Hey readers!

For those who had been reading the first version of this story, welcome back! For those who just found this story, well, come on in! Have a seat.

Ahem. So, this story is my spin on the "Lelouch stays/goes back to being a prince" story. It contains lots, and lots, and lots of OCs. Expect lots of swearing too.

Here is a list of changes you can expect to see in this story.

-Lelouch is older by two years. Why? Because I can, because I feel he could use the boost, and because otherwise, he'd end up getting married at 17.

-Lelouch has a grandfather (Marianne's father) and an uncle (Marianne's younger brother). They should be quite the interesting characters. Note: This is one of the major changes from the first version, which lacked these two, sadly.

-Rolo is, in this story, is actually Lelouch's little brother, and Nunnally's twin. Don't worry; he'll have a part to play in the story.

-Marianne still dies, but she wasn't killed by V.V.

-There will be a Zero, but the person behind the (very different) mask is going to be an OC.

-The E.U. role WILL be expanded several times over in this story. The poor Euros don't get enough screen time in the series in my opinion.

-I decided to pair up Lelouch with an OC. This won't be a romance focused story, but its going to be there. At the very least, I'm going to try my best to include some decent romance.

###Important stuff down here, or at least I think it is!###

Grammar and other linguistic issues: Please keep in mind that my original language is French. Thus, my English is mostly self-taught (English courses in French schools around here are worth dung) by reading books, derping around the Internet, and watching TV and movies. Short version: I'm not Shakespeare! I'm just some poor (make that VERY poor) nerdy Acadian tit. That being said, however, I try to respect grammar as much as I can, and I do my best to form up coherent phrases. Plus, this time around, looks like I'm going to have an editor! Or at least someone who helps me with my most horrendous mistakes ;)

Tone of the story: If I had to describe what I am aiming for, it would be for a Dramatic-comedy feeling. While there was some comedy in the original Code Geass, it was more focused on the Drama. So, I'm going to try to bring things more towards the center. I don't dislike drama, as long as it's used in moderation, and doesn't fall into melodrama.

That about covers it I guess.

Now, let's start this!

Chapter one: Once upon a time, in Britannia…

27th September, 2009 A.T.B., Britannian Mainland, Pendragon, Aries Palace.

"And, checkmate!" an eleven years old Lelouch vi Britannia exclaimed.

"….yes, I can see that. " His opponent responded drily, her golden eyes, currently reduced to mere slits, staring straight at him. Seated across the board right in front of him was his long-time friend, and daughter to a friend of his mother, Anastasia Constantine. Her dark ash-blond, silky hair flowed just past her thin shoulders, framing her young features as she continued to stare hard at Lelouch.

Since it was a cloudy day, they were playing chess in the Palace's library.

"Seriously, though." Anastasia pouted. "I still think chess is pretty lame."

Lelouch smirked. "So says the one who keeps getting beaten at it."

"If I played this game all the time like you do, I'd be good at it too, you know." Anastasia retorted. "The same goes for you and fencing. How long did you last during our last match? Four seconds?"

"Five, actually." Lelouch corrected, fittingly without an ounce of pride in his tone; physical activity wasn't exactly his forte. "But who cares? Who fights on the battlefield with swords in this day and age, anyway? The way I see it, it's all just for show. Real battles are fought with strategy and tactics." He said, pointing to the board.

If Lelouch thought that would shut his friend up, he was mistaken.

"Then, explain to me how this game represents modern tactics in any way?" Anastasia retorted, going on a rant. "I mean, I knew I was finished a few moves before you checked me. Can I evenconsider retreating? No, I have to fight until I'm completely done for. Can I call in reinforcements? No, what I have is all I get. And how many battles can you name me where the two sides had the exact same number of troops, same types, and same layout? And don't get me started on how ridiculous the moves-"

Anastasia was interrupted, to Lelouch's silent relief, by a voice coming from the direction of the library's door.

"It seems you share the same opinion of chess as Lelouch's grandfather, miss Constantine." Came the rich baritone of Lelouch's uncle, Sebastian Lamperouge. He was hovering in the doorway while stroking his small, stubble beard, which matched his long, shaggy chocolate-brown hair. At twenty-eight, the man commanded an almost unnatural of aura of respect, and his burgundy eyes held an undeniably mystifying glint in them. If Marianne had left her mark on the Imperial Court, he had left his in the business world: he had taken over the mantle of CEO of Lamperouge Armament Industries form his aunt a few years after finishing university, and had taken the company to new heights since then.

"Grandfather prefers games like poker and such, anyway." Lelouch said.

"Yes," Sebastian said, "I guess it comes from his mercenary days. Speaking of the old rascal, Marianne asked me to remind you that it's about time for him to come visit, Lelouch." He then turned to Anastasia, "And on my way here, the majordomo notified me that your chauffeur has arrived to take you back home, Miss."

"I see." Anastasia said, getting up from her chair "I'll be off, then."

She was midway to the door, when she stopped in her tracks, and turned around, and pointed an index finger at Lelouch. "Next time, I'm taking you for some serious fencing lessons, and no backing off, you hear?"

Lelouch sweat-dropped. "Y-yes, of course."

"Good!" Anastasia said, nodding. "See you in a couple of days, then."

After she left the room, Sebastian laughed. "My, my, isn't she something!" He said, mirth evident in his voice.

"Tell me about it." Lelouch said, sighing, while picking up his chess set. "She's restless to the point it's troublesome."

"I can imagine."Sebastian said, smile still present on his face. "Yet you don't seem all that 'troubled' by it."

Lelouch stopped what he was doing. "I guess you're right. Spending time with her is," he paused for a moment, thinking, "refreshing I suppose."

"Refreshing?"

"She's not as annoying as most of my sisters, for starters. And she can enjoys doing things that don't involve dolls, dressing up or flowers. I just wish she could settle down a little more."

"I'm sure you do." Sebastian said. "Well, if it's any comfort to you, in many ways, she is a lot like your mother was at her age." Sebastian said.

"Really?" Lelouch asked incredulously.

"Oh yes, really." Sebastian said. "When we were little kids, she used to drag me along on all sorts of little adventures and shenanigans. I ended up getting my fair share of scrapes and bruises. Eventually, she calmed down, although she never really slowed down, as it were. I'm sure the same will happen with Anastasia in time."

"That would be nice." Lelouch said almost wistfully. He finished picking up his chess set, and once he had closed up his folding chess board, he turned towards his uncle. "When did Grand-Father say he was coming?"

"He should be arriving any mom-" Sebastian started, but was cut off as the unmistakable roar of an engine reverberated through the Villa ."Well, speak of the devil, and he appears, I suppose."

The engine-roaring became louder and louder, until finally an equally loud screeching of tires was heard, and it stopped.

Sebastian shook his head. "Clark." He sighed "I still don't know how dad can tolerate sitting shotgun in any car he drives." He then turned to Lelouch, "Shall we go greet your grandfather?"

"Sure." Lelouch said.

Fifty-six years old Howard Clark***, dressed in his impeccably smooth and clean dark blue valet uniform, stood next to his vehicle, a 600 horse-power black muscle car. The sun was reflecting on his shinning, perfectly bald scalp while his calm grey eyes were trained on his master's back. He had driven the man around for the past thirty-seven years, and Howard had always taken great pride in doing so with the outmost speed, efficiency, and, last but not least, style.

And today, his master had decided he wanted to drop by his daughter's residence to spend some quality time with his grand-children. And said grand-children, all three of them, had joined their mother on the front porch of Aries Villa to greet their grandfather, who was currently ascending the steps.

Baron Isaac* M. Lamperouge, aged sixty-two, widely known as Britannia's Black Baron**, had black hair peppered with grey which reached almost to his waist, and which was held into a tight ponytail tied behind his head, and with the tip also tied. His eyes were a deep, blood-red color, and still held an unmistakable spark of mischief from his youth. He sported a thick moustache and a gold earring on his left lobe, both of which had become a sort of trademark for him over the years. And so far, age hadn't slowed him down one bit. He might no longer ride around battlefields in heavy tanks, but he still kept himself in shape.

Isaac had barely reached the top of the stairs when Nunnally jumped in his arms. Lelouch and Rollo gave their grand-father a slightly more composed greeting, waiting for him to crouch down before hugging him.

While this was going on, Howard was preparing to turn around, and take the car into the Villa's garage. They were staying for the day, and those damn flying critters wouldn't miss a chance to-

His musings where cut short as he heard and ominous 'splat'. Howard slowly turned around, surveyed the car, and sure thing, there it was: Right in the middle of the windshield was a big, white, very gooey bird crap.

Howard sighed. He just couldn't catch a break, could he?

He went to the back of the car, and opened the trunk. For a moment, he eyed the long, thin case that contained a 12-gauge automatic shot-gun, and fleetingly considered using it to give the feathered bomber a piece of his mind. He quickly gave up the notion, as it would be quite disruptive to the villa's inhabitants, and instead picked up a rag and bottle of windshield cleaner and proceeded to quietly get rid of the mess.

Later that evening, sometime after diner, Isaac and Marianne were taking a walk in the Vila's gardens. Sunset wouldn't be for another couple hours, but it was approaching none less. Marianne had received a request from her long time 'partner' for a meeting, and they were supposed to hold it here and tonight. There were a few things that needed to be done before that, like putting her children all to bed, and making sure her guards wouldn't be a problem. Oh, and getting rid of her father. Sebastian had gone off back to Detroit an hour earlier, and normally her father would have followed shortly after, but he seemed to have something weighing on his mind. As they walked, Marianne noticed that he looked quite pensive.

"Say." Marianne began. "There seems to be something on your mind, father."

Isaac looked a bit startled. "Ah well, yes, actually there is." He said. "I don't quite know how to put this, however."

"Quite typical of you." Marianne thought. While her father could be very good with words in certain situations, (ike when he had to rouse a bunch of rag tag soldier in a near-disaster situation), he wasn't so good at expressing things on a more personal level.

"How are... things going between you and Charles?" Isaac finally said.

"So that's what this is about." She said. "You needn't worry, Father. Things are well between us."

"Are they really?"

Marianne rolled her eyes. "If you can't take my word for it, Father, then there isn't much point in asking, is it? I'm telling you, things are fine. He's extremely busy these days, with ruling the empire and all that. And besides," Marianne flashed a smile, "just because I'm not always pregnant doesn't mean he's lost interest in me. Things have changed since your younger days, father. Science has brought us many benefits, like birth control."

Earring this, a sudden thought occurred to Isaac. "Are you saying you're using-?"

Marianne cut him off, wanting to change the subject.

"Since you asked me about my relationship, how are things going at your end with Clara?"

Marianne was referring to Clara Winchester, who was Isaac's 'Intimate Partner', as he himself put it, since he disliked the word 'Mistress'. Marianne's mother, Tiffany Lamperouge, had died when she was 8, and Isaac never remarried. He had stayed single for a few years, until he met Clara, who was 15 years younger than him and who had recently been divorced by her noble husband and from the onset was captivated by the strong-willed, always-on-the-move woman. When asked why they didn't just marry, they both answered that they were already happily not married', so what would be the point?

"Things are as they have always been between us. Right now, she's at her ranch east of Dallas with Victoria. You remember Victoria, right? Clara's adopted daughter?"

"How could I forget about that little fire-cracker?" Marianne said, her voice all mirth. "It's like being paralyzed from the waist down is just a minor inconvenience for her."

"You tell me about it. I hear she's taken to horse riding recently."

"I'd very much like to see that. And her ranch, too, actually. It's usually quite nice over there this time of year."

"Indeed it is. In fact, I was thinking of going there myself tomorrow. Why don't you and the children join us?"

"That does sounds good, but there are a few things that I need to take care of around here first." Marianne said. "I'll probably go if I can wrap it up quickly." "Of course, that is going to depend on what that green witch so desperately wants to discuss."

"I see." Isaac dejectedly, "Well, I hope to see you there." He paused, and took out his pocket watch, checking the time. "It's getting rather late. I suppose it's time for me to head home."

A few minutes later, Marianne and the children again stood on the villa's porch, this time to wave good-bye to Isaac. As he waved back from the shot-gun seat, little did Isaac knew that this would be the last time he'd see his daughter alive.

Much later that night, Aries Villa.

It was around one in the morning. After convincing Cornelia to pull out ALL her guards for the night, Marianne had put her children to bed, and was now waiting for her partner on the top of the Grand Hall's stairs.

She didn't wait there long. Practically without any single sound, the large side doors opened, and a figure stepped in. The moon light reflected on her golden eyes and long, shiny green hair, and almost seemed to make the woman's white skin glow.

"C.C." Marianne said simply, starting to descend a few steps. "I hope you had a good reason for meeting like this."

"I consider it to be a very good one, Marianne. I just hope I didn't make a mistake in waiting to call out to you."

"What do you mean?" Marianne asked. She was having a very bad feeling. "Has something happened at the Geass Directorate facility?"

"I think something is happening, as we speak, but not in the Directorate itself. There is something going on in C's World. In the 'section' V.V. has been using as a prison. I hope I'm wrong, but I think that man is trying to break out."

"That's impossible." Marianne exclaimed. "You can't possibly escape the dimensional prison. To affect it, you'd need to possess a-"

"Code?" C.C. said. "Well, at least that's the theory. I'm certain no normal human, even possessing a Geass, can get out. But there is so much we don't know about all of this. I've warned those two about something like this."

It could have just been Marianne's imagination, but she swore that C.C. sounded…. Scared.

"I think he might have already changed, become something superior to a Geass user, but different from a code Bearer. I hate to say this, but it's way over my head, Marianne."

"But you're supposed to be the specialist!"

"I am, but that only means I know more than anyone alive, not that I know everything."

"What do you propose we do about it? If he should break out-"

"He'll probably come right after you." C.C. interrupted. "After what you did to him, that's a given. I think you should go to a safe place, wherever that is. And I need to talk to Charles and V.V. Their help won't be too much. This is going to need some heavy-lifting to fix."

"Alright, I'll-"

"Mama?"

Marianne turned around, and saw Nunnally coming towards her down the stairs, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"You should be in bed, honey." Marianne said, smiling down tenderly to her daughter.

"I had a weird dream." Nunnally said with a yawn. Then, she noticed C.C. Pointing at the green-haired woman, "Who's that, mama?", she asked with her usual naïve curiosity.

"She's one of mama's friends, Nunnally." Marianne explained, turning Nunnally around and up the stairs. "Now, please go back to bed, while I finish talking to her."

Nunnally opened her mouth to answer, but she never had the chance to. The front doors blew open. C.C. yelled 'RUN'. And someone else, from outside, yelled Marianne's name, in a loud, almost inhuman voice.

All this was quickly followed by a hail of bullets. Marianne, who prided herself in her lighting fast reflexes, had time to do nothing, save trying to shield Nunnally with her body, before being mortally wounded. She fell across the stairs, with Nunnally, gravely wounded, stuck under her.

As Marianne lay there, life quickly bleeding away from her, she noticed a mop of pink hair sticking out from around a column on the other side of the hall.

"That's… Anya." She realized, her vision beginning to fade.

End of chapter 1.

*Lelouch's grand-father was at first going to be named Emilio, but I opted out for Isaac.

**His nickname, Black Baron, is inspired a real world WWII German tanker named Michael Wittmann, who was known as the Black Baron. Isaacs middle name is also Michael.

***Those of you who read the original posting of this chapter may notice I swapped Mathias with this guy, Howard. Mathias will still be around, but this time, he'll be a full-fledged butler, instead of a butler/valet.

Here we go. The first one DONE!

Please leave a review if you think reading this was worth the time it took you.

Until next time, Peace out!