Yes! Finally! I managed to finish and upload a chapter in less than a month and it feels great^^! Thank you to all the people who reviewed (wow, there was a lot!^^). It was amazing that you all got the same reactions towards the last chapter but that is totally normal since I got the same feelings too. Well, that was a lot of pointless ramblings from my part, sorry! Let's get going, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Code Geass in any way, I'm only writing this for me and my beloved readers' amusement.

Chapter 10 – Regrets and Decisions

Britannia

After a miserable night of helping cleaning up and treating the wounded soldiers, Suzaku managed to sleep for a couple of hours out of pure exhaustion and then waking up again at 3 in the morning. Since his appetite was completely lost, the brunette tried to distract himself by attempting to watch TV. That didn't last very long. He turned the device off after flicking through all the channels for a few seconds. It was always amazing how fast the medias can get the news updated. The battle was just some hours ago and it has been on every single channel around the world in every country.

Suzaku groaned and sunk further into his seat as the memories came back to him. I must be a disappointment to everyone. He really wanted to just hide in his house forever but he knew that was impossible. In a few minutes, he will have to go to the palace to help with fixing Knightmares, treating more injuries or attending meetings. Reluctantly, the brunette put on his disguise as Zero and left.

Luckily, it was very early morning so the streets were virtually deserted. Suzaku was able to get to the palace without coming in contact with a single person. He decided to head to the laboratory first. As he stepped into the building, the automatic lights flickered up, revealing an empty room. I guess it's too early for anyone to be here. Suzaku was about to leave when the doors opened once again, revealing Cecile – who looked very surprised to see him.

"Suzaku, what are you doing here so early? You should be resting at home, I know that yesterday was definitely not one of your best days." Cecile gave the brunette a small smile and walked to the Knightmare Frames positioned at the far end of the room.

"It's alright, I can't be sleeping when there's so much happening here. Let me help you with something." Suzaku followed the scientist as he took off his mask and cape.

Cecile sighed and stopped on her track before turning around to speak to him.

"Suzaku, I know that you feel responsible for yesterday's outcome but there's no need for you to keep blaming yourself. You did the best you could. And just like you said the other day, you didn't know what you were up against. The Russian Federation took us all by surprise, anybody would have done the same thing as you did."

"No, Lelouch wouldn't have, ZERO wouldn't have. He would've been able to turn the tables around no matter what the odds were."

"You don't know that for sure, Suzaku. And you're not him, so stop comparing yourself to someone you're not. You're a great leader, you just weren't prepared, none of us were. Besides, you've done enough damage to them to keep them busy for awhile, so that battle wasn't completely fruitless."

Suzaku smiled slightly, he knew that she was trying her best to comfort him and he really was grateful for her effort.

"Thanks, Cecile. But I still have my duties as a leader to help out, so please give me some work to do in here."

"Okay, if it's what you want. You can start by helping me prepare the damages on the Lancelot."

"Sure."

"By the way, did you say another Lancelot caused these damages?"

"Yes, it looked exactly the same as my Lancelot Albion, only the color was pure black."

Cecile sighed and shook her head.

"Lloyd's not going to be happy when he hears that. Come on, let's get to work."

"OK."

Most of the day went by slowly. Suzaku stayed in the lab for the whole day, he worked on one Knightmare after another until he'd lost track of how many he had done. Just like Cecile has said, no one in the palace had said anything about Zero's failure. He had just finished fixing a Sutherland's hatch when Cecile called for him.

"Suzaku, you've been working all day long already, take a break. Here, this should help you get some energy back."

The blue-haired scientist handed him a cup of coffee and a plate of rice balls. From first-hand experience, the brunette knew that the inside was probably filled with either chocolate or jam.

"Thanks, Cecile. It's been awhile since I have had Japanese food."

Suzaku sat on top of a counter and bit on one of the rice balls. Just as he has suspected, he could taste the sweetness of strawberry jam immediately. It was too sweet for his taste but the brunette forced himself to eat the whole rice ball. He managed to finish the whole ball after a few coughs and lots of coffee.

Suzaku thanked Cecile once again and got back to work. He'd been working on another Sutherland for about half an hour when she came to him again. The only difference was that she looked quite annoyed this time around.

"I've already told you to stop working, Suzaku. You might be immortal but that doesn't mean you should be pushing yourself so hard." Cecile said in a very mother-like voice.

"I'm fine, Cecile. I can work for a lot longer than this."

"*sigh* you really are stubborn. How about this, you wanted to use the Lancelot the other day, didn't you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, since you've already done the maintenance needed on it, you can use it now if you want. I'm sure Lloyd wouldn't mind too much. Besides, whatever happened the last time you flew alone, it did wonders to you. I can't remember the last time you sounded so happy. And about time, too. I was starting to really worry about you."

Suzaku frowned a bit and started to feel guilty. I didn't know that Cecile was so worried about me. Or maybe I just didn't care enough to notice it back then. That was not wrong at all. After the Zero Requiem, he became extremely quiet and didn't talk to anyone unless he absolutely had to. Even when it have gotten to that point, there were never really any conversations, it were more like an exchange of words and that was it.

"Sorry, Cecile, I didn't mean to make you worry like that."

Cecile smiled and accepted his apology.

"It's perfectly alright, Suzaku. You've been through a lot. Now go, it's nearly evening already."

"Okay, thanks again, Cecile."

Suzaku waved goodbye to her and stepped into the Lancelot. Minutes later, the White Knight was soaring through the dimly-lighted sky.

/

Lelouch and C.C.'s Island

Suzaku landed the Lancelot in the same spot as last time and jumped out of the cockpit. Let's see, so how am I going to find Lelouch's house now. The brunette sighed and scratched the back of his head while looking around. He had had trouble getting from there to the beach before and now he had to look for the same path in the dark.

"Having fun?" A voice suddenly asked behind him, making him jumped.

"Woah! Who's there?" Suzaku raised his hands in attack stance, only to lower them down again when he realized it was Lelouch standing a few steps away. The brunette let out a sigh before continue speaking.

"Did you HAVE to do that? You scared the hell out of me!"

Lelouch smirked and walked over to the latter.

"Good, that is exactly what I wanted to do."

"Whatever, it wasn't funny. What are you doing out here anyway?"

The raven-haired boy seemed irritated when he heard the question.

"I'm just walking around while the house is being detoxicated."

"Detoxicated? Did something happen around here? Nuclear bomb? Chemical spills?...Insect repellent?"

"No! It's because of that WITCH! She ordered so many pizzas tonight that the whole house reeks of the smell of junk food!"

"That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it'? Just thinking about staying in a room full of that smell makes me sick!"

Suzaku stifled his chuckles as he looked at Lelouch – who was out of breath after all the yelling he just did.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Lelouch asked as an attempt to change the subject.

"Can't I just come to see you?"

"Why would you do that when there's a war? You should be busy with preparations and all."

Suzaku's smile fell as the memories came back to him. Lelouch noticed this and tensed up as well.

"Something happened, didn't it?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah."

The two sat down on some rocks by the shore. The place was in complete silence except for the sound of waves as the waited for the brunette's story. Suzaku took a deep breath and began retelling the recent events. He told the raven about the details of the meetings and then the battle. After he'd finished, he expected Lelouch to yell at him for being an idiot or something like that but nothing along that line came out. Lelouch was silent for a moment longer before speaking.

"Cecile was right, there's no need for you to keep blaming yourself. This Vladimir, he sounds like a very formidable foe. Along with a great leader, the Russian Federation also have the most cutting edge technology in the world at the moment. All of these factors made them a very dangerous enemy." Lelouch paused for a few seconds and then continued his observation again.

"I should have seen this coming. Suzaku, you are an excellent fighter but you're not someone who can be a leader. If you look back since the start, you've always been underneath someone's commands. Therefore, it was very difficult for you to lead an entire army by yourself and fight as a soldier at the same time."

Suzaku nodded as he listened to the raven-haired boy. Even if he didn't put it in the nicest way possible, all of it was true.

"So what do you suggest I should do now?"

"What else? You just have to keep on trying, you'll get used to being a leader eventually."

"No, that will take too long. I can't afford to lose another battle. Although, there IS another way. Lelouch, come back to Britannia with me."

Lelouch looked completely surprised by the question before becoming very aggravated.

"Suzaku, I'd already told you. I am NOT coming back, and that's the end of that. Whatever happens to the world is no longer any of my business."

"Please, Lelouch. There's no other person in this world that can defeat Russia but you. Do it for Nunnally, for all the people we care about and for the rest of the world. I can't do this alone. Please, I need you, Lelouch."

Even after all he'd said, Suzaku still doubted that Lelouch would change his mind anytime soon. The stubborn boy turned away and looked out towards the sea without saying anything. The excruciating silence continued on. It seemed like an eternity before Lelouch finally broke the stillness with a sigh as he turned back to Suzaku. He looked straight into the vibrant emerald eyes for another long moment before speaking softly.

"Okay, I'll do it."

A/N: And that's done! What you all had been waiting for has happened! The next chapter is going to be an interesting one. I can't believe that I'm at the chapter 10 milestone! And it's all thanks to you guys, I would never have been able to continue this story without your supports. So please keep on reading and of course, reviewing!