Disclaimer: There's no R3; Mao isnt alive and sane and Shirley and Euphie are dead; and Lelouch, CC, Kallen, Suzaku, Euphie, Shirley and SANE!Mao dont all have codes and arent living eternity with each other just chilling. And I'm not in Code Geass.

So no, I DON'T own Code Geass.

Letters

It had been exactly one year since Zero killed Lelouch the Demon Emperor, and everything had settled down. The Black Knights were once again the peacekeepers of the UFN, which now included almost the entire world. Within the UFN, each nation still had its independence and leaders- Ohgi was the new Prime Minister of Japan, and Nunally had been selected as empress of Britannia. However, empress was a hollow title, as she led democratically.

Kallen had returned to Ashford before going on to college, and her mother was released from jail. Villetta and Ohgi are happily married, and their young boy Naoto is almost 4 months old.

Milly is a rising star in the TV industry, having been promoted to female anchor. Many people watched her broadcasts- women watched because they looked up to her for her independence and ability to survive in a traditionally male role; and men watched her because of her, ah, assets. She was a vibrant woman who made whatever she was reporting on interesting, regardless of what it was.

Rivalz is currently a popular stand-up comedian that has already achieved national fame and is starting to be noticed on a global scale. He wasn't a traditional comedian, so to speak; that's to say, his appeal wasn't so much his jokes, or rather, the actual content of his jokes. His "jokes" were actually often stories of his experiences. No, the reason he was funny was the way he TOLD the jokes. His signature phrase of "WHAAAAAAT?", usually given following an especially amazing or unbelievable part of his story, was well on its way to becoming a staple of Japan's popular culture.

Nina and Cecile became Co-supervisors of Lloyd and Rakshata's company. After the war, Lloyd and Rakshata had decided to use science for something other than warfare, and founded a company for that purpose. To be honest though, Nina and Cecile spend most of their time trying to calm the two and end their (almost always pointless) arguments.

Tamaki became a celebrity when he published his book, Zero and Me, describing the adventures of the Black Knights with the "old" Zero, before Lelouch… um, retired. Tamaki's role in several major battles was exaggerated quite a bit, but most who read it didn't know that, and since few people outside of the Black Knights knew that Lelouch the Demon Emperor and the Zero were the same person, people were quite fond of the "Hero" Zero that had supposedly died during the second battle of Tokyo. His book became one of the best selling children's novels ever, and to be honest, the Black Knights were surprised at their old comrade's writing prowess. Thus, when they learned that he had meant for it to be a full-length novel rather than a children's book, it made sense- but they congratulated him nonetheless.

Xing-ke returned to China with Tianzi, where he became the Captain of the guard and her personal advisor. Princess Kaguya stayed on as the chairwoman of the UFN and is apparently enjoying her life as a diplomat.

Suzaku took on the role of Zero following Lelouch's death and continues to work with the Black Knights to keep peace. It is considerably easier for him than it was for Lelouch though, because not only do the Black Knights have more supplies, support and members than before, they also have the benefit of living in an era of peace. They deal with mostly insignificant things like petty crime and the occasional large-scale fraud or big-time robbery. Suzaku also has the added advantage of being Zero for a job. Since the world considers him dead, he can't do anything other than be Zero, and only a few people knew of his identity. The rest of the world knew, or at least speculated, that he was the second Zero. Some still claimed that the original Zero had returned, but most felt that Suzaku was the "Second Zero." However, even though he was technically the leader of the Black Knights, he mostly left them alone and allowed them to govern themselves. Aside from making the occasional appearance to keep from becoming nothing more than a figurehead, Suzaku stayed away from the Black Knights. He didn't have Lelouch's planning ability anyway, and was more suited to the front lines. Thus, he spent most of his time as Zero acting as Nunally's bodyguard and advisor, though he could still pilot a Knightmare better than almost anyone if need arouse.

Todoh and the last remaining member of the Four Holy Swords, Chiba, returned to Japan and Chiba confessed her feeling for Todoh. Though he was unsure of his own feelings, Todoh realized he felt something more than companionship towards her. They are currently dating.

Cornelia decided that she had had her share of politics and settled down somewhere in the country. Guilford refused to leave her side and moved in with her.

Jeremiah adopted Anya (unofficially of course- he is, after all, an international criminal), who left the Knights of Rounds and moved with him out to the country. They currently own one of the largest orange ranches in the world. Though Jeremiah is still technically a wanted criminal, no one really seemed all that fond of chasing after a cyborg with super-human strength… and it seemed that the few people who would be able to capture him had some reason not to, be it ties with Anya or knowing what had really happened on that faithful day when Lelouch died. Besides, it wasn't like he was publically part of the company; officially it was owned by the former Knight of Three herself, but it was well known that Jeremiah worked with Anya to lead the company behind the scenes. Since his involvement wasn't public, the government couldn't take action either, but many people with powerful influence likely would have stopped any attempts to interfere anyway.

Sayoko was formally released from her duties by Nunally, but found herself somewhat lost without her long-time job of protecting Nunally and serving Lelouch. Jeremiah noticed this before he left for the ranch and invited her to come along with him and Anya. She is quite happy with her current life and many of her friends in the Order believed that she and Jeremiah were dating… but fighting crime is hardly what most would consider a romantic getaway.

Gino realized he liked life as a commoner and so he decided to leave the Knights of Rounds as well in order to help test new vehicles. His piloting skills were of great use to transportation designers with new but potentially dangerous prototypes they needed to test.

The Knights of Rounds were disbanded soon after. With Gino and Anya retired and most others dead, there were few remaining members. In fact, following the disappearance of the Knight of Nine following Lelouch's ascension to the throne, Kallen's killing of the Knight of Ten and Suzaku's victory over the Knights of One, Four and Twelve, only four members were left. Some of them joined the government in order to try their hand in politics; some returned to their families and retired with the support the UFN was giving them to compensate for the loss of a job. One joined the Black Knights because she was unable to live without the excitement of piloting a Knightmare. Of course, the Black Knights didn't provide much of a thrill, seeing as the times were full of peace, but just being in a Knightmare was good enough for her.

Yes, life was good following of Lelouch's sacrifice. His plan had worked perfectly, and he should have been praised as the savior of the world. And yet, the very nature of his perfect plan prevented that.

Only four people alive currently knew what he had done.

First was Kallen Kouzaki, currently half-asleep in her history class at Kuruugi University, one of the best colleges in the world, located in Japan and named for the famous Knightmare pilot Kuurugi Suzaku. Of course, it was named after him due to his piloting abilities and his achievements in Britannia as the White Knight. His role as the Knight of Zero was swept under the carpet, so to speak.

Kallen was going for a double major in piloting (practice and theory), and engineering. She had top grades in all her classes, even though she constantly missed class due to activities with the Black Knights. However, the farther from the Lelouch's death they got, the less work there was to be done.

Kallen was somewhat of a celebrity on campus, especially at a college known for the pilots it produced. She was the Red Flash of Japan, the Red Lotus, Zero's Ace. And even though that last one made her heart pang, she never let it show on her exterior.

Kallen hadn't realized what Lelouch was doing until it was too late. She understood what he was doing as he died, how he had decided to give up his life and his pride, his legacy, for the sake of the world. And even though the world was a much better place now, Kallen couldn't help but wish he had confided in her. She could have helped him find a different solution…

Kallen sighed. There was nothing good that would come from living in the past. Besides, he felt nothing towards her, and even though he may have lied to her back when the Black Knights betrayed him, the fact remains that he used her. For the good of the world, perhaps, but she was used by him nevertheless.

As she returned to the house she was staying in, she sighed once more. She was getting all depressed again. She should be happy. She was going to one of the best colleges in the world, she was a legend, she was practically set for the rest of her life (courtesy of the UFN), and more than half of the male population wished that they could marry her. And yet…

Kallen glanced around her enormous house. The UFN provided her with anything she needed, along with things she didn't. The house fell under latter. It was a small mansion, complete with servants and maids and cooks. Not only that, but it contained a swimming pool, several large televisions, and twenty bedrooms! Why did they think that she needed this all to herself?

Kallen had figured that it was probably Kaguya's doing. Renting a huge house for her to stay in like this was definitely something she would do. Especially since she knew very well that Kallen would have been fine with living in the dorms.

'Oh well' Kallen thought, 'at least it's right outside the campus…' The last thing that she needed was Kaguya sending a limo and driver to take her to school every day.

As she walked up to the room she had chosen to sleep in, a servant came striding towards her. "Your mail, Ms. Kallen." He said in a respectful voice, bowing once she took it.

"Thank you Rodrigo. And you know that I don't like it when you bow like that!" Kallen scolded the one of the men hired to make her life easier. Rodrigo merely smirked, and with an 'As you wish' he walked away. Kallen watched him go and knew that even though he agreed to not bow anymore, the next time she saw him he would do the same thing.

Kallen looked through her mail as she walked to her room, sorting out the important stuff- letters from the Black Knights, old friends, and politicians- from the stuff that she would throw away- fan mail, advertisements, fan mail, junk mail, fan mail, and lots more fan mail.

As she sorted through the mail, a single piece of mail caught her attention. It was a deep purple envelope with gold trim lacing around it. It had no return address on it, and there were only two letters on the front.

Q-1

Kallen felt her heart speed up as she stared long and hard at the envelope, at the beautiful purple colors, the regal trim of gold. And at the flowing, neat handwriting that adorned the front of the letter.

That was his handwriting. But that was impossible. He was dead, killed in front of millions of people, impaled on the very sword he had lifted to rally his troops before battling the Black Knights.

'Strange how nobody else ever realized that,' Kallen thought. 'I'm sure someone else noticed it though… let's see, it would have to be someone who was at the battle… and it couldn't be any of Lelouch's men, because they were all brainwashed…' As Kallen thought that, she suddenly got a mental image of Lelouch scolding her, claiming "It's not brainwashing, it's geass! GEASS! G-E-A-S-S! GEASS!"

Kallen sweat-dropped at one of the things that she pictured could make Lelouch lose his cool. She suddenly started doing a very un-Kallen like thing- she started giggling at the image of Lelouch losing his cool. However, she quickly realized what she was doing and stopped. Silently chiding herself for thinking once again of Lelouch, she went back to trying to come up with someone who could have made the connection until she realized with slight amusement that there were probably only two or three people who were smart enough to make the connection and were able to witness both events.

The crimson-haired beauty shook her head to clear it a little and went back to the task at hand- the envelope. Kallen still refused to believe that it was from a dead man, and one she hated as well. A man who had made her cry many times while he was alive, and one whom she had sworn not to cry over again after she had cried when he died. After all, he had broken her heart. She should hate him!

Kallen snapped back to reality (again) and looked down at the letter with a combination of disdain and hate, with some anguish and fury mixed in as well. But… no one knew that Zero- Lelouch- no, Lelouch was the one who had betrayed them, Zero was the symbol of justice, the good guy! No one knew about how ZERO had called her Q-1 except the man himself. Kallen decided to open the envelope to see what it was. After all she was curious. And yet, she felt… nervous, scared, terrified even.

With trembling hands, Kallen slowly broke the seal keeping the envelope shut. As she unfolded the paper inside, she saw more of that beautiful flowing script.

And so she began to read.

Dear Kallen,

If you are getting this letter, it means that I am dead and everything went according to plan. As I am sure you have realized by now, Zero is Suzaku, and I have asked him to send these letters to certain people one year after my death.

Kallen started. That's right. Exactly one year ago today, Lelouch the Demon Emperor was killed. Kallen stifled the memories- and thus the tears, for she would never cry for Lelouch vi Britannia again- that came to mind with that day and kept reading.

How is everything? I hope you don't miss me too much, even though you can't possibly live without my wonderful person in your life.

Kallen managed a weak smile. This was definitely Lelouch.

Kallen, you asked me before I died why I told you to live on when the Black Knights betrayed me. You asked me what I thought of you. And I didn't reply. I broke your heart.

Kallen stiffened as she remembered that day… The day Lelouch took her heart and smashed it into a thousand pieces. And he did it without so much as a word. She expected him to say now how they weren't meant to be, and that he couldn't love someone like her. However, no matter how painful it became, she would make it to the end of this letter that Lelouch had left for her.

I am sorry.

Kallen was confused at these words. He was sorry? That wasn't what she had been expecting, but she decided she liked it better than what she had imagined he would say.

I had to push you away so that you wouldn't lose me Kallen. I would rather break your heart than love you and then make you suffer the loss of me.

Kallen frowned. He didn't want her to be hurt… As she realized what he did, tears started to gather at the corners of her eyes.

Even though it would be better not to, I can't help but answer you question truthfully Kallen. And even though I may be hurting you now, it's not as bad as it would be if I had told you back then… and honestly, I already gave my life for the world. I am allowed to be a little selfish, no? Why did I tell you to live on? It was because I loved you Kallen. You needed to survive and live a happy life. You couldn't do that with me. I was too deep into my sins, and I never deserved someone like you.

Kallen's tears were flowing freely now, and she started to sob. Lelouch had… Lelouch had… Lelouch had loved her…

You were never a pawn to me Kallen. You were always my queen, my Q-1. Please, live a happy life without me Kallen.

-Lelouch

Kallen sunk to her knees, her eyes waterfalls. How did Lelouch expect her to be happy without him? She loved him too, and she didn't care about his sins! She would love him either way…

As Kallen fell to the floor in anguish, similar letters went out, and dozens and dozens of former and current Black Knights, as well as others Lelouch had known, were receiving letters. Cornelia and Kaguya, Ohgi and Villetta, Nina and Rakshata, Todoh and Chiba, Rivalz and Milly, Xing-ke and Tamaki, even Sayoko received a letter.

The contents of each letter were different, but they were all handwritten by Lelouch, and all contained some form of an apology. This story contains all of those letters, the reactions of the recipients, and the consequences that followed.

OH SHIT IM BACK

So yeah, I got to be honest- I kind of forgot about this story :D

I lost intrest in Code Geass, although I imagine that had something to do with the fact that I buried the pain I felt knowing I would receive no more CG and tried to move on. So yeah, basically I distracted myself with other things until I forgot about Code Geass due to my attempts to ease the pain of losing it. I'm pretty sure that's ironic somehow...

Anyway, I recently got this program at the suggestion of a friend of mine that allows you to download shit and so after downloading some movies, I saw something that reminded me of CG and downloaded the entire series. It was great being able to watch it on iTunes rather than having to search the web for it...

So yeah.

But enough about me, this story: I am about to start on the second chapter, and I think it will be a minor character. I was originally going to do Suzaku, but I feel like that will be really hard to do and I want to save it for later.

This chapter was revised by me, but it's nothing big- just tried to make everything a little less awkward and added a little more backround. Nothing story-changing to be honest :P

So anyway, i hope you liked it! Review are always welcomed, as always, and I love to hear constructive criticism. PS: flames hurt my feelings :(