A/N: This is just something I wanted to add to my other story "A Heartbeat". If you liked the other one…well….I don't know if you'll like this one. It is more of a continuation of sorts.

Disclaimer: I own this plot so stfu.

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Bye, Daddy!

Suzaku could only stare at the young Oncologist in shock. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kururugi. There is just no solution to this right now. The least we can do is make him comfortable." Cecile watched with sadness and anger as the young father realized that he was going to lose his only son.

"Ms. Croomy, are you sure there is nothing you can do? What about a heart transplant!?" the blue haired doctor only shake her head lightly.

"I'm sorry, but you of all people should know the likelihood of that. Also, there is no one who has recently died and donated their heart."

"Well, what about me!?" Suzaku asked grabbing Cecile by her shoulders and shaking her; his desperation evident in his voice. Cecile, slightly startled by his actions, felt herself tense under his warm hands.

"I—I am sorry, Suzaku. Your heart itself was donated to you. It's worn out. This boy needs a healthier heart; at least ten years younger!" The grown up Suzaku released the woman and she quickly added up the distance between herself and the heartbroken father. "I will give you a moment with him. I will send a nurse over to bring Takumi to a more permanent living space." Suzaku only nodded numbly and continued to stare at the door even after Cecile closed it. It had been a long time since he saw the woman. Vaguely, he remembered meeting her when he himself was admitted to this hospital.

At that time, she was merely Dr. Lloyd Asplund's assistant, barely out of high school. Now she was treating his son with the same cancer he had.

"Daddy?" Suzaku turned back to his son who was staring at him with wide green eyes. The now thirty five year old slowly walked to his son's bed and wiped off any sad emotions from his face.

"Yes Takumi? I'm here. Daddy's here."

"Daddy….is everything okay? You have a scary look on your face." Suzaku smiled as he sat in the chair beside his son's hospital bed and forced down the tears.

"Yeah, everything is going to be okay. You're just going to stay here for a little while. You're a little bit sick. But don't worry! You'll get better! I promise! We….we just have to pray. We'll pray so you can get better. Remember, Takumi, you said you wanted to try out for soccer."

Takumi smiled and Suzaku nearly broke down at the sight. "Yeah, I remember Daddy. You're gonna be there, right? With Aunt Nunnally?" Suzaku nodded, his eyes filling with tears.

"Yes, Takumi. And we'll even get ice cream afterwards, okay?"

"Yay! I hope I get better soon!"

"Yeah, so do I, Takumi," Suzaku said as he wiped a stray tear away. "So do I."

…

Takumi woke up to the dimness of a hospital night. As always, everyone else was asleep. And, as always, the pretty lady was there, watching him from her spot on the chair nearest to the window.

"You're here!"

"Shh!" The pale woman stood up and walked towards him. "How are you feeling, Takumi?" She put a pale hand against his forehead while her purple eyes stared at him with concern.

"I feel…okay I guess. Why do you always ask that, Ms. Lulu?" The black haired "woman" sighed before flicking the boy against his forehead.

"I told you, my name is Lelouch. And I'm not a woman!" Lelouch said as he successfully diverted that line of questioning. "So how was your day?"

"Oh! Aunty Nunnally was finally able to visit me!" Takumi was unable to see the flash of pain that crossed Lelouch's eyes. "We played with the puzzles in the recess room!"

Lelouch chuckled before he sat on the rumpled hospital bed. "You mean the 'recreational room'?" Takumi scrunched up his nose in distaste.

"No, I like 'recess room' better. It's easier to say." Lelouch chuckled as he swung his legs.

"You remind me so much of your father."

"My dad? Does that mean you know my dad?" Takumi said as he tilted his head to the side, a gesture his father used to do when he was younger.

"The tonight is beautiful, why don't we go into the garden? I bet it is lovely." Takumi squinted at Lelouch before sliding himself off his bed.

"You know, for someone who doesn't want to be mistaken for a girl, you sure talk like one, Ms. Lulu."

Takumi immediately raced out of the room and ran toward the garden, knowing that his new best friend was chasing after him.

…

"So Takumi, what do you think?" Nunnally held up the badly drawn picture for her "nephew" to see.

"Wow! Auntie Nunnally! You're so good at this! You're an artist right!?" Nunnally could only chuckle as she began to put away the crayons in their proper box.

"Now, now Takumi, flattery will get you nowhere. You and I both know just how bad that picture was so there is no need to lie." Takumi looked at his aunt in surprise before chuckling nervously and rubbing his head sheepishly. "What I want to know is where you learned that. I'm sure your father doesn't approve of lying even if it is to ease the blow of something. So who taught you? It certainly wasn't me." Nunnally watched patiently as the little boy played with the edges of his hospital pajamas.

"Lulu…she told me that…sometimes, it's okay to lie so the person you love doesn't feel sad. She says that it's better to have that person hate you for a lie because those heal. And that the truth doesn't." Nunnally stared at her nephew in surprise before standing up.

"Those…are some pretty wise words. Who is this 'Lulu'? I would like to meet her."

Takumi shook his head which caused Nunnally to pause while she was putting on her brown coat. "I'm sorry, Aunt Nunnally, but you can't see Lulu. She only comes and visits me at night and only if everyone is asleep." Before the long haired woman could say anything, the door opened and a tired looking Suzaku came through.

"Daddy! You came!"

"Takumi! Of course I did," Suzaku said as he wrapped his arms around his dying son. Nunnally walked up to Suzaku and gave him a hug as well, immediately noticing the purple and green scarves he had around his neck. "It's been a while Nunnally."

The young woman nodded and turned to Takumi. "Go make another picture for your father while I talk to him. Go on." Takumi ran off excitedly before Nunnally grabbed Suzaku by his arm and led him to a corner of the Recreational Room. "So, how was work?"

Suzaku gave a tired sigh as he slowly took off his work coat. "He finally let me have a month off. To spend with Takumi."

Nunnally let out a relieved sigh before straightening up. "And what about Takumi? What have the doctors said?" Suzaku sat down in one of the only empty chairs and let himself sink into it.

"They said that it was slowing down a bit but it wasn't getting better. Cecile even said that it reminded her of when my own began to slow down. And that was mostly because Lelouch was there. Maybe you are doing some good here, Nunnally," Suzaku added, glancing up to the girl he knew for nearly eleven years now. He felt his eyebrows furrow in confusion when she shook her head.

"I don't think so."

"What do you mean?"

Nunnally sat down in the chair beside his and watched as Takumi began to talk to the other kids that were playing there. "Takumi just mentioned to me that he has another friend. Here in the hospital I mean." This caused Suzaku to perk up considerably.

"Oh, did he mention who it was?"

"Yup," Nunnally said. "Apparently a woman called Lulu." For a second, Suzaku felt his blood run cold before he dismissed it. "She also apparently taught Takumi that it is okay to lie as long as it is to keep people from feeling sad."

This caused Suzaku to snap his head towards her. "What!?" he asked incredulously. "Did he tell you what she looked like?" Suzaku said rather darkly.

Nunnally shook her head. "I asked if I could meet her but he said that only he could see her because she comes only at night."

Suzaku stared towards his son with confusion. "That isn't creepy at all."

"Yeah, well what can you do? I just wanted to tell you ahead of time just in case he tried to lie to you…" Nunnally let her voice trail off just as Takumi began to make his way over.

…

"Daddy, what's this?" Suzaku smiled as he brought the photo album closer to his son. The light from the lamp glowed softly in the hospital room, which slightly creeped the older Kururugi out.

"This is a photo album from when I was around your age." Suzaku wrapped the blankets tighter around him and then, after settling himself down, he opened the book. The first picture was of his mother. She was holding a five year old Suzaku to her chest as she sat on the porch. The gloomy setting made the both of them shine all that much brighter.

"This is your grandmother. And this was me when I was around the age of five or so." Takumi stared at the picture in awe, barely realizing that he had never seen a picture of his grandparents before.

And so they continued on like that. With every picture, Takumi realized just how little he knew about his own father. Finally, he reached a set of photos that made him stop flipping through the pages and simply stare.

"Daddy, why are you in the hospital here?" Suzaku stayed quiet before answering.

"I…I was sick…with the same thing you have right now. I stayed sick for a very long time." Takumi then began to play close attention. He began to notice how, even though he was surrounded by sick people, his dad was smiling in each and every picture. And then, there was the first photo.

"Dad…who is this?" Takumi pointed at a pale raven who sat reading a book on his hospital bed while Suzaku sat at the foot of said bed drawing.

"Ah…that…that was Lelouch. He was a patient here in the hospital with me. He was…my…best friend," Suzaku said with thick emotion in his voice. "He…he d-….he died…" It hurt Suzaku to say those all too true words. The brunette didn't notice Takumi's confused expression until he revealed an earth shattering piece of information.

"But Daddy…that's Lulu. I saw her yesterday." Suzaku jerked his head to look at his son in shock. After a good ten seconds, Suzaku gave a soft, nervous chuckle and shook his head.

"That-that can't be Takumi," Suzaku said before placing a hand over His heart. "Lelouch is definitely no longer alive."

"But Daddy-!"

"No, Takumi!" The little ten year old flinched, his eyes filling up with tears. "Just…no…Lelouch is dead and has been dead for twenty five years. Even if he was still alive he wouldn't look like this," Suzaku pointed to the man in the picture as he said this. Takumi opened his mouth to argue but then noticed something.

Though his father didn't seem to realize it, tears were streaming freely down his face. The little brunette then remembered how Lulu mentioned that he was a lot like his father and how he talked about him like he was familiar with him. It was then that Takumi decided that, no matter what Auntie Nunnally said about lying and how bad it was, it was needed right now. "Wait, does he have purple eyes?" Suzaku stared at his son after he asked the seemingly random question before nodding. "Then that's not my Lulu. My Lulu has blue eyes! And she has long hair! It almost past her butt!" Just to make it more convincing, Takumi giggled sheepishly as he petted his own hair.

Suzaku stared at Takumi for a moment longer before he smiled and took the photo album back. "Yeah, I guess it's easy to make a mistake like that. Now get some rest. Tomorrow, Ms. Cecile is going to come by and take a look at you to see if you are feeling better.

"Okay, Daddy!"

Suzaku smiled before bending down and placing a kiss on his little boy's forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Takumi."

…

It had been an entire three weeks before Takumi saw Lelouch again. The little boy felt his heart sink with every night that passed without his friend. Soon, Takumi's illness caught up once more and Suzaku began to stay overnight at the hospital.

"Let me go get you some water from the cafeteria before it closes, okay Takumi?"

And, as always, the reply was—"Okay Daddy!" the moment his father left, Takumi settled down underneath the blankets of the hospital bed; preparing for another friendless night. Just as he began to close his eyes, a familiar chime caught his attention. The chime reminded him of a little bell, like one that would be found on a cat. Takumi quickly shut his eyes and waited for the sound to pass. Too scared to be disappointed again, the little boy tightly hid his green eyes from the rest of the world while his now pale hands had a death grip on the blankets.

He only opened his eyes when he felt a light, almost feathery kiss on his forehead. "Lulu?"

Lelouch pulled back slightly and smiled from his position on the bed. He raised a pale hand and brushed away the somewhat sweaty bangs that lay on the little boys head before letting it trail down to the boy's cheek. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Lelouch let a surprised expression cross his face when he noticed that the little boy had begun to cry. "What's wrong, Takumi? Are you alright?"

The green eyed boy nodded as he weakly wiped away at his big fat tears. "Yeah, I'm just—I'm just real—ly happy to—to see you, Lu—lu." Lelouch let a smile cross his face before standing up and lifting the deathly light child. Takumi continued to cry but it slowly subsided as he felt himself pass through the doorway. "Wh—where are—are we go—ing?" Lelouch smiled as he walked towards the doors that led to the outside world, yet Takumi was able to notice the sadness in it as well.

"Outside. Where we are all free…" Takumi didn't have time to answer.

"Takumi…darling…"

When he turned his head, the little boy's eyes widened beyond belief; for he was in disbelief.

"Mommy?"

Euphemia held her arms out towards the two and, after "asking" Lelouch for permission, Takumi was eased onto the ground and he slowly hobbled towards his pink haired mother that he hadn't seen in four years. The moment they were able to touch, Euphemia wrapped her arms around her son and silently wept happy tears.

Though the mother and child didn't realize it, Lelouch had to turn away. The pang of longing filled his chest and hurt him. I am dead. I do not have the nerves to feel pain. Yet this heart….

…it aches…

…it hurts…

… knowing that I have a hand in this all….

It's worse than the pain I felt when I was dying…

"I'm going to go ahead and prepare for it, Euphie. You…can do it…I can't…I don't think I can watch, either…" The mother's blue-violet eyes widened before closing in resignation.

"Okay, just…hurry back, okay?" Lelouch nodded to his sister before heading back to the hospital. He could vaguely hear Takumi asking where he was heading to.

…

"Takumi, do you want to play a game?" Euphemia watched as her son's green eyes brightened momentarily before dimming once more.

"Yes, mommy, I want to play a game with you. But why are you here? And where did you go? Daddy said I wasn't going to see you again." Euphemia kept on smiling but, underneath it all, she was dying all over again.

"How about we play hide and seek? I'll count while you hide. Now go!" She didn't even give the boy a chance. Instead, the pale mother closed her eyes and began to count, knowing exactly where her son was going to hide. She could hear the rustling of leaves as Takumi climbed up a tree.

With every number that passed through her lips, Euphemia felt like she was watching the clock that was counting down to the apocalypse. Finally, at zero, she let it go.

The wind that night was supposed to blowing at fifty miles per hour. Enough to break a few branches from a tree and cause some damage to buildings. Yet it had been held back by both her and Lelouch. They needed to get Takumi out here and he would have found it suspicious if he was asked to come out at the beginning of a storm. Euphemia felt tears spring to her eyes as she heard the branch snap and the loud cry her son gave as he fell from the rather high branch and was dragged by the wind.

Yet it hurt even more when she heard the name Takumi called as he writhed in pain.

"Lulu!"

…

Lelouch had to physically grab something as he heard the wind begin to blow once more. Tears ran freely down his face as he heard a soft version of his name being called over the sound of the wind. Suzaku…Suzaku would want to be there…

Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to find the man. Lelouch, watching from around a corner, saw just how the boy had aged. No, not boy. Man. Suzaku is a man now.

Lelouch, though the ache didn't cease, felt something soften in him. He wondered if, perhaps, in another life, he and Suzaku would have both lived to that age. Maybe, they would be the ones together. Takumi would have had both his and Suzaku's blood running through him instead of having Euphemia in his place. Yet Lelouch, used to the feeling of wanting, shook it from his mind and carefully called out to Suzaku.

It was harder since the brunette was nowhere near dying (a blessing in and of itself), yet Lelouch did not give up. Slowly but surely, he was able to catch the dense man's attention. He watched with a small, happy smile as Suzaku's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't speak; at least not to him. Instead, he brought his hand up and gestured Suzaku to follow him. He quickly turned and quickly walked away. When he turned to look back, he was slightly surprised to see Suzaku following. He quickly turned to look away as he felt a smile cross his face. Now is not the time for this, Lelouch thought as he remembered what he was leading Suzaku to.

Just when they reached the doors that led to the garden, Lelouch turned to face Suzaku, knowing that his expression was anything but joyful.

"L—Lelouch…?"

Lelouch in question smiled sadly before walking up to Suzaku, mildly surprised to see that the fool was taller than him. He then pushed himself up to his tip toes and placed to hands on either side of Suzaku's face. From the uncomfortable look on his face, Lelouch was able to tell that all that Suzaku felt was something cold being pressed against his cheeks. Lelouch lightly shook his head before letting his eyes fall close. His dead heart ached once more but this time it was different. It was a good ache. It got even better when he was able to press his cold lips against Suzaku's warm ones. It was everything that he remembered and so much better.

Just as he felt Suzaku beginning to participate, Lelouch decided that it was time. He phased out of Suzaku's hold and let himself become invisible once more. He then threw open the doors of the garden and let the wind in. Lelouch became visible and was able to tell from Suzaku's expression that it was quite the dramatic scene.

Lelouch then turned and led Suzaku towards his son.

…

Euphemia held her son in her arms as she leaned against the toppled tree by the time Suzaku arrived. She smiled weakly towards her wide eyed husband before continuing to pet their son's hair. She even acted as though she couldn't see the flash of jealousy in her brother's eyes.

"Euphie?"

Euphemia, though it disgusted her to even think it, swiped her finger over the cut on her son's cheek and brought it to her lips. She sucked it with a disgusted look on her face yet knew it was necessary. She stood up, picked up the now unconscious Takumi, and walked toward her former husband.

"He's dying Suzaku." And that was all she could say with the amount of blood she had taken.

…

Suzaku stayed beside his son for the remainder of his time. And all Takumi could do was smile to his dad and say that it was okay. It hurt the two spirits. Their orders were clear. And, unless they wanted something bad to happen, they had to follow them to the letter. Even though they had done what they were told, they still felt like they were being punished. Euphemia collapsed to her knees when Takumi asked where his father was; that he couldn't see him.

Yet their pain could not hold a candle to Suzaku's. He lost his first love to self-sacrifice and love because he was dying of a rare cancer. He lost his crush and wife to a stupid drunk driver while she riding her bicycle to the park he had decided to take Takumi for ice cream. And now he was losing his ten year old son to the same stupid cancer her had gotten from his grandfather.

And now, Takumi was gone.

Suzaku's sobs filled the room and made the flat line of the monitor seem quiet. And the Takumi sat up. Well, his spirit did. His physical body stayed lying on the bed with his father crying into its stomach. Euphemia straightened up and wiped away the tears as she faced her son once more.

"Mommy?"

The pinkette took Takumi's hand and led him to the door of the room that seemed…lighter. More hopeful; like it was now much more than a door. "Come on, Takumi. We're going to our new home."

It was then that Takumi planted his feet. "But what about Daddy? And Lulu?" Lelouch and Euphemia shared looks of surprise before Lelouch walked over to the newly dead boy and kneeled before him.

"Your daddy will be coming much later. Hopefully. And so will I! Don't worry. The time will fly fast."

Takumi practically glared at Lelouch before crossing his arms. "Why can't you come now?"

Lelouch smiled down and was proud over the fact that the boy wasn't so easily fooled. "Because, something needs to happen to Suzaku before he can go home with us. And I can't leave until that something happens. I guess you can say that I chained the both of us together in life and that chain stayed; even in death." Takumi stayed staring at him for a good, long minute before nodding.

"Fine," his expression then changed to a happier one. "I'll see you at home, Lulu! Come on, Mommy!" Lelouch watched with a smile as Takumi dragged his mother to the door. Just as he opened it, Lelouch turned away and began to walk to Suzaku.

Once he was close enough, Lelouch sat on the bed beside Suzaku's head and petted the chocolate curls. He hummed a tune that Suzaku's mother used to hum when she had visited her son only to find him asleep.

Suzaku, I'm sorry…

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Comments:

I'm sorry if you don't like it. *bows*