Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or "A String Tightly Knotted"

Author Notes: This is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. Because it is an awesome fanfiction. I am talking about "A String Tightly Knotted" by spirithorse. You can find the story on Archive of our Own or is even a winner of Nanowrimo. So I would really recommend everyone to read that fic a soon as they can since they are missing a lot if they don't. This is an AU of that AU with an alternative ending.

"A String Tightly Knotted' by spirithorse on Archive of Our Own Org. The link is on my profile at the top. Please go and check it out.

Loose Strings

Euphie sighed as she placed the pen down and massaged her aching hand. She was tired and it was way past her bedtime but she guessed that the Empress of Britannia was supposed to be tireless and didn't have a bed time.

Smiling softly, she glanced at a family photo she kept on her desk. The smiling faces of her beloved siblings smiled back at her. There was Nunnally who looked similar to her namesake and then there was Carine who looked on as haughtily as she could. Pollux and Castor were identical smirking faces and Maribelle stood looking more sincere then she actually was. And then there was Julius.

She abandoned her work for the time being to take the photo in her hand and gaze at it sadly. This wasn't a recent photo. She was 27 now and so was Julius making them the eldest of all the children in the photo. She looked at her 12 year old self in the photo and her smile turned sad. This photo was taken the morning on the day everything went haywire.

She felt a shiver through her and tried to squash it down. It was over now. But it still didn't stop her from relieving the moments when they all- except Julius- went into the abandoned Aries Villa in hopes of seeing the ghost. She could still remember Pollux screams as he plunged into insanity and the look on Nunnally's face when she was found on the bottom of the stairs.

The rest of them had come away mostly unscathed if a bit shaken. But then none of the others had encountered the ghost of the Demon Emperor.

A shaky sigh left her lips at the thought of the past previous month events even though she hadn't been a part of it. No one knew what had taken place last month at Aries Villa except for the Kingsley siblings and the pair of experts from Japan they had bought in to deal with the spirit. Even she didn't know the exact details of what took place and she made sure no one caught a whiff of it either.

She knew that no one else would believe them now just like they hadn't believed Nunnally sixteen years ago when she claimed to have seen the ghost. No one except for her brother Julius Kingsley.

Even then he had to go and investigate it himself over a year ago when she ascended the throne and was getting the Villa cleaned up. And she still remembered how that ended.

Nunnally might have escaped with having lost the use of her legs but Julius would have lost his life. Euphie didn't understand why the ghost would attack someone who looked like them. Surely the fact that Julius shared most of his facial features with the Demon Emperor would have been enough to stop the ghost from hurting him? But then ghosts were not meant to be logical.

But she was thankful that the caretaker of the Aries Villa had the sense to suggest them to bring in experts in the field to deal with it. Suzaku Kururugi and Kaguya Sumeragi were famous in the field of dealing with the spirit world. But she knew that this assignment had taken its toll on them since the last she heard they announced that they were taking a year break after returning to Japan.

Despite being experts it had taken them months to wrap this up and she was sure that none of them escaped without a few repercussions.

They had it wrapped up on the day the Emperor had died. Or it would be more appropriate to say by the dawn of the day the Emperor had been assassinated.

As if a reminder of faith, the door opened and Zero poked his head in.

"Your Majesty, it getting late." Euphie knew that it was less of concern towards her and more because he himself was tired but instead if saying anything she smiled and waved him away.

"Leave. I am sure I will be fine." Noticing the hesitance in the way Zero still hovered by the door and smiled at him and said, "Go."

In the end it seemed like his exhaustion was more than his concern so with one sharp nod he left. Euphie sighed; tension leaving her body along with Zero. Despite the stories that Zero was a Knight of Justice she couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive around him. It was like an omen that things could go wrong at any moment if she wasn't careful and Zero would have to swoop in again like he had done with the 99th Emperor.

Logically she knew that this wasn't the same Zero who had been around when Lelouch vi Britannia was assassinated but it didn't make her any less wary. She had inkling that this was maybe the 5th or 6th Zero to date; the first one dying after the Second Black Rebellion while the second one had killed the Demon Emperor.

Empress Nunnally's grandchild Emperor Lance had executed one of the Zero on charges of attempted Rebellion and instilled another Zero in the place. So there had to be at least 5 Zeroes including the one currently serving the Empire. No one ever knew the identities of Zero except for the current Emperor or Empress. So the moment she was sworn in Zero had personally come to her and introduced him. But even he didn't know which Zero was he.

But she knew that Julius knew more about it than she did.

"Euphie?"

But then so did Nunnally.

"Nunnally!" Euphie sent down the photo and turned her full attention to the young girl by the door. "What are you doing here at this time?" She asked glancing at the watch. It was already one.

"I was working on some important documents that Schneizel required before tomorrow morning. So I decided to stay here and finish them off instead of returning home." Nunnally made her way towards the desk, the whirring of her wheelchair filling in the silence.

"You work too hard." Euphie commented lightly.

Nunnally grinned. "Well, we who are only distant relatives of the Royal Family have to prove their worth."

Euphie chuckled. "You may not exactly be royalty but you are still my siblings."

That statement was followed by a short stretch of peaceful silence with both of them smiling at each other. "Won't Lelouch be worried about you?" Euphie asked lightly breaking the silence. Almost immediately the air became stifling and Euphie frowned at the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Nunnally…?" She asked tentatively.

Nunnally had looked down to her lap and was biting her lip worriedly. Euphie knew that whatever was troubling her sibling was something big since Nunnally only bit her lip when she was worried about something big and something she couldn't do anything about.

"Is it about Julius?" Euphie asked, her voice still soft yet she couldn't help the slight swell of panic that had lodged in her throat at the thought of any of her cousins getting hurt.

"He-" Nunnally broke off with a frown. "He hasn't been himself lately." She confessed, the frown making her look older than her 25 years.

Euphie blinked. She hadn't expected that. "What do you mean by that?"

Nunnally didn't answer but bit her lip.

"Nunnally…. What exactly happened that night?" She decided that it was time to push for some answers that Julius hadn't been ready to give her the day he shown her the real location of the graves of Lelouch vi Britannia and Suzaku Kururugi, the Knight.

Nunnally stayed silent for a few moments before opening her mouth to talk. "I was the bait." Euphie felt a chill creep over her with that single sentence. She didn't really know what exactly had happened that night but she knew it wasn't good. She just didn't expect it to be so bad.

"Bait?" She asked.

"Suzaku and Kaguya, they asked me to be a bait to lure the ghost of the Demon Emperor out. They guessed that since he had already come after me once he will try to attack me again." Nunnally explained quickly in one breath. "They thought that either one of the Kingsley's would do since we both resemble the people the ghost knew when he was alive."

Euphie shook her head in amazement. "But why you? Why not Julius? I am sure that he would have offered himself to keep you safe."

"Because I was a better bet than him. I resemble the Late Empress Nunnally."

"But you aren't-"

"I am a splitting image of her and that's more than enough. Time doesn't flow the same for ghosts. They are merely a reflection of their own self so they barely keep track of time and how the events occur. For him he was still stuck in the past and I was the sister who-." Nunnally cut off abruptly to take a deep breath.

Euphie took a moment to digest it all. It seemed too fantastical to be true. But she knew that Nunnally was telling the truth. After all, she herself had been to the Villa in the night and felt the darkness in it.

"So they put you up as the bait and they were the only ones there to protect you."

"Even the caretaker was there."

"The caretaker?" Euphie frowned. It didn't sound so farfetched seeing as the lady was the one who asked them to bring in Kururugi and Sumeragi but then she didn't expect her to be there when they carried out the plan.

"Yeah." Nunnally wrung her hands nervously. "I am not going to relay the night's events to you but we exorcised the ghost and escaped in one piece." Nunnally's voice was firm and Euphie knew that it would be of no use trying to coax out any more answers out of her.

"But that wasn't what I wanted to walk about." Nunnally looked worried. "It's just that- he has been acting unlike himself."

"What do you mean Nunnally?" Euphie asked though she had a feeling she knew exactly what Nunnally meant. She hoped that it wasn't what she was thinking, that all the tiredness was getting to her brain and causing her to make up a kinds of conspiracy theories but somehow she felt that it wasn't the case.

"He still cares a lot about me. Cooks me meals and make sure I am alright and all but-" Nunnally swallowed. "Maybe I am hallucinating but I could sometime hear him humming songs. "

Before Euphie could ask what was wrong with that Nunnally continued," Old Japanese songs."

Euphie felt another shiver go up her spine.

"I wouldn't know them if I hadn't heard Kaguya sing them and had asked them about it." Nunnally whispered still not meeting Euphie's eyes.

"And sometimes- I swear I saw his eyes turn red sometimes." Nunnally whispered and Euphie was gripped with a sense of alarm.

"Red?" Euphie remembered the stories telling about how see a flash of red eyes when they came face to face with the Demons ghost and were either killed or injured.

"You don't think….." Euphie looked at Nunnally with growing horror. There was no way but she couldn't think of any other explanation of why Julius would know old Japanese songs especially when he never even went to Japan.

"I don't know Euphie I really don't." Nunnally buried her face in her hands.

"But wouldn't he have tried to kill you?" She asked.

"He loved her. Despite everything he still loved her." Nunnally bit her lip. "I don't think he would do anything to harm her. And by extension me." She glanced at Euphie.

"He might have killed others but I know the real reason behind that. Nunnally vi Brittania isn't someone he would hurt." Nunnally whispered.

"Well, we can't let this matter pass silently can we." Euphie sat back and was looking more of an Empress than ever.

"What are you suggesting we do Euphie?" Nunnally stared at her sibling.

"Talk with him."

"What?!"

"That's the only way. I know that he isn't going to exactly agree with our assumptions even if he-"She broke off to take a deep breath. "At least he may show some kind of reaction that may give him away if he is the Demon Emperor." Euphie swallowed and looked at Nunnally. She didn't know if it was possible for the 99th Emperor to possess Julius body but she hadn't talked with him for a long time so she couldn't say if Julius had changed or not.

"Don't worry Nunnally. I am sure everything is going to be alright." She closed her eyes and muttered, "Everything will be alright."

"I know what you both are thinking. It's not true. I am not possessed by his ghost." Julius rolled his eyes as he looked through the papers he was supposed to finish reading by tonight. There was an article he was supposed to write and he had delayed it for long enough.

He was sitting in his office at home while Euphie had swept in and demanded to talk with him. His only reply had been a raised eyebrow and gesture to have a sit on one of the chairs. He may not have seen her in a long time but he was sure that she looked even more exhausted than he last saw her.

He didn't understand what was so important to pull her away from her Empress duties and into his house without a phone call. It was only after few seconds that she confessed that she had come here on Nunnally's behalf and it didn't take long for Julius to realize what had happened. He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes and scoffing at their fears.

"Julius… I know you are not really happy with accusing you but-" Euphie broke off and shook her head. "Look, Nunnally is worried about you and it's your duty to assuage her fears."

That stopped him as he turned to look at her. "She is scared?" He couldn't hide the hurt from his tone as he frowned at her. It was one thing for Euphie to doubt him and another for Nunnally to admit that she was afraid of him.

Euphie merely gave him an apologetic glance. They both sat silent for a few moments before Nunnally knocked on the open door. "Um.. May I come in?" They both turned to look the wheelchair bound woman and it seemed that he appearance had helped Julius come to a decision.

"Let us visit Suzaku then." Julius proposed. "If there is anyone who would be able to recognize if I was being possessed or not it would be him." Nunnally blinked in surprise for a moment before registering what he meant.

Nunnally and Euphie glanced at each other weighing their options. They hadn't seen Suzaku and Kaguya for months after they had taken a break but the idea had merit.

"Fine."

"Well then, I will make the arrangements so you both can fly out tomorrow." Euphie got up gracefully and smiled at them. "Make sure you are ready for it."

And with that she swept out of the room.

"Julius. Nunnally." Suzaku's face broke into a smile when he caught sight of Julius and Nunnally. He and Kaguya had got the message that the Kingsley siblings were arriving but it still bought a smile to their face when they saw the two siblings.

"What brings you both down here?" Kaguya joined him by the gate as they greeted their guests. Suzaku noted that both of them looked more happy and content than the last time he had seen them.

"Ah well…" Nunnally chuckled nervously and Suzaku had a feeling that this wasn't a merely a social visit.

"My dear sister seems to think I am possessed by the ghost of the Demon Emperor." Julius glanced at Nunnally who smiled back sheepishly. They were making their way into the Shrine.

Kaguya blinked. "What?" Suzaku could hear an undertone of fear in her voice and he didn't blame her. They had gone through hell just getting rid of the spirit the first time; he didn't want to think how it would be to go against the spirit again.

"Well, we are quite sure that we managed to get rid of his spirit that night." Suzaku exchanged a glance with Kaguya. "Maybe if you wanted we could just check, to make sure."

"If that will make my sister feel better." Suzaku knew that Julius wasn't happier to do this but if it would appease Nunnally then he would do it.

Suzaku nodded at Kaguya and she tilted her head, telling him to go forward with it without her. "I will make the protective circle just in case but I doubt we will need it." She grinned at Nunnally and it was all Nunnally could do not to grin back.

They had entered the room they mostly used for practicing. There were protective runes on all the walls and it was one of the safest rooms against the spirits.

"Give me your hands." Suzaku held Julius hand in his as Kaguya went around them constructing a circle and muttering spells. Nunnally looked closely as Suzaku closed his eyes and concentrated. She made sure to stay out of the way, in one corner just waiting for the verdict to come out. She knew that it was foolish of her but there was a part of her that wanted to be entirely sure that it was Julius and not-

She sighed as she looked at Julius. His eyes were closed hiding the brilliant shade of violet and his face looked peaceful. For a moment she felt foolish doubting who he really was.

After a few minutes, Suzaku broke away and turned towards Nunnally. "Congratulations. No spirit of any kind has taken residence inside your brother."

Nunnally smiled was wide.

"I told you so." Julius had bent by her wheelchair with a matching smile.

"Yes you did." Nunnally giggled.

"Why dont you stay for lunch? We can enjoy a bit of Japanese cuisine." Kaguya offered coming to stand by them.

Nunnally looked at Julius. "Why not? Since we traveled all the way here." He shrugged a light grin still on his face.

"Well it isn't lunch time yet so maybe we can go out and I can show you the place." Suzaku offered looking at Julius. Nunnally and Kaguya exchanged a glance and grinned.

"Will you like to join us Nunnally?" Julius and Suzaku had turned towards her.

"Oh no, my wheelchair wouldn't be able to go in the muddy grounds. You both go ahead while I stay and catch up with Kaguya." Nunnally smiled sweetly yet there was a touch of mischief in her eyes.

Kaguya giggled. "Oh yes, we will stay here and gossip about boring talks. You both go and have fun." She winked.

Suzaku scowled at her but Julius just grinned.

"Well, I know a place where you can get a magnificent view of Mount Fuji." Suzaku smiled as he gestured at Julius.

" I would love to see it." And off they went leaving their siblings behind with wide grins on their face.

"Have your acting skills deteriorated so much that you are unable to hide the fact that you aren't Julius?" Suzaku muttered as they stood on the hill overlooking Mt. Fuji. It bought back memories for both of them when they were merely small boys with optimistic dreams and aspirations. Where nothing in the world felt impossible especially when they were together.

"Give me a break. It has been nearly a century since I have had to use my skills." Julius- no, Lelouch- snapped back though it lacked any real bite. He leaned on Suzaku and looked at the sky.

"But you were able to hide the fact quite well." Lelouch turned towards his Knight with an eyebrow raised.

"Well I have had years of experience to hide the fact that I hadn't 'passed on'." Suzaku Kururugi, Knight of Zero smirked as he leaned back.

"But you would have moved on if I hadn't stopped you." Lelouch glanced at him sharply.

"You did stop me from moving on but you weren't the Lelouch I knew. You had gone a bit off the hook after staying in such a long time and I laid dormant waiting for you to come back to your senses."

At that, Lelouch pursued his lips and stared at the sunflowers. "But I am glad that they weren't able to exorcise you." Suzaku muttered.

"Of course they weren't." Lelouch grinned. "My spirit wasn't trapped by the mask; it was trapped in the house."

"And you made them keep coming across the mask to confuse them." Suzaku rolled his eyes.

"I didn't become the Emperor by being an idiot did I?" Lelouch rolled his eyes.

"Mine lies in the Knightmare Key doesn't it?" Suzaku asked even though he already knew the answer. After bring stuck for years it was obvious he would know what held him back.

"Like you don't know." Lelouch chuckled. "I thought that was the thing most befitting you. Though the original one was long gone I managed to make a copy before I died." He shook his head. "I admit, it was a sentimental reason at that time but I knew the value of it after I died."

"Did CC help you in binding me with the key?" Suzaku asked curiously. That was one part he didn't know about.

Lelouch snorted. "Of course not. The Witch would never help me with something like this. I had to do it by myself." At the curious glance from his Knight Lelouch elaborated. "For the first few years after my death I realized that I was a ghost now and there was no end in sight for me. I knew I would not remain sane for soon so I had to do something before I lost my sanity. I was at my most powerful during those first few years and I still had the use of my Geass."

"What did you do?" Suzaku asked.

"I merely took the help of a guard to draw the ruins required for the spell and perform it since I couldn't do it myself. It was easy for me to get something of yours to complete the spell." Lelouch shrugged at the sky started to brighten.

"Never knew you believed in magic." Suzaku grinned.

"After the Geass? It's hard not to believe in anything." Lelouch jibbed back.

"What about CC?" Suzaku asked. "I find it hard to believe that she doesn't know that you have taken over Julius body."

"Of course she knows." Lelouch smirked. "She found out the next day when she came to eet Julius and tell him that she is quitting."

"And?"

"She isn't going to tell. She thinks that we deserve a happy ending but she did make me promise to leave after Julius Kingsley and Suzaku Kururugi normal life ends."

"And she expects you to keep it?"

"Well, she threatened to set the house on fire if I don't."

Suzaku laughed and shook his head. "I knew I hated her for a reason."

"Yes, but she promised that she won't interfere in this lifetime of ours."

"And now we have our whole lives in front of us don't we?" Suzaku pulled Lelouch closer.

"Forever and ever my Knight." Lelouch whispered as he titled his head to kiss his lover.

And forever it would be.

Author Notes: I hope you read the fic "A String Tightly Knotted' since this story would make more sense then. It is fine as a stand alone but then it would be more effective after reading that fic. Hope you enjoyed.