Hello everybody!

This is my first 'official' Code Geass fic...we're not gonna get into the first one right now, since it was...yeah. And of course, today being TODAY (August 10, 2010...ring a bell?), I thought it the perfect day to start uploading this. So enjoy. :3 Also, I don;t like the title, so if you can suggest one, I beg of you to. Nunally or Lelouch will give you a peck on the cheek!
Note that I dun own Code Geass. Sunrise does, the lucky bastards.

ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!

"Lord Zero, will you be at the meeting this afternoon or will you send someone in your place?"

"I will be there today."

"Will you please put your signature on these forms, Lord Zero?"

"Send them to my chambers, I'll sign them and send them to you by midnight."

"Are the delegations from the Chinese Federation meeting with you tomorrow, Lord Zero, with Empress Nunally?"

"That is the plan."

"Lord Zero-"

Zero turned on his heels to look at the umpteenth person to speak to him in the last few minutes. His glare went unseen from behind the mask, but softened when he realized who it was. "Good morning, Empress."

Nunally cocked her head to one side, looking up at her closest advisor and friend. "Good morning." She gave him an amused smile before asking, "Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

"No, Empress, I'm just busier than I expected."

She nodded, aware that he was still adjusting to the role and responsibilities expected of Zero. Lelouch apparently had been impressively efficient behind the mask, and the people wanted the same level of efficiency from his successor. The pacing was almost frantic even on the best of days, so Nunally thought he was doing well.

"Will you come with me to my room, please? I want to discuss some private matters with you."

"Yes, your majesty."

Nunally allowed Zero to wheel her into her sitting room. He stood beside the table as she locked the doors with the press of several buttons, and once the room was securely sealed from intruders, she turned to him. "You can take that off now…Suzaku."

"Yes, your-" the voice coming from the mask changed as it opened with a hiss, revealing a head of brown curls, "-Majesty."

Nunally gave him a smile and rolled closer to him, looking up at him. She was struck, at first, at how regal he seemed in the Zero costume. He seemed to stand taller and straighter, his movements more fluid and graceful. Even when he put the Zero mask on the marble table-top, his arm movements were slow and languid, his gloved fingers tracing the opaque front. It was easy for her to recall the sight of Lelouch trailing his own fingers-covered in the blood pumping from the wound in his chest-down the front, staining it. When she looked closely, Suzaku's fingers hesitated over the spot.

Suzaku looked up from the mask, watching Nunally approach him. "What did you want to talk about, Nunally?"

"Suzaku, you're overworked." She said simply, taking his hand. "You need to slow down."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Please don't lie to me, Suzaku…I'm tired of all the lies."

Suzaku sighed, recalling Nunally's skill at separating the truth from the lies. She held his hand firmly, her grip tightening slightly with his words. "Alright, so I'm a little overworked. Lelou-the first Zero was better at keeping up with it than I am."

"Please don't be afraid to say his name; I want to hear it." Nunally eyes seemed wet, as if the thought of her older brother would drive her to tears. "And as for Lelouch being better at this, he had more practice. Even as the Knight of Zero there wasn't as much for you to handle…you've been doing a great job."

"Thanks, but-"

"But nothing. You're taking the rest of the day off."

Suzaku started to chuckle, his shoulders shaking a little with the movement. "Nunally, you can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am." Nunally eyes, still wet, were bright as she let go of Suzaku's hand. "I, Nunally vi Britannia, 100th Empress, order you to take the rest of the day off and to not continue work until tomorrow!"

Suzaku's eyes widened. As her subordinate, he couldn't really defy an official order like that… Her manner was so much like that of her older brother… "But what if there's an emergency, Nunally?"

Nunally pondered that for a moment, before deciding, "If I think something is enough of an emergency, then I'll tell you. Otherwise, no working."

"But I have too much to do to take a day off. Discussions, treaties, forms, and delegations, I can't skip all of those appointments today."

"You are taking the day off and that is final." Nunally said firmly. "As your Empress, I command this of you, Zero."

Suzaku fought with himself for a minute, unwilling to disobey the empress or become bored and slip into memories, which would happen if he took the day off. Both were highly disturbing to him. Finally, his loyalty to her won out and he bowed stiffly. "Yes, your majesty."

The corners of Nunally's eyes creased. "Thank you, Suzaku."

Suzaku lifted the mask from the table and heard it hiss as it once more covered his head. "If that is all, Empress Nunally, I will go to my chambers to…relax…at your command."

"Good." Nunally unlocked the doors and watched him leave, the cape seemingly floating behind him. She went in the opposite direction, and if anyone had been close enough to hear, they would have heard her say, "Maybe today will be the day you free yourself from some of your guilt…" under her breath.

To open the doors to the 'Zero Chambers', as the staff called it, eleven security measures had to be passed. Suzaku had a hand in designing them and the numbers used were significant-Of the eleven features, there were seven passwords, three key locks and a hidden button on the interior door.

Eleven features for Area Eleven that had been his past, seven passwords for his number as a Knight of Rounds, three keys for his closest friend in the Rounds, Gino, and one hidden button for his defeat of Bismarck Waldstein-the Knight of One. Plus, subtract one from seven and there was six-Anya's number in the Rounds.

Everything had to be done in an exact sequence with impeccable timing. Even one second off and the doors would not open. With every key being a different shape and every password a different code, accessing the 'Zero Chambers' was quite a challenge.

But that was what Suzaku had in mind when it was built; the idea of extreme measures meant he was fairly safe from prying eyes and Zero's identity was secure. As a dead man, he couldn't have a name or a face anymore. So no one could see it, unless they knew his old name and identity, like Nunally.

He'd made the short walk from Nunally's chambers to his own, nodding his head to anyone who greeted him. One gloved hand slipped into his pocket and removed the keychain with the keys as the other began punching in the first password. Five passwords and two keys later, the outer door slid back with a hiss and he stepped past it to stand before the inner door. The idea of having two different doors appealed to him, because he saw it as even more increased security-there was even a video feed supplying him with a view of anyone who got to the inner door. He tapped on the hidden button panel with the tip of his foot, supplied the remaining passwords and turned the last key to finally open the last barrier between him and his chambers.

Suzaku dropped the mask onto a table before tossing the cape and gloves onto the couch. He wasn't sure what Nunally expected him to do all day-wasn't like he could go for a merry stroll through the gardens without the mask, and with it he'd be pestered with responsibilities-and already he could feel himself getting bored. And boredom was dangerous. He would slip into memories, and if he did that, he would become miserable and end up hooked on Refrain. That was why, though Nunally didn't know it, he was always overworking himself. If he was too tired to think about the past, maybe it would slip away like a peaceful dream.

Suzaku dropped into one of the armchairs, picking up the remote to the television on the wall. It blinked and sprung into life, midway through a worn laugh track. The sitcom failed to interest him, so he flipped through several more channels before finding Milly smiling at the audience.

Milly seemed happy. She and Nunally often spoke once a week or so on the phone, and Nunally had told him that the President and Rivalz were firmly a couple. As it turns out, watching their fellow Student Council members fight one another to the death had brought them closer together, and the relief they shared after finding the other alive after F.L.E.I.J.A. detonated over the Tokyo settlement had only helped that. Seeing Lelouch assassinated was the final straw and Rivalz asked Milly out the following day.

He watched Milly for a few minutes, smiling a little when one of the other hosts on the show pulled out an oversized, inflatable hammer and whacked the President over the head with it. Suzaku tapped his fingers on the chair's arm, wishing he could do something a little more exciting.

"Not easy to be Zero, is it, Suzaku?"

Suzaku stood and turned like a shot to look in the speaker's direction. Unfortunately he didn't have a gun or even his decorative sword on him, so if the person was a threat and had a weapon, he was screwed. The voice was coming from his desk, the chair turned away from him. He blanched when it slowly turned, revealing the speaker.

"Lelouch?"

NIPPON BANZAI!