A/N: It's important to note that, despite the summary including 'role reversal', only one event is changed from canon - the circumstances around Genbu's death. Everything else is... well, I wouldn't call it accidental, but it's a result of how Lelouch and Suzaku's personalities have developed because those two are just so similar.

Amor fati, Latin, roughly means 'love of one's fate'. It's a term used to describe an attitude where a person sees everything happening in their lives as good, including suffering and loss.

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Amor fati
N. Silvutra Mayhem

0.

—

The sky was painted ashen from smoke, as if planes at battle could obscure the red pastel shades behind them; the lifeblood of a nation. In the distance, the sounds of incessant gunfire long became familiar – similar to the way one could get used to the clawing of an unhealed scab: both were done for nothing but to bring forth blood, and the longer they continued the harder things were to end. The longer it took before recuperation could finally begin.

Though the shrine sat high atop the mountain and far away from the main combat zones, the two boys sitting under the ornate torii gate could never escape the reality. At their vantage point at the top of the long set of stairs, they could see too clearly the fight between man and machine, especially the overwhelming odds against their nation.

Japan was at war. And they were losing.

"Damnit," one of the boys hissed, and clenched his fists when yet another wave of Japanese troops fell to the ground. His brown hair had once been neat; now twigs and leaves left it in disarray. "Father keeps sending out our people to fight Britannia! Why? Can't he see there's no use? Can't he just surrender?"

The other boy shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want to."

"Lelouch, not you too."

"I'm just stating a possibility," Lelouch answered. He waved a thin arm to shoo away the insects that marked the start of dusk, and then turned twin intelligent, unnervingly purple eyes to his companion. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I—I'm going to talk to him."

"That'll work."

"It will." The words seemed to bring him courage, and his tone became firmer. "It has to. I'll make him see sense even if I—"

"Even if you have to kill him, Kururugi Suzaku?"

Suzaku flinched. He turned away from the stare and gripped the fabric of his trousers, feeling the coarse fibres weave under his skin.

Lelouch didn't notice. "Talking won't be any use. It's not just about surrendering the country; it's about surrendering the nation's pride."

"But—but he has to see sense... he has to..."

In the distance, the telltale rhythm of landspinner motors left echoes in their wake. Submachine fire followed, ruthlessly devouring lives and reducing homes to nothing but debris. Tanks painted with the Rising Sun became scrap metal in an instant.

The Knightmare Line had risen, and the people would fall.

Suzaku stood up, and when he spoke his words were resolute. "I'll talk to him tomorrow morning. It will work, it has to."

There were no words from his friend, who had closed his eyes and turned away.

"The master is dead!"

"How can this—?"

"Where is the young master?"

"Asleep in his room. Thank goodness he is unharmed."

"Are there visible wounds?"

"No, no wounds."

"Cause of death?"

"Poison. Japanese wisteria. The killer has most likely left."

"So there are no clues. None at all."

"It could be anyone!"

The sliding door opened, leaving nary a sound. They had been designed that way, built of the finest washi paper and supported by a lattice of dark bamboo.

Yet when he ran for the woods, Suzaku wished they weren't so silent.

They were forced to leave the shrine for safety, the three of them, when the city fell. It would take a while for the Prime Minister's death to be announced and for any changes to take effect, as Britannia had brutally cut all supply chains and means of contact when the war began.

But the bodies, oh god the bodies—

"Brother?" Nunally asked, the cute brunette tugging at Lelouch's inky black locks. "What's that strange smell?"

"Don't worry, Nunally. We're just passing a dumpster. Right, Suzaku?"

Even days after seeing Kururugi Genbu's pale body, and watching people swarm around it as they attempted to figure out what was wrong, he still couldn't forget.

So Suzaku didn't answer.

They reached the port just as the sun began to rise. There were few people out and about, trying to gather what was left of their belongings; nothing that hadn't been expected. The war and Japan's subsequent surrender easily dampened the mood of the population.

Nobody noticed the three children overlooking the sea.

"My father is dead."

It was the first time that the elder Kururugi's death had been mentioned.

"Are you going to get revenge?" asked Lelouch.

"The killer left nothing behind," Suzaku said, a resigned note in his tone. "I'll never find them."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I—I..."

Suzaku trailed off, and there was a pause as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"They wanted to bring peace, didn't they?" Nunally asked. She shifted, tightening her grip around her brother's neck. "The killer, I mean."

"They didn't have to kill my father!" he snapped.

"Suzaku," Lelouch warned.

"Sorry, Nunally."

Nunally smiled. "Don't worry about it. You're upset."

"It's just..."

Just what? Suzaku thought. Just that his father was dead? Just that they'd never share time together ever again?

The jumble of thoughts plaguing his mind phased into coherency, something in her words sparking into inspiration. Insurmountable fury rushed through him; his bones, his blood. His mind.

He clenched his fists.

"Britannia started the war," he growled. "They killed him.

"I will crush Britannia."

A/N: I'm trying to mature my writing a bit more, so feedback would be nice. Review? :)