One Side of the Family

Eventually school came to a close, and though she would normally go straight home, it was Thursday, which meant Liz had somewhere to go. She made her way down to a small neighborhood deep in the city, which most people wouldn't know how to get to if they didn't know the way.

Liz eventually came upon a small apartment, and after dusting herself off slightly, knocked on the door. In short order, the door opened revealing an older woman with long brown hair streaked with gray. She had a frail, but kind appearance.

"Elizabeth-chan," the woman said with a smile, "Welcome back. Please, come in." Liz returned the smile; this woman was the only person who Liz let refer to with the Japanese honorifics, and for good reason.

"Thank you Kozuki-san," Liz said, as she entered the home of Hanako Kozuki, her maternal grandmother.

It was very much a happy coincidence that granddaughter and grandmother were able to met each other. It was a Saturday, and C.C. and Liz were out shopping, and Liz offered a woman help carrying bags back home, and by sheer confidence, that was Hanako. Liz didn't even know until C.C. told her. Since then, Liz made an effort to visit her grandmother every week if she could. And Hanako appreciated the company quite a bit; she said that Liz reminded her of her daughter a lot (Liz had to chuckle uncomfortably at how right Hanako unknowingly was), though she naturally had no idea that said girl was her granddaughter.

"You came just in time, I just finished the tea," Hanako said as she took the kettle off the stove, and poured two cups.

"Thank you," Liz said as she took one and sat down.

"How are you doing in school?" Hanako asked as she sat across from her granddaughter.

"Okay, all things considered," Liz answered, "The Student Council is a real pain in my behind."

"Kallen said similar things about it in her day."

"I guess some things aren't meant to change."

"No," Hanako said with a giggle, "I suppose not. I'm sure the two of you could swap no shortage of stories."

"Yeah, maybe," Liz said.

"Perhaps next time Kallen visits, you can join us," Hanako said.

"Yeah, maybe," Liz repeated, trailing off slightly, wondering what would happen if the two of them actually met. Last time her mother saw her, Liz had only been a few minutes old. Chances were Kallen wouldn't recognize her daughter after 17 (soon to be 18) years. The two woman continued chatting and having their tea until they were done, where Liz volunteered to do the dishes.

C.C. hadn't kept anything from Liz regarding her family. She knew exactly who her family was, and what they did, everything from the formation of the Black Knights, to the Ragnarok Connection, to the Zero Requiem.

As she was working, it came to Liz's mind that she had actually had a fairly expansive family, especially on her father's side. She doubted she'd ever know her maternal grandfather, C.C. said that Kallen apparently lost contact with him after she abandoned her "Stadtfeld" identity, and that it was never restored; and who knew what happened to him after Lelouch abolished the nobility system. Then there was her mother's brother, her uncle Naoto who died during the occupation, and Liz knew squat about him. There were her paternal grandparents, whom her father had cast into the void; not that Liz would have ever wanted to know them going off what C.C. told her. And of course there were her many, many aunts and uncles on her father's side, though C.C. said a majority of them probably died when Schniezel destroyed Pendragon. As far as C.C. was aware, the only surviving ones where Schniezel, Cornelia, and Nunnally.

It always felt strange when Liz thought of her aunt; technically, as Lelouch's sole child and heir, Liz had a stronger claim to the throne than Nunnally, but that didn't mean anything really. In fact, the Imperial line of succession probably didn't really exist anymore; after taking power, Nunnally formally dissolved the Empire, and reformed Britannia into a Principality, with her role as monarch now symbolic. Liz wondered if that is what her father would have done.

Once she was done with the dishes, it was time for the princess to leave. C.C. had just texted her saying she was waiting.

"See you next week, Kozuki-san!" Liz called as she left, waving.

"I'll be waiting for you, Elizabeth-chan," Hanako answered. Liz smiled sadly at her grandmother, before departing. Once the door was closed, she blinked away a few tears, took a breath, and made her way over to the car, sitting beside her guardian.

"I presume this was the same as your prior visits?" C.C. inquired as she started driving.

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"I just imagined you would appreciate some more variety," C.C. answered with a shrug as she veered onto the main road. Liz ignored her, as she took out her phone and decided to check the news, which she hadn't had much time to do in the day. As she did, she took note of the first one that came up. It was about a state that Liz didn't bother to remember the name of that was trying to leave the UFN. Things naturally escalated, and now the Black Knights were apparently being sent in to "pacify" the area.

Liz scowled at that. She didn't know much about why this one state wanted to leave the Federation, she hated the word "pacify". She didn't believe peace could be forced, you had to give people a reason to seek out peace; that seemed to be what Liz's father believed at least.

"Hey, C.C.," she asked, "Why did Father want to create the UFN in the first place, aside from just creating a united front against my grandfather?"

"I believe it was because he wanted to show your grandfather, if not everyone, that you can bring people together in a common goal," C.C. answered, "You don't need to force people together." Liz chewed her lip at that, as she remembered something her grandmother once told her…

(Flashback)

"Hey, Kozuki-san, can I ask you a question?" Liz asked.

"Of course."

"Do you think this is a good peace?" Hanako blinked at that, surprised.

"Well that's a rather heavy question," she said, "What brought that on?"

"I don't know," Liz said, "It's just a thought."

"Well, I suppose its as good as it can be," Hanako said, "Though I do wish it was under better circumstances."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked. Her grandmother opened her mouth to answer, but shook her head slightly.

"You're still young," she said, "I think you should be thinking more about things a girl your age should be thinking of. So, are there any boys, or girls, that have caught your eye?"

(End Flashback)

That had been the end of that brief discussion, since it was apparent to Liz that Hanako didn't want to discuss the matter, and the last thing she wanted to do was make her grandmother uncomfortable. So the princess ended the topic then and there.

"Was Father as hated in Britannia as he was in the rest of the world?" Liz asked.

"I couldn't tell you," C.C. answered, "I can only say for certain that the people certainly did not line up to praise his rule, at least under their own will. Why exactly are you asking me these questions?"

"I don't know. It's just a thought."

Note: So Liz was able to meet her grandmother. I think there is a lot of potential for Liz and her family, considering how big it is (especially on her dad's side).

The detail about Britannia becoming a principality isn't something I invented. I hear its a new development in Lelouch of the Resurrection. Be assured, that detail is going to come into play later. On that note, there are points where this story may become somewhat political; don't take that to mean that the viewpoints depicted are necessarily my own.

Little note, I stumbled across a fanart that near perfectly resembles how I envisioned Liz looking. I'm not going to depict it on this story because I don't have permission to use it, but look up Konomi Shinozaki, and that's her.

Be sure to review.