A/N: As always, I own nothing.

Chapter 1: Closing Thoughts

Oh, sad are winter nights, and slow;

And sad's a song that's dumb;

And sad it is to lie and know

Another dawn will come

- Dorothy Parker

The final thoughts that Lelouch vi Britannia, the 99th emperor of Britannia, had prior to closing his eyes came as the sword was pulled out of his body and he tumbled from the throne platform to the front of the float. He saw his sister grabbing his hand and telling him that she loved him, looking at him with the eyes that had not long ago had been filled with malice, now filled with the tears that he had hoped to prevent from ever coming again. He attempted to tell his sister that she should take a different path than him, that she should create worlds instead of destroy them. His lungs failed him, and he was only able to breathe part of his message out to her. His final thoughts were those of regret, resignation, and acceptance. He regretted the path that it had taken to get here. He regretted causing the deaths of those close to him, like Shirley and Euphemia. He regretted not heading the warnings of C.C more seriously, so that he could have retained greater control over his Geass and prevented incidents such as the SAZ massacre and the F. L. E. J. I. A bombing. And most of all, he regretted straining his relationship with the three people he cared for most: Suzaku, Nunnally, and Kallen. If Lelouch had the option to do things again, he would've done things differently. He would have not driven Suzaku to the lengths that he had. He would have not given Nunnally a reason to turn against him. He would have told Kallen how he felt about her sooner. But what was done was done, Lelouch reasoned. He only hoped that the video will that he left would at least be a halfway sufficient explanation, and that his sister's reign would be a much longer and happier one than his. And with these final thoughts, he closed his eyes and prepared to embrace oblivion.

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The final thoughts that Kallen Kozuki, the former captain of the Zero Squad and Ace of the Black Knights, had before closing her eyes came as she walked into her room and into her bedroom. The past 24 hours had been some of the worst of her life. Lelouch's death was devastating for as it was; seeing the love of her life stabbed by his best friend, watching his sister bawl and beg for her brother to open his eyes, and the clarity and horror that came with the realization of what Lelouch's plan had been all along. But the showing of his video will the next day had somehow been even worse for Kallen. In it, Lelouch confirmed her revelation: his plan, the "Zero Requiem", had been to turn the world against him and establish a new order of peace with his death. Having explained himself, he then proceeded to give out his bequests to the enemies and betrayers that sat in the room. Finally, it was Kallen's turn. For her, Lelouch had left her several things. Some where obvious (the Guren) and somewhere unneeded (a large cash bequest so that her family could recover). But the most meaningful thing Lelouch left was a bulky manila envelope. Inside, was a flawless diamond ring and several papers documenting various plans for proposal. Kallen went over these plans again in the solitude of her room, not bothering to hold back the tears that she had failed to prevent during the reading. The plans were varied and sometimes overly dramatic, such as the one where he would give her a fake mission on Kamine Island that would have ended with a proposal. But in the end, it was a simple plan that Lelouch had settled on: A walk around Ashford academy, with a proposal on the bench where they had first talked to each other. Kallen smiled at that plan. For all of Lelouch's dramatic flair, he could be understated and sentimental when he wanted to be. Reshuffling the papers, she noticed a paper that she hadn't before: a letter from Lelouch that he had written two days ago. The letter read as thus:

Dear Kallen

If you're reading this, it means I'm dead and the Zero Requiem has been completed. You probably know what the goal of the plan was, if I managed to explain it properly in my will. But I wanted to take the time here to tell you why I didn't bring you into it. It was because I love you. I love you so much. I want nothing more than for you to be happy, to live the life that we dreamed our revolution would accomplish. That's why I didn't bring you into the Zero Requiem. I knew if I did, one of two things would have happened: Either you would have tried to prevent me, or you would have joined me in death. Neither of these I wanted. I told you Kallen, you have to live. You were my greatest supporter, and I am so sorry I had to turn you into my enemy. I wanted to ensure that I could spare you the fates of Shirley and Euphie, that another person I love wouldn't die because of me. I also wanted to apologize as well. I want to apologize for not telling you how I felt sooner, so that –

Kallen stopped reading the letter there. She couldn't continue, it hurt too much to do so. This letter had only solidified the perception that had been building since yesterday, since Kallen had learned a bit about him during his captivity; that Lelouch was really a kind-hearted soul who was just looking to protect the people he cared about. And that included me, she realized. And with that, Kallen started to realize how much Lelouch meant to her. To her, he had been more than a friend, a classmate, a comrade, or even a commander. In way or another, Lelouch had been her life. If Kallen could go back, she would have done things differently. She would have tried to be kinder to him than before. She would have told him how she felt sooner, before Lelouch felt a need to push her away for the sake of his plans. The heartache was now too much for her to bear today. Kallen threw herself into her bed and cried herself to sleep, praying for oblivion.

When both Lelouch and Kallen opened their eyes next, they would be somewhere different than where they were expecting to wake up.

a/n: I may have spoke too soon when I said starts here. In a way, it kind of does, but this isn't why you're reading this. Next time: Time Travel!