention to her captor. She followed the redhead's gaze across the small bay along the coast of which they had camped. A flickering flame could be seen burning on the beach there; a campfire!

"I'm going to scout it out. And, since I have no other option, you're coming with me," Kallen said. "Just remember, I have a knife. If you so much as make a sound without my okay, I'll introduce it to your ribcage. Do I make myself clear?"

At the princess' nod, the half Japanese woman roughly grabbed her by the arm and began marching along the coast. As promised, Euphemia stayed quiet as they walked, and they soon found themselves peering over a large boulder at the unknown camp.

It came as a shock to Kallen when her eyes fell on the back of a very familiar, immaculate costume. She'd recognize that golden embroidery anywhere.

Zero sat on a log, his back towards the two girls. At his feet in the sand was his mask, seemingly forgotten by the revolutionary. His tall collar, however, blocked their view of his face. All they could see of his head from their angle was a tuft of black hair.

Across from Zero sat someone that both girls were quick to recognize. "Suzaku!" Euphemia cried out; all previous threats forgotten upon sighting her knight. The Honorary Britannian immediately glanced up at the voice.

"Shit," Kallen muttered, extracting her knife from her pocket. With a flick of the wrist, she unsheathed the blade and pressed it harshly against the throat of the pinkette.

Reacting immediately to Kallen's aggression, Suzaku stood; a gun in hand. In one swift motion, he grabbed Zero by the arm, forced him to stand, and pressed the muzzle of the gun against the revolutionary's head. The iconic mask lay forgotten in the sand.

Kallen felt her entire body go numb as her eyes locked on to violet. Had her mind not gone blank, and her throat not turned dry at that very moment, she may have shouted out the very name that was ringing in her mind in shock.

Euphemia did. "Lelouch!" she cried, sounding very relieved.

Said person grimaced at the situation he now found himself in.

"Kallen?" Suzaku choked out, his eyes locking on to the flaming red hair of his classmate before drifting over his princess.

At Suzaku's voice, Kallen's mind snapped back into gear. "Put the gun down," She snapped, tightening the grip on her knife.

For now, she would shove the idea of Zero being Lelouch to the back of her mind. She could question him later; right now, she needed to figure out a way to get away from the Japanese man. He was a skilled fighter; that much was certain from the many times they had tangled in the Guren and the Lancelot. As confident as she was in her own ability, she didn't want to risk getting into a fistfight with him. He was at least as good as she, and outside of their Knightmare frames, he had the advantage over her in both height and weight.

"Drop it," she repeated, "or I carve a grin in her throat!"

Quickly assessing the situation, Lelouch whispered to Suzaku, "Do as she says."

"Can it," Suzaku hissed back. "Right now, you're Zero, and I'm not listening to you."

"You're wrong," Lelouch replied. "Right now, I'm speaking as Lelouch. I know you won't kill me; not in front of Euphemia. Kallen, however, has no such reservations about her hostage."

Glaring once sharply at Lelouch, Suzaku turned his sight towards the blade that was pressing against Euphemia's wind pipe. A thin line of blood was barely noticeable against the princess' delicate, pale flesh.

"On three, we trade hostages," Suzaku called out, mentally slapping himself for negotiating with the terrorists. Regardless of his personal feelings abut the Black Knights, he had a duty as Euphemia's knight to protect her, and if that meant cutting a deal with the redhead, he would.

"On three," Kallen called out; "One, two..." When she arrived on three, she watched as Suzaku released his hostage. Seeing that he had held up his end of the bargain, she allowed the princess to go. Euphemia immediately began sprinting in Suzaku's direction as Lelouch paused long enough to collect his helmet from its spot on the ground before striding purposefully towards the Guren's pilot.

As the two freed captives drew towards to their respective protectors, Euphemia looked up at Lelouch; a watery smile on her face. As they eventually neared one another, the princess threw herself at her long-lost brother.

"Lelouch," she whispered, tears streaking down her face, "You're alive."

Without a hint of hesitation, the dark haired teen immediately wrapped his arms around the girl as she began to openly sob. They stood like that for several minutes; Euphemia's tears soaking the black, purple, and gold jacket of Lelouch's Zero outfit. Suzaku and Kallen stood at the sidelines; all intensity of the moment forgotten as they looked on.

An uncomfortable cough from Kallen broke the endearing atmosphere of the moment, and Euphemia extricated herself from Lelouch's embrace.

"I must go, Euphie," Lelouch told the princess softly.

Euphemia's gaze shot up to Lelouch's face in alarm. "No!" she shouted, "I just found out you're alive after seven years of thinking you were dead; I'm not leaving you now!"

Lelouch sighed softly. "I'm sorry," he said, casting a firm, but pointed look at the pinkette.

"Fine," the princess murmured after a moment of silence. "But I'm not losing you. I want to see you again."

"That would be ill-advised," Lelouch replied. "If anyone were to follow you, they may learn that Nunally and I are still alive and we would then be forced into the spotlight and returned to Britannia. As Zero, I simply cannot have that much attention on myself, and it would stress out Nunally to no end."

"Nunally's alive as well?" Euphemia chirped happily, "Oh, I'm so glad. I want to see her again too."

Grabbing hold of Euphemia's shoulders, Lelouch spoke sternly. "You can't. Not yet at least. Maybe once I hang up my mantle of Zero, but only then. Besides, a terrorist is no company for a princess to keep."

With a teary nod, right after another enveloping hug, Euphemia finally acquiesced. The two siblings then parted ways; the princess going to her knight, and the revolutionary to the captain of his personal guard.

"Let us be off, Q-1," Lelouch said as he approached his subordinate, "lest Sir Kururugi decide to pursue us; though I doubt that will happen." With a fluid motion, he slid his helmet over his head.

"Yes... sir," Kallen murmured.

As they walked away, Lelouch watched the redhead out of the corner of his eye. She slouched as she walked, and her face held an expression of... sadness? Betrayal? He couldn't tell for certain what she was thinking, but at the very least, she wasn't attacking him.

Kallen's mind flooded with thoughts; each overwhelming the others in an unrelenting cacophony. What was she to think? Zero; the man she had followed with undying devotion had turned out to be her classmate, and that classmate had turned out to be a prince of the very nation she fought to destroy.

What was his agenda? Was he using the Black Knights merely for his own personal gain? Was it all merely a means to usurp the throne? What of Japan? Did he even care about the Japanese people? What of her? Was she just a pawn in his game? She was his ace pilot; the captain of his personal guard; were they merely all concessions and fancy titles to bait her into allegiance?

So wrapped up in her thoughts was she, that she nearly collided with him when he stopped suddenly.

"We shall set up camp here," he said.

Glancing around, Kallen realized that they were far away from where they had left Suzaku and Euphemia. Just how far, she wasn't certain, as she hadn't been paying attention during their trek, but the beach was no longer visible. They were now in a small clearing, surrounded by the trees of the forest that covered the majority of the island.

The masked man turned to look at her. "Q-1, I'll leave you with the task of collecting firewood, while I search for a source of-,"

"Cut the act, Lelouch," She interrupted; her voice nearly a whisper. It was loud enough though, as Zero remained quiet. "Please; take of that mask."

"Kallen," Lelouch said, making to approach the redhead.

"No!" she snapped, drawing her knife and pointing it threateningly at the dark haired teen. "Take off that mask, Damnit. Look me in the eye and tell me why I should continue taking orders from you! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand; Britannian Prince!"

There was an ephemeral hesitancy in Lelouch's movements as he brought his hand up to the helmet and removed it. With a flick of the wrist, he tossed it in Kallen's direction. With a solid thunk, it connected with the ground, rolling until it came to rest at the redhead's feet.

"Sit down, Kallen," he said quietly, "I think it's time I told you everything."

0-0-0-0-0

"To lead and to fulfill the plebeians' desires, to corrupt and subvert

I need but to despise the very substance of truth

And define what is right"

-Lyrics from 'A.E.O.N.' by Sybreed

0-0-0-0-0

So there's the first chapter. Yay! Let me know how I did. Please? I love reviews. Just make sure that if your review is negative, let me know specifically why it is that you feel that way, so I can improve my writing. Please don't simply say "it sucks."

Also, before anyone comments on it, I want to address both Kallen's and Suzaku's reactions to discovering Zero's identity. As you should have noticed, their reactions were far tamer than the reactions in canon. I have an explanation for both characters.

First of all; the timing was far different for Lelouch's reveal. For Suzaku, he learned Zero's identity both after he had killed Euphemia, and after Suzaku had been informed of geass. Not only is Euphemia still alive in my story at this point, but she was not forced to commit a massacre in the SAZ. Suzaku's dislike of Zero is far less than his avowed hatred in the anime after the SAZ event.

As for Kallen, she was given some time to digest the idea of Lelouch being Zero from Euphemia's suggestions. In the anime, it was very suddenly forced upon her, and she was understandably in shock. Combine that with the fact that she was already feeling a sense of betrayal in the first place when Zero suddenly left in the middle of the battle for Tokyo, and you have her canonical reaction. I feel that in the events laid out in this story thus far, she would have at least given him a chance to explain, albeit while threatening bodily harm to him.

Note: I'm not setting up a strict schedule as to when I'll be updating this story. I simply write when the inspiration and desire strikes me. This goes for all of my fanfics, if you happen to be following any of the other ones of mine.