I do not own Code Geass in any way (though I wish I did).
Lelouch ran up the stairs. He had his phone pressed to his ear, barking orders.
"Right. I've sent Jeremiah on ahead. He'll take care of any obstacles in the way. Don't try to fight him. He just came over to our side-"
He stopped short and looked to his right. Fog poured out of a door to his right, and as it cleared, he saw a figure lying on the ground.
He ran forward in alarm and gasped. Shirley was lying on the ground, in a pool of her own blood. Her hair was beginning to take a scarlet tint, and red speckled her clothes.
In her right hand, she held a gun.
"Shirley!" He knelt down and saw the blood seeping through the hole in her shirt. Shot? "Shirley, who did this to you?"
Shirley weakly opened her eyes. "Lulu… I'm glad… we can to talk at the very end." Shirley gasped out the words, her voice weak. Blood still flowed out of the open wound on her chest.
Lelouch shook his head, unable to take it in. "Don't say that! It's not the end!" He pulled out his phone, ready to dial the emergency number. "I'll call a doctor, so just-" Shirley reached forward suddenly and grasped his hand, stopping him.
She had been lying there for a few minutes and in that time, she came to the realization that she wasn't going to make it. It took too long to get the paramedics here, even if Lelouch called now. So she had to tell him how she felt, because she didn't have that much time. She wanted him to know, before it was too late.
She managed a shaky breath. "Ever since my memories have come back, I've been feeling so very afraid." Lelouch gasped. Her memories came back?
Shirley continued. "A teacher who wasn't a teacher… friends who don't have memories to share… everyone… was just… lying!" She paused and shuddered. "It felt as though… the whole world was spying on me. That's the world… you've been fighting… all by yourself, isn't it? All alone. So that's why I… why I wanted to be someone who would at least be truthful to you."
Lelouch, overcome with sadness for the girl, fought back tears. "Shirley…" He choked out. He realized in that moment that she understood. Shirley, who had been there for him when he needed her. Shirley, who had been there since he came to school to Ashford. She was always trying to help, putting others before herself. She was always in the shadows, loving him from a distance, and he saw that now. He saw the overwhelming love she held for him… and how he returned it.
"Lulu... I love you. Even knowing how you caught my father in all this, I simply couldn't hate you." Her eyelids lowered.
No! Lelouch thought. Stay with me Shirley!
"Even though you made me forget everything, I still fell in love with you." She tightened her grip on Lelouch's hand. "Even though my memories were tampered with, I kept falling in love… with you all over again."
"No, Shirley, you can't die!" Lelouch pulled out his contact and activated his Geass on her. Her eyes flickered red.
"No matter… how many times… I'm reborn… I'll keep falling in love… with you… Lulu." Her chest overflowed with blood, making the pool grow larger around Lelouch's feet. "I… suppose… that… it's simply… fate." Shirley's voice grew weaker, and her eyes steadily drooped lower.
"No. Don't die!" Lelouch screamed. He activated his Geass again and again. "I order you not to die!"
Shirley continued to overcome the Geass. "So… is that okay then, Lulu?" She noticed the tears in Lelouch's eyes. "And as… I'm reborn, I'll fall… in love with you over and over…"
Lelouch felt tears stream out of his eyes at her confession. Why now? Why Shirley?
"I'll keep… falling… in love… with…" Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hand fell from his.
Lelouch knelt over her, shaking her shoulders. "Shirley… Shirley!" Tears fell from his eyes and he choked. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Suddenly, there were people all around him, and he shook his head in disbelief. What was going on?
A paramedic pushed him out the way, and he stumbled away from Shirley. "No, no, no…" He muttered, the tears still falling from his eyes. He reached out to her, but was pushed away again.
"She's in critical condition, but she's stable." A voice said, and he looked toward the team of people over Shirley. A woman ran in with a stretcher, and with a 'hmpff', they eased her onto it. Two men raised it up waist level, and scurried out the room, along with the rest of the medical team.
Which left Lelouch in a pool of Shirley's blood. It had soaked through his shoes and pants, and when he reached out to grab her, it had covered his arms.
Suddenly remembering the circumstances of the paramedics arriving out of thin air, Lelouch stood up and cleared his voice.
"Rolo." He simply called, silently. As he suspected, Rolo stepped out from behind the doorway.
"I'm sorry, big brother." He choked out. He clutched his chest, and walked forward in a stagger. His face was pale.
"What's wrong with you?" Lelouch yelled, striking Rolo in the face. He hit the ground.
"I thought… she was going to kill you, Lelouch." Rolo choked out, blood seeping from a cut near his mouth. "But then… when you found her, and she… said all those things, I realized… it was not true. So… I stopped you and the Shirley's flow of time… and got the paramedics here." Rolo coughed violently. "Unfortunately, my heart stops… every time I use my Geass, so… I fear that this is my end." Rolo said, once again clutching his heart.
Understanding swept over Lelouch. Though Rolo did try to kill Shirley, he only did it because he truly loved Lelouch as a brother. And now he was paying for it.
Rolo smiled. "I'm happy… that I can die… helping you. The time that I spent with you… seemed real… and the memories… that I possess… they made me… human." He breathed hard. "I see now… that she holds your heart… along with… Nunnally… I now know everything about you… big brother."
Lelouch took a step toward him but Rolo extended his other hand. "No," he choked out. "Don't… worry about me. Go to Shirley. She… needs you."
Lelouch nodded and ran out.
Rolo, I will always be in your debt for your sacrifice. The sacrifice you created on your own.
Lelouch smiled. Fool.
