Hi there! Crazy Laughter here, presenting you with the second chapter of my story, What Resides Within. As the name might suggest to the brighter ones off you; Lelouch is not a ghost.

Okay, now that that is settled. I present a public thank you to the ones that reviewed the first chapter and urge the ones that didn't to at least review this one.

That is all. Enjoy!


Second Chapter

I am You, You are Me.

"What… is going on here?" Suzaku said as his hands clenched on pieces of bloodied cloth. What he had been fighting just now suddenly disappeared and left what it had been wearing behind. What exactly was it? It resembled Lelouch, but its face was too pale and… wrong for it to be him. An android made to look like him, or perhaps an assassin from a royal family?

Nunnally! It stepped out of Nunnally's room with blood on its chest and he stayed to wonder its disappearance! How utterly stupid, it could very well have a Geass that made its body evaporate, or something for all he knew, but that was not important now. He had to check on Nunnally. Suzaku turned to the door the thing had stepped through and opened it hastily. He stepped in without hesitaition and ran to Nunnally's bed. He kneeled down next to her and took his helmet off. There were no surveillance cameras inside Nunnally's bedroom. He held his breath in and listened closely for Nunnally's breathing. After his heart calmed down he could hear her breathing calmly in her sleep. She must have exhausted herself by crying for her not to wake up from the noise he made entering the room.

He let out the breath he was holding in from relief and then started to systematically search the room for bugs, surveillance cameras or other foreign devices. What reason could that thing have to be here of all places? It couldn't really have been Lelouch, could it? No, that was impossible, there was no way Lelouch had the Code, according to C.C that is. He would have resurrected shortly after his rather public execution, not three days afterwards. But still, if those rags in the hallway are gone, then this goes to a whole other plane of "weird".

Suzaku went around the room and scanned through the places where bombs or gas cartridges could be hidden with an electronics detector he carried just for these kinds of situations, there were a lot of pockets in Zero's cloak. He'd have a team sweep this room of bugs in the morning, but now he just had to make sure Nunnally was not in immediate danger. He did not want to wake her. He ended his search by scanning Nunnaly's bed as quietly as possible. That was when he noticed some stains on the covers around Nunnally's right hand. Her hand was over the covers on her side and there was also something on her hand. Suzaku leaned closer swept some of it on his clove. He took out a small flashlight and watched the stains closely. It looked like dry soil, dark in color. There was none on the floor of the room, so how did it get specifically on Nunnally's hand?

Suzaku turned off the flashlight and walked around the bed to the door. He clicked the flashlight back on and checked the door handle. Yes, there was dark and dry soil staining the metal and the wood around it. Did that thing have soil on its hands? Why would there be soil only on its hands if it came through the garden? This was getting more and more weird.

Could it really have been Lelouch's ghost? Did his face look wrong because he had no physical body? Suzaku stepped back out into the hall and saw the pile of clothes left behind by the unknown assailant. They were the same pristine white color as the ones Lelouch was buried in. They were stained by blood in the place where Suzaku had stabbed him, but the clothes he died in were kept somewhere else, he was buried in a different outfit.

No, it wasn't a ghost; that was for sure, Ghosts don't bleed.

Karen

Karen woke up feeling warm, comfortable and slightly sleepy. She just laid there for minutes before moving at all. She had slept only to sustain herself for so many years; now that the battles had been fought she could indulge herself a little and wake up slowly. She turned to her back and her head rolled into a spot of blindingly bright sunlight. She dove under the covers and stretched her limbs slowly while blinking away the bright neon green shadows from her vision. Her body felt so very relaxed and warm that she didn't want to get up at all, but she didn't want to oversleep. Just because she could didn't mean she should. It was a Saturday and she didn't have anything specific planned, but she should start searching for an apartment. She had enough money from her time in the Black knights, so that she could live with her real mother until she finished school. If those wouldn't be enough, then she'd get a job if her mother wasn't well enough to do that by that time. She was able to fight in a resistance while going to school, so maintaining a job should be easy.

Karen sighed and threw the covers off of her and then narrowed her eyes from the sudden brightness. The bed was probably one of the few things she will miss about this place; it was so warm, soft and big. She didn't sleep better on any other bed, but it was not like sleep was that much of a crucial part of her life. Karen swung her legs to the side of the bed and let out a massive yawn before getting to her feet. She stared out the window drowsily and saw a small bird chirping energetically on a branch of the many trees in the Stadtfield manor's garden. Seeing the small bird did bring a smile on her lips, but she couldn't help but feel like the bird was mocking her from waking up so late.

Karen turned her eyes from the bird and started walking to the bathroom adjacent to her room. Apart from the bird mocking her it was a really good morning. The sun was shining, birds were singing, there was a body on the floor, the war was over… Karen reached her hand towards the door handle of the bathroom when she finally acknowledged what she saw just a moment ago. There was a body lying on the floor at the end of her bed. She had only passed him by mere inches. Not only that there was a body lying on the floor of her bedroom, but he was also butt naked. Thinking about what this man had been doing next to her bed made her stomach turn from disgust. Was this one of her step mother's visitors that strayed in here after taking a little too much alcohol?

"I am so moving out…" Karen muttered as she stomped to her bedside table and picked up the pistol placed on it. It was there in case she woke up with an assassin in the room, but it also worked as a way to discourage a perverted bastard from making advances. She walked over to the man on the floor and then pointed the gun to his head. The safety was still on, so that there wouldn't be any accidents if he woke up with a start.

"Oi! Wake up, pervert!" Karen shouted to wake up the man passed out in her room. Now that she was fully awake and concentrated on the man lying on the floor she noticed how uncommonly pale he was. So, her step mother had a gothic lover, so? But now that she looked even harder she noticed dark spots around the body, blood stains. Was this really just a late night visitor that mistake one door for another? Karen bent down on one knee and while holding the pistol steadily pointed on his head she turned the man over.

What she saw as the man's hair was swept back from his face made her whole body go numb and her hold on the gun in her hand to tighten considerably. She flinched back from fright and then sat on the floor while pointing the gun at the body lying on the floor with both hands. This had to be a trick, some demented try at… at something. She couldn't think of any viable reason for someone to do something like this right now, but she was sure it would make sense at some point.

"Le- Le… Lelouch?" She asked before she could stop herself from doing something so stupid. She was not falling for this, no way! Lelouch was dead, had been for three days now and there was no way he would come back. But… Why would anyone do something like plant a body that looks like Lelouch in her bedroom? What possible reason could there be for something like that?

"Lelouch, can you hear me?" Karen said again without any way of stopping herself. It was like her mind was racing on counting the reasons this was impossible and her actual self believing it more and more. She had to wonder if this was how it was like to be insane; your mind shouting that it is not real, but your body and soul believing it to be.

" Ugh… Kallen…" Lelouch muttered in a mere whisper and Karen could have believed it to be her own imagination if he hadn't turned his head and raised his right hand to his face as well. Lelouch had never been able to pronounce her name right, like almost any other Japanese person she had met. Even though he was a Britannian prince he was too used to speaking Japanese, so Karen had thought Zero to be Japanese all the way to the point of seeing his mask breaking. Well, if not Japanese, the she didn't except him to be Britannian, definitely not a prince.

"Lelouch… How is this…? How did you survive? I saw a sword pierce your heart, I saw your body being carried away, and I was at your funeral for god's sakes!" Karen yelled as she got up and retreated from Lelouch while still pointing the gun at him. She was almost certain that this indeed was Lelouch, but she didn't know why would Lelouch come to her of all people? And why was he naked for that matter? It couldn't be that Lelouch was here for revenge, right? She would actually prefer that to the other reason that occurred to her, taking account him being in her bedroom… naked.

Why had she not seen him take a breath even once, why was he so pale and why did he feel so cold? What was exactly going on here? Was this really Lelouch, the Lelouch she knew, or some… escaped science experiment? How could have Lelouch's body, if this was Lelouch, travel from where he was buried to Japan in only three days after he had been buried? Did someone exhume his grave and resurrect him? Was it C.C who resurrected him? She did seem to be immortal herself… There were too many questions in her mind. This situation was too surreal for anyone to figure out. What should she do? Help Lelouch or… she didn't know!

"Kallen… Help… me…" Lelouch said in a whisper before his body fell completely limp. Karen stood there with the pistol shaking in her hands. Was this really Lelouch? Did he come here because he couldn't be seen alive by the public? His plan on bringing peace to the world did include him dying publicly, and staying dead for that matter. Okay, Karen had to admit that she'd probably never understand the "how" of this matter, but right now she only had to think of the "what to do now".

Karen placed the pistol on her left hand and cautiously approached Lelouch. He didn't look like he was breathing, but he had just talked to her coherently. He could have died just now, but since she wasn't sure what the hell was going on she still should be careful when approaching him. Karen knelt down next to Lelouch and pressed her right index finger on his neck to search for a pulse. She was trained to do this when she was in the Black Knights. She moved her fingers several times and pressed harder, but still couldn't find a pulse and now that she was so close to him she was sure he was not breathing. Lelouch was dead…

Again.

Karen lowered the gun to the floor and just watched Lelouch lying there while thinking about how and why the hell he got here, just to die again. She felt how her mind calmed down and she started noticing things that she couldn't see with her surprise from seeing Lelouch again. Lelouch was deathly pale and his lips were practically blue. His eyes were encircled with black and his skin looked like clay; he was as dead as you could be. Why did he have to ask her to help him? There was nothing she could do. CPR wouldn't work when his body temperature was so low and she had no way of restarting his heart without calling for help. Taking to account that he didn't want to ruin the plan for making a better future for his sister Karen shouldn't let anyone know about this. There was nothing she could do for him…

Again.

Karen's vision blurred as silent tears streamed down her face and down to the floor. It was her blurred vision and erratic thoughts that made her miss the dark lines slowly making their way down Lelouch's neck and to the wound on his chest. If Karen would have seen them she would have thought them to be some kind of tattoo while they stayed still, since they were clear, straight lines arching from under his chin and across his chest. The lines made their way across his chest and then disappeared into the wound without any noise and undetected by Karen. Karen wept quietly for a minute or so until she heard a sudden and loud cracking sound from Lelouch's body. She wiped the tears from her eyes and leaned closer to Lelouch's body and heard the sound again and also saw Lelouch's body slightly nudge. She knew she should grab the gun and distance herself, but a mixture of fear and curiosity kept her in place. Was there something inside Lelouch's body? Was this what he wanted her to help him with?

Karen was scared out of her mind as Lelouch's body suddenly arched up like he was being electrocuted and he inhaled violently. She stumbled back and forgot to grab the gun in her terrified state. Blood gushed out of the wound on Lelouch's chest and Karen saw how his torso became drenched as he continued to breathe rapidly. Lelouch's back was arched and he was supported by his shoulders and his heels while his eyes where wide open and his mouth gaping open as he breathed. Karen couldn't do anything else but watch as Lelouch's hands clenched into tight fists from the extreme pain he must have been experiencing. And then, as fast as it had started, it stopped. Lelouch's body relaxed and he crashed back onto the ground

Karen cautiously approached the blood soaked figure of Lelouch and noticed that now she saw his chest slowly rising and lowering. She edged closer and then checked for a pulse from his wrist. After a moment of finding the right spot she indeed did feel a steady pulse. The wound on his chest was still bleeding slightly, but she practically could see it closing.

He was breathing and his heart was beating; Lelouch was alive.

Lelouch

Apart from the mind numbing glimpses of pain and recognition Lelouch remained unaware of his own body. He thought he saw Kallen at one point and called out to her for help, but he wasn't sure if that wasn't just a figment of his imagination. Kallen had been one of his most loyal supporters and was definitely someone he could trust, so maybe his mind made a picture of her just to calm his nerves. He was now floating in that unawareness that his consciousness had awoke in after… something that had ended in him being in a coffin. He still hadn't recovered his lost memories and it bugged the hell out of him. He felt like he had all the information, but with no way of reaching it. He would just have to wait for an external trigger, or for them to come back on their own.

Lelouch felt so very tired, his whole body was aching and there was a dull pain pressing down on his chest. At least that meant that he was now aware of his own body and wasn't cast away from his own body like before. He became aware of his body bit by bit and also that he was floating. He distinctly felt nothing on his feet or supporting his body in any way, so he had to be floating in midair or in some kind of liquid. He opened his eyes and saw only darkness; it was not actually the absolute darkness he had woken up before: he could see edges to the darkness. It was like he was in the center of a completely round room. The walls he saw were consisted out of a swirling stream of dark liquid of undetermined color; all he could make out was that it was a different in color than the rest of the darkness.

He turned his eyes to the ground and saw his own body, naked. He had no clothes on, but he did not feel hot or cold. And there was a gaping hole on his chest, a perfectly circular hole with some kind of liquid swirling in it, like the walls. He strained his neck and was able to make out that the liquid was swirling in a spiral into his chest. There was no more said liquid flowing into the hole, so the amount in his chest must have just kept on moving on its own power. So, the source of the dull pain on his chest was obvious. What exactly was going on? Where was he?

"You are Me." Lelouch heard an eerie voice whispering out of the darkness surrounding him. When he tried to remember what it sounded like, all he could remember was a feeling of cold and… a lisp, a very slight lisp, but definitely there. He could not determine if the voice was male or female or where it was coming from. He turned around and tried to catch a glimpse of someone hiding in the darkness surrounding him. If they were hiding in the mystery liquid (that was flowing upwards now by the way defying all laws of physics) he would not be able to find them.

"Who are you?" Lelouch asked and noticed that he could hear his own voice only very faintly, like he was listening to a conversation through a door. He raised his hand to his face and noticed that he could just and just see through it in the darkness, he was transparent. So, was this a dream? No, it was too stoic for a dream; there were too many constant variables.

"I am… You are Me… I am… Me?" The mysterious voice sounded puzzled and Lelouch noticed that the movement of the liquid surrounding him as a wall turned more chaotic. It couldn't be that the whole of the mysterious liquid was what he was talking with? Whatever the case may be, the timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence.

"Who are you?" The mysterious voice asked and Lelouch still could not place the origin of the voice with a slight lisp.

"I am Lelouch vi Britannia, the 99th emperor of the empire of Britannia. I am Zero, the hero who freed the world. I am Lelouch Lamperouge, a loving and caring brother." Lelouch answered without being able to stop himself. Why did he say he was the 99th emperor of Britannia? That was a blatant… lie, right? Wait…

Pictures and voices started to flood into his mind as all the memories he had lost found their place again. He had continued to be Zero, killed his parents, betrayed Suzaku and the Black Knights, came back, challenged the whole Britannian empire, Almost lost Nunnally, made her go through so much pain, turned the whole world against him as the 99th emperor of Britannia… The memories that flooded his mind where far from being in chronological order or even coherent, but he did know how it ended; He died, so why was he alive?

"You are Me." The voice said like it was replying to his silent question. Again Lelouch searched for a source of the voice, but couldn't find it. That statement it seemed so adamant on did not make any sense and did not answer his question at all.

"That does not make sense. I am me, you are you." Lelouch said and walked to the wall of streaming liquid that surrounded him. He tried to push his hand into the stream, but just before his hand was to go in the stream stopped on the point of contact and his hand met a solid wall. He was trapped, not that he expected for there to be a way out of a hallucination, or whatever this was.

"Where are you?" Lelouch asked the question that had been bothering him all this time. He paid more attention to the streaming liquid and saw that the speed and direction of the stream changed slightly and twisted a couple of times as the voice was thinking about his question, So, where the voice's thoughts controlling this wall? He did know that Geass gave people some extraordinary powers and this space didn't seem like reality. He could as well be trapped in his own mind as someone used their Geass to question him. His inability to stop himself from exposing all of his aliases just a moment ago supported this theory.

"I am here." The voice said and Lelouch thought he could finally determine where the voice was coming from. The fact that he could do it the moment the voice announced its location suggested again that he was inside some hallucination. The voice seemed to be coming from the wall opposite to him, or from the center of the room. He glanced around and saw that in the very center of the room a sphere of something that looked like black liquid separated from the darkness that served as the floor. It was looked like a drop of oil dropped into water. Lelouch had noticed that his movements were somewhat sluggish, but he hadn't though he was in water. It would actually explain the other liquid flowing upwards, but it was not like anything here had to go by normal laws of physics; this was not real after all.

"I am Space. I am You." The eerie voice said in a more distinct voice. He still could not determine the sex of the speaker, but he had a feeling that the voice was speaking like a child. The voice sounded like it couldn't pronounce words quite right and the voice was also small and weak, but the voice could still belong to right about anyone, or anything.

Lelouch took a few cautious steps towards the sphere of liquid hanging in mid-air and then stop as he saw its smooth surface ripple and a vertical cut appeared on it. There was a clear line of light going along the center of the orb. He stood still and watched the slit slowly widen into a perfect oval shape. What he saw inside was only a slither of aqua colored light that shone like the sun in the surrounding darkness. The light twisted and danced in the very center of the oval opening in the orb and then started swirling and expanding into a sphere. Lelouch watched as the light swirled in a spiral and expanded to the edges of the oval opening in the orb. It stopped growing and the swirling motion of the light slowed into an almost indistinguishable movement. Lelouch took another step towards the orb and wondered if this was really what had been talking in the eerie voice. He took a step to the side and the oval opening in the orb followed him.

"Who are you?" Lelouch asked from the orb hanging in the air. The streaming liquid surrounding him started to waver and the spiraling light in the oval opening started to move rapidly again. Was it thinking? Lelouch had to admit that there was a definite connection with the eerie voice and the movement of the liquid surrounding him.

"I am…" Lelouch watched as the oval opening closed again and then opened again with the spiraling light directed directly towards him. He felt the dull pain in his chest stir and his intestines crawl. He literally felt how his organs shifted slightly out of place and then back again one by one, it felt absolutely sickening. He grabbed his stomach and tried to keep his insides in place, but with little success. He looked back up to the orb and noticed that it had moved from the center of the room to loom over him. The shining aqua light in the orb was still directed towards him. Only two thirds of the light was visible as the edge of the oval opening covered part of the light. The oval opening closed and opened again sluggishly and now when it opened again Lelouch noticed another little detail. There was a circle of complete darkness in the very center of the spiraling light, it was so small and the light had been so blinding in the darkness that Lelouch had not noticed it until now.

It was an eye, a huge eye in an orb made out of darkness, but still an eye. Lelouch actually felt how something was watching him through it; something that was closely tied to the dull pain in his chest and the sickening feeling of his intestines moving about.

"I am…" The eye blinked sluggishly again and then concentrated solely on Lelouch's eyes, its gaze burrowing down to his very soul. "Zapan."

Lelouch woke with a start and saw an alcove lined with fabric arching above him. Drastically different from the oppressing darkness in his "dream", if it could be called that. After coming aware of his surroundings the next thing he came to realize was that everything hurt, everything. It hurt to breath, it hurt to move and the light hurt his eyes. Even being still felt like there were thousands of needles pricking him all over his body. It was not actually painful, but it was absolutely maddening. Well, at least this meant his blood was flowing. But still, where was he? Was it safe for him to just relax? It didn't seem like he was tied down or anything and the bed he was lying in was rather soft and warm. He couldn't imagine someone who was out to hurt or question him putting him in such a lavish bed, so could he presume he was safe.

Lelouch attempted to get up on his forearms and both of his arms cramped as he tried. He dropped back down on the pillow and gritted his teeth from the pain. No, he couldn't call this a simple cramp; the pain was too intense for that. It probably was a ruptured blood vessel in the muscles in his arms. Oh god, it hurt like hell and there was nothing he could do about it. Lelouch gritted his teeth and tried not to move at all to avoid causing any other damage to his body. He couldn't determine how long he stayed like that, but eventually he felt his arms numbing completely and then saw them twitching about a minute after the numbness had started. He stayed and watched as his hands twitched and then rested, and then twitched again, until he regained feeling in both of his arms and the pain was completely gone. Well, at least the pain caused by the ruptured blood vessels in his arms.

"Lelouch… Lelouch, are you awake?" Lelouch heard a familiar female voice ask with a frightened undertone in her voice. Lelouch had become very talented in reading people's reactions and voices because of his time as both Zero and the emperor. But still, the question was: What could make Kallen intimidated? She was the bravest person he had ever met, well Suzaku might have been an exception.

Lelouch tried to reply, but the sudden explosion of pain in his throat made him unsure if he was even able to make a sound before he was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness from the pain. How could someone's throat hurt so freaking? Holy mother of god, it was like he had drunk acid and let it simmer in his throat over night! He raised his hand over his throat before being able to think that it might just add to the pain he was experiencing, but luckily his arm seemed to be able to handle that much strain before cramping, or whatever it had been.

"Lelouch, are you alright? Do you need anything? I brought some food and water." Kallen's voice said from his left side. He turned his sight to her voice and saw Kallen looking at him with worried eyes. How did he get here? Where was here? He couldn't be in Kallen's home, could he? He had witnessed himself traveling hundreds, or even thousands of kilometers in an instant, but that was when he thought he might have been a ghost. There no sensible explanation for how he'd traveled those distances so fast if he was in a corporal body.

Water.

Lelouch became aware that behind the untold pain in his throat was an extreme thirst for water. He noticed the bottle of water on the tray Kallen was still holding while watching him with a worried and a puzzled expression. He couldn't say a word because of the untold pain he was in, but he pointed to the bottle of water and saw Karen following his finger and then setting down the tray on the bedside table and opening the water bottle. She offered it into his hands, but Lelouch noticed that he didn't have the strength in his arms to hold the bottle. Kallen looked a little lost with the water bottle for a second, but then a determined look came over her face. Lelouch felt like smiling when seeing her like that, there was just something amusing about her expression.

"You must be thirsty, Lelouch. Here, drink." Kallen said and offered the bottle to his lips. It was very embarrassing to be so weak for someone as proud as him, but it would be inexcusably rude to deny help. He allowed Kallen to help him pour water past his lips and then swallowed it with gratitude. He nodded a thank you to Kallen and felt how the sip of water did wonders to make the pain in his throat fade. Some water can do miracles to a dry throat. He was still very thirsty, though.

"Thank you, Kallen…" Lelouch said with a very dry throat, but at least he could talk now. Kallen offered the water bottle again and this time Lelouch took hold of the bottle and swallowed two mouthfuls on one go. He knew it probably wasn't wise to drink so much water in one try if he was dehydrated. His stomach would normally cramp up and he'd throw the water up, but now he felt the water rejuvenating him. He hadn't known simple water could taste so good. Lelouch noticed that he had drunk the whole bottle without realizing it. He was still thirsty, but the need was not so maddening now. He turned his attention back to Kallen and noticed that she was sitting on a chair next to the bed, looking at him with a strange expression on her face.

"What is it, Kallen?" Lelouch asked. The pain in his throat was almost completely gone and he could speak freely now if he ignored the occasional twinge of pain. Was the pain in his throat simply because of extreme thirst? Could that even be possible? Kallen looked him in the eye with a tentative demeanor. She opened her mouth, but then slightly drew her body back and turned her eyes to the side. It was clear she had something on her mind, but was hesitating if she should voice it out loud. Lelouch was not sure if it was wise to pressure her on whatever it was.

"Uhm… Are you hungry?" Kallen asked and hurried to the plate on the bedside table. Lelouch thought he saw a blush on her face. He pulled his other hand over the covers and felt the fabric brushing against his skin… his bare skin…

He was naked, oh so very naked, as naked as someone could be. He had no clothes on and because he had no recollection of getting into the bed that meant that Kallen must have put him there. Now that he thought about it, this would also explain Kallen's strange behavior. Sure, he'd seen her naked at least once, so this might be karma, but how had he ended up here, naked? The last thing he could remember (of the real world) was feeling like he was torn apart by glaciers, so were his clothes torn apart as well?

"Kallen…" Lelouch said with a questioning tone. "Why am I naked?"

"I didn't do anything, I swear! I mean… if that's what you were thinking…" Kallen blushed furiously and scanned the roof, obviously trying to avoid meeting his eyes. Lelouch kept on watching her face for signs of lying, but then he realized that he might not have liked to know the truth, so he stopped and waited for Kallen to continue. It felt like she was still going to say something as soon as she got over her embarrassment.

"I… Found you like that. Naked, that is…" Kallen said tentatively and still didn't meet his eyes. Lelouch could tell that she was bothered by something she chose to leave out. Was it the fact that he had appeared here with no vital signs whatsoever, or was there something else? Kallen was definitely leaving something out, of that Lelouch was sure.

"I know I was clinically dead last night… I don't know how I was resurrected either. Believe it or not, I did plan on dying that day… How long ago that was again?" Lelouch said looking straight into Kallen's eyes. Kallen stared right back, trying to see if he was lying or not. Lelouch suspected if she could see if he were lying or not, but he couldn't be sure. She was a very intelligent woman; it was just that her talents were better spent on piloting Knightmares.

"Three… Three days and four nights…" Kallen's posture slouched and tears flowed down her cheeks. "You were gone for three days and four nights, Lelouch…" Kallen said while clenching her eyes shut. She leaned forward and grabbed Lelouch hand with both of her hands. Lelouch felt like he had to do something, but was also pretty sure that whatever he did would make her cry harder. He had known that Kallen had held him in high regard, but had done his best to distance himself from her. Of course that wouldn't matter if he were resurrected after she had attended his funeral and sought her out after that (for whatever reason).

"I… I'm so sorry, Lelouch… I was so weak! I couldn't save you!" Kallen slid off the chair while still clenching his hand. She rested her forehead against the bed he was lying in and sobbed without restraint. He felt like he should do something, but he wasn't sure what that something was. If he did the wrong thing, he'd probably make the situation worse.

"No… No, there was no way you could have saved me. The world would be engulfed in conflict if you had done that. My dramatic and public death was the key part of the plan to give Nunnally a better world to live in. Zero had to keep on being the symbol of freedom and Suzaku had to protect Nunnally." Lelouch babbled out before thinking. There were so many things there that could hurt Kallen, or make her misunderstand.

"I… know all that. No matter how I think about it, there could not have been a better solution than this. If you had lived there would be no peace and I would still be fighting for my cause, or I would be dead, but…" Kallen's voice was broken by tears and she sobbed every now and then while talking. The grip she had on Lelouch's fingers tightened and her sobs stopped.

"You're back… You really are back, Lelouch." Kallen said with a final sob wracking her body. "And that is all that matters. Are you hungry, Lelouch?" Kallen said and stood up from the floor. She kept on holding his hand for a couple of seconds after she was up and gave it a final squeeze before letting go. She quickly wiped her tears and walked over to the plate she had brought with the bottle of water. Lelouch now became aware of the mouth watering aroma the food was spreading in the air. He was starving. It was no surprise that you'd be rather hungry if you had died and then resurrected.

"Actually, I'm starving. What do you have there?" Lelouch asked and set himself in a more upright position. He didn't dare to try and move his legs after what happened with his arms. Kallen took a spoon and the plate and then sat down on the chair next to him again.

"Can you hold a spoon yet? You seemed rather weak earlier." Kallen said in an even voice. She tried to phrase the question in a way that would not hurt his pride, but the damage was already done. He tried making a fist and when he didn't have the strength to even do that he felt so very pathetic. But now that he thought about it, being spoon fed by Kallen wasn't so-

No, that was just wrong! He should never try and make excuses for a situation like this. Granted, him trying to eat on his own and soiling himself in the process would be more embarrassing, but he shouldn't succumb to the situation.

Eat.

He was very hungry, but should he allow being spoon fed in this age? He could probably stand the hunger long enough to gain enough strength to eat himself, but would that be offending to Kallen's kindness? Well, it was not like she had actually offered to feed him, but judging by her behavior she would do it if the situation demanded it.

Eat!

He was not only hungry, his body was screaming for substance, but being spoon fed would be so… degrading. He was not sure if he could –

I have to feed!

Karen

Lelouch was sure taking his time answering her question, but it was not like she was not excepting this. Lelouch was a very proud person and being spoon fed would be very degrading for him. She didn't want him to starve himself just because he couldn't feed himself, but it wasn't like she would forcefully feed him if his pride got in the way… Well, not at first, at least. She wouldn't forgive herself if she let Lelouch kill himself just because of his pride, just when he came back from the dead.

Karen looked as Lelouch raised his right hand to his forehead and closed his eyes like he had a severe headache. She noticed how his fingernails turned white as he pressed down on his forehead and grimaced. Was he having a migraine attack? Well, considering he had been dead only hours before anything was possible.

"Lelouch, are you okay? Are you having a headache? I could go get you something for that…" Lelouch kept on pressing his spread out fingers on his forehead and cheekbone and started to breath heavily. She thought she saw him making two words with his mouth before his hand suddenly relaxed and his breathing came back to normal. Those words might have been "Stop it." but she couldn't be sure.

"Lelouch?" Karen asked. What the hell had that just been, A headache, a serious one at that if that were the case? Lelouch opened his eyes and stared straight forward. Karen was sure she saw his pupils dilating and constricting like the lens of a camera calibrating itself. She saw no emotion at all on his face to speak of and the way he lowered his arm to his side was frighteningly mechanical. The way his head turned to the right and then slowly scanned the room was also seriously creeping her out. Why was he acting like a robot all of a sudden?

"Lelouch, is everything alright? Are you feeling well, because you're acting kind of strange -" Karen stopped her sentence abruptly as Lelouch head snapped towards her as she spoke and his violet eyes focused on her. She flinched and couldn't do anything but stare back into his frighteningly empty eyes. The Lelouch looking at her now reminded her more of a puppet made in his image lying on her bed.

"Foo… Food. I would like… some food." Lelouch said in a strained voice and Karen also thought she heard a slight lisp in his voice. Lelouch tilted his head to the side like a puppy as she just stared at him in disbelief. "Kal… Kal… Kalren?"

Could it be brain damage? He had supposedly been dead for three days, so just because the wound on his chest had close up, it didn't mean that possible brain damage would be repaired so easily. Lelouch was talking like a child, or a demented foreigner. Should she keep on taking care of him, or would he be better off with professional help? No, that would make his whole plan of making a better world for his sister null and void. She didn't want that, so she should depend on outside help only in great distress.

"Kalren, food?" Lelouch asked with his eyes looking empty of a mind. Karen focused her eyes on his and only met a blank stare. The lights were on, but there was no one home. Well, at least for the moment she should keep on taking care of him and see about contacting someone she could trust if his condition worsened.

"Yes, food, I have food." Karen offered the plate and then when saw the blank stare he directed towards it she came to the conclusion that this Lelouch wouldn't care about his pride and scooped up a spoonful of vegetable soup."Now, open up, Lelouch."


Yeah, it does kinda END, but that is as good of a point to end it as any. And it does leave a lot of open questions: What will happen to Karen? Is Lelouch driven out of his own body for good? Will Zapan hurt "Kalren"? What is Zapan anyways?

This, and more, will be answered in later chapters (and possibly in review replys, presuming you review).

Well, until next time. That might not be so fast as this time though, since I'll probably be working on my Bleach fic, Crimson Red Shadow. Do check that out while your waiting if you're interested.

Crazy Laughter