This is not the end, this is not the beginning.

Suzaku pulled the sword out of Lelouch's chest, but Lelouch couldn't feel it. In fact, he couldn't feel a thing. Everything was light, hazy, unclear; almost like a dream. But Lelouch knew it wasn't a dream. He had been planning his moment for months.

Waiting for the end to come, wishing I had strength to stand.

Lelouch tried to walk forward a bit, but his broken body couldn't handle the movement. He stumbled, fell onto his knees at the edge of the platform, flipped over, and slid down to the end of the float, leaving a trail of blood splattered on the slope behind him. He landed right next to Nunnally, the person he cherished the most, the person he was dying for.

"Lelouch? Are you…?" Nunnally whispered, a look of unbelieving shock on her face. She took his hand in hers, and his memories about planning his death with Suzaku flooded into her. Her eyes widened.

This is not what I had planned. It's out of my control.

"So…all this time…?" she said, and—though his life was fading—Lelouch could hear sadness in her voice. It seemed that she was finally beginning to understand that he was dying, that there was no help available for him.

Tears began to pour down her face. "Oh Lelouch, I love you!" she cried, embracing him.

"Yes," Lelouch used the last of his breath to whisper. "I destroyed the world…to create it." And with that, his entire life flashed before his eyes. Shooting Euphy, watching Shirley die, killing Clovis…so many things he regretted doing. Yet they all helped build up to this moment, this final act.

Slowly, very slowly, Lelouch closed his eyes for the last time as the life faded out of his body.

Thoughts were spinning in my head. So many things were left unsaid. It's hard to let you go.

Nunnally sensed it, but she didn't believe it. Lelouch couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. Lelouch can't be dead. No, it's all just some kind of trick, she thought. My brother can't die. But as she looked down upon his blood-splattered body, the truth hit her like a cold, hard, bullet to the heart. She gasped.

"No…you can't leave me! Please open your eyes, Lelouch! LELOUCH!" she sobbed.

Suzaku swung the crystal-encrusted sword that he had used to kill his best friend across the platform, and his blood splattered across the Britannian flag monogrammed onto the floor. It made a cross against the flag, reminding him of the sacrifice Lelouch had made.

I know what it takes to move on. I know how it feels to lie. All I want to do is trade this life for something new, holding on to what I haven't got.

"Lelouch the demon is dead!" Cornelia yelled. "FREE HIS PRISONERS!"

There were cheers and cries as hundreds of people were released from the prisons; civilians all over the nation were celebrating the death of Lelouch vi Britannia, the enemy of the world.

In the following chaos, the crowd began to build up. Lord Jeremiah withdrew his troops to fall back, not even bothering to help up Nunnally, who was still holding on tightly to her brother's hand.

Why? Nunnally thought. Why must I lose everyone I love? First mother, then Euphemia, and now Lelouch?

"It's unfair!" she cried. "All I ever wanted and needed to be happy was to be with you….How could I possibly look forward to the future without you?"

And as the crowd began to chant for Zero, the man who had killed the person she loved the most, Nunnally sobbed into Lelouch's chest.

Eventually, the crowd drowned out Nunnally's cries, and all faded to black.

Author's Note

I love this song ("Waiting for the End"-Linkin Park) and I thought it fit perfectly with the end of Code Geass, so I wrote a songfic about it :} In case you don't understand how the song goes well with it:

1. The "strength to stand" part relates to Lelouch trying to walk and falling over

2. The "not what I had planned" part relates to this coming as a complete shock to Nunnally, and the "out of my control" part relates to her not being able to do anything about it.

3. The "thoughts were spinning in my head" part relates to all of the crazy thoughts going through Nunnally's mind after Lelouch dies.

4. "I know what it takes to move on" relates to Nunnally having experience with losing loved ones, because of the deaths of Marianne and Euphy. "Trade this life for something new" relates to Nunnally telling Lelouch that all she wanted was to live life with him.

There you have it. The two are pretty similar, huh? Hope you liked it, and it's great to be back on. Please review, and I'll try to reply if you do.

Later,

-Potter