AN: Well readers, if you had thought that I had abandoned this fic, fear not! I've just been working on other things, but I just decided it's about time for me to pick this one up too. :P So, enjoy.

Euphemia slowly lifted the gun, too big for her fragile frame. She seemed to have issues even holding the bloodstained weapon. A single tear fell down her face, the only trace of emotion on her ghostly white face.

"This is for all the Japanese people who died because of you, Lelouch," Euphemia whispered almost inaudibly. "Innocent people Lelouch…" She pulled the trigger, the deafening roar of the gun drowning out the equally powerful sentence before it.

Lelouch tried to run, made all the effort he could to get out of that room, but something held him back. He tried to scream, but felt soft lips against his. Once Suzaku attained eye contact from his ruler, he backed off; he remained on top of him, afraid Lelouch would plunge back into his fit again.

Instead of saying anything, Lelouch propped himself up on his pillows, and clutched his chest where his wounds should have been, and tears began to fall. His features, formerly aristocratic and dignified now shed their mask and showed the pained, confused reality that was Lelouch. His jet black hair covered his tear stained face, and gave Suzaku a glimpse of the old Lelouch; the one that he rescued in the aftermath of the war on Area 11. Suzaku leaned forward and brushed Lelouch's hair out of his eyes.

A loud smack echoed through his highnesses' bedchamber as Lelouch rejected Suzaku's action. Suzaku, ever eager to please his master, was taken aback by this. He calmly removed himself from the bed and reclaimed his position at the bedside chair.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lelouch asked sternly of his knight. He quickly reconstructed his mask, leaving no trace of the weakness that had been there but a moment before. "You're my knight. You exist to protect me, and nothing else. When I need emotional counseling, I will call from it. You may leave now." Lelouch's words were harsh and cold, falling into line with his persona of an evil overlord of the despised empire of Britannia.

Suzaku didn't move, remaining pinned to his place in the gold wire frame chair. "You expect me to accept that Lelouch?" Suzaku could hold back his emotions no longer. "I found you unconscious in the gardens, and then I hear you screaming at Euphemia? She's dead Lelouch! No one was there?" He began to cool down, a steady stream of tears running down his face and onto his lap. "What's going on Lelouch? What is it that you're not telling me? I'm more than just you're knight I'm your friend as well."

"If you're my friend explain what that was before." Lelouch remained cold and uncaring, as emotional as snow. "Friends kiss friends just as often as loyal knights slay their masters."

Suzaku's eyes opened wide at Lelouch's harshness, fully prepared to argue, if just for a second before reconsidering his choice. "I'm sorry, Emperor Lelouch. My judgment was flawed; my only motive was to calm you down." With those final words Suzaku collected himself and left the room, leaving behind only the echo of his boots colliding with marble.

Suzaku had only just left when another visitor entered the Emperor's private chamber. A figure dressed in an all white; the prison uniform of Britannia. Her curves and large breasts were accentuated by the close fit of the material, and the loose black belts which fell at key points to draw attention to her voluptuous form. A high collar rose to just under her chin, and the sleeves and legs were excessively billowy that swished when she walked. Her high heeled boots clicked out a higher pitch than the Emperor's knight. Her long hair, the pigment of grass in the middle of summer, flowed around her as water does to a rock in the middle of a creek.

"C.C., you always have impeccable timing." Lelouch, in an attempt to sound powerful and commanding succeeded only in sounding sentimental and depressed; he had no way of leading her on. She was immune to his Geass, and her superior life experience allowed her to predict nearly every action that Lelouch might make.

"Lelouch, what exactly do you intend to do once this is all said and done?" C.C. had a habit of getting right to the point. "You know very well that Suzaku has loved you for some time; whether or not you return his feelings, is of no concern to me."

"I stand with you on the subject. He can love me until his heart breaks free from the cage of his chest; the price I have paid for my Geass is the loss of the ability to love." Lelouch tried his best to steer the conversation in a different direction; away from his plans for the future.

"I understand that Lelouch. You now see eye to eye with me on the apathetic nature of living." She took a seat next to him on his bed. "You still have yet to answer my other question, Lelouch." Her words dripped with a subtle poison, and all the fierce grace of a lioness. Before she gained her answer, she stood up and walked out of the room.

"C.C…" Lelouch murmured as she disappeared from sight. He knew she had no reason to stay; he had no answer for her question. Once again, the once-mighty emperor was alone, fighting off sleep again. He was afraid to drift off, afraid to see those frighteningly realistic apparitions of murder's past. Eventually, however, sleep took claim on his heavy eyelids, forcing them shut, and his breathing even. What would dance before his mind's eye that night, would forever change his perspective on the world of consciousness, and his desire to remain there.

AN: Okay, so bad ending to this chapter is bad. But I've finally decided to chance the description, as this is NO LONGER a yaoi. Maybe hints of Shounen-ai from Suzaku's side, but I really didn't want to ruin it with a lemon where I no longer feel it will fit. It might also drop in rating to T, only because my gore-writing skills might not be enough to retain the rating. But then again, I might get carried away, so I don't want to drop it just yet.