Chapter 1

Death was…cold, Lelouch noted as he felt his world descend into darkness, drowning out the desperate cries of Nunnally, whose grip was the only sensation he could feel besides an overwhelming cold that chilled his entire system. Weakly, he tilted his head upwards, taking in the sight of the world for the last time.

As he looked up at the sky, pale and clear, he suddenly felt a strange calmness and clarity of the mind. His body completely relaxed, and he allowed himself to shift to a more comfortable position, looking straight up at the endless sky. It was as if his body had accepted the truth. The truth that he was going to die, and that he could do nothing but to delay the inevitable.

For some strange reason, he felt relieved, and, his body was no longer freezing cold, but instead, strange warmth had overtaken him. He had heard once that just before freezing to death, people suddenly felt warmth. It faintly registered somewhere in his mind that he must be experiencing the same feeling. But it was currently the farthest thing from his mind, which was now preoccupied with how beautiful the sky was.

It was the strangest thing, but he could not recall anything, as if the only thing he had known was the fact that he was lying face up, staring up at the sky while the world cursed his name.

His mind and body were completely at ease with the situation, and Lelouch found that he was smiling as he weakly closed his eyes for the last time, engulfing his vision in darkness as he took his last breath. His chest came to a complete stop, heart no longer beating, and it was official.

Lelouch vi Britannia was dead.

Or, at least, that's how it seemed to the rest of the world, which was in the middle of radical upheaval over the shocking assassination of the Demon Emperor.

To Lelouch, it was as if he had just taken a nap, or something like that as he opened his eyes to find himself very much alive and well, puncture wound nowhere to be found and pain invisible. Shocked at the abrupt change that had come over his body, he frantically patted around his stomach, desperate to find the stab wound that Suzaku had left with his sword, but found that it was gone, as if it had never existed.

It was at this moment that Lelouch became aware of his surroundings, which were very familiar. He was staring at a gray mass of writhing blobs that he recognized as the collective unconscious. They formed a large column that shot up from the ground all the way to the pastel orange sphere of Jupiter that hung ominously over the entire scene.

And more noticeable than all of that, a single figure stood in between Lelouch and the collective unconscious. It was a thin old man, with wrinkled skin and wispy locks of shoulder length hair that were completely white, referencing his age. However, despite his weak appearance, his bluish grey eyes were powerful, holding untold wisdom and strength within. He was dressed in a reddish brown tunic, accompanied by a red cape that he had wrapped around his entire figure.

"Second chances aren't given out freely. They're earned. You've earned yours by being so universally despised that you have been banished by this universe and are going to be sent to another." He said cryptically, in a booming voice that threatened to tear apart the Sword of Akasha with its sheer power, not at all what Lelouch had been expecting from such an unimposing figure.

"Who are you?" Lelouch asked defiantly in the face of the intimidating display put up by the old man, stepping forward in order to assert his own small and insignificant sounding voice against the older man's.

"I am Charon, the ferryman of the Gods. I have the assignment to ferry you out of this universe into another, where you can atone for your sins without disturbing the Gods." He replied, temple walls shaking as he did so.

"Atone for my sins? So am I going to hell?" Lelouch asked, desperate for answers to the phenomenon he was currently experiencing.

"No. Upon death, most join the Gods and continue the same roles that they held in life. However, for a case such as yours, the Gods have no intention of allowing you to join them. Instead, you will be deported to another universe where you have not aggravated their respective Gods." Charon replied coldly.

"Now then, come quietly, or I will forcibly remove you from this universe." He added, stepping aside to reveal a small wooden rowboat that seemed to be just large enough to hold one passenger.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

At the third repetition of a soft beeping, Lelouch's eyes snapped open, instantly assaulted by a bright light that nearly blinded him, forcing him to blink his eyes in pain, as the beeping increased its pace until it was frenetic. In addition, he tightly gripped a fistful of a rough fabric and drove his head backwards into a resistant pillow that kept him tilted slightly upwards. As his pupils slowly adjusted to the brightness, the room he was currently lying in came into focus.

It was a hospital room, bright and white, perfectly clean, much like the hospitals of Pendragon which he was used to. He was currently lying in a hospital bed, with an IV attached to his arm, and a futuristic looking heart monitor right next to the bed, explaining the beeping from earlier. Groggily, he lifted his upper body up, feeling his tight muscles loosen slightly at the movement.

To his surprise, he suddenly felt exhausted by the action and was forced to ease himself back down onto his comfortably hard pillow.

"All right then, time to do the daily readings." He heard a feminine voice suddenly say as the door of his room was eased open, revealing a woman in a white nurse's uniform. In her hands was a clipboard, which was promptly dropped as soon as the nurse noticed his gaze.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed before ducking down to pick up her dropped clipboard.

"I'll get the doctor right away!" She said quickly before she dashed out of the room.

Lelouch groaned as he felt a sudden weariness overtake his body from his previous actions and was forced onto his back once more. His mind was hazy, almost as if he were in some sort of dream. However, he instinctively knew that he was not dreaming, and that it was all real.

As he slowly regained his senses and bearings, the memories ebbed back into his mind. He had been ferried out of his universe to another, or at least, that is what Charon had informed him. That meant that he was never going to see Nunally ever again, or the world that he had helped mold. On one hand, he had expected a punishment along those lines, but on the other, it still made him feel empty, to know that he was never going to see his younger sister again, and that his final memory of her would be her tear stained face as she fruitlessly begged him to live.

The very thought of her expression made him shudder in agony.

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft squeaking of boots against a freshly waxed floor as the nurse returned, doctor in tow.

"So, it looks like you've finally woken up from your coma." The doctor, who was a kindly looking man in his late thirties, observed after being handed the nurse's clipboard.

"How long was I out?" Lelouch asked, still confused by the whole situation.

"It seems that you have been in this hospital for just about a month now. Today would be your thirtieth day since you were admitted." The doctor replied, glancing at the clipboard to ascertain more facts.

"Besides that, it seems that your care was completely paid for by the Chairman of MBI, who left explicit instructions to resuscitate you as quickly as possible." He added, leaning down to hang the clipboard at the foot of Lelouch's bed.

"Did he give any reasons for that?" Lelouch asked, having absolutely no idea who the doctor could be talking about, or even what MBI was.

"All that I know is that he swung by to check the blood samples of all of our patients, and once he saw yours, he immediately paid for your care and left those instructions. Sorry, but that's all I know." The doctor answered, offering as much help as he could.

"Thank you for what information you provided me. It'll be invaluable in the future." Lelouch sighed, disappointed at the lack of information about his mysterious benefactor.

With a grunt, he attempted to swing his legs out of the bed, succeeding besides some difficulty. He felt his bare feet graze the cool tiled floors of the hospital before he lifted all of his weight out of the bed, managing to stand on his own strength for a moment before he suddenly felt weary and fell backwards onto the bed.

"What's wrong with me?" Lelouch groaned in pain.

"After being in a coma, your body has atrophied. It isn't too severe since you awoke today, but you'll need a while to regain your strength. Still, now that you're conscious, I think we can take you off of the IV and get you moving around in a wheelchair." The doctor explained, nodding to the nurse, who left the room and returned, wheeling in a wheelchair.

Lelouch gritted his teeth in anger at his own body for being too weak to fully support itself, but if he wanted to get answers, he would have to deal with it for now and recover. For the time being, he was still confined to his bed while his body slowly recovered from its prolonged inactivity.

Lelouch stared down a tray of unappetizing pasta, unsure whether it was even edible before he decided to whet his appetite with a sip of water. He reached a hand to the bottle of water and twisted the cap, hearing it snap off, allowing him access inside. Taking a swig of water, he took a moment to look around him at the other patients currently using the cafeteria.

All around him, patients were dressed in pure white hospital gowns that melded with the insanely bright cafeteria, which was decorated in a fairly modern style and offered an outside view with several large windows that replaced a majority of the walls. Lelouch couldn't shake the feeling that he was in some sort of lab, with all of the insanely sanitized and bright rooms that the hospital consisted of. Above all else, it seemed cold and depressing, without any sort of life inside, as most of the patients were weakly shuffling around, afflicted with all sorts of illnesses.

He supposed that he hadn't been any different. After all, he had essentially been ready to die, and it was almost as if he had been living with some sort of terminal illness, one that was constantly threatening and hanging over him. If not for the fact that he had a goal to accomplish, he would have gladly welcomed death once he had regained his memories and broken his father's Geass. He was essentially a husk, one that was merely driven by his purpose of creating a better world for Nunnally, and nothing else. And when even that was taken away by her dream of restoring the Special Administrative Zone of Japan, he had nothing but death to look forward to.

And now, it was as if he were given a second chance, although he knew that this was essentially his punishment. He was fated to live out his life, unable to ever see Nunnally, or C.C., or anyone else he had known in his own universe ever again.

Sighing, he grabbed the stale bread roll that had come with his meal and took a bite out of it, noting that it was bland and flavorless as he did so. Resolving to wash the taste out of his mouth, he took a deep swig of water and screwed the cap back onto the bottle before he set it down.

"Sorry, is this seat taken?"

Lelouch swiveled his head to see a young girl with light brown hair being wheeled into the empty spot next to him at his wheelchair accessible table. She was on the pale side, with large hazel eyes and a face with soft features. Her body, currently confined to a wheelchair as well, seemed extremely fragile and frail, instantly giving him flashes of Nunally, right down the dress that she was wearing accompanied by a large hat that she kept in her lap.

"Oh, no. Please, sit, er…" Lelouch stuttered, realizing that they were both already seated.

"Don't worry about it." The girl giggled as the nurse who wheeled her to the table walked away to attend to another patient.

"Right." Lelouch replied, returning to his food, which he reluctantly took a bite of, chewing quickly and swallowing the mess of overcooked pasta and under seasoned tomato sauce. It wasn't exactly the best thing he had ever tasted, but it was food, and he was ravenous after waking up. As he showveled another forkful of pasta, the girl decided to speak up.

"My name is Chiho." She said cheerfully, despite her weak appearance.

"Lelouch." He replied with his mouth still full of food. He suddenly realized that he must have looked ridiculous in that moment, and his fears were confirmed as Chiho began laughing at his appearance.

At the sight of her laughing face, so vibrant and full of life, unlike most of the faces he had seen lately, he couldn't help but to join in on the laughing once he forcibly swallowed his mouthful of pasta.

They were drawing stares from the other patients in the cafeteria, but in that moment, Lelouch didn't care. It felt good to just cut loose and relax a bit, especially after everything that had passed with the Zero Requiem. It made him feel alive again for a second, vastly different from the resignation of death he had lived with for the past few months.

"I haven't laughed like that in a long time." He remarked once they had calmed down and caught their breaths.

"Really? That's terrible." Chiho replied with a frown on her face.

"Well, I was ready to die for the longest time, so that didn't really leave any room to enjoy myself." Lelouch said with a shrug.

"I think that's a waste of time. We should just enjoy whatever time we have in this world, and leave the worrying for later." Chiho said, shaking her head.

"So why exactly are you in the hospital right now?" Lelouch asked.

"I have a virus. Right now, they say it's incurable, and all they can do for now is to slow the infection." Chiho admitted, her voice suddenly losing some of its vigor and life.

"I'm sorry." Lelouch said awkwardly, turning his head back down to face his meal.

Chiho smiled weakly, covering up her previous expression, "No, don't be. I've made a friend here, so it isn't all bad."

Lelouch's eyebrows arched at her words, "A friend?"

"Yeah. When I first saw her, I thought that she was a beautiful bird since she was flying around in the air, but it turns out that she was actually a person. It must have been nice, to be able to fly around." Chiho sighed, making it evident that she was jealous.

"I'm sure you'll be able to fly around and be free someday too." Lelouch said, feeling that it was the right thing to say in this situation.

"Same for you." Chiho replied with a genuine smile on her face.

"Right." Lelouch nodded, turning away so that she wouldn't be able to see the blush that had instinctively come over his face.

"Say, would you like to meet my friend? I'm sure that meeting her will brighten up your day too." Chiho asked after a moment of shared silence.

"Sure, I guess it couldn't hurt."Lelouch said, shrugging his shoulders.

"All right then, follow me." Chiho whispered, deftly pushing her wheelchair backwards and twirling it so that it faced the exit of the cafeteria.

Struggling to do the same, Lelouch tried to wheel himself out in the same manner, but ended up only trapping himself further as he attempted to turn his wheelchair to face the exit as well.

"Here, let me help." Chiho offered, placing her hand on top of Lelouch's so that she could guide it along. Lelouch opened his mouth to protest, but as he saw the sympathetic look that was in Chiho's eyes, he found that he could not reject her assistance.

Instead, he allowed her smaller hand, with smooth yet experienced fingers to gently instruct his own calloused and weathered fingers. Too focused on the sensation of her skin rubbing up against his own, Lelouch didn't realize that he had managed to free himself until Chiho waved a hand in front of his face.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly, noticing that Lelouch had seemingly spaced out.

"Oh, no, I'm fine!" He quickly reassured, regaining his composure with a deep breath.

"Come on then. We have to slip out before the nurses notice." Chiho said urgently, gesturing that Lelouch should follow her as she quickly wheeled herself forward, forcing him to push himself to his limits to just keep up with her torrid pace. She effortlessly weaved through the waves of patients and nurses patrolling the halls of the hospital until they reached the front doors, which slid open automatically at their presence, revealing the sun in all of its warmth and glory.

"All right, it's out beyond the parking lot." Chiho said while she pointed at a row of trees in the distance. At this, she immediately began propelling herself forward at her original pace. With some difficulty, Lelouch managed to keep pace, although he was still a comfortable distance behind Chiho.

Eventually, they reached the row of trees which were nestled closely together and whose shade offered them some shelter from the sun, which was now up at its highest point. Relieved that he would not be doing any more pushing, Lelouch slumped into his chair, exhausted.

"All right, the doctors can't see us from the hospital since the trees cover us, so we can stay out here as long as we want to." Chiho told Lelouch as she picked up the hat she had in her lap and placed it above her head.

Lelouch nodded and looked up at the green leaves and closed his eyes, just listening to the rustling of branches and the faint sounds of birds chirping as they whizzed around in the air. It felt nice to be out of the oppressive atmosphere of the hospital, and instead, in the open and relaxed atmosphere of nature. Now he understood exactly why Chiho longed to be free as well.

For a moment, he forgot all about the Zero Requiem, Geass, or anything from his past world. All that he could think of in this moment was the fact that he was alone with Chiho, listening to the sounds of the forest while the sun shined down on them.

"Ah, Uzume, you're here!" He suddenly heard Chiho remark from beside him, and immediately, his eyes snapped open to see an extremely buxom and beautiful woman dressed in a small pink shirt adorned with a large star and Capri jeans. She had long brown hair that was rather unkempt, with random strands of hair sticking up in random places, although it only added to her beauty in this case.

"Hello Chiho!" The woman responded cheerfully, before she suddenly noticed Lelouch's presence.

"Umm, who is this?" Uzume asked, pointing at Lelouch.

"This is Lelouch. I met him today at lunch and I invited him to come meet you." Chiho explained.

"Nice to meet you, Uzume." Lelouch greeted, giving her a little wave.

"Er, nice to meet you." Uzume replied, keeping the majority of her attention on Chiho as she did so.

"Sorry I didn't bring any costumes today. I figured that we could just talk instead today." Uzume apologized to Chiho, who put her hands up.

"It's no problem. I like to just sit and talk sometimes." Chiho said, doing her best to make sure that Uzume didn't think that she was disappointed or anything.

Nodding, Uzume crossed to Chiho and effortlessly lifted the girl out of her wheelchair, surprising Lelouch with the ease with which she did so. Gingerly, Uzume set down Chiho on the grass next to her before she hopped over to Lelouch.

He felt her thin arms wrap around his figure before they suddenly flexed and easily lifted him out of the chair as well, despite his larger figure. Uzume delicately placed Lelouch on the grass next to Chiho, while he uttered a word of thanks.

"So, Lelouch, isn't this nice?" Chiho asked, breathing a deep whiff of clean air.

"Yeah, it is." He replied softly, enjoying the sensation of the small blades of grass rubbing up against his fingers. With a relaxed sigh, he lay down on his back, looking straight up at the clear blue sky, his mind clearing of its worries and preoccupations.

For a moment, he felt a faint memory come to his mind, of the Aries Villa and of his childhood summers spent out under the same blue sky, only with different circumstances and people. And although he had not planned on it, he was quickly reminded of the fact that he was here with Chiho, and not Nunnally, as he wished he was.

At the reminder that he was separated from his beloved sister, and he would likely be so for the rest of his life, Lelouch felt a certain emptiness within his heart that ate away at the moment of bliss that he had felt for the moment.

He could not, and he would not forget about his past, no matter the circumstance. However, as he peered over at Chiho, who had seemingly fallen asleep during their silence, and watched as her soft features were completely at peace, only disturbed for a moment as a green leaf landed gently on her face, forcing her to scrunch her cute nose for a moment while the waxy leaf appendage slid off of her nose, Lelouch felt the pain within lessen, if only for just a moment.

Maybe he could learn to love this new universe, in due time.

This is just something that I've had written for a while and I felt like posting eventually. There's no guarantee when I'll continue this, but if I get enough reviews, I'll probably continue on soon. Until then, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave your thoughts, either in the form of a review or a PM! Thanks!