A/N: this is the last chapter of my CG story. *sniff* the title is from a song by Gregory and the Hawk (I do not own the song nor the title,). I don't know why I chose it as a title. Maybe because it's kinda sad…or, I'm just a random person. And I am terribly sorry! I had some problems with my internet connections so I couldn't update yesterday, as I have promised. okay. Here we go. Read on and enjoy.

XXX

"Love is a symbol of eternity; it wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning, and all fear of an end."

-Madame de Stael (1766-1817)

XXX

He arrives at the station and did his usual plan. In addition, he cast a Geass command on some guards, ordering them that once they had seen the girl on the picture, (Shirley) they will stop her from advancing to the station, no matter what the circumstances are.

He was cautious and more anxious than he'd ever been since he got here. Today is that day, after all.

Lelouch sighs. He felt sick, because something told him everything would eventually go wrong.

"Lelouch?"

He averts his eyes to who called his name. "Suzaku," he says, barely hiding his surprise. This was bad news. "It's rare to see you in public places like these."

"Not really." The Knight of Seven narrowed his eyes, suspicion already evident. "How about you? Why are you here?"

"It's the weekends; can't I enjoy some quality time for myself?" he smiles, trying to break the tension. "How about you? On a date to meet a secret lover?"

"No. Shirley called me. She wanted to talk about something important."

'Shoot.' He curses in his mind and tries to act normally. "Oh. Well, I don't want to keep you. See you later." He exits swiftly, feeling the harsh stare of his friend under those glasses.

His heart skips a beat as he gradually sped up his pace.

That feeling earlier isn't far from reality now.

XXX

She commits to her memory that he is a murderer and yet she remembers his instructions; she keeps them dear to her heart.

'Lelouch is Zero.' She speaks softly to herself, reminding her being to return to being rational. 'He killed your father. He's a liar.'

She shook her head, almost breaking to a smile.

She knows that it's just too late for her to be sane.

"Shirley?"

Her emerald eyes meet his olive ones. She smiles.

"Suzaku."

The Knight of Seven smiles back, obviously missing his friend. "You look well."

"Of course." She replies, signalling him to sit beside her on the bench. "I've never been better. And you, Sir Kururugi?"

Suzaku, instead of sitting as she motioned, kneels like a knight in front of his queen. "My heart is gladdened greatly by the sight of this fair maiden alone."

"Is that so?" Shirley replies with a raised eyebrow.

After a mere second, they break in to a laugh; one that they never had in ages.

"Suzaku," she started, as their laugh died down completely, "Sorry for calling you out of a sudden."

"It's alright." He smiles. "Hey, we're friends, aren't we?"

"Is Lelouch still one of those 'friends' you talk about too?"

The pilot of Lancelot's smile almost froze on his face upon hearing her question.

"I noticed that you two seemed to have grown apart. Or is it because of your opposing ideals that you started to hate each other?"

His olive green eyes stared at her, shocked. "Shirley, when…"

"You know, Suzaku, I envied your friendship with Lulu." She looks far away, recalling past memories. "Because when he's with you, he looked so natural and carefree. He looked so… different. It's as if you unlock his hidden self. I never saw him open up like that to anyone. But now…"

"Things change." Suzaku looks away, voice low. "Lelouch was a good friend."

"I've forgiven him."

This made him look at her. "I…I can't do that." He frowns, hands turning to fists.

"You're wrong." She says, voice lightly turning serious. "We all forgive, eventually."

"…I –" before he could finish, he noticed something unusual.

There was smoke arising from far away.

"What is it?" Shirley turns to look.

"That direction… Ikebukuro station." He rises and flips open his cell phone and enter some numbers and press the call button.

"Is it a fire?" she asks, observing the rising grey cloud.

"Could be." He answers, but soon his face turned serious. "Lelouch was there a while ago…"

Station.

Train station.

"Lulu?" She repeats, making sure she heard right.

She grips her clutch bag. There was a voice that told her he was still there. Her guts told her she had to be there.

"Wait for me here, I'll check it out." he orders her as he dashes off to the distance, calls a taxi and went to the said location.

She looks back at the distant smoke and remembers Lelouch's command.

XXX

"His time is almost up." Lilith smoothed her dress and stood up.

C.C's honey colored eyes shot up to hers, making her Geass activate again. "Are you going?"

"Just a few minutes more and it's all over." She looks at the sleeping Lelouch of the past; electric charges go sparkling and beaming all over his body like a miniature thunderstorm, but he still lay there, undisturbed. "I wonder what that child had done." The Geass Collector breaks in to a cheeky grin and giggles. "I can't wait to find out."

C.C was about to say something but the woman who started it all; the first Geass user vanished in to thin air.

XXX

She runs in the empty station, almost making no sound as she carried the hand gun she stole from an officer. She had shot another person, she reminds herself, making her nauseous and dizzy. The image of the blood that came out from his foot still hung around her. She didn't mean to shoot the poor man; after all, she understands he was just doing his job.

But she has to see him and she wants to help him. She wants to be true to him and to herself.

So Shirley Fenette ran faster in search of him and stumbles upon a very familiar face.

XXX

"Yeah, I had Jeremiah. Go ahead." Lelouch instructs over the phone to Sayoko as he tried to catch his breath. "If there are any obstacles, he will take of them for us. Don't fight him; he's one of us now." He pushes himself to run faster, anxious to find Rolo. He needed to find him immediately. He breathes deeply to calm his nerves and runs a hand on his sweaty forehead.

But then he hears a gunshot; enough for him to almost choke on his own breath and enough to stop the beating of his heart. He was like immersed in ice cold water as he heard the loud sound emanating in his system, telling him to panic.

He ran faster, feeling the irregular beating of his heart. He imagines the blood on her stomach…

"Shirley." He calls out nervously as he found her there, lying on the ground with her pumpkin colored hair in disarray. "Shirley," his voice cracks and he rushes to her, almost tripping. "Shirley?" his eyes could no longer see her as he drowns in his tears.

He reaches out; he looks at her and his tears fall, clearing his vision.

He sees the blood he loathed to see; pouring out of her body like water from a faucet. He smells death that now hangs on the scene; the metal scent he despises the most.

"Lulu..." she says in a defeated voice. "…Y-you're… here…"

"Shh," his hands trembled violently, brushing her bangs in one hand and the other tried to stop the blood gushing out of her. "Don't speak. I'll save you. Hang on," he carries her, and starts running.

"…I'm glad I can talk to you… in the end," she gasps for air so that she can speak properly.

"No, don't, don't, please…" a sob escapes from his lips as he turns to a corner, barely keeping his balance.

"I believe you," she smiles weakly, clutching his shirt, "Everything you said, I b-believe all of th-that…" she coughs, turning pale. "At first I was s-scared… But I figured that everything I came to know d-doesn't matter… It doesn't matter if they're all l-lies. As long as you're real, you're here with me, I… I'll be fine."

"Stop, please," he pleads desperately and tightens his grip on her. Her skin already is turning cold.

"I love y-you." She mutters and tears fall. "I couldn't bring myself to hate you despite o-of all the things th-that happened…I'm so happy I did… I'm so happy it was you whom I fell for, over and over again…"

"Please…" his words dissolve to sobs and his tears dropped to her cheeks, like rain. "Don't do this to me."

"Is it all right to fall in love with you again, when I'm reborn?" she asks honestly, her voice trembling now. "No matter how many times… I-I'm sure it's you I'll always fall in love with…"

"Don't say that," Lelouch forces a smile on his lips. "Everything's g-going to be fine. I'll save you, so… hang on… you promised me you'd wait, remember? You promised me. You promised," he insisted. His legs wanted to give up from exhaustion; his lungs hurt because of lack of air.

He forces himself to go on. He struggles to climb the still escalator and notices something which made his heart sink and his world shatter to pieces.

'Ten more seconds, Lelouch.'

Lilith's eyes gleamed with unspeakable intentions and started the countdown.

'Ten.'

"We're almost there," he tries to assure her; he tries to hang on to her: to her life that is slowly slipping away from his hands like sand.

'Nine.'

"I'm so sorry, L-Lulu…" she smiles painfully, feeling cold as Death comes nearer every second.

'Eight.'

"…I want to be with you… to protect you… forever." She whispers, but for Lelouch it's too loud and too painful to hear.

'Seven.'

He sees the exit from afar; cars and fire trucks and people. He pushes further, he shouts and he pleads.

'Six.'

"I'll see you in the future," he whispers to her, he falls to his knees but he still carries her like a princess in his arms. "You'll be there, with me."

'Five.'

She tries to focus and she tries to look at his amethyst eyes drowning in tears. "I…I d-don't think I… I'll be there…"

'Four.'

"I'm sure." He pushes a smile, and he hugs her tightly. "I'm sure you'll be there. I'm certain. Promise me, okay?"

'Three.'

"…I love you." He whispers close to her ear. "Always keep that in mind." He holds her tighter and he wishes time to stand still. He breathes and takes in her smell, he touches her silky hair and he looks at her; he commits them to his memory. He plays her voice in his mind over and over again to keep him sane.

'Two.'

Shirley smiles, just barely. She holds on to him, she returns his embrace. She hears footsteps and shouts of people but she feels too sleepy and tired to pay attention to that. Her lids weigh heavier than anything around her and she succumbs to Death.

'One.'

"…I promise."

Game over.

He feels he'd been struck by something powerful as he slips out of consciousness and the Geass symbol is the last thing he sees.

"Lelouch."

He hears her voice calling him gently. He searches for her, and sees light from a far.

"Lelouch."

'Shirley.' He calls back, and he reaches out.

XXX

"The moment our pact is fulfilled you will turn to dust." She reminds her.

"I know." Her honey eyes drift to the Geass Collector. "I've lived long, Lilith. I've learned by now that this body costs nothing compared to some things."

"Very well." She nods and places her hand on the Witch's head.

"May your wish be granted."

XXX

He opens his eyes as if he'd waken from a nightmare.

"Finally! You're awake," Lilith claps her hand and smiles. "Did you have good sleep?"

Lelouch blinks to clear his foggy vision. "Where am I?"

"In some dimension where time does not exist." She answers as if it's as simple as that. She twirls around and places her hands on her hips. "Now, dear Lelouch. You've done very bad things, didn't you know?"

Lelouch rubs his head with a hand as the effect of time travel settle on him. "What?"

"You left your past self some instructions." She holds up a piece of paper. "You told him about the future."

His amethyst eyes widen in alarm. "Where did you get that?"

"It doesn't matter." Lilith's voice turns serious, almost dangerous. "Did you know that the world was torn apart because of what you did?"

A bolt of adrenaline made him wake up completely as he stood. "What do you mean?"

"I warned you." She narrowed her eyes. "Don't you know so many lives had been sacrificed?" she sighs and tosses away the paper she was holding. As the paper flutters upwards, it suddenly turns in to dust. "But it doesn't matter anyway."

"What happened?" he asks, heart rate doubling its normal pace.

"You'll remember soon." She walks to him, her dress making waves as she moved to the opposite wind. "As soon as you go back to the present time, you'll recover your memories." She breaks in to a hopeless smile. "You are one damn lucky guy aren't you?"

Lelouch's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean by that?"

"Lelouch vi Britannia," she ignores his question and her voice silences him like a thunderclap, "Our pact is now ineffective. You are free of the Geass curse and," she smiles again, "You are the first one to live to enjoy the freedom. Did you know that every user I have made a contract with dies and turns to dust, because of a very simple reason that they have lived too long? The Code is the only thing that keeps them falling to their graves anyway." She places her hand on his, and within a second the Geass mark Lelouch had been carrying for these years had now disappeared.

"Enjoy life, boy." She smirks and pushes him, and he loses his balance. "And don't forget to say thank you to her."

"Wait!" he tries to grab her but he's already falling. Lilith turns her back from him and walks away. A butterfly; the one bearing the Geass seal on it's wings flutter to him, and as what it did the first time he saw it, it lands once more on his nose and opens its wings.

And with another blink he finds himself waking from another sleep.

"Wha…" he sits up and looks around him.

He lay in a simple room that consists of only the bed he was lying on, a table with scattered papers and a lamp, a trash bin heaping with paper, a wooden drawer, and five bookshelves covering almost two and a half of another wall. The windows were open and wind was coming in, making the white curtains move.

He notices Cheese-kun lying on a solitary chair near the balcony. Lelouch smiles, expecting C.C to appear any second and tell him she needed his credit card to buy pizza.

He hopped off the bed and heard something move. He searched for the source and found the trash bin knocked over and still moving.

He looked closer to see a black cat stuck between some wrapper and some paper. Lelouch grabs the struggling cat and takes away the wrapper stuck on its fur. "Clumsy as ever, Prunes."

He caught himself wondering why he called the cat with familiarity.

The cat meowed and leaped away, leaving him dumbfounded.

'His fur is the same color as… blueberry. No, of blackberries. Oh, I know! Prunes! He's as the same color of prunes!'

He remembers a voice telling him silly things and reasons, but he can't recall who it was.

He walks and finds himself wandering in the unknown house, but at the same time surprises himself that he knows the ways of the place.

He turns left and enters the kitchen and smells something burning.

There was something boiling on a pot on the stove and it's not even supposed to be categorized as boiling anymore. There was black smoke coming out of it.

He hurriedly turns the knob off, and places the poor red pot on the sink.

"What is Shirley doing," he caught himself once more. He wonders why he said her name out loud like that, because he knows that –

'…I promise.'

He hears her, almost as if she was there with him, interrupting his earlier thoughts.

'…you'll recover your memories. ' he hears the Geass Collector's voice like some kind of haunting.

And then he remembers everything.

He runs to a place he knew he'd find her. He turns to a corner and dashes down the stairs.

He knew the place because he lived in it. He lived in it with her.

Arriving in his small hangar, he saw two familiar knightmares; Shinkiro, and Guinevere.

Guinevere was her knightmare when the war broke out.

"Shirley."

She turns gently, her now short pumpkin colored hair swaying against the air. Her emerald eyes never lost its sparkle. She looked more mature than the last time he saw her; in fact, she looked different, maybe because of all the battles she'd went to and the people she fought (killed) in the battlefield.

He remembers her words that day. He remembers she told him that she'll fight along with him.

"Lulu," she calls out, almost surreal. She turns completely and Lelouch sees the swell on her tummy.

He remembered they won the battle, Japan regained its rightful name and they lived happily ever after.

"I-I wasn't planning on riding Guinevere," she lied because she really wanted to, because she missed the thrill of piloting a knightmare. And now that she's pregnant, she was forbidden to do many things. "I w-was just checking if –"

Within a heart beat Lelouch grabbed her arm and pulled her in to an embrace.

"Shirley," he whispers to her ear, almost tearful.

"What's wrong dear?" she asks tenderly, and he believes that she's alive.

"You're here." He answers and smiles. "You're alive."

Shirley smiles too, as if she knows what he's talking about. "Did you have that nightmare again?" she hugs him back. "I promised you, didn't I?"

"Yeah." He breaks the embrace, the smile on his lips still there. "I know."

"Brother! Shirley!"

The both of them turn their heads to see who called them.

"We're back," Nunnally smiled cheerfully as she held a bag full of snacks. She kept her light brown hair long, but everything else in her changed. Lelouch remembered she had been out of her wheelchair for almost three years but he was still so happy to see his beloved sister walking on her own.

"No, Arthur! Ouch!" a familiar voice shouts and someone falls out upside down from the van they were riding a while ago.

"Suzaku!" Nunnally calls out, worry evident in her voice. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he shows them a thumb up and a grin but Arthur leaps on his face, making a scratch, and then runs away. The former Knight of Seven sits up immediately. "Get back here, you!" He then chases the grey cat as he always does, disappearing in the bushes.

"Don't go too far!" Shirley reminds her former partner and sighs. She hears an 'okay' from a far.

"Hey, I've heard this movie really sucks. Why did you even rent this?" a certain red head by the name of Kallen reasoned to Rivalz.

"It doesn't suck, Kallen." He answers as he turned off the engine of the van. "You're just scared coz it's a thriller movie."

"I am not!" Kallen retorted and jumped out of the van while holding a bag of rented DVDs. "You just rented it so you can scare Milly and play the 'brave knight' role!"

"That is not true!" Rivalz gets off the van, blushing.

"Now now, the two of you," Milly giggles and carries a case of beer, "Let us not fight today. We're supposed to be celebrating, remember?"

"I caught him!" a distant voice, namely Suzaku, announced happily and was running to them, holding Arthur in his hands. He has a new scratch on his face but he smiled anyway.

"I told you, you shouldn't have brought Arthur here." Kallen sighed, exasperated.

"But he'll be lonely at home," he reasoned.

"He won't, coz he'll be busy mating with Mint [1] and, they, including their kittens, will be busy trashing your home." The red head teased and walked in to the house.

"That is not true, Kallen," Suzaku frowns and follows her to argue.

Meanwhile, Rivalz explains that it is not his intention to do what Kallen said, but Milly just smiles and follows her friends to Lelouch's house.

"Let's go Lulu," Shirley invites him as she and Nunnally walk in to the house as well.

"Alright," he smiles. Everything seemed so perfect and complete and –

'It's natural that we dream to have everything that's in those fairytale books. Even I would want that.'

He remembers her and he knows what happened and yet he wanted to ask Shirley where she is.

"What's the matter, Lulu?" She inquires.

'But I suppose fairy tales and happy endings come with a great price. Don't you agree?'

"It's nothing," he tries to cover his feelings and smiles, "Let's go."

As they walk in to their house, he imagines her waiting in his room like she always does, back when she was still his witch and he was still Zero.

He excuses himself and he walks back in to the study room and sees her cheese-kun lying there, incomplete and lonely without its master.

'Lelouch.' He would hear her call his name as she hugged her yellow plush toy and he will take off his mask and greet her back.

But now she isn't there anymore and no one can change that.

'Don't forget to thank her.'

"I'm back, -." [2] He calls her by her name; her real name and a pang of pain takes over him. "I'm sorry." He whispers and he feels stupid for not being powerful enough to be her demon and he feels even more awful when he realizes he had been too selfish.

He pictures her smiling wryly at him like she always does.

'If you're selfish, then that's alright. We all are. It's understandable.' He hears her speak and he sees her walk past him, still smiling and still proud and then she's gone forever.

"Thank you." He whispers in the air and wishes she could hear him.

He exhales and turns away and closes the door behind him, joining his friends as he kept her words in mind.

~Fin~

A/N:

[1] Just a random name for a cat that bore Arthur's kittens. XD

[2] There are so many rumours about what C.C's real name is, so if you have some theory about it, then you're free to substitute that there.

Okay. That's the end of it. *Weeps* I'll miss writing this. I was thinking of making this longer, but I guess I'm just too lazy to do it. Oh, if you're wondering what C.C wished for, well it's up to you and your imagination. I hope you like it. :D thank you for reading!