A Code Geass fanfic. I own nothing.
Sequel to The Funeral.

Contains spoilers for R2.
Kallen tells us in the end of the series that the world has gotten a lot better, but that there's still much to do. This is my take on the following events and what may had happened.

~ Truth or Lies

Celebrations and Talks

Kallen was in her senior year at Ashford Academy. Months had passed since the murder of emperor Lelouch. She'd returned to school not long after. Her mother had wanted her to make something out of her life that didn't involved war, battles and Knightmares. She had complied. Happily even. Mostly because there was no more fights to be fought. The problems of the world were no longer dealt with through war. Military might had been abandoned. The Knightmares were now being used to transport food, water and medical supplies to remote places of the world. Instead of taking lives they saved lives.

She was aiming to study economy or perhaps math after she had finished at Ashford. She still wanted to help the world, to make a difference. Rivalz, the only one of her old friends who were in school, had talked about studying engineering. That didn't surprise her. He had always loved machines, specially the ones who moved at high speed.

It was late spring, and the cherry blossoms were blooming. She stopped and admired the trees. The flowers seemed brighter this year. Perhaps this was how Japan itself celebrated its newly gained freedom.

Kallen lifted her hand, and gently touched the Guren startup key around her neck. She never went anywhere without it, she'd even worn it at Ohgi's wedding.

The wedding between Ohgi and Viletta. They had married only two months after the death of Lelouch. She had asked him why they wanted get married so soon after the terrible events, and why they couldn't wait until everything had calmed down. It seemed rather rash to marry just as the elections to the new government were about to start.

Ohgi had laughed, and told her it was because Viletta wanted to marry before she got to big to fit in her wedding dress.

Which actually made sense.

That was a nice, simple reason. And the wedding had been wonderful. It had lifted the heavy cloud from their hearts.

The first election of the new japanese government had ended yesterday, after months of hard battle between the candidates. And Ohgi, whom she had fought alongside for such a long time, the former depute commander of the Black Knights, had been elected Prime minister of Japan. She smiled and started walking again. Ohgi had never really been a fighter. He preferred peaceful solutions. Just the kind of man the new world needed.

She was on her way to the celebration party. It was rather unofficially. They wouldn't waist money on something so trivial. So here she was, on her way to Ohgi and Viletta's house to celebrate new start. The house of the prime minister of Japan.
As she walked towards the front door, after getting through security she couldn't help but thinking about how this had once, a long time ago, been then house and home of Suzaku and his family. His father, the former prime minister, his mother, and siblings.
No one really know much about what happend to the Kururugi family after Britania took over Japan. They were alive. But undergroud, the shame of what their oldest son had done had been too great. They had hated him.

"Kallen!" She smiled at the man who opened the door. Tamaki had recovered from the events faster than she had thought possible. One could say a lot about the hotheaded man, but he was a surviver. He didn't cling to the past.

"Hello Tamaki. Am I the last one to arrive?"

"Yeup. Come on in! We can't party without you!" He dragged her through the door, while jabbing away about how his new bar was a big succes and about this 'awesomely beautiful girl' he had met the other night. What ever that meant.

He let her to a room filled with people she knew. Ohgi was standing together with Viletta. She'd given birth a month before. The child were with her nurse, an infant didn't really care about election parties anyways. She smiled as Kallen made her way towards them.

"Kallen!" Ohgi hugged her. "I'm so happy to see you."

"And you too Ohgi. Prime minister, I can't believe it!" She had of course voted on him, but much had still been unclear. It seemed like she had been worried over nothing. He won with an overwhelming majority vote.

He scratched the back of his head, and laughed nervously. "I'm very surprised too. But it seems like I have support of the people, even among the britanians who still lives here! Can you believe it? I mean, what are .."

Kallens mind wandered as Ohgi started explaining the last months in detail.
It wasn't so hard to believe. Lelouch had showed the britanians what it was like to be suppressed by an unfriendly power. They all knew that.

".. and I've received congratulation-notes from leaders from the entire world! Here, look at this." He withdrew something from his inner pocket.

"It's from empress Nunnaly."

Kallen raised an eyebrow, and started reading.

After the funeral Nunnaly had left Japan and traveled to Britannia. The new Zero had followed her and they hadn't heard much from her in the last year, other than when she occasionally appeared on television.

The letter which Nunnaly had send to Ohgi expressed the young empress's deep relief that it was Ohgi who had won the japanese election. She praised him, and the things he had done for Japan even before he had become prime minister. And..

"She wants to come here? To Japan?" Kallen looked up from the letter, just in time to see Ohgi nod, his expression seriously.

"Yes. Empress Nunnaly have the full support from her own newly elected government, and wishes to pay Japan a visit to make an official apology for the horrible things the former leaders, military and population of Britannia has done to Japan and its people."

"When?"

"The details are still being worked out, but soon. We need to sort out our political situation, but when that's in place she'll visit. Two-three months maybe. She have been on similar trips to other countries in the last months, just ending her trip in Europe last week. Britannia has much to apologize for and much to redeem. She knows that more than anybody. Empress Nunnaly is very well aware that simple words can't change the world. But they help. It is important that we show the world that grudges of the past are gone and that we look into the future."

Kallen nodded, folded the letter together and gave it back to Ohgi. She watched as he placed it in his breast pocket again. He had received letters from leaders all over the world. And yet, this letter from a seventeen year old empress from Britannia had gotten the place over his heart. It was.. kinda cute. Their dear, insecure Ohgi. She shook her head and smiled. He would never change. And how she prayed he wouldn't.

The celebration continued for many hours. It was nice to see everybody again. After she had returned to school she hadn't been able to spend much time with her old comrades and friends.
In the weeks after the Zero Requiem she had been together with them all the time, every hour of every day. But then her mother had turned up, telling her of this small house she'd bought for the two of them. She'd then requested Kallen to return to school and asked if she would come and live with her. And Kallen did.

"How is you mother?" asked Tohdo. He hadn't said much, smalltalk wasn't really his thing. He was still a leading figure in the Black Knights. He had been a soldier for too long to give that up.
"She is well. She have almost recovered completely from the Refrain. She even started to walk around the neighborhood last week. She sends her greetings. She also wanted me to thank you guys for looking after me during the war."

The others laughed. "That is sweet of her. But really, it was more you that looked after us." Minami pointed out. Tamaki pointed at the Guren startup key with his index finger while smirking. "If you hadn't piloted Guren, we would've lost long before we even started."

Kallen smiled. "That's true. But if it hadn't been for you strategy guys I never would have known where to be. And without Rakshata we wouldn't have accomplished anything at all."

Ohgi raised his glass. "To the strategy guys, the ace and the inventor!" The rest of them copied him. "To them!"

Silence followed. Nobody said anything. They stared at their now empty glasses or out of the window.

"So.." Tamaki shifted around, he hated awkward silence. "Kallen, how's school?"

"Fine. There's a lot to learn, but I'm picking it up pretty fast. Though it seems like I missed some rather important stuff while being absent during the war. So I have to study extra hard if I want to make it to college after graduation."

"And friends?" asked Viletta, while eying her curiously. Kallen shrugged.
"Fine. I know Rivalz from before, and I talk with some of the others. They seem rather intimidated of me though."

Ohgi smiled reassuringly, and patted her shoulder. "You can't blame them. You played a pretty big part in the war, and was broadcasted on TV more than once."
She signed. "I know. But it's annoying. I miss the old days. When I joined the Student Council I actually started to have fun in school, for the first time ever. Now it's all work." she smiled sadly and glanced down into her empty glass.
"It was fun when Milly was the Student President with all her crazy events, Shirly was still alive and cheerful, Nina hadn't gone completely mental, before I knew Suzaku was the pilot of the Lancelot. And before Lelouch turned out to be Zero." She signed. "It was nice, to be with people my own age. I remember once Rivalz and Suzaku had captured Lelouch by order of Milly. The Council had just found a cat, and decided to adopt it and throw a welcoming party for it for some reason. They all dressed up like cats, except Lelouch who refused. When I walked in they were all trying to paint whiskers on him." the others stared at her, astounded. She had never told them anything like this before.

"Whiskers?" Tamaki deadpanned. "They painted whiskers on Zero?" Kallen nodded and he bursted out laughing with the others joining in. It was a rather humorous image.

"Are you and this boy Rivalz getting along?" asked Minami.
"Yeah. Apparently he was quite worried about me after I left school to join permanently up with the Black Knights. He told me when I returned to school that he had even asked Suzaku to help me. I never knew. But he is a good guy. He too misses the old days. In the last two years he has lost almost all his friends. In school at least. Four of them dead, two graduated. He said the other day that he is glad I'm back."

"I'm glad you have a friend at school Kallen. And that you are doing good." she looked at the smiling Ohgi, returning his smile before frowning in mock annoyance.

"Enough about me! We are in the company of the new Prime Minister! So please tell us mr Prime Minister, what are your future plans for this blessed country and its people?"

Kallen has always annoyed me a little bit. But then again, I am easily annoyed.

I just now remembered that I totally forgot to mention Gino in this chapter. Guess he'll have to wait.

In my opinion Kallen and Gino are a perfect match. She was rather smitten by Zero, but I honestly don't think that she would be able to cope with Lelouch's personality on the long run. And I don't think that Lelouch were interessted in Kallen like that.
Gino is more a more down to earth, relaxed kind of guy. A type which I think Kallen would be able to live with. Not to mention their shared love for Knightmares and .

Where this story is going I don't know. It is going to be multiple chaptered, but how long I don't know. It may just be a lot of chronicle oneshots. As of now it's just me having fun writing down thoughts on what happened after the funeral.