The van rumbled along the empty highway out of Tokyo. Lelouch had kept his eyes set on the sky and the horizon. He felt somewhat at ease when he gazed at it, but it felt more surreal that he should feel so calm at such a time. But he did not mind it one bit. He began to feel very tired, as if being lulled into sleep by the passing scenery. It was something new to him. Back when he had been in royalty, he was taught to be proper and to always be alert wherever he went. He remembered staying still for hours in carriages with nothing to do but sit. He remembered how Nunnally used to fidget when she had been taught the same manner, and how he would put on a smile for her to mask his discomfort.

Lelouch pondered what Milly had said to him. "Then was the Lelouch from back then, the one who came to my house, was he just a lie?" He shook his head in disbelief. 'Of course not Milly' he thought to himself, wanting to say that to her back when she first asked. Back then, Lelouch had already felt a loss that could not be replaced. Not only from him mother's death, but from the forced separation between Suzaku and both Nunnally and himself. Back then, he never considered the possibility of attaining such happiness again. Lelouch grunted. 'Even so, I wished that things would have gotten considerably better between society and me. I guess that I would have wanted it to be like that.'

Lelouch's P.O.V

I have never thought of anything more than revenge back then. The happiness, my happiness, had already been lost due to my mother's death and the crippling of my sister. In truth, that's what I had thought at first. But when Suzaku came into our lives, he inevitably saved me from a lasting depression. Our times together were like a dream; incidentally reminding me of when Nunnally and I used to play with our brothers and sisters. Maybe I was too quick to accept the thought of friendship as happiness because it wouldn't have been long until my homeland, or rather my father, sought war on Japan.

Being taken away from Suzaku did indeed leave a scar on my psyche, but I still had Nunnally with me. And although she was blind and couldn't walk, her smile was all I needed to reassure my own self worth. It was then that I had figured out a purpose, or rather a goal, and that was to make Nunnally smile once more. Not like the smiles she had during our exile, but when we were still living the good life. And so I steeled my resolve and locked my heart away. Never again would I let myself be despaired by any other, for I would no longer try to make an effort to do so. All I needed was Nunnally.

At the Ashfords, I met Milly, a spunky little ball of energy just waiting to burst out. Sadly, I was the one to get most of that energy taken out on. She pestered me when I was alone and took any chance to surprise me and Nunnally. In a way, she was just like Euphemia; her attitude towards me was very annoying and persistent. But then I would see her play with Nunnally as well, going off and talking to each other while I stayed in my room. I had seen many times that Nunnally would smile at Milly and then the two would laugh. I felt a warm disposition coming from my heart, the heart I had sought to close away and only give to Nunnally. Whether it was happiness or not, it made me feel quite content to see her smiling again. For that, I found that Milly had become like a friend to me and Nunnally, just like Suzaku.

I cannot say that the child back then was a lie, but it also wasn't that the child back then was completely real. After the incident, I knew that I had lost something important, and it wasn't my mother nor was it Suzaku. It was something inside of me that was lost…maybe "changed" instead of lost. Looking back on it, it seemed so trivial and useless for such a stubborn child to be like that. But in doing so, I can only thank and curse that which had changed me and made me what I am today.

Milly, if there was anything to say that would help you through these times, I would say to not stop being yourself, and that I have always valued your friendship and maybe even your love; not only for Nunnally, but for me as well. I'm sorry that I could not, and will not be able to say it to you in person.

Author P.O.V

Lelouch grew more tired the more he dwelled upon such fragile memories of his youth. It wouldn't be long until he subjected himself to sleep on the way back to the palace.

Back at the palace, Lelouch came out of the van after it stopped. What awaited him were a frustrated Suzaku and a most relieved Jeremiah. Before he could speak a word, Suzaku went first in a hasty fury.

"Where the hell have you been Lelouch?!"

"I was out doing an errand of mine."

"My lord, it is not safe to go out considering your current state to the public." Jeremiah spoke with concern in his voice.

Lelouch waved it off. "I trust that nothing has gone wrong, Jeremiah?"

"Of course not your majesty."

Lelouch nodded and walked past the three.

"Where are you going now Lelouch?"

"I'm still trying to complete the necessary preparations before the end of the month. I have some business with my captives."

"What are you going to do exactly?"

Lelouch turned his head toward the group. "I'm tying up some loose ends is all."

"And what does that mean Lelouch?"

He sighed. "If you want to know more, I suggest you watch the afternoon news." With that, Lelouch walked off and into the corridor before them. The two men were left confused and pondering Lelouch's words.

To Lelouch, it seemed irrelevant to give out more to the two than necessary. What he was doing now was something that he must do for himself alone. There was not really much need to have a second or third wheel that would worry.

Lelouch turned a corner and bumped into C.C.

"Oh, hey C.C" Lelouch spoke calmly.

C.C. brushed herself off and picked up her plush toy quite quickly. "Can't you watch where you are going Lelouch?"

"Is that how you say 'hi' to me?" Lelouch joked a bit, knowing that sarcasm was just another way of communication between him and C.C.

C.C. smirked. "I don't know, do you think you deserve something more after you left without saying a word?"

Lelouch was surprised to hear such a remark. "Heh, I guess you've got a point there."

He noticed that C.C. had the same look on her face as he did. But before she could reply, he breezed right passed her.

C.C. did not turn to look at him immediately. Rather, she took the time to digest the importance of his words. She smiled and turned toward Lelouch and followed.

At the sight of this Lelouch felt a bit annoyed. "Where exactly are you going?" he said under his breath.

C.C. did not turn to look at Lelouch and simply replied. "Is it a problem that I follow you?"

"It is…" Lelouch started. "But if it is you, then I wouldn't care either way."

C.C. felt surprised to see that Lelouch did not mind her company, despite previous engagements where he had rather been left alone. The two continued to walk, not minding the passing silence. But even the time of silence seemed brief as they continued to walk down corridor after corridor.

Halfway to his destination, Lelouch suddenly spoke to C.C.

"C.C., I was wondering…"

C.C. glanced at Lelouch for a moment. "What is it?"

"Have you ever…enjoyed your life?"

C.C. raised her eyebrow in complete disbelief. "What brought this on?"

"I was just wondering and…well, have you?"

It took some time for C.C. to come up with a reply. "Have I ever really enjoyed my life? Well, if you have ever lived for as much time as I have, you kind of lose the sense of joy you have for your own life. I've seen many die and have experienced death myself. I know of a pain you will never get to experience, or even remember experiencing."

The two turned another corridor down.

"I have been tortured by humans because of intolerance with an unknown. I have seen my fellow immortals die after passing on their codes to their successors and die with sad smiles upon their faces. I've been through hell and back many times. I've experienced many feelings as well; compassion, infatuation, jealousy, betrayal, despair, all of which have hardened my heart over the years. I lived as an abandoned orphan and had been taken in by kindness, only to be used and thrown away afterwards. So have I enjoyed my life?"

There was no answer to that reply. Lelouch and C.C. both knew that that was not an enjoyable life. It was the opposite of that indeed.

"If it were an enjoyable life, I'm pretty sure people would call you a masochist" stated Lelouch.

C.C. cracked a smile for a moment at such audacity. "I'm not surprised that the Demon King himself would say that."

"Well, life gives you many surprises."

The two exited the corridor. To C.C.'s surprise, they had ended up in the prison block of the palace. There were barely any shouts this time around. To Lelouch, it seemed a bit fitting for the prisoners to angry at him when he appeared before them. When Lelouch was done basking in his own hated glory, he continued onward, checking the prisoner cell blocks from the left side to the right. As he approached, he could see numerous familiar faces, now made unfamiliar with distant, fatigued gazes. He had successfully broken most, if not all of their spirits with his power and dominance. He went further on, slowly taking his time to take in each gaze one by one, as if painting a memorable image of each one of them in his mind. C.C. also looked at them, but with condescending eyes, as if pitying their current state and futility.

By the time Lelouch had gotten to the end of cell blocks, he gazed at a clock above one of the cell blocks. It read: 2:58 pm. Lelouch sighed and turned toward C.C.

"I think it is about time for the news to spread."

C.C. was in confusion. "What do you mean Lelouch?"

"This is what I mean." Lelouch walked toward the center console and grabbed the microphone.

Elsewhere, Jeremiah and Suzaku were in the surveillance room, checking out the security and scanning screens.

"Isn't it about time for the afternoon news?" asked Suzaku.

Jeremiah nodded and turned toward the servants. "Bring up the Local News channel!"

"Yes sir!"

On the major screen popped the logo for the Local News Network. To Suzaku, it was a bit nostalgic to see Milly on the television again. The first time was after her graduation when she became the weather girl for the same network. Suzaku cracked a smile as Milly showed up onscreen.

"Hello again, I'm Milly Ashford and here's the news for the afternoon."

While she did her overview, Jeremiah turned to Suzaku.

"Is that the same Milly Ashford of the Ashford family?"

"Yes she is."

Jeremiah had an astounded gaze in his eyes. "I'm surprised that the granddaughter of Ruben K. Ashford is a news broadcaster."

Suzaku looked surprised at his words. "How do you know them?"

Jeremiah smirked. "I've known them since I was under charge of Marianne vi Britannia. I have known them to be a benefactor to her majesty."

"Oh…"

"But first, I have an important announcement from Emperor Lelouch himself."

The two turned their heads toward the screen at the mentioning of Lelouch's name.

"Attention all prisoners!" shouted Lelouch through the microphone. "I have something interesting to say to most of you." He knew that at least most would listen while others paid no mind to him.

"I have just received word from the emperor himself" Milly started. "That one week from today…"

"At the start of the next month…"Lelouch began. "You prisoners of war, soldiers, traitors, and captured representatives of the U.F.N…"

"His majesty, Lelouch vi Britannia, will be holding an…"

"Are hereby, in solidifying my rule, sentenced to an…"

"Execution…"

The silence that came with the revelation became overwhelming to those who heard it from the news and Lelouch himself. It was as if the world stopped in its tracks for a moment, suspending life within the void of time itself. It was as if death had struck prematurely and the ghoulish silence seemed to feel like poison entering the body. The prisoners were silent, the servants were silent, Jeremiah and Suzaku were struck with disbelief, C.C. with eyes wide open could see an aura of sorrow radiating from the atmosphere, and the world itself was now deaf to noise and mute with grief.

But as the silence came, so did it leave in an instant. Sound returned to the world, and it was not wonderful.

"Yes, the Emperor will be holding an execution at the end of the month. One can only assume that it might be an execution of the prisoners of war that his majesty has captured. The Local News Network will be at the scene on that day to record the historic procession. Now in other news…"

"I will personally attend to your execution. It will be broadcasted to the world to prove that no one can and will stand against me. So I suggest you start counting your prayers before the week is out."

Lelouch left the console and returned to C.C., whom he found completely shocked at the news. "Come C.C., I've got some work to do." C.C. shook herself out of her daze and followed Lelouch. As the two left, they were bombarded with yells and jeers, as well as pleas and sobbing.

"You have truly gone mad, Lelouch" stated C.C. under her own breath.

For Suzaku and Jeremiah, the news was indeed shocking.

"I can't believe it…"stated Suzaku as he gazed at the screen.

Jeremiah was retaining his composure all throughout the ordeal.

"How can Lelouch announce something like that?"

"It is because he is the emperor."

Suzaku felt his anger growing. "How can you stay so calm?! Don't you have any remorse?"

"What is there to feel bad about?"

Suzaku grasped Jeremiah by the collar. "You have no sense of chivalry at all! If you did, then it wouldn't be like this! Lelouch would not have gone and done something like this!"

Jeremiah fixed his gaze onto the screen. "Did you forget about his majesty's plans?"

It took a few moments for Suzaku to understand what Jeremiah had said. But when he did, he let go of the collar.

"Lelouch is planning something big if he leaked this out to the news. We must trust in his methods to the very end."

Suzaku let his gaze fall to the ground. "It is for the Zero Requiem…" Suzaku knew that what conspired now had to have been for the completion of the Zero Requiem. "Even so…" Suzaku could not shake the feeling of moral outrage as he clenched his fist. 'How much more blood must Lelouch shed?'

It would all have to be for the Zero Requiem, but just how far did Suzaku think that Lelouch would go in order to put an end to it all? In truth, he began to feel unsure about this plot the more it began to twist down a path he could not foresee.

To C.C., Lelouch had gone completely insane with the announcing of the execution. Her mind now felt distraught and completely drained of energy when thinking about Lelouch and his plans for the future. She considered just giving up on trying to change Lelouch's mind. It was too far off in the plans to try and change it now.

As for Lelouch, he became a bit at ease following the announcement. 'Now is the time to really tie up the loose ends to this life of mine.' He smiled. 'All is now going as planned.'

To be continued…if desired…

A/N: Okay now this chapter I can consider it rushed. I wanted to continue with the final messages but I just wanted to get this out before I did so. First off, I really wanted to show how far Lelouch was willing to go to further taint his existence, so I had him declare the execution to the prisoners, while having Milly just announce the general execution order for Lelouch, purposely not giving out any names and such. Second, it was kinda hard to keep Suzaku, Jeremiah and C.C. in character because the impact of another unknown had indeed affected them in a way. Third, having to pull a psychotic episode of power out of Lelouch seemed hard at first because his usual way would have been subtle yet still surprising. Forgive me if the characters seemed OOC and thanks again for reading. Please R&R…thanks again.