Notes: This little story came about when I noticed that Nunnally apparently had no problem with a strange girl suddenly moving

Notes: This little story came about when I noticed that Nunnally apparently had no problem with a strange girl suddenly moving into her place of residence. What possible excuse could there have been for her to accept C.C. so quickly with no questions asked? The answer is obvious: the one thing in her life that Nunnally never, ever bothers to question, despite the fact that it is the one she most definitely should at times: Lelouch.

Warning: I'm still getting used to the characters, so they may or may not be in character. If they aren't, please let me know.

Summary: Girlfriends and boyfriends should kiss, but C.C. and Lelouch never do. Nunnally decides to fix that.

Just Because

A Code Geass One-Shot by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Lying was a curious thing, C.C. had decided after much observation.

It could make things both simpler, and yet vastly complicated at the same time. Fortunately, she had lied many times in her lifetime, and it barely required any effort on her part anymore. Anyone that really knew C.C. knew that she was often brutally honest, and therefore it generally never occurred to them that she would ever bother to say something false.

But sometimes it was just easier to lie to gullible people.

When she had first appeared in the Ashford Academy dorm where Lelouch resided, C.C. hadn't really had an explanation in mind. Lelouch was meant to uphold the terms of their contract, she was meant to watch him until he did, and that was really as far she'd thought things out at that point.

Sayoko the maid had been the first obstacle, but she'd also been easily handled. C.C. had merely stated that she knew Lelouch. The maid seemed a bit exasperated by the news at first, but had still welcomed C.C. in rather quickly, politely offering tea and snacks. C.C. had been tightlipped about her business with Lelouch (which Sayoko also seemed to expect, and accepted without many questions), and offered no protest when C.C. explained her intention to await Lelouch's return, despite the somewhat late hour (as well as Lelouch's habit of arriving home even later).

Having nothing better to do, C.C. busied herself with exploring the house, and eventually came upon the wheelchair-bound girl she recognized as Lelouch's younger sister, Nunnally. That had been a rather odd conversation, to say the least. C.C. had only said that she was an associate of Lelouch's, which Nunnally had found strangely amusing. She had then insisted on shaking C.C.'s hand, and C.C. had thought this a strange practice for someone whose hands were so small and soft, but she'd agreed nonetheless.

C.C. later discovered just why Sayoko and Nunnally were so accepting of her: they incorrectly assumed that she and Lelouch were dating. Sayoko especially seemed to think this, and beyond that, that C.C. was one of many girls Lelouch had cruelly strung along and used for his own pleasure. It was quite a leap to make, considering that Lelouch was privately so impersonal that he could rarely be bothered with anyone's problems, save his own and Nunnally's. At any rate, C.C. often caught Sayoko sending her sympathetic looks and shaking her head sadly.

Nunnally, at least, had a more realistic view of C.C.'s connection to Lelouch. But she also developed the rather odd habit of pushing Lelouch into spending time with C.C. whenever he was home. Neither of them quite knew what to do about this: refusing would only create problems, and they did need to communicate and plot regularly. But neither Lelouch nor C.C. was a big fan of being forced into anything, although it was difficult for either of them to refuse a request from Nunnally. Lelouch was whipped plain and simple, but C.C. found this new little annoyance very troubling, personally. She had no real obligation to the girl, although Nunnally's well-being was clearly tremendously important to Lelouch, and would greatly impact their contract if things were to change for the worst. But that didn't mean that Nunnally was going to be allowed to keep manipulating them into spending time with each other. C.C. actually did have better things to do than be locked in Lelouch's room with him.

All of this meant that a confrontation was in order (as much as one could confront Nunnally, anyway). C.C. actually planned out the entire encounter in advance, just so there was almost no chance of her points being misinterpreted or ignored entirely. She'd been fairly confident that Nunnally would see her side, agree, and stop interfering.

In retrospect, C.C. was quite sure that one of her plans had never gone more wrong.

"Welcome home, Nunnally-chan," C.C. said the moment that Sayoko wheeled the fourteen year-old into the common area.

A bright smile lit up Nunnally's face, as C.C. usually didn't bother to be quite so warm or familiar with her. "Good afternoon, C.C.!" she replied happily as Sayoko positioned her next to C.C., and, at C.C.'s nod, left them alone.

"I'm glad you're here," C.C. continued, subtly moving a little closer to the younger girl. "I have been meaning to ask you something for some time."

"Really?" Nunnally seemed genuinely surprised, but C.C. had her doubts. "What about?"

"Lelouch," C.C. answered simply.

"He hasn't done anything to upset you, has he?" Nunnally asked at once, sounding worried. "Please don't break up with him! Whatever he did, I'm sure-"

"It's nothing like that," C.C. interrupted. "It's not him I'm having the problem with."

There was a pause, and then Nunnally frowned slightly. "Oh. I see," she said softly.

C.C. immediately placed her hand over Nunnally's. "It's a relatively small problem, but still a problem."

Nunnally seemed somewhat encouraged by that, which had been the idea in the first place. "Okay. What did I do that you don't like?"

"I have to ask that you stop insisting on Lelouch and I spending so much time together. To be honest, we can only stand so much exposure to each other."

"I guess I understand," Nunnally murmured. "Is that all?"

"Yes," C.C. replied, turning to leave, "that's all."

"In that case, could you do something for me, too?"

C.C. paused and turned back to Nunnally, who was now hesitantly reaching for her hand again. At something of a loss, C.C. let her have it. "I will consider it."

"My brother... he's not always that good at expressing himself with anyone other than me. And I've noticed that you two don't ever seem to kiss."

C.C. blinked a few times. "I suppose we haven't."

"Well, he's never going to ask you. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't offer first."

"Excuse me?" C.C. asked a bit more sharply than she meant to.

"I just mean that he'll never kiss you first, if you're waiting on him to do it," Nunnally explained quickly. "I'm the only girl he'd never think twice about kissing, and I usually have to ask if I want him to do it. Lelouch is afraid to be affectionate anymore, you see. He's worried someone will see and use those he loves against him. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't want affection given to him."

"So you are suggesting that I kiss him," C.C. said slowly.

Nunnally nodded. "Yes! It'd be okay. I mean, you are his girlfriend!"

C.C. said nothing to this. Sayoko and Nunnally had never flat out asked if she was Lelouch's girlfriend, and so Lelouch and C.C.'s response was always to say nothing. It wasn't so much lying as it was allowing their assumptions to lead them.

"So will you?" Nunnally asked when it became obvious that C.C. wasn't going to respond. "Kiss him?"

"I don't think you quite understand my relationship with your brother. I am not an affectionate person by nature, and he does not expect me to be one."

"But that's perfect!" Nunnally exclaimed. "You should definitely kiss him if he's not expecting it!"

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because that's what love is! Doing things for someone without expecting something in return, just because you know it will make them happy!"

"Lelouch is not the type of person that would be made happy by a mere kiss from me," C.C. insisted after some consideration. "His heart is far too full for something like that. If he were so easily swayed, then I would not be with him."

"Then kiss him just because," Nunnally said at last. "That's all the reason you need. Maybe it won't make him happy, but it won't make him feel worse."

C.C. opened her mouth to disagree, then paused, giving it some thought. A kiss wouldn't make Lelouch happy, but now she was curious as to how he would react. Maybe he would be far more inclined to let her have her way if she was willing to threaten him with kisses. Yes, he was far more likely to detest being kissed, especially by her. It was no wonder that even Nunnally, the person Lelouch loved most, practically had to beg him to get kissed.

"Fine. I will kiss him," C.C. decided aloud. "But he won't like it."

"Great! Let's have pizza for dinner!" Nunnally decided.

C.C. stared at her with some suspicion. Usually, Nunnally didn't like to eat "messy" foods because they were easier to spill on herself. "Why?"

Nunnally beamed at her. "Just because!" When there was no response, she added, "Okay, I noticed that you really like pizza. And like I told you, when you love someone, you do things for them that they don't expect. And you didn't expect pizza, did you?"

To this, C.C. had no reply. The knowledge that Nunnally loved her, or claimed to, was unsettling to say the least. She had long ago accepted that if she ever did die, it would be probably be horrible and pain-filled. Even her life was like that at times, and Nunnally being exposed to that would endanger the contract with Lelouch. But what could C.C. do, other than try to distance that part of her life from Nunnally's?

"Pizza sounds wonderful," C.C. said at last, relaxing as Nunnally's face lit up again.

Lelouch arrived home later that night to the very last sight he expected to see.

C.C. and Nunnally were sprawled across the floor, a half-empty box of pizza between them. Nunnally's face was practically smeared with cheese and sauce, and C.C.'s was only slightly better. There was, of course, not a napkin to be found, nor was Sayoko hovering nearby worrying about the mess.

"Looks like you two had a good time," Lelouch commented evenly. Inwardly, he was a little mad that C.C. had dragged Nunnally out of her wheelchair just to eat pizza on the floor. But he wasn't about to lose his temper in front of Nunnally if she had managed to enjoy herself even the slightest bit.

"Welcome home, Lelouch!" Nunnally chirped, sitting up with some help from C.C. "We saved you some pizza!"

"Yes, among other things," C.C. said, rising and walking towards him.

Lelouch was surprised when she didn't stop a safe distance away, and even more so when she closed the distance between them and briefly pressed her pizza-stained lips against mouth. Before he knew it, she'd backed away, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

"Aw, that was too quiet!" Nunnally complained. "Next time I want to be able to hear it!"

Lelouch stared at C.C., then his sister, his mouth working in silence.

"What the hell was that for?" he finally asked, totally forgetting that Nunnally was in the room.

"Just because," C.C. answered, smiling as Nunnally burst into a fit of giggles.

Lelouch shook his head, deciding he would just chalk this up to girls being weird, and C.C. being weirder than was normal for her. "It's very late, Nunnally. I wish you hadn't waited for me. You need your rest."

"I wouldn't have been able to rest until you were home," Nunnally replied at once, unable to see Lelouch wincing.

"I'm sorry about that, but I had to-"

"Why don't you take your sister to her room, Lelouch?" C.C. interrupted calmly. "It would do you some good to spend more time with her. We can talk afterwards."

He gave her a funny look, but offered no protest as he knelt down to carefully scoop up Nunnally, who wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek, leaving a bit of cheese there. C.C. very nearly laughed at him, but forced herself not to react. If it was still there when Lelouch came back, she'd have another excuse to kiss him, not that she even needed one.

"Just because" seemed to work just fine, exactly as Nunnally had said it would.

The End.

Endnotes:

Urgh, that was hard! I just realized in the middle of this that I'm not quite sure how much mobility Nunnally has, especially in her arms. I know she can pick up things, but at one point she was carrying a tray in her lap, which at first made me think she couldn't use them that much, but then I recalled a scene where she was holding a paper crane. So maybe the tray was just heavy and she needed a hand free to steer her wheelchair, I dunno.

As always when exploring a new fandom, comments on characterization are much appreciated. And if this story is really just so horrible and full of mistakes that you can't even sleep at night, say so and I'll probably take it down at some point. Better to stop me now before I give into my weakness for pinkheads and drag Euphie into this fabulous train wreck.

Oh... and IS there an excuse Lelouch offers to Nunnally for C.C. living with them? I may have missed it, but I don't recall it being there at all.