DISCLAIMER: Code Geass and all its characters belong to Sunrise, Inc. . The source material that inspired this scenario was produced by Bandai-Namco Entertainment, Inc.


She slowly came awake to someone calling her name.

She easily dismissed the voice ahe recognized to be from a dream. You see, he wasn't supposed to be in Japan, but in Britannia, where Nunnally would need him. Much less so out of the Zero costume, and in what had been the Knight of Zero's pilot suit.

And on a school day of all times.

"Go away, Suzaku," she sleepily said. "I have exams later."

"That's the least of your worries," came his reply. "I don't think we're where we think we are."

Annoyed at being given something extra to think about, she sat up, fully intending to send him on his way. The sight of the canopy of trees above the both of them, however, brought her mind to full awareness. She was clearly not in her room, and, like Suzaku, she was wearing her pilot suit from the last war.

"How―?"

"I don't know yet, either," Suzaku replied. "I woke up about ten minutes earlier, not far from here. I was scouting the area when I found you."

She got up fron the ground, patting away at her uniform where she found dirt or grass clinging to it. Suzaku followed suit. "Do you think it's somehow related to Geass," she asked, "like when we were on that island?"

"I can't say," he replied. "Lelouch said he took care of the directorate even before he became emperor. Though I think it's possible at least one got away.

"But that doesn't explain why we're out of our last known clothes and in these." he finished, pulling at his collar.

"Remember his birthday, though?" she offered. "That felt awfully real."

"Yeah, but we were all in Ashford when it started," he argued. "I was on my way to a meeting. And you..."

"Cramming for history exams," she supplied, understanding his point. "I guess I'll join you in scouting. Who knows who or what else we'll find."

-.o.O.o.-

Things flew quickly since they found the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. and the Lancelot Albion not far from where they woke up. They were contacted by the empire responsible for bringing them into this world ― Al-Warth, they called it ― when they tested their radios, and the both of them were invited to "fight alongside your Dark Lord" once again.

As if with one mind, they refused, attacked their would-be escorts, and flew away from the source of the transmissions. Once they were well-enough away they landed on a secluded area surrounded by rocky mountains. Powering down, they opened their cockpits, and with one look, they reached the same conlusion, and an agreement.

"We can't let them have him."

-.o.O.o.-

The sight of the still-confused resurrected Lelouch being held by that Death God's mech tore at her heart. He clearly didn't want to fight anymore. The way he resisted being shown that Mirror of Truth after they were all told that it would reveal his true nature as the Dark Lord, nearly made her charge at them with full speed. It had been Suzaku's words that kept her at bay.

"If that mirror really does reveal one's true nature, we can trust him."

Indeed, by the end of that battle, Lelouch was on their side. Zero, the man of miracles, was back, along with Jeremiah, Anya, and C.C. who were all waiting for him to choose a side.

-.o.O.o.-

With three command ships with three battle-hardened captains commanding them, you'd think Lelouch would've stayed aboard them, directing their battles from the rear. But, true to his philosophy, Lelouch sortied with the rest of them, commanding from the field like he always did. His presence in the battlefield boosted morale like nobody's business, and this time, he only hid his face from their enemies.

Glad though Kallen was that Lelouch didn't need as many masks as he did before Zero Requiem, she could sense that there was something that was bothering him. She had been trying to talk to him alone, but with their extensive roster and numerous ― nearly continuous ― battles in this strange world, it was no easy feat. It had taken a tip from Suzaku that C.C. was in the mess hall with Anya and Jeremiah to finally get her chance.

As expected, she came upon Lelouch examining records of their last few battles. Seeing this familiar side of him, though with the Zero mask nowhere in sight, brought a smile to her face. He really was back in the game.

"Ah, Kallen," he spoke after she announced her presence. "I've been meaning to speak to you."

"What is it?"

"Since coming to this world, I noticed that you didn't cover the battlefield like you used to. The Guren had the higher spec of Energy Wings agility compared to the Lancelot, and you used it well enough in close-combat scenarios, but let's use this advantage to cover the battlefield more quickly. I'm confident you can handle well enough on your own."

"Oh, I didn't notice," she replied. In hindsight, she supposed that was true. She had wanted the Shinkiro to be well within her sights; she was Zero's bodyguard after all. "I'll keep that in mind next time we sortie."

"Good," he responded. "The sooner we win, the sooner we can get all of us home."

"Speaking of," she put in, deciding to raise what she thought would have been on his mind; what was really bothering him. "Do you think, when we all get home, it will be just the way it was, y'know, before we came here?"

Lelouch frowned. "I try not to think about it too much."

"I hope it's not," she offered, honestly. "Or, at least, we get to keep our memories of our time here. Besides Suzaku, I didn't know where the others were, much less talk with them. It feels good to be around everyone who knew your secret, talk about it openly.

"And," she added, pausing before saying in a near-whisper, "it's good to have you back, Lelouch."

This earned her a little, though somewhat sad smile from Lelouch. "Thanks," he offered, "but like I said, I try not to dwell on it. We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Well," she finally spoke when the silence that followed went long enough, "when all this is over, and if by any chance you did get sent back home with the rest of us,

"Will you come back to Ashford with me?"

"I mean," she quickly added when Lelouch's eyes widened at the familiar offer, "you've been vice-president for ages, and Rivalz took over for Milly and I took over for you, and our new secretary's far too aloof, and the new treasurer's lousy at the simplest arithmetic." She was rambling, she knew, but the offer was an honest one. Setting foot back in Ashford had been a great relief for her after her years of fighting. "What I'm really trying to say is―"

"I'd like that."

"Huh?" She blinked. And blinked some more at the lighthearted smile that was on his face.

"If we all get sent back the way we are, I'll take you up on your offer. Sounds like you need someone to help with the mess that you made of the student council."

"It's not that much of a mess. I wasn't a slouch, and neither was Rivalz."

"I don't doubt that," he countered, wearing that grin that he used to always have when talking to her. "You simply didn't have my genius on board."

"You know what? I think I'll stay VP. You can work fundraising."

"Child's play," he responded, raising a hand over his left eye.

"Lelouch!"

Their banter would have continued had the call to sortie hadn't come at that moment. They performed their duties as expected of them, not really knowing how close every victory actually brought them to their goal of defeating the evil empire.

For Kallen, at least, she had fulfilled one goal ― give Lelouch something to look forward to in this new life.

~ FIN ~


A/N:The resurrected Lelouch scenario was from the PS-Vita game Super Robot Wars X (released March of this year), where post-R2 Suzaku, Kallen, C.C., Anya, and Jeremiah (along with their previously-destroyed but now perfectly working signature Knightmares) were sucked into the magical world of Al-Warth to fight some evil empire. I played it nonstop until I got the R2 team, and played only their battle animations forthwith, hee-hee.

So, yeah, perfect opportunity to have Kallen ask him back the "return to Ashford" offer. Couldn't resist.

I doubt that the same resurrection scenario would play out in season 3, but it did help cement my belief that Lelouch truly died at the end of R2. Here's hoping for a believable, no-nonsense resurrection in the next season.

P.S. If anybody has already seen a similar story in the Super Robot Wars section, please let me know.