A/N: Sooooo... I lied. I said a week. Sorry. In my defence, I lost my first draft and only found it very recently. Anyway enjoy.

No matter how hard the day, dinner with Nunnally in private was my saving grace. Chatting over a delicious meal, like two ordinary friends leading ordinary lives had the ability to balance out the madness that was our daily lives. And also the other thing.

That is to say, the demon. For when evening fell upon our headquarters, the shadows in my study-turned-bedroom-turned-dining hall came alive. I saw ghosts in every corner and ghouls in every windowpane. My past returns to haunt me.
But Nunnally's sunny disposition scared the demon away. Even if it was just for a little while longer. Even if it was just postponing the inevitable, the longer she stayed, the more peaceful my night would be.

I sometimes speculated that I might actually get a full night's sleep, or at least enough to lighten the blue-black half circles under my eyes, if I allowed her to stay through the night, the way she sometimes asked me to stay with her when her own nightmares became to terrifying. But I never did. I always took her back to her room before it got too late.

There was something off about tonight though. I couldn't quite place it, but everything seemed uneasy, even the shadows. My ghosts spooked at every sound and milled about the room like frightened cattle. In turn, my own heart could not find its peace. I remained distracted and exceedingly jumpy for most of the evening, barely even touching my food.
I was not surprised when we were interrupted.

"Zero-sama! Governor Nunnally!" screamed Kallen. Her voice was urgent, strained. "Zero-sama!" she screamed again, her fists pounding against the door with enough force to break down anything less steadfast.
And the hammer falls.
"We're under attack!"

Warfare! At last, something I'm good at! I think as we race through the corridors to the Knightmare hangars. I am ashamed that I am so excited over a battle, however I can't seem to stay mad at myself for long. After all, battle is what I was built for. A long time ago, I was the ultimate war machine in all of the Britannian Empires. The art of combat was my greatest ability.

I come to a screeching halt as it hits me. I wouldn't be fighting! I'm Zero. I'd be sitting safe and sound in Shinkirou II, planning out strategies and giving commands. If all else failed and my high and mighty hiding place was discovered, I was to activate the ultimate protection territory and fire at will. No skills needed. At least, none of mine. Shinkirou was all about intellect. I probably couldn't even fly the damn thing. That was Lelouch's job. He did the thinking, I did the fighting.

Still, my goal had always been to put a halt to the act of humans killing other humans. To stop unnecessary bloodshed. And if this was to be my role in it, if this was the way to stop war from ever breaking out again, I shall fulfil it to the best of my capabilities.

I soon grew weary of sitting in Lelouch's – no, my – Knightmare frame, staring at screens and giving commands. Even my command wasn't really needed. It was an easy battle really. The Order was more than a match for them. From the data I had gathered while my best generals fought, I found out that they were nothing more than a small group of extremists that had risen from what was left of Africa. It began with a single individual, acting out of nothing but hatred. He gathered for himself an army of like-minded 'soldiers' from around the world and they built for themselves some junkyard Knightmares. They disliked the peace, apparently.

It didn't really matter. They were virtually wiped out, we already had a team on the ground, arresting the surviving members. I was contemplating shutting her down and finding Nunnally again, when I saw him. A lone, dark-haired man crawling towards me. Painfully slow and dripping blood. His eyes blazed like hellfire. This man was hatred personified. He was barely even human, so consumed by his own rage was he. My hands fumble with Shinkirou's controls, working fruitlessly to activate its shields, but when he opens his mouth, I freeze.

"Zero!" he roars maniacally. "The peacekeeper!"
The man laughs humourlessly. "You call this peace?" He gestures to the carnage around him. "Is this peace, my lord?"
My body trembles uncontrollably.
"This is not peace! This is merely the wealthy averting their eyes and pointing their guns away from each other! We still suffer!" he yells. "Every day, normal people suffer! Your peace reaches no further than your own office!" Tears stream down his bloodied face. "How dare you call yourself a leader? What claim do you have to this throne? A man who wears a mask is just a symbol, nothing more. You are an actor. No less of a killer than any one of us. Look what you have done!
"Stop me if you think you can, if there is a man on this earth whose despair is greater than mine. Zero! You have not lost nearly enough to preach to me about peace!"
The man falls silent for a moment. The sound of his laborious panting fills the heavy air. For a moment, there is nothing more than that.
"I swear, I will defeat you, even if it means I die too. For that is the only thing left for me." His words are barely audible, but I hear. I receive his message loud and clear.

I know what I must do. Activate the Zero-beam and obliterate him. Or any other weapon on this damned Knightmare! Do what this thing was meant to do; protect Zero. But I don't. I remain immobilised, stunned and staring right at him. I can't make a move to hurt him. I can't lay a hand on this man.

Even when a second figure stalks through the smoke and dust toward us, I can do nothing but stare at the skeletal man. Even when she looks straight at Shinkirou II, straight through it, straight into me, my gaze remains locked on the pale man. Even when she helps him to his feet, helps him escape, I can't peel my eyes away from him. This man… This man…

When I finally regain my senses, it's just me, alone in the aftermath.

A/N: Let's play a game... A nice, fun game to see how smart you are. Let's see if you can spot all the direct quotes. That ought to keep you busy while I finish chapter 4. Yes, I said 'finish.' Meaning I've already written the first draft. Aren't you proud of me?