A/N: Ok, this is the complete version of chapter 25. I changed C.C.'s name and Joan's character slightly from the unedited version. This is just a short arc that I forgot I planned so it'll be over soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass

Chapter 25

The Mao affair was finally over. He was expelled and having lost his student visa, he was forced to return to China. Although he did not have to make a public apology like Lelouch wanted, the students' insatiable thirst for gossip was enough to spread the truth around. Once the student body found out that the article was completely fabricated, they reverted to talking about the upcoming election and the latest trends in fashion and music like all teenagers instead. As Lelouch expected, his father did take legal action, but since Mao was a Chinese citizen it was more difficult. Not to mention Lelouch's father was not a citizen of Japan, so expulsion and deportation was all that happened.

However, with Mao gone, Lelouch was unchallenged and nobody stepped up to challenge him either. The race was decided and everything was just a formality. The only real race was between Kallen and Suzaku, yet they don't seem be acting particularly competitive. Despite the fact that Lelouch is the only contender for the presidency, the debate or speech now was still required, which will now be more of a question and answer period along with a speech. The lower positions did not have to do such tedious work.

Milly took this chance to throw most if not all her responsibilities onto Lelouch, citing the need to train him for the position. She was already throwing most of her responsibilities onto him before this so Lelouch was not surprised. It seemed that everyone had forgotten during the chaos of the last few weeks but the annual Ashford Academy Christmas Ball was coming up, and with dam that was the Mao affair lowered, the flood waters of work hit them full force. It was already the last week of November so they had less than a month to plan the event which usually takes place on December 23rd. Lelouch was pretty confident about the speech he has to make next week so he wasn't worried about that.

Milly was now in full study mode for her college entrance exams. She made a deal with her parents; that she can stay in Japan if she can get accepted into a university with her own abilities. Her family stepped it up and said she has to be accepted into the University of Tokyo, a tall order but at least her family was willing to pay for her tuition. She may seem like your average spoiled heiress who only cares about having fun, but she's actually pretty intelligent so Lelouch was confident that she could do it. This just means that he has essentially taken on the role of president since Milly was studying most of the time. She dropped in on the meetings every now and then but she wouldn't stay long. At least with Lelouch in charge, things get done on time without rushing everything the day before.

It was during a meeting where the student council was sorting out their budget for the Christmas Ball that Milly visited again. She was smiling from ear to ear as she walked into the large room before kicking Lelouch out of the chair at the head of the table. Lelouch had taken the liberty to sit in the president's seat since he was the acting and future president. She sat down and spun the leather office chair around once before facing the others. It was never good when she smiled like that.

Lelouch suspected what she was about to do so he cut in before she could start. "Madam President, it's too late to add anything more to the event if we want to the budget to be finalized in time." Each time she visited them during their meetings; it was to add something new to the event, such as snow machines and carriage rides from the entrance to the ballroom.

"Oh don't be such a prude, Lelouch." Milly made a swatting motion as if Lelouch's comment was an annoying fly. "You're making me worried about the student council's future."

"How's your studying going, Madam President?" Shirley asked from across Lelouch.

"Perfectly, I'll pass that test with flying colors." Milly answered still smiling, before taking a look around. "Where's C.C.?"

"She said she had some things to take care of," Lelouch answered, ignoring her sudden change of subject. "She knows her job, so don't worry."

"To look good for you right?" Milly teased.

"Of course," Lelouch answered without missing a beat.

"It's not fun when you don't get flustered anymore," Milly sighed.

"So are you just sitting in today?" Lelouch asked, ignoring that comment.

"Nope, I'm here to make a suggestion."

"I already said it's too late."

"It's not going to cost any money."

Lelouch thought about it for a moment. "Shoot."

"You must bring a date with you to the ball!" Milly said gleefully.

"Rejected," Lelouch promptly responded.

"Why?" Milly whined.

"It would be unfair to those who weren't able to find a date or may want to go alone," Lelouch stated simply. "The point of the ball is to make sure everyone has fun right?"

"I agree with Lelouch," Suzaku spoke up.

"That's just unnecessary," Kallen added as well.

"You three should be the least worried about it," Milly said to them.

Lelouch sensed where this conversation was going so he said, "it's always a possibility the singles will meet someone at the ball right?"

"That's true…" Milly said thoughtfully. "Then everyone must have a partner by the end of the night!"

"I'll think about it," Lelouch said.

"Really?" Milly said surprisingly before smiling, "Then I'll leave it to you. It's about time I get back to studying." Milly sauntered off out of the room after that.

"Are you serious about that?" Rivalz asked.

"Not really, if I didn't appease her she would never let it go until she had her way." Lelouch answered. "There is no realistic method to enforce it anyways."

"I think it sounded like a good idea," Rivalz mumbled under his breath but Lelouch had heard him.

Knowing what he meant, Lelouch said "She'll probably think of some excuse to exempt herself anyways."

00000

C.C. walked into the large reception area of Haneda Airport, where crowds of people bustled about. Although they were mostly men and women in business suits rushing to meet a client or foreigners coming to Japan for an early start on their winter vacation. It was one of these foreigners that C.C. was looking for as she scanned the crowds. She was told that the plane would arrive at 6 p.m. so she rushed over after school since the train ride was rather long, but the person she was looking for was nowhere to be seen. It was 6:10 p.m. currently and as C.C. thought about it, that person was probably going through customs and getting her luggage right now.

C.C. looked up at the flight schedule and the flight was on schedule and had already landed. She was still in her school uniform as she didn't have time to change; she even had her bag with her. C.C. stood there, wondering how out of place she looked, and what that person would do when they meet. She started to adjust and straighten her uniform as she waited. She wasn't sure why she was doing it, possibly to kill time? C.C. waited for half an hour before she heard a voice behind her as she examined the sign telling people where restrooms, restaurants, and other facilities around the airport were.

"Ah Catherine, is that you?" a female voice said in English with a British accent.

C.C. turned around to face the woman that was slightly taller than her. Like her, this woman also had bright neon green hair but it was cut short and styled.

"The uniform doesn't look like the ones I see in magazines," the woman was pouting for some reason. "What a pity."

C.C. looked down at the said uniform and just shrugged.

"Why are you being so cold after so long?" the woman asked looking worried, "still mad about being sent away?"

"No," C.C. said, looking away, "nice to see you again, mom."

Her mom smiled like a child as she hugged C.C.

00000

As the Christmas Ball fast approaches, the student council was loaded with more work than usual. Though unlike with Milly's leadership, they weren't as rushed with Lelouch in command. Before the Christmas Ball however, is the election for the student council president to legitimize Lelouch's position. So Lelouch now has three things to deal with, the preparation for the Ball, the election, and his classes. Even though he and C.C. are dating, she hasn't been around much and has been acting pretty strange recently. She would head straight home after school without as much as a word. When Lelouch asked her what she's been up to, she merely shrugged Lelouch off and warned him not to be so clingy. Their relationship had just begun and Lelouch feels as if they've already hit a rut. When he talked to Suzaku about his problems with C.C., Suzaku just reassured him and told him to have faith in her. A true sign that a relationship will never work out is when the couple doesn't experiences any problems, in other words, it's too perfect. Although Suzaku did say that they seemed to have completely skipped the honeymoon phase of the relationship.

So technically Lelouch has four things to deal with but he has been trying to put his issue with C.C. in the back of his mind. He'll get to the bottom of it once the elections and the preparations for the Ball is finished. Luckily, the student council won't have to chaperone during the Ball as that is the duty of the teachers.

Since the speech was the immediate worry, Lelouch decided to focus most of his attention on the election for now. It doesn't matter as he didn't have an opponent but he still has to make an effort or no one would think he was capable of taking on the job, no matter how popular he was.

The day before the speech, Lelouch was getting ready to go to the student council to do what needed to be done at the moment for the Christmas Ball. He was just going to check in on the others and planned to leave Suzaku and Kallen in charge. C.C. was packing up her bag as quickly as possible as well.

"Rushing to get home today as well?" Lelouch asked, not looking at her. "Are you forgetting you're part of the student council?"

"You're the president of the chess club as well and I don't see you going to their meetings recently," C.C. countered.

That stopped Lelouch in his tracks but he wasn't going to give in. "Touché, but they know I've been busy and Gino is more than enough to keep them entertained."

"Well I've been pretty busy myself recently and I think you have sufficient help in the student council already," C.C. said. "Besides, I finished everything you assigned me right?"

"Busy with what, if I may so ask?" Lelouch was starting to get annoyed.

C.C. may have sensed this so she said, "Are you busy this weekend?"

Caught off guard by the sudden change of subject, Lelouch just stuttered. "We, well I, the speech and election are this Friday so I have some time to relax this weekend I guess. Why?"

"Want to go get lunch?" C.C. asked.

"Sure…" Lelouch said uncertainly.

"I'll text you the details later," C.C. said and turned to leave. As she left, she mumbled, "I guess letting you know this much won't ruin anything."

"What?" Lelouch had heard her.

"Nothing," she said and left Lelouch staring after her.

00000

On the day of the speech, all the students filed into the auditorium as instructed. It was originally supposed to be a debate but since Lelouch was the only candidate, they decided to make an exception this time.

Truthfully, Lelouch didn't want to do the speech or debate. When Milly stood up at that podium during her years in power, she usually did something crazy and silly to lighten the mood or make it fun. The teachers let it go every time since she was the Chairman's granddaughter but Lelouch wouldn't get that privilege. So unbeknownst to Lelouch, Milly planned a little something with the other student council members and others after Lelouch finished his speech.

As scheduled, the principal started the event with an explanation of the tradition of Ashford Academy's student council. It was all very repetitive since the students heard most of this already. Then Lelouch's homeroom teacher, Villeta Nu gave a speech about how great a student Lelouch was as expected of her. She didn't look like she was being completely honest though.

Finally, it was Lelouch's turn. He was aware of the student's growing apathy. He could already see a few people nodding off. Lelouch spotted Nunnally and Euphie in the crowd and they seemed like the only people who looked excited. The faculty speeches were always a drag which was why Milly did what she did to energize the students when she had to do this. He couldn't find Milly or the other student council members however, which made him suspicious. Milly was up to something. There was nothing he can do now though, so he went through with the speech. He kept it as short as possible but he can't make it too short. He went through the usual about improving the quality of school life, higher budgets for clubs, and all that jazz.

When he was done, he finished with the obligatory "thank you for your support" and straightened his note cards. Just then the side door to the auditorium was thrown open and several strangely clad figures walked in. By strangely clad, they were in cat suits. He recognized the person leading the others as Milly who was wearing an especially revealing cat suit. The others seemed to be the student council members plus Gino and Anya. Everyone watched them as they walked up on stage and stood behind Lelouch. As opposed to Milly, Kallen's costume covered everything, including her face. Lelouch only realized it was her through deduction.

"All Hail Lelouch!" Milly suddenly shouted.

"All Hail Lelouch!" Gino shouted enthusiastically following her. The others started as well though Nina was blushing the entire time and Lelouch couldn't tell if Kallen was really saying anything. Anya just seemed to be raising her fist.

C.C. seemed to be just following along but she was still smiling.

A group of students from the audience started shouting that phrase as well. Lelouch recognized it as the chess club. They weren't dressed up at least, though Lelouch suspected Milly went to them anyways. Suddenly, confetti started to rain on everyone. When did Milly have time to do all this? Soon, the entire auditorium was filled with shouts of "All Hail Lelouch!" and the person being cheered on by this strange phrase just stood in shock and embarrassment.

The teachers snapped out of their surprise and started the attempt to calm things down. Lelouch walked off stage and the student council members plus Gino and Anya followed him. They could still hear the cheers after turning a corner in the hallway. When they returned to the student council room, Lelouch turned on Milly.

"Why did you do that?" Lelouch said, annoyed.

"Why are you so angry?" Milly walked past him and sat in the chair at the head of the table. "You wouldn't have done anything to make your speech fun, knowing what a serious person you are."

"But why did you have to do that?"

"Well, we had some cat costumes lying around."

"Oh come on, everyone loved it." Suzaku said.

"Even you?" Lelouch turned towards his best friend, before turning to Gino and Anya. "Why are you two part of it?"

"Milly came to the chess club with this idea and it sounded fun," Gino said with a laugh. "Though I couldn't convince the other members to dress up, I got them to cheer you on from the crowd."

"I wanted to get Nunnally and Euphie to do it too but I didn't want to embarrass them," Milly added.

"But it was okay to embarrass me?" Lelouch asked her. He then turned to Kallen, "why you too?"

"The idea of embarrassing you sounded good," Kallen said taking off the cat head hood of the suit.

"She almost had to wear the president's costume," Rivalz teased.

Lelouch could only face-palm himself.

"Its fine isn't it?" C.C. asked, walking up to him. "Now everyone won't think of you as an all-business-no-play type of president."

"So did you get it all on camera?" Gino nudged Anya.

"Recorded…" Anya replied. "I will upload it as planned."

"No, you won't!" Lelouch yelled.

Voting took place that very day during lunch so it was an eventful day for all. The results won't be released until Monday though. Lelouch stayed in the student council room late to avoid encountering any other students as they've taken the habit of saying "All Hail Lelouch" whenever they see him.

Later that night, he received a text message from C.C. telling him to meet her at a certain café by Harajuku Station. Lelouch thought that was a little strange, they've never gone to Harajuku before as C.C. wasn't particularly into fashion.

00000

As per C.C.'s instruction, Lelouch headed to Harajuku the next day. The weather was getting colder as December rolled on so Lelouch was bundled up in a large windbreaker. The disadvantage of being skinny was that you're more susceptible to the cold than most people.

When he arrived at Harajuku Station, he looked around to look for the familiar wave of neon green hair. It didn't matter since the fashion sense of those gathered here were more eccentric than most of Japan so a lot of people wore wigs. He found the café that C.C. mentioned in her text but she wasn't outside so he went in. Like outside, there were a lot of eccentrically dressed people here as well. Milly would fit in quite well here. He looked around and saw someone waving at him. It was C.C. but she seemed different. She was far too cheerful. Did she get a haircut? She was also wearing lipstick which Lelouch never seen her wear except on special occasions. Lelouch walked toward her and thought of several possibilities.

"You must be Lelouch," Lelouch was confused now. This wasn't C.C.; her voice was different, too high pitched. Her Japanese was also heavily accented.

"Um…" Lelouch could only utter.

"Oh, C.C. hasn't told you about me?" the woman said. "Why?" she directed this at the seat in front of her.

Lelouch looked down and saw C.C. sitting there. So who was the short haired woman?

"Lelouch," C.C. started, "This is my mother…"

"Nice to meet you!" the woman C.C. claimed to be her mother said. "You can call me Joan."

Lelouch could only think about how different mother and daughter were. "Nice to meet you…" he said a bit awkwardly. "My name is Lelouch Lamperouge." C.C. didn't tell him he was meeting her mother, otherwise he would've mentally prepared himself better. In fact, this was a bit sudden wasn't it?

"Lamperouge…" Joan started muttering the name, as she stared at Lelouch intently. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Really now?" Lelouch wasn't particularly surprised. Anyone who knew about wine would have probably heard the name. He pretended not to know.

"I'm sure I'll think of it later," Joan decided and raised her hand to flag down the waiter. "Order something, my treat."

"Just coffee, thanks." Lelouch said humbly.

"So Lelouch, you've been living in Japan for quite some time right?" Joan asked after the waiter left.

"Yes, since I was ten years old." Lelouch answered calmly. When you lived as the son of a rich businessman who attends many social functions, one has to learn to change faces rapidly to deal with different people. "My father wanted to try and expand his wine business here."

"Oh, so you must be knowledgeable about wines. You're still underage though right?"

"I guess so, but picking up tidbits of knowledge about wine then and there is inevitable in my family," Lelouch laughed a little there. "As for drinking, it's only on the rare occasions."

Joan stared at Lelouch, "so do you plan on taking over for your father?"

Lelouch knew what was going on. She was testing him, to see whether he was good enough for her daughter. Understandable, she was C.C.'s mother after all. However, C.C. hasn't said a thing since introducing them. Lelouch had to phrase his words carefully, "as of now, I have no intention of taking over the family business." C.C. gave him a sharp nudge at that moment so Lelouch quickly added, "I want to do something to change the world."

"You want to be a politician?" Joan actually looked surprised.

Lelouch had to laugh. "I don't think I have what it takes to be a politician, but it's not completely out of the question."

"You're quite modest despite coming from a rich family," Joan said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "You pass!"

"Pass?" Lelouch feigned ignorance.

"You are dating my daughter after all so I just wanted to know what kind of person you are."

Lelouch decided to change the subject of the conversation, "so what do you do, Joan?"

Joan looked at Lelouch with wide eyes, "you mean C.C. hasn't told you?"

"He never asked," C.C. said for the first time since the start of the conversation.

"Hm…well, I'm a fashion designer," Joan answered.

"You were wondering why I've been going home right after school, right?" C.C. asked.

"Yup, sorry for hogging your girlfriend every day," Joan said teasingly.

"Ah no, I should be sorry." Lelouch was taken aback. He felt bad now for getting mad at C.C. So she had been showing her mother around, she could have told him. "Why didn't you tell me your mother was visiting then?" he decided ask.

"You never asked." She repeated.

Lelouch twitched. How was he supposed to know?

"C.C. told me about the Christmas Ball at school and how you're in charge of organizing it," Joan suddenly said. "So I decided to do a little something."

"A little something?" Lelouch asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it; just don't be surprised when you see C.C. on the day of the Ball." Joan added a wink at the end of her sentence.

Mom!" C.C. suddenly said like a teenager being embarrassed by her parents.

"I see," Lelouch said, after realizing what's going on.

"Oops…guess I ruined the surprise," Joan said with a small laugh.

"That's why most of your designs get stolen," C.C. sighed. "You don't know when to keep quiet."

"I didn't say anything about the dress's design this time," Joan said like a child.

"So you really are designing a dress for C.C." Lelouch commented.

"Wait, you didn't deduce it from what we said?" C.C. turned to Lelouch.

"I just wanted to make sure," Lelouch said slyly. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Jerk…"

Lelouch laughed and turned back to the mother, "you didn't come all the way to Japan just to do this did you?"

"No, I found out after I arrived when I saw a flyer she brought back home." Joan said. "So I just had to design her dress. I've dreamed of designing her high school dance dresses since she was a little girl. I was a little worry though since I had heard high schools in Japan don't hold dances when I sent her here."

"As you can tell, she loves her work." C.C. said to Lelouch. "To the point of letting those who copy her work go free."

"Well, if other people are copying your mother's work than that only means that she's really talented isn't it?" Lelouch meant this as a subtle compliment to her mother.

"Oh is that how it is?" Joan said. "Then I should let more people copy to showcase my talent…"

No…" Lelouch said, shocked at how she interpreted that statement. "That's not what I meant…"

After lunch, Lelouch accompanied the mother-daughter pair around Harajuku for a few hours. As a fashion designer, Joan seemed to have especially enjoyed the place. Lelouch was curious about the dress she was designing and making for her daughter but knew that he wouldn't get any more information out of them now that they were wise to his knowledge. He doesn't mind waiting a bit though.

The Christmas Ball was close at hand and everything was going as planned. After the Ball, it would be winter vacation so that was something to look forward to after all this work. He had forgot to ask Joan why she suddenly came to Japan but just assumed that she wanted to spend Christmas with her daughter. If so, where was her father? As he thought about this, he began wondering what his family was going to do, and whether Schneizel will be coming back.

A/N: After re-watching Stage 11, I think C.C.'s name is Catherine from lip-reading Lelouch when he said it, but that's just me. So I know I used "Cera" in the incomplete version but I changed it to "Catherine" with this new information. I like the name "Cera" though. Or maybe that's just my weird naming sense.

Someone asked if I was a guy or girl in a review. I can't reply directly to that person since it wasn't a registered name, so I'll answer here. I'm a guy, yes.