Hey! Due to popular demand, I decided to go with this story. However, I should warn you that updates will be REALLY slow. I've allready got two other in-progrss stories that I should be working on, and the time when I actually have TIME to write will be ending soon.
I will admit that this chapter was a little hard to write, especially since it's been almost a year since I wrote the first chapter. I've always assumed that Naoto was the same age as Ohgi, so he'll be 19 in this chapter (a lot older than I orriginally thought he was) and Kallen and Lelouch are 10. I will admit that they might come off as a little OOC, but remember how old they are, and not everything that contributed to who they are in Canon has happened. Oh, and there is a large time skip after this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass
Chapter 2: A Warm Welcome
"Euphie, you really need to let go."
The Third Princess only cluched Lelouch's arm tighter. "No! The last time I left you alone, you ended up in a war zone. I'm not making that mistake again!"
Lelouch sighed. "Cornelia, would you please tell Euphie to let go?"
However, Cornelia li Britannia didn't appear to be paying attention, instead enchanted by Nunnally's ability to transform a square piece of paper into a dog's head.
"...and then the other corner goes like this. There! It's supposed to be a dog according to Kaguya, but I'm afraid I can't tell very well. I think she said it looks better when you draw a face on it, but that doesn't help me," the crippled and blind princess explained.
"No, Nunnally!" Cornelia reassured her younger half-sister. "It's amazing. You really learned some interesting things in Japan, didn't you?"
Nunnally smiled. "Uh-huh."
"Hey! Cornelia!" Lelouch tried calling again. When that didn't get her attention, he started to inch towards the two girls sitting at the table, towing a very clingy Euphemia along with him.
It had been almost an entire week. An entire week since the Britannian forces had withdrawn in defeat from Japan. An entire week since Lelouch and Nunnally had returned to the Britannian Homeland and Royal family. An entire week since he had seen Suzaku, Naoto, and Kallen. Although the two half-britannians had been transported to Britannia with the prince and princess, they hadn't spoken at all the entire plane ride. Since the two sets of siblings had been separated shortly after landing, Lelouch had no idea what had happened to Kallen and Naoto, but he doubted he would be able to see them anytime soon.
"Your Highness?"
All four members of the Royal family looked up at the butler.
Despite his calm composure, it was obvious the servant was a little flustered. "A young Lord and Lady are at the front door, demanding to see the Prince and Princess vi Britannia. Should I let them in?"
Lelouch frowned. The only people who he really knew in Pendragon were members of the Royal family, who would have been introduced as His or Her Highness. He supposed it could be the Ashfords, but he had heard they lost their titles after his mother's assassination and he couldn't think of someone who would fit the description "young Lord."
Cornelia looked worried. "I guess you can let them in," she eventually told the manservant.
The butler nodded and started to complete his task only to be plowed over by what appeared to be a red whirlwind.
"What the..." Cornelia began.
Lelouch found himself practically shoved onto the floor by an unknown projectile. When his head stopped spinning from confusion, he realized that his immediate line of sight was interrupted by a finger pointing between his eyes.
"You have some explaining to do, mister," his assailant hissed.
"Lelouch!" Euphemia cried.
"Lady Kallen!"
A young maid stormed in, clearly infuriated. "You must wait to be announced before entering a house, especially in the presence of Royalty! And a lady never... WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE PRINCE!" The maid gasped in horror at the scene before her.
Lelouch took stock of the girl pointing her finger at him. The first thing he could see easily was her bright red dress. The style reminded him of something Euphie or Nunnally would wear, so he could infer she came from a prominent family. He looked around her finger and noticed her hair, bright red and falling like a waterfall around her face. It was difficult to see with the finger in his face, but when he focused he could just make out her face.
Lelouch sighed. "Kallen, it's you."
Euphie marched up to face Kallen. "Excuse me, but what are you doing to Lelouch?"
Kallen scowled at the princess. "But out, prissy. This is between me and Prince secret-keeper here."
Euphie's mouth fell open. Nobody had ever talked to her that way.
The maid bowed low. "I must humbly apologize for my young mistress's behavior, Your Highness. She has only recently returned to the homeland, and..."
"It's fine," Lelouch muttered. This was one of the reasons why he didn't miss Pendragon and didn't have any friends. Nobody except other Royal family members were ever allowed to get rough with him.
"Kallen!" a voice Lelouch recognized as Naoto's echoed through Aries Villa. "Come on, where are you? I'm just as anxious to see them as you are, so why did you have to..." He stopped in the doorway where the maid was still trying to apologize for Kallen's behavior. "Oh, there you are. How are you, Lelouch? And you, Nunnally?"
"Naoto? Is that really you?" Lelouch asked. The man in front of him was nothing like the teenager he had wandered across war-torn Japan with. Like his sister, Naoto had cleaned up well. He was sporting a new haircut with all the loose strands held back by some kind of gel instead of the red headband he had previously worn. His dress was appropriate for a visiting politician or a young nobleman. However, when Lelouch looked closely he could still see the easygoing attitude that was characteristic of Naoto.
Cornelia stood up and glared at Naoto. "Who, exactly are you? And better yet, what do you want with my siblings?"
The butler finally regained his composure to answer Cornelia's question. "Your Highness, this is Lord Naoto Stadtfeld, heir of the Stadtfeld family."
Cornelia frowned. "And what is your business with my siblings, Lord Stadtfeld?"
Naoto scratched his head at Cornelia's question. "Well, I wouldn't say we have any business really. But we were worried about them, and my little sister was determined to see them again, and when my father found out we knew members of the Royal family, he decided we should do everything possible to keep that relationship. Not that I'm complaining; I could really use the chance to get out of the house and away from her."
Cornelia still didn't seem willing to let them stay with Nunnally and Lelouch, but luckily Nunnally chose that time to speak up. "Naoto? Is that you?"
Naoto smiled and put his hands in Nunnally's. "Yeah, it's me. And Kallen is here too, if we could just peel her away from your brother."
Nunnally clutched Naoto's hand and started weeping tears of joy. "I'm... so happy. Suzaku had to stay in Japan, and when you and Kallen were separated from big brother and me, I was so worried that we would lose all of our new friends. But now you're here..."
Naoto just smiled and squeezed Nunnally's hand. After watching that exchange, Cornelia decided that the strangers could be trusted with her siblings and finally left to monitor the guards.
Meanwhile, Lelouch still had the little problem of an apparently angry Kallen. "Uh, Kallen? Is there any chance you could let me go?" he asked.
Kallen glared at him. "Why? Why didn't you tell us?"
Lelouch sighed. "About me and Nunnally being a prince and Princess?"
Kallen nodded.
"I didn't think we'd have to go back, and I wanted to put that life behind me."
Kallen sighed and finally took her finger out of his face. "Whatever. You should have trusted us through. After all, we're friends, right?"
Lelouch nodded, relieved that he could still count Kallen as one of his true allies.
Euphie, who had apparently just recovered from the shock of Kallen's language, decided to stand up to the other girl again. "You know, you shouldn't be so mean to Lelouch. He's been through a lot recently."
Kallen looked Euphie over. "Who are you?"
Euphie put her hands on her hips. "I am Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess. And you are?"
Kallen cringed, like she was disgusted by Euphie's name alone. "Kallen Kozuki. Japanese and not a fan of most Royals. Lelouch and Nunnally are all right just because they were there with us."
"Oh." Euphie's face fell at Kallen's words.
Naoto looked over at where the two girls were on the verge of a fight. "Kallen, you need to get into the habit of calling yourself a Stadtfeld. We aren't living with mom anymore."
Kallen turned to her brother, most likely to give him a witty retort, but stopped when she heard Cornelia's voice over one of the guards' radio.
"Mayday! Mayday! Intruders in the Villa! Protect the children!"
Lelouch's eyes grew wide with these words. He ran to Nunnally, hoping to shield her anyway possible before all his worst fears came true.
Dark crimson blood was the only thing he could see. It was staining the carpet, flowing down the steps, oozing out of his mother's lifeless form. Even Nunnally, his precious, sweet, innocent little sister was stained with that retched color as she struggled to reach for help that she couldn't see anymore.
Lelouch grabbed Nunnally and held her close to his chest like he had for so many nights in Japan, when he needed confirmation that she there, in his arms and not in any more danger than could be helped. Euphemia came up behind him and wrapped her arms around her two half-siblings. Naoto got between the others and the door, though Kallen was right behind him clutching his arm. There were five armed guards in the doorway, determined to follow Cornelia's orders till the end.
And then the intruders showed up. There were at least twice as many of them as there were guards present, and where the villa guards had nothing but small handguns, the intruders had large machine guns that outclassed the guards' by miles. Even though Lelouch didn't know much about guns, he could see that and wasn't surprised when the guards were quickly killed.
As the intruders marched into the room, Naoto continued to try and put himself between the children and the enemy, but was unable to after one of the men pointed his gun at the teenager's head. Lelouch pulled Nunnally closer, suddenly glad that she was blind and couldn't see what was happening. He felt Euphie's arms trembling with fear around them.
Between his mother's murder and the invasion of Japan, Lelouch was no stranger to dangerous situations. However, this situation was completely different from what he had experienced in the past. With his mother's murder, Lelouch hadn't experienced the danger himself, and had simply helplessly observed the aftermath. With the invasion, it had been random violence; although there was a high chance he and Nunnally would be killed, the soldiers weren't usually deliberately aiming for them. However, this situation was completely different. He was right in the middle of the danger, and he could tell he was one of the intended targets. That thought made this situation even worse.
There was one man who came in last among the intruders. From his superior aura and the way the other intruders deferred decision-making, it was obvious to Lelouch that he was the man in charge. He was the leader. The equivalent to a King piece in chess.
The leader started giving orders to his men. "Alright boys, we don't have much time. Our client wants every kid we can find in this house as hostages, and he's paying us good money to make that happen. Most of the security force is with our decoy unit at the front, but they won't hold forever. We've got 10 minutes tops to bag the goods and get out of here. Now get to work!"
The intruders answered their leader with a chorus of "Yes, sir," before descending on their captives. Since Naoto was the oldest the perceived him as the greatest threat, he was quickly bound with a leather strap they had brought with them. Kallen was dragged away from her brother, despite her kicking and screaming. Somebody grabbed Euphie's arms and pulled them behind her back. Lelouch was helpless as someone dragged him away from Nunnally by his shirt collar.
Nunnally was trembling. Although they hadn't seen any reason to tie up a disabled and blind girl, she was still separated from everyone else and undoubtedly terrified. "Big brother? What's going on?" she whispered.
Lelouch swallowed his fear and answered her with as much confidence he could muster in the situation. "It's going to be OK Nunnally. I'll keep you safe, I promise."
The leader, who had been watching everything from the sidelines, threw his head back and laughed. "Aw, isn't this cute! You promise to keep her safe, but you can't even guarantee your own safety." He walked up to Lelouch and told the men holding him to let the boy go with a wave of the hand. "Tell me boy, how do you plan on keeping your promise? Because, from where I stand, you can't even move without my permission." He pointed a gun at the Prince's head. "The fact is, I have power and you don't. Therefore, the only thing you can do is sit tight and play the good little hostage and maybe I won't kill you."
Lelouch glared at the leader, but all he could see was the gun pointed at his face. The gun was the thing that gave this man power over Lelouch. If only it was removed, Nunnally would be safe.
If only I had power.
Lelouch shuffled his feet in an attempt to distance himself from the gun. However, he didn't get before he tripped over something on the ground. As the invaders chuckled, Lelouch noticed that it was the body of one of the villa's guards, still clutching his handgun.
Lelouch looked at the dead man's weapon. Even if it wasn't as great as what the others had, it was still a gun. It could kill a man just as well as any other weapon. It could give him the same kind of power as the leader. If he could just get his hands on it...
No. It wouldn't work. All their eyes were on him right now, and they would take the gun away the moment he grabbed it. He wouldn't be able to get off a single shot. Not unless something happened that took their interest off of him.
Naoto broke the silence that was suffocating the room. "Look, I am probably worth something to you people, but those kids are just the servants' children playing dress-up. It won't do you any good to hold them hostage."
Mentally, Lelouch had to compliment Naoto's ingenuity. If these were kidnappers for ransom, it wouldn't do them any good to take kids whose families wouldn't be able to pay up. However, if these people had done their research or were doing this for some kind of cause it wouldn't work.
The leader sighed and turned to Naoto. "I'm sorry, but my client insisted..."
Lelouch saw his chance. All the goons were interested in the conversation between their leader and the teenage captive, so none of them were paying attention to what a 10-year-old boy was doing.
As fast as his feeble body allowed, Lelouch grabbed the dead guard's gun and took aim at the leader, the king piece. He would only have the chance for one shot, but everybody knows the game is won when you take the other player's king. Lelouch hadn't fired a gun before, but he had seen others do it enough to grasp the basic theory. Just point the open end at the bad guy and squeeze your pointer finger.
Lelouch pulled the trigger.
Somehow, despite the recoil and shaking hands, the bullet ended up close to its intended target and shot straight through the man's heart. As the leader's body slumped to the floor and settled in a pool of crimson blood, Lelouch found himself whispering one word. "Checkmate."
For a moment, everything remained still. The intruders were dumbfounded that someone, a little kid, no less, could kill their leader so easily. Nobody seemed to know what to do. Lelouch continued to clutch the gun, but his hands were shaking uncontrollably and his eyes were blurry. He fell to his knees, and nobody attempted to stop his fall.
There was chaos around him. Lelouch wasn't fully aware of it, but his senses interpreted noise and movement. He couldn't figure out what was going, instead to focused on the gun in his hand, the tool he had just used to kill someone. Yes, it was someone who was going to hurt him and Nunnally, but still a person...
"My Prince? Do you think you could give me the gun please?"
Lelouch looked up at the speaker. Jeremiah Gottwald, the same knight who had recognized him in Japan, who had previously worked as a member of his mother's Royal Guard. He had chosen to stay a guard for Lelouch and Nunnally after their return to Britannia, and was starting to grow on Lelouch. If he was here, then everything was probably all right at the moment.
Lelouch handed his gun to Jeremiah and looked around the room. It was filled with Cornelia's men taking the intruders under arrest. In one corner, Cornelia herself was holding Euphie and Nunnally in a comforting embrace while the younger princesses cried tears of relief. Kallen and Naoto were standing close by, wearing the same expression they had every time they had seen a new, destroyed town in Japan.
Lelouch was shaking again. He didn't know why, but the shock and relief that this mini disaster was over caused his body to shiver and sob. Jeremiah pulled the boy into his arms.
"Shhh, Your Highness. It's all right, you're safe," Jeremiah whispered.
Lelouch found it odd to be comforted by the knight. Comforting had always been something his mother had done. Still, Lelouch was grateful. He knew that this was one of the many things he could never expect from his real father.
Lelouch cried a little more. "I just... feel so weak. I want to protect Nunnally, Euphie, and everyone else. But I don't have the power to do that."
Jeremiah brushed a few tears off the boy's face. "Don't worry, my prince. Someday, when you are older, you will have the power to protect those you care about. Just let me protect you until then, Ok?"
Lelouch nodded, but his eyes drifted to where the body of the man he'd killed lay, covered in a white cloth. He'd had power. He'd gained it by forming an army and getting money from the worst people in Britannia. Lelouch hated the fact that someone could gain that much power by doing the wrong things in his country, a country he was a prince of. He'd have to do something about that.
Cornelia asked Jeremiah to take Lelouch into another room along with the others. Lelouch could feel Euphie clutching his arm again, but this time it was in legitimate fear. He had his free hand in Nunnally's lap, and he was squeezing her hand in comfort. Kallen sat on a seat nearby, looking at her hands and deep in thought.
Lelouch heard footsteps aproaching and saw Naoto come up next to him. The older boy leaned over and whispered in the Prince's ear. "Whatever you're planning, know you can count on me."
Please Read, Review, Follow and Favorite!