Disclaimer: WE all know I don't own code geass, otherwise I'd be rich and not in debt from college loans.

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It was raining.

Lelouch sighed as he starred out his window. He wanted desperately to go sit on his balcony before he went to bed, like he had taken to doing every night.

But thanks to a storm that had moved in around dinner time, it was raining, and raining hard.

Lelouch looked at his clock which told him it was ten o'clock. But he wasn't tired. In fact, the rain seemed to be keeping him awake. It always brought back memories. Nearly none that were good. Memories of tears, of sadness, the memory of Shirley loosing her father.

He could hardly take listening to the pitter patter against his window anymore and he went downstairs, quietly sneaking through the dark house and out onto the covered patio.

Then he did something he never expected to do. He ran out into the rain and tumbled down into the wet grass, laying there, letting the rain soak him to the bone, as if he had a false hope of it somehow washing away the blood that covered him.

"And so the demon emperor wishes for the impossible." he whispered to himself, starring up at the clouds and watching the rain fall down. "I don't deserve a home like this. Shirley and Euphie deserve this family, I don't."

After a few moments he blinked in surprise when he saw Leon's face smiling down at him.

"Is it usually customary for you to lay in the rain with your regrets until you catch a cold?" he asked with a kind hearted chuckle.

Lelouch said nothing, he just continued to stare up at the sky.

But he never expected for Leon to lay in the grass opposite of him, their heads together.

"So what are we starring at exactly?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular." he shrugged.

After a moment of silence Leon finally said: "So I heard Shirley told you about the family bet."

Lelouch just nodded.

Shirley had told him that the family had been taking bets on where Leon had come from since nobody actually knew his real story. Not even Roderick who had been given up at Birth, Leon being the one that was kept.

The pot was now at over a hundred dollars with the closest guesser winning.

So far, no one had come close.

"Shirley told me the hint you gave her about your real name. I think I figured it out." he said smiling a little.

"Have you now?" came Leon's amused voice. "If that's true I'll give you twenty bucks myself."

"It starts with an 'A' and ends with an 'R,' it's eight letters long and it means 'Man's defender.' I did some research."

"You snuck onto my computer." he said accusingly.

"Sorry."

"Just don't do it again without asking. So what's your guess?"

"Is your name Alistair?"

He heard Leon's warm laughter float through the sound of the rain.

"Very good Lelouch! Yes my real name is Alistair."

"Alistair what?"

"Now that I can't tell you. You'll have to figure out more of it for yourself. But even then you'd never guess what family."

"Are you a part of the royal family?"

"No. Just a simple family. Would you like a hint?"

"Yes please."

"Alright, you see him every day, but even he's unaware that we're related."

Lelouch sat and thought for a moment. "I see him every day? It's not Mitch is it? Wait, I don't see him every day." He said thinking a little bit more. "Can I have one more hint?"

"I'm his namesake."

The realization hit Lelouch like a ton of bricks. "Are you related to Mr. Ashtor?"

"Yes. When I first ended up on the streets, I ended up in London, taken in by Mellissa Pennyapple, Travis's daughter who had taken over her mother's pub. I fibbed and told her I didn't have a name so she decided to name me after her Uncle Leon. Little did she know that she was my second cousin."

"So you're either the grandson of Mr. Ashtor or his brother Cameron."

"Now which one makes more sense it that case?"

"Mr. Ashtor."

"Yes."

"So your Mr. Ashtor's grandson, but he doesn't know it. Why?"

"He never knew about my mother. He had been with my grandmother for a while when he was in Europe. Then they decided it wouldn't work and he left, being transferred back to the Pacific fleet with Travis well before my mother was born. But even then, I don't want him to be angry with my mother for letting me go."

"Letting you go? What's that supposed to mean?" Lelouch asked.

"I ran away when I was six. Before he was made my counterpart. Miss Vivian knew which is why we were put together, but I asked her not to tell him. My parents never searched for me. I asked them not to." he admitted sadly.

"Why would you do something like that if you loved them?"

"Because I didn't want to see the fear in my parents eyes when I had an angry spell anymore. I had been kidnapped when I was two and found again when I was five. During those three years I was a guinea pig for medical research and I began to change, a lot. I started growing bigger, stronger, smarter, and along with that, angrier. I never meant it towards them. I would always cry to my mother telling her I was sorry and I didn't mean it and she always forgave me, but after I managed to punch through a brick wall when I was six, every time I had an anger spell, there was fear in her eyes, as if she was worried that I was going to turn my anger against her someday. So one night I left. I wrote a note asking them not to search for me and that I was sorry I had put them through what I had. Then I wandered until Mellissa found me on a trip to whales. When she was in the hospital after she had gotten sick, I met dad. He took pity on me and took me home with him."

After a moment of silence Lelouch finally asked, "Why did you tell me? After you've kept all of this from the rest of the family for years?"

"Because knowing you, you would've figured it out eventually anyway." Leon sighed.

"How'd you end up with the name Berkenbridge?"

"My current mother, Jamie Berkenbridge had been a friend of my dad's for years. She took me hoping that between her and a lot of animal interactions I'd mellow out. She named me Polar Bear."

Lelouch couldn't help but laugh.

"Polar Bear? Why Polar Bear?"

"There were two reason's behind it. Well four really. Two for each word. The bear is because when I get angry, I growl. And it's not the usual angry growl that most people have it's a full out animalistic growl and snarl that makes people think I've gone insane and am about to start barking and foaming at the mouth which has yet to happen. I have barked, but nothing more than that. The other reason's because my mum for some reason believes I'm as cuddly as a teddy bear, which I beg to differ."

Lelouch just laughed even harder at the teddy bear explanation.

"So the Polar comes from……?"

"Number one, I just like the cold. She used to get after me when we'd visit family up north in the winter because I'd run out in the snow wearing jeans and a tee-shirt and I'd never get cold. The other reason is because when she first took me in, I was very cautious about who I let near me, so she said I had a heart of ice. Mind you it's melted over the years."

"That's for sure." Lelouch agreed.

"Unfortunately the name stuck through flight training. A bunch of older guys would pick on me because I was younger so I'd start to growl and snarl and scare them off. One of them later came to me and said, 'you know you growl like an animal right?' I told him that's why my mum called me polar bear. He didn't believe me until my mum sent me a letter and her caught a glimpse at the first sentence which said, 'for my dear polar bear,' then he ran around telling everyone else and it stuck. So now the side of my jet says 'Leon 'Polar Bear' Berkenbridge,' and it's been that way ever since."

"Polar Bear? So what's your dad's name? Isn't he a pilot too?"

"Twinkles."

"Twinkles?"

"His full last name is Midnightstarlight thanks to Mr. Malachai. So, twinkle, twinkle little star. Twinkles."

"Twinkles. That's funny. How do you even come up with Midnightstarlight anyway?"

"Mr. Malachai's father is from the Star family of arch angels, his mother from the light family and he was born in the Midnight generation. Hence the name Midnightstarlight."

"Wow, that's kinda strange." he admitted.

Suddenly the rain stopped and Lelouch starred up at the sky to see the clouds begin to drift away, letting the moon shine down on them. He sat up feeling his clothes sag with the weight of the rain that they had soaked up. He looked down at Leon and smiled a little.

Leon looked surprisingly peaceful laying in the wet grass stretched out all six feet ten inches, one hand behind his head, the other resting on his chest.

"Now that the rain's over and your most likely going catch a cold anyway, you've decided you want to get up?" he asked with a smile making Lelouch chuckle.

"Leon, why did you agree to take me?" he asked curiously.

"I'll be honest, I don't have the slightest clue. Dad told me I didn't have to, but I agreed anyway, and I'm fairly glad I did."

"So what are you? My big brother? Or my father?" Lelouch asked, sitting cross-legged, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin resting in the palms of his hands as he looked down at him.

"I should be your big brother. Why do you ask?"

"Because sometimes, you act like you're my father, instead of my brother." Lelouch admitted.

"Is that a bad thing?" Leon asked, looking at him in curiosity.

Lelouch felt himself smile, then he shook his head. "Not at all. Actually, the other night, when you were singing to Kit, I sat there thinking that I would've given the whole world for Nunnally and I to have a father like you."

"Funny, when I was little, I just wanted someone that would know what I am and still tell me that they love me." he admitted.

"Like your mother who loves her little Polar Bear." said Lelouch with a smile making Leon laugh.

"Exactly. One of the people in this family, he was a lot like me for a while. He was rescued from WWII. A British captain about my age. His name's Braydon, and he tried to commit suicide by fighting in the war."

"Why?"

"Because after his sister Tessa was born, his parents stopped telling them that they loved him. He was only nine. He loved his sister dearly, but every time he told her she loved him, she said she hated him. For no reason. She just hated him. The last thing she had ever told him before her and her parents were killed during one of the first bombing raids on London was that she had no idea why he loved her because she hated him and that the world would be better off if he was dead. His ex-girlfriend left him saying that she wished he would do the world a favor and kill himself when he never did anything wrong but love them. He then lost his house in another bombing raid so he just kept being sent out to the front lines hoping to die. He lived through the D- day invasion and he ran at an enemy gun nest without his helmet like an idiot."

"I guess I would feel the same way if Nunnally had told me that she hated me and the world would be better off if I was dead. Now granted it is better off now that I'm dead, but if I heard it from my little sister, that would be……. Painful." Lelouch admitted.

"I finally had to beat some sense into him because he was being stupid after he got here. He couldn't understand that he had a family with us. Then Euphie and Tara hugged him and told him they loved him and everything changed. That was the first time he ever heard the words 'I love you' directed towards him in fifteen years. I think that's why Braydon and I have become pretty close to each other. We relate to each other in terms of hating ourselves and having no one love us for a long time."

"At least I had Nunnally." Lelouch admitted. "She gave me a reason to live. Suzaku, Kallen, and Shirley, and a few of my other friends too. They're the main reason I kept going."

Lelouch watched as Leon sat up in front of him.

"Now why do you keep going?" he asked. "The rest of your friends aren't here. Why do you live now?"

"Because………" he paused and thought for a moment. "Because, I feel like……. I'm home, and at peace with the world around me for once. I have a new family. You, and Kit, and the Ashtor brothers. Shirley and Euphie. I'm home." he said looking down and picking at the wet grass.

Lelouch felt him gently tip up his chin and he saw a kind, fatherly smile on Leon's face.

"Good answer Lelouch." he said softly.

Lelouch smiled at the fatherly touch as Leon gently ran a hand through his hair which made him feel like a very happy, very loved little boy which made him think, 'now I know how Kit feels.'

"Come on, let's go inside. It's getting late and we best get out of these wet clothes." said Leon standing up.

Lelouch followed suit and felt comfortable as Leon wrapped an arm around his thin shoulders in a hug before they headed inside together.

Upstairs, Lelouch had changed into dry clothes before climbing into his bed and turning off his light.

"Talk about a miracle." he whispered to himself. "I went from being a vengeful tyrant to being one lucky kid with a new home. I wonder how that happened?"

After a moment and a quick thank you to whoever gave him the second chance, he curled up under his covers and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

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Ginger: Leon's Ashtor's grandson? Hmmm....... even I didn't see that one comming untill I wrote it. Wow. Anyway, aww brotherly,... er fatherly love? Something like that. Another strange chapter done. Thanks Digidreamer for keeping me going!