Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Code: Geass or Naruto.
The party came in full swing as not ten, not fifty, not a hundred, but thousands of people lined the streets to celebrate the liberation and rebirth of their country and to honor the ones who made it possible. The Black Knights, various members and even Knightmares moved down the streets, waving and cheering back at the people who wanted to celebrate with them.
"Do I know how to party or what?!" Tamaki shouted amongst all the shouts and applause.
The Seizan, Shinyroku, and the Guren were amongst the Knightmares to move down the streets, flanking the Arashikage but none of their pilots were in there. Lelouch had asked someone to cover for him in the party so Naruto created Shadow Clones to disguises themselves as the real owners of the Knightmares while they went off do their own business.
Lelouch wanted to go to Ashford Academy.
While Naruto and C.C. were off doing who knows what, leaving Kallen in the party who waved down at the people from the Guren's open cockpit.
Kaguya along with the members of the Six Houses of Kyoto were also present, waving happily to the people who continued to cheer.
It was truly a good day for the Japanese.
"It looks like they are having a lot of fun out there." Rivalz commented, looking out the window of the Student Council room.
The rest of the Student Council looked out, watching as the people celebrated.
"So what happens to us now?" Rivalz asked.
"They won't harm us. Zero doesn't harm civilians, let alone students." Milly said calmly. "So as long as we don't cause trouble we won't give them reason to harm us."
"What about Nina and Lulu?" Shirley asked nervously, glancing at Nunnally who seemed calmer than even Milly.
Nina had been about to set off a bomb the night of the battle and Lelouch had been missing for almost two days now.
"I'm sure Lulu is all right." Milly said after a moment of silence. "If he had been caught they would just hold him. To them he is a simple student. He wouldn't be of any use to them as a hostage."
"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine." Rivalz said with a slightly strained smile.
The doors opened and the Student Council was greeted again with the sight of Zero walking into the room, escorted by two Black Knight guards.
"Milly Ashford." Zero called out, watching as Milly stood up. "I have important news I'd like you to announce to the school."
"Important news?" Milly asked.
"Yes. If you can guess from the party happening on the streets we are victorious in taking this country back from Britannia." Zero explained, gesturing to the window.
"You have won?" Milly was genuinely shocked.
"Yes. The Britannian Prime Minister, Prince Schneizel el Britannia himself agreed to a ceasefire in exchange for Japan remaining independent from the Empire." Zero nodded. "Given that a great many Britannians will find themselves as outcasts in a newly established United States of Japan I am offering the students and their family the chance to leave and return to the Homeland."
"Really?" Rivalz asked, shocked at what he was hearing.
Zero nodded again. "I will not keep political prisoners who are guilty of no crime aside from being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
A dark shadow was watching Zero as he walked across the courtyard with Milly Ashford behind him to the school where all the students and staff were being gathered.
"Zero…" The shadowed man growled.
"There must be a big party going on out there." Rai mused to himself, barely able to hear the guards talking about a party going on.
The door suddenly opened and in walked Naruto and C.C., still wearing their battle gear.
"Naruto? Tsunade?" Rai gaped upon seeing them. "Those cloaks… That armor….You both are Zero's knights!"
"Hey, Rai. Sorry to catch you by surprise like this but I wanted to talk to you." Naruto walked forward, standing in front of Rai. "Don't bother with your Geass. Both C.C. and I are immune to it."
"C.C.?" Rai glanced at the green haired immortal who watched them silently.
"Rai… What do you know about the Geass Order?" Naruto asked carefully.
"The Geass Order… I don't know what… There are more people like me?" Rai stuttered, looking shocked and confused.
And they both knew he was not lying.
"You didn't know." Naruto frowned. "Rai, where did you come from?"
"I… I don't remember." Rai looked down at the floor. "I awoke in a base and from then on I was trained… They told me I was a soldier, training to serve Britannia. I was apprenticed to the Knight of Nine before coming here."
"Just like that. No family? No friends?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.
Rai shook his head. "I don't remember them."
Naruto sighed. "What if I help you remember?"
Rai looked up at Naruto. "Why would you help me? We're supposed to be enemies."
"Does it matter if someone is a friend or enemy? Does a person really deserve to suffer not remembering who they really are?" Naruto asked calmly. "I don't believe anyone does. Let me help you and if you still want to fight for Britannia you can…"
Rai should have said no but the honesty in Naruto's eyes made it impossible for him to refuse. "All right. Help me remember."
Naruto placed his hand on Rai's head and closed his eyes. When he opened them his Geass enhanced Rinnegan was now active as he used the power of the Human Path. Rai gasped as he felt a great force penetrating every corner of his mind.
And in one second he remembered everything.
"And so I allow Zero to speak."
The students and staff watched as the infamous Zero himself stepped onto the podium once Milly moved away. Cameras were pointed at him, broadcasting to every place in Japan and everyone was on their seats, waiting to hear his message.
"Thank you, Miss Ashford. A finer class president could not have been chosen. Students and members of Ashford Academy, as I'm sure you know the former Area Eleven, now christened the United States of Japan is no longer a member of Britannia in any shape or form. Many of you have no doubt wondered what this means for you. Have you wondered if you would be left in the ghettos as many of the Japanese, the people your parents have taught you to refer as Elevens and thought of as less then vermin?
To be forced to endure harsh abuse due to your status as Britannians in a country where you do not exist as a first class citizen. Well let me be the first to say that what happens to you next, depends entirely on you."
That statement confused nearly everyone.
"It has been agreed that anyone in the new United States of Japan that if they do not wish to live here they will be welcomed to do so. A ship is being prepared to allow you and your families to leave back to the Homeland. It will meet with Britannian escorts in international waters to ensure the safety of you and your families. The choice to stay or leave is solely yours as this country does not endorse oppression in any shape or form.
If you stay you have my personal word you will be treated well and for those who wish to leave simply come to the harbor where the boat will be waiting at noon until mid-night. Let this be the first sign of peace between Britannia and the United States of Japan." Zero declared as he stepped down, leaving a shell shocked assembly.
His speech left big enough an impact.
"He's member of Britannian Royalty?! And a half blood?!" Euphie exclaimed, shocked what she was hearing.
Naruto nodded, sharing what he learned with Euphie who simply waited in her sister's office. "Yeah… I was surprised myself. Apparently that little shit V.V. offered him Geass since he and his mother were outcasts with the Imperial Family which is similar Lelouch's but instead of eye contact all he needs is for someone to hear his voice but he can be affected by it too and deaf people cannot be affect and it cannot work through microphones or speakers. Apparently he and his family where in a village when it was attacked and his Geass went out of control when he got everyone to fight back and his mother and sister were killed."
Euphie was silent as she listened with dread.
"Rai tried to commit suicide but V.V. sealed him away in a Thought Elevator before he was found by Clovis and Bartley."
"Clovis found him?" Euphie asked, now afraid what her brother might have done.
"Yeah but Rai had no memory of his past because he used his own Geass to erase his own memories." Naruto nodded.
"What will happen to him now?" Euphie asked.
"Well, I'm going to seal his Geass off but he's really hurting. He doesn't want to live in a world without his mother or his sister." Naruto said with a saddened look on his face.
"You think he will try and commit suicide again?" Euphie asked, unable to bear the thought.
"He saw his mind so I know he'll try and do something stupid. Just another reason for me to beat the shit out of that brat V.V. for everything he's done." Naruto scowled. "Actually, I think Cera is going to take of that."
The door opened and C.C. actually smirked at the look of V.V. on the floor with all of his bloody clothes. "Well, well, well, this is a sight I've been looking forward too."
"C.C." V.V. glared up at her. "I know you have something to do with that girl… What did you do?"
"I gave her the power to take her vengeance or justice, however you want to call it and considering what you and Charles did I'm sure you realize that you had it coming." C.C. remarked. "Killing Marianne… Or trying to kill her."
V.V. growled, knowing what she meant. After the Sword of Akesha had been damaged severely Charles revealed that Marianne had survived with the help of her Geass and Charles had allowed her to punish him. It was almost as bad as the beating Nunnally had given him, thus proving that she really was that woman's daughter.
"What do you want?" V.V. snarled.
"My own band of payback. You and Charles sent me to that brat Clovis to be experimented on." C.C. grinned sadistically as she showed V.V. her Rinnegan. "And I know just the way."
V.V. looked into those ringed eyes, trembling as he stared. "Tho-Those eyes…"
"Yes. These eyes." C.C. grabbed V.V. by the head and V.V.'s rolled to the back of his head as C.C. used the power of the Human Path…
And ripped V.V.'s soul out of his body.
V.V.'s body was immortal but not his soul as C.C. pumped chakra, destroying V.V.'s soul.
"The Code cannot be destroyed, only passed down. But I suppose only the body counts truly in that regard." C.C. said, staring down at the soulless body of Vincent zi Britannia. "And now this body can never grant Geass again and I will see to it that Charles never gains the Code."
A quick trip over the deepest part of the ocean after she made sure to entomb V.V.'s body in a block of cement was in order. With V.V. disposed of for good Charles lacked the Codes needed to actually initiate the Ragnarok Connection and soon enough all the Thought Elevators would be destroyed now that Japan had been liberated from Britannia. And Charles had also lost what he needed to produce Geass users thus crippling his Geass Order.
'Charles and Marianne will be literally pulling their hair out by now.' C.C. said as she walked out of the cell with a satisfied smirk on her face.
She was having a really good day now.
Suzaku could barely believe what was happening as he was escorted out of his cell along with Princess Cornelia. He looked through the windows and watched as the people continued celebrating.
Don't they know what has happened?
Don't they realize they were cheering for?
How can they support the actions of a terrorist and a murderer?
How can they approve of the bloodshed that had been shed and all for Zero, Lelouch's vendetta against his own country?
"They seem happy." Cornelia commented, somewhat calm about the entire situation.
"How can they support all the violence and bloodshed? They have to realize how wrong this is." Suzaku gritted his teeth in frustration. "How can they be so foolish?"
"I could ask the same thing of you, Suzaku."
Both watched as Naruto approached, wearing his mask to hide his face.
"Naruto." Suzaku glared at the fox mask as Naruto ordered the guards to leave and they did so without questioning him.
They knew how skilled he was.
"You were foolish enough to believe that you could actually help people by turning them into slaves and building a worldwide empire on their backs. You call this violence and bloodshed but what you planned was the same on a worldwide scale. These people didn't choose to be part of Britannia as Elevens but they chose this, something you would have not allowed because if they chose anything but what Britannia offered you'd say they were wrong. And for what?" Naruto shook his head as he took off his mask. "To lord over them and turn Japan in whatever you want while allowing the Empire to do whatever it wants to the other areas you helped establish? You would take away their pride, their dignity just for a grab at power."
"That power was what I needed to make things better. I know I can become the Knight of One and change things!" Suzaku said but Naruto only shook his head again.
"You're not the best, Suzaku. You may have been skilled enough to operate the Lancelot but you are hardly the most skilled pilot in the world. There's no guarantee that you would ever become the Knight of One and if you had died it would have all been nothing, despite you looking for an honorable death. They don't make martyrs out of Numbers. And even if you had managed to take control of Japan it would probably with the Emperor looking over her shoulder to make sure everything is the way he wants it to be. Hardly fair to the people." Naruto retorted.
"They would understand when I show them that it's a better alternative to open war! I cannot understand how they can support this! I cannot understand how you can support this! Don't you understand the only way to make things better is for people to stop fighting and work together to change the system!" Suzaku said, looking out the window and saw them celebrating. "This is wrong! This is not how it supposed to be!"
"You are such a child!" Naruto threw his arms up. "Screaming out how this isn't what you want. That only you can decide how things are supposed to be. Saying how everyone else except from you are wrong and at fault."
"It is your fault! You and Lelouch chose to betray the system for your own selfish needs!" Suzaku shouted.
"Like I said, just call me a God of War then. The people don't want to wait years of being treated like trash just to hope that things might change for the better. And they won't want to be led by a man who betrayed them to climb up in ranks. They want to live free for themselves and their families, free of tyrannical oppression of any kind.
And for the record the system betrayed Lelouch long before I showed up and I never was part of the system to begin with. So you can't betray someone who betrays you first and you can't betray something that you were never loyal to in the first place. That is not delusion. That is fact.
You know of Lelouch's history, you know how his father abandoned him and Nunnally here when all Lelouch wanted was answers for his mother's death which should have been clear from the beginning how rotten the Empire is. And then he did it again when he set Euphie up to be a pariah by nearly killing Zero. This is a clear example of how mad the Emperor truly is and how he deserved to be kicked off that throne." Naruto shook his head. "You may be right about people needing to work together but what you are doing is not working together. Working together doesn't mean fighting other people and forcing them to work with you. That is not working together, that is slavery. The kind of thing you claim to be fighting against."
"I did what to do! You think all of this will last? All you've done is prolong the inevitable!" Suzaku exclaimed.
"You are wrong on so many things, Suzaku. We've started a change that will one day end with peace finally being achieved. And it won't be done at gunpoint as you would have it. And speaking of you and Cornelia both have a choice now."
"A choice?" Cornelia asked, having been silent through the conversation.
"Prince Schneizel has offered a cease-fire in exchange for recognizing the United States of Japan as a legitimate country separate from the empire. Any Britannian who do not want to live here will be allowed to leave by a ship that will take them to international waters where they will be escorted back to the Homeland." Naruto explained, surprising the both of them.
"Impossible. Schneizel actually agreed?" Cornelia could hardly believe it.
"He did when he found out that once we fended off the counter-attack when the E.U. and the Chinese Federation started moving and rebellion started up in the other areas." Naruto answered. "You two have a choice to make. Stay or leave."
"What about my sister?" Cornelia demanded to know what was happening to her sister.
"She's fine. She decided to stay since she gave up her claim to the throne and has no interest in returning."
"You mean after you-"Suzaku was cut off as Naruto grabbed him by the collar.
"Shut up you moron! You don't have the right to speak of Euphie or accuse us of brainwashing her after you made her cry and call her a liar!" Naruto growled. "Now I really don't know what she ever saw in you. You never try to understand others and you never for once consider that you might be wrong. Euphie made her choice and she hasn't regretted it once. If you can't accept that than that's your problem but don't blame others for her making a choice that you don't want to believe she'd make on her own!"
Naruto shoved Suzaku back.
"If you want stay you sit back in your cell until we find out what to really do with you but if you want to leave we can go right now. I'll escort you out myself." Naruto looked at the both of them. "Just don't cause any trouble and we'll be fine."
"I want to speak with my sister." Cornelia said, not willing to leave without seeing her beloved little sister.
Naruto nodded. "All right. We can go see her…" He looked at Suzaku. "You're not seeing her."
"What?!" Suzaku exclaimed.
"I will not let her be put through another round of you accusing her of being brainwashed and causing her more pain simply for her choice. Cornelia can speak with her and determine if she's actually making her own choice by herself." Naruto said sternly.
"You-" Suzaku was cut off by Cornelia.
"Deal." Cornelia wasn't sure what to believe but if Suzaku made her little sister cry again she didn't want him anywhere near Euphie than Naruto did.
"All right, Suzaku can wait back in his cell. And you better make up your mind." Naruto said as he put his mask back on. "And you better be sure."
With that said Naruto called the guards back and they escorted Suzaku back to his cell while Naruto led Cornelia to her office where Euphie was waiting.
Said girl looked up with a surprised look at seeing her sister that slowly turned into a smile. "Sister…"
"Euphie." Cornelia smiled as she walked forward and hugged her sister with all of her might.
Naruto smiled as he slowly stepped out and closed the door.
Lelouch removed his Zero outfit and his mask and slipped into the clubhouse. He found his sister in the living room and smiled as he walked in.
"Nunnally?"
Nunnally spun around and smiled as she ran to him and gave him a hug. "Welcome home, Lelouch! Are you all right? Everyone else was so worried."
"I'm all right. I just had to hide away when the fighting broke out." Lelouch explained.
Nunnally pulled away, seemingly accepting his excuse. "Thank god you didn't get hurt. So what happens now?"
"Now… We just sit back and relax." Lelouch said as he sat down on the couch with Nunnally sitting next to him. "And watch a brave new world be born."
Nunnally put her head on Lelouch's shoulder. "I like that."
Just spending her time with her beloved brother was all that mattered to her for now.
"Zero…" The man watched as he slipped away and slipped into the clubhouse. "I have you now."