When he'd first found Lelouch stabbed to death on the floor, Suzaku had been overwhelmed with concern and compassion. Now, four hours later, he was just trying to keep his anxiety at bay.

Come on, Lelouch. Get up, already.

The wound had slowly—very slowly—closed over without a scar, but Lelouch had yet to so much as twitch, leaving Suzaku worried and impatient, Euphy in clear distress, and Cornelia...

Well, it was hard to know exactly how Cornelia was feeling about Lelouch, but at least she hadn't put another stab wound through his heart when the first had closed up. Suzaku was worried about what it would mean, though, if she insisted on holding a grudge. All she'd have to do is announce that he's still alive, and there would be millions of people ready to break in and kill him over and over again.

With that in mind, Lelouch's paranoia didn't sound so stupid anymore. Of course, Suzaku wanted to hope that Cornelia wouldn't sacrifice peace for the sake of revenge, but thinking of his own inexhaustible rage when he'd learned that Lelouch was Euphy's killer, it was hard to feel completely sure about that. It certainly would have been a welcome reassurance if Lelouch were conscious enough to recalculate everything and give Suzaku the new plan of action, instead of increasing his level of tension with this extended state of catatonia.

Sighing, Suzaku tried poking Lelouch's cheek, just to see if he'd get any reaction. Nothing.

"Lelouch, come on, you're making Euphy worry." Utter silence. "...You're making me worry."Since he'd taken Lelouch back to their bedroom with the excuse that he wanted to get him changed out of his bloody clothes, Suzaku didn't need to put up a brave front for Euphy's sake anymore, and he started rather agitatedly checking and rechecking Lelouch's pulse and breathing, just to be sure the basics were still working.

This is all my fault. Not only did he die again, but Euphy was covered in blood when I arrived, too. I'd hoped, after all that's happened, not to see his body lifeless and her hands stained a second time. If only I hadn't impulsively called Cornelia...

Suzaku tried shaking Lelouch's shoulder a bit. Still nothing.

"Lelouch, I know you're a slowpoke, but this is getting ridiculous," he said in frustration.

I don't like seeing you dead.

Although C.C. had implied that Lelouch's healing power was so weak because he hadn't had his Geass for very long before he'd accepted her Code, Suzaku was beginning to wonder if this wasn't another symptom of Lelouch's underwhelming ability in all things physical. Frowning, he tried pressing carefully around the place Lelouch had been stabbed, even though he hadn't seen anything when he changed his shirt, but Lelouch's flesh seemed solid and his ribs flexed no more than Suzaku thought that they should.

I can't keep hiding back here from Euphy for much longer. If you're healed, then why won't you wake up?

"Come on, Lelouch, I promised her you'd be up again soon," he urged, poking anxiously at his cheek again and trying to decide if his skin felt any warmer.

One eyelid twitched. Thank goodness!

"Lelouch!" He shook his shoulders a bit to encourage him when he stayed motionless in response to Suzaku's shout, and finally Lelouch opened his eyes with a gasp.

"You're awake!" Suzaku said, smiling with relief.

"Mmph. Suzaku, it's too early. Let me go back to sleep," Lelouch complained, beginning to roll over.

"Oh no, you don't," he said, reaching out to stop Lelouch from turning away. His friend grumbled again, one arm flailing out blindly across the small bedside table, as if searching for something.

"You don't wear the contacts anymore, Lelouch," Suzaku told him gently, finally understanding. "You don't have a Geass."

Violet eyes finally seemed to focus, fixing on him.

"It's six in the evening," Suzaku told him, "and Euphy has been waiting anxiously to see you for the past four and a half hours."

Lelouch looked at him quietly for just a moment before sitting up suddenly, putting a hand to his heart and hissing in pain at the abrupt motion.

Suzaku looked at him guiltily. Maybe he wasn't finished healing yet, after all.

"I'm sorry, Lelouch. I tried explaining to Euphy about your Code, but you know she's never even heard of anything like it before, and you've been lying around for hours not breathing... I think she's starting to get pretty upset, so I want to reassure her as soon as possible."

Lelouch nodded, rubbing a tired hand over his face. "Of course, we'd better not keep her waiting," he said, his expression flat, as if he hadn't quite gotten his genius brain booted up yet. Lelouch stood shakily.

The second time he stumbled on the way to the bedroom door, Suzaku tried to put an arm around his shoulders to keep him steady. Considering Lelouch's prideful nature, it said a lot about how badly off he still was, that by third time he nearly fell, he actually chose to tolerate the arm. Even with Suzaku's help, though, it was still a slow trip to the living room, which was interrupted, of course, by a break in the dining room to feed Arthur. Luckily, the cat didn't seem to think there was anything strange about a dead man walking around.

The humans were another matter. Euphy and Cornelia both looked up sharply when they stepped through the doorway. A moment later, Euphy smiled happily, calling Lelouch's name with clear relief in her voice, while Cornelia's silent gaze remained distinctly more tepid. She pressed a hand to Euphy's shoulder to keep her from rushing over.

Lelouch met his elder sister's eyes, and his entire body tensed in dread.

"Cornelia's still here?" he hissed in alarm and pressed back against Suzaku's arm. He had the feeling that if he hadn't been holding Lelouch in place just then, his friend would already have bolted back the way they'd come.

"Lelouch, calm down," Suzaku whispered. "She promised not to stab you agai—"

"Suddenly, I'm feeling very faint, Suzaku," Lelouch said in a rush, turning back toward the bedroom. "I think I need to go back and lie down—"

"The couch is right over there, Lelouch," Suzaku told him firmly. I know you don't want to deal with this right now, but Cornelia's temper will only get worse the longer you flee from it.

"Ah, yes, but..." Lelouch's eyes flickered rapidly between Cornelia and Euphy, and Suzaku realized that it wasn't just physical danger Lelouch was afraid of.

Of course. You like to pretend that you don't feel guilty for anything, but to have to face Cornelia after what you've done, knowing all too well the pain of believing you've lost a little sister...

"Come on, Lelouch," he said, using the arm he had around his friend's shoulders to turn him around and steer them both toward the couch. Whatever Cornelia has in store for you, we'll face it together. Euphy gave him an encouraging smile, and Suzaku forced himself to think optimistically, for her sake.

Cornelia can't really want to kill her little brother more than once—and at least the bloodstain on the couch should be dry by now.

It still took a surprising amount of pressure to make Lelouch sit down with him, even though Suzaku chose the half of the couch that wasn't covered in his blood. He was actually almost afraid that Lelouch would be injured if he had to exert any more of his arm strength, but eventually, the former Demon Emperor seemed to resign himself to the confrontation, crumpling down onto the couch bonelessly.

"Lelouch, I'm so glad you're alright," Euphy told him, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on his knee. "We were all so worried!" Suzaku was pretty sure Cornelia would dispute that, if she weren't so reluctant to upset her younger sister just then.

"Cornelia is really sorry that she stabbed you," Euphy continued. "It was all just a terrible misunderstanding! Isn't that right, Cornelia?" she said, turning to her sister.

Cornelia, for her part, did not look so eager to agree, and Lelouch pressed fearfully against Suzaku's side when she glared murderously at him. "I said that if what they're claiming is true, I might feel sorry for stabbing Lelouch before giving him a chance to explain. But Euphy, I'm not convinced that they're telling the truth."

"Suzaku wouldn't lie—"

"Did you ever think that he might be a little too trusting as well?" Cornelia cut in, giving him a scathing look. "Euphy told me you have no proof that Lelouch's Geass actually went wild and operated outside of his control. How can you just believe him so easily, after all he's done?"

"It wasn't easy," he told her, offended that she'd made their reconciliation out to be something so trivial. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, forgiving Lelouch. But I've committed so many sins, Cornelia, claiming all the while that I only wanted a kinder world, so what right did I have to hang onto hatred myself? The cycle of anger and revenge is exactly why the world was so violent in the first place. That's why I swore to break that chain of hatred with my own hands—to make the sort of world people like Euphy and Nunnally can be happy in."

Cornelia frowned, turning to look at her sister, who'd reached out to latch on to her arm. "Please, Cornelia, think about what we're saying. How will it help anything if you stay angry at Lelouch? I know you missed him, too, when we thought he and Nunnally were dead," Euphy added. "It will only make us all sad if you two keep fighting."

"Euphy, you don't know what he was like," Cornelia objected. "The things he did—he was called the Demon Emperor for a reason."

"Suzaku told us that reason, didn't he? To gather the world's hate." Euphy looked at Lelouch sadly. "I'm sorry, Lelouch. I thought if I just explained, Cornelia would understand, but I've tried for hours and still..." She shook her head. "Your plan succeeded a little too well, didn't it?"

"Out of all the things I've ever done, all the schemes I've schemed, I couldn't afford for that plan to fail."

"But it's such a cold hearted idea. Wouldn't it have been better, to try teaching people to let go of their hatred, rather than concentrating it? You could have negotiated—"

"No. No, I couldn't, Euphy," he told her. "Cornelia and Schneizel, anyone who had any inkling of the existence of Geass, would never have seen me as capable of negotiating in good faith, after what I did to you. I had to beg Suzaku for his help protecting Nunnally, because there was no one else who knew what was going on that would even have agreed to meet with me. And you see how it turned out for him. He can't even show his face or use his own name in public anymore, all because he helped me," Lelouch said bitterly.

Suzaku gave him a startled look. "I hope you're not blaming yourself for that. I knew the cost of Zero Requiem from the start."

"And I took advantage of your desire for peace and the fact that you had so little left to lose, because I couldn't have succeeded without your help. Since I was already such a despicable character, Euphy, Zero Requiem was the path I needed to take to clear the conditions for peace, so that I could give a kinder, gentler world to people like Nunnally."

"Lelouch, how can you say such contradictory things? The only way to make the world kinder for Nunnally was to make everyone hate her big brother?" Euphy shook her head. "Shouldn't a peaceful world be one where everyone is happy?"

"I'm already happier than I deserve to be. If Cornelia wants to hate me for the rest of eternity, I've earned it."

"I would say so," Cornelia seconded.

"Well, at least they're agreeing on something, Euphy," Suzaku pointed out, smiling to cheer her up a little, even if there wasn't much to be happy about. "Lelouch and I didn't completely make up until after I killed him once, you know, so maybe stabbing him through the heart is just what Cornelia needed to start forgiving him."

"Actually, I think it might take a few more times," Cornelia said, narrowing her eyes, and placing her hand menacingly on the hilt of her sword.

Lelouch tensed again, trying very hard to press a hole through the back of the couch. "Ah, actually, I think I'm okay with not being forgiven," he replied, words rushing together.

Thankfully, Euphy intervened before Suzaku had to attempt to physically restrain Cornelia, as that could only have earned him a greater share of her fury. The rest of the evening continued on much like that—Cornelia making threats and Lelouch verbally and physically retreating until Euphy managed to calm her big sister down again. At least by the end of it, they'd finally convinced her that Euphy was safest staying inside Zero's security perimeter, and Euphy had even managed to extract Cornelia's solemn vow of secrecy. Of course, Cornelia's parting glare, silently promising all manner of unpleasant deaths to Lelouch, still left Suzaku a bit tense.

I shouldn't blame her for her temper, though. She's certainly no worse than I was. Seeing that sort of fury from the outside, however, only made it more clear how truly ugly it was. No matter how much I liked to tell myself I was going to see Zero brought to justice for Euphy's sake, the truth is I was just selfishly indulging in the sort of thoughtless hatred that she was against all along.

I would feel ashamed, if Euphy had seen me when I was like that.

"I'm sorry, Lelouch," he told him quietly, when Euphy had finally retired to her own suite.

"For Cornelia? I wish you hadn't made that phone call, but there's no taking it back now."

Suzaku winced. "Yes, I'm sorry for that too, but what I meant was, I'm sorry for having been like her. For hating you and pretending that it was for Euphy, when it was really just my own choice to stay angry."

"I encouraged it," Lelouch admitted. "Even though I couldn't forsake my own goals, some part of me was still looking for punishment."

"And since I did the exact same thing because of my father, I should have seen it sooner."

Lelouch smiled. "All that really proves is that I'm a very accomplished liar. You're hardly the only person I've deceived. But if you're going to waste time feeling remorseful, then at least direct your apologies to the truly innocent."

"Well, I do really sympathize with Sayoko, too." Lelouch quirked an eyebrow. "The sort of bloodstains you left on the couch are going to be so hard to get out."

"That was entirely Cornelia's fault," Lelouch said, scowling. "I wasn't looking for punishment from her."

"Weren't you?" Suzaku asked seriously, knowing that Lelouch wouldn't have been so afraid of her if guilt hadn't left an open wound on his heart.

Lelouch was silent a moment before answering. "No. Because as much as I deserve it, Nunnally must never be forced to go through my death a second time. I just hope Sayoko can clean those stains out before my little sister's next visit."

Suzaku nodded. Thank goodness. Even if it's unfair, I don't want you to think the way I used to. Wanting to die is too easy a way to make living miserable.

Lelouch's answer made calming his mind before sleep much simpler, although Suzaku still couldn't help wanting to stay up a bit later, even if all he'd accomplish would be to give Euphy more time to dream. The morning, when it arrived all too quickly after his second night of abbreviated rest, thankfully turned out to be much less stressful than the evening had been, since Cornelia was busy trying to convince the rest of Britannia that her brief hospital stay had "cured" her—and that she deserved to keep her driver's license, after that highly illegal U-turn. Lelouch even managed to re-explain the state of the world to Euphy much more calmly than he had the two proceeding days.

That quiet didn't last much past breakfast, though. "C.C., I'm not lying," Lelouch was insisting into the phone yet again, and Suzaku had to work hard to keep from snorting in amusement.

"No, just—listen!" Lelouch hissed, gently pulling Euphy over. "Here," Lelouch said, abruptly thrusting the phone into her hands. "Introduce yourself to my...friend."

Euphy blinked at the sudden request, but gamely brought the cell phone up to her ear. "Hello. My name is Euphemia, but please just call me Euphy."

"Um...I don't know anything about massacres," Euphy said in confusion. "Maybe you're thinking of my older sister? Cornelia is a really talented Knightmare Frame pilot, so sometimes people call her the Goddess of Victory."

"So have you been a friend of Lelouch's for very long?"

Euphy frowned. "Really?"

She held the phone back out to Lelouch. "She says that she wants to talk to you again."

"Thank you, Euphy," he said, accepting the phone back with a smile. His tone soon grew indignant as he started speaking to C.C. again, though.

"You see? I told you—"

"It's obviously not every other word—"

"That was true...from a certain point of view."

"Well, okay, there was that time..."

"Alright, and that other time..."

"That was only misleading. It wasn't a direct lie—"

"Okay, fine."

He sighed. "Yes, enjoy your pizza, C.C."

"I'll talk to you later."

"Goodbye."

"Wow, Lelouch, so that's your former girlfriend?" Euphy asked, as soon as he hung up.

"What?!" he exclaimed, nearly dropping the phone. "Where did you get that idea?"

"She said that you two used to share a special bond—"

"This, again? Listen, Euphy, C.C. is a deceptive old witch."

"Now, that's not a very nice thing to say about her. She sounded like a sweet young lady."

"Young? She's hundreds of years old, already."

"Now you're just pulling my leg," Euphy complained with a smile.

Lelouch opened his mouth to object, but then he just sighed in defeat, much to Suzaku's amusement.

"You don't have to laugh so hard about it," Lelouch said, scowling at him.

Of course, that only made Suzaku want to laugh harder. "Hey, if you cry wolf enough times," he replied with a smile.

"Suzaku has a point, you know, Lelouch. I guess it's only natural for you to want to exaggerate a little to impress a girlfriend, but it sounds like maybe you went a bit too far with what you've told her?" Euphy suggested.

"She's not my girlfriend," Lelouch objected with a sour expression, but Zero had an early morning conference to attend, so Suzaku put his mask on and left them to settle that point on their own. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to get back to Euphy quickly, the morning human rights conference led directly into evening break out sessions, which were then followed by extended closing ceremonies.

Because Nunnally had been forced to detour to the east coast on her way back from the U.F.N. meeting, in order to quell some rising rancor over the land distribution, it fell to Zero to shepherd the human rights resolutions along. I guess I could have ordered Schneizel to help me out instead, but I wanted Nunnally to have at least a little support. Consequently, by the time he returned to the suite, it was well into the night, and only the thought of seeing Euphy again kept him from wanting to fall asleep immediately.

Suzaku blinked as he stepped into their living room to find Lelouch speaking with a woman, though not the one he had been expecting.

"C.C., you're back already? I thought you were still making your way through the toppings in the 1990's."

"They will still be there when I get back. In the mean time, I thought I would console Lelouch on his immortality."

Suzaku frowned. Lelouch has had the Code for a while now, and she's only just grown concerned? "Why now, all of a sudden?"

"Suzaku...I see. You still haven't figured it out, yet," Lelouch said, shaking his head. "Accepting a Code will nullify any Geass that was granted from it. Therefore, if you were to accept my Code, you would no longer be able to wish Euphy back from the dead."

Every muscle in his body stiffened. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Suzaku had known that Code and Geass could not mix, but he'd been so busy thinking about Euphy that it had never even occurred to him that keeping her alive would mean breaking his promise to Lelouch.

I've betrayed you again, haven't I? Without even realizing it.

"Lelouch, I—you're not going to try to commit eternal suicide again, are you?" he asked, hoping that what Lelouch had said the night before about not putting Nunnally through his death a second time still held true.

"Not during your lifetime, Suzaku," Lelouch told him with a wry smile. "Even if you should somehow outlive Nunnally, when we made our Contract, I promised you that I would stay with you until the very end. Although you can't keep your part of the bargain anymore, I'm not going to just abandon you, after granting you this Geass."

Suzaku bit his lip. "Lelouch, I'm sorry. When I realized there might be a chance to see Euphy alive again, I didn't even think—"

"I know, Suzaku."

"I...I never meant to break another promise to you. I don't want to betray you again—"

"You're not," Lelouch said, waving off his concerns with a nonchalance Suzaku knew had to be feigned.

"But Lelouch..."

"I want her to live again too, Suzaku. If it means I will have to bear this Code alone, then it's more than worth that punishment to see her wake up every morning."

"Then, you'll forgive me for being selfish like this?"

"Really, you're both being selfish, aren't you?" C.C. asked.

Lelouch smiled at her, something soft and conspiratory. "Did you expect anything less from the Demon Emperor?"

"I wish you wouldn't call yourself that," Euphy chided, coming in from the dining room with a pot of tea. "Oh, you're finally back, Suzaku! I'm glad we can all have tea together." She smiled warmly as she set the pot down on the table, and the tension seemed to drain out of the room in the face of her good humor.

A minute later, Suzaku was sinking back gratefully onto the couch, teacup in hand, beginning to remember how tired he'd felt when he walked in. He wasn't ready to sleep yet, though. Euphy and Lelouch were conversing quietly beside him, and it eased old and painful wounds to see the two of them sitting so peacefully in each other's presence. For far too long, he'd felt they occupied diametric positions within his heart, so that any loyalty to one meant betrayal of the other.

But even if their methods were different, they both really wanted the same thing all along.

Euphy laughed at something C.C. said, and Lelouch smiled indulgently at her.

Now that the world has finally arrived at the peaceful place we all wanted, you two aren't adversaries anymore, right?