Ch. 5

Someone was shaking her shoulder roughly then patting her cheek. Who the hell was touching her face? Hopefully it wasn't Lucius or a complete stranger.

"Luna, wake up," a voice spoke through her fogginess. "Luna!"

Slowly but surely, twin grey orbs made themselves known to the world. Blinking a couple times, her vision cleared up to reveal her feisty red-headed friend Kallen kneeling next to her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Luna nodded as she sat up. "What about you?"

Kallen shrugged. "A few bruises here and there, but we have bigger problems right now?"

"Why? What's going on?"

"The people responsible for this are combing through the debris looking for you."

Luna cursed. "How do you know?"

Kallen looked around before answering. "I overheard a few talking about what this person called Lucius was going to do when he finds you."

This time, Luna's eyes widened and paled. She already knew what was going to happen if Lucius got to her. It was called execution.

"Do you know where Lelouch or Suzaku are?" she asked.

Kallen shook her head. "I haven't found them yet."

"We need to locate them before Lucius' thugs do," Luna said, standing up. She stared right into Kallen's eyes with an intensity that rivaled the exiled prince's, sending shivers down the other's spine. "I need you to do something big for me."

"What is it?"

Luna walked forward and whispered in her ear, then backed away. "Got it?"

"Got it."

The two nodded and headed off in separate ways.


Luna spent a good thirty or so minutes ducking and hiding from Lucius' foot soldiers. Feeling her body's fatigue, she sat in a mini debris cave that was out of sight. She leaned her head back and sighed. Why does this always happen? I get a brief period of piece before chaos ensues. Not only that, I now dragged my new friends in to this mess.

The sound of debris moving made her jump. Had she been found so soon? Stepping towards the mouth of the "cave," she took a cautious peek around each corner. She heard movement off to her right and saw medium sized rubble pieces shifting side to side. Luna rushed over to help whoever was stuck, completely throwing caution out the window.

"Hang on! I'm coming," she called, hoping the person had heard her.

She pulled and shoved the debris away, quickly uncovering the trapped victim. From what Luna could tell the person was a male student. His uniform were torn in places and the exposed skin had many cuts. He attempted to help Luna remove his bindings when she had some difficulty moving a large piece of debris, but was surprised when she pressed her petite frame against it and pushed it away with surprising strength. She looked down at him and held her hand out.

"Are you alright, Suzaku?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you," Suzaku replied, taking her hand.

She helped him up just as her foot slipped on an unstable piece of rubble, causing them to fall on top of each other. During the fall, Suzaku skillfully wrapped his arms around Luna so she wouldn't take all of the impact. This choice, however, ended with him on top and his arms badly cut. Green and grey met in a deadlock as the two stared at each other. A light blush dusted their cheeks.

"Um, could you get off of me, please?" Luna asked, blushing more. Euphie is one lucky girl to have him as her knight.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that," Suzaku apologized while doing so.

Luna sat up once he had removed his arms around her. She gasped when she saw how bloody his arms were.

"Did that happen during the fall?"

"It's nothing," he replied.

Luna paused for a moment, then took a big breath. "Do you trust me?"

Suzaku blinked. "What?"
"Do you trust me?" This time was more urgent.

"Yes."

Luna nodded. "What I'm about to do must remain a secret. Do you understand?"

"Yes." What is this about?

Luna gently placed her hand on his arm. Suddenly, a phoenix shape appeared on her forehead before disappearing onto the hand resting on his arm. A strange energy surrounded the two. Suzaku found himself entranced with Luna's eyes as they were now a dull grey. He then felt the strange energy fade away and Luna's eyes were back to normal. He looked down at his arms to find them completely healed along with the minor injuries he suffered from the explosions.

"You healed me," he breathed.

"That is my power," Luna spoke. "I can heal everyone except myself."

Just as Suzaku was about to respond they heard someone shouting. "The boss found the exiled prince!"

The two teens looked at each other and headed towards the noise. They soon found themselves out in a rubble filled courtyard, ducking from anyone's sight.


Lucius stared down at the bounded teen who returned with a glare of his own. The man smirked.

"So you're Lelouch vi Britannia, the exiled prince who was pronounced dead during the attack on Japan seven years ago. I'm honored to finally meet you," Lucius ended with a mocking bow.

"How did you find out about me?" Lelouch growled. "I demand to know."

Lucius slapped him. "You are not in the proper position to make such demands, Your Highness. And your little trick won't work on any of us."

He waved his hand around in dramatic fashion. "As you can see, my men and I were already aware of your Geass so we took extra precautions before meeting you!" he cackled.

Lelouch's hardened gaze masked his shock. How did this sick bastard know about his Geass? Had he infiltrated a spy within the school? His mind immediately thought of Luna. No, she wouldn't betray him like that. She isn't the backstabbing type. She's too sweet and innocent for that. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his chin and forced him to look in those sharp, sinister green eyes of Lucius; a complete 360 of Suzaku's gentle yet strong emerald green.

"Speaking of your Geass," Lucius continued. "What should we do about it? Oh, I know. How about we get rid of it, for good?"

"What do you mean 'get rid of it'?" Lelouch asked. What is this guy up to now?

The man merely grinned and held his hand out. A foot soldier walked up and placed a long object in his hand before walking away. Lucius held the item up and the prince paled. The man before him was holding a needle and he plans on gorging out his power's home; his left eye. Lelouch struggled to get away, but his body wasn't responding to his brain's demands. His body was completely paralyzed, not out of fear, however.

"Are you wishing to get away, little prince?" Lucius taunted. "Sorry. I can't let you do that."

He yanked the teen's face closer to him and there in the bastard's eye was the Geass symbol. This sick evil bastard has Geass. Lelouch's heart matched his terror with its rapid pounding as the needle came closer and closer. Just as it was about to pierce his eye, a gunshot was heard. Lucius dropped the needle and clutched his arm, glaring in the direction of the shot. The smoke revealed Luna holding a gun with a surprisingly cocky smile on her face.

"Surprise, motherfucker."

"You bitch," Lucius growled, holding his arm.

A blur of black rushed past her and socked him right in the face, successfully knocking him out. Lelouch only stared dumbfounded.

"Luna, Suzaku, how did you find me?"

Luna shrugged. "Lucius' idiotic minions didn't know how to keep their mouths shut. Are you alright?"

The raven nodded as Suzaku cut the bindings around his wrists and ankles. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"

"No, we're fine," Suzaku replied. "We should get somewhere safe, though."

They headed back to the massive rubble filled school yard trying to find a place to hide from any remaining foot soldiers (Suzaku took out the ones around Lucius earlier). Luna was behind the boys when she noticed Lelouch was holding his arm and small red droplets leaked from his fingers.

"Lelouch, let me see your arm," she ordered.

He stopped and turned to her. "It's fine."

"Obviously it's not since you're bleeding," she countered. "Now let me see your arm."

Lelouch, not in the mood to argue, finally held his arm out. She gently rolled up his sleeve to examine the injury. There was a small cut, but it sure bled a lot. Glancing around, Luna repeated the same process she did with Suzaku. Lelouch was once again in shock. Luna was among those he'd least expect to be…burdened with this power.

"There, that should do it," Luna's voice broke his thoughts. "How does it feel?"

"Amazing," he replied a few moments later.

"She is really good at healing people," Suzaku piped.

Luna beamed. "Why thank you guys! I am quite honored to hear that from the school's hottest guys!"

Both boys blushed and she laughed at their reactions. Who knew they would look so cute blushing? Suddenly, her laughing stopped and her eyes went wide. "Lelouch, look out!"

Lelouch turned around to see Lucius standing a few feet away with a gun pointed straight at him. The other two were currently being restrained by some minions.

Lucius smirked and clicked the safety off. "Long live the emperor."

He then pulled the trigger three times. Lelouch stood ready for each shot, but was suddenly pushed aside. To his horror, Luna's body convulsed as the bullets slammed into her body. She fell backwards, her hair an eerie black veil and blood pooled around her. He rushed over to her.

"Luna! Damnit, stay with me!" his voice broke and eyes portrayed his panic. "You can heal yourself, right?"

Luna slowly shook her head. "No," she coughed, blood coming out. "Everyone except myself. That is my Geass' limitation."

Her eyes started to close and her breathing slowed a little. Lelouch felt something he hadn't felt since his mother's death: fear. Tears pooled in his eyes as he activated his Geass, only to find it ineffective as her eyes showed no sign of her under its effect.

"You can't die! Please, hang on! I order you to live!" Why isn't it working?! I don't want her to die!

Luna placed a weak hand on his face, a small smile gracing her face. "It's alright, Lelouch," she said, her voice fading. "Don't worry about me. I'll be able to see my parents again and possibly my brother."

He clasped his hand around hers, tears now flowing freely down his face. "No. It's not your time to leave! Please, just hang on!"

"That's not your decision to make," she rasped, eyes closing further. "I never wanted you to get…involved…"

Her eyes fully closed and her body went limp. Lelouch's eyes widened, fearing the worst as her hand fell. "No, this can't…..Luna!"