Prologue

"Do I have to go?" a young redheaded girl whined to her mother. She had her hair in pigtails at her neck and she wore a dark magenta dress that made her look like a doll. At least, to the others she did. In her opinion, she looked like a girly girl, the worst kind. She didn't want to be a girly girl. She wanted to go back upstairs, put on a pair of shorts, and climb that big tree in the yard. She's going to make it to the top for sure this time.

"Of course you do, Kallen. This is very important for you. We're going to make sure you marry someone important so you can live however you want," her mother explained kindly, helping Kallen slip into her coat, Kallen scowling all the while. She didn't want to meet some dumb boy and wasn't afraid to make it known. Besides, she was already living the way she wanted. Her father denied her nothing. Her mother smiled gently at her and said, "Come on, Kallen, your father's waiting." The little girl huffed, blew her bangs out of her eyes, and obeyed her mother, buckling her shoes more comfortably and following her to the sleek black car waiting outside.

Kallen didn't bother to keep track of how long it took to drive to the Kururugi Estate. She didn't care. Why should she have to marry the stupid son of the stupid Prime Minister? What is a prime minister anyway? Why do we need one? How does marrying his son help her in any way? She's always asked questions like these, but received the same answer each time. "You'll know when you're older." She inwardly scoffed, yeah right. They just don't know how to explain it to her. They think that just because she's young, she has no understanding of the things people say. That's not true. Kallen was by no means unintelligent. Her tutors always praised her to her parents, talking about how vast her understanding of their teachings was. Surely she could understand this. Everyone said she was bright for her age.

She was gently pulled out of her thoughts as she felt the car slow to a stop. She crawled over her father's lap and looked out the window to see a mansion almost larger than her own. The chauffer came around to help Mr. Stadtfelt out of the car, then Kallen. Ms. Kouzuki got out on her own as she was only the help.

Years ago, Ms. Kouzuki fell in love with the nobleman, Mr. Stadtfelt, and had Kallen. Since his legal wife, Mrs. Stadtfelt, was unable to have children, he'd asked Ms. Kouzuki to adopt Kallen into the Stadtfelt family, to which she agreed, knowing they could take care of her far better than she could. Mrs. Stadtfelt wasn't happy with Ms. Kouzuki sticking around and tried to get her to leave, but Ms. Kouzuki would have none of it. She'd fought tooth and nail to stay close to her daughter and was finally hired as a maid. Mr. Stadtfelt was never a cruel man and allowed her to come with them on this trip.

Her parents don't think her to know that much, but she does. The other maids tend to talk and word gets around. Eventually she learned the whole story, no one ever the wiser.

Kallen was escorted into the foyer by the staff waiting for her outside. Genbu Kururugi stood inside, awaiting them and greeting them with a smile when they entered.

"Ah, how nice to finally meet the bright little girl I've heard so much about!" Prime Minister Kururugi bellowed, getting down on one knee in front of Kallen and holding out his hand to her, palm facing up. Kallen looked confused for a moment and then her eyes lit up with understanding and she put her hand in his, smiling. The prime minister chuckled lightly at her behavior and brought her hand closer to his face before placing a soft kiss on the back of it before he stood up again. Kallen discreetly wiped her hand on her skirt.

"I apologize, for Suzaku is going to be a few more minutes," he said as he shook hands with Mr. Stadtfelt and nodded in recognition to Ms. Kouzuki as she bowed. "Shall we wait for him in the sitting room?" he asked and led the way as maids scurried off to fetch refreshments for the visiting family.

Ms. Kouzuki sat and played with Kallen in front of the warm fireplace as the two men discussed the upcoming marriage. Ms. Kouzuki didn't bother listening; she'd already helped decide everything with Mr. Stadtfelt beforehand. Kallen didn't seem to care about it one way or another.

"I'm very excited for this marriage. I'm sure you are too, seeing as both parties benefit from this. Your daughter will never have to lift a finger and my son marrying Britannian nobility will strengthen our bonds," the prime minister started the conversation as Mr. Stadtfelt sipped his tea and nodded in agreement. He was about to reply when the door opened and a little boy with curly brown hair and green eyes walked in accompanied by a middle aged woman, presumably his nanny; there was no resemblance between the two.

"Ah, there you are, you little scamp! Come, meet your beautiful bride!" his father called, guiding him to where Kallen was braiding her mother's hair, or rather, attempting to. The prime minister's attempt at getting the two to socialize failed. The two children just stared at each other. "Kotoko, will you please take these two out to the garden to play while we work out the details of the wedding?" Suzaku's nanny nodded as she took Suzaku's hand and led him out, Ms. Kouzuki doing the same with Kallen.

Being outside seemed to be just as awkward for the two children as the two caretakers took them out to the gardens and sat a ways from them to give them a little privacy. Trying to fill the silence, Suzaku asked if Kallen wanted to go play in the field outside of the gardens.

"Sure," was Kallen's reply. The two seven year olds ventured further away from the house without another word.

"I'm Suzaku," he finally introduced himself.

"I'm Kallen," she replied. Suzaku nodded, not knowing what to say after that. After a while of just standing around, Kallen asked the question she's wanted to ask since that morning when her parents first told her about what they were going to do. "Why do we have to get married?"

Suzaku seemed surprised. He shrugged lightly. "I don't know. My dad just came up to me a few days ago and said, 'Suzaku, I've arranged a marriage for you. I'm sure you'll like her.' I accepted it because, what can you do, you know? I didn't expect it to be a girl my age, though."

"Same here. Do you think they'll change their minds and let us marry who we want? Not that I do. Boys are dumb," Kallen said, moving to sit down.

Suzaku, always the gentleman, stopped her and set his jacket on the ground for her before helping her sit down. He let the jab at his gender roll off his back. Remember, she's a girl, he chanted in his mind over and over again. Kallen hated having simple things such as this done for her. It made her seem weak. She knew her parents would want her to be polite though, and polite she would be.

"Thank you." She hoped it didn't come out too harshly. Suzaku smiled at her in response. Taking a good look at him for the first time, she thought, Well, at least he's not ugly. "Aren't you worried about getting your jacket dirty?" she asked.

"A bit, but what was I supposed to do, let you sit on the ground?" he asked back, sitting next to her. Kallen moved over to accommodate another person.

"You don't have to do that, you know? I' m not a weak, defenseless little girl," Kallen explained. Suzaku nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said.

They sat in silence for a bit more until Kallen couldn't take just sitting around anymore and stood up. Suzaku stared as she looked around and saw a wood not far from where they were sitting.

"Hey, wanna climb some trees?" she asked, looking down at Suzaku. He smiled and got up as well.

"Sure! Whoever climbs the most trees wins!"

They spent the next few hours scaling braches and trunks, each trying their very hardest to best the other. They were still tied when they heard voices calling for them. They yelled back, wondering why the voices sounded so panicked.

"There you are! Is this where you've been the whole time?" The two children nodded, seeing Kotoko and Ms. Kouzuki looking disheveled and worried out of their minds.

"Come on, Kallen, it's time to go. Say goodbye to Suzaku," Ms. Kouzuki said, taking Kallen's hand and leading her back to the house. The little girl turned back and smiled at Suzaku. He smiled back and waved.

"Bye, Kallen!"

Maybe he's not so bad after all, Kallen thought, nodding to him and turning back to leave.

"Get back here!" an angry thirteen year old Kallen yelled as she chased after Suzaku. The little jerk had taken her hat and she wanted it back.

"Why should I have to listen to you?" he laughed back at her.

"Because I'm older than you!"

"By three months! And a sentence starting with 'because' isn't a real sentence!"

"Says who?"

"Says grammar!"

"You're an idiot!"

"Give it a rest," their fathers grumbled. Their parents had all met and got along very well—enough for them to spend time together like common friends, without paying any attention to titles or status. It was quite extraordinary for this day and age. Soon after the children had met, Suzaku's mother had been discharged from the hospital and was able to befriend Ms. Kouzuki. They got along famously and constantly fawned over how their children would be together forever.

"They're so in love! You can actually see it floating in the air around them!" Mrs. Kururugi gushed. Ms. Kouzuki nodded and giggled in agreement.

"What are you talking about? All they do is fight!" Mr. Stadtfelt cried, waving his arms about for emphasis.

"Men—they just don't get it!" Ms. Kouzuki sighed. Years ago, she would've gotten fired for a comment like that, but Mr. Stadtfelt had become much more lenient towards her. Mr. Stadtfelt made a strange choking noise in indignation. The other couple laughed and turned back to the children.

"Give it!"

"Make me!" Before Suzaku could say anything else, a thirteen year old girl's body slammed into his back and they stumbled forward. The two rolled a few more feet after the initial landing, stopping with Kallen straddling Suzaku.

"Ha! I win!" she cried as snatched her hat back and placed it triumphantly on her head. She will never make the mistake of letting him know she was having a bad hair day ever again.

Suzaku, being an adolescent male, couldn't help but tease the girl he sorta-kinda-had-a-crush-on. "My, Kallen, getting impatient are we? If you wanted me so badly, all you had to do was say so," he said, smirking the whole time. Kallen scowled.

"I hate you," she said bluntly, rising to her feet and walking over to where her parents were sitting to grab a cool glass of lemonade. With extra sugar. A lot of it.

Suzaku laughed, still lying on his back. He propped himself up on his elbows and shouted after her, "Love you, too, honey!" He knew that she hated it when he called her that and he knew he was going to get sprayed with a garden hose later on, but her scream of frustration made it worth it. He grinned and got up to go steal her hat again while she was distracted.

It was lunchtime at Ashford Academy and the lovely couple was sitting outside in the courtyard with a group of friends.

"Hey, do you guys think I would look good with my hair spiked up?" Kallen asked while running her fingers through her shoulder length red strands. A seventeen year old Suzaku sat next to her with his arm around her waist. He'd become an honorary Britannian last year. "I think this straight-haired look is getting boring ."

"I think you would look really cool," Nina Einstein said. She was a shy girl with glasses and was often seen with her dark green hair in two braids at the base of her neck. Kallen smiled.

"Thanks, Nina. What do you think, Lelouch?"

Lelouch snapped out of his daze. "Huh? What?" Kallen quirked a brow at him and looked in the direction he was just staring in. She caught a flash of green and smirked. Lelouch looked sheepish, knowing he was caught.

"How do you think my hair would look spiked up?" she repeated. Lelouch mumbled something in reply that she couldn't catch. It didn't matter anyway. This was too delicious to leave as it was. "So... Why were you staring at C.C.?" Kallen almost could've sworn she saw a dust of pink across his cheeks as he yelled in indignation.

"Kallen! Don't be ridiculous! She's lazy and difficult and need I remind you of that time she stole my credit card to buy ten pizzas! She ate every single one of them, too! How does one girl pack away so much? And..." Suzaku tuned out his childhood friend's rant and turned to see Shirley Fenette nodding in agreement and looking envious of the foreign exchange student that had caught Lelouch's attention. He chuckled.

C.C. had come out of nowhere during the third month of school. She never specified which country she was from, only that it was somewhere in Europe. He didn't think much of it, though. What really surprised him was the way she introduced herself. She spoke almost without emotion and introduced herself with her initials. Why did she go by her initials? More over, why did she pronounce them "C2" and not "Cece"? He never asked her these questions for fear of coming across as rude, but he could still wonder couldn't he?

When C.C. was done speaking with Milly Ashford, the headmaster's granddaughter, she looked over to see Lelouch arguing with—or was he just yelling at her?—that redheaded girl. What was her name? Ah, yes, Kallen Stadtfelt. Why was that Fenette girl looking at her like that? C.C. quickly and carelessly flipped her long hair over her shoulder and walked toward the group along with Milly.

"Hi, guys! Meet our newest student council member!"

So that was what she was talking about. Their conversation had been quite one sided. Milly had talked at the lime haired girl while she just nodded and agreed with one word answers to whatever it was she was saying.

"What?! But, Milly, didn't you hear what I was saying earlier?! She's lazy and greedy and wasteful!" Lelouch tried to argue, Shirley agreeing wholeheartedly, but Milly would have none of that.

"Are you two lovebirds defying me, Madame President?" She looked menacing as she stood up straighter and tilted her chin up in what she thought was an authoritative way.

"N-no," Lelouch reluctantly backed down as Shirley took a step backwards. "But why her?"

"Simple. I was talking with her a little while ago about what we should do soon, seeing as we haven't had any festivities in quite a while and she offered some very fun and creative ideas!" Milly grin ned as she said this.

"So basically, she just agreed with everything you said and she's just here to give your ideas an extra vote?" Suzaku inquired with a raised eyebrow. Kallen leaned into him and he wrapped his arm tighter around her. C.C. looked at him in slight surprise and then smiled slightly. She didn't think him to be the type to say something like that. I guess he'll be pretty interesting after all, she thought. Milly giggled and nodded enthusiastically. Shirley was still in dreamland from Milly calling her and Lelouch lovebirds.

Lelouch looked at C.C. in mild shock. He'd never seen her smile before. Now that he'd seen it, he decided to make her smile more often. Though he would never admit it, he thought she looked pretty when she smiled. He was about to walk over to her to talk (not so nicely, of course) when the bell rang, signaling that it was time for the students to get back to class. Everyone shoved whatever was left of their lunches down their throats, threw away their trash, and walked back toward the school building.

Kallen and Suzaku sat in the car in silence after school let out. Suzaku could tell that something had Kallen down, but she wouldn't tell him. He glanced over at her worriedly and saw her staring out the window with her chin in her hand. She locked eyes with him for a split second, but looked away again. He sighed and turned back to his window.

Ten minutes later, Kallen opened her door on her own as soon as she felt the car stop. As if it was an afterthought, after she picked up her bag, she leaned over and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. Suzaku stared after her as she was greeted by a maid and went inside. He nodded for the driver to drive on to the Kururugi Estate.

Kallen sighed as she crossed the threshold into her bedroom, shutting the door and flopping onto the bed. She rolled over so she was on her side and clutched a pillow to her chest and thought of what happened earlier that day.

Flashback

Kallen sat at the dining table eating her breakfast. Her mother sat across from her. Mr. Stadtfelt had given her the most rights and privileges of any servant.

Ms. Kouzuki set down her fork with a clink and sighed, drawing Kallen's attention. "Kallen, you know what day today is, right?" she asked. Kallen nodded, knowing the reason her mother sounded so morose.

"I'm going to visit him on my own after school," Kallen replied quietly. Her mother nodded. Minutes passed by like hours as neither started eating again. They just sat in their chairs staring at their food.

Unable to take the silence any longer, Kallen abruptly stood up, causing her mother to jump a bit. "I'll be going to school now," she murmured. Ms. Kouzuki nodded and stood up as well to clean up the table.

End Flashback

Kallen sighed and tossed the pillow aside. She would make good to her promise. She gave her mother her word, after all. She walked over to her closet to pick out an outfit. Might as well dress up a little for the occasion. She decided on black pants and a maroon blouse with black flats.

She called to her mother, telling her where she was going before walking out the door. She decided to drive herself, stepping into her black sports car and starting the engine. She drove to her destination almost robotically. She saw the scenery pass by, but she wasn't seeing it. Her eyes glazed over and her breathing slowed as she lost herself within her thoughts. She didn't snap out of it until she hit the bumper at the end of her parking spot.

She decided not to wonder how she didn't crash into anything and stepped out of the car. The big, gothic gates seemed almost foreboding and she felt something strange as she stepped through them, like she was being watched. She made her way past what seemed to be hundreds of tomb stones. She kept going until she met Naoto's. Ignoring the dirt that would undoubtedly tarnish her pants, she kneeled in front of the small grave. The indentation of the words carved into the stone felt cool underneath her fingertips.

"So this is why you were so down," a low, familiar voice observed. Kallen would've jumped if she weren't so relaxed as the words were said. She turned to see Suzaku wearing dressy jeans and a black button down shirt. He sat down next to her and stayed quiet. He desperately wanted to know what this was about, but didn't want to upset her by asking. Kallen knew this and let him stew in his thoughts for a while before showing mercy.

"This is my younger brother," Kallen paused then continued, knowing Suzaku would be wondering why the tombstone only displayed one date. "He was stillborn." He was shell-shocked. He hadn't even known her mother had a second prgnancy. When was this?

Suzaku didn't say anything, he only gave her a light kiss on the temple that conveyed what he wanted to say. All of a sudden, he rose up to a kneeling position and greeted his brother-in-law-to-be. Kallen watched in silent awe as he spent, she didn't know how long, minutes talking about how he cared for her and how lucky he was to have her, promising to take care of her. When he was finished, both wore blushes on their faces. Suzaku turned to look at her, hoping she wouldn't punch him. He was pleasantly surprised by a smile and smiled back. The couple had their first kiss that day.

Two twenty year olds stood in silence at the words spoken in the room mere seconds ago. Neither could remember who said it, but it didn't matter. Both were equally hurt and seething. They paid no attention to the wrecked furniture around them.

"I want a divorce."

Hello, everyone! I know it's a terrible idea for me to be starting a new project, but... Heh. You know... Please don't hurt me. I'm fragile. I absolutely love Suzaku and Kallen as a couple and for some reason or other, I thought they would make the hottest married couple. Then I thought, "Hey! What if they were a divorced couple in the future?" Then this thing came to life. I'm a horrible person, I know. I started on the next chapter of Scrapbook, but then I fell into a rut with it. It's ridiculous. Anyway I thought this was an interesting idea and wanted to experiment with it. Hope you liked the prologue!

Special thanks to my beta reader, Geasswolf, who also came up with the title for this story. You rock!

P.S.: How was my cliffhanger?
~Music

Edit: Many thanks to Guest for notifying me of the fucked up spacing. I don't know what happened. The spacing seemed fine when I was typing it up. Oh well, thank you lots. Without you I would've never noticed. *bows*

Edit(8/24/13): I made Naoto Kallen's younger brother for something that happens later in the story. Just thought I'd give an explanation as to why this is so ridiculously AU.