A/N: I do not own Code Geass or anything related to it.

A/N 2: I should probably explain why this chapter has taken so long, especially compared to how the others came out so quickly. When I first began publishing this story, the Prolouge and Chapter 1 were already finished, and I was halfway through Chapter 2. I manged to finish that chapter quickly and publish it soon afterwards. This chapter then had be started from scratch, so that took a little longer than expected. Sorry about anyone anxious for a delay, especially after that cliffhanger, but I don't intend to stop writing anytime soon.

Alright, enough of me prattling. On with the story!

Chapter 3: Sound and Vision

What happens when people open their hearts? They get better. – Haruki Murakami

Nunnally vi Britannia had last closed her eyes when she had been bawling her eyes out over the death of her brother. She, like Kallen, had understood what Lelouch's plans truly were when "Zero" jumped on the platform and stabbed him. Nunnally realized with horror that Lelouch's plans were the same as her own; only that instead of Damocles, he had used himself as the object of hate to unite the world. She had made her way to her brother's dying body and managed to see him look back at her. The look Lelouch had given Nunnally was a look of love, compassion, and apology. It was also a look of goodbye. Soon after the chaos concerning the "assassination" had settled down, Nunnally received another shock: her brother had named her his heir, and she was swiftly coronated as the 100th Empress of Britannia. In the end, everything she had wanted out of the Damocles scheme came into being: She now had a new world that was unified and ready to move forward towards peace and justice.

And she was miserable.

Nunnally didn't just want a kinder and gentler world. She had wanted to share that world with her brother. There had to have been another way, she kept thinking, as she drifted in and out of various meetings and councils. As an abrupt change in government always leaves a lot of confusion it its wake, it was some time before she was in the imperial chambers and alone in bed with a small white envelope that had been given to her at the reading of Lelouch's will. It contained her brother's final words to her, that were meant for her alone. She had specifically avoided reading it till now, because she knew that she would cry upon reading it. With tears already welling up, she opened the envelope and read the letter

Dear Nunnally

If you're reading this, it means that the "Zero Requiem" has been completed and I'm dead. I know that you had a similar plan, and that you're wondering why I thwarted it instead of just using your idea. It's because in that plan, it wouldn't have just been Damocles that was the symbol of hatred; that hatred would've extended to you as well. And that was something that I couldn't have. You are one of the sweetest people that I know, and for anyone to think ill of you is more than I could bear. I am comfortable with all the hate and anger being directed at me; it will only make it easier for you to pass the reforms that need to be passed.

Remember that no matter what, I will always be proud of you. I'm truly sorry I won't get to see what a wonderful empress you'll be.

Your loving brother

Lelouch

The tears came harder than she expected. Nunnally had never got to repair her relationship with Lelouch, and she was sure that he died thinking that she hated him. She thought that her brother had been lost in the various masks and schemes, but the truth was that he had never changed. Lelouch had still been the sweet older brother that she knew him as, and he had sacrificed his life in order to create the perfect world they both desired. Nunnally closed her eyes and curled up in a ball as the tears kept streaming. She would give anything to see her big brother again, even if only once. Even if she had to make a million of those origami cranes and go blind again afterwards, she would have done it just to see Lelouch one more time and try to make things right with him. Soon she drifted into an uneasy and dreamless state of oblivion.

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Nunnally awoke to the sound of a sharp gust and a place that she didn't recognize. She was also in her wheelchair, as if she had fallen asleep there and was taking a nap. She was sitting in front of a window, and in it she saw a most interesting reflection. Nunnally noticed that she was wearing a plain green and white dress, not the pajamas that she had gone to bed in. Now that's strange she thought, as she tried to ascertain where exactly she was. Suddenly she heard a door open and a voice she thought she would never hear again say "Hi, Nunnally, I'm home." She turned around and saw her brother walking towards her with a smile on his face.

Nunnally could feel the tears coming back, but now they were tears of happiness. This was more than she could have hoped for. She moved the wheelchair towards Lelouch as quickly as the motors would allow and hugged her brother as hard as she could. It's real, she thought, He's really here. Nunnally then felt her brother kneeling down so that he could return the hug as well. Tears were gushing from her eyes at this point, but she no longer cared. Her big brother was with her again, and that's all that mattered at this point. After a few minutes, the two finally pulled apart and looked each other in the eyes. Nunnally saw that her brother had happiness and tears like she did. But she also saw shock in his eyes, which was unexpected. "But…How…?" he stuttered out. Nunnally reembraced him and said, "I don't know how and I don't care, I'm just glad that you're here. I don't know how this happened or how long it will last, but I want to make every minute of it count." She smiled, and joked "It's not every day you get to talk with the dead, is it?"

Lelouch pulled away from her and looked her in the eyes. Now his eyes showed nothing but shock. "Dead? ...Wait, are you talking about the Zero Requiem?"

Nunnally's happiness was now starting to be replaced with a worried confusion. "Of course, what else would I be talking about?"
Lelouch found a chair and sat down, apparently now in complete shock. He then took a deep breath and took Nunnally's hand. "Nunnally, I don't know how else to say this, but…but it looks like we may have travelled back in time."

Now it was Nunnally's turn to be in shock. "Big brother, are you kidding…?" she asked hesitantly. But she knew that her brother was telling the truth, so how-

"I know it's a bit hard to believe, but it's true." Lelouch took out his phone and showed Nunnally his phone, with a date that had passed over a year ago.

"But … Why? How?" Nunnally asked, now completely lost.

"I have no idea." admitted Lelouch, "I think the only person who could answer that is whoever sent us back has some answers".

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Oddly enough, the person who had sent back Lelouch was just at a lost for an explanation as the two siblings. How is that even possible? thought the Geass Master as he paced around the viewing room in the Sword of Akasha. I only sent back Lelouch and Kallen, how the hell did Nunnally go back? Was her soul so closely linked to Lelouch that she got dragged along back? No, that's never happened before, and it certainly wouldn't have happened here. Besides, she wasn't even dead. So how –

Is the answer to your question really that difficult to figure out?

You! The Geass Master felt his eyes widen in shock, then narrow in anger as he realized what happened. Tell me, why did the gods decide to send Nunnally?

Who says that you are the only one who is allowed to meddle with the lives of others in order to have a laugh?

Never mind that! replied the Geass Master angrily. How dare you interfere with my scenario!

Really, aren't you interested to see what new developments come out of these events?

Yes, but I rather it didn't get derailed almost immediately responded the Geass Master as he left the viewing room and prepared a Thought Elevator. As he got into his makeshift transport, he thought over which Geasses he would need to use and who he would need to use it on. After all, it was going to take considerable work to make it seem entirely natural that a girl who had been blind for seven years could suddenly see again.

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Lelouch and Nunnally sat together at the table, each silently thinking over what they had revealed to each other. Well this is a unique situation thought Lelouch. For once, he couldn't think of the appropriate way to approach the situation. And he knew Nunnally was in a similar situation, as she was stuck in a similar silence. After a few more minutes of this, Lelouch decided to break the silence. I wanted to properly apologize to Nunnally he reasoned, now's a good a time as any. "Nunnally" he said with a great hesitation "I want to explain myself"

"About the Zero Requiem? Because you already did that in – "

"Not just about that. I want to explain myself about everything." Lelouch took a breath, then continued. "I did everything because of a promise. A promise that I made to myself. I promised myself that by the time you opened your eyes, you would find yourself in a world that where you wouldn't see anything sad, where you could smile forever. And to that end, I went and did everything I could to make that world a reality. With that goal in mind, I found I could do anything that needed to be done. Except go against you. You were the only person I couldn't actually bring myself to fight. That's why I exiled myself to China when you announced the SAZ, so that I wouldn't have to fight you. And making you give me the Damocles key was the hardest thing I ever did. Because you are the one person who means the most to me. After I thought I lost you in the F.L.E.J.I.A blast, I…I completely collapsed. I allowed the Black Knights to betray me and … I set myself up for death more than once." At this point, he could feel the tears going back through his eyes, but he kept going. "But even through trying to make that perfect world, I pushed away and hurt everyone important to me, especially you. I made you hate me. And for that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." His tears got the better of him for a minute and Lelouch had to take a minute to breathe. "But I promise you Nunnally, I won't let this opportunity go to waste. I'm going to learn from my mistakes, and I'm going to create that perfect world again."

"No" Lelouch heard his sister say, as he felt her hand take ahold of his. He looked up and saw Nunnally looking at him with a mixture of tears and determination in her eyes. "We will create that perfect world. Together."

Lelouch's initial thoughts were that rejection. He wanted to tell Nunnally no, so she would be protected and hidden away from the fighting and intrigue. But he was able to avoid the knee-jerk reaction of telling her no. His sister was no longer the innocent blind girl that she had been before, but a force to be reckoned with. Lelouch knew she was just as cunning strategist as he was, and that she could be the angel on his shoulder to prevent him from making the same senseless mistakes he had before. He had entrusted with the entire Britannian Empire, why shouldn't he trust her with a revolution? With his heart and mind reconciled, he clasped Nunnally's hand in agreement.

"Together" he affirmed.

Lelouch then took a look at the clock and realized how late it was. "Crap" he said, getting up from his chair, "we better get to bed, we got school in the morning."

"Damn, you're right" Nunnally replied. "Given everything we've been through, how do you think we are going to get on with classes tomorrow?"

"Forget classes, how we going to explain to everyone that you're suddenly seeing again? Ugh, tomorrow is going to be a rough day."

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Ugh, today's been a rough day Kallen thought as she sat down for lunch. It had always been tough to go back to being "sickly" when this had been her usual routine. But Kallen had not needed to pretend ever since the end of the first Black Rebellion, making it nearly impossible to pull it off. To make the situation more troublesome, she wasn't a member of the student council at this point, so she had to talk to the silly girls that she used to hang out with. Uh, listening to all this inane gossip for a second time is worse than I could ever imagine. I almost wish Lelouch had gone through with the executions to spare me this Kallen thought as one of the girls (her name's Lily…I think, she thought, hoping to avoid the awkwardness that would arise if it was revealed that arise it was revealed that she had completely forgotten her name) caught her up on all the various dating scene changes that occurred while she was away. Suddenly a bee appeared, scaring the other girls away. Kallen smacked the bee, grateful for a few seconds of privacy. She was patiently waiting for Lelouch, as it was the only reason that she was in school today. Soon she thought, Lelouch is going to come up to her and use his Geass to learn about the terrorist cell she was a part of. Then he would try to use his Geass a second –

Her phone went off unexpectedly as she was reminiscing. Annoyed, she pulled out her phone and answered. "This is Kallen, who is this?"

"Hello Q-1" said the voice on the phone. "Nice to see you made it out of Shinjuku okay."

"It's … it's … you!" Kallen stuttered into the phone "H-How did…."

"How did I get this number?" the man who would be known as Zero replied. "Well" it said with a chuckle, "Let's say I have a tendency for accomplishing things that many consider to be…impossible."

"Based off Shinjuku, that sounds about right" Kallen replied, who had managed to hide her shock. She didn't bother to mention that Zero hadn't answered the question she was going to actually ask: How did know to call her?

"I want for you go to Tokyo Tower the day after tomorrow. I'll relay further instructions from there." With that, there was a click and a dial tone, meaning that the opposite line had hung up.

"Will do, Zero" Kallen said to the silent phone. Suddenly, she saw Milly coming over, calling to her.

"Hey Kallen! I was looking for you" Milly Ashford said as she was walked to Kallen. "Do you think that you could come with me to the clubhouse?"

"Sure" said Kallen hesitantly. As the two girls walked to the clubhouse, Kallen's mind was still reeling from the call. That's strange, Lelouch would use that call to deflect any suspicion that he was Zero. Wait, that call was going to come in tomorrow when I was in the shower after…the student council welcome party! Does that mean –

"Welcome to the Student Council!"

With that, she was greeted with a smattering of clapping and a round of introductions for people she already knew. As she shook the various hands and pretended to be meeting these old friends for the first time, Kallen was still wrapping her head around the turn of events that just occurred. This is all so strange; this was all supposed to happen tomorrow. This is … oh what was that one thing where a step out of line changes the entire future… the Butterfly Effect! That's what this is! I've already changed a number of things, so it makes sense that other things have changed as well. Still, nothing is too much out of the ordinary. I should be able to save Lelouch and –

"Oh, and this is Nunnally, Lelouch's little sister." Kallen turned to where Milly was gesturing and was shocked to see two violet eyes looking back at her. Milly, misinterpreting her surprise, said in a whisper "She has had that wheelchair for some time. Poor thing was injured very young due to a car accident."

"Oh, it's not that" Kallen said, before catching her mistake. "I-I'm just surprised that someone so young is on the student council."

"Well" Nunnally said bashfully, "I'm not really a member of the student council as I'm only in my second year."

"Right" said an embarrassed Kallen. The butterfly effect must be more potent than I thought. I really need to be careful how I proceed. Suddenly, a cork came flying at. She was able to smack away the cork, but was still hit with a stream of champagne. I guess somethings are still the same she mused with a sigh as someone handed her a towel.

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"I guess somethings are still the same." Lelouch said as he sat down at the table with Nunnally. "I forgotten how tedious some of our teachers are. "With what everyone pays in tuition, you think that Principal Ashford would some quality instructors."

"I'm glad you find the teachers as boring as ever" Nunnally said, a bit miffed. "It was a strenuous day for me. Not only did I start having to associate faces with the voices of people I haven't seen in over a year, I also had to field endless questions about the operation that restored my eyesight."

"Hey, at least the cover story was received well enough." The previous night, Lelouch and Nunnally had agreed to explain Nunnally's regained eyesight as a surgical operation that was covered by Lelouch's gambling. Oddly enough, they found that not only was that story accepted, but everyone seemed to have known about this for quite some time.

"Do you think that this could be an effect of … oh what was the name of that time travel theory… the Butterfly Effect?" asked Nunnally in a worried tone.

"I think that's probably the case, unless someone managed to Geass half the school" said Lelouch, completely unaware that that was what had actually happened. "Regardless, I don't think we need to be worried about it just yet. So far, nothing has changed too drastically, and everything is still proceeding as planned. I expect Suzaku will be arrested tomorrow, if not to tonight. Then, I will debut as Zero and rescue him. Soon afterwards, Cornelia will be announced as Viceroy of Area 11."

"And where happens then, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked, simultaneously reassured and scared by Lelouch's calmness and confidence.

"Then" Lelouch said with a glint in his eye "We rewrite the future."

a/n: A quick note on some of the powers used around here. First, according to the Code Geass Wiki, Nunnally can detect if people are lying if she is holding their hand. I used that power here to some extent, and I may make use of it in the future. As for the Geass Master, he will get a full explanation in a later chapter. Not anytime soon, but he will get one.

a/n 2: I know I promised in the last set of Author Notes that I would introduce Zero in this chapter. Yet he is not here. This is because I'm adopting a new strategy of writing, thanks to the advice of a reviewer gave after the last chapter. First, he/she advised skipping anything that I would be keeping canon, in order to prevent the story from reading like a summary. As I am keeping everything up to Saitama canon (more or less), this seemed like a prudent idea for this chapter. Second, and more important, they advised that I limit my chapters to 2000-3000 if I was pressed for time to write. Since my actual schedule just became a lot more hectic, that seemed like a good idea, so that's why I decided to end the chapter here. I'll definitely be getting to Zero in the next chapter, so don't worry.

a/n 3: Sorry I don't have as good a cliffhanger this time. Hopefully, one will present itself in the near future.

Comments? Questions? Insidious Remarks? Leave a Review below! Till next time! - TWA