Code Geass 1. Chapter 1

C.C. opens up her eyes slowly, and quickly closes them again as the blending sunlight falls directly upon her face. She rolls over to her side and her arms find the waist of the person lying next to her.  
Lelouch gives a soft grunt as C.C. buries her face against his chest. It is then, when C.C. finally opens up her eyes and stares blank-mindedly at the dim blue color of Lelouch's pajama.

It has been quite some time after peace returns to the world. Nunnally and Suzaku couldn't be doing their tasks any better. Lelouch has made a right decision to let Nunnally rule over Britannia. She is by far the most gentle-hearted and sympathetic Empress who ever rules Britannia. And she is not alone. She has Suzaku by her side. She also has Cornelia. And most important of all, she has a brother who will always watch over her, just not from up above the sky as they all assume. No, because Lelouch is still alive. His heart is beating like a normal human, and C.C. can feel the heartbeats.

No one actually expected Lelouch to stay alive. No one who saw how the sword drilled into his chest would expect him to be as healthy as he is now. Not even C.C.. She didn't have the courage to see Lelouch's death. She hid herself in a church, praying for the first time since long, praying that her beloved "partner" will escape his own suicide. C.C. never agreed with the Zero Requiem. It's not that she needed to keep Lelouch alive to pass the code to him, after all she already decided that she wouldn't let Lelouch continue bearing the burden she was and is still bearing. She just didn't want to lose Lelouch, for whatever reason it could be. And since she failed to change Lelouch's mind, she could only hope for a miracle.  
The miracle happened in its weirdest way. Indeed, Lelouch died. He died in front of a lot of people, in front of Nunnally, the only person who wept for his death while the others glorified Zero for releasing them from Lelouch's tyranny. While people were busy freeing the hostages and praising Zero, Jeremiah took the chance to try to grab Lelouch's corpse away. But Nunnally held unto Lelouch and refused to let him go. She pleaded to stay with her brother. She didn't want to lose Lelouch anymore. Even Jeremiah was at his wits' end at that time, not knowing how he could escape with his deceased Lord with the girl hanging on his body. Then Suzaku, still wearing the Zero mask, whisked Nunnally away, and Jeremiah used the moment to run away. Far from the crying Nunnally, far from the crowd who had no idea what actually happened. Up to Kallen, who cried silently watching Jeremiah's small troop running away.  
Jeremiah himself had no idea why he took Lelouch's body with him. Was it loyalty? Or pity? Because he knew for sure, the crowd wouldn't be so nice to bury him with the highest respect he deserved. He doubted that Suzaku's grave would not be torn into pieces, now that Lelouch had died. But of course, that didn't quite matter, because the person was still alive. Alive to finish Zero Requiem.  
The first person Jeremiah sought for help was C.C.. He found her weeping alone in the church. As she saw him with Lelouch in his arms, she knew it had been fulfilled. For the first time since ages, C.C. let her emotions run wild. She rushed toward Lelouch, hugged the bloody body and sobbed uncontrollably on the floor. She knew since long this would happen. She knew it, along with Suzaku and Lelouch. But she never agreed to it, she never did. And she didn't have the power to stop Lelouch. She was his shield, she could protect him against everything but himself. Jeremiah Gottwald turned away from this scene. He could barely hold his tears back. He clenched his fists, mad at himself, mad at the world, that he could only see the girls cry, but he couldn't express his loss the same way.

Then Lelouch coughed up some blood and opened his eyes. Both C.C. and Jeremiah nearly died of heart attack.  
"C.C. …." Lelouch whispered, barely audible. "C.C. … I am back…"

And so the time passed. It took quite a while for Lelouch to recover. Suzaku had indeed missed the vital points, but Lelouch was wounded pretty badly. And he was and still is a mere human. But slowly Lelouch recovered under C.C.'s and Jeremiah's care. Anya whom Jeremiah brought with him for no reason also helped as much as she could, although she was fairly puzzled how come she was playing family with her former enemies. After Jeremiah released his troops from Geass – they returned to serve Britannia under Nunnally— they settled down in the countryside, far from all the politics and crowds. And so a new chapter began.

C.C. blinks and comes back to the present time. She still has her arms wrapped around Lelouch. The latter one doesn't respond at all. A slight disappointment builds up in C.C. and she resists the urge to push Lelouch off the bed.

As she walks down the stairs 15 minutes later, Jeremiah and Anya are already downstairs, enjoying the breakfast with the television on. C.C. stared at the burnt toasts Anya is eating. She is glad to notice that Anya has improved a lot in her cooking skill.  
"Good morning," Jeremiah greets her, smiling.  
"Morning," answers C.C. without looking at him. She stares at the newspaper headline. There is a picture of Nunnally on the front, shaking hands with Ohgi. A smile hushed over C.C.'s face. Lelouch will be happy to see Nunnally living happily in this newly recreated world.  
"Anya and I will start with the oranges today. I am sure we get great harvest this season."  
"It's nice," replies C.C., eyeing a toast.  
"Are you still going to do 'it'"? asks Jeremiah, looking deep into C.C.'s eyes, as if hoping he can understand her better that way.  
"Mmhmm… there is no reason not to do it." answers C.C. nonchalantly.  
".. I see…" nods Jeremiah. Anya stares at C.C., half chewing her toast.  
"Did you…" Jeremiah can't finish his sentence.  
"I will tell him in time. He will be fine."  
"I see."

The first thing Lelouch sees when he wakes up is C.C.'s face, staring at him as if he is a very interesting experimental object.  
"Na, Lelouch…" she begins. "I want to go around this place. Accompany me."  
It is no request. It is an order.  
Lelouch used to think of C.C. as an extremely selfish and annoying woman. Sadly, he still does. But in most cases he gave in to her. As he does now.  
So ten minutes later Lelouch finds himself walking beside C.C., bringing burnt toasts he knows he will never eat. For quite a while, none of them says anything. Then C.C. starts to speak.  
"Na, Lelouch…. I am going to leave."  
Lelouch stops walking and stares at C.C.'s delicate back, wide-eyed.  
"Where are you going to go?" he asks right away.  
"Mm, I don't know yet. I will leave early tomorrow morning. So… if you don't get to wake up tomorrow morning, today is our good-bye."  
With the last word, she turns to Lelouch, smiling. "Take care of yourself? Don't do dangerous things."  
"I am not your son," says Lelouch, rather irritated.  
C.C. smiles.  
"Indeed, you aren't."  
She puts her arms gently around his neck and kisses him….

* * *

C.C. puts on her new shoes and likes the feeling around her feet.  
Jeremiah and Anya are standing in front of the door to bid her farewell.  
"It has been a long run, and a wonderful one it was. I hope we will meet again, C.C.-san." says Jeremiah, shaking C.C.'s hand.  
"Yah," smiles C.C..  
"Lelouch-sama is…"  
"I said good bye yesterday. Let him be."  
Jeremiah smiled uneasily.  
"Sayonara," says Anya. Although she has gotten her childhood memories back, she doesn't seem to change her attitude. C.C. always thought that she would suffer some trauma, or change rapidly, but she never did. Anya is Anya. It is comforting for C.C. to know that not all casted Geass cause disasters.  
"So, you are taking the cart over there, and here is a map to go around,"  
"Thank you. Take care of yourself."  
"You too, please."  
"Good bye.."  
"Good bye."

C.C. drags Cheese-kun, a travelling bag and a hat with her. It will be a very hot day. As she approaches the cart to ride on it, someone is already there.  
"You forget this."  
A hand is waving a credit card.  
"How nice of you, giving me your credit card," says C.C., reaching after it.  
Lelouch pulls his hand back. "Who said I am giving it to you? If you want this credit card, you will take me with you."  
C.C. nearly bursts out with laughter. Lelouch looks like he didn't sleep all night. This explains why he wasn't on bed yesterday night. C.C. thought he slept in the spare room. And Lelouch is always bad tempered when he lacks sleep.  
"You are buying your ticket outside with a credit card?" says C.C., mockingly.  
Lelouch puts on his camouflaging hat.  
"Shut up, witch. Where are we going?"  
C.C. can't help but feeling happy. She throws her stuffs onto the hay stacks on top of the cart, and climbs up herself. As she is up there, she draws something on the map and drops it on Lelouch's lap.  
"I marked the destination. Work hard."  
"Wha…. It is far!"  
C.C. suppresses her laughter by hugging Cheese-kun. It will be a very hot day, indeed. But not for her only.

* * *

**Author's note : BEFORE anyone flames me!  
Yea I know some people assume Lelouch already dies and blahzomgfangirlscream NOOOOO. So I want to make a fanfic with him actually alive, I hope it is still allowed, lol. I don't really care if he is alive or not in the true story. He will forever be alive in my mind. Aside of all that, hope you enjoy my story, see you! (It is titled after the last song played in last episode. Why? Because I love the song.)  
**

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Japan is improving rapidly after it regained its freedom.  
It seems that Japanese people are trying their best to return Japan to its original condition before Britannia took over the country. But this time it is different. The Japanese people are not doing everything on their own. Britannian government is trying its best to help them achieve their goal.  
Indeed, some Britannians especially the nobles prefer having a higher status than the "Elevens", the name they still use from time to time to mock the Japanese. But their amount slowly decreases. Those who choose to stay in Japan are getting used to the new Japan and slowly blending in. Those who can't accept Japan's freedom leave the country and start a new life elsewhere.  
It wasn't easy for the Japanese people to accept the fact that Britannia who stripped them off their freedom, name and right actually returned those to them. Despite months passing, there are still some people who think that the newly regained freedom is part of a bigger lie. But some do agree to work with the Britannians, believing that the Holy Empire of Britannia has gotten rid of the "bad asses", with their 99th Emperor being the last. And this is the ideal Britannians are trying to popularize. Brand new kind of Britannian Empire, peace for everyone. Bad Charles was gone, bad Lelouch was gone.

This is, indeed, what Lelouch has been aiming for. And the plan goes smoothly too. It just irks him from time to time to see people making fun of the "dead" him. All the way while leaving the countryside, he sees kids performing his assassination act, or hears people saying things like "He is acting Lelouch-like." or "Die like a Lelouch.", none of them have positive context.

"We need to change our names." He mumbles, really irritated when a kid with a mini Zero mask and mini Zero sword chases after his screaming playmates.  
"You should. I don't want to." replies C.C., hugging Cheese-kun.  
"I thought we are accomplices. If you don't change your name, they will easily recognize me just by hearing your name."  
"Lulu, I am not that famous." says C.C. teasingly.  
"Don't call me that." blurts Lelouch. _It reminds me of Shirley. And the good times I had with my friends in the Academy. With Nunnally and Suzaku, _he thinks bitterly_._  
C.C. stares at the back of Lelouch's head. She never thought that Lelouch has this hidden gentle side. Well he can be gentle, sure, but only to his sister. So far he has been treating others, men or women, without much consideration to what they need or want. And what about her? C.C. tries to remember the times when Lelouch treats her gently. Actually, ever since she nearly lost her Code to Charles, Lelouch has been extra gentle to her. And he is coming with her now too. Does Lelouch have some built up feelings for her? Or…  
"Will you finally tell me where we are heading, witch! My body hurts from all the burden!"  
_…. Nope, it is only your imagination._  
"Actually, I think we went too far. Let's go back a few kilometers." C.C. smiles sweetly to the snarling Lelouch.

* * *

After riding the cart for hours and walking here and there with 2 luggages and a bossy girl, Lelouch is glad that C.C. finally finds the "certain" place to spend the night at. Which is a normal lodging house.  
"Welcome to this place," a tender lady greets them. It is maintained by Japanese. Realizing this, Lelouch pulls his hat to the front so that half his face is covered.  
"Thank you," said C.C. "We need to stay for a day or two."  
"May I know your names, dear guests?" asks the lady politely.  
C.C. takes a look at Lelouch over her shoulder. Then she turns to face the lady.  
"Mr. and Mrs. Lamperouge."  
"OY!" yells Lelouch on top of his lungs, pulling the hat completely off his face. And putting it back on his head again, his heart thumping in horror.  
"Ah, sorry, is something wrong?" asks the lady again, puzzled.  
"Nothing at all," answers C.C. smoothly.  
C.C. gives Lelouch a smirk. Which he can't see thanks to the hat.

"You are NOT my wife!" yells Lelouch again, this time they are alone in their bedroom.  
"Relax, I don't want to be married to a brat as well," says C.C. calmly.  
"I am NOT your husband!"  
"And I am tired, let me sleep," mutters C.C., spreading herself on the bed.  
Lelouch stares at the delicate body lying on the bed. He doesn't understand how come C.C. can ever get tired. All the time he did all the work. C.C. barely shed a sweat!  
"Save me some space," says Lelouch, finally tired of screaming.  
"Why, I thought you are not my husband. Go sleep on the floor."  
"Oh, shut up,"  
Lelouch pushes at C.C.'s shoulder. "This bed is really small for a couple's bed." he comments.  
"I told her we were newlyweds." C.C turns off the lamp next to the bed.  
"………….."

The room is getting dark now, and Lelouch is thankful for that because his face is burning. He doesn't understand why C.C. keeps teasing him. Then again, he is sick of all the teasings. It is time for C.C. to swallow her own weapon.  
Lelouch gets on the bed and crawls under the blanket. He puts his arms around C.C., and whispers softly to her ear, "Good night, …."  
He DID it! He just called her with her real name! Feeling satisfied, Lelouch waits for C.C.'s response.  
Nothing happens. He looms over C.C. to see her face. Her eyes are closed.  
"Darn, how could you fall asleep so easily!" curses Lelouch.  
"Ah well,"  
He turns around and lies back to back next to C.C..  
Unknown to him, short after that, C.C. opens her eyes and blushes.

* * *

Nunnally takes a deep breath.  
"Are you tired?" asks Suzaku, still in Zero mask.  
"Yeah… the meeting was quite long."  
Suzaku pushes Nunnally's wheel chair along the corridor. The light has been put out, it is quite late already.  
Suzaku has practically served as Nunnally's bodyguard since she becomes an Empress. And he is a good bodyguard, thanks to Lelouch's notorious deeds as Zero. Whenever he stands next to Nunnally, they create some really weird atmosphere. The weak, vulnerable looking little girl, accompanied by a masked man who was previously a criminal of highest class.  
Since they are together all the time, people assume that their relationship is really close. But that's not true. Nunnally and Suzaku barely talk. No. Nunnally and Zero barely talk. Suzaku is pretty sure Nunnally knows who is hiding behind the mask of Zero as for now, but she never says anything.  
She always addresses him with "Zero", even when they are alone. This creates a wall between Suzaku and Nunnally. There are many times when Suzaku asks himself, if this will ever change. After all, they were friends. And Suzaku is wondering if they still are. After all, he, Suzaku, killed Nunnally's brother, who happened to be his best friend too.  
They arrive in front of Nunnally's bedroom.  
"Good night, Your Majesty."  
Suzaku opens the door for Nunnally and she rolls her wheelchair inside.  
"Good night, Zero."  
As the door closes, none of them leaves their position. Then Nunnally gives a sigh and Suzaku hears her wheelchair rolling away from the door.  
"Good night, Nunnally…" he whispers, barely audible.

Nunnally is waiting for her personal maids to come and help her preparing to sleep. She doesn't like to depend on others, but her feet still won't do what she wants. Her feet always hinder her from everything. She remembers how her whole life long she has always depended on her brother. And when she went against her brother once, she felt like losing every support she ever had. She was totally helpless.  
Nunnally presses her hands against her cheeks. She called him the devil. She didn't mean it… she said it because she wanted her brother to change. Of course, now that everything is clear, all she wants to do if she ever meets her brother again is apologizing to him.  
But the fact that she stays helpless doesn't change. She still depends on others. Being an empress, so helpless…. Nunnally shakes the thought off her mind.  
_Suzaku…  
Suzaku, Suzaku…._  
Nunnally's tears drop on her dress. She wipes her tears off her face in hurry.  
The guy behind the Zero mask is Suzaku. If there is anyone that is closest to her right now after her brother's death, it is Suzaku. But Suzaku feels so far away. Suzaku didn't admit that it was him posing as Zero. But then if he admits it…. It will only mean that Suzaku killed Lelouch in front of Nunnally's eyes. Can she deal with that? She likes Suzaku a lot. She likes him second to her brother. She doesn't want to think of Suzaku as a killer, moreover, not her brother's killer. Even if it was rather a suicide, not an assassination.

Nunnally caresses a framed photo showing them as children. This picture was taken before Lelouch and Nunnally parted from Suzaku. She doesn't think they can ever return to those days anymore. Not without Lelouch.  
"Onii-sama…" Nunnally cries in sorrow. "I miss you…. I miss you so much…"

* * *

**Author's note : (hugging Nunnally) Awwww I didn't mean to make you cryyyy...  
Well, that's the second chapter o.o **

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

"Stop pushing me," C.C. says, her heart racing.  
"Calm down, everything will be alright."  
"I know," says C.C., panting.  
C.C. feels Lelouch's breath on her neck. She gulps. She couldn't believe she is doing it. With Lelouch.  
The guy presses more against her back, pushing her to the front.

"Can I…." starts C.C..  
"Can I draw a certain sum of money?" she says to the bank employee waiting curiously behind the desk, pushing Lelouch's bank card toward the man.  
The man eyes the green-haired girl standing before him, and the young man standing behind her.  
After clicking through the bank's inside information on the computer, he soon finds out that the bank account has been deactivated since months ago, but the money on it is still there, waiting to be taken. So far no one has been claiming the money despite 3 letters sent to the related address, up till today. And what a luck too, that these mysterious people come right before the bank closes the account for real and takes all the money.  
However…. the account is under the names of two people, two very important people, whose names aren't even revealed in the account information – which is why he can't ask these people to show their IDs. The man weighs his options. He can pass the load of money to the two youngsters here, after all they have the bank card and key to the personal safe. But what if they are thieves? The bank will lose some profit. As a good employee, it is his obligation to be extra suspicious and not giving money to some random people. Or even better, if he manages to kick these 2 people out, he can keep the money for himself. The bank doesn't have to know about it?  
He smiles a victorious smile in his mind.  
"I am so sorry, the bank account has been closed permanently. 3 letters had been sent to the address asking the owners to pick up the money, but no one came. Too bad, it is too late. The money is gone."  
Much to his amazement, the young man steps forward and pushes his hat back. Then their eyes meet. Red, shining signs in the young man's eyes lock his eyes.  
"I am sure you have made some mistakes, you might want to recheck the account and give us the money."  
His mind goes blank, only filled by the man's echoing words.  
Lelouch leans forward.  
"And you never saw us coming in here."

"You could have used Geass earlier," says C.C., clearly discontented. "Why did you ask me to face him if you were going to use it anyway?"  
"I didn't plan to, but he's planning to keep the money from us." Lelouch answers, pulling his hat covering his eyes. "This world might become better, but human greed never changes,"  
Being used as a prince, even during his exile from Britannian Empire, he never had to worry about money, let alone taking his own money from bank. Sayoko had been taking charge of it representing him and Nunnally. In fact, Lelouch never really knew what commoners do to get their money from the bank.  
"Besides, I don't want him to recognize my face and make a big fuss about it."  
"Makes me wonder," Lelouch turns to face C.C., frowning. "How do you survive when you aren't freeloading at someone's place?"  
C.C. stares at him coldly, and Lelouch knows that's all he gets as an answer.

"So, now that we have the money and temporary provisions for a couple of days… where are we going to go?" asks Lelouch, panting. Again, he is the one carrying all luggages and baskets with food, excluding the last cheese-ham pizza slice C.C. is munching while walking casually in front of Lelouch. She managed to eat up the whole box pizza single-handedly. Lelouch claimed to be too sick of pizzas. C.C. didn't bother to persuade him to eat.  
Pondering about Lelouch's question, C.C. just walks ahead, not sure herself what to do or where to go.  
"Well, out of this village I guess," says Lelouch, scowling at a bunch of kids who are imitating his dead self on the side of the street. He throws all the stuffs on the hay stack behind the cart and climbs to the driver seat. C.C. climbs on the stacks of hay and lies there, staring at the sky.  
"Lelouch," C.C. calls softly when they finally got out of the village.  
"Hmm? What is it?"  
"I think of leaving Japan."  
"Fine," answers Lelouch, surprised about his light tone when talking about leaving Japan. This will mean… cutting all connections to the past. To Zero. To Britannian. To Japan. To Nunnally. To Suzaku. To every person who ever means anything to him. Kallen.  
C.C. stares at the sky as it turns velvet slowly. As she was a kid, she thought it would rain blood whenever she saw such velvet colored sky. Now she knows that it rains blood without the sky turning red… or velvet…

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They quickly find a place to stay within 2 hours after leaving the village. It is especially easier and less suspicious because Lelouch already gives up on complaining and agrees to be C.C.'s husband whenever needed.  
"Decide already," starts Lelouch, as he drags a luggage to the other side of the room. "Where do you plan to go?"  
C.C. seems to be drowning in her own thoughts. Then she just stands up and takes out some money out of Lelouch's coat.  
"I am going to buy ship tickets for our trip out of this country," she tells Lelouch before shutting the door in front of his face. Lelouch gives the door an unbelieving stare. C.C. has been acting weirder with the time, ever since they leave Jeremiah and Anya. _No…._  
Lelouch clenches his fists. It seems that she has something in mind way before they depart. The question is, what can it be?  
C.C. comes back hours later. She looks as uncaring as usual, telling Lelouch that the ship taking them to France will arrive in 2 days.  
Lelouch tries asking her about many questions. But C.C. remains silent. She develops the habit of staring out of the window, and when she does that, it looks like she leaves her body to travel in C's world. Unable to find out what C.C. is really up to, Lelouch gets really curious. But there is nothing he can do to get the information out of C.C.. He wishes his Geass would work on the green haired girl.  
Time passes by quickly, and suddenly the two days are over. Lelouch finds himself preparing for their travel out of Japan. He is glad that C.C. seems to regain her old self again. She starts the day by commanding Lelouch around, asking him to do stuffs before they depart. Lelouch isn't really surprised by the orders. He no longer complains when asked to bring all the luggages by himself to the front door. Lelouch leaves a message to Jeremiah and Anya to pick up the cart in the lodging house they are leaving. Another cart is going to take them to the bay. Lelouch puts the stuffs on their place on the cart and waits for C.C. to show up in front of the lodging house.  
C.C. finishes the payment and walks out to the sunshine, smiling at Lelouch. The latter smirks instead of smiling, but C.C. doesn't mind at all.

"This trip is going to take 4, 5 days," explains the Captain. "I hope everyone will enjoy the trip and we will bring you safely to Paris."  
Lelouch follows C.C. to their cabin. There is a double bed in there.  
"You bought the ship ticket as couple again." stated Lelouch.  
"Yeah." answered C.C. as-a-matter-of-factly.  
Lelouch strolls toward the window and opens it to let the fresh sea air comes in. "4, 5 days," he mutters. "Enough time to plan what we will do in Paris, don't you think?"  
Lelouch waits for C.C.'s response.  
None.  
Since the girl says nothing at all, Lelouch turns around to face her. But she isn't there. Lelouch is alone in the cabin.

C.C. stands alone on the deck, feeling the cold wind brushing over her skin. One of the ship crews told her to go back to her cabin as the night approaches. She thanked him for his attention but she didn't intend to go back to her cabin, not yet. C.C. doesn't feel like she has any reason to do anything or go anywhere. Nothing big will happen to her so nothing is worth it. But she also knows that whatever she does, no matter how insignificant it is, it may result in bigger things for other people around her. And this displeases C.C. very much.  
She wraps her arms around her body, wincing as she remembers horrible things in her past.  
"Cold?"  
Someone throws his coat around her shoulder. C.C. doesn't need to turn around to know who he is. She wraps the coat tightlier around her body.  
"What are you doing here? A spoiled brat like you should be sleeping around this time," she says to Lelouch.  
"Well, what can I say? My "wife" is suddenly gone, I can't sleep without her." answers Lelouch smoothly, grinning at the green-haired girl. The latter just marches back to their cabin, leaving her "husband" behind.  
Five minutes later though, lying on bed in Lelouch's arms, C.C. falls asleep peacefully, as if nothing ever bothered her.

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**Author's note : Sorry I have been busy with college x.x  
**


	4. Chapter 4

That night, Lelouch can't sleep. He doesn't know why. Actually, he sort of know why. But it is impossible. Lelouch throws a glance at the sleeping C.C.. The sleeping girl clutches on him cutely. Lelouch starts to blush and he turns his face away so suddenly that his neck bone cracks. He slams a hand over his mouth to muffle his cry of pain, while his other hand is still around C.C.'s body. Lelouch feels like he is trapped. He wants to escape from this awkward position and insomnia – him lying on bed with a girl in his arms -- but he can't because if he makes any movement, she will wake up and he will have to explain what's wrong. And no, Lelouch isn't giving C.C. the pleasure to mock or laugh at his face.  
Lelouch sighes silently. He doesn't know what actually renders him sleepless tonight. Is it C.C.? No it can't be. It is not the first time they sleep together in a bed. It is not the first time they hug each other while sleeping either. Or is it maybe C.C.'s sloppiness in dressing around Lelouch? He glances at her curves under the night gown. NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lelouch slaps himself with his free hand. He quickly regrets it, because his slap is way too hard. Lelouch goes back to the fact that C.C.'s sloppy appearance might excite him to some point, but no, it can't be either. It isn't the first time C.C. run around half naked in his presence. Not only running. Lying, standing, crawling….  
Lelouch winces in pain as he slaps himself again on the same cheek. He wishes he had slapped himself on the other cheek, because now the twice-slapped cheek must be swollen.  
Lelouch gives out a heavy, and surprisingly still silent sigh. What is it that makes C.C. so special tonight? Because she is sexy? NO! NOT SEXY! BAD WORD! BAD LELOUCH!  
For a millisecond Lelouch thinks about hammering on his head, but he hasn't forgotten the pain on his cheek yet. _Fine!_ He says to himself. _So C.C. is sexy, so what! I am a guy, and it's normal if I actually think some girls are sexy. There is nothing wrong with it!_  
Lelouch puts his hand on his face. He can feel his face burning. _No,_ he says to himself again, _this is so not normal. How can they even classify this as normal? Damn all those psychological books!  
_But wait… girls? Yeah every idiot can take a quick look at C.C. and tell that she is a girl. But Lelouch has never seen her as a girl. Not that he cares about girls… he doesn't even care what he has done to girls. He has kissed Shirley and Kallen without actually thinking what the consequences might be. And he has never thought of dating any of them either. Not even C.C., and he kissed C.C. a lot in the past. Or she kissed him, who cares. Did he think of C.C. as a guy? Lelouch pauses his rail of thoughts. Hmmm….. well… it's not like he needed to confirm if C.C. was a girl or not, he had seen enough to tell….  
2 seconds later, he wishes his other hand were also trapped somewhere.  
So what is it that changes his view of C.C.? There are many times he wondered why C.C. stayed with him. C.C. has surely changed in a way, but Lelouch can't tell. From the very beginning, C.C. has only been supportive toward him. She did it for the contract's sake, a voice in his head speaks. Just so she can die… but then she decided not to die. She refused to give Charles her Geass code, and she stayed with Lelouch when he was on his way to change Britannia. Why did C.C. stay?

"_Makes me wonder,"  
"How do you survive when you aren't freeloading at someone's place?"_

Lelouch raises an eyebrow. Oh yeah, he forgot. C.C. was just freeloading at his place. Yeah that must be it. But then again, C.C. took care of him when he was dying. He already lost everything by that time so nothing should have stopped C.C. from ditching him. And yet, C.C. stayed there. Why?  
And more importantly, why is he sticking to C.C. so badly? Lately it seems that C.C. want to escape from him. Maybe C.C. already gets tired of him and doesn't want to be around him anymore? Lelouch stares at the ceiling, feeling blank. His chest hurts for no reason, and he feels even more and more tired with every second he spends thinking that he doesn't mean anything to C.C., not anymore. This would be much better if they know what their relationship is. Wait a minute, relationship? If anything, they are partners. Friends. Partners. Lelouch massages his forehead. Friends don't really do this. Sleeping on same bed hugging each other. This is what lovers usually do. But they are only doing this to cover their identities right… no they don't. They have been sleeping together on same bed as long as Lelouch can remember, back to the few months at Anya and Jeremiah's place. Then again nothing happened, right. C.C. hugs him like she is hugging some teddy bear. _Oh God, am I a teddy bear for her?_  
No, definitely not. C.C. is not a fan of teddy bears. If anything, she is a fan of Cheese-kun. Pizzas. But C.C. doesn't hug Cheese-kun in sleep.  
Lelouch opens his eyes slowly and sees that the sky starts to brighten. _Nice, a sleepless night. What if it continues?_ Lelouch feels so weak and tired. He tightens his grip on C.C.'s arm, gently lying on his side to get a better view of C.C.'s sleeping face. Then he decides to support his upper body half on his elbow to take a better look at C.C.'s face.  
Her face looks so innocent and gentle. Too bad all of these girly traits disappear once she opens her eyes. Heh. Lelouch smirks.  
He stares at her smooth face. He never knew that she has such beautiful, tender eyelashes. And tiny nose… and red, pretty lips… and such bright skin. Smooth skin too….  
His eyes grows heavier and heavier… he is so tired, he can't take it anymore. For some reason her face is getting closer and closer… he doesn't know why. He doesn't care either. And now he gets to count her eyelashes. One… two… ah, maybe fifteen…

And then those eyes open widely.

"AAAAAARGHHHHHH!!!!!" Lelouch screams in horror, pulling away from C.C..  
"What are you doing?" demands C.C., staring at Lelouch in disbelief. Lelouch takes his trapped hand back into possession, and rolls on his side, with his back facing C.C..  
"Nothing. I am tired. Leave me. I need to sleep."  
"What have you been doing all night long?" asks C.C., staring at his back. But Lelouch doesn't answer anymore.  
"Lelouch. Lelouch!"  
When the guy doesn't move anymore, C.C. concludes that he's asleep.  
"That's what you get for downing so much coffee yesterday. Weird, you even have some bump on a cheek. " C.C. thinks on her own. She strokes Lelouch's hair for a while, then gets up and tucks him in. "Sweet dreams."


	5. Chapter 5

"So," starts Lelouch. "What are we, or better said, you planning to do in Paris?"  
C.C. eats her breakfast wearing a bored expression.  
"I want pizza." She answers.  
"Stop avoiding my questions."  
Then Lelouch's eyes grow wider. "Oh my God, don't tell me you are choosing Paris for the cheese sake."  
C.C. stares at him without expression change. Lelouch gives up.

"Na, Lelouch…."  
"Hmm?"  
C.C. looks deep into his eyes.  
"Nothing. Forget it."

5 days pass really quickly, and the anticipated passengers arrive at Paris. Most of the anticipated passengers know where they are heading. Lelouch and C.C. stand aside with their luggages, not knowing where to go.  
"Okay, so are you planning to stay here till someone adopt us?" scowls Lelouch.  
C.C.'s eyes wander aimlessly in the crowd.  
"Well," she starts. "this is not the first time I am homeless. It is the first time someone accompanies me though."  
Lelouch chuckles.  
"Is that supposed to express your gratitude?"  
C.C. turns at Lelouch, and to his surprise, smiles at him.  
"Yeah. I feel less lonely."  
Lelouch can feel blood rushing to his cheek. He quickly faces another direction and stomps away.  
"A.. anyway! Let's get going. It's better to head somewhere. Anywhere."  
"Um…"  
"Yeah?" Lelouch turns around and watches C.C. still standing in exactly the same spot.  
"Someone needs to carry the luggage you know."

"Lazy witch!"  
"Disrespectful brat."  
Lelouch sighes. "We need to find a job."  
"I don't need a job," says C.C., looking at Lelouch innocently.  
"Oh yes you do. I am not going to pay for all the cheese you want to eat here."  
"Are you looking for a job, Sir?"  
Both Lelouch and C.C. look around and find the source of the voice. It was a neatly clothed man with a bowler.  
"I might have use for the both of you."

* * *

"Lelouch vi Brittania commands you…!"  
The spectators are clapping and giggling. Lelouch stifles the urge to command them all to die, or to not use his Geass at all.  
If someone had told him months ago that he would be so poor that he ends up parodying himself in theaters one day, he would die from laughter. But there he is, a young nameless man starting over at Paris. Accompanied by a freeloader posing as his wife.  
"Very good job Joe, here is your payment for today."  
Lelouch, getting used to the fake name Joe Lamperouge, takes the money and stares at it. It isn't much, but surprisingly it is enough for them to survive until they find out what to do. He stops by a certain cabin and knocks.  
"Come in."  
Lelouch steps inside and finds C.C. working on some dress.  
"How was the work?" she asks casually.  
"Hmph," snorts Lelouch. "How are you doing here anyway? All good?"  
"Yeah, I worked as seamstress for a period of time. This is nothing new."  
"So, what do you want to talk about?"  
The rattling of the sewing machine is the only sound breaking the silence following afterwards.  
Lelouch waits patiently. Then C.C. speaks.  
"I am hungry. Buy me some pizzas?"

After Lelouch left, C.C. takes deep breath. Sooner or later she needs to speak up. She reaches inside her pocket and takes out a golden locket. Opening the locket, she gazes at very old photographs stored inside. Very soon, she has to tell Lelouch why she needs to come here. She can't keep it a secret forever. Then again alone the thought of having to tell him makes her feel so uneasy. She doesn't want to drag Lelouch unnecessarily in this matter.  
A soft knock on the door startles her. Lelouch can't be back so soon, can he? If it isn't Lelouch then it must be the person she arranged to meet today…  
C.C. hides the locket under the dress she worked on and goes to open the door…

Grumbling by himself, Lelouch finds himself walking down the street carrying pizzas. It has been a week since they arrive at Paris, and yet C.C. still keeps quiet about the reasons and purposes she comes here. Everytime Lelouch tries to get any information out of the green-haired girl, she would suddenly change the topic. Lelouch is starting to run out of patience. He is determined to find it out today. C.C. will never be able to excuse herself out of this matter anymore.

But as Lelouch looks at the widely opened cabin, he knows something has happened. Dropping the pizza boxes, he rushes inside and finds no one. Lelouch grits his teeth and looks around, trying to find some clues. The room was left without any signs of resistances. Everything is in its place, except for the blood traces on the floor. Lelouch's fingers tremble as he tries to convince himself that it isn't C.C.'s blood. The only thing calming him down, though, was the fact that C.C. is immortal, no matter how many mortal wounds she gets.  
Lelouch checks the door. The people attacking C.C. definitely didn't barge in. C.C. opened the door from inside, and then she was attacked. The attackers didn't even bother cleaning the blood on the floor, he seemed to be in a hurry…  
Who could it be? Someone from C.C.'s past? They definitely know about C.C.'s immortality. If this is just a normal murder case, then they would shoot her and just leave her body lying on the floor, maybe after raiding the whole room. No, they definitely know about Geass. And most likely, they are aiming for her immortality.  
Lelouch wipes the whole stuffs off the table out of desperation. And then a soft "clang" sound attracts his attention. It was a beautiful golden locket.  
Lelouch picks it up and opens it. Inside were ancient photographs of C.C. and another girl. The locket isn't just lying around by coincidence. Lelouch tightens his grip around the locket and swears, he will get C.C. back at any cost.


End file.

Code Geass, Adventure, Romance