And Welcome Back! Thankfully, this didn't take as long as chapters usually take (No one has PMed me asking me for the new chapter, which I think hasn't happened for a while). Before we get into it, a few things

A/N: I own nothing. I own nothing. I OWN NOTHING!

A/N 2: We now have some cover artwork! Hope it looks good, I'm no Photoshop expert.

A/N 3: We cleared some interesting milestones since last time! We've hit 60 reviews, surpassed 200 followers, as well as topped 100 favorites! I want to thank all of you for this, I can't tell you how much this means to me.

A/N 4: If you'll pardon some self promotion, I have a new story out! It's called Gods and Demons, and it is the site's first and (at the time of me writing this) only Godzilla/Geass crossover story. Feel free to check it out (After you finish reading this chapter, of cours :) )

Alright, enough of this ridiculousness. On with the story!


Chapter 8: Sorry About Your Plans, Have a Cookie

Fight every battle everywhere, always, in your mind. Everyone is your enemy, everyone is your friend. Every possible series of events is happening all at once. Live that way and nothing will surprise you. Everything will be something that you've seen before. – Lord Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger)

"Euphie" Lelouch said. "It's wonderful to see you again"

His face gave the appearance of cheerful calmness, but his mind was actually in a state of semi-panic. Crap, Crap, CRAP! How did she find us? Is she going to take us back to Britannia? No, I would've been seized by now. I can't panic now, I have to focus. Lelouch's focus was brought back to the conversation by Euphie, who said "And who's your friend behind you?"

"This is Kallen Stattenfield" Lelouch said, motioning to Kallen behind him. "My girlfriend"

Kallen, still adjusting to their new relationship, silently blushed. Meanwhile, the rest of the room exchanged shocked looks, none of them expecting that Lelouch would actually date anyone. Nunnally broke the silence first by asking "When did you start –"

"Dating?" Lelouch said as he took a seat, "About a few weeks ago. We wanted to sort things out between us before we told you. And I was just planning to do so, but I walked into this impromptu reunion. So, Euphie, how did you find us after all?"

Euphie sighed, seeing that this couldn't be put off. "Before I get into it, do you think that –"

"Kallen can stay here. I can vouchsafe for her discretion."

"He's right" Kallen said nervously, taking a seat, "I won't tell anyone about what's said here."

"Well then," Euphie began, "It wasn't easy. Your fake trails led Clovis on a right royal goose chase, and I had a tough time as well. But then I remembered something: That there was still someone who had been with you during the invasion, someone who was currently in the Britannian military." She motioned to Suzaku, who shifted in his seat with an uncomfortable look on his face. "He didn't want to tell me at first" Euphemia continued, "but I managed to convince him that I had your best interests in my mind and my heart."

"Are you sure about that? Because in coming here, you may have led others here as well, putting Nunnally and myself in danger." Lelouch countered.

"Believe me, I'm more than aware of the dangers about the forces that … your friend has repeatedly warned me about. I know that I could lead your mother's killers to you and Nunnally. That's why I took precautions before I came here. Nobody knows that I'm here; my official itinerary has me across town in a secret military debriefing across town. I'm here as Lilian Lamprouge, who's here to tour the school and see her cousins. Secondly, just because I'm not whisking you back to the capital doesn't mean that I'm leaving you unprotected. You see, our father just sent me a gift meant to help me with the current situation here in Area 11. And it will be just the thing to keep the two of you safe."

Having said that, Euphemia rose from the table, with Suzaku following suit. "Unfortunately, I don't have any more time to stay here" Euphie said as she walked over to Lelouch. Before Lelouch could protest, she pulled him into a hug. "I know your worried" she said, "but I promise that your secret will stay safe with me. This won't be the last conversation between the two of us." And with that, the princess and the soldier left.

Milly got up to leave as well. "I'm sorry Lelouch" she said apologetically, "I had no idea that this was coming."

"It's okay, Milly. I certainly don't blame you for this" Lelouch replied. "Do you happen to know what Euphemia was talking about in regards to the 'protection' that she's providing?"

"No idea" Milly said, downcast. "It was all happened with my grandfather, and he was sworn to secrecy. All I know is that whatever it is, it starts tomorrow."

"Thank you, Milly."

"No problem, Lulu. Now I'll call it a night, so Kallen can explain to Nunna why she's stealing her big brother."

"Milly!" the three time travelers said with tones that ranged from annoyed to embarrassed.

"See you all tomorrow!" Milly said with a devilish wink as she left the room.

"So, what exactly is going on here?" Nunnally said, as she turned towards her brother.

"Nunnally, meet the third time-traveler" Lelouch said, gesturing towards Kallen.

"Really?" Nunnally said, her eyes widening with astonishment.

"Yes, I did travel back" Kallen said, bearing a grin.

"So, the whole dating thing was a ruse to distract Euphie or –"

"No, no, Kallen and I are actually dating" Lelouch said quickly.

"Huh" Nunnally replied, surprised that Lelouch's statement had actually been true. "You'll have to tell me everything. When did it start?"

And so the three of them talked through the night, catching each other up and planning for the days ahead. Little did they know that a wrench would be thrown into those plans the next day.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Good morning everyone. Before we begin today's lesson, I would like to introduce two new transfer students: Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstream. They will be attending our school as of today."

"Hey everybody! I'm Gino, nice to meet you!"

"Anya. Recording."

As soon as the two had introduced, the class began whispering amongst itself.

"Did she say Gino Weinberg?"

"Gino Weinberg? As in the Knight of Three?"

"Isn't the short girl a Knight of the Round too?"

"Yeah, she's the Knight of Six!"

As the mutterings about the new students intensified throughout the class, Lelouch sat in his desk mulling over the events. This certainly changes things he thought. And it did. Lelouch hadn't expected his father to send in two of his Personal Knights, especially this early in the rebellion. Perhaps it had to do with Cornelia's capture, but that seemed unlikely as he hadn't been bothered after Lelouch had killed two royals. Lelouch toyed with these ideas through the day, until the bell rang and he got up to leave the room and enjoy his free period. As he did, Lelouch saw Suzaku come over, with a slightly worried look on his face. "Hey Lelouch," Suzaku said, reaching his friend, "I just wanted to say, about last night –"

"Yeah, about last night: What the hell?" Lelouch replied in an angry yet quiet voice, as to not attract attention.

"Look, I told her your whereabouts because it would keep everyone safe."

"Really? How do you think that's been working out so far? Because I'm pretty sure that two Knights of the Round hanging around the school doesn't exactly make any of us safe."

"Look, they came after everything happened with your mother and they probably believe that you and Nunnally are dead. So, you have nothing to fear from them, unless you have other secrets lying around."

Before Lelouch could respond to that, he felt an arm work its way around his and pull him close. Glancing over, he saw that it was Kallen, with a sly grin on her face. "Sorry to interrupt Suzaku, but I was hoping to have a little time with my boyfriend. You don't mind if I steal him away for a bit?"

"N-Not at all" a surprised Suzaku stuttered; and with that, Kallen led Lelouch into the school grounds.

"So, what was Suzaku talking about?" Kallen asked as they sat down on a bench.

"Nothing much, he was trying to apologize about last night" Lelouch replied.

"Oh did he know? The nerve of that guy…" Kallen said angrily, glaring towards the area that they just came from.

"Don't worry about it Kallen" Lelouch said placatingly. "If anything, I invited something like this." Seeing Kallen's confused look, he continued. "Back at Saitama, I told Cornelia that Nunnally and I were still alive. Given Euphie's affection for the two of us, the resources at her disposal, and her close relationship with Suzaku, it's not surprising that she found us. Hell, Euphie found the two of us the last time as well, it just took her longer to do so."

"Fine" Kallen sighed, accepting Lelouch's logic. "So, what are we going to do about the two Knights that have joined us?"

"Oh, they're joining the student council."

"WHAT?" Kallen exclaimed, earning her a few stares. "Sorry about that" she said quieter, her face showing slight signs of embarrassment. "It's just….how and why?"

"Milly couldn't resist having two such high profile people on the council, and I signed off on it. My reason for doing so is simple: With Gino and Anya on the student council, we can keep a closer eye on them than we would be able to do otherwise. Plus, we can keep them busy with the Milly's antics. In fact, it shouldn't be hard to get Milly to put all the… 'activities' she had planned for me on Gino, especially since the two of us are dating."

"Speaking of" Kallen said, pulling Lelouch closer with a smile on her face, "I think we need to do more to keep up the appearance of a happy couple"

"Who said anything about appearances?" Lelouch said, returning the smile as he moved in for the kiss.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An odor of tobacco tinged the air in the casino, as it does with all casinos. It tinged the "electronics area", where the hapless and the pros sat frustrated in front of slot and pachinko machines. It tinged the card tables, where dealers looked out for card sharps and bouncers evicting any that where found. It tinged the cordoned off area towards the back, where the wealthier patrons enjoyed drugs, flesh, and other things in privacy…for a price. And it tinged a quiet area to the side, where Lelouch sat engaged in a chess match while Rivalz and Gino watched with nervous excitement.

It was really because of Gino that they had been here. During the induction meeting, Gino had told Lelouch that he had heard of his illegal chess matches, and wanted to attend one. To everyone's surprise, Lelouch had acquiesced and told Rivalz to schedule a round of matches for the next afternoon. And so, at the end of the next school day, the three of them had gone to the Babel Tower, the location of the premier casino in Area 11, and began the round of matches. Following Lelouch's fourth win of the day, he excused himself to restroom before the final match of the day. As he walked in and splashed some water in his face, he heard a familiar yet uncomfortable voice.

"Oh come on Lulu, don't act like these matches are tiring you out. You're lucky Gino and Rivalz aren't smart enough to see that you're just playing with your opponents for the sake of a show."

Lelouch looked up into the mirror to see Mao standing next to the stall with a smirk on his face. "Can you blame me?" he said, as he turned off the sink and reached for the towel. "The Knight of Three wanted a thrill, so I'm giving him a thrill."

"True. But, there are multiple kinds of thrills. That's something you should keep in mind if you want to keep Kallen as happy as she is."

"Mao-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Stay away from my woman or there'll be hell to pay'. The point I was going to make was that you should go for a more decisive victory for your next match."

"Fine" Lelouch snarled, already annoyed with how this conversation was going. "Did you get anything useful?"

"I did!" Mao said with a smile, pulling a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and handing it to Lelouch. "I got names, dates, locations, everything you could want for extorting and destroying the mobsters in this building. And you would not believe the blackmail material that I've extracted! These 'hardened criminals' are going to be putty in our hands."

"That should be useful Mao. Did you get anything on the target I asked you to –"

"Oh yeah, Gino. As far as he knows, his mission here is to assist your half-sister in pacifying the area. He doesn't know about the connections that you and your sister have with either the royalty or the Black Knights. He also has heard a considerable amount of talk concerning a project known as 'Hallmark', something that the Viceroy's sister was working on before you captured her."

"Hmm, I'll have to ask her about that. Did you get anything from him on the Emperor?"

"That was interesting. From the memories I got out of him, the Emperor seems distracted, like he's constantly concerned with something. Now Gino thinks it's got to do with either the rebellion you got going on over here or the war going on over in Europe. But I know you don't think that's what he's worried about."

"You're right" Lelouch replied, thinking over the new information. The emperor really couldn't care about what happened to his own children, much less the territories that he held. There was only one thing he truly cared about: the Ragnarok project. And from what Mao was telling him, it must be going poorly in this timeline.

"Speaking of," Mao said, "next time you talk to your Mom, could you tell her that 'Ragnarok' is a terrible name for an apocalypse plot? It's a little on the nose, if you ask me."

Lelouch's eyes grew narrow in fury. "Mao, if you ever tell-"

"Yeah, yeah, I won't tell anyone about that" Mao said sympathetically, holding up his hands in protest. "Believe me, I understand why that has to remain a secret."

"As long as you do. And if you do decide to tell anyone, you can read my mind to see what will happen. Anything else?"

"Just two things. One: your friend Rivalz is going to ask for some advice on snagging the lady of his dreams. Tell him that the first step should be to get Milly a box of chocolate, and then ask her out to the new Andrews film that's coming out next week. And two: your next opponent, the so-called 'Black King', he's going to try for a castling move to win the game quickly. If you can turn it against him, you can deliver the decisive victory that Gino's hoping to see."

"Alright, thanks Mao" Lelouch sighed as he walked out of the restroom. He really didn't want to take advice from Mao, but he knew that it would be useful and that Mao knew that he knew that he knew.

And that, more than anything, annoyed him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Kallen sat in Lelouch's apartment, thinking over the past few days. There was a lot of to think about, but she was mostly thinking about her brand new relationship with Lelouch. As new as it was, Kallen couldn't help but feel as light as a feather. As inspiring a commander as he was, Lelouch had revealed a tender side that had managed to surprise Kallen. She could see it in him; every time he held her hand, every time he kissed her, every time he said –

"Kallen" she heard Nunnally say, approaching her with a platter. "Here's your tea" the hidden princess said, placing a cup and saucer in front of her.

"Thank you" Kallen said, raising the cup to her lips before she stopped. "You didn't poison this like you did with Suzaku, did you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing with a wary look.

"No, I didn't" Nunnally said with a chuckle. "I'm not going to poison my brother's girlfriend. Besides, do you think doing that a poisoning that brazen would work on someone like you?"

"Thank you" Kallen sighed, taking a sip as well. "You're not mad about us dating, right?" she asked, placing her cup down.

"Hardly" Nunnally responded, placing her cup down as well. "I'm actually thankful that Lelouch is actually dating this time around. It's a relief, knowing that he has room for other things in his heart besides me and revenge. And I'm particularly thankful that you're the one dating him, since you're someone I know will take care of him."

"Thank you, that means a lot."

"Your welcome. Now, I know that it's early days, but how's it been going?"

"It's been absolutely wonderful. Although, I could do without all the girls on campus would stop glaring at me." And it was true. Since her relationship with Lelouch had leaked, almost all the girls on campus had been glaring at Kallen harshly, with their words towards and about her matching. The only three girls weren't treating her with anger: Milly and Nina (the only two girls on campus, it seemed, without any romantic interest in Lelouch), who were treating her normally; and Shirley, who seemed to be avoiding her.

"Yeah, they've been a bit harsh on you" Nunnally said in agreement. She had always heard Milly jest about how popular Lelouch was, but it was only after she had returned to Ashford with her eyesight that she saw the truth of it. Girls seemed to faun over Lelouch whenever he went, and they all seemed to speak to him in a tone of adoration. And they didn't even know that he was prince! It made sense that they would all be angry that he would be snatched up by Kallen.

"At least you approve" Kallen said, looking at Nunnally with thankful eyes. "If you didn't approve, I doubt Lelouch would even look at me, regardless of his feelings."

"Speaking about that" Nunnally responded, her eyes turning from cheerful to troubled, "I wanted to talk to you about Lelouch."

Kallen looked intently at the princess, her face showing signs of concern. Nunnally continued: "While we've done a lot to change the timeline, I'm worried that we haven't done enough yet. I'm worried that this will still end with Lelouch dead on the ground. This isn't outside the realm of possibility; we both know that Lelouch has absolutely no problem risking his own life. It's part of what makes him such a capable leader, and it enables him to do what he needs to do. But I'm sure that neither of us could stand to see Lelouch dead again. So I'm asking you, as someone else who loves my big brother as much as I do, help me keep him alive. We need to do more than protect him from his enemies; we need to protect him from him from himself."

"I agree" Kallen responded, offering a hand. "Do we have a pact?"

Nunnally took the hand. "We have a pact."

The conversation then turned to less weighty matters, such as the Black Knight's future operations and Milly's plans for the two new members of the student council.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Ashford Academy Clubhouse was perhaps the most underutilized building on the campus. Aside from the meeting room, the ballroom, and the Lamprouge's apartments, the building remained unused. There were numerous rooms that saw no use and no occupants, save the occasional young couple who used it as their secret meeting spot. However, one set of rooms had started see more activity. These were the rooms that served as Cornelia li Britannia's prison cell.

It had been a masterstroke on Zero's part. After all, who would expect to find a captured princess so deep in the Tokyo Settlement? And very few people knew Cornelia was there: the three time travelers, the immortal witch, and the loyal ninja maid. Anyone who would've been in that part had been geassed into avoiding the area; anyone else who happened to wander to there were swiftly escorted away by a kind yet stern Sayoko. Cornelia herself only two visitors: the first was the maid, who attended to Cornelia's needs three times a day. The second was Zero, who appeared whenever he had a reason to talk to the princess.

Cornelia was reading the newspaper that had been given to her during breakfast when Zero appeared. It was a new experience for her, learning to read between the lines of the pre-censored news in order to discern what was really happening in the world. At the very least, she was thankful that Euphemia was the Viceroy in this scenario; if the Viceroy had been anyone less honest, figuring the truth would've been much harder. Cornelia was reading an article about an art show being held in Clovis' honor when she heard the door open. Knowing that it was still too early for the maid to have come in with her dinner, she looked up and saw that Zero had entered. "How are you doing today, Cornelia?" the metallic voice asked as the door closed behind him,

"Could do with more sunlight, the room is a drab as a funeral parlor" Cornelia answered. She motioned towards the window, which had mostly boarded up save a small amount at the top, where a sliver of sunlight had been allowed to come in. In truth, the conditions were better than she could have hoped for. She had expected to be thrown into a dark, dank dungeon littered with rats and roaches…at best. Instead, she had been placed in this room, with a bed, desk, and bathroom. Cornelia was still prisoner, but she was the most comfortable prisoner that she had ever heard of.

"Sorry we can't do anything about that. Aside from that, is there anything else? Your meals have been good? The books you requested came in?"

"The food is fine. And I thank you for getting these books. Although," Cornelia said as she held up one of the book, open for to show a blacked out return by sleeve, "I would like to know where you're getting them from."

Zero chuckled underneath his mask. "No can do, I'm afraid" he said.

"Alright" Cornelia said as she snapped the book shut. "Let's get down to business. What do you want from me this time?"

Zero sighed. It appeared that no matter the timeline, Cornelia's ability to carry a conversation was severely stunted. "Very well. I recently started hearing whispers about a project that began under you, something called 'Hallmark'. Why don't you tell me all about it?"

"Now why I would tell you about that project, or anything at all? All you would do is kill more Britannian soldiers, and destabilize Area 11 further."

"You couldn't be more wrong about my intentions. I have no desire to destabilize Japan any more, nor do I want to kill Britannian soldiers just because. My goal is for justice, always has been. To that end, I will do whatever I need to. If I have to kill Britannian soldiers to do it, I'll do it. If I have to kill Japanese rebels to do it, I'll do it. If I have to give my own life, I'll do it. But I would like to do it as neatly and cleanly as possible. So, if you don't give me the information I need, I'll be forced to move on with…less than clear eyesight. And if I do that, there's no telling what collateral damage may occur. It could be a contingent of soldiers in the wrong place, any number of innocent bystanders, even your own sister."

"Are you threating Euphie?" Cornelia asked, her voice dripping with an angry venom.

"No" Zero responded placatingly, "I'm not threating your sister. Not directly anyhow. But I'm warning you: Things could get very messy. You have the opportunity to limit that mess."

Cornelia sighed. Zero had trapped her completely. She only had two choices: Either tell Zero what she knew and betray her country, or refuse and put Euphie in greater danger. She decided to choose the lesser of two evils.

"Hallmark was an intelligence collection project" Cornelia confessed. "It's designed to track the JLF's movements and supply routes by monitoring the communications that they try to keep secret."

"I see. Thank you, your grace." Zero responded. He then got up and proceeded to move towards the door.

"That's it?" Cornelia asked, a little stunned at how little Zero had asked.

Zero turned around to face the former Viceroy. "You've been a prisoner here" he said. "The rest of my questions need to be answered by someone with up to date information." And with that, he walked out and left Cornelia to seethe all by herself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a perfect day to enjoy the park. The sun was out and brightly shining, yet the light breezes kept the temperature at a reasonable cool. If one was looking to get away from the bustle of the city for a period time and enjoy a sense of serenity, they could've have not picked a better spot.

Despite this, Jeremiah was extremely tense as he sat at the public chessboard. Most people would have assumed that he was nervous due because he was about to meet a date, but that wasn't it. If any of them knew that he had just committed high treason, they'd assume that he was nervous about being caught; but that wasn't the reason either. The real reason why he was nervous was because he was afraid of disappointing his prince.

Ever since Lelouch had revealed himself and told Jeremiah that he had an opportunity for redemption, the latter had been eager with anticipation. He couldn't wait for the first opportunity to serve his mistress's children, and finally the time had come. Lelouch had contacted him and told him that he wanted several documents pertaining to a project named "Hallmark". This was a highly classified operation, but Jeremiah managed to get himself into the project and obtain the files requested. Now he was here to deliver the documents to a liaison that his prince had designated. Jeremiah now had to wait for the liaison to give the documents. Suddenly, he heard a small motor approach him, followed by a "Good afternoon, Lord Jeremiah!"

Jeremiah turned to see an astonishing sight. Approaching him was a young girl in a wheelchair. She was dressed in a simple dress, yet was accompanied by an Eleven maid. But it was the violet eyes that caught his attention, and led him to deduce her identity. A violet eyed, blonde girl in a wheelchair, this could only be one person.

"Princess Nunnally!" he said, getting up from his bench.

"Please don't stand" Nunnally said, raising her hand in a gesture to signal calm down Jeremiah. "And please, when out in public, call me Alice. There's no telling who might overhear our conversations"

"Right" Jeremiah said, feeling embarrassed. Nunnally took to the other side of the chess board. "Before we begin our game, maam, I have a token of my gratitude: chocolates from the famed Meindel confectioners. They have a branch store here in Tokyo that is so good, it is said to rival the original store in Vienna." With that, he handed her a bag that very ostensibly bore the Meindel logo. Nunnally took the bag and inspected the contents; she was surprised to see that in addition to the files requested, there was actually a box of chocolates in the bag as well.

"Lord Jeremiah, you shouldn't have" Nunnally said with a smile. "These must have cost you a pretty penny."

Jeremiah gave a short, gracious bow. "Anything for the children of my mistress. Although I'm confused as to the colors of the wrapping paper."

Nunnally smiled as she grasped the hidden meaning of those words; Jeremiah had been instructed to print the files on colored paper. "It makes all the easier to disguise, my lord" she responded, "easier to hide their true nature."

Jeremiah smiled, more than happy to accept that explanation. The two then proceeded to begin their game.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lelouch sat in the warehouse, preparing himself for the battle that was about to take place. Earlier, he had briefed the Black Knights about their upcoming operation: assisting the JLF escape Tokyo. The plan had been laid out meticulously, but Lelouch still needed to prepare himself for anything unexpected. If he didn't, he would panic and lose control of the battle. And when that happened, there was an extreme chance that someone would get hurt, like –

"Lelouch?" Kallen asked, as she stood in the doorway.

"Oh, hello Kallen," Lelouch said, startled out of his thoughts. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is just going find" Kallen said haltingly. Confused by her tone, Lelouch turned to look at Kallen, and saw her face was red with embarrassment.

"Why is your face red? It's not like last time, when you didn't know my identity. Unless –" Lelouch stopped midsentence as the reason dawned on him. "Really?" he said, causing Kallen's face to turn redder. "Well" Lelouch said with a chuckle, "You no longer get to call me a pervert."

"Sh-shut up baka" Kallen said, taking a seat next to him. "I'm just – I just-" But the protestation died down as Kallen couldn't come up with a good response. Looking to change the subject, she said "Do you trust the intel that Diethard's giving you? I mean, he did betray in the last timeline."

"Two things about that" Lelouch responded, having anticipated a such a question. "One: I had Jeremiah and Mao verify his information before I brought here. Two: Everybody betrayed me in the previous timeline. If I were to exclude people based on that criteria, I'd find myself all alone."

Kallen sighed, once again unable to counter Lelouch's logic. "So, it's the same plan as last time?"

"Not quite" Lelouch said. "This time, the ship is an actual decoy. Katase, sakuradite, and company will be leaving for China out of the port in Osaka. Meanwhile, we'll be sitting in the submarine here, "guarding" the fake ship. The Britannians board the ship, find nothing, and everyone goes their separate ways."

"Huh. How'd you convince Kyoto and the JLF to move away from the original plan?"

"Well," Lelouch said, as he rose and picked up an origami crane that he handed to Kallen, "I have some very good intelligence."

Kallen unfolded the crane, revealing it to be a classified Imperial memorandum. "Woah! How did you come by this?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I got from a box of chocolates?" Lelouch said jokingly.

Kallen gave Lelouch a bemused look as she stood up and handed back the memo. "Well, I now know what I want you to give me on our next date" she said with a grin.

And with that, the couple left the warehouse, to complete the next mission.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To Lelouch, it seemed that the plan had been going smoothly. The Britannians had boarded the ship and, according to K-2's monitoring of their communications, had found nothing. Soon, they would either let the ship keep sailing, or haul it into the port. And then Zero's plan would have been a flawless success, with not a single bullet fired.

However, his hopes were dashed when the ship suddenly exploded.

"What the hell just happened?" Zero heard Ohgi say through the radio.

"One of the idiots on the boat must have shot a fuel tank or something" Lelouch responded. That was the same thing he had said last time; but this time he actually meant it. He really had moved the no idea why the boat had exploded. But that shouldn't be a problem, so long as –

"Warning!" K-2's voice shouted through the radio. "The enemy has spotted you! Prepare to engage!"

Well, crap Lelouch thought, his last hopes of leaving without a shot fired gone. He would have moved the submarine out of the battlefield immediately, except one of the Glouchesters fired a slash harken into the roof and grappled itself onto the vessel. Now that there was an advanced Knightmare attacking the submarine at close range, Lelouch decided to use a bold maneuver: He moved the submarine forward quickly and rammed it into the pier. Soon, the doors were and the Black Knights swarmed out, with Lelouch shouting through the radio for everyone to scatter and meet at the rendezvous points. By the time he had finished shouting out instructions, the battle was fully underway. Lelouch saw Suzaku's Lancelot move straight for him, only to be intercepted by Kallen. Realizing that he had only so long before Suzaku managed to break away, Lelouch moved into an alley in order to get away. Unfortunately, he was then confronted by Gino's Tristan. Lelouch's Burai wasn't equipped to handle this Tristan's level of performance, so he turned and ran, using his knowledge of the shipyard to maintain a distance ahead. The Tristan followed him, keeping a very close tail. The chase went on from sometime, before Lelouch used his slash harken to topple a shipping container full of fireworks into the path of Gino and set it afire. With Gino thoroughly distracted, Zero hurried as fast he could to the rendezvous point, all the while keeping an eye out for any other opponents that would come after him. Fortunately, he was able to make his way to the rendezvous point without any further incident. Before too long, he met up with all his key officers, including Ohgi and Kallen. The Black Knights had suffered three casualties; but given how quickly the operation had gone sideways, they all considered themselves lucky. With that, Zero dismissed all of them, telling them to lie low for a few days and wait for instructions from him. Before long, it was just Lelouch and Kallen standing alone together. They shared a brief embrace before they parted their separate ways and went off into the night, promising each other to call in the morning. As Lelouch changed into his civilian identity and made his way to Ashford, he made a note to himself to ask Nunnally if she could get information on the Britannian post battle meetings. He was sure there were some interesting things being said by his half-sister.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"JUST WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"

The room cringed at Princess Euphemia's angry shout. Suzaku, Gilbert, and Gino all sat around the hospital room; a bit bruised from the battle, but otherwise fine. Dalton wasn't so lucky. He had suffered three broken ribs and a broken leg. Anya was in another room, getting treated for a concussion.

"Your Grace-" Dalton tried to say in a placating tone.

"No" Euphie said angrily, cutting him off. "I don't care what your reason is; it couldn't possibly justify grappling onto a submarine! You probably spooked Zero, causing him to ram that submarine into the pier. If you hadn't done that, we probably would've had less casualties then."

"Personally, I'm just thankful that Anya didn't get hurt any more than she did" Gino said. Anya had been in the direct of the oncoming submarine. She managed to dodge the vessel in time, but the abruptness of the maneuver caused her to lose control of her Mordred and crash.

"Honestly, if it wasn't for Dalton, I'd say that the most boneheaded move of the night would've been you firing on the Black Knights" Euphie said to Gilbert, shifting the focus of her ire to him. "Honestly, what would my sister say, seeing her own knight engaging in combat without an official approval?"

"Your Grace, it was for your sister that I fired" Gilbert answered. "I thought if we could get Zero, we could force the Black Knights to give up Princess Cornelia"

"How thoroughly did you think this through? Because this hinders any chance of that, if anything" Euphemia countered. Gilbert moved to respond, but Euphie held her hand in a gesture that told him to be silent. "Enough. We'll talk more about this tomorrow. Suzaku, come with me." And with that, the princess and her knight-to-be walked out of the room, leaving the rest of them to brood over their wounds and failures.

In the Viceroy's private office, Euphemia dropped her regal attitude and slumped in her chair. Suzaku rushed over to her, asking "Is everything alright, Euphie?"

"I'm fine, Suzaku. I'm just really tired of fighting all these wars" Euphie said.

"I know. Sometimes, I wish we could get Zero to fight for us, so we could end this quickly."

"Speaking of" Euphie said as she looked up at Suzaku, "how did you know that the Black Knights were there?"

"I saw them through the scope of my Lancelot's rifle."

"But why were you looking over there? One would think that you would be looking at the explosion."

"…I had a gut feeling that there was something over there."

Euphie was too tired to argue with such a weak answer. "Alright, Suzaku. I need to see you tomorrow, we need to talk about how we're going to deal with the Black Knights."

"Another operation? So soon?"

"No, no more operations. I don't think we can beat Zero on the battlefield" Euphie admitted. But her eyes didn't admit defeat; they were showed the focus that comes with the formation of a plan. "I think that we need to explore some alternative strategies."


And...that's another one down!

Questions? Comments? Insidious Remarks? Please a review below! I'll see you all at the next chapter!

- TWA