Author's Note: I was torn between naming this 'Fireworks' and 'Never Forget'. Obviously you know my choice. Should I have picked the other one? Well, while I was writing that Nunnally-centric fic, I couldn't help but think how those left behind felt, you know? & I always thought that Milly belonged with Rivalz. End of story. xD Yeah, this is a pretty solemn ficcy. I kinda forgot that Kallen & Nina aren't dead yet (heheh, oops) so keep that in mind while you read this. Soooo this is ten years after Code Geass R2 ended, so they would beee... Rivalz would be 27 & Milly (bobillycophillymomilly... xD Hahaha couldn't help it) would be 28.

Disclaimer: If I owned Code Geass, Lulu wouldn't be dead. Neither would Shirley. Maybe Euphie... hahahah, jaykay. And Lulu would be going out with Suzaku and Shirley and C.C. simultaneously cause I can't pick which one I like him with the most. xD I don't think I'd kill Clovis either. He's pretty snazzy. xP Uhm... and Lulu would be a singer. In fact, they'd all be singers. Instead of an anime, it'd be a Broadway production! Lulu would be a soprano, just for kicks! And just for my own pure amusement, Kallen would be a bass. Cause I said so. So... HAH.

...point is, it's not mine. Dx

'I can't believe it's already been ten years.'

Milly Ashford sat cross-legged on the roof, her eyes fixed on the twinkling stars above her. It was that time of year again and despite the warm jacket she had on, she could feel the cool slap of winter's approach on her skin. She sighed, her breath forming a small cloud from her lips. She pulled out her phone, flipping it open and glancing at the time. 10:43 pm.

"He's late," she murmured to herself in slight irritation, pulling her legs up against her chest and hugging them. Her eyes wandered back to her phone and she took in the image that had been there for years.

In it she was wagging her finger at Lelouch, lecturing about one thing or another. Behind her, Rivalz was sticking his tongue out childishly at Lelouch. His laughing eyes teased Lelouch for whatever thing he had done that was deemed wrong by Milly. Meanwhile Lelouch himself was effectively tuning Milly out, a clipboard in his hands. A bored, annoyed expression adorned his face as he checked off various materials for yet another festival Milly had planned. Shirley had been facing the window but had half-turned to see what the commotion was. Her eyes twinkled with amusement, her usually contented smile widened into a grin. Nina had looked up from her work at the computer, a small smile unconsciously appearing at the antics of her friends. Suzaku, who was seated at the table the trio were currently arguing next to, had a grimace on his face. Arthur, as expected, had chomped upon his hand while Suzaku had been distracted by Milly's scolding tone. Across from him sat Kallen, her face lit up with laughter at both Suzaku and Milly. A relatively large pile of paperwork sat on the table, forgotten as the friends relaxed.

It was extremely candid; to this day, she still didn't know who had taken the picture. She had figured it was Rolo, since he wasn't there. But there were little changes, subtle things that were in the picture that pointed otherwise. There were objects in the room that just didn't belong. There was a folded up wheelchair that hadn't been used recently if the light coat of dust was any indication. On the table in front of where the picture taker had been sitting were papers with geometry problems on it, something Milly remembered seeing when she had been 14. The picture was crooked and blurry, as if the person taking it hadn't seen or hadn't been noticed they took it.

Regardless, it had both warmed her heart and crushed it at the sight of the picture. She remembered all too well how she had stumbled upon it. Rivalz had finally graduated and had begged her to scour the student council room with him for anything that might have been forgotten. She had found the picture when she had been looking under a cabinet for her phone; she had dropped it and was pretty sure it was under there. When she wiped off the gathered dust carefully, she felt tears gather in her eyes. She stayed there, sitting on the floor until Rivalz noticed she wasn't replying to anything he had been saying.

"Milly, are you even listening to me?" he asked with slight annoyance as he turned around. He started at the sight of her just sitting on the floor, her head bowed down to stare at what she was holding. "Milly? What's wrong?"

He quickly strode the few steps to her, kneeling down and lifting her chin gently. Tears fell down her cheeks, over her watery smile, and splashed onto the picture her trembling hands were clutching. She took a shaky breath, softly caressing the faces in the picture.

"I don't even remember what I was scolding Lelouch about," she nearly whispered, her eyes transfixed on the photograph. "I don't remember what festival we were planning. I don't know what Nina was researching, what Shirley was staring at, what that paperwork was about, even who was taking the picture. None of it." She hugged the picture to her chest gingerly, as if it would fade away if she put any more force on it.

Silently, she released it to Rivalz waiting hands, watching the longing intensify in his eyes. She was sure it mirrored her own.

"I'm sure it was nothing important. I was probably scolding him for not doing my paperwork too. I probably thought of the festival on a whim. Nina was probably researching something for it, Shirley was probably looking out the window thinking about Lelouch, the paperwork was probably final confirmation for materials for the festival, and Rolo probably took the picture. But…" She paused, her eyes trying to burn the picture into her mind. "But I wish I could go back to that day again. Before, when we were the student council instead of just Milly and Rivalz. When we laughed more than we frowned and had time to live life just a little sweeter with all of us together."

She knew her shoulders shaking. She could hear where the sobs broke through while she was trying to talk. She could feel her tears burning in her eyes and making their suicide plunge down her cheeks. She didn't need a mirror to know that her carefully applied makeup was ruined beyond repair. Her hands clenched into fists in her lap as she squeezed her eyes shut, and with it her heart clenched at the overload of memories. Warm, loving, happy days spent doing useless things with people she loved. They had always been there, of course they were. But seeing a tangible memory in front of her had felt so wonderful and so heart wrenching, she didn't know what to do with herself.

'Why are you crying so hard?' she thought furiously to herself. 'You're Milly Ashford. You're not supposed to break down like this. Your makeup is always supposed to be flawless, your hair is always supposed to be perfect, and your emotions are always supposed to be in check! Rivalz probably thinks I'm such a baby, breaking down like this out of nowhere.'

Suddenly warm arms surrounded her, stopping her shaking if only slightly. She opened her eyes, finding herself pressed against Rivalz chest.

"I miss them too. I miss all of them. I wish I could relive one more moment with everyone together again. It… it's just not fair. If I had known everyone would keep going without us, I would have… I would have cherished everything so much more." She felt Rivalz tears hitting the top of her head, and with a helpless sob, threw her arms around him. She clenched the material of his shirt as they cried together silently, wishing that everything would just be the same again.

The picture had been framed and now sat on the bedside table of their room. Many nights, long after Rivalz had gone to sleep, Milly whispered to it when it got especially hard living without them. She talked about her day and Rivalz inability to remain satisfied with a certain job. She talked about how she could bake chicken correctly now and how she had finally learned how to roller blade. She talked about how even though she had Rivalz, and even though she loved him more than life itself, it was lonely trying to live life missing so many important people.

A cozy, heavy jacket draped around her shoulders and she snapped out of her memories at the familiar smell of it. She looked up and saw his apologetic eyes.

"Sorry I'm so late, honey. Work was horrible today," he said with a groan, holding his hand out to help her up. "Well, now that I've officially put us like, 30 minutes off schedule, shall we begin?" He smiled his gentle smile at her, pulling her into his arms. Having grown taller over the duration of the past ten years, he could know look a full four inches down at her instead of having to look up four inches. His eyes found their way to her phone curiously, taking it from her. His expression softened as the memory came back to him.

"I remember the day we found this picture," his voice was soft as he became lost in his thoughts.

"The day you finally got the balls to ask me out?" Milly teased, bringing him back to reality. His cheeks burned with a deep blush.

"I was waiting till I got taller to ask you out. I knew how you liked older, taller guys and since I wasn't one I figured I could be the other," he retorted heatedly, embarrassed. His embarrassment melted at the sound of her tinkling laugh and a smile pushed up the corners of his mouth.

"You should've realized I didn't care when it came to you," she said teasingly, though the statement was sincere. He blushed again, his smile widening.

"Yeah, yeah." He sobered up slightly, turning his head to the side. "It's getting late, Milly. I think we should start." She calmed down as well, following the direction his eyes were facing.

"Yeah, you're right. Dad only gave me until 12 and now it's already 11:24." She pulled out of his grip, intertwining their fingers together as she led him to the stack of fireworks. It was much less fireworks then the first time when they had done it with everyone together. But as time passed, they realized lighting all those fireworks with just the two of them was more painful. In addition, they had less and less time to continue this ritual each year what with Milly's television career rising and Rivalz multitude of jobs. But they managed, and were planning on continuing to do so for as long as possible.

They lit the first firework, watching it as it burst into a shower of colorful sparks. One by one, they lit each firework.

"For those who always belonged but could never stay."

Sharp, feisty pink.

"For those who deserved so much better but received the most unjust punishment."

Brilliant, optimistic orange.

"For those who left by choice, broken, but couldn't be healed."

Warm, bright lavender.

"For those who lived for a purpose but couldn't see it through."

Bold, emerald green.

"For those who the world hated but gave everything for the world."

Piercing, vivid violet.

"For those who loved them but were left behind."

Radiant, jovial yellow and deep, vibrant indigo soared upwards together.

"For everyone who should be here but isn't." Milly whispered, tightening her grip on his hand.

They looked up at the explosions of multicolored light twinkling amongst the stars. He wrapped an arm around her tight as tears flowed noiselessly from both their eyes. They watched on as the surge of glowing sparks intermingled in the sky, their separate colors becoming one, until they fell together.

Rivalz turned away from the now empty sky, facing his wife.

"We should get going," he said reluctantly. "We told Cecile we'd be back soon, and you know how much of a handful the kids could be. And I wasn't lying when I said the traffic was bad." Milly nodded, tearing her eyes off the sky.

"Yeah," she breathed, leaning into his hold. "Let's go home."

The couple made their way down the stairs slowly, engraving the night into their mind. Rivalz went ahead to the parking lot, quickly bringing his car around for Milly. She put a hand on the car door, looking back at the school where she had gained and lost so many people. She took a deep breath before getting into the car. Rivalz put a hand on hers as he drove back to their home.

"As long as we don't forget them," he began suddenly, keeping his eyes on the road. "They'll always be here." He squeezed Milly's hand, blinking away the tears obscuring his vision. She returned the action, letting her tears fall for him.

"And we'll never forget," she replied definitely, keeping the words in her heart as they pulled into their driveway.

'We'll never forget.'

Author's Note: If you're curious about these kiddies, there are four. The eldest, Lulu, is a girl. She's turning ten soon. She has Rivalz's hair and eyes, but looks exactly like her mommy. Next is Shirley, she just turned 9. She has her daddy's hair, but her mommy's eyes. After that is Suzanne, who is 7. She's got mommy's hair & daddy's eyes. Finally, it's Nina. She's 5 and has Milly's hair and eyes, but looks like a more feminine version of her daddy. Yes, I am making them name their children after Lelouch, Shirley, Suzaku, and Nina. I can't find a way to fit Kallen though. I kinda dislike her too much. I mean, I actually don't hate her or something. I think she's super cool and kicks serious butt (this is rated K+... I can't say a**) however, she was not in the original student council. Neither was Suzaku, but I'm in love with him, so it's okay. xD You know, I actually don't like Nina either, but I felt like I had to put her. Eh. Whatever.

Oh, tell me your guess for who the person who took the picture is. It isn't that hard. I made it pretty obvious. -.- & if you can guess the pattern for the fireworks, I'll feed you virtual cookies. xD It's not really a pattern so much as it is an order... I guess. The last two are obviously Milly & Rivalz, so they don't count.

Reviews. They're an acronym for ReallyEvilVillainsIntentlyEatWontonSoup.

...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Can you come up with a better one than THAT?! Hahah, anywho, leave me some reallyevilvillainsintentlydeatwontonsoup. xD