Disclaimer: I don't own anything
"AHHHH"-Normal speaking
'get out of my head!!'-Normal thought
"melon"-Radio chat
Chapter IV
The Spreading Shadows
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"Units 4-8. Report to sector 2A immediately. They need help with debris clearing"
"Deliver all bodies with recognizable features to tents 1-8. All others, deliver to tents 9-20"
Suzaku Kuurugi sighed as he uncapped a water bottle, feeling relieved as he downed the cold liquid. He had been working to help the clean-up efforts around Narita almost non-stop ever since he had recovered from his ordeal during the pursuit of Zero, which was nearly sixteen hours ago. He had only stopped occasionally to get water, food or a few minutes of sleep, which was only when Lloyd and Cecile replaced the Lancelot's energy filler, which they were doing now.
Even though he had only participated in the final stages of the battle to take the JLF's main stronghold, the intensity of his sortie might have equaled that of any of the other pilots. He had not only charged up a landslide at top speed to save Viceroy Cornelia, but he had also engaged what was quickly being called by many of the soldiers who had participated in the battle; the Ace of the Black Knights. That strange red Knightmare that seemed on equal footing to the Lancelot, and with a pilot with skill to match his own. In fact, Suzaku was sure that the confrontation he had with that frame would have lasted a lot longer and done far more damage to both of them had he not been able to take advantage of the terrain around them like he did. Knocking the enemy frame into a ravine may have seemed like a cheap shot, but it was really only dumb luck in the first place that he had been able to accomplish that. By the time he realized what had happened, the red frame was already tumbling down the slope.
Then… there was the pursuit of Zero. Suzaku's memories of what had happened were still hazy. He could hardly remember what had happened after he had cornered Zero after destroying his custom Burai. All he could remember was that he and a pair of Purist faction Knightmares were attacked by a strange Knightmare. Suzaku was still unsure whether it was the red frame from before or another frame altogether. But considering that the machine had been able to destroy both the Sutherlands and incapacitate the Lancelot made Suzaku (as well as Cornelia and her top brass) assume that it was just that new 7th generation frame. That, and the fact that the Sutherlands had been destroyed by a sword slash and some kind of super-heated weapon (weapons that they knew the Red machine used) more or less confirmed their suspicions. However, Suzaku still had that inkling, that feeling in the back of his head, that it might have been something different.
But even then, that wasn't what really confused the honorary Britannian. It was that every time he tried to delve further, past the point where the first Sutherland was destroyed, all he could see was some great yellow eye, and feel incredible fear, and pain. After that, all he remembered was waking up in the Lancelot, Cecile's concerned voice coming over the com system. Frankly, it scared Suzaku a little. But he didn't have time to be concerned about that. He could mull over the events of the battle later. Right now he had a job to do, and brooding would only distract him.
"So… how are you holding up Suzaku?" came Lloyd Asplund's odd, slightly high-pitched voice.
"Oh, Yeah I'm fine Lloyd" Suzaku answered. "Hey, is it okay if I keep working? I want to keep help the recovery efforts if that's okay"
"Sure. Do what you like"
"Thanks" Sometimes he wondered whether or not the eccentric scientist really cared for him personally or only cared that his machine had a competent pilot. But it didn't really matter to Suzaku. Lloyd and Cecile still took care of him, as they were technically his legal guardians, the closest things he had to parents since his father died.
Suzaku suppressed a shiver at that thought. Cecile might have been quite nice and kind, but Lloyd? He'd rather not have someone like that even associated with the term 'father' in his case. Downing the last of the water, he spoke again.
"Hey Lloyd?"
"Hm?"
"The Black Knights… Just what do you think they're trying to achieve through all this?"
His boss/legal guardian raised an eyebrow and gave him an odd look as if the answer was obvious.
"Haven't you heard? They're Knights for justice"
That statement made Suzaku cringe as he crushed the now-empty plastic bottle in his hand, a new wave of disgust flowing over him.
"Is this justice? Is such mindless battle supposed to be considered justice?" he said in a low voice.
"Hey Hey! Don't tell me you're about to go blathering some embarrassing notion about the 'nature of Justice'" Lloyd spoke up, trying to calm the boy down. "We're soldier's remember? We're not supposed to be thinking about things like that"
The grim and morbid point his boss made seemed to snap Suzaku out of his brooding.
"Right… I guess"
"Suzaku" came Cecile Croomy's soft voice, even though she was speaking in a rather loud tone over the den of the work going on around them, "I've replaced the energy filler. You're good to go"
"Thanks Ms. Cecile" Suzaku said as he got up to walk over to the extension wire that hung from the Lancelot's cockpit, brightened by the prospect of something to take his mind off of the brooding over what the Black Knight's purpose was.
As the hatch of the cockpit closed and the Lancelot sped off to one of the clean-up 'hotspots', Lloyd approached his assistant and fellow scientist.
"Well Cecile?"
"I've confirmed it" she replied, bringing up a display on her monitor showing the remnants of several destroyed Knightmares. "It's a Radiant Wave Surger. No doubt about it"
"Fukushahado eh? I never thought Rakshata would work with terrorists. But I suppose that says just how little I knew her in the first place"
"Yes. That machine was undoubtedly hers. I think it might be that Gurren Mrk. II we heard about"
"I agree. And what of that 'other' matter?"
Cecile nodded as she brought up another picture, this one showing the two destroyed Sutherlands that were found with the Lancelot. One was sliced cleanly in half, while the other one had been completely destroyed.
"These are the two Sutherlands that were destroyed during the pursuit of Zero. The official report is that it was the Black Knight's new Knightmare frame"
"And your personal opinion?" Lloyd asked.
"Well… I think your theory might be right Lloyd. I don't think these Sutherlands could have been destroyed by the Gurren Mrk. II"
"Yes…" Lloyd affirmed as he looked at the pictures and the damage reports. "The reports indicate that the Red frame only had a small fork-knife as a melee weapon other then the Surger. I highly doubt such a small weapon could slice a Sutherland in half. So, do you think this is a custom model or is it another one of our dear rival's 'children'?"
Cecile seemed to become concerned as she answered. "Well that's the thing Lloyd, I don't think it's either of those. Look at this" she said as she pulled up a microscopic image of the Sutherland's sliced body. "The striations from the slice are far too small. And the cut was far too clean, even the damage done by the katana's on the custom Burais that Lord Guilford fought aren't this clear-cut. In fact, it almost looks like…"
"…Lancelot's MVS swords" Lloyd finished, his voice carrying a grave tone of its own. "So you're saying that whoever built this used our MVS technology?"
Nodding, his assistant continued. "There's more. Look at the remains of the other Sutherland" with that, Cecile brought up a close up image of the other Sutherland, completely blown apart by some unknown force. "The official reports are saying that this was done by the Gurren Mrk. II's Fukushahado system, but now, I don't think that's the case" she finished as the image was magnified. Lloyd peered over her shoulder as he scrutinized the digital image.
"You're right. This doesn't look anything like the other Sutherlands that thing destroyed. The other machines were melted from the inside out and then exploded. Nothing on this Sutherland looks like that"
"Exactly. And when I was looking at the remains of the cockpit and drive core, I noticed something interesting"
"And that was?"
"They weren't there. Somehow, both the drive core and cockpit were completely vaporized before the Sutherland exploded"
"So, then it was some kind of high-impact penetration weapon that caused an explosion" Lloyd deduced.
"Yes. And I think it was the weapon itself that blew the Sutherland up, not a ruptured drive core or energy filler like with the machines the Gurren destroyed. None of the other Knightmares in this battle were destroyed in anything like this manner. And there's one last thing too" Cecile affirmed as she brought up a microscopic image of what was once the inside of the chest area.
"This was one of the few areas that I could find on the machine that were bored through by the weapon. Notice anything familiar about the burn marks?"
Gazing at the image intently for a few seconds, Lloyd's eyes suddenly widened.
"Wha-What is this? That almost looks like… the burn marks from our Hadron testing… Cecile are you sure this image is right?"
"Yes I'm positive. And I agree with you" she answered as she brought up another image from their files, showing a burned metal plate. "The burn marks are almost identical to those formed by the Gawain's experimental Hadron cannons"
"So are you saying… That whoever built this mysterious frame, somehow stole our Hadron cannon technology, and converted it into a close-range weapon?" Lloyd asked, fixing his partner with a serious and piercing gaze that many would find out of place on his normally cheerful features.
"Yes" Cecile answered, not even flinching at the unnaturally serious tone and expression her boss was giving her. She understood fully just how serious this situation was.
"Then it's definitely not Rakshata. She's far too prideful to use any of my work in her machines"
"What should we do Lloyd?"
"Regardless of what we think, I doubt the Viceroy or her brass will take this seriously without any proof, and with the Lancelot's camera feed scrambled the way it was in that engagement, we don't have any proof they'll buy. Since our mysterious frame is obviously part of the Black Knights, we'll just have to wait until the next time they show their face"
"Lloyd… Do you think Suzaku would have a chance? I mean, one rival Seventh-gen Knightmare is bad enough, but two? And he was almost defeated by both of them individually. Do you think he would even stand a chance?"
"Against both of them? No. The next time the Black Knight's show up, he'll just have to engage them one at a time and hope his energy filler holds up" Lloyd answered in a morbid tone. Cecile took on a far more concerned one, but accepted that they really didn't have any other options.
"I just wish the second unit was operational, then maybe we could start looking for another pilot"
"Indeed"
'Zero… I wonder what kind of a man he is…'
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Throughout his sixteen years of life, Lelouch Vi Britannia had only felt true suffering and pain at the hands of one person.
Unfortunately for him… that person was back.
"Oh come on! They're only crunches. Come on ya pansy. You're only up to 135! We still got 165 left! Now let's go! 136… 137… FASTER! 138…"
'Why did I make this guy my second in command?'
Upon his entry into the Ashford household, Naruto had found it imperative that he check up on Lelouch's physical condition and his combat abilities, things he had helped to hone when Lelouch had been under his mentorship seven years ago.
Needless to say, Naruto had been disappointed when he saw how much Lelouch had been slacking off. So, the blonde had immediately suggested that they return to the training regimen he had set up for Lelouch seven years ago, upgraded for his age change. Of course, this meant that Lelouch was forced to experience the training course from the eighth circle of Hell.
Again.
Naruto had so far made Lelouch do an estimated 50 laps around the Ashford estate, 500 pull-ups, and now 200 crunches, and that had just been the warm up.
Make that the Ninth Circle of Hell, Lelouch thought. It was even worse then last time.
His torme-er… I mean 'Trainer' was currently standing a few feet away, giving the occasional encouragement (or at least that's what he thought it was). C.C. was further back, leaning against a tree, watching her accomplice's torture with barely veiled amusement.
The green-haired immortal had certainly seen some amusing things in her 500 years of undying life, but this certainly had to be one of the better ones. In the short time she had known him, C.C. had learned that Lelouch was a boy who always seemed to exercise perfect control over his world (an aspect perfectly mimicked by his Geass) and never lost his cool. And seeing him squirm like this was just too funny. Though there was one thing she was curious about.
"Hey Naruto"
"Hm?"
"Are you sure this isn't a bit much? I've seen people break under stress like this" C.C. asked as she walked up next to him. Not that she actually cared about Lelouch personally. She just needed him to complete the contract and fulfill her wish, that was all. There was no personal concern she might have for him. No, not at all.
Unfortunately for her, Naruto had instantly detected the small amount of concern in her voice.
"Oh don't worry. He may not look it, but Lelouch can take a lot more then most people. He just needs the right training, which he should have been continuing"
C.C. gave him a look that said she wasn't convinced.
"Hey, give me some credit. I trained him like this seven years ago and he came out fine. I know what I'm doing. So don't worry. You're not going to loose you're boyfriend anytime soon"
C.C. instantly clinched her teeth at that as she fought to suppress a sudden redness in her cheeks.
"He's NOT my boyfriend"
She didn't know why this boy could get such a rise out of her. No one had been able to do that before! Somehow, he could get under her skin with hardly any effort, and it infuriated her! Somehow, she just couldn't keep up her cold and distant demeanor whenever he started teasing her about her relationship to his protégé. And Lelouch didn't seem to fare any better, well, he did actually seem to fare a little better. C.C. was slightly sympathetic if this was what he had to put up with for a whole year. She briefly mused if there was such a Geass ability as 'getting under someone's skin no matter who they are'.
"Sure he isn't" Naruto said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
After C.C. was finally able to recover from Naruto's latest assault, she asked him something.
"Why are you doing this anyway?"
"Well, Lelouch is the most important member of his organization, and he's not always going to have me or anyone else around to protect him, so he needs to be able to look after himself, and Geass can't always help him. Besides, shouldn't the leader set the example for his followers?"
Lelouch grimaced slightly as he overheard his mentor's words. This was what he hated and at the same time loved most about Naruto's way of thinking. As ridiculous as any of his schemes could be, in the end, they were perfectly logical and unarguable. But while that might be great for military operations, it also forced Lelouch to agree to his unholy training regimen from hell.
"You know…" Naruto began as a thoughtful expression formed on his face, "Isn't Lelouch planning on putting you as one of his top advisors in the Black Knights?"
"He's just doing it so he can keep an eye on me, but yes. We did plan on me joining, especially now that Kallen has seen us together. I'm supposed to be one of his advisors or something along with you" C.C. replied, not knowing what Naruto was getting implying.
Lelouch on the other hand, was fighting extremely hard not to adopt the wicked smirk on his face. In all his experience with Naruto, he knew with near certainty what was coming now.
"Alright… how good are you at combat?" Naruto asked, his tone serious.
C.C.'s eyebrows rose in surprise. She'd never bothered to do anything like that, being immortal had allowed her to be killed many times with no consequence. But at the same time, she was pretty sure she could hold her own in a fight with a normal person if she had too. "I suppose I'm okay" she spoke, not really sure where Naruto was going with this.
"Okay then" Naruto said as he turned to face her, motioning for Lelouch to stop, the boy having finally reached 200. "Punch me in the face"
"Huh?"
"You heard me. Punch me in the face. And as hard as you can too"
The witch wasn't sure what to make of this, but she didn't exactly have any reservations with hurting the blonde to begin with, so she simply pulled back her fist a hurled a punch at the blonde's face as hard as she could.
She didn't even see him move.
One instant, her clinched fist was hurtling towards his face, and the next he was holding it in his hand with next to no effort. Naruto's face was calculating as he held her in a near iron grip, as if trying to gauge her strength.
"Hm… yep"
"What?"
"Hey Lelouch!" Naruto yelled over to the panting teen, trying to regain what little stamina he could. "Good news! Look's like you've got a training partner"
"Wait… WHAT?!"
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"Uh… Naruto?"
"…"
"Naruto?"
"…"
"Naruto!"
"You have 'pant' to call him 'sensei'"
"'sigh'… Naruto-sensei?"
"Yes?" Naruto replied in such a tone that C.C. just knew he had a wicked grin on his face.
"How many 'pant' more of these do 'pant' have to do 'pant'?"
"Oh, just fifty more"
Both C.C. and Lelouch probably would have face-faulted at this had they been able to.
"Oh come on" Naruto yelled in indignation as he heard their groaning, "They're only push-ups! And I'm just having you do a hundred!"
'Yeah, and they probably would be easy, were we not doing them under a ZODIAC!'
And it was true. Naruto, in all his training 'brilliance', had decided that not only would Lelouch and C.C. be doing a hundred push-ups, but as an added challenge, they had to do them while supporting a large inflatable boat on they backs, along with their crazed teacher lounging on top. And what really made it so brilliant was that neither of them could do anything about it, considering that they'd probably be squashed should they refuse to do them.
"'sigh'… Alright…" Lelouch muttered in defeat as C.C. did the same as they continued, they're counting becoming a mantra, "51… 52… 53… 54"
"FASTER!"
Normally, Lelouch might be plotting some kind of revenge, but he had long since learned that Naruto was not one to be trifled with. It had taken two weeks to get the paint out of his hair last time, and get his eyebrows back.
Through their exhaustion induced haze, Lelouch and C.C. could make out the sound of footsteps coming towards them. From the lightness of them, Lelouch knew that they were Sayako's. He briefly considered begging her to help them, but he remembered how she had always been just as disappointed in his lack of exercise, and was quite happy to see Naruto put him through some training.
"Oh, hey Sayako! Ah, I see it came"
"Yes, they just delivered this one, and I just finished making this too"
"Great. Thanks a lot" Lelouch was wondering just what the ninja-maid had brought his demented teacher when C.C. spoke up.
"Hey, what 'pant' is that 'pant'?"
"Oh just some more motivation for the both of you"
"Huh?" Lelouch wondered, then he heard the opening of a cardboard box, and a very familiar smell wafted through his and C.C.'s nostrils.
'Oh… crap'
"Gotta say C.C., you certainly have good taste in Pizza" Naruto said, his words muffled by the food he was chewing.
Said girl meanwhile, was starting to twitch erratically.
"Stuffed crust… extra cheese… olives, mushrooms, heck all the toppings really…"
Now she was foaming at the mouth.
Beside her, Lelouch was torn between fear of what the crazed girl next to him was about to do, and curiosity as to what Naruto had meant by motivation for 'both of them'.
"…and Sayako's pudding is delicious too"
The former prince's eyes widened as he desperately fought to suppress the erratic twitching.
'No… I got over it… I don't need it, I'm cured damn it! ...but… so good… so tasty… NOOOO…'
Naruto smiled to himself as he was nearly thrown off the Zodiac as it began to bounce up and down erratically, the pizza box and pudding held tightly in his grip as he continued to eat, almost oblivious to the frantic efforts of his students to complete his task so they could get some for themselves.
"That's more like it"
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"Well, I suppose that went well" Naruto said as the trio walked through the gates to Ashford. The three companions were walking a bit faster then normal, considering the rain falling around them. Lelouch and C.C. were each carrying umbrella's while Naruto simply wore a large hooded trench-coat with the hood pulled up. The rain had never bothered him much.
"Indeed" Lelouch replied, one of his confident smirks adorning his face. C.C.'s own remained impassive. It seemed like they had quite easily forgiven him for putting them both through hell the other day.
But at the same time, he could understand Lelouch's satisfaction. With the backing of such a powerful group like Kyoto, the Black Knights certainly were moving up on the power-chain very quickly. And they had also gained a powerful ally in the form of Lelouch's old friend Kaizo Kirihara, now one of the handful that was aware of Zero's true identity.
He had to say, the old man certainly was a sly one. Playing as a double agent certainly wasn't easy, Naruto knew this first-hand.
And as an added bonus, they were able to flawlessly introduce C.C. to their comrades as Zero's top advisor next to himself, though Naruto could tell many of them were unconvinced that this was her only role to Zero. Tamaki seemed to be especially suspicious.
'Seriously, can he think with anything other then his hormones when it comes to women? Guess not'
Naruto then chuckled to himself at the irony of that statement, considering how true their comrades suspicions about his companions would be once the blonde was through with the two of them.
"Well, I'll see you two later. I have to get to classes" Lelouch spoke as he began walking off.
"Right then, see ya" Naruto replied as he and C.C. headed off towards the house.
'Hm… This rain feels ominous… I wonder why?'
Lelouch had been thinking (almost) the exact same thing as Naruto. The meeting with Lord Kirihara had gone exactly as planned. With Kyoto's backing, their organization would gain even more reputation among the other terrorist groups around Japan. The larger groups would look to them as allies, and smaller groups would be more inclined to join their ranks. And since the Japanese Liberation Front was quickly on the decline after Narita, the Black Knights could emerge as the main power fighting against Britannian oppression in Japan.
Right now though, he had a bit more pressing issues. He did have to apologize to Shirley for not being able to make it to the movie after all.
He stopped for a moment as he saw someone standing on the path in front of him.
'Wait… Isn't that Shirley?'
And it was his classmate. But not like he had ever seen her before. Normally in such a situation, she would be delighted to see him, running up to him while yelling a greeting. But this time, she just stood there, as if oblivious to the world around her. She didn't even have an umbrella or a jacket on. She just stood there, her orange hair falling in front of her face.
"Hey! Shirley" Lelouch called to her as he walked up. "Why aren't you in class, and shouldn't you have an umbrella? You'll catch a cold out here"
Nothing. Not even a 'hello' or some other greeting.
"Shirley?"
"He… He's dead" she whispered, her voice shaky as she glanced up to him.
"What?" Lelouch asked, not sure what he had just heard.
"M-My father… he's dead"
Her head rose to face him slowly, the rain on her face mixing with her tears. Lelouch's own eyes widened, then softened with sympathy. He certainly knew and could relate to that.
"I'm sorry" he whispered back, his own head lowered. He hadn't known the girls father, but he knew that she always looked up to him, him being in the army and all.
But the weeping girl didn't even seem to notice what he said as she spoke again.
"H-He was killed… At Narita… by Zero"
Now Lelouch's eyes really did widen.
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It was still raining the next day at his funeral.
Shirley and her family all stood around the hole as the casket was lowered and the priest spoke. Milly, Rivalz and the rest of the student council along with Suzaku and Kallen stood back, ready the comfort their friend, their heads bowed in sympathy. Lelouch stood further back, his own head held low, but his eyes obscured. He was still trying to comprehend what had happened.
And the girl's father hadn't just been killed in battle, the man had been killed by the landslide he had caused. He had killed Shirley's father. Lelouch had always known he would have the blood of countless souls on his hands, and had made peace with that, or so he had thought. Killing someone was one thing, seeing the grieving of their family was quite another.
As the wooden casket was entombed, Shirley returned to the company of her friends. Milly and Rivalz were the first to reach her, giving her comforting words to try to ease her pain. Had Lelouch been watching, he might have been comforted by the fact that Shirley seemed to have made peace with her father's death and looked a lot better then she did when the funeral started, but he wasn't. Then Suzaku spoke, his voice dripping with disgust.
"It's all their fault. The Black Knights"
Everyone but Lelouch looked to him, surprised slightly but none seemed to disagree. Kallen was about to speak out, but thought better of it and held her tongue.
"Zero just slaughters countless people, then sits back and congratulates himself. And all in the name of his demented sense of justice! Just what is this supposed to accomplish? All this mindless battle and slaughter?"
Kallen lowered her had as she sighed. She knew that the road to their freedom would be paved with blood, she just wished it wasn't the blood of her friends or their family. But she couldn't stop. If she was willing to give her own life for Japan, she should be willing to give others' lives too.
Lelouch on the other hand, didn't have the luxury of such conviction. The sad fact was… he could find no fault with Suzaku's statement. He was a murderer. A terrorist. It had been by his hand that Shirley's father had died. He wasn't doubting himself, or his mission. But did it have to come at such high a cost?
No one noticed as he slipped away, they were too engrossed in comforting Shirley. Lelouch didn't go far, he just walked over to the edge of the woods surrounding the cemetery. Leaning against a tree, he tried to have some time to collect his thoughts.
But he couldn't. All he could think about was Shirley's and Suzaku's words echoing in his head. How this was his fault. Thirty minutes later, everyone, even Shirley, had left, leaving Lelouch alone in the rain. Or so one might think.
The dark-haired teen didn't even move as he heard the soft steps on the wet grass approach him.
"It's not easy. If I knew this would happen, I would've helped prepare you. I'm sorry" Naruto said as he leaned against a tree next to Lelouch facing towards the boy's, his gaze following Lelouch's to the fresh grave. The blonde's voice was soft, and apologetic. His expression was one of sympathy and regret, something not normally found on his normally cheerful face.
Lelouch didn't reply, and Naruto didn't speak again. They just stood their. The only sound being the rain around them.
After a few minutes, Lelouch finally spoke.
"How do you do it?" he asked in a near-whisper, his head still hung low as he glanced to his mentor.
Naruto sighed as he answered, as if regretting he had to say it. "This is why soldiers are taught to abandon their emotions. Morals and idealism have no place on the battlefield"
Lelouch simply turned his gaze back to the cemetery as his mind finally began to work its way around what Naruto had said.
"What must I do?"
Naruto smiled softly. The Lelouch he knew was finally coming around.
"What are you fighting for?" he asked.
Lelouch was surprised for a moment, but then he remembered that this was how Naruto conveyed many of his points.
"To find the truth of my mothers death, To save the world from my father's and Britannia's tyranny, and to create a world where Nunnely can be happy"
Naruto nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Then until that task is completed, you should forget about all but the second one"
Lelouch's eyes widened slightly as he glanced to Naruto, wondering what the blonde meant by that, but at the same time his mind was beginning to understand.
"You must not include your heart in this battle if you wish to keep your sanity. Bury your personal feelings, and concentrate on your greater goal. You must fight for something greater then yourself, if you wish win"
Lelouch nodded slowly, the logic slowly coming to him. Idealism did have no place on the battlefield. Including his heart in the battle would leave it open to being hurt. So to guard his heart from the fires of war, he would have to lock it away. Lelouch smiled softly to himself as he realized something else. He probably knew that all along, it just took Naruto, his voice of reason in all this chaos, to remind him.
On the other tree, Naruto smiled back as he saw the affirmation and conviction spread on Lelouch's face. Looking to the sky, Naruto's smile grew slightly as he saw the rain clouds start to disperse, and sun shined through. The sun's rays had always filled him with warmth. He wondered whether this was because of… her.
However, as they both stood up and began walking back to Ashford, Lelouch was oblivious of Naruto's gaze hardening as the blonde looked to where Suzaku had stood.
'War truly is a terrible thing Lelouch. I just hope you'll be better prepared then I was'
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And there we go.
We get a little more insight on Naruto's frame, and Lelouch gets the full brunt of his actions.
Kind of weird I know, having the hilarious torture/training scene followed by a morbid death scene, but I didn't have much of a choice since I was too lazy to do the meeting with Kirihara. Also, credit for the 'Lelouch addicted to pudding' idea goes to So Guhn's one-shot 'The Misplaced Competition' (which is quite funny too). There, I've given the credit where its due. (So put down the pitch-forks and torches. Please?)
And to those of you who don't know what a Zodiac is, it's a small inflatable raft used around ships (it's what you see Navy Seals and other special forces using on TV). Look it up on Google if you don't know.
Next chapter: The JLF make their final stand, Zero's identity is revealed to a most unlikely individual, and another Geass user enters the fray (of course, there'll be plenty of things that DIDN'T happen in canon too).
Read and Review.