Disclaimer: If you are disposed to thinking that Code Geass is my property, I'll make it a point to get you a reservation in hell, myself.

Disclaimer: the questions after the chapter thing is something i got from Lunatic Chaos.

the review responce thing is something I got from koa-Chan

Hello everyone, I know I haven't been updating any of my fics lately; it's just that I have been so busy, and inspiration has been hard to come by.

Anyway, there are a few follow-up questions I wanted to ask for the last chap:

What is Zero doing in Japan?

Why do you think he is being so secretive about it?

What do you think the Geass sigils above the emperors' names meant?

What do you think the words: "Albeit the elements that time cannot wear, abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Meant?

Sorry, but I just needed to know what you are thinking as to give me a better idea on how to approach certain points of view.

now, let us address some of the reviews: (this is long overdue)

Yes, CC is mortal so don't ask how it will work with Lelouch if you don't want to get spoiled

to the person who ask why no one is angry at CC, well, you will just have to wait, and figure things out as we go along.

To the person who stated that some things were changed, you will also have to wait till I finally write why.

Now, regard to the chapter:

Paradiso is a mini-arc, much like Revelations, as it goes through the aftermath of the Zero requiem centered around all the other characters. It is something of a prelude to the upcoming plot. I felt that it would do you good to know what happened to the others. BTW, take this opportunity to input pairing suggestions as I will be developing some of them in this arc.

Oh, but don't worry, this arc still contains several plot points, ans answers to some of the questions brought up.

Enjoy.

Sincerely,

Toph the Trickster

Chapter 10:

Paradiso:

One,

Gino and Kallen,

Dawn

Location: Ashford Academy

Estimated Time: 6: 12 am

Timeline: Post Zero Requiem, seven months into the reign of, one hundredth sovereign, Nunnally vi Britannia; three days after Zero's covert arrival in Japan

"How are things down there, Guilford?" Gino Weinberg asked, through the computer monitor of his private residence in Ashford academy. Unlike many of the other students who were boarding in the school, he was given private lodgings because of his status as a Knight of the Round. One of the foremost reasons for such a decision was the fact that he needed to have regular updates sent to him from Britannia, and, since many, if not all, of the updates were either political or military in nature, he needed to have perfect privacy in order to do his work.

After all, he told himself, you can't let civilians know what things go on behind closed doors, right?

Gilbert Guilford, now a Brigadier General, looked over several reports on his desk in Pendragon. "Well," he said, removing his nose from the piece of paper that had his attention. "there isn't much happening around here now, at least nothing that you should worry about, sire."

"When you mean nothing I should worry about," Gino was still dressed in his pajamas. He never started the day before he heard the daily feed from Britannia. It was usually either sent to him by anyone who had the time to do so. Because despite the peace, Britannia was still in overdrive in terms of work, with the dealings in the UFN, and opening trade routs here and there, many people in the homeland barely had enough time to engage in small talk with a knight of the round. "you mean nothing military related right?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yes, sir, that is correct." He looked to another piece of paper, and then looked back to the knight in front of him. "Well, in terms of politics, China has decided to open a new trade route with several other countries, Britannia included.

"Knightmare production has reduced by fifty percent for all nations in the UFN, and the funds have been moved to the development of newer methods of growing crops; all of Britannia is experiencing an economic boom, and the poverty rate here has dropped to eight percent of the total population." Gilbert finished.

Gino nodded, smiling. "That's great news Gilbert! If I was there right now, I would have given you a nice pat on the back." The knight's smile turned into a wide, toothy grin as he concluded his statement.

The two men enjoyed a nice laugh for a short while, before Gino decided to ask his friend a question:

"So…" The Knight of Three asked, his voice laced with nonchalance. "How are you and Princess Cornelia doing?" He decided to look back to the general as the former had looked to the ceiling as he asked his question.

Gilbert turned slightly pink at the mention of the second princess. "Well…" His voice trailed off as he looked around, searching for a way to wriggle out of the situation. "AH!" he exclaimed as he found an interesting piece of paper on his desk that he knew would save him from discussing such an embarrassing topic with the loudmouthed knight.

Gino's eyebrows furrowed at the sound of the exclamation. "'Ah' what?" he asked.

"I have some good news for you, sire." Guilford said, holding up a piece of paper. It had the Britannian royal seal stamped at the bottom, and a signature that Gino, undoubtedly, recognized as that of one-hundredth empress, Nunnally vi Britannia.

Gino just remained silent, looking at the piece of paper with the sort of look a child would have when looking at some new, wondrous, thing that he had just discovered.

"It's a letter from her highness, the Empress." Guilford told him, not bothering to wait for any reaction. "It's addressed to you, would you like me to read it out?" Guilford smirked, he knew e had already weaseled out of his previous predicament, and, besides, Empress Nunnally asked him to do this anyway.

…Like hitting two birds with one stone. Guilford thought to himself with pride.

Gino looked to the wall clock that hung on one side of his private study. Noticing that he still had, about, an hour before school started, he looked to Guilford:

"I got the time." He shrugged. "… why not?"

~TtT~

Location: Kouzuki residence, Tokyo, Japan

Estimated Time: 6: 17 am

Timeline: Post Zero Requiem, seven months into the reign of, one hundredth sovereign, Nunnally vi Britannia; three days after Zero's covert arrival in Japan.

Kouzuki, Kallen had just finished getting ready for school. She usually spent that time relaxing and appreciating all the good things that have happened after the Demon King's death, making it a point to concentrate on what had been achieved rather than what price had been paid

The knight looked at the bulletin board on one side of her room, staring at the pictures she had placed there:

The picture of Ohgi's wedding,

The same person's picture at his inauguration as Prime Minister of Japan,

Kallen's picture at the Black Knights' General Assembly, which had taken place several months ago,

Kallen, Gino, Anya, Zero, and several other UFN knights, the term they used to address UFN officers, talking to each other at a party that was hosted by Empress Nunnally vi Britannia in the Aries Palace just two weeks previous,

Kallen and Gino being voted as "Most Popular Pair" at Ashford Academy, just three days ago,

And a picture taken in Tokyo hospital's private room.

Kallen looked more closely at the picture, taking in the sight; despite it having been a month, she still could not get enough of the sight. Even with all the other things that she had experienced: parties, inaugurations, funerals, fights, what had happened in the picture still stood out.

It was the Ashford student council, made up of both old and new members, standing around the bed and the latter's occupant. Kallen began looking each of the faces, beginning with her own, which was closest to the head of the bed, and making her way clockwise around it.

She smiled as she saw the faces of her old friends:

Milly Ashford, Rivalz Cardemonde, Nina Einstein, Anya Alstreim, and Gino Weinberg, who was standing opposite Kallen.

Between the two Knights of the Round were the three new additions to the student council:

Albert Kingfisher had one of his hands on Anya's shoulder, and flashed a peace sigh to the lens. Behind the red-head, Takaishi, Takeru and Yagami, Kari, the former with his arm around the latter; both were wearing vibrant smiles.

After looking over all the faces, Kallen, finally, moved to look at the people occupying the hospital bed, the people that commanded all the attention in the room, as unintentional as it mat have been.

There, lying on the bed, with a bundle in her arms, was CC, holding her newborn son to her chest, the young mother smiling at the camera. She was smiling a smile that Kallen never believed existed to the witch. CC just looked so happy holding the baby in her arms.

The baby…

… His baby…

… Lelouch's baby.

Kallen was still trying to overcome her disbelief. She knew Lelouch and CC were close, but never to that extent. They never showed any signs of being like that, not to her at least.

As Kallen continued to ponder on things, she remembered a little spat she had with the witch the night of Nunnally's coronation:

~TtT~

Location: Imperial Palace, New Pendragon, Britannia

Estimated Time: 6: 26 pm

Timeline: Post Zero Requiem, Coronation of one hundredth sovereign, Nunnally vi Britannia; three days following the death of the Demon King.

She had never felt such excitement in her life.

Yes, it was true; Kouzuki, Kallen rarely got excited, well, at least not to the extent she was now.

Britannia had joined the UFN, not before releasing several territories first, as to lower its electoral count. She, and all of her companions in the Black Knights were free, saved from their execution which was held three days prior. The world was now united, not under one man, bud under a flag that did things for the greater good of all.

The Demon King was dead, the world now free of his iron grasp.

Yes, the Demon King was dead…

Lelouch was dead.

Kallen could feel a wave of different emotions wash over her as she came across the forbidden thought. It was all three days ago:

When she thought that she was, finally, going to die; finally going to leave the world where all of its freedom was nonexistent. She spent most of that day, before she was tied to the stake, contemplating life, pain, will,

…Love,

And the many different philosophies that people create and adapt, making for themselves their own code to abide by. And it was during that contemplation that Kallen concluded:

~ "Perhaps there was no hope for us to begin with." ~

But she was proven wrong, oh so very wrong.

That afternoon, she saw her hope. She saw her hope, in the form of Lord Zero, slay the greatest source of pain, suffering, and hate in the world: Lelouch vi Britannia. She understood everything the moment she saw how Zero moved, the way he held the Imperial sword, how he managed to get through all the guards, and stand in front of the Demon King himself.

It was then she understood that, apparently, the person who took all the hope in the world had just taken it in order to merge it with his own, making it so much more:

Hope that was greater than the King of the world, hope that would, finally, end the wars that were, so painfully, fought.

But as she gained her hope, Kallen lost something just as precious:

The man she loved.

Filling with new resolve, to uncover more of what had transpired three days ago, Kallen made her way through and around the party, searching.

She moved along, still not finding who she was looking for, despite being at it for half an hour. She had passed many of her friends: The leading members of the Black Knights, the remaining members of the Ashford student council, Gino, who was with Tianzi Jiang Liuha, and Li Xingke, and Jeremiah who was talking to, both, Anya and Sayoko.

After, roughly, eight minutes of searching, Kallen went to one of the larger balconies, which were connected to the main Ballroom, for some fresh air.

There, leaning on the railing, was the very person who ministered the coronation, the only person to have any right with what to do with the throne ever since the ninety-ninth emperor's death.

There was CC, looking into the view before her.

The witch was dressed simply for the occasion; she always did, after all, dress simply for, just about, everything. But it never hindered any bit of her beauty from coming out. In the plain, white dress she wore, which was painfully similar to that of Empress Marianne, albeit in color, CC's young beauty was something to behold. Even Kallen, a person who never wanted to lower herself to such vain things, couldn't help but feel a little envy for the other girl, the girl that was always by Lelouch's side.

… The girl who knew Lelouch best…

… the girl who knew all of his secrets.

Kallen urged herself to move when the last though came to mind; she had to ask CC what happened exactly three days ago, and she was, by God, going to find out.

As Kallen approached, she couldn't help but notice CC's blank expression, for, no matter how many times Kallen has seen this, she couldn't help but be surprised that someone who appeared to be so young, sixteen years old, to be exact, capable of such emotional control.

Why is she like that? Kallen thought. She's just- what? Sixteen? She already has the emotional control to rival Lelouch's.

"It's great don't you think?" Kallen was snapped out of her inner musings when she heard the green-haired woman speak, the latter's gaze never leaving the view of the garden before them. "That everything is over." Kallen knew that CC noticed the pilot's arrival, despite not even turning a glance Kallen's way.

Kallen looked intently at the witch, listening to what the latter may have had to say.

"No more war; the world is united. Nunnally has just been crowned Britannia's empress, and…"

CC's eyes flashed regret for a short second before continuing, as though she was unable to say her next words.

"The world is no longer under the heel of an evil tyran-."

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Kallen screamed, cutting CC off. Kallen knew, she understood what happened three days ago, it all became clear to her the moment she heard CC put Lelouch down; the pilot didn't know why, she just knew. Kallen continued to scream, knowing full well that they were out of earshot from anyone who was less than a ten minute walk from the place where they stood

"Don't go around saying crap like that when you know full well that it isn't true!

"You know as well as I do that it was Suzaku behind that mask at the execution!"

CC's eyes widened a fraction of an inch when she heard Kallen make her declaration.

"Lelouch planned everything, I just know it! It's just like him to do something like that; it was obvious why too." Kallen's eyes were now welling up with tears, tears she had been shedding since the day at Damocles.

It was all Kallen could do in a situation that involved Lelouch.

She could only cry.

She cried when she attacked the Avalon; she cried when she heard him make his declaration of his dominion over all the world; she cried when he told them, that very same night, that he would have them executed in two months time; she cried when she saw the Demon King being stabbed by his best friend,

… and she was crying now.

It was all she was capable of, and so she did it. She cried for unrequited love, and all the pain that Lelouch gave her.

"And I bet that you just let him go through with it all, didn't you?" Kallen accused. "I bet you didn't even care that he was walking off to his death! That he would very well be damned to hell for all that he has done, and you didn't even care, did you?"

CC just watched Kallen, listening to the distraught woman with a frozen expression.

"You know that he loved you! Damn, just about everyone in the black knights knew there was something special between you two, but did you care? I don't think you gave a damn! He must have gone through a lot of pain getting ready for this; I can't believe how he managed to stand through all of that with a shell of a woman beside him.

"You…" Kallen continued, pointing an accusing finger at the witch. "You have no idea what pain I went through over the past few months. You were just living a relaxing life, while each one of us suffered, tormented by our demons in the depths of hell. Even now, you don't give a shit that he's dead. DAMN YOU, CC!" Kallen screamed.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN DO A THING TO STOP HIM, AND NOW LELO-." The knight never got to finish her sentence.

Kallen fell silent as she placed a hand on her right cheek, touching the place where CC had slapped her.

"Don't you dare utter his name that way." CC seethed. "You have no right to." CC spoke with a soft, firm, but dark tone.

"You have no idea what real pain is, Kouzuki." CC kept her left hand in place, open-palmed beside her right ear.

"Pain, witch?" Kallen asked, her features distorting into one of anger again. "You have barely fought during battles, you always existed detached, you were never really with us."

"The type of pain you are speaking of is nothing to what Lelouch and I have experienced." CC passed her left hand over her eyes, removing her contacts, and revealing her twin Geass sigils to the red-haired woman. "Your pain is nothing more than that of the foolish soldier that you are."

Kallen backed away, shuddering uncontrollably. Geass!? Her lips trembled under the weight of the witch's glare. She has that thing? To say that Kallen was scare right now was an absolute understatement; she was terrified beyond all reason. She always saw CC as he cold, emotionless witch. She never knew what she was like when the woman got angry, and, seeing things as they were now, Kallen wasn't sure she would ever want things to.

CC continued to walk forward, A=and Kallen continued to stumble back, the latter barely managing to keep her footing. Kallen drew a sharp gasp when she saw the scenery around her change:

The Aries palace was no more, now replaced by a ruined temple that was floating in the sky. Kallen tried to look around, tried to get familiar with her surroundings, but she could only look toward the fearsome being that stood before her: CC's face was no longer an emotionless mask, but one contorted with unbridled anger. Kallen never thought she would ever see such a sight. All around the two, the temple was aflame, burning stone and steel; not even the shy was spared of destruction. Kallen was sweating profusely now, not from fear, for she was sure that she would have been too drained to even whimper, but from the heat of the fire surrounding her. She felt like she was in an oven.

She felt like she was in hell, being punished for all eternity.

"Just what pain have you felt?" Kallen looked back to CC, who was standing atop a raised platform. Kallen fell backward to the floor, the heels of her hands were the only thing stopping her from lying flat on the ground. "What do you think you know about pain?

"Have you ever killed both your parents?

"Have you ever shot, and killed, your first love?

"How many families have you widowed?

"What do you know what it's like to have sent your siblings, innocent and guilty alike, to their very deaths?

"Do you know what it's like to dishonor someone who has been nothing but honorable?

"How does it feel to be hated by your best friend?

"Have you ever been hated, only because you were something people did not understand?

"Do you know what was it is like to be shot, cut, impaled, raped, tortured, and hated?" CC walked toward the other, a menacing and imposing figure in the destruction that so dominated the place.

"But let me ask you:

"Do you know what it was like to be betrayed by your beneficiaries; to be betrayed by the very people who would have been nothing without you? You, all of you, none of you would even be alive if it weren't for Lelouch.

"And when he died three days ago, did it not occur to you that I wouldn't be in pain as well, Kouzuki? That I was just as hurt by his passing as you?" CC turned away, the entire scene vanished and Kallen found herself back on the balcony, leaning against the wall and hugging herself.

CC was gone.

But her last words echoed in Kallen's mind, as though the witch was actually there to say it:

~ "The answer to everything I asked you, Kouzuki, Kallen, is no." ~

~TtT~

Location: Kouzuki residence, Tokyo, Japan

Estimated Time: 6: 19 am

Timeline: Post Zero Requiem, seven months into the reign of, one hundredth sovereign, Nunnally vi Britannia; three days after Zero's covert arrival in Japan.

Kallen's eyes were opened that night. It was that night she learned to the answer to the question she asked CC at the battle of Damocles:

CC loved the Demon King.

CC was hurt by his death as well, nut the witch only kept up her façade because there were others who needed her support, specifically, Nunnally, who saw the woman as an older sister.

Kallen had been found by Gino, that night, who also came for some fresh air as well, albeit, three-quarters of an hour, later. The Knight of Three comforted her, and helped her recover from the traumatic experience she underwent that night.

Kallen was grateful that he kept her titanic display of emotional ineptitude a secret, and remembered that she still hadn't thanked him for that.

Kallen got up, being seated on her bed as she remembered everything, and moved toward the door. She was moving down the hall, and about to leave the house when she heard her mother call her.

"Yeah, ma?" She asked.

Kallen's mother stared at her, last remaining, child silently. Kallen just stayed there, rooted to her spot, knowing full well her mother was just thinking of a way to voice out her question.

Kallen's mother just shook her head, and smiled at her daughter, saying: "We'll talk about it when you get home."

Not wasting a second of her time, which was ticking away nonstop, Kallen shut the door after her mother completely related the thought,

…shutting the conversation like a door, literally.

Now that the chapter is over, I hope you are willing to answer some questions:

Is "Now and Forever" different from other stories of its type (i.e. post requiem fics) ?

if yes, how is it different from others?

What do you think Kallen's mother is going to tell her?

What do you think Guilford was going to tell Gino?

What is CC's Geass?

Is my writing style for the story still keeping you on edge?

What about the time/location/timeline thing? does it work?

anyway,

thanks.