AN: Do the read the author note given at the end of this chapter. (Weird flex, but ok)

"It's been a while, hasn't it C.C.?" He quietly asked. She turned around in her chair.

"Hehe, I was worried you'd probably abandoned our plan, Lelouch. What held you up?" She aimed her characteristic sly smirk at him.

"Well, to be fair, our plan wasn't one in which success was guaranteed, was it?" Lelouch replied back with his own manic grin. C.C. just raised an eyebrow, before turning away, making sure he didn't see her expression, "Well, it's a good thing it worked then, right? I would've felt bad if it didn't."

She felt a hand on her shoulder, gentle yet firm, "I'm here now, aren't I? Let's get going, before somebody spots you," he waved a hand around them, gesturing at pizzeria they were in. He grabbed her hand and pulled her, walking out of the shop, heading for the small bike parked in the lot up ahead of them.

"Seriously Lelouch? A three-seater bike? I didn't know you were so nostalgic."

"I'll thank you if you don't call me by that name here. My name's R.R., pronounced 'R2'."

They both took a seat in the bike, heading out of the city.

C.C. glanced at her companion, a look of approval in her eyes, "I quite like your creativity. R.R.? You manage to pay homage to Japan and me in a single name."

Lelouch threw a mock glare in her direction, "Not a chance witch. I'm just following the trend you code-bearers like so much."

She gave a small laugh, "Tell me about it."

"Lelouch, could you help me out with this?" C.C. asked him, holding up her long locks, which were covered with shampoo and black dye, holding up a small shower in her other hand.

"Nah witch, you should've thought of it when you dyed your hair black."

"I did it so I don't blow my cover!" She hotly argued.

"Well do you see me in a similar situation?" Lelouch smirked as he removed the blond wig on his head and removed the green contacts from his eyes.

C.C. rolled her eyes. She muttered monotonously, "You're insufferable, you know that right?"

"Serves you right for spending all my money on pizza. I had arranged that so that we could at least get to our next destination by taxi. Now, we'll have to think of something else." He gave her a pointed look.

"Alright fine! I'm sorry I did that. Could you stop harping about that already? It's getting on my nerves."

"Hmph. Give me that shower and turn towards me. I won't ask a second time."

She acquiesced, letting him help her wash her hair, letting the green show. She poked him in his stomach.

"What is it, C.C.?"

"You're sounding tired, boy. You've grown tired already of me already? We still have quite some time to go together."

"Quite some time, eh? You're planning on giving Geass to someone anytime soon?" Lelouch frowned.

"I didn't mean it like that, you know it."

Later that night, when both of them settled into the bed of the hotel room they were staying in, C.C. looked him directly in the eye.

"Say Lelouch, why do you stick around with me? You could still go back to your loved ones, given you don't reveal yourself to the world. Nunnally would be overjoyed at seeing that her brother is alive. You could reconcile your friendship with Suzaku. Kallen-" she broke off, unsure what to say further.

Lelouch took her hand in his, squeezing it, "No matter what path I take C.C., I know that I'll come back to you. If I go and meet them, assuming that they don't hate me for what I have done, I am sure that they'll be happy to see me."

He paused, before continuing, "That's the problem though. Time will catch up with them. They'll live and they'll die and I'll be forced to let them go once again, this time for real. I don't know if I could do that."

She scooted closer to him, "Then why did you stop Charles? Wasn't he working to undo what you're afraid of?"

He gave her a bittersweet smile, "Trust me. At that moment, I was floored. I could've seen Euphie again. I wanted nothing more than to beg for her forgiveness. To tell her that I never meant to do that."

His face grew weary, "It would've been fine, but it wasn't what Nunnally dreamt of. It was something mankind did not deserve. You've come to realize this too, C.C."

She nodded, "Just collecting experiences, isn't it? Not living, just existing. Life without death. What I have been used to since forever. That's what you fought against Lelouch and yet, you're the one who has been rendered immortal. How is it any better for you now?"

Lelouch smiled at her. It wasn't his trademark diabolical grin. It was a smile that truly reached his eyes, one she'd seen usually directed towards Nunnally. He said, "The thing is, I am not so alone. Even though immortal, I'm not alone. I've got you, C.C., the same way you've got me."

Heh. Maybe staying with him was not such a bad option after all. They had plenty do the next day. These thoughts in her mind, C.C. put her arm around her companion, falling asleep.

"I said that Geass was the Power of the King which would condemn you to a life of solitude. Heh. I think maybe that's not quite correct. Right, Lelouch?" she mused out aloud with a smile on her face.

A single grunt came in response.

"Say Lelouch, who taught Nunnally origami?" she asked.

"Sayoko-san was the one. Why'd you ask?"

He felt something drop on his back. Curious, he stopped the cart he was driving and reached for the back of his neck. Bringing it in front of his eyes, he saw that it was an origami paper crane, made out of pink paper.

"You made this?" he asked.

"Of course. Do you remember when I made this?" She was leaning over the edge of the haystack, giving him the cheekiest of grins.

"Maybe when you met Nunnally for the first time? I do remember you and her making these."

"Correct, boy. Do you remember what I said while making this?" She was now smirking at him.

He mused for a while, urging the cart into motion. It came to him, him resisting the urge to laugh out. Trust C.C. to say something meaningful.

"You get it, don't you? I told her that this entailed a promise you made for our future. Maybe this was it then, wasn't it Lelouch?"

He gave a small chuckle, "Maybe it is."

They travelled on in silence for a while. Lelouch was deep in thought, considering his current situation.

"Hey C.C."

"Go ahead."

"Have you ever seen a situation like mine before? A person having both a code and a Geass?" he inquired.

"Nope. You're telling me you still have your Geass?"

"I used it yesterday while I was searching for you."

"Well that's strange," she said nonchalantly.

Lelouch decided to change the topic, considering how unenthusiastic his companion was looking.

"What's immortality like?"

"Aren't you experiencing it now, eh Lelouch?" she quipped.

"I guess you're right."

C.C. frowned. "This isn't like you, Lelouch. You aren't one to concede so easily to me. Let me repeat myself. Have you gotten tired already?"

Lelouch shot back, "And this isn't like you, C.C. You aren't one to ask such questions to me. You're someone who'll taunt me, annoy me to no end. What's bringing this on?"

She gave him a hurt look, confusing him even further. She paused for a moment, collecting herself. Lelouch stared agape. This was a side of her he'd rarely seen before.

She began to speak in a level voice, "When I'd decided to give my code to Charles, I did that thinking all I wanted was to die."

Lelouch stopped the cart and climbed over to the haystack she was lying on. She continued, "It would've worked, if not you had decided to get inside my mind. You told me that you knew my true wish. Even if I had to die, I should die smiling. You promised that you'd bring that smile for me."

Lelouch began, "Well yeah-" only to be cut-off by C.C.'s continued rambling.

"I decided to listen to you, despite that it wouldn't last. I would've felt loved, Lelouch, but you wouldn't be there forever. Despite knowing that, I put my faith in you and sealed off my code."

Lelouch looked away, trying not to remember how C.C. had become after that. He'd been broken, when he'd found that his accomplice, his equal, his witch had been reduced to a mere former shell of herself, not recognizing him. The person who'd known him best, even better than his sister had been lost to him.

The witch continued, "Now, I know that you weren't bluffing. Maybe my life will still not cease to exist. Maybe I am cursed to this doom still. But I don't care, as long as I have that one wish being fulfilled. You're here Lelouch. You're there by my side. And knowing that makes me want to live, not just exist."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is this your way of saying 'I love you'?"

C.C. chuckled, "Maybe it is. My point is, knowing that you're here for me, it makes it difficult to imagine what would happen the day when you get bored of your own immortality, and decide to pass on? I'll be left alone, again."

Lelouch looked at her strangely, "Can't you do the same thing?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes. I am not taking a chance on that, considering how long I have managed to live."

Lelouch drew himself up, before looking at her squarely in the eye, speaking, "Well then, so be it. I take it upon myself that I, Lelouch vi Britannia, do solemnly swear that I'll always stay by your side, and never abandon you. We'll see it through together, witch." He finished with a flourish and his arms spread out.

C.C. lightly laughed, "Well Lelouch, that almost sounded like a wedding vow, didn't it? Maybe this is your way of saying 'I love you too'."

He bent down at her level, speaking in her ear, "I do love you, C.C. It might not necessarily be romantic, but it's still there, I am sure of that."

She smiled back, "If I am a witch, then you're a warlock, right?"

Lelouch laughed, "Of course."

He got up, heading back to his driver's seat, prodding the horses into moving forward.

"Hey, warlock."

"Yeah witch?"

"How much time is it to Narita is it anyway? The sun's annoying me now."

AN: Hi. This fanfic is my second one on this site. I decided to take a break from my original fic, "Requiem of Solace" because I wasn't sure of what I was going to do with it. Sure, I am going to continue that piece, it'll remain at my top priorities, but I want to clear my head before I continue with it. This is a nice break, especially hehe, considering that I rewatched Code Geass just last month, and that R3 is coming out in a few days. Who knows, this might be an attempt to get more people invested into my literature ;)
Regarding this piece of work, I still am not sure if I want to keep this as a oneshot or a multi-chapter story. I've kept everything quite open-ended for now, granting me flexibility to decide on my course of action.
This story is a love letter to all C.C. x Lelouch fics out there, even though this chapter ends on romantic uncertainty. I am specially paying homage to koa-chan and her stories generally involving C.C. and Lelouch starting a new life together after Lelouch becomes immortal. I also am poking some fun at her constant complaints about her characters getting too OOC (the part where C.C. tells Lelouch he's not behaving like he usually does), and probably trying to cover up my own horrible OOC interpretations of these lovely characters at the same time.
Well that's enough rambling from my side, my followers here know about my tendencies to go off in a complete tangent during my ANs lol. Well, good day to you, unfortunate person who managed to stumble upon this unworthy piece of literature. Au revoir.