Notes: Think of this as a prequel to "Dream of the King." Or the prologue. Or the first chapter, whichever makes you happiest. I can't decide if I meant this to be mysterious or funny, but either way, I feel it totally throws off the mood of the next chapter. Yet I can't bring myself to change it, I like it too much.

Series Summary: Lelouch is Emperor. C.C., his wife and mother of his child. It's a good life. But one Lelouch has no memory of.

Chapter Summary: Lelouch never really learned how to handle C.C. So getting her pregnant might not have been one of his better ideas...

Dream of the King

A Code Geass Fanfic by

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

Part 1: Empress Cecelia vi Britannia


"The first impression of the Empress is unfailingly that she is far older than she appears, despite all evidence to the contrary. Her skin, her hair, her very breath indicates youth. But her eyes are older than all the stars in the heavens."


"We shall make a new contract," C.C. had said to him that fateful day when Lelouch first grasped the world in his hands. "You will swear to be my lord and husband for as long as you live. And I will swear to be by your side in all things."

Lelouch had been suspicious of the wording, but he was not immortal, and something about C.C. being with him, even after he was dead and gone, was strangely comforting. After years of commanding the Black Knights together, he was not entirely convinced that he loved, or was in love with, C.C. Certainly there were other girls he thought of in that capacity, but C.C. had always been more of a moody accomplice. Still, when she was on top of her game, which was often, there was no one he'd rather have at his side in the heat of battle, no matter how infuriating she could be at any other time.

He could learn to love such a woman, and failing that, at least he'd never be bored.

So, like a fool, he had agreed to the new contract (the old one, after heavy revision, had finally been cancelled outright when C.C. admitted, reluctantly, that she was fond of him, and that he'd saved her enough times to earn the right to keep his Geass).

The Sex had come after that.

Oddly enough, though Lelouch had experienced sex before, with a girl, and with C.C., it was not at all like The Sex. Clearly, whatever C.C. had learned in her centuries of life, she did not share in every sexual encounter. If she had, Lelouch had no doubt that his brain would've exploded the very second time.

The Sex was magnificent. The Sex was exhausting. The Sex left him unconscious for close to three days, and when he woke up, the mere implication that he might experience The Sex at any point in the immediate future left him scared senseless.

C.C. had agreed, after many minutes of him begging, never to unleash The Sex on him again, except for holidays, special occasions, and anytime they were invited to meet with people that neither of them cared for, just so she could call and truthfully say that Lelouch was very much indisposed.

Other than the looming threat of The Sex, being married to C.C. was not so different. Lelouch still largely came and went as he pleased, and C.C. did the same. Although more often than not, she was waiting when he came home, and sometimes, but not too often, they just had sex, which he'd rapidly developed a newfound appreciation for, as he could still remember his own name afterwards (most of the time).

It was rather inevitable then, considering the potency of The Sex, that C.C. wound up pregnant.

Lelouch was stunned, of course. He had always assumed that C.C. had been tortured so much in so many different ways that she was either unable or unwilling to reproduce.

"I can reproduce if I want," she had told him smugly, and clearly she did want.

He had just nodded, meekly (he was very much afraid that not even pregnancy would prevent C.C. from unleashing The Sex, and he was right; it was only a craving for peanut butter and sardine sandwiches that spared him), and asked if they could name the child for his mother, assuming it was a girl.

"Yes, and it will be," C.C. had said. "Now get me my sandwich."

So, under the terms of their contract, their first and only child was born Marianne vi Britannia II, or Mari for short.

What had not been in the contract was that Mari would be born with her own Geass active.

Fate smiled on them that day, as the doctor was the first to look Mari in her eyes.

He died instantly.

Lelouch just barely managed to catch his daughter in time, and even then, he didn't dare to look at her. In that moment, he was struck by the cruelty of the idea that he might never be able to look into his little girl's eyes without fear of death.

"Lelouch," C.C. murmured, exhausted but still commanding. "Bring her to me. I must seal her Geass for the time being. Afterwards, make yourself useful and get rid of that body."

Whatever C.C. did, it worked, because the next time Lelouch looked at Mari, she looked back, squealed, and tried to chew on his nose. It was love at first sight for them both. Lelouch was enraptured with his tiny, cuddlier version of C.C., and took great delight in smothering her with affection just so C.C. would scowl at him and say he was being disgusting. But she was strangely insistent about breastfeeding (he assumed it somehow maintained the seal on Mari's Geass), and those were the only times that Lelouch was allowed to hold them both at once.

Mari was a naturally inquisitive baby, but she was first and foremost attached to her parents like a rather adorable leech. She could usually be found playing in Lelouch's lap, or chewing on the ends of C.C.'s long hair, less out of hunger and more because she thought it was what long hair was intended for. Even more amazing was the fact that C.C. allowed it, and somehow still managed to attend meetings with nobles while at the same time calmly brushing baby drool out of her hair as if it were perfectly normal.

Lelouch spent every moment he possibly could with Mari, sometimes to the detriment of his duties. C.C. never complained about this, though, and instead quickly became one of the more active Empresses in the history of Britannia, and one of the rare few that was actually interchangeable with her husband. No one ever felt dishonored when she showed up in Lelouch's place, and in fact, most people preferred to deal with her, as Lelouch might either insist on bringing Mari to the meeting, or duck out early so he could be with her.

"You're determined to spoil her, aren't you?" C.C. asked one day as she watched Lelouch sit on their bed and dangle Mari upside down while she shrieked happily.

"Are you jealous?" Lelouch countered with a smirk.

"Of course not," she replied at once... and managed to look perfectly disinterested as she sat down behind him and leaned against his back.

Chuckling, Lelouch turned his head and kissed her hair tenderly. "You shouldn't be. Mari is my princess, but you are my queen."

"Careful, or I'll be tempted to remind you of that," she warned him.

He got the hidden message and instantly backed off. "With Mari in the room, though?"

"She'll have to learn eventually that she belongs to us, but that you are mine." C.C. plucked Mari out of his arms and held her close. "Now leave. It's Mommy time."

Lelouch very nearly laughed, as C.C. said that, as she did most things, far too seriously. "No. I want to see what it is you do with her when you kick me out. You shouldn't be afraid of having me watch. I let you watch Daddy time."

"I don't have a choice, it never ends." She tried scowling at him. "The moment we're alone, you're going to get The Sex."

He winced, but remained strong. "Fine, but you aren't going to do it right now."

Eventually, C.C. gave up, and the deep, dark secrets of Mommy time were revealed.

Lelouch was sorely disappointed.

Either Mommy time was always so tame, or C.C. simply wasn't doing what she normally did. All she did was play with Mari, but in a way that was both educational and oddly affectionate. Whenever Mari got something right, C.C. would smile at her, or hug her, or even kiss her.

"That's it?" Lelouch asked when they were done. "Why wouldn't you let me see that before? That was great!"

"That's exactly why," C.C. answered, glowering at him. "You'd enjoy it far too much."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Are you actually ashamed to let me see you be affectionate with our little girl?"

"No," C.C. answered stubbornly.

"I think it makes you look even more beautiful. Twice as much, in fact."

She looked at him in a way that was entirely familiar. "For someone so afraid of The Sex, you do a horrible job of avoiding it."

"It's unavoidable. If I didn't compliment you occasionally, you'd never let me sleep."

"Well, you aren't going to sleep at all tonight, now."

He sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "Just don't make me forget what year it is this time. Last time, I almost buried you in the gardens because I thought you were supposed to be dead."

She glared at him. "You didn't even bother to check my forehead for a gunshot wound first."

"I thought I was in bed with a dead body! Can you blame me?"

"Yes, and I'll continue to until you apologize."

"Fine," Lelouch responded. "I'm sorry you looked like you were dead."

C.C.'s eyes narrowed. "Lelouch," she said sweetly, "when you wake up in a week, and your pelvis is shattered beyond all recognition, just try to recall that you deserved it."

He had nothing to say to that, although Mari summed up his feelings quite nicely by cooing and burying her head in C.C.'s chest.

End of Part 1.


Endnotes:

I still have no idea what C.C.'s real name is, so I decided to come up with one strictly for public use. I wanted it to have two C's, obviously, and Cecelia was the best one I could come up with. It's unfortunately very similar to Cecile, so sorry if that threw anyone. But I would hope the sheer unlikelihood of Lelouch and Cecile becoming a couple would warrant a glance, at least to see if the author was actually serious... And yes, I know that technically C.C. should not take on "vi Britannia," but let's just assume that was also in the new contract. Somehow I just think Lelouch would want his first wife and child (or perhaps just C.C. and their child) to be distinguished from any other set.

I purposely left out... well, pretty much everyone other than Lelouch, C.C., and Mari. I wanted to focus entirely on them this chapter. Which just means more surprises when the others show up next chapter.

Warning: The Sex may cause short-term memory loss, sore throat, broken hips, blindness, inebriation, bad breath, weak knees, nonstop drooling, continuous nosebleeds, an inexplicable fondness for the color green, and a loss of anything even remotely resembling manhood. Use sparingly, or as directed by wife.