A/N: I'm sorry for the crap epilogue... I rewrote it, and I hope you find this one more satisfactory.
Disclaimer: Code Geass is not my property.
C2 sat up, gasping for breath. Outside of the window, the full moon was shining over the calm ocean, and inside, besides her on the bed, was a sleeping Lelouch. She was shaking from the fright her nightmare had given her, covered in a light sheen on sweat. Not wanting to disturb her husband, she climbed out from underneath the covers and walked outside to the patio. Hugging herself, she looked out onto the gently crashing waves, when she felt two arms wrap around her from behind. She jumped from surprise and could feel his warm breath tickle her ear, "What's wrong, C2?"
"It's nothing, Lelouch."
He rested his chin on her shoulder and said, "No, something is wrong. Did you have a nightmare?"
"What am I, a child?"
He simply nuzzled her neck, and she sighed.
"Yes. I had a nightmare."
"What was it about?" he coaxed gently.
"… I was in a wheat field, alone. It looked like what you would find in a picture; the sky was blue with billowing, white clouds, and there was a small breeze."
"And then?"
"And then… She was there."
"Who?" he asked her, careful not to push her too much.
"… The nun… Her eyes were glowing, with the sign of Geass… She smirked at me….. And then she turned into you, Lelouch."
"Me?" the raven-haired man frowned.
"Yes, you. You were standing in front of me, in the clothes of Zero. You took your gloved hands and lifted my face so that I was looking up at you."
"How is this a nightmare, C2?"
"And then you said, "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, order you to forget about me. You and I will be complete strangers, from this moment on.". You were smiling as you said it, and it looked like you had wanted to erase my memories of you, so that you would be rid of me."
"C2, I-"
"Just like you did to Nunnally. But this time, every single memory wiped."
"I-"
"And then you transformed into Luke… He grabbed me, and said, "I have you now, Cera. And this time, your fake husband won't be here to stop me." and he showed me your…. Your bloody…. Your bloody corpse. And the blood was soaking the wheat, so that it was crimson, instead of golden, and Luke wouldn't let me look away, and I kept thinking, 'Fake husband? Do I know this person? Why did this man call the person my fake husband?'"
He could feel her tremble, and he sighed as she confessed, "Lelouch, I was so scared…"
Turning her around, her husband put his hand on the back of her head and pressed her close to him. Soothingly, the Britannian murmured, "Don't cry. There's no need to cry. I'll always be here, and I'll never erase your memories of me. C2, I can't, even if I wanted to, which I never will. So don't cry…"
His words and voice were gentle, but at the reminder of Luke, Lelouch's expression hardened; if he were ever to come across the bastard again, there was no telling what he would do to satisfy his anger. Wiping away her tears, he asked after some time, "Are you feeling better?"
"Y-yes…" she replied while hiccupping. Lelouch led her back into their home, but not before looking back over the ocean and silencing his fury towards the one who had tried to take what was so precious from him.
. . .
The witch sat in the gently swinging hammock, looking over the ocean with a troubled expression. How was she going to? What would his reaction be? Was this even possible? How could she have…
"C2," she turned back to look at her husband. Sitting down besides her, he handed her a tall glass while saying, "Your ice tea."
She simply stared at it and Lelouch furrowed his eyebrows.
"What's wrong?" he questioned.
"… Does that have caffeine in it?"
"Caffeine? A little. Why?"
"… I can't drink that then."
"…. Why?"
She didn't reply and looked away. Frowning, the raven-haired man gently turned her head so that she was facing him again. Smoothing out the turned-down corners of his mouth, he inquired, "C2, why did you ask me if iced tea had caffeine?"
Her golden eyes peeked out from underneath her eyelashes and she questioned slowly, "Lelouch, do you remember… That day in the village? When you first proposed to me?"
Something clicked in his head and he asked, "Are you…?"
"I've done the test 4 times. And each time… It's been positive."
His eyes widened and the glass slipped from his hand, falling onto the sand. C2 winced as she saw his reaction to the news. Biting her lip, she said, "… If… If we really think that it's too early, then there's always the option of abor-"
"No."
She was surprised. What had he just said?
"No. No, we're not… This is my daughter-"
"Son."
"Child. This is my, no… Our child that we're talking about. I won't lose her-"
"Him."
"… Them. I won't lose them."
She hugged him, catching him off-guard. Pushing him down, she lay down on his chest and said, "Thank you, Lelouch."
"For what?" he wrapped his arms around her, even more carefully now that he knew that she was carrying his child.
"… For being supportive. I thought you'd be against him."
"I'm going to raise her like no other. I'll be a better parent than the Emperor and my mother."
"I'm sure you'll make an excellent father."
"Do you really think so?" he had said that he would be a better parent, but was he really prepared to prove his claim?
"Of course. You raised Nunnally, and look how well she turned out."
"Nunnally…"
"… Lelouch. I'd like to warn you though."
"What?"
"… We're not naming our child after your sister." the emerald-haired woman could feel him stiffen underneath her and his voice was slightly frigid as he questioned, "…. Why not?"
"… We're just not. I refuse."
"… We'll discuss this later."
"Lelouch-" but he changed the subject.
"To think… I'm going to be a father."
"Are you excited?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't be excited to hear they're going to be a father?"
"What do you think he'll look like, Lelouch?"
"She'll be absolutely beautiful if she takes after you." he twirled her long hair around his finger thoughtfully.
"It's going to be a long nine months…"
"I can wait. If it's for our child… I can wait."
"Hmmm, well, while you're waiting, I think you should also go make me something eat."
"What do you want?"
"Dragon fruit."
"Dragon fruit?" he raised himself on his elbow and looked at her with a frown.
"Dragon fruit and foie gras. Right now. Go, Lelouch."
"… Yes, your Majesty." if C2's appetite was going to be any more exotic than this, then it certainly was going to be a very long nine months…
. . .
Kissing her on the forehead, Lelouch murmured words of encouragement as C2 gasped and moaned in pain. She held his hand in an iron-grip, but he didn't particularly mind. If the only thing he could do for her was to let her crush his hand… Well, so be it. Smoothing her sweaty hair from her forehead, he cupped her cheek with his free hand and kissed her, only to have her bite his lip.
His cries momentarily joined her bawling until she released him, only to have her grab fistfuls of his hair. Pulling it, she wailed, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't kissed me like that that day, this never would have happened!"
Wincing from the stinging violence and accusation, he replied, "C2, you're doing incredibly well. My sweet, strong queen. You're doing so well, C2. I promise you, I'll make you plenty of pizza to satisfy even your-"
"How many times," she screeched, "Do I… Do I have to tell you… The smell of pizza makes me want to throw up?! How many times?! Why do you have to be such a horrible husband?!"
"Sir, I'm going to need you to hold your wife's leg up."
Lelouch was about to move to the foot of the bed when she grabbed his shirt and whimpered, "No, wait, don't leave me."
"I'll be right here, C2. I'm right here, I'm not going to leave you. Don't worry."
"Lelou- Ah!" she screamed, her face contorting from pain. Deserting her leg momentarily, he bent down so that their foreheads were touching. Wiping away her tears, he whispered, "C2, remember… Remember your wish. Remember mine. Now think of our wish. Our desire. To be with our child. To raise our baby into someone we're proud of, to watch over them, to guide them. Think of the thousand cranes… C2, this is our thousand cranes…"
"L-lelouch…" she mewled.
"What is it?"
"I love you."
Smiling gently, he kissed her and replied, "I love you too. Now push, C2. Push!"
. . .
Lelouch sat on the edge of the bed carefully. He gazed down at the small bundle in his arms, green hair framing the baby's sleeping face. He felt a hand on his arm and looked down at his tired wife.
"Let me see…" the raven-haired man gave her the fruit of her efforts. A wide smile and tears appeared as she held her child carefully, looking down in wonder.
"Our child… Lelouch, look. He has your eyes." the newborn opened his eyes momentarily after yawning.
"Our beautiful son… You've done admirably, C2."
She was about to reply, when there was a knock and a nurse came in, holding a clipboard. She smiled at the family and said, "If you could just fill out the form for the birth certificate, we'd like to know what you've decided to name your-"
"C2! C2, we came as soon as we could!" pushing the nurse aside, Mara, the hairdresser and new friend of the witch, swept into the room while leading the rest of the stylists. Setting down her bag on a chair, she exclaimed excitedly, "Look girls, look! C2, what have you named your first?"
The emerald-haired woman looked up at her husband, who was suddenly at a loss for words.
"Um…" what were they going to name him?
"Oh! Oh, why don't I name him? It's a him, right?"
"Yes, it is."
"Oh, you got your wish!" Mara cheered, along with the rest of the abrupt visitors, "But why don't I name him? Since I'm the godmother?"
C2 looked back at Lelouch, who finally spoke up, "I've… We've already named him, Mara."
"Have you really?" curiosity splayed itself all over her animated face while the new mother asked, "We have?"
"Yes."
"When did we-"
"Caelum."
"Ooooh, Caelum is such a pretty name." the hairstylists nodded their heads, tittering their approval.
"Caelum?"
"What do you think, C2?"
"Caelum… Why Caelum?" she studied the sleeping face of her child.
"Do you remember? My sister…"
"…. Ah, I remember now…."
"We'll use the name that she gave us. What do you think? Do you like the name?"
"Yes."
"Ooooh, Caelum! Caelum! It's such a beautiful name! With a ringing sound in it and…"
Ignoring the cheers, Lelouch bent down closer to his baby and murmured, "Welcome, Caelum, to the world your father re-created."
"Lelouch?"
"Hmm?" he looked up and brushed his wife's less-than-neat hair away from her eyes.
"Are you going to tell him? About your history."
"… We'll see, C2. We can only tell with time, which is something both you and I have plenty of."
The two smiled at each other and then at their son, who yawned again, their new thousand cranes having come true.
A/N: I really hope to God that this is better... IDK... I just kinda felt like I was run over by an 18-wheeler when I saw the reactions for the other epilogue. Sorry about that.