A/N: I am completely lost right now. I can't get any inspirations. And added to that, my midterms sucked. T.T Yes, I am bitterly depressed right now. But you guys can ignore me and read on. I offer you chapter two which took forever to finish because I wasn't in the mood to write for a while. I apologize! T.T

Disclaimer: I do not own, (in any way,) Code Geass and its characters so on and so forth. Only the story written here is mine.

XXX

Good luck.

Tremendous pain electrified his body, stinging every muscle he has. He tried to picture out his surroundings but all he could recognize is the unrecognizable. Slurry colours of black, blue, grey and yellow waved in front of him, like he was being plunged under water. He felt exceedingly dizzy. Loud and deep noises bombarded him, to the point that he felt that his ears will burst if it continued any longer. And the worst of them all is what he tasted and smelled. The stink of rotten wood, rats and insects as well new and old books and human odor mixed with other unperceivable smells made his headache worse. A mixture of sweat, dust and a lot of other things he didn't want to categorize flooded his mouth, making him even sicker than he already is now.

He felt vulnerable.

Theories where he might have ended up flooded his mind along with the overwhelming sensory overload he was experiencing. He could be anywhere. But he didn't have clue.

It was because he didn't know what his greatest regret is. It was far too many for him to count.

He felt something grab his arm, as if trying to support him. He tried to hold on to that touch, but his senses were now failing him. His body felt heavy that he could feel himself succumbing to the pull of gravity.

Shadows began to cover his once abstract filled sight. He tried to fight it, but it was useless. He didn't have any strength left.

'Lulu.'

He heard someone call, a voice he recognized but could not remember to whom it belonged. He attempted to keep himself together, but all efforts were in vain.

Lelouch finally gave in to the gloom of unconsciousness, left with memory of that voice that uttered that name he never thought he'd hear again.

XXX

"…he…man! I was… mouth…"

"Thank… I don't… if… sooner."

He was hearing them; two male voices saying something he couldn't hear too well to understand. The air around him felt surprisingly light. Breathing deeply, he cleansed off the stench left in his lungs. His nose hurt when he did, smelling a light odor of bleach and medicine.

"Should we call…or…I …worry…"

"…think we…shall…go?"

Slowly, it seemed that his senses were coming back to him. The first to return was of course his hearing, then his smell and his taste. He still could sense the tang of mixed sweat and dirt in his mouth, but he dismissed it.

"I think I'll…Go…about this incident." A familiar voice of a female Lelouch knew from somewhere mumbled.

"Okay. See you later, Shirley." The other male voice replied.

Her name sent a shot of adrenaline in his system, waking him up instantly. Within a few seconds, he already felt his heart pumping hard against his chest. He came back to the time she was still alive. Somehow, the idea gave him joy and at the same time, regret.

"Shirley," another female voice spoke, somewhat older than the rest of them, "I'm gonna go to the principal's office to deliver some needed files. Look after our patient for me ok?"

"Okay!" Shirley replied with her ever cheerful voice. Lelouch could even picture her innocent smile, like she didn't have a problem in this world.

The thud of the door opening and then closing made him wake up completely, though he didn't open his eyes yet. He now knew that he's in the Ashford academy, but still not certain what period of time.

"What have you been thinking these past days, Lulu?" Shirley whispered gently, careful not to wake him. "You've been acting strange. And then you even…"

'I even what?' he thought to himself, itching to open his eyes and look at her. There was a long pause after that statement. Realizing Shirley won't speak anymore, Lelouch finally decide to open his eyes.

But then, all he saw was her face dangerously close to his. He could even feel her breath touching his lips.

"Shirley." He said, but his voice sounded hoarse.

"Wha – waah!" the orange head stepped back, knocking the chair she was sitting on a while ago. Her cheeks lit up to the color of roses immediately. "I – I was j-just ah, checking if-if y-you were alright and breathing properly," she reasoned, looking away in embarrassment.

As he focused his eyes on her, his perception became clearer. Those long straight strands of orange hair seemed to be almost unbelievable. Her sparkling light green eyes choked him off of his thoughts that he couldn't bring himself to speak. For all this time, when he thinks of Shirley, all he could see was that pale, sad face from that day she left this world; that day when she left him.

"Shirley." He said once more, burning his tongue with longing.

"I-I'm sorry Lulu," she apologized, cheeks still red, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't," Lelouch replied, "I was already awake anyway." He noticed now that he was in the clinic, lying on a bed. He sat up.

"Oh." She cleared her throat and still looked somewhere else.

"Why was your face so near to mine earlier?" he asked, even though he knew the answer to that. He missed teasing her.

"What? I… I was just… I mean…" she searched for a possible escape route, but couldn't find any.

"You were going to kiss me, weren't you?"

Shirley became more flushed. "Actually, I… I was just about to return the favor!"

"Favor?" Lelouch repeated.

"You kissed me in the library the other day so I figured I should return that kiss back…"

"I…kissed you…?" he repeated once more. He can't remember when that happened, or if it really occurred, for that matter. "In the library…" he whispered to himself, searching his thoughts.

"I can't understand why you did that so suddenly though," she said and sat on the bed.

Then, he realized. He never kissed Shirley anywhere near the library. Not before he met C.C and had been given Geass, nor before or after he erased her memories.

"Sayoko." He whispered, as he found the answers to all of his questions.

"Huh?" Shirley blinked.

"So this is my greatest regret…" he spoke softly, hands forming to fists. "Not being able to protect you."

"Lulu?" Shirley called out. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," he smiled and got out of bed. "I just remembered that I have an important thing to do." He noticed that he was wearing the Ashford academy uniform now. They unbuttoned it to make him more comfortable so he buttoned them on again and looked for his shoes.

"But you're sick!" she reasoned. "You fainted! You even foamed in the mouth and your eyes turned white and –"

"I'm alright now," he assured her. 'So that was what I looked like earlier…'

"You're not!" she insisted. "We thought you were going to die, Lulu! You need to take a break –"

"It's alright, Shirley. I'm fine." He patted her head and smiled warmly and genuinely; a thing he never had the chance to do before.

"But even so…" she frowned, worry surfacing in her voice.

"That return favor you mentioned earlier," he started, "Can I have it now?"

"What?" Shirley blushed once more upon hearing that. "I-I was just joking! There's no need to do that, I –"

"Equality must be practiced."

Shirley could no longer speak as Lelouch leaned and kissed her.

For the first time in what seemed a long time, when their lips met, he felt he was truly alive.

He broke off from the kiss, leaving her speechless and smitten. "Go back to class, Shirley. I'll see you later." He wore his shoes and gave her one last smile. After that, he left the clinic.

While walking through the hallways of Ashford, he knew he had to move carefully. He had to save Shirley and prevent any unwanted results. He really didn't believe in the 'Law of Equality' the Geass Collector had told him. There was no such thing.

Defying Destiny and Death will take more than a miracle to pull off.

But after seeing her again, he felt he can do anything.

XXX

"Lelouch?" C.C called out, patting the unconscious prince by the cheek as he lay peacefully on the grass. She had been searching for him for about an hour now, wondering where he went. "Wake up already, I'm starving."

"He'll be back by sunset."

C.C turned her head to who spoke. "Who is there?"

"Greetings, C.C." the speaker stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

C.C looked like she saw a ghost when she emerged from hiding and recognized her face. "Lilith?"

The woman with long grey hair smiled as she ate the blueberries in the basket Lelouch took with him earlier. "Wow, you recognized me instantly even though it's our first time to meet! As a reward, I'll give you this basket full of blueberries I personally picked. They're all ripe, I assure you."

"You made a pact with Lelouch." The green haired witch stood up, looking straight at Lilith, her geass automatically activating, becoming offensive so suddenly.

"He needed the pact," the grey haired immortal corrected her. "That's why I have shown myself to him. Don't be so feisty now; I didn't trick him or something."

"All the words that come out of your mouth are all lies," C.C accused boldly.

"What a troublesome girl you are," Lilith grinned. "You're just being selfish."

"The wishes that you promised to grant don't ever come true."

"Death is inevitable; I don't have control over that. And I don't grant wishes, I help to grant them. Every one of us controls their own fate. It's in their hands if they take advantage of the chances I've provided them with. It's not my fault if all the people whom I made pact with never got what they wanted. After all, time waits for no one." Lilith walked to the unconscious Lelouch lying on the ground. She knelt beside him, and then brushed his hair gently. "Who knows, maybe this boy will be the first to bend the will of the past."

XXXfinXXX

A/N: The original version of this story is just a one shot, so I really don't know what entered my mind when I decided to divide it into chapters. And I'm confused about what ending I should make. So, please suggest ideas if you have any. That'll be a great help! Thank you.