Disclaimer: This fanfic includes lines paraphrased or directly taken from the Code Geass and Code Geass R2 series.
Turn 1: The Final Curtain
"Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero!"
The crowd was swarming around the float. Nunnally held her brother's body close and stared out at the sea of people. There was no way she could get him past them by herself. Everybody's relief at the prisoners' release was fading; the suppressed wrath of the masses was coming to a boil. The Britannian guards had already been ripped to pieces by the throng. Soon, the people's wrath would descend upon the thin body in her arms.
Images of her brother amidst hurled trash, of tearing hands, of spit and desecration raced through her mind. Please, she thought, let me keep him now that he's dead. Impossible. The sufferings of populace required payback.
Nunnally looked desperately up at Zero who was looking down inscrutably from the high platform.
He flourished with his arm, showing that he was about to speak. The crowd fell silent.
"People of Japan. People of the World. I rejoice with you. Here, now ends the reign of Lelouch vi Britannia, the enemy of us all. Here lies the Demon Emperor who invited his doom on the Path of Blood and Evil.
'In this moment, we stand united. From this place, from this time, we must move forward on the Path of Peace. When we look back, let us remember. Everyone among us has lost someone: father, mother, child, friend, love. We must all remember, so that we never again embark on the road of destruction. We must not let the deaths and sacrifices be in vain."
Zero walked down to the lower platform. Nunnally gasped, clutching her brother's body protectively.
"Nunnally vi Britannia, I, too, am sad for your brother. He should have been a better man, but here lie dashed all hopes that he could ever be anything greater than what he had become. Let us go and bury him. We must put him to rest with the hatred and vengeance that his schemes provoked. Then you, I and everybody will be free to join each other in building a gentler world.
'General Tohdoh, Kallen, Ohgi, Orange, Schneizel el Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia. I require your assistance. Will you please carry him upon your shoulders so that the world can see the conclusion of our despair? Tomorrow, we shall move forward into a future filled with hope."
The somber personages stepped forward. More quietly, Zero said to them. "There are a Knightmare, an ambulance and a limousine at the other end of the square. Nunnally will ride with the body in the ambulance to Ashford Academy. I request that you all please come with us in the limo. I will bring up the rear in the Knightmare."
Jeremiah Gottwald and Schneizel el Britannia took the dead emperor's head and shoulders, Kallen Kouzuki and General Tohdoh supported his middle, and Kaname Ohgi and Cornelia li Britannia carried his legs and feet. Zero held Nunnally in his arms at the front of the procession. The party walked off the stage, and the crowd parted before their heroes and dignitaries.
Years later, all eight of them still swore that Lelouch vi Britannia had died on that historic day.
Turn 2: Ghost Light
The door of the ambulance shut. Nunnally sat with the body. The driver started the engine. The van began to move.
Nunnally sighed and leaned back against the wall of the van. She looked across at her brother, who had the look of a person who had fallen asleep. She, too, wanted to shut her eyes, to have some respite from the chaos of this particular day. Momentarily, she envied Lelouch who looked so restful. Stop, that's morbid, she thought, Besides, I could have died today, myself.
Suddenly, Lelouch sat up. Nunnally stared at him – and screamed. Her brother yawned and rubbed his eyes. "You – you!" she stammered pointing her finger at her brother. "You can't, you're supposed to be—"
Lelouch looked at her with a wistful, exasperated expression. "Dead? Mortally injured? Sorry, you knew perfectly well that I survived. I heard you gasp when you realized--"
"I thought I'd imagined it," Nunnally croaked weakly.
Lelouch shook his head.
"But," Nunnally sputtered. "I felt you die. I saw –" Lelouch nodded and smiled patiently. "I saw the light leave your eyes. I felt your heart stop beating. You stopped breathing! I don't understand. He killed you. How can you still be alive?"
"I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you ahead of time," said Lelouch. "I wasn't absolutely sure whether this would happen or not. All the possible contingencies had to be covered."
"Contingencies?" Nunnally cried. "Like maybe you'd stay dead?"
"Yes," Lelouch answered. "I've always believed that the only ones who should fire are those who are prepared to be fired upon."
Nunnally was at a loss for words. Lelouch sighed; he hadn't thought that she would be so shrill. On the other hand, he did recently put her through a holocaust, two months of imprisonment, near-execution, an assassination and a resurrection. He felt a pang of guilt for having tried her constitution. Perhaps, it was the prison time that had hardened her. No, it was he.
"That's not funny, Brother," said Nunnally when she found her voice again.
"No, it's not," agreed Lelouch. "I apologize."
Nunnally stared at him and wondered how he could be there talking to her at this time. "It's your Geass, isn't it? That's how you're here."
"Well, not exactly. But essentially, yes," said Lelouch.
Geass, again? thought Nunnally. That vile twisted power that corrupted people's willpower, that made them disappear as their empty shells committed whatever abomination her brother had wished on them. "So what are you going to do, Brother? Make me forget that I saw you here?"
"That power is gone," said Lelouch with his head bowed. "I very recently swapped it for longevity."
The gulf between them widened. "I see," said Nunnally. Lelouch would now exist in an entirely different plane than she. On the other hand, since when was he ever on the level with her about anything? Even as children, she had the sense that he hid reality from her. The distance between them would now only be clearly pronounced rather than lurking.
She testily inquired, "So, you're back from the dead. Is Suzaku alive then, too?"
"That does not follow," replied Lelouch.
"There's no need to talk down to me," his sister rebuked him. "As you were –dying – when I touched your hand -- I saw things – the agreement that you two made. I know."
"Then you also know that Suzaku is alive only in a manner of speaking," said Lelouch.
"Yes, you killed him in more ways than one," Nunnally agreed. "And then, you buried him behind that mask forever."
"It was mercy," Lelouch disagreed. "I only gave him what he wanted. We are both dead men."
There was a silence as Nunnally mulled over what her brother had said. Only an hour ago, she had believed that she had lost him for good. And now, here he was – alive and none the worse for wear – breaking her heart once more. "Then, you mean to tell me," she said tentatively, "that this is 'Good-bye' again? You're leaving me -- again? Forever?"
Lelouch nodded.
"Brother, how could you? The only wish I ever had was for us to be together."
Lelouch took his sister's hand. "No matter what happens, I will always watch over you. But for the sake of the world, for you, I need to stay dead. If I come back, everybody's hatreds will be resurrected. The world and I can no longer co-exist, so the world and I must learn to make do without each other."
Nunnally looked away, her free hand balled into a fist. What about her? She had never asked to make do without Lelouch. She had never asked to sacrifice her happiness for his schemes – however great the ends. She had never asked for the horrors that he had committed in her name. If only he could have let her world be as it was….
"I can't bear to have a future without you. I don't want a future without you."
"You are much stronger than I thought you were," Lelouch replied. "You will find your own way."
"Alone." The tears ran down her face once more. "You'll die again for me when you leave, Lelouch. You've become even crueler than I thought you were."
Her brother sighed heavily with regret. "And to think that only a short while ago, you said you loved me."
"Yes, unfortunately, I still do and always will."
Lelouch kissed his sister's cheek. "Nunnally, I love you, too."
Turn 3: Ghost Light Encore, the Other Car
In the wake of victory there is vulnerability. Now was a bad time to be letting down one's guard. If a stranger tells you to get into a car, Cornelia recalled, there's a fairly good chance that it won't be going anywhere good.
She eyed her companions. They were sitting ducks in here. Anybody wanting to wipe out a substantial portion of the Britannian and the Black Knights leadership could do so just by bombing the car or shooting a machine gun into the car or releasing poison gas in the car or….
Don't be ridiculous, Cornelia told herself. If Zero wanted them dead, he could easily have let Lelouch execute General Tohdoh, Kallen Kouzuki, Kaname Ohgi, and Schneizel. It would have been less messy for Zero that way. On the other hand, he would have failed to rescue them, which would have tarnished his reputation as a man of miracles.
This Zero had been lucky and clever, she had thought as she carried her brother's body. The crowd never knew the first man behind the mask, so they revered Zero. To publicly disobey or question the iconic figure's instructions when he had just triumphed over the Demon Emperor would have incurred the suspicion and possibly the fury of the masses. Thus, a general, an ace pilot, the Black Knights' leader and three former nobles had all been coerced into a car where their host was absent.
Cornelia wondered why she, General Tohdoh, Kallen Kouzuki, Kaname Ohgi, Schneizel and Jeremiah been asked to carry the Demon Emperor's body away from the float. In the first place, Lelouch was not heavy. Jeremiah Gottwald alone could have taken care of it. Adding Cornelia and four confinement-atrophied ex-prisoners seemed to be overkill. Secondly, she had noticed that out of respect for the body-bearers, none of the crowd had moved to desecrate the body. She felt vexed that Zero wanted them to protect Lelouch's remains. If anybody deserved to be torn limb from limb, it was he. Was this respect inspired by some connection between the two Zeros? Was it some polite gesture to a defeated formidable adversary?
If that was the case, some diabolical, manipulative scheme remained in the realm of possibility. Would they be attacked so that Zero could come to the rescue? Or, would this Zero kill them, make up a justification and usurp the throne that he had just emptied?
But then, another notable incident on the same day would distract from Lelouch's assassination, spoil the theatrical spectacle of his death. It would be uncharacteristic of the Zero persona to ruin a good performance.
The questions all boiled down to two essentials: What was the character of this Zero? What were the plans of the man behind the mask?
A sniffling sound distracted Cornelia from her suspicions.
Kallen, who had maintained complete composure when they were carrying the body through the crowd, had begun to weep quietly. Cornelia li Britannia offered Kallen the box of tissues (which were mysteriously ready in the car) and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.
Kallen accepted the tissues. "Sorry…. It's just…. I …." She firmly but politely brushed Cornelia's hand away. A real cry was coming on, shaking Kallen's shoulders.
Despite appearing to be in meditation or a nap, General Tohdoh clenched his teeth. Kaname Ohgi looked at the floor.
Cornelia remembered. The confrontation between the Black Knights and Lelouch. As Kallen escorted him to the firing squad, she had been talking to him in a most warm and happy tone of voice. Regardless of what he had done, she apparently still felt for him.
No one had understood when Cornelia wept for the Massacre Princess, yet she too had received condolences. It seemed fitting to pass the kindness to someone else, however, here was not the place to say, "I'm sorry for the loss of your Demon Emperor."
Fortunately, Schneizel came to the rescue. "You must be glad that it's all over," he said, referring to the wars, their captivity and their brush with death.
"Yes," said Kallen. " That must be it."
Kallen continued to tearfully gaze out the window. Cornelia decided against offering more consolation for the time being and folded her arms across her chest in resignation.
The limo ride continued. Cornelia was not the only one who had been brooding.
Ohgi had the feeling that everybody in the car knew something that he didn't know, except perhaps Cornelia who appeared to be in a huff. Kallen seemed unjustifiably sad at the death of the man who had used her and then consigned her to execution. General Tohdoh was either meditating or sleeping. Schneizel el Britannia, the political predator, remained suspiciously placid. As for Jeremiah Gottwald, surely his smug expression was not about satisfaction with Lelouch getting just desserts for the Orange incident.
They seemed far too calm and quiet given that the seat of a world leader, however tyrannical, had just been vacated and that there was a second edition masked vigilante in town, whose character had yet to be sufficiently differentiated from that of his two-faced predecessor.
And besides, did nobody notice that there was something creepy about the body of said two-faced predecessor?
"I could have sworn that I felt him move," Ohgi mentioned.
General Todoh opened his eyes and looked over at Ohgi. He replied evenly, "That sometimes happens with corpses."
"It's called postmortem spasm," volunteered Schneizel absently. He would know, of course; assassination and post-assassination gossip were Britannia family pastimes, even if he never cared for it himself.
Kallen blew her nose and dried her eyes. "There's no surviving a wound like that."
"Well…." said Jeremiah Gottwald.
"Oh, sorry," Kallen apologized. Mr. Gottwald had apparently suffered tremendous, excruciating physical wounds to obtain his cybernetic parts.
"Nevermind, it's alright," he said. "Besides, I can't imagine anyone wanting to bring him back. If he wasn't dead when we were carrying him, he'll surely be dead by the time we get to the Academy."
Cornelia was stunned. "Jeremiah, just an hour ago, you were working for him. Whatever happened to serving the royal family?"
"It was not all that it was cracked up to be," Jeremiah succinctly replied. "I'm glad he's dead." Clearly, Cornelia had touched a nerve of some sort. It sounded as if Lelouch had been so dreadful an employer that it was perfectly appropriate for Jeremiah to let Zero kill the son of a bitch, if only for the sake of spite.
"We're all better off without him," said Schneizel.
The occupants of the limo took a moment to contemplate that thought. Whether Lelouch was dead or not, he was neutralized for the time being. But with Lelouch out of the way, there was a matter of even greater concern.
"I wonder who's behind the mask," Ohgi spoke again.
"I'm sure that he will be revealed by his actions," said Schneizel.
"All he's done so far is kill Lelouch," Ohgi pointed out.
"A benevolent act," Schneizel surmised.
"Obviously, it seems to be to our benefit," said Cornelia, "but how do we know this Zero's true intentions?"
"For the time being, we can't. We will have to wait and see," answered Schneizel.
"But by the time that happens, it could be too late," Ohgi protested. "By the time you'd shown us the truth about the first Zero, he'd already caused the Princess Massacre, the Black Rebellion and the Second Battle for Tokyo."
"Even discovering a name and a face will not tell you what kind of person Zero is," Kallen quietly stated.
Ohgi was dumbfounded. "Kallen, what do you mean by that? If we had known from the very start that Lelouch was schoolboy using us as pieces in his game we'd have--"
"—never left the ghetto." she finished. "We would have had no hope and no future. General Tohdoh, here, would have been executed."
"How can you still defend him after all that we've been through, after all the lives that were lost?" Ohgi said with disgust.
"I'm not," said Kallen. "Lelouch was a manipulative and selfish tyrant brat, but sometimes, the ends don't match the means. Today, his reign of terror ended. His evil brought everybody together, and the result is that now we are ready to talk about peace."
"That's a little too tidy," Cornelia commented.
Kallen ignored Cornelia and continued on, "Besides, people are not always as they appear. True intentions are often hidden," said Kallen. "Think of Chigusa."
Ohgi frowned in agitation. True, nobody would have expected it: Chigusa had nearly killed him on two occasions, but now, they were gladly affianced. Even so, "That's different," Ohgi replied. "To her, I was never a pawn. Anyway, how would you know?"
Cornelia was astounded as well, "Are you seriously suggesting that Lelouch was some sort of saint in disguise, that he had himself killed?"
"I can't know if he planned it," Kallen replied. "As well as I thought that I knew him – I mean, I went to school with him, I fought under him, I thought he was my friend – but, every time I look back, I realize that I didn't know him at all. It's as if there wasn't ever a real Lelouch; he was always changing. Good, then evil. Evil, then good."
"What does this have to do with identifying the new Zero?" said Ohgi.
"Absolutely nothing, apparently," said Schneizel.
Cornelia decided to attempt another line of inquiry. "Orange," she said rather pointedly, "You let Zero pass, didn't you? Do you have any idea who he might be?"
"What of it?" answered Jeremiah Gottwald with some annoyance, "Regardless, this new Zero is one whose secrets I do not know."
"But if you let Zero pass, there must have been a plan between you two," Cornelia insisted.
Jeremiah Gottwald sighed. "I was contacted about a month ago. Ever since the incident with the U.F.N. it had seemed that his Majesty had gone mad. The less he was himself, the less I could justify my loyalty. Zero understood."
"Understanding…." Cornelia pondered. "I hope that the new Zero doesn't possess Geass."
"You forget," Gottwald gestured to his cybernetic eye, "that I have some immunity to Geass."
"That only proves that you acted of your own accord," said Cornelia. "It doesn't prove that the rest of us are safe."
"Then we should attempt to unmask him at the first opportunity!" Ohgi emphatically proposed. "All of this guessing about what Zero wants and whether he has Geass could be solved if we could just get find out who he is."
"That would be very foolish." General Tohdoh finally spoke up.
Ohgi and Cornelia stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head.
"I reached the same conclusion," said Schneizel. "What is your reasoning, General Todoh?"
"Assuming that the new Zero has Geass, if it is anything like the predecessor's, attempting to unmask him would almost guarantee that you would fall under his influence. You would succeed in removing the mask, in which case he would be able to make eye contact with you. Or you would fail, in which case he could cast a Geass upon you anyway. You could attempt to render him unconscious before unmasking him or you could bring protective eyewear, but you can't have missed during our brief acquaintance with him that this Zero possesses extreme physical prowess. If he can easily dodge bullets and leap over 15 foot walls, then he can just as easily snatch off your masks and goggles. Again, being put under a Geass falls within the realm of great likelihood."
"But assuming that the new Zero has no Geass?" said Schneizel.
"Then he is as ordinary as we are, however talented he may be." General Tohdoh finished the thought. "Of course, we still haven't established whether he has Geass or not. That remains to be determined, along with everything else we've discussed. It would be wise to test him to gauge how much we should trust him, but forcing him to reveal himself should be a last resort."
"Yes," Schneizel agreed. "If this Zero turns out to be the world's ally, we would do well not to alienate him. Indeed, unless he begins to behave suspiciously, an overzealous investigation of his identity might be an utter waste of resources and counterproductive to reconstruction."
"You are suggesting that we do nothing?" Cornelia balked incredulously.
"No," said Schneizel. "I am saying that we should very carefully watch and wait."
Thus the occupants of limousine entered into an unspoken pact: Lelouch vi Britannia, Demon Emperor was dead, and Zero's identity was a secret. None of them would say anything contrary to these truths.
One more question bothered Ohgi, however. "I wonder…. if this car is bugged, and Zero is listening inside that Knightmare frame as we speak."
"I would not be surprised if that were the case," said Schneizel. "It would be foolish of him otherwise."
Turn 4: Stand-in
Nunnally looked to the rear-view mirror where she saw parts of the faces of the ambulance driver and the paramedic. Strangely, the paramedic had been sitting next to the ambulance driver the entire time instead of in the back of the van. Both the driver and the paramedic had been looking straight ahead at the road this entire time; they hadn't even reacted when Nunnally screamed. Presumably, they had been Geassed.
"We're almost there," said Lelouch. "I need to prepare." He undid the fastenings on a storage cupboard by the gurney.
"A doll?" said Nunnally as Lelouch rolled the white-garbed mannequin out of the cupboard. It was taking him some effort to arrange it face-side up on the gurney.
"Yes." Lelouch affirmed. "It's anatomically correct and very much like the original. The blood inside it is mine. Some of the parts are real, thanks to the war and to extended family who happen to be genetically similar, and it has a stab wound that matches mine. The hard parts that aren't bone are made of plastic, so it will burn. At the moment, it's undergoing chemically simulated rigor mortis, and the blood is settling."
Nunnally shuddered.
"There must be a body, after all," Lelouch continued as he adjusted the mannequin's pose. "It should pass a cursory video-recorded inspection and autopsy."
"How?" Nunnally said with wonder.
"You'd be surprised by the handiwork of special effects artists and doll makers who have been toiling for three months straight with an unlimited budget. As for smaller irregularities, I'm sure that you can guess. There are only so many medical examiners remaining in Tokyo."
"Geass," Nunnally surmised. He must have erased the memories of countless craftsmen and toyed with all the minds of Tokyo's remaining doctors. She frowned at the distasteful thought. Lelouch was dirtying his hands to the very end; there was no changing him.
"How are you going to disappear?" she decided to inquire in a different vein.
"That's easy enough." Lelouch took an ambulance driver's uniform, a wig, a pair of glasses, a fake tattoo, some spirit gum, a moustache and a contact lenses case out from one of the cupboards. "The driver will go home 'sick' soon after we arrive, and I will conveniently have stepped in to take over his shift." Lelouch gestured to the long cupboard. "I'll need to stow away until everybody's gone though."
"What about the paramedic?" asked Nunnally.
"She's an old friend," said Lelouch.
Nunnally looked again to the rear-view mirror of the ambulance and noticed the faint odor of pizza coming from the passenger seat. So, that was what C.C. looked like, thought Nunnally. Then, it occurred to her that C.C., like Lelouch, was probably disguised somehow. "C.C.? You've been here all this time?"
"I'm just along for the ride, and the pizza," C.C. replied.
Nunnally watched as her brother began transforming himself into someone that she wouldn't recognize. One would think that I'd be used to his deception by now, she thought. "If only I didn't have to play along…." she muttered.
"If you didn't, people would think that you'd lost your mind or gotten hooked on Refrain," Lelouch told her. "After being defeated by your brother, imprisoned, and nearly executed on top of surviving the assassinations of two family members, I imagine people might be sympathetic to your wanting me to be alive and as I seemed in the good old days.'
Nunnally glared at him.
Lelouch continued, "Alternately, if people took you seriously, the gentle world that I've made for you and everybody else would come crashing down. If I return as Emperor, there will be rebellion, and there will be bloodshed as I will be obliged to defend myself without my old Geass. If I abdicate and return as a commoner, anybody who doesn't want to kill me again will want me as a tool to carry out his own agenda. And he would threaten you to keep me in line. This scenario does not bode well for world stability or you. It's for the best for everybody involved that I disappear."
Nunnally reproached him. "You have me trapped again."
"And for that, I am sorry," said Lelouch. The rear gates of Ashford Academy appeared. "We are going to arrive soon." He embraced Nunnally one last time. For a moment, he thought that Nunnally was not going to hug him back. Then to his surprise, she latched onto him so tightly that the embrace was like a death grip.
"I'm going to miss you, so much," she said, weeping again.
"And I, you," echoed Lelouch.
They parted, and Lelouch climbed into the cupboard. "Nunnally, I love you," he said before shutting the cupboard.
"Goodbye, Brother. I love you, too," said Nunnally. A thought occurred to her, "Wait! Can't you –"
The back door of the ambulance opened.
Keep in touch, somehow, thought Nunnally.
Turn 5: Closing Night
Account by Nunnally vi Britannia for the files of the Classified Documents Review Panel:
Although the cause of death was obvious, I gave my permission for a partial autopsy of my brother's body so that the specifics would be available for the historic record. Zero, General Tohdoh, Kallen Kouzuki, Kaname Ohgi, Jeremiah Gottwald, Schneizel el Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia, and I were all present to witness the autopsy – conducted by Dr. Eleanor Nakamura. The video recording of the autopsy is available to the public by request, but I prefer not to advertise that fact. According to the report, Brother died of a badly collapsed lung and a ruptured blood vessel just under his heart. Zero's sword had grazed it, and the vein burst as my brother was falling.
Zero, the closest of our old school friends and the people who had carried my brother's body waked him with me. They watched afterwards, when I had him cremated and his bones ground to dust. Zero and I scattered these ashes at Kururugi shrine where my brother and I had once been happy as children.
I wanted him to be at peace. He had such a difficult spirit.
