Reconciliation
Kallen readied her hair for the day. She had quite a schedule. First there was the wedding, and then there was the meeting of the Black Knights with the Britannian Empire. Kallen's maroon hair matched up with the bridesmaids dress perfectly. She was very proud of this. She let her spikes poof up at the back like she preferred and she was ready.
"I'm leaving now Mom!" she yelled down the hall.
"Okay honey, call me when you get there!" her mother yelled back. Kallen was happy with her life, even without old friends there. Her mother was off Refrain, Ohgi and Villetta were married and had a two month old baby, the Black Knights were now a diplomatic organization in junction with the Britannian Empire, and she herself was Zero's personal assistant.
"Bye Mom!" said Kallen as she scooped up her purse. She took one last look at the pictures that adorned her corkboard. Suzaku, the boy she had killed, Shirley, the martyred teen, and…him all stared back at her. Kallen didn't know what to believe about him anymore. She had realized his plan just before it culminated, but she never understood it. Why go through all that trouble, she thought? Why couldn't she know about it? Exactly why had he done what he had? Without another thought, Kallen hurriedly ran to the kitchen, grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster, and kissed her mom on the cheek before she ran out the door.
--
"Hey Kallen! Took you long enough!" yelled Nina from the back of the car.
"Sorry, I had to get my hair just right for this."
"Yeah, well, your hair won't matter if you miss the wedding." Kallen ran to the door as fast as she could in high heels and jumped into the back of the car.
"Is everyone already there?"
"Yep, even his best man."
"Who did he choose?"
"Gino, can you believe it?"
"You're kidding!"
"Cross my heart."
"I can't decide if that's predictable or a surprise."
It wasn't a long ride to Ashford Academy. That's where the wedding was being held. Of course Milly would choose there as the venue for the wedding. She liked to plan everything, even when it wasn't her wedding. She proved that at Ohgi's wedding. She ordered six dozen doves and released them as soon as Ohgi said 'I do'. Two of them came close to smacking him in the face.
The outside of the school was decorated much like it is during the school festivals, only the wedding arch was set up at the top of the stairs and the large crowd was gathered around the pond in the middle of yard.
"About time you got here!" said Ohgi. He had become a registered priest for the wedding so he could perform the ceremony.
"Calm down!" said Kallen. "We got caught up in girl stuff."
"Well, the bridesmaids are getting ready in the student council room. Villetta is already there."
"What about Sayoko?" asked Nina.
"She's there too…with Nunnally."
"Nunnally made it!" shrieked Kallen.
"Yeah, Sayoko is acting as her bodyguard. You know how good she is with a knife."
"Hopefully there will be no need for them."
"We can only hope. There are still some Britannian Loyalists living in Japan who would all jump at the chance to get rid of Nunnally or Zero."
"Zero's coming too!" shrieked Kallen once more.
"He's already here. He's helping Gino and Rivalz get ready."
"Really, they're letting him do that?" asked Nina.
"Hey, Zero is the hero of the people and the slayer of Lelouch the evil king. Rivalz and Gino are honored."
Kallen cringed at the mentioning of his name. She had done all she could to avoid its utterance or entrance into thought in the past ten months. But she was sure it would be mentioned sooner or later. It still sent a shiver up her spine to think about him.
Kallen said goodbye to Ohgi and ran with Nina to the student council room. The others were getting ready there while the guests were arriving.
"Kallen! It's good to see you." said Villetta, pinning up her hair.
"Kallen, Nina!" said Nunnally, her big eyes looking up at the two. "Welcome!"
"Hello Ms. Kozuki." said Sayoko with a bow. It was a rare occurrence to see the woman out of her maids' outfit when she wasn't acting a ninja warrior for the Black Knights. She now wore a lavender bridesmaids' dress, as did the others.
Nunnally's hair was curled and part of the back bunch was tied up in a pony tail, even though it was barely noticeable behind her massive bunch of hair. Villetta stood to the left of the large mirror in the room and looked beautiful as well. Her straight blue hair was lifted up by the colored hollow rod she normally placed in it into a long strand of hair that hung past her shoulders. The rest was pinned up by chopsticks at the back.
"How's the bride?" Kallen asked.
"She's in the next classroom over." answered Villetta.
"She wanted to be alone and take in the moment." added Nunnally. "She was still waiting for you though, you can go see her. Just make sure the boys don't intrude. It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."
Kallen nodded and left the room. Before she went down the hall to the bride's dressing room, she stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of the masked man in the cape down the other end of the hallway. She called to Zero.
"Zero! You really did come!" she called.
"Ah Kallen, I was wondering where you were." He replied through his mask.
"I can't believe you actually came. Why would you need to attend the marriage of two Academy students you barely know?"
"Empress Nunnally wanted me to come. I felt it was my duty to oblidge."
"The great rebel, Zero, abiding by the Empress of Britannia? My you have changed."
"Nunnally is a gentle queen and a loving person. I consider her a respectable person."
"How are the boys doing?"
"Rivalz is pretty nervous about the ceremony, but Gino is trying to be laid back as always to calm him down. Rivalz couldn't even tie his tie right until I helped him."
"Well, I have to check on Milly. Take care of the boys and I'll see you later at the reception."
"Of course Kallen. Continue what you were doing. I'll see you later." Zero turned to go back to the boys' dressing room and Kallen went to Milly's.
Milly looked radiant in her large white dress. The shoulders were puffed up and the entire dress was gilded with golden lace on all the edges. Her golden brown hair sparkled with her own personal touch of silver glitter in the sunlight. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Kallen.
"Kallen! You made it!" Milly jumped up from her seat and ran to her friend. Her hug was hard and sucked a bit of breath out of Kallen when she had collided with her in the process.
"Nervous?" Kallen asked when Milly broke the hug.
"How'd you know?"
"The bear hug with a side of pickup truck force I just experienced."
"Sorry about that, I'm just so excited."
"I can imagine."
"Everyone's here?"
"Yes, it's just the guests that are still arriving. Give it another half hour and we can start."
"Of course." Milly swallowed hard and shook a little bit.
"Don't worry, it's going to be fine. You love him right?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
"Then you have nothing to worry about." Kallen silently considered her own advice, proving herself wrong in her own case. She had given up her love long ago.
--
The ceremony went well. Rivalz was shaking pretty hard when he said 'I do'. He was finally married to the girl of his dreams. It only took the courage that their lost friend had inspired in him to ask Milly out and just about a year of dating to get to this moment.
It had taken Milly weeks to convince her parents of her love for Rivalz. While they were unhappy she was not marrying a noble like Earl Lloyd, they respected her decision and allowed the marriage to take place. On the plus side, Milly managed to get Rivalz a job at her news station as a cameraman. This would surely make him even happier.
Kallen looked out at the crowd. There was a large assortment of her friends present. Not only did the entire student body of Ashford Academy attend the wedding, most of the Black Knights did as well. Tamaki and Rakshata sat front row center to watch. Lloyd the Pudding Earl's arm was around Rakshata. Kallen had always suspected something between them, and was happy they were finally out in the open.
Tamaki was holding Ohgi and Vlietta's child. It was a girl and they had named her Chigusa. She had a beautiful face. Her hair was a beautiful shade of blonde and her eyes were the lightest cerulean. Kallen was her godmother, a fact she was extremely proud of. To Kallen, Chigusa was the closest she would ever get to have a child of her own. She just couldn't see the real thing happening in the future.
Her mind quickly shifted to the other guests. Nameless faces of the Black Knights sat in full dress all around. Military personnel and Noble dignitaries (the latter most likely being friends of Milly's family) sat in numerous places as well. Kallen caught sight of Jeremiah Gottweld sitting beside Anya Alstreim towards the middle of the crowd. The cyborg soldier had adopted the young girl after the assassination ten months ago. He had given no one his reason, but Anya seemed livelier than when Kallen had known her before. She no longer used her PDA to record her thoughts and memories anymore. Jeremiah seemed to be happy with her. Kallen couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that he had bought an orange grove for them to live in, even after the Orange fiasco that had driven him to his now cybernetic form.
Princess Cornelia sat behind them, two rows back. Her purple hair was curled and she wore a beautiful blue laced dress. Her smile grew when Guilford squeezed her hand. He wore his black sunglasses and a red cloak. He had joined back with the Black Knights after Cornelia revealed his survival to them just before the assassination. The Geass that was cast on him no longer had any effect for two reasons. One, the caster was dead. Two, during his recovery surgery after the Second Battle of Tokyo, he was pronounced legally blind. He would never see again. That didn't stop him from finding Cornelia though. They were married six months ago.
The back rows were occupied by the guests with the highest standing who were not involved in the ceremony. Zero of course sat back there. Kallen would normally be shocked by his distance from Nunnally, but the Empress had insisted he sit there with the other U.F.N. members so he could confer with them. Clearly Nunnally knew the U.F.N. members were the closest things Zero had to friends other than herself and Kallen.
To Zero's left sat Li Xingke, co-founder of the U.F.N. and head of its military. He wore exquisite dress robes that made him look like a king. Beside him sat the white haired Empress Tianzi of China. Li had promised to care for the child Empress since the day he had saved her from the Eunuchs long ago. He had done his best to never leave her side. Kayuga Sumeragi, formerly of Kyoto and currently Japan's legal representative in the U.F.N., sat beside her friend the Empress. She still considered herself Zero's wife (even though it was fake) and tried to stay by him at all times. Only Kallen herself had more time with Zero than she did. Her innocent face lit up with laughs when Tianzi leaned over to whisper a joke in her ear. All was well. All was happy.
--
Afterwards, Kallen was walking around the school for the wedding reception (the entire school was the reception hall) when she spotted Zero walking down a hall alone.
"Zero!" she yelled down the hall.
"Oh, Kallen. I didn't see you there."
"Where are you going alone, now of all times?"
"I am trying to find some friends of mine. They called me and said they were here, I just can't find them."
"You need any help?" asked Kallen, intrigued by what Zero was doing.
"No it's fine. Go back to the party, they may be missing you. I know Nunnally was very anxious to see you outside of official business. She admires you very much."
"Yeah, I know." Kallen paused before she gave up. "Fine, I'll go back. Call me if you need me."
"Of course Kallen. Don't forget about the meeting later."
Zero turned and walked down the empty hallway. Kallen turned the other way and started to walk away, but her curiosity got the best of her and she turned back around. Zero was already almost outside the school building when she had. She followed him outside and behind the building. He was back on the terrace where the wedding had taken place. He was alone for a second, but was soon joined.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a voice broke the air.
"Over here." said the voice. It was oddly familiar to Kallen, but she couldn't place it. Zero turned around when he heard the voice.
"I knew you'd make it." Kallen looked over at where Zero was looking. From the shadows of the archway of the entrance of the school, there emerged two figures. One wore a burlap cloak that covered his entire body. The hood he had up covered his face as well. The second person was taller and wore a thick poncho and a large brimmed straw hat.
"How did you get in here wearing those?" asked Zero.
"We only just arrived. No one has seen us." said the taller man in the same voice from before.
"How is-" Kallen fell out of the range of sound before anything else was said. The second voice was feminine and reminded her of friends lost. She refused to believe that that was tem. She ran back around the corner and back into the school. She whipped her body around and hit the wall hard. She was acting as if the strangers had seen her and she was hiding. She caught the compulsion to weep in her throat.
She had always obeyed Zero and respected his privacy, even when she learned who Zero really was. She still refused to even think his name. He would be with her always, but as a fractured memory of an evil soul. She loved him as Zero and hated him as he was. She loved Zero now even more, even if she didn't know who this one is. She had her assumptions that it was Suzaku (especially so soon after the Battle for Damocles), but she had given up those assumptions long ago. If Kallen knew him, Sukaku really had to be dead. So Kallen decided to abide by her one rule now, which was to respect Zero. She did, and went back to the hall to be with her friends.
--
The Black Knights had to leave not soon after then. Nunnally had scheduled a meeting between the U.F.N. and the neutral countries still left in the world. It was Zero's belief that if these countries were not part of the Federation, their futures may be laced with war over future problems. Neither Zero nor the peaceful Nunnally wanted this at all.
The peace conference went well. Four more nations officially joined the U.F.N. and assigned delegates during it and the remaining neutral states were now below ten. Kallen knew this was a great outcome (even greater than Zero had expected) and was happy when she walked away from the Federation Council chamber with her masked master.
"That went well." said Zero.
"Nunnally seems happy with the outcome." replied Kallen.
"And that's all I'll need."
"Zero, why do you like Nunnally more than the rest of the royal family of Britannia?"
"Nunnally is a pure soul and hopes for only peace. The others seek power, wealth, and peace where none could be attained. Clovis wished for influence, Euphemia wished for blind happiness, and Schneizel…had dark and hateful wishes for domination."
"Is that why you had him imprisoned?"
"There was that and the Damocles affair." Kallen smiled at Zero. She never wanted there to be secrets between her and him.
"Who were those two people at the reception?"
"What?" Zero replied with confusion.
"The two people you met with behind the school, who were they?"
"I told you to go back to the party."
"I know, and I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that. I was just curious." Zero sighed and stopped in his tracks.
"You found us out. I had hoped you wouldn't."
"What are you talking about?" asked Kallen inquisitively. Zero did not reply until after he pulled out a cell phone from under his cape. He speed dialed a number and held it to the side of his helmet. Kallen only heard Zero's side of the short conversation.
"She saw us…I'm sorry…I tried to stop her…I understand…okay, where…got it, we can be there in about a half an hour…bye." Zero hung up and looked down at Kallen.
"We're leaving. Get the car."
Kallen, still wondering what was happening, obeyed her rule and respected Zero's wishes. "Of course." she said. She and Zero walked to their car, which was waiting in front of the U.F.N. building.
--
Zero's directions had led them to their destination. It was a place where Kallen had hoped she wouldn't have to return to for a very long time. It was the graveyard. The cemetery where the bodies of Shirley Fennette, Suzaku Kururugi, and…
They stood over his grave now. No one had wanted to bury him. Why would they? He was a tyrant as a king and a bastard as a human being. They say his body was cremated and his ashes were spread in multiple places across the world. The Japanese said this would not only destroy him forever, but it would stop him from ever coming back. Kallen thought that sounded unreasonable and superstitious, but she did not argue. The only marker of his former existence now sat before Kallen Kozuki. The inscription read 'Lelouch Lamperouge, A King among Men'. Only Nunnally had wanted to make a grave marker, and even then she could only get his assumed name carved into the granite. The inscription made Kallen want to cry.
"Why are we here?" she asked Zero.
"You wanted to know who the two people I met with were, didn't you?"
"What does that have to do with…Lelouch?" She cringed at his name.
"Everything." said a male voice from behind them. Kallen turned quickly to see the two strangers standing two rows back. The one with the straw hat was kneeling before a grave, placing a red rose before it. The hooded one stood next to him. Kallen couldn't be sure, but she could swear that under the shorter one's hood, she could see a few strands of green hair. The teller one stood and spoke again.
"Lelouch has everything to do with us."
"Who are you!?" insisted Kallen hysterically, thinking she was losing her sanity.
"Calm down Kallen. We haven't even told you what's going on yet." said Zero. The two strangers walked toward the two Black Knights. Kallen took two steps back in fear. 'Was she seeing a ghost?' she thought. The teller of the two strangers nudged the shorter one. Wordlessly, the shorter stranger removed her cloak.
She still wore the straitjacket she always had before. Her innocent form seemed to bring a calming effect to Kallen, but her warm amber eyes set her back on edge. Her immensely long green hair flowed in the wind as it caught a passing breeze. The immortal witch C.C. now stood before Kallen. She felt like fainting.
"C-Two…?" Kallen replied with a whisper. Her knees felt weak. She had always known that C.C. could never die, but she seriously doubted ever seeing her again after the assassination.
"It's a lot to take in." said Zero. "This won't be much easier."
"Keep her from fainting." said the taller stranger to C.C. "She wanted to know." C.C. nodded and walked to her old friend. She hoisted Kallen's left arm over her shoulder, readying her for the next surprise. Zero's mask unlatched.
The different folds of his helmet folded forward with hydraulic noises. The face under the helmet not only made Kallen uneasy, but also dealt a serious blow to her ego. While she never really liked that she thought she had killed him, her besting the Lancelot in battle was a landmark in her military career. Now, in front of her, stood the honorary-Britannian, Knight of Zero Suzaku Kururugi.
Suzaku's eyes sent shivers up Kallen's spine. The boy that she thought she had killed now stood before her. His appearance confirmed her thoughts about the third person, the tall man with the straw hat. With the removal of the hat, not only did Kallen lose her balance, but her heart may have skipped a beat.
If it did, after the fact, it began to speed up. Lelouch vi Britannia, former 99th Emperor of Britannia, the outcast prince, and former love of Kallen Kozuki's life now stood in full view, risen from the dead. That's why Kallen fainted.
--
She awoke in the grass. But it wasn't the grass of the cemetery. It was somewhere different. The trees above her created a canopy that blocked the sun from her vision, except for various spots where its rays peeked through. Birds chirped all around her. Somewhere nearby, a stream flowed from a small waterfall.
"Awake?" asked Suzaku nearby. Kallen still could not believe it was him there. He was a few feet to her left, sitting on a large rock. C.C. and Lelouch stood on her other side. They were facing a large pond that was being filled by a large waterfall. Kallen recognized this place. It was the island Sukaku, Lelouch, Euphemia, and she were taken too after the Battle of Kaminejama. The waterfall was where she…
She shifted her train of thought, now feeling embarrassed in front of Suzaku. She looked up at Lelouch. 'Was he a dream?' she thought He couldn't be real. She saw Zero's blade pierce his chest. She saw Lelouch the Tyrant die at Nunnally's feet. C.C. was still alive, he couldn't have taken her code and become immortal. That was what happened to Charles Vi Britannia with his brother V.V., and he died when his code was taken.
"You…you died." Kallen managed to whisper. "I saw you. You died! What is going on? Where are we? Why is Suzaku still alive!? Why-"
"Kallen!" Suzaku interrupted. "Calm down. I understand you have a lot of questions, but please, one at a time."
"Why is he still alive?"
"That part of the plan wasn't added until Suzaku actually hit me with the sword." Lelouch said. "His blade managed to pass by my internal organs, leaving them unscathed. I still would have bled to death if C.C. hadn't had taken me. Hell of a time for Suzaku's precise army training to kick in."
"I just couldn't do it." Suzaku lamented. "I had wanted to get vengence on him for so long, but at the last moment, I panicked. The sword passed through his ribs, past his lungs and heart to come out the other side."
"I was able to revive him." C.C. said. "I took Lelouch's body and managed to heal him, as he had done for me long ago." Kallen remembered the night when he found Lelouch and C.C. in the cave together. That was where she first met C.C.
"Who else knows about this?" asked Kallen, quickly switching the subject. Suzaku answered this question.
"Besides you, Nunnally knows." He said.
"Nunnally!?" Kallen shrieked. "Nunnally was in on it too?"
"Not until the last moment." said Lelouch. "Geass is a very curious thing. When a user is in a state of extreme stress or near death, the mere touch of their skin can allow someone a glimpse into the user's mind. She touched my hand after Suzaku stabbed me and absorbed my memories. I hadn't planned for that, but I see it as an advantage. I hated keeping her in the dark for that entire time." Kallen suddenly felt a bit of remorse for the Empress, shouldering the burden of hiding her brother seemed like an insurmountable task compared to the burden Kallen had carried for the last few months.
"Why are you back here?" she asked. C.C. answered.
"We never left." She said. "We've stayed on the outskirts of the city. But we were planning on going to Holland after the wedding to visit my hometown."
"Why?"
"Lelouch wanted to make sure everyone was fine."
"He does have a heart Kallen." Suzaku added. "No matter how much you deny it. And he proved it ten months ago." Lelouch pulled off his poncho and revealed what he wore underneath. He was still wearing his Ashford Academy uniform. Kallen still thought he looked…beautiful. Her blood boiled at the sight of his somber eyes. Her heart raced at his very presence. She felt a feeling in her stomach, like there was no bottom to it. She hadn't a care in the world as she got lost in his eyes.
Then her world came back to her. She was standing in the presence of Lelouch the demon, Lelouch the Evil King, the outcast prince, the fallen god. She loved him more then she cared to, but she couldn't be happy with him.
She couldn't stop herself from running to him. Her full power slammed into his chest. He didn't move. She pounded her fists against his chest. His eyes were masked by his hair. Her tears fell en mass. They sprinkled the ground like raindrops. His arms suddenly came around her. She froze. He squeezed her tight. Then, he did something she hadn't seen him do since the detonation of the first FLEIJA bomb. He cried.
She felt his tears fall on her head. She looked up at him. His eyes were true. He meant it. Kallen didn't understand. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him back. Their two souls molded together in this perfect moment. He whispered in her ear.
"I love you Kallen." He said. "That's why I did what I did. This whole thing began as a way for me to protect Nunnally from our father. But, in the process, I met you. You are my world."
"What about Shirley?" Kallen asked through her tears.
"I'll admit I felt for her. She was my first love. But, I couldn't protect her. I destroyed her life with Geass, and she paid the price. I will never forgive myself for allowing her to die."
"Euphemia?" Kallen could feel Suzaku moving closer to them when her name came up.
"It was my mistake as well. Euphemia was another victim of Geass. That's another reason why Zero Requiem was made. I didn't want you to become another victim of this curse. I was saving you from me."
"I have so much reason to hate you. I have so much reason to condemn you for what you did. I have every right to cast you out of my life forever."
"You do."
"Then why can't I let you go? Why do I love you so much?"
"I never cast a Geass on you Kallen. I promise you that. Even if I had, Jeremiah would have already reversed it with his Geass Remover. Your feelings are yours alone." The tears came harder now. Her clutch tightened on Lelouch, and his on her. Then she pulled back so she could see his face. She didn't care that C.C. and Suzaku were watching. She pushed herself up and let her lips meet his. It seemed like forever before the kiss was broken. Lelouch smiled. But it was not his normal smile. Kallen could tell from this smile…that he was finally happy. She realized then, while in his arms, letting the tears fall, that she was too.
--
Two Months Later…
"I thank you all for your presence here today." Nunnally said to the U.F.N. It was their weekly meeting. "Council is dismissed."
"Federation dismissed." announced Li Xingke to Nunnally's left. Zero nodded to the crowd to her right. The crowd stood and began to disperse.
The leaders met up again in the Executive Conference Room behind the Audience chamber. Kallen joined them as well.
"That went well." said Li. "The Peace Treaty is faring well with the delegates."
"The Nuclear Arms Deconstruction bill is getting good reception too." said Zero.
'Thank you for your help everyone." Nunnally said.
"Of course Empress." said Kallen, bowing a bit in the process.
"Oh, Kallen. Please, you don't have to call me that."
"Li," Zero said suddenly. "take Nunnally to her chambers. I have some business to conduct by myself."
"Of course Zero."
"Good day everyone." said Nunnally. They nodded and left the room. Another door swiped open quickly. Two masked Black Knights entered the room.
"What did you two think of it?" Zero asked.
"I think it went well." said Suzaku, removing his Black Knights' visor.
"Peace truly is reigning in this world." said C.C.
"It feels good to be back in this costume." said Lelouch, removing the veil known as Zero from his face. Kallen met his lips with a kiss.
"I'm glad you're back." She said.
"You have no idea." He replied. He looked down at his ring finger once he removed his glove. The golden band shimmered under the fluorescent lights. It could barely compare to the diamond Kallen reaffixed to her finger once she fished it out of her pocket. She kissed Lelouch once more. He smiled. His perfect world had been realized.