Okay! So I saw the end of Code Geass (and I literally cried, because that is SO unfair! DX DX DX) And then I thought of this. I feel like it's a kinda stupid idea, but I'm writing it anyways. XP XP XP IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN TO THE END OF CODE GEASS, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT READ THIS STORY, BECAUSE I WILL NOT BE BLAMED FOR THE SPOILERS WHEN I'M EXPLICITLY TELLING YOU ABOUT IT. Okay, I'm done. XP XP XP I don't own Code Geass or any of the characters in this story! I'm just a random *cough cough* wannabe *cough cough* writer who wants to do this anime justice, although I probably can't. So onward! Hope you like it!

Zero

My breath was even, calm, steady. My stance was confident and commanding. I didn't so much as blink, although no one would've seen it anyways. The mask i wore hid my face from sight.

I knew that my posture and the aura that I had was almost perfect, if not completely so. No one would be able to tell the difference between me and the hero they respected so much.

Zero.

The mastermind who guided the Japanese, the "Elevens" for so long, and the one who got them so far.

There I stood on the horizon, waiting for Lelouch's magnificent parade to come along. I could already see the scene playing out in my head. I would block the path of the parade. Run to the throne Lelouch would be on. And then I would-

I cut that thought off. I didn't want to think about my job any more than I had to.

Just then, I saw the Nightmares. At first, i didn't move. I couldn't. All I wanted to do at that moment was turn around and run away. Never look back. Leave my dear friend alive. I was tired of losing my loved ones. I didn't want to throw away any more.

But even as I thought this, I knew that it was the right thing to do.

I saw the faked shock on Lelouch's face when he looked at me.

I ground my teeth together and took off towards him like a bullet from a gun.

The Nightmares began to shoot at me wildly, trying to kill me as befit the royal guard. I didn't actually know if they knew Lelouch's plan or not. But regardless, I easily dodged the bullets and jumped skillfully over one of the machines, running at full speed.

Then there was Jeremiah. He yelled, "Cease fire! I'll take care of this interloper!" But I didn't really register it. If I did, I knew that it would only make it that much more difficult to continue.

Jeremiah's arm sprouted a sword and he charged toward me as if preparing for a fight. Just as easily as I'd jumped over the Nightmare, I propelled myself off of his back, effectively throwing me to the ground. I could practically feel his gaze following my movements.

As I passed by Nunnally, I internally begged for her forgiveness, knowing that what I was about to do would break her heart.

And then at last, I was standing before Lelouch.

Lelouch rose from his throne and yelled angrily, "Impudent fool!" as he pulled a gun out of his coat. He tried to aim it at me, but I drew my sword and quickly knocked it out of his hand. His only defense went flying through the air to land somewhere in the distance.

The moment when I was about to stab him felt more like a lifetime than it did the seconds it actually was. So many scenes ran through my head. Not only the two of us discussing our plan for this day, but even beyond that. It was almost like my life was flashing before my eyes even though I wasn't the one dying today.

I remembered when we were children, we'd had the same dreams. We were going to free Japan. Lelouch had gone one step further and even said he would obliterate Britannia. We'd been so sure that it would happen, just as kids always were. Never in our wildest dreams had we imagined that the only way to achieve are goal would be to kill one of us.

Lelouch smiled weakly at me as I pulled back the sword, preparing to stab him. A smile that tugged on my heart, making the sword seem even heavier than it was already. Even though he had wanted this... Seeing that smile nearly killed me as well as him.

I didn't even try to hold back the tears that spilled from my eyes as I ran Lelouch through with my sword.

An expression of shock crossed Lelouch's face briefly when the blade pierced his chest. But it lasted only for a moment. Mere seconds after he was smiling that same smile, even as he slumped over me, unable to hold his weight any longer.

"Lelouch," I whispered, tears in my eyes. My hands trembled on the handle of the sword now buried in my friend's chest. I hoped it didn't cause him any more pain than he was already feeling. But even as I was crying, Lelouch continued smiling that same smile.

He dampened his hand with his own blood as he said, "The punishment for what you've done shall be this then." He slouched over even more, almost falling off of me. "You will live on, always wearing that mask, serving as a knight for justice and truth."

At that moment and raised his bloodied hand to the mask I now wore. "You will no longer live your life as Suzaku Kururugi." He gently placed his hand on my cheek, almost reverently. "You shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life for the benefit of the world for eternity."

His words... The way he seemed to be christening me with his very own blood... It almost felt like the kind of ceremony that would be held in a church, making the name "requiem" all that much more ironic. As tears continued to spill from my eyes, I answered, "This geass... I do solemnly accept."

As soon as the words escaped my lips, Lelouch's hand slid from the mask, leaving a trail of blood. I pulled the sword out of him, not even watching as he took two slow steps toward the front of his grand carriage. I didn't look even when I heard his body hit the ground and slide down the slope that he could no longer manage to walk on, only to stop right next to Nunnally. I didn't look because I just couldn't bring myself to watch Lelouch's final moments, his death which I had caused.

I barely heard Nunnally whisper her brother's name, as if questioning whether that was really him. If he was actually dying before her. There was a small period of silence when the realization of what Lelouch had done hit her. The fact that he'd done it all for her. She began to cry quietly, saying that she loved him.

Lelouch was silent for a moment before whispering weakly, "Yes... I..." There was another stretch of silence.

And then, it happened.

Lelouch closed his eyes and took his last breath.

My heart panged when Nunally began to sob and scream for her brother who was no longer there. With every tear that fell, every tortured sound that escaped her lips, the pain in my chest grew and grew. Grasping the sword I held hard, I swung it through the air, staining the floor with Lelouch's blood, spilled for the world.

"Lelouch the Demon is dead!" yelled Cornelia. "Free his prisoners!" When she said "the Demon" I almost attacked her as well. This "demon" had saved her. This man whom she called a demon had saved the whole world from war.

But then, I truly realized it. The truth finally hit me.

No one knew.

No one knew that this man had died for them.

When people looked back on this day, on Lelouch vi Britannia, they would see an evil man, a tyrant who'd enslaved every peoples, the enemy of the world. Just as he'd wanted. No one would see a man who'd saved the world from war and fighting. No one would see a hero. No one would see a man who gave up his all, even his very life, to make the world a better place.

The only ones who would miss Lelouch were the ones who knew him as Lelouch Lamperouge and the few who knew the truth of that day, the reality behind the era of Lelouch.

Nunnally and I were probably the only two who would cry over Lelouch's death. Over the loss the world had just suffered without even realizing it.

Lelouch was a hero. A martyr of epic proportions.

And no one would ever know.

I almost laughed when the crowd of people began chanting for the masked assassin before them. After all, they believed they were cheering for the man who had saved them.

But I was not that man. I was not the one who promised the world change and achieved it. The one who lived a lie so others could speak the truth. The one who even allowed his life to be taken to make the world a better place. That wasn't me. The one who deserved all of the praise was the one who was now lying dead below me, his blood staining the carpet.

"The only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed."

Lelouch had said that once. But I'd never expected he would include himself in that number.

The helmet I wore was heavy. As if signifying the weight of the world was now on my shoulders.

That's right, I remembered. It's my turn now. It was now my job to make sure the world stayed in order. I held the sword tightly in my hand.

I would take up Zero's mask as redemption for my sins. No, I told myself. It wouldn't be for my own redemption. It would be to keep Lelouch alive in his gift to the world: peace.

I would not let Lelouch's sacrifice go to waste. I would never let the world fall into chaos again. As long as I lived, there would never be another war. I, Suzaku Kururugi-No, I, Zero, would see to it that this gift of peace Lelouch had granted the world was everlasting.

Christened in blood, I was reborn. I was no longer Suzaku Kururugi. No, Suzaku Kururugi was dead. I was-I am Zero. And I will never let the real Zero's sacrifice go to waste.

Done! Jeez, I feel like that could've been so much better... Well, regardless. What do you think? Good, bad, awful, awesome? Oh, and if there are any spelling errors as far as names go, I apologize for that. It's just that I wrote what it sounded like and I was too lazy to actually look up whether that was the right spelling, so... Yeah. XP XP XP Review and fave, please! Don't worry about following, because this will definitely be a oneshot. I can't think of how else it would continue. So don't worry about following, unless you really want to. XP XP XP Um... Yeah. Hope you liked it!