Premise: The clock is starting to run out on the Zero Requiem, and Kallen has something to tell her Emperor...

"And so on this day, I, Lelouch vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire and Supreme Council Chairman of the United Federation of Nations, do sentence you all to death for the crimes of treason, defamation, insurrection, terrorism, and murder. May God have mercy on your souls."

The prisoners were marched from the throne room in single-file; at the front was Kyoshiro Tohdoh and at the rear Kaguya Sumeragi, wheeling out the former princess Nunnally vi Britannia. Shinichiro Tamaki screamed obscenities at the group surrounding the throne and the man on it before Kaname Ohgi hissed at him to be quiet and followed silently. Tamaki threw the young woman by the throne a look of utter disgust before following on. Once the prisoners were gone the Emperor stood and dismissed the audience, rich and poor, from the hall. They fled from the last lawful member of the Britannia Royal Family in complete silence.

His Majesty, Emperor Lelouch, crumpled back onto his throne, heaving out a sigh. The words had to be forced out, his sisters at his feet and watching him with those betrayed, accusing violet eyes. I did it, he told himself tiredly. Not much longer now. I just have to wait a little and march them off to their…. to my execution. Just a little longer. I'm tired. Just so tired.

"Your Majesty." Jeremiah Gottwald dropped to one knee before his Emperor, bowing his head. "I will go with them, and ensure they are treated…. properly."

Emperor Lelouch nodded curtly. "Go, Jeremiah." His soldier arose and marched from the room, tall and proud, and the Emperor watched him intently. It's good I have him, loyal Jeremiah. I wasn't certain I made the right choice that day, trusting him – how could I trust someone so obsessed with killing me? – but it seems I did.

C.C. left the hall as room as well, but not before giving him a long look with her golden eyes, mouth tightening with unease. She had not been the strongest advocate of the Zero Requiem – had in fact asked him to fake it, to come with her – but she accepted it quietly, understanding how it felt to just want it all to end. The guilt tugged at his chest when he saw her; he had promised to stay with her, to give her the life she had pleaded for with her Geass. Still, he could not take the risk of a fake being uncovered; if the wrong people found out – and there were a lot of 'wrong people' – then everything would be for nothing. That could never happen. It just could not.

He waved off the Royal Guard, leaving him alone with Kallen, garbed in the crimson cloak of the Knight of Two. Once they were, she breathed and followed the Emperor as he swept from the throne room. They walked in complete silence until they arrived at his chambers, where she impatiently slipped off the red cloak and rested it over a chair, uncomfortably palming the customary suit of the Knights of the Round and kicking off her boots.

"Are you okay?" she asked, watching the Emperor slip out of his shoes and place his majestic mantle and cloak on a desk with an expression between sheer loathing and quiet acceptance. He was no longer the Demon Emperor, just Lelouch. She wondered for a moment how many times C.C. had watched this very sight, the morphing from the captivating and charismatic Zero to determined yet conflicted Lelouch.

His eyes rose to meet her own. "No," Lelouch admitted, watching her blue eyes widen a fraction, as though surprised by his confession. She shouldn't be. Not by now. He offered a smile. "Something wrong?"

Kallen started. "No! No, it's just…" She searched for the words as he slowly approached her. When she looked up he was just within touching distance. "I'm just worried about you. I'm supposed to be, right?" He smirked. "Don't laugh. Fine, I really am worried about you."

"Why?"

The question escaped his lips, whisper-soft, almost silent. He knew why, of course; he remembered all the times she worried over him as Zero, he remembered her concern when it looked like he had killed Nunnally, and he remembered that moment, in Ashford Academy, on his way to conquer the UFN. And who was he to judge, really?

She grabbed his face hard and kissed him, just as she had that day and every day for the past two weeks, soft and small. He couldn't place the taste, but when she released him and stepped back he stepped in and kissed her, initiating for the first time. Kallen jolted, but his hands on her shoulders kept her from jumping back. Relaxing, she deepened the kiss, arms wrapping around his neck and feeling his own around her waist.

Lelouch groaned, pulling her tighter as the feeling intensified and she tugged at his hair; he tried, futilely, to ignore the way her chest pressed up against his, choosing instead to focus on the feeling of her lips on his. God, I've wanted this. Ever since that night in the alley. It stung to think about, how weak he had been, but he had seriously considered just kissing her then and there, though it was probably for the best that she denied him; it would have tainted their relationship, he decided.

When her tongue slid across his lip, a heat built in his stomach, flaring outward and making him moan into her mouth.

Kallen's hands dropped, undoing the buttons and ties and pins of his royal clothing, kissing and kissing and kissing. Lelouch undid her jacket, tugging at her shirt underneath. He grinned when she groaned at his fingers brushing her skin, tugging harder. She managed to slide the shirt and robes off him, running her hands down his front before breaking the kiss to remove her own jacket, but hesitating at the shirt. Lelouch just pulled her hands away and kissed her again, ignoring how awkward he himself felt. It was easier the second time around, deeper and softer at the same time, and he carded his fingers through her hair; it was softer than he'd thought.

When Lelouch pulled her tighter Kallen gasped, grabbing his face and stroking just at the side of his mouth. It tugged his lips away a little, then released them to rejoin her own.

From there it was easier to remove their clothes, tugging and pulling and tossing them to ends of the room or just dropping them at their feet, in their underwear, moving – more like stumbling and tripping – to the bed. Lelouch was the one that tripped, falling onto the bed and pulling Kallen with him in a mess of tangled limbs and laughter, which turned right back to longing kisses and hums of pleasure, tugging at each other and revelling in the heat.

But then Kallen got up onto her knees, and Lelouch rose with her. She watched his face, silently, for a long time, debating whether or not to do what she was about to do. Eventually she reached around herself and unclasped her bra, throwing it away lest she be tempted to put it back on. Lelouch froze. Um…. what do I do now? In a fit of…. something Kallen slid off her underwear and threw them away, getting back to her knees and freezing as well. Vivid red, she tugged Lelouch's underwear down as well, then looked him in the eye. Lelouch swallowed, breathing heavily, and threw his underwear away before getting back to his knees as well.

I've never felt so- never been so exposed. Kallen evidently felt the same, eyes locked on his and not his hardened erection sticking out at her. They stayed like that for a while, until Kallen cleared her throat and kissed him again, getting them both back into what passed for a 'comfort zone' in this situation. Their hands stayed at their faces, stroking each other and humming, until her bare breasts hit his chest and his erection hit her stomach, and they both flinched, leaning away.

Awkwardly, Kallen took Lelouch in one hand, running the fingers over her other hand along him gently. It was… hot, and hard and smooth at the same time, and it pulsed against her palm, as though it were alive. She had expected to be scared, but she wasn't. Unnerved a little, yes, but mostly she felt… aroused. Awake. She squeezed it.

"Argh!" Lelouch slapped her hands away, gasping as he clutched himself in pain. A little too rough, then. "Why would you-…?"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Kallen winced when he glared at her, but then he relaxed, breathed, and sat back up. "Um, I..." How to move forward from here? He certainly wasn't going to let her grab him again, but she was damned if this was how it ended. "Um..."

She took his hand and brought it to her breast.

Lelouch started, alarmed. "Kallen-"

"Don't talk," she muttered under her breath, looking right into his violet eyes.

Lelouch relaxed, meeting her gaze and running his fingers over her, stroking and feeling. She was… soft, and warm, and melted under his hand. She wasn't so terrifying as she had been in his dreams, she was just… Kallen – his ace, his bodyguard, his right hand. Unsettling, yes, a touch, but not so much that he would run away. Learning from her mistake, he cupped her gently, feeling the mound of flesh mould under his touch and the way the hardened bud rubbed against his palm. Kallen's breaths came faster, her gaze more intense, so he instinctively plucked at the nub.

Kallen gasped, leaning into his hand and reaching out to stroke him again. Lelouch stilled for a second, but didn't resist, taking his other hand to cup her cheek as they stroked and rubbed each other. Her hand felt pleasurable around him, warm and gentle, yet rough and smooth from callouses gained through fighting and training, and having learned from before she caressed him perfectly, as though a few stumbles were all they needed to get through to know how to please each other perfectly. And she was so beautiful, with her smoothly angular features and those deep blue eyes, and strong and determined on the battlefield, and so loyal...

"I love you," he breathed. He refused to curse himself for it. I made that mistake with Shirley, and look at all that time wasted. I won't waste what little time I have left not telling Kallen. "I love you."

Kallen's throat caught and she stilled. Her eyes widened, but not with shock or anger or… "I love you," she told him. She leaned in and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you," Lelouch promised, nodding as if to convince her. He returned the kiss and wrapped his arms tight around her. They stayed like that for a while, lips locked, until Kallen huffed and shoved Lelouch onto his back. "Oof! What?"

Kallen watched him from above, an odd expression on her face, before throwing one leg over him and straddling him. Lelouch gasped.

"Kallen-" Her hand muffled whatever else he would have said.

"Zero-sama, you talk too much," she scolded lightly, grinning. Lelouch grinned into her hand, reaching up and pulling her down by the neck. "Ah!" He kissed her deeply, running his hands up and down her back, until Kallen smirked into the kiss and pulled away, up straight. Lelouch's hands came to rest at her waist, brushing her hips and stroking her stomach. Kallen stroked his front before taking him in hand again, leaning down to press a kiss to his lips. Lelouch let his hands rest at her back. "Yes?" she asked, making sure. She felt some small apprehension left, but only the last of her unease.

Lelouch nodded, swallowing any awkwardness he felt at the prospect. It's just Kallen, nothing to worry about. "Yes."

Kallen slowly lowered herself down onto Lelouch, taking him in little by little.

Kallen's breath was ripped from her, her insides tingling and the heat between her legs beginning to burn as she took him inside her. The deeper he went, the stronger the sensation became, that feeling of having something that was missing, now found. And it wasn't the act itself.

Lelouch shivered at the feeling of Kallen around him, enveloping him inside her, joining them together. His chest was beginning to hurt. He began to nudge up with her, hoping for that perfect feeling he somehow knew was coming.

When they broke that barrier it didn't hurt nearly as much as the girls from school had said, when Kallen had to force herself to sit through their inane stories about their boring boyfriends and their boring families and ugh – when they fantasised over the distant, handsome Vice-President. It was boring before she knew him and annoying when she did.

Kallen groaned as she finished lowering down, dropping to kiss him. Lelouch moaned into her mouth, stroking her face and bucking up into her. She was so hot, and moist and snug around him; he didn't feel strangled, like when he had to go out in front of those crowds and be the worst he could be, he felt… I'm home. I'm home.

Lelouch deepened the kiss and spun them around. He paused for a moment, admiring her, before thrusting. Kallen gasped and wrapped her legs around him, squeezing her thighs at his waist. He kissed her again and began to keep moving.

"Right there! No, not- not qui- right – there – yes – ah!"

Kallen's string of gaspy moans spurred Lelouch on, aiming for that very spot and hitting it again and again. Her arms came up to lock around his neck as he rested his hands at her face, kisses coming faster and rougher as she bucked up to him. Lelouch groaned at the feel of his ace on him, against him, all around him and leaned into her forehead as he kept driving them towards the same place.

"I love you," he breathed. He'd already said it, but he just couldn't help it; he was losing all of his carefully-built control that he prided himself upon. "I love you."

Kallen kissed him and grunted as he hit that spot again. "I love you." Her accent, carefully-hidden, broke through. "I love you. Aishiteru, Ruruushu," she promised. "Aishi, aishiteru." She grunted again, tightening her grip on him.

Lelouch kissed her, feeling her wrapped around him, tighter than before. Taut, like a spring about to burst. He aimed for that spot, his mind clouded with lust and love and whatever else there was. Kallen grunted roughly and tightened around him, almost… there… Kallen let out a silent scream and gripped him, squeezing him as she choked and grunted into his ear, pulling him over the edge with her and Lelouch groaned and kissed her as he spurted deep inside her.

Kallen didn't let him go for a while, holding him tight as she rode out the aftershocks of her pleasure. When she loosened her grip Lelouch kissed her cheek and rolled over onto his back, Kallen rolling with him and pulling the sheets around them to chase out the night cold. She leaned up to kiss his cheekbone before relaxing against him.

Blinking, she laid a hand over his heart. It was running like a freight train. Lelouch was still catching his breath – that had clearly been the most he'd ever exercised. She grinned and stroked his chest comfortingly.

Once his heart stopping racing like it was about to burst Lelouch swallowed and wrapped his arms around Kallen, brushing his lips against her forehead. They didn't say anything, didn't need to say anything – to be honest, they were scared. Scared of remembering. If they said a word it would all come crashing back, the fact that they only had a short time left together, before everything came to an end.

But that doesn't matter just now, Lelouch told himself stubbornly, obstinate in the face of his own impertinent weakness. Right here, right now, this is all that matters.

I can deal with my death tomorrow.

To explain – Kallen figured out the Zero Requiem early on, and 'turned traitor' shortly before the final battle, so she's clued into Suzaku's faked death and the whole plan, with Lelouch filling in the blanks.

I'm working with the assumption that each Knight of the Round has their own designated colour – the Knight of One always wears white, the Knight of Two wears red, Six wears pink and Seven wears blue and so on.

As for where C.C.'s going to sleep, well… Lelouch owes her a pizza or two.

Anyway, hope everyone liked it. Bye!