Author's Note:

I'm sorry for the long, long wait for this chapter (it's been more than a year and a half, I believe). This is the last chapter of the first part of this story. I'm not sure when I'll continue with the second part (but as of now, I do not see myself abandoning this story altogether, so I will update it *soon*), and I thank you all for following this story for till now.

Enjoy.

- FantasyWR

Chapter 4:

Gino lowered the carton of oranges and placed them on the dirt floor for the third time in thirty minutes and shrugged his shoulders, trying to ease his tensed muscles. He clenched stiff fingers and punched the air in all directions, as if doing a strange dance – a dance he himself did not know. He glared at his source of pain and bared his teeth threateningly, but the drawing of the orange with a face just smiled back at him innocently and Gino believed that it was mocking him. Gino pouted and folded his arms across his chest in protest.

"What on earth are you doing, Gino?"

Gino looked front where Maxima was standing five feet away, eyeing him suspiciously, her eyebrows knitted in a slight frown. Gino blinked, not at her expression, but rather at what she was wearing. It had already been two hours since the carriage stopped by a local convenience store with a small rack of clothes for sale where the two of them had a change of clothes, but this was probably the first time Gino actually paid attention to the outfit that Maxima had picked out for herself. Gone were the designer, thigh-length dress and knee-high leather boots, and in their place were a yellow tank-top, a pair of baggy khaki slacks and brown sandals. Maxima's long blond hair had been tied in not one, but two ponytails, each resting on either shoulder.

Gino couldn't resist a small snicker. If there was a time when a princess looked like a country bumpkin, this was the exact moment.

They had abandoned their luxurious ride outside the same convenience store, informing the driver that they would be back the next day at the same time. The middle-aged man had nodded slightly and driven off to a place neither of them knew of. As soon as the carriage disappeared over the bridge, they rushed into the tiny store, grabbed some clothes and quickly changed out of the ones they were wearing, entrusting them to the storekeeper who clearly gawked at the labels. Gino wondered if the man would sell them to the next customer to earn a ridiculous profit, but then again, not many who lived in that region could afford them anyway. Besides, he was quite accustomed to doing this, even though he had been very reluctant to part with his favourite shirt the first time Maxima had dragged him along on a trip of the same nature. He, however, understood the logic behind it, because expensive clothes were not practical on a three-hour-long journey on foot, and neither will they blend into the local community. The last thing they both wanted to do was to attract attention.

"Gino, what are you laughing at?"

Gino immediately stifled his laughter and coughed to clear his throat. He watched as Maxima closed the distance between them quickly, alternating her glances between him and the carton on the road. She eventually focused her entire attention on Gino and his slightly reddened face.

"You haven't answered my question yet," she remarked, her lips pursed in a slight smile of amusement. Gino returned one himself and lazily prodded the hated carton with his shoe, which obviously did not budge the slightest bit.

"I'm tired," Gino whined, shrugging his shoulders repeatedly. "This carton seems heavier than the previous years'. Did you get Jeremiah to add more oranges into this one?"

"No, silly," said Maxima, still not taking her eyes off Gino. Finally, she took once glance at the carton. "Why don't I carry it?"

It took Gino a moment to register what Maxima had just suggested and once it clicked in his head, he immediately made a mad dash for the orange carton, grabbing onto it and lifting it up faster than he had put it down. "No way," he said firmly. "How could I get the princess to carry this?"

Maxima smirked at his reaction and Gino immediately knew that he had fallen for her ruse, yet again. The very first time he had committed the same mistake was back in their days in the military, when Maxima was still Georgia Marken, and Gino would have done anything to correct that error or at least wipe that incident from his and everyone else's memory. Just thinking about it made his cheeks flush even more.

"You tricked me," said Gino through gritted teeth. "Again." He placed much emphasis on the last word.

"You fell for it," retorted Maxima playfully. "Again." Gino scowled at her response and Maxima laughed. Reaching forward, she smiled and grabbing onto Gino's forearms, she pulled him forward. "Come on," she said in what Gino interpreted as mix between an apologetic and urging tone. "I give you a massage later when we reach their house."

After almost an hour later, Gino found himself walking into a remotely familiar village. It was a small community, consisting of no more than fifty homes, of which many were inhabited by middle-aged couples whose children have grown up, found work in the city and have decided to start their own families away from the place of their childhood. There were a few families with young children who were taught to read and write in the village school, but Gino knew that they would follow in the footsteps of the others who had left very soon. A shudder ran down his spine at that thought, for he, too, had left his own family to pursue what he had wanted years back.

Gino could not remember the exact house he was to visit, so he followed closely behind Maxima, who had progressed to the homestead at the edge of the village, nearest to the lake which marked the border of the community. Climbing up the short flight of stairs to the front door, Gino wobbled slightly, partly due to the weight of the carton of oranges he was carrying, but also because the wooden steps most probably have had experienced one too many thunderstorms and have become rather unstable.

The condition of the front door further strengthened his theory, for the wooden door was no longer its original dark colour. Instead, the colour had faded to a pale brown - the same colour as the Empress' hair – a sign that rain was frequent in this part of the world and the rain had bleached the door quite badly. Gino concluded that Maxima probably did not notice these details as he did, for upon reaching the door, she unhesitatingly knocked on it twice and waited.

Within moments, the door swung open with a loud creak and a lone figure appeared in the doorway. The first thing that caught his attention was the golden eyes of the occupant of the house that stared first at Maxima, then shifted their gaze to Gino, and then returned to Maxima. The next thing was the attire of their hostess – it was apparent that she had been in the midst of preparing dinner before their intrusion.

"We're here," said Maxima, smiling. "I hope we're in time for dinner."

Their hostess nodded casually at Maxima, then turned her attention to Gino's carton of oranges. Gino immediately stepped forward with the goods. "From Jeremiah, as always."

Their hostess tucked a stray strand of green hair behind her left ear and gestured for Gino to enter their house. "You can leave it at the side there," she said as Gino stepped through the doorway. "I'll unpack it later."

Maxima watched as Gino disappeared into the house, then turned to face their hostess again. "Good to see you again, C.C. It's been a long time."

"A year isn't that long," replied C.C. in her usual emotionless tone. "Come, I'm making pizza today." She gestured for Maxima to enter.

As Maxima took a step into the lighted corridor of the village house, a question suddenly struck her. Turning to C.C. once again, she asked, "Where's…?"

C.C. did not wait for her to finish her question – there was no need to, in any case, for there was only one person that came into both their minds. "He's over by the lake," said C.C. "And I know he'll like to see you."

Maxima felt the stones lining the side of the lake crunch beneath her sandals as she walked towards the lone figure seated facing the lake a few metres in front of her. Even with his back towards her, Maxima was certain that he was aware of her presence, though he showed no sign to acknowledge her as yet.

It was only when she stood just beside him that he held out his hand towards her and invited her to sit down next to him. She sat, with her legs folded under her, and like her companion, stared quietly at the vast lake, though unable to see its other bank. A moment passed before either of them moved, then Maxima turned to look at her companion and realised that he had done the same. As purple orbs met purple orbs, both broke into smiles.

"How are you?" Maxima was pleasantly surprised that it was her companion who had spoke first. "You haven't changed much, Maxima."

"Neither have you," said Maxima rather innocently, but as her companion's face fell slightly at that comment, she bit her lip and turned away from him. She knew she should not have said that, for she knew that she had touched on a sensitive topic. "I'm sorry."

From the corner of her eye, Maxima saw her companion let out a sigh and shook his head, his dark hair swishing slightly from the motion. She turned to see him clutch his left hand in his right, the cursed mark just slightly visible on his palm in her line of sight. He looked at her and followed her gaze to his hand. He sighed once again, this time completely obscuring the V-shaped mark from Maxima's view with his right hand.

"It's not your fault," he finally said, his voice still as authoritative as it was years back. "It's solely mine. You don't have to apologise for anything."

"Do you regret it?" asked Maxima, turning to face the lake once again. "Regret that you took that route?"

Her companion shook his head firmly and, too, turned to face the lake. "You know, you and I - we - were both brought up the same way and we were taught never to regret our decisions, no matter what the outcome was.

"My outcome isn't too bad, anyway," said he quickly, though Maxima wasn't certain who he was trying to convince – her or himself.

"But you had to leave them," pointed out Maxima quietly. "Leave the people you love and who love you-"

"But I have you," said he suddenly, catching Maxima by surprise. Turning to her, he smiled. "I am very thankful that you have come, every now and then, to visit us, to remind me of the family that I have; for bringing Gino, to remind me of the friends that I have…" His voiced trailed off as he turned slightly away from her, as if in deep thought or perhaps lost in some memory.

"Would you like to see her again?" Her question rolled of her tongue faster than what she had planned. Knowing that it definitely caught her companion's attention, she continued. "Would you like to see Nunnally again, face-to-face?"

A smile that was brighter than the previous one came to his lips but quickly faded as he frowned. Maxima knew what his concerns were. "Don't forget who I am. There are things that are within my power, and I can make them happen at the correct time."

Maxima saw her companion's frown fade upon hearing her assurance and heaved a silent sigh of relief. This was perhaps the only gift that Maxima could promise her companion, but it was a gift, though great in his mind, not sufficing the sacrifice he made five years ago – he had turned the world against him in order to erase Euphemia's "crime" from everyone's memory, and in doing so, was forced to leave the people closest to him, forced to leave his dearest sister.

"Nunnally forgives you," added Maxima, hoping that this piece of news would make him feel better. "She understands why you did what you did, and she forgives you, Lelouch."

The corners of Lelouch's mouth turned up as a smile formed on his thin lips and this time, it stayed as he turned to face Maxima. "You told me that before, Maxima, but thank you for reminding me."

They exchanged no more words between them from that moment on; instead, they just stared at the lake in silence, enjoying the cool breeze that blew over from the opposite bank. Closing her eyes, Maxima saw herself and Lelouch playing in Empress Marianne's garden, rolling about in the grass and smelling the flowers. Though she could not see Lelouch's expression, she knew that he, too, was relieving that memory, for it was the best one that they had created as brother and sister.

A call from behind them made both turn around, and they saw Gino jumping up and down and waving madly from the balcony of C.C.'s house. It was a call for dinner. Maxima and Lelouch stood up wordlessly and made their way from the lake back to the house. However, before leaving the bank completely, Maxima turned back to look at the lake once again. She remembered a time during the long war when the seas were stained with so much blood that they were called the Crimson Seas, but that was all in a distant past, for they now reflect the colour of the sapphire skies. Maxima knew that this would not be possible without the sacrifice of the Demon King.

Her train of thought was disrupted by someone taking her hand from behind her. She spun around just in time to meet Lelouch's gaze and match his pace as they both ran towards the house as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

End of Part I

Endnotes:

I chose to incorporate the popular theory that Lelouch was still alive because he obtained the code into this story, probably because when I first thought of writing this, I was still very reluctant to believe that he died "just-like-that" and also because the ending of the series was very open to interpretation. However, two years after watching the series, I guess I have (sort of) come to terms with it, and also because it has been confirmed by the writers that Lelouch did make the ultimate sacrifice. I did think of writing an alternate Chapter 4 that was more canon to the original storyline (maybe I'll add that in some time later as an extra chapter), but in the end I went ahead with what I originally planned because Maxima's promise to Lelouch would play a key role in the Part II of this story. In any case, thank you, dear reader, for staying with me and this story till now, and I hope you will be looking forward to Part II.

-FantasyWR