A/N: Dedicated to TheBeautifulLie who requested death. Though it was more along the lines of I was inspired by a conversation we had and I felt the need to kill Lelouch. The Lelouch poster above my bed was glaring at me as I wrote. But, still, this is for you TheBeautifulLie may you find an anime with an ending worse than No 6..

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Suzaku hated this smell, it wafted and curled up around him like smoke, filling his lungs with the rancid stench of death, fire, and hate. The whole building was collapsing. Most likely so was the rest of the city. His legs warbled, he never before felt the weakness that attacked his body now.

"Hey, Lelouch! Do you think we'll be friends forever?"

"No! You are stupid, forever isn't possible!"

Fear made his heart race. Where was he?

"I won't let you die Lelouch."

Crackling fire danced in his way, blood and other fluids squirmed and writhed under foot. Gunshots echoed everywhere. Yelling, shouting, crying, and laughing mingled and culminated to bombarding his ears. Lelouch had promised they would meet in the lobby. Where was the lobby? Up or down? Was he there now waiting? Was the lobby even there?

"How could you Lelouch? I'll never forgive you!"

Yes, never, and yet these feelings linger...

The world was falling apart around them and those words had still come out. The relief had been stifling when Lelouch agreed to meet him. Now this was happening.

The whirling of machines turning on buzzed through the air. The Knightmares had arrived. Where was Lelouch?

The ground shook, not three seconds later Suzaku was swept off his feet, light blinded him and a high note screamed in his ear. Lelouch, where was he?

It took a few seconds, minutes maybe hours to collect himself from the floor. The world spun and tilted. Oxygen seemed to run from Suzaku as he fought for breath. No more sound plagued his left ear and his right only caught snitches. The incredibly pain was near immobilizing. Had Lelouch come? Was Lelouch lost in the war zone? How far away was he?

"I'll find you, Lelouch."

Stairs, there were stairs, carpeted with once a creamy and smooth rug. A corpse slumped against the railing. Suzaku gave it a wide berth and stumbled down flight after flight, huge number on the wall decreasing as he went. Lobby, printed in black, stood out on a door.

The handled was slick with something Suzaku didn't want to think about.

His side ached and his legs burned. The people, the bodies littered the floor.

Lelouch, Lelouch where could he be?

Columns were crumbling and the wallpaper was pealing. The front desk overturned papers scattered and torn.

Coughing and wheezing briefly passed Suzaku's working ear.

Movement, behind a column. Suzaku shuffled forward, hope rising in his chest like a Phoenix.

There was a glimpse of ebony against ivory. Lelouch.

Tears pricked emerald eyes. Safe, he was safe.

"Lelouch!" His voice cracked and splintered like wood.

A lithe body rose up, swaying and stumbling towards his rescuer. A bony hand griping at his left side, blood oozing between fingers. Rubble and other things caught at the other boys feet, his progress slow and wavering. He lurched over the remains of those people who hadn't made it.

"Suzaku?" It was said loudly and there was a note of hysteria, heavily repressed. It echoed, bouncing off walls and the ceiling.

"I'm coming."

Suzaku fumbled in his desire to reach the other. He was unsure of what his appearance was, but to see Lelouch in a state such as he was was sickening. Besides the gash that Lelouch clutched at bruises were blooming across his skin, his blood, other peoples blood stained his clothes, the left side of his face was in tatters, his own blood running into his left eye tuning it red. His left arm hung uselessly and twisted at odd angles.

They met beside a wall, Lelouch keeling over from the effort to reach his once best friend. There was some flailing of limbs, before they settled on the floor, facing each other, leaning against and embracing one another to stay upright.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Lelouch."

His heart rate escalated and his breath hitched. His arms closed tighter around the other boy, only receiving a small squawk in response. Lelouch was tiny and thin leaning on him. Thinner than before, but that could just have been faulty memory.

Lelouch's pointed chin sat uncomfortably on Suzaku's shoulder. His lips moved close to Suzaku's ear, but Suzaku heard nothing.

"I-I can't hear, my other ear."

Lelouch adjusted, now nearly laying completely on Suzaku, his chin going to Suzaku's opposite shoulder. Something sticky started to cover Suzaku's chest where Lelouch lay, semi-warm and tangy smelling, more blood.

"I didn't and I don't hate you, I don't think I could."

The struggle to form that sentence was apparent in the strained tone lacing through. Lelouch was relaxing slowly into the hold Suzaku had on him. Worry clawed at his heart.

"Ev-even so, Lelouch. I regret the things I said..."

Lelouch was almost completely slack, his pulse was slowing and every drawing in of air was farther apart than the last.

"Le-LELOUCH!"

The reaction was only a grunt of discomfort when Suzaku yelled. Panic was seeping into Suzaku's mind. He had to keep Lelouch awake, it would be bad if the other were to pass-out on him. They had to leave here, get somewhere safer. There was no longer much noise, the solders must have moved on. More destruction, more death, but no longer here.

He had to rouse Lelouch, had to get him moving.

"I'm moving you, cooperate please." He sounded desperate and he was. He could not let his best friend die, even, especially after all this. He could not let himself die, there were those waiting. Nunnally, most likely in the homeland, safe in the folds of the royal family, she still longed for her older sibling. Euphy, waiting with the brown haired girl, wishing after her two knights. Friends who worried and cared.

Suzaku hooked his arm around the slighter male, adjusting the boy to a position of leaning on Suzaku's side and not his chest. Lelouch limply complied to the movement, choking in pain at the slightest wrong shift. The dark haired head lulled a bit.

The wall was slimy from the congealing grim of unknown substances, but it helped as Suzaku drew both him and Lelouch up.

He found standing awkward, with his limbs aching and most of Lelouch's weight settling on his arm wrapped around the slim torso. Quickly, Lelouch's right hand went back to smothering his side. Suzaku jumped a bit when Lelouch partially collapsed almost sending them to the floor again.

"Can you do this?"

The words burned his tongue as the slipped through his teeth. They had to do this. Escape was the only option.

"Just walk." Lelouch spoke raspily, clipping off the last letter of what he said.

It was a shoddy and joint effort to walk, limp, stumble through the lobby. Green eyes trained forward, ignoring the bodies and half pulling Lelouch up and along. Repeatedly, the taller of them stumbled, close to landing the on the ground.

"Su-za-ku I can-'t see, my le-ft eye." Lelouch's voice cracked painfully as he spoke.

"It's okay, Lu."

That was all he could say say for consolation, the they each saw the lie in the statement.

Outside the brightness of the sun covered the decimated streets, pounding them in its heated rays. Less corpses were visible here on the roads , mainly through broken windows bodies were seen.

Their progress had to pause, due to a fit of coughing that wracked Lelouch. More blood seeped from his wounded side. Suzaku brought both hand up to support Lelouch. The fit lasted a minute, but they stood for a couple minutes longer, unable to process the world around them.

"North, that's the di-rec-tion they came from...We shou-ld head that way." Lelouch seemed to have revived some now.

Any vigor Lelouch may have gained diminished ,at a rate that scared Suzaku, as they meandered North through the city. They stayed by the cover of the buildings, avoided being spotted. The pace they traveled slowed down further and further. Each block was a struggle for their sore feet and bodies. The stench was horrific and made their stomachs knot. Their eyes stung and their cloths stuck to them unpleasantly. Wind grabbed at them, yanking their matted hair. Their march was silent, no words passed between. They were powerless to this changing world.

"I can-'t continue." Lelouch uttered, slurring almost.

The sky had darkened. It wouldn't be good to stay out any longer. The first door Suzaku saw, he lead them through. It was black as pitch inside and Suzaku slid down ,guided by the wall, close to the door, Lelouch came with. They sat side by side in the dark, sides press together. All was quiet. Their breathing making only a small dent in the absence of sound. The tension they had pent up, released softly and they sat easily beside one another. They could not sleep though and Suzaku remained aware of that fact checking himself every few seconds and poking Lelouch to check him also.

It was ,perhaps, an hour later that Lelouch's hand slid into Suzaku's. The grasp was weak, and Suzaku could feel the slowly drying blood come off onto his own hand. Another hour passed before Lelouch's voice permeated the dark.

"Is it okay?"

"Hmm?" Suzaku's lips stuck together and he didn't feel like talking, but his confusion still laced through his hum.

"That I love you?"

Suzaku would have laughed if all this had not happened and had Lelouch not said it I so seriously.

"How long?"

It did not ask everything he wanted to know, but it asked enough.

"Since before."

Purple eyes swam with hate and other things, but the hate stood out. Suzaku could not read the emotions that flashed across his ,now enemy's, face. The hate was not for him and even if Suzaku knew he would not have cared. It was Lelouch's own fault.

The scuffling of boots went unnoticed.

"I think I'm okay with it."

The clinking of metal went unheard.

Suzaku's calloused, stained hand climbed Lelouch's arm and made it's way to his chin. Suzaku's face came forward, his nose brushed Lelouch's.

"Do you really forgive me. I do not deserve forgiveness."

"I do, and you do."

Lelouch's breath carried the barest hint of the smell of spearmint. Tears dripped down Suzaku's face as they did down Lelouch's. They stayed exactly as they were for a moment.

They failed to catch a gruff voice saying something about finding someone.

Lelouch was the one who leaned forward. Chapped lips met chapped lips, they didn't brake apart they didn't deepen it, just stayed still.

Suzaku didn't process the bang as a gun was shot. Lelouch jerked, parting the kiss, a strangled noise emanated from him. There was not a thing Suzaku could do, no word escaped him, he remained stock still, moving only to catch Lelouch as he lurched into Suzaku's chest. The stomping of boot exited the building.

Lelouch was shot. In the chest, a hair away from his heart. He tried to speak and nothing came out. Tears came out more forcefully and Suzaku genuinely began crying. He held Lelouch close, laying them both on the floor. He whispered anything he could think of to Lelouch and continued whispering after the body had gone cold, he fell asleep to his own whispering and was whispering as soon as he woke up. He told Lelouch stories he thought he might like, he repeated his favorite memories of there time together as children and of their time at high school. His voice carried on endlessly as he carried Lelouch outside and continued trekking North. He talked until he lost his voice and he continued holding Lelouch as he walked through the massacred city.

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A/N: Sorry readers that this story is so poorly written and makes very little sense. I may someday revisit it to make improvements, but right now I hate it to much to do so.