Note: This is really just an alternate way that the confrontation between Lelouch and Nunnally onboard Damocles could've gone (and no Geass is involved!). The result is largely the same, although perhaps not quite as depressing in the long run. Also, a quick nod of thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, a reviewer who ultimately, unintentionally reminded me that this story still existed and was basically ready for posting.

Taking the Key

A Code Geass Oneshot by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

"No matter what you do to me, I will never give you the key."

Nunnally's grip on the key of Damocles tightened as she said the words. Part of her expected Lelouch to simply snatch it from her hands, and as difficult as it would be for her to prevent that, she had to try. So many lives were at stake... including the ones she'd taken just moments ago. If she allowed Lelouch to win, it would mean that she'd stained her hands for nothing.

"Do to you?" Lelouch said as he came closer. "Do you honestly believe I could ever intentionally harm you, Nunnally? Do you think I've changed so much?"

She bit her lip. He sounded and looked so much like the kind, adoring older brother he had been for so long. "But, Euphie..."

"Was an accident," he replied softly. "A horrible mistake on my part, but still an accident."

Part of her was relieved, but the other demanded that she go on. "But what about Clovis?"

There was a long pause before Lelouch finally said, "Clovis wasn't you, Nunnally. He wasn't the one I practically raised myself. You are special. You always have been."

"You... you're only saying that to get the key, aren't you?" she asked, her voice trembling with both hurt and desperation.

"You know I'm not."

"I know you'd say anything to get the key!"

"The key? You actually think I'm here for that?"

"What other reason is there?"

Lelouch came even closer, leaning over her and placing his lips next to her ear.

"I'm here for you, Nunnally. You told me once, a long time ago, that you were happy just being with me. I've come to take you back. I won't let them use you against me anymore. You... are my one, ultimate weakness. The person I love most in this world."

"Y-You're lying," Nunnally whispered as tears spilled down her cheeks. "You just want me out of the way..."

"I want you by my side again, where you belong."

She gasped as Lelouch lifted her out of the wheelchair. "No! Put me down, Lelouch!"

"No, I can't do that," he said quietly, kissing the top of her head. "I won't abandon you, Nunnally. We both know how much that hurts."

"Y-You're cheating," she whimpered, freeing up one hand to clutch at his chest.

"Please come back to me, Nunnally. Despite the evil that I've done, I've loved you through it all. The only reason I didn't come for you was because I thought you'd died. You don't know what that did to me. I refuse to lose you again. So even if you won't come with me willingly, I won't leave you here. I can't."

"But what you're doing is wrong!"

"And if I am wrong, even if it makes me unworthy of your love, does that mean that you will stop loving me?"

Nunnally shut her eyes tightly and slowly shook her head.

"Then you understand. It is the same for me. So how can you possibly be surprised that this is what I've decided? Keep the key of Damocles, if you like. So long as I have you, I truly have no need for it."

A tiny voice in Nunnally's head was screaming at her, telling that she was Lelouch's prisoner now, not his sister. But when she gazed up into his eyes, there was no way the happiness she saw there could be fake. Maybe she was his prisoner, but she knew he wasn't going to treat her like one, at least not yet.

"If you're still doing this for me, Lelouch, you can stop. It's enough."

He smiled kindly. "Thank you, Nunnally. But as I once told someone else, I must take responsibility for the miracle that I've made. To come this far, and not execute my plan in its entirety, would make Clovis and Euphie's deaths meaningless. So I'm sorry. You were the inspiration for all of this, but it has grown far beyond the reality I once sought to give you. Now this dream belongs to the world."

"You won't even stop for me, then?" Nunnally asked softly.

"Not even for you," Lelouch sighed, pressing his lips against her forehead. "But I can promise you this: it will all be over, with just one more death. Then you can see my better world, Nunnally. The peaceful world I made for you that will be enjoyed by all."

It all ended exactly as Lelouch had said it would.

Nunnally had begged him to change his mind. Failing that, she at least asked not to be part of it. The very idea of having to watch him die made her wish for blindness again.

But Lelouch had insisted: if her role was unclear, if her love for him was thought to be greater than her loyalty to freedom, she might be included with those deserving of punishment. For that reason, she had to bear witness and act accordingly. It was the only way his death could protect her.

She finally agreed out of a sense of responsibility. Lelouch had made this world for her, and even though she had no desire to live in it without him, she would find a way to go on. For the lives he had taken, and for the one life he had safeguarded, she would bear the weight, not of his sins, but of his love.

The End.

Endnotes:

There are three things about Code Geass that bother me still.

Every time Lelouch has a chance to come clean about what really happened to Euphie, he fakes left and claims it was the plan all along. Now, if he was constructing the Zero Requiem even then, I can understand how that fits into the grand scheme of things. But if he's just too proud to admit that he lost control and made a big mistake, then he could probably use a punch in the mouth. At the very least, he should've said as much to Suzaku at the Kururugi Shrine. Mind you, I don't think it would've changed all that much, and probably would've pissed Suzaku off even more at the time, but in the long run, they might've ended up as allies much sooner if Suzaku had been aware of the fact that Lelouch didn't actually want to kill Euphie. Let's face it, there's only so many types of people that would want to kill someone like Euphie, and that Lelouch willingly put his name on that list makes him oh so easy to hate. But, again, maybe that was the plan all along.

I will say that Nunnally deserved a mild spanking. Siding with Schneizel, allowing everyone to think she was dead, and on top of that, willingly putting her finger on the kill switch. Bad Nunnally, bad girl! But seriously, how many times do we have to watch a cute, misguided crippled girl topple out of her wheelchair onto a hard, uncarpeted floor and/or stairs? Twice, apparently, and that's at least one time too many! But Code Geass's habit of making kill switches wand-sized came in handy for once: easy to grip, easier to find when you're just getting over being blind for a couple of years. I'm just glad they didn't show how Nunnally must have struggled to get herself back into the chair after the first fall. That would've been too much.

There's one thing I don't get about Code Geass's ending: Zero killed Lelouch, and that's supposed to be great, but there's a SLIGHT problem: you don't know who Zero is AGAIN, world! And that's how it blew up in your faces the first time! How can you not LEARN, based on who he turned out to be the last time?! For all you know, Lelouch had a body double (he had a million at one point!) get stabbed in his place, AND IS STILL ZERO! Even worse, practically everyone in the royal family could fake their own deaths in their sleep, so I'm shocked that no one is the least bit suspicious of the guy behind the mask anymore. Yes, he did very good, but so did Lelouch when it was his mask, and urgh, I'm ranting now.

For those getting your hopes up, please don't. As I said, this story was basically done years ago and forgotten about. The only thing new about it is the final scene. Pretty much the only unfinished Code Geass story of mine that even has a remote chance of being updated is Dream of the King, and even that isn't looking so hot after all this time. But at least with my Code Geass stories, I am very open to the idea of adoption, if anyone is crazy enough to come forward. And even then, I would have them inspected for Geass and thoroughly background checked. Particularly if they'd ever been caught marking up a school wall.

...okay, four things that bother about Code Geass. I still think about wall girl and what likely happened to her, her fate haunts me. I imagine she's either still marking that wall, or locked up somewhere to keep her from trying.