What the Demon Died For.

I'm back! This story was supposed to e updates like what, two weeks ago? I've been busy. But summers coming up and I have a new job lined up with better accommodations and without twenty employees short of an ever age crew. So maybe I won't be working till one in the morning on a regular basis.

Won't that be nice.

Chapter 4: What he lives for.

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Meet her father.

Wait, what?

The thought took a moment to register given the sheer preposterousness of such an idea. He was dead, Lelouch had been dead for thirty years. How on earth could she meet him? That would mean he's alive, and that is impossible. But rather then wonder how he could be alive, she paced the floor thinking how he could be alive. She had seen the footage of his death herself. Even if it had been physically possible for him to survive the stab, he laid there for over an hour before the Britannian guard could remove him from the float. He couldn't have survived that long. And there was no mistake, that sword went threw his body entirely.

Could it be real? Was he in fact alive the whole time? Shortly after the call, Jeremiah had given her an address. It was of a small remote area in Japan, which made sense. And she didn't have any reason to mistrust Jeremiah at all. Was it true after all?

Liliana sat at a table in her room at the Britannian embassy, tapping the wooden desk in front of her. Should she go? She was still in Japan and shouldn't waste the opportunity she had. It wasn't too far away, perhaps three or so hours to drive there. Naoto wouldn't be back for some time, so she had the afternoon to herself.

With a heavy sigh, she stood and took the paper with the address on it. It was worth a try.

It was early in the morning, nine or so. And maids were busy cleaning things for the day. This would be her last day in Japan, she shouldn't waste the opportunity. There were questions that needed answers, and what better person to ask then the one in question. She couldn't have asked for a better solution.

Just before she left the embassy, Zero, or Suzaku, approached her.

"Where are you going milady?" He asked, still in his neutral polite manner, as if nothing had happened yesterday.

"Out." She replied. "I won't be back for a few hours."

"Is someone accompanying you?" He pressed.

"No, I'm leaving on my own." She told him, continuing toward the doors.

"I must insist that you have a-"

"No." Liliana cut him off. "I'm going by myself. This is a personal matter." She insisted, closing the matter.

Zero reluctantly backed off, and Liliana continued through the doors and out into the open air.

She chose to drive in a car by herself this time, seeing how it was in fact quite a long journey to get to the place on the address she had. She stepped into one of the lavish cars provided at the embassy and turned the engine on. She pulled away and out into the city streets, in an hour or so she was out of the urban areas and in the Japanese country side. It was so much more beautiful then it had been years before. The land that once been ravaged by war had finally healed. It was stunning to look around her as he made her way through the vast countryside.

It was still a long trip however, and Liliana couldn't help but think of what this could mean. Was she really going to see Lelouch? Her father? It still wasn't too long ago she learned he was her father in the first place, much less everything that he had really done. If she hasn't learned about the 'zero requiem' as Suzaku had called it, would she actually even want to go do this? Indeed, what she had learned made him out to be a hero, and if it was true, she would need to speak to him to confirm it. Besides, if he was in fact alive, she would need to find out how, just for the sake of her sanity. It also begged the question, how Jeremiah of all people knew he was alive in the first place. It didn't seem to Liliana he was the least bit shocked as she was. So she could assume he already knew.

These thoughts kept her occupied throughout the hours of driving until she finally reached the destination she had been given. She pulled up to a small house surrounded by miles of empty nothingness. If there was a spot for a reclusive demon emperor, this would be it. The house itself looked like a farmhouse, a mill, barn, and silo to complete the look. Liliana figured it was to be self preservative, to keep interaction with others at a minimum.

As she exited the car, she noticed a couple of small children running around the front of the house. A little girl with long green hair, and a boy with black hair. When they saw Liliana they stopped, and ran up to the house. As they got up to the porch, another girl with green hair, who looked older, but still pretty young, came out of the house. The two kids clung to her as she called to someone inside, who Liliana assumed would be Lelouch.

Nervously, Liliana approached the house as the three watched her. She climbed the steps of the porch as the man carrying a baby-no, she frowned-teenager-came outside. She looked at him a moment, this person was Lelouch. The exact same Lelouch from thirty years ago, without a doubt. Liliana had seen pictures of him, and he was Lelouch.

"Your..." She started, but lost her voice, so she just stared. Looking at him.

"Liliana." Lelouch said.

"I am Lelouch." As if to reassure some unsaid doubt.

"H-how?" She stuttered.

He smiled weakly. "there's a lot you still don't know."

The little girl tugged at Lelouch's pants, pointing at Liliana. "Daddy, who's that?" She asked.

He laid a hand on hear hair and ruffled her hair.

"That's your big sister Liliana. She came to visit." He told the girl.

"I have a big sister?" She asked in awe.

"Yup." He said.

"This here is Euphie." Lelouch told Liliana. "And he's Rolo." He said, nodding the boy holding the older girl's hand. "And this is Shirley." He gestured to the small baby girl he was holding.

"And I am C.C." The older girl said.

"Who's the mother?" Liliana asked curiously.

"I am." C.C. Answered.

She blinked.

"C.C. and I..." Lelouch started. "We possess something very unique, similar and closely related to Geass. It's called a code. It is the source of Geass and allows one to bestow it upon someone. It's from C.C. that I came to obtain my Geass, in a way, this was all because of her."

"You're not blaming me are you?" C.C. asked dryly.

He turned to her. "Of course not, I once said I planned to change things even without your help."

"Regardless," he turned back to Liliana. "The most defining feature of a code, is it grants the holder immortality."

Liliana sat there a moment, silent.

"I cannot die." Lelouch confirmed.

"Admittedly, I had not expected this. I fully intended to die that day, but apparently I received my father's code on accident when I defeated him."

"He had a code? Then how did you kill him, if he was immortal?" Liliana asked, confused.

"My father, and my mother, had planned to use the sword of Akasha, a divine weapon located in the world of C-a kind of subconscious reality-to kill God. His desire was to return to the world of the past, to create a world in which none had free choice, and lived without truly living. Something I and C.C., both knew too well is no way to live."

Liliana frowned, that kind of talk vaguely reminded her of something, but she didn't quite remember what."

"I commanded God to erase Charles Zi Britannia, and return time to it's proper flow. For a world without a future is one without hope, a world without happiness."

Now she knew, it was the book. It was Lelouch, he was the author of that book.

"My own mother, who I once loved, had abandoned me in the same way my father had, they desired a world of the past. And my brother Schniezel desired a world frozen in the present. But I could see that humanity longed for the future. For a bright new era. And there was only one way to bring about a world of peace."

"The Zero Requiem. And your death." Liliana guessed."

"Yes. The legacy of Zero lived as a symbol of hope and freedom. A banner of justice that would lead the world into a age of peace. But the hero couldn't be me, not after what I've done. I deserved the fate I have received. I almost don't believe I deserve an eternity to share with someone."

C.C. Touched Lelouch's arm, and he looked back at her. Liliana could see a genuine bond between the two. And it made her glad that he did have someone, she thought he deserved it.

"Let's go inside, it's getting cold out here."

The three of them headed inside the house, taking the children with them.

C.C. Took the baby, Shirley and went upstairs as Lelouch an Liliana sat down in the living room.

Liliana looked around the room. In terms of furniture it was rather plain, nothing fancy or lavish. But the walls were lined with pictures. Friends, family, all people Lelouch would never again see, knowing full well they were alive, and even a few hours away.

"You know, it was a hard decision. To have children."

Liliana turned to Lelouch, who sat opposite of her.

"Imagine knowing that this small child with grow up, have children of their own, grow old, and die. And you don't get a day older."

Liliana looked at the little girl who was sitting next to her, her cute purple eyes shining like brilliant amethysts much like her own. A family trait.

"But the greatest joy one can receive is the experience of raising a child. And what right do I have to deny them life in order to avoid my own suffering? They deserve to live in the world I made for them."

Liliana smiled, holding little Euphie's hand.

"They're named after those who have died. In tribute to lives I ended. In a way, I have given them a new life. And each one to have a namesake worth meaning."

She thought the name Euphie sounded familiar. As in Euphemia Li Britannia. The massacre princess. Now that she thought about it, the circumstances were unnatural. She didn't know who Shirley or Rolo were though.

"I'm engaged now." Liliana said.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow "Oh?"

"To Naoto."

Lelouch laughed. "Ohgi's son? Well isn't that something. I'm glad it's someone I know will be good. Oghi was a good man, and a great leader."

He looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry. For everything. For thirty years you lived without knowing. I missed your entire life, hiding away like a coward. At first I thought I would die. I made arrangements for both you and Kallen. I knew that there would be a lot of people to raise you in the palace. But, when I discovered I survived...I did nothing. I just left. I figured I no longer belonged in this world, that I had no right to raise you. And you deserve better then to have an inexperienced fool like me as a father. What we did was a mistake, a good mistake sure, but I was a fool. Every step of the way, I had no sense of consequence for any of my actions.

My life's legacy will be that of a demon emperor. One responsible for the deaths of millions. And rightly so. Should I have died, I would have gone to hell. But by some stroke of luck I'm condemned to a different ending."

He smiled a bit, sighing at the thought.

"This is my fate. And I do believe it is fitting."

They talked for another few hours. Liliana telling Lelouch about her personal life and more about An adult Nunnally he never got to know. She still found it odd, to be talking to an eighteen year old boy that was her father. It was very clarifying. Learning all about him and what he stood for. It finally answered the question she had long asked herself. The elusive thought in the back of her mind for the past few months. The complex puzzle that was Lelouch Vi Britannia had finally been solved, and she knew.

She finally learned what the demon died for. And what the unsung hero lived for.

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A few minutes after Liliana had finally left, the sun had long since gone down, and C.C. Sat down with an exhausted Lelouch in their living room.

"So? How did it go?"

Lelouch smiled, and hugged her. "Very well. It's good to talk about this with someone. To finally have that lifted off my chest. It's been a lingering pain in my mind for thirty years now. Funny, how I can say that. Time means nothing now doesn't it?"

"You have no idea what that actually means." She replied.

Lelouch chuckled. "I suppose not. It feels like a lifetime ago that I was Zero. That my only problem was how to take down an empire with twenty terrorists. And even becoming the emperor of Britannia seems like another life."

"That's because it was another life. The life of Lelouch Vi Britannia, the ninety-ninth emperor of Britannia. You've got an eternity ahead of you. And for once, I actually like the sound of that."

"Yes. Because the future will always bring happiness. And together, we will see what the future holds."

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One more chapter! Yay! A complete story? I like the sound of that! Even is its a short story. It's cool. Be happy for me.