Author's Note: It's time. This is the beginning of the end of The Search for Lelouch. I don't know how many chapters there will be once the revision is done, but here is the rewrite of the prologue. Without a doubt it will change fairly little for this chapter, but a bit more detail never hurt...

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass and that will not change. Ever.

Turn 00
Re;

The Demon Emperor quirked his lips upwards into a nearly unnoticable smile as the sword was pulled back. He was ready for the Zero Requiem to come to an end and his smile only faded for a moment when the sword ripped through his chest. A gasp escaped him even as he chuckled softly through pain and looked into the mask of Zero with tired eyes. He gently laid a bloody hand against it in content.

"The punishment for what you have done shall be this then. You will live on, always wearing that mask, serving as a knight for justice and truth. You will no longer live your life as Suzaku Kururugi. You shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life for the benefit of the world for eternity."

The fading eyes of Suzaku's best friend made the man begin shedding tears behind the mask and he nodded his acceptance. "This Geass I do solemnly accept."

Suzaku slipped the blade from Lelouch's chest, swiftly to cause as little extra pain as he could, and flicked the blood off with a quick motion. The blood of the Demon began staining the carpet while Lelouch slid down the slope and slid to a stop next to Nunnally. "Big brother?" Her expression became panicked as she looked at his dying form and he looked back with a small smile. She quivered while she continued to call for him before grasping his hand. Her eyes widened as she was suddenly barraged by memories. His memories. "You-you mean all this time? Everything you've done up to now?" Suddenly the world felt so much heavier to her, "Oh Lelouch! I love you!"

Tears streamed down her face as she realized just how far her brother went in his love for her. For her dream of a more gentle world. She cried for her brother while the crowd cheered in happiness. Chanting for Zero. Despite hiding it well others could be seen looking at the siblings with tears in their eyes. "Yes . . . I destroyed . . . the world and . . . created it . . . anew." The man smiled without regret before he lifted up his hand before gently caressing her cheek with care. The Demon Emperor closed his eyes for the last time and his hand fell away to the side. A final breath rattled out of him as his body fully relaxed for the first time in a long time. His smile of content remained on his face even in death.

She began to cry harder when she realized he was gone. Nunnally pulled his body close, "NO! This isn't fair! All I needed to be happy was to be with you . . . how can I look forward to the future without you?! BIG BROTHER!" Her wails of grief were soon swallowed up in the cacophony of celebration taking place around her.

Far away, in a hotel outside of Tokyo, a man and a woman were watching everything on TV. To ensure everything had gone right they were listening to everything from a device on the Emperor's belt. Nunnally's cries and words brought the man to tears. "I'm glad that, in the end, she could understand. Even if it wasn't the absolute whole truth. Though if not for Sayoko it would have been."

The woman smiled, something that had been foreign to her not too long ago, "She greeted her death with a smile. Just like you will when it is your time. Like I will when it is finally mine."

"She did." He nodded somberly, "Just another death on my head I suppose." Sighing as he felt so much older and tired than he should given his age.

The woman shook her head with a slight frown, "Don't feel guilty. It was her choice. There was no Geass involved. It was entirely her decision even though she knew you were perfectly willing to go through with it. You tried your best to convince her to let the plan to happen as intended. You practically begged her to forget the switch even just last night," she teased despite the serious nature of their talk. "Sayoko felt you deserved some happiness. Let's go be happy then . . . my Warlock."

The man gazed at her intensely before he smiled and pulled her close, "Thank you, -" He whispered her true name with his voice thick with indescribable emotions.

The click-clack of the wheels of the wagon full of hay seemed loud in the silence the country road had. A familiar woman with her green hair was relaxing on the hay in the wagon. Her hair was splayed out around her and an origami crane next to her head. An amused look crossed her features, "I said that Geass was the power of the king and that it would condemn you to a life of solitude," she laughed lightly, "But that isn't quite correct is it . . . Lelouch."

The driver of the wagon let out a small laugh as he lifted his hat to look into the sky. His amethyst eyes shined brightly in the sunlight, "No. I suppose not. Close, but not quite."

Author's Note 2: I had originally intended to post this along side the rest of the rewrites, but since I am taking so long I will post this first. Then I'll put up the remaining eight rewritten chapters once I feel they have been deemed ready. I will upload them before the end of summer though. That I'm certain of. On the bright side I have been also been uploading one-shots and such. So I haven't been in-active.

Since I began rewriting this I've written five short stories. Three for Code Geass, one for Smash Bros., and another for Case Closed. One of the said Code Geass short stories I will likely expand into full story and another I still need to write the second and final part for.