Lelouch IV

When they had approached the Mobile Command Center Lelouch could feel the eyes of Suzaku Kurugi judging him from afar. He had used his powers on a few select guards, ordering other guards to leave, to evacuate, and to give Lelouch access to the large blue command center. And the eyes of Suzaku continued to judge him. "Mayhaps you should stop me instead of staring?"

"This is wrong Lelouch, we can go back, any time."

"You say that, then you can go as you please, like I said before, I am doing this."

But Lelouch knew Suzaku was strong, stronger than him by far. Even when they were children Suzaku could bully the thinner Lelouch. "Noodle arms," the young Suzaku had called him. He was anxious about the idea of Suzaku stopping him. Lelouch was so close, so close for so many answers, for redemption. But he would bend if Suzaku forced him to leave. He would not challenge his friend.

"To kill a family member, Lelouch," Suzaku shook his head. "to kill a brother, a father…it is an unspeakable crime, a crime that will weigh down your soul for the rest of your life."

"I am already haunted by the past, Suzaku. And Clovis should be judged. You saw what he did, and what, for some girl?" Lelouch's mind went back to the green haired woman, lying dead on the floor of some Shinjuku tunnel.

"Lelouch," Suzaku spoke seriously. "I broke my vows to Britania to help you, because you are my friend, my best friend. So please listen to me on this," he breathed. "Once you do this you can't come back, to be in the Knightmare frame is one thing, but to do the deed yourself, and against a brother? You will not sleep for days, eventually you will. But then you shall dream, of the same action, over and over, and every waking moment of your life shall be spent replaying the sin you are about to do."

"Sin?" Lelouch spoke angrily. Nunally, my mother, you know nothing about sins! "They killed my mother, they blinded Nunally, they left us to die, they abandoned us. You say it is a sin to kill family Suzaku and that may be, but Clovis is not my family. Not anymore."

"Oh? Then Emperor Charles is not your father? I wish to congratulate you." Suzaku said sarcastically before snapping. "He is still your brother no matter what you say. Do you think the world will be a better place when you do this? Do you think Nunally will be happy that her brother was killed, by you?"

That had been a strong blow but the verbal battle emboldened Lelouch. "Nunally may not be happy, the dead of Shinjuku will not come back to life, nor will my mother, but for years I have had this gaping hole in my heart, Suzaku," the prince clenched his chest. "I will have my revenge, and Clovis will pay."

Suzaku's green eyes grew duller. "You already fought Britannia, you beat Britannia, is this not enough? You avenged Shinjuku, you helped those terrorists," Suzaku spat those words, "achieved a victory that will be talked about for decades."

"That little blood does not pay for the fires Britannia has caused."

"But killing one prince will? Stop trying to justify your actions with morals, you want revenge, plain and simple. You want to kill a brother, not out of justice, but out of anger," Suzaku said, his eyes an even duller green.

Anger? Revenge? Maybe Suzaku did have a point, maybe it was not about Britannia's injustice, or that he had been abandoned. It was about revenge, for his mother, for his sister, for himself. Lelouch stared back at Suzaku's green eyes, his face was strong, determined and Lelouch could feel his resolve slip away. But he thought about that fateful night he saw his mother's corpse laying on the staircase, he thought about Nunally, blinded by the tragedy. The anger came roaring back, the vi Britannia blood flowed in his vein in wroth.

"You're right! It is about revenge! That does not change anything Suzaku, I will carry this deed out, no matter what. But know this, you say it is not about Nunally, you say it is purely about revenge." Lelouch's anger cooled. "But this is more than that, the Britannian Empire has a price to pay, and they will begin to pay it today, in blood."

"Fine!" Suzaku said, and then Suzaku closed the gap between them. Lelouch flinched, thinking Suzaku was about to attack him, to drag him away. Instead Suzaku had wrestled away Lelouch's handgun. "Do as you want Lelouch, but I won't have you kill Clovis, not by your hand."

"Then what do you expect me to do?" the prince snapped back.

"You said it yourself, you said Britannia will pay its price, in blood, starting today. And they will. But it will not be by your hand."

Naoto I

"O, the mutts turned their tail and ran,

Tail and ran!

Tail and ran!

The Britannian clan,

turned their tail and ran!"

His men were singing as they raised their cups once more, looking at him. "Kanpai!" Naoto cried, the men and women cheered, hugging one another, dancing with one another. Tamaki was already drunk, dancing and spinning with Naomi Inoue.

Naoto himself was smiling. I have to smile, before they know how bad things really are.

The battle itself on paper was a success, without doubt. They had destroyed most of the Britanian force, it had been years since Brtiania suffered such a defeat in Japan. The Houses of Kyoto will be quite pleased. But the losses were substantial, they had lost nearly all their Knightmares, and out of fifty members there were only thirty-five of them now, and the reason they were alive was pure luck.

Firstly that mysterious Sutherland had supplied his Minutemen with Britanian positions, offering suggestions of where and how to attack. The men in the Sutherland had been instrumental to their victory, and nobody knew who they were. And that was only one part of their luck, the second had been Naoto's own bloodline.

If some other elite Knightmare pilot was driving that devilish white Knightmare frame, Naoto and all his friends would be dead. It had instantly turned the tide of battle and their pilot had quickly moved to cut off their escape route. Naoto realized there was no other choice. His sister had been fighting for the Britanians for more than four years now, she had killed who knows how many men, innocent men and women. She might not even care for me anymore, Naoto had thought as he ran towards the Knightmare frame, screaming and shouting to get her attention.

Naoto had been shell-shocked to learn that his sister was coming to Japan as sub-viceroy. He had heard of her exploits in the Middle East and Africa, but even as subviceroy she felt like a distant figure, far away, and none of his problem. But the problem had appeared, and he was in a standoff with it. Do you still have love in your heart for me, sister? Or do you hate me for never saying goodbye?

When the Knightmare turned and fled from the battle Naoto could scarcely believe his luck. After that his group had been able to scamper off through the old subway tunnels of Shinjuku. For whatever reason the Britanians had withdrawn. Did Kallen order them to retreat when she saw me? Is she trying to protect me?

A few of the members looked at Naoto warily, he was their leader but he was always half-Britanian. It's like their doubts have resurfaced. Naoto had thought the matter settled years ago. He had built up trust and camaraderie with them for nearly a decade. "Naoto Stadtfeld is dead," Ohgi had convinced them years ago. "and Naoto Kozuki is alive!" Yet the reemergence of his sister in Area 11 had casted some doubt and suspicion on Naoto.

Tamaki had stepped up to defend him. "Naoto is Japanese! More Japanese than some of you!" he had barked while laughing to some new recruits.

I have good friends, friends that are too good. And I almost got them killed. The battle was not part of Naoto's plans, he had planned to steal a gas weapon from a Britanian labaratory and quickly slip back underground. He had expected to be given chase but the fierce response of Britania was a surprise. If not for the nameless man in the Sutherland…we may all be dead, Naoto thought bitterly as he retreated into his quarters, hearing Tamaki shout "Naoto faced off with his sister, faced off with Prince Clovis, and Naoto won!".

If Naoto won why did he feel so lucky to be alive? Ohgi came in the room. "Tired?"

Naoto smiled. "Tired but I feel like I could continue the battle."

Ohgi chucked. "Dealing with Tamaki when he's drunk is almost worse than facing the Britanian army. Rest here if you need to, everyone will understand."

"There is time to rest when we are dead, Kaname Ohgi."

A third person entered the room, in a yellow Knightmare frame suit, Nagisa Chiba, one of the Four Holy Swords, she looked like she had not slept in days. Naoto stood up, "Chiba, you have returned."

"Naoto, I must congratulate you and your Minutemen, you have performed admirably. Consider your alliance with Japanese Liberation Front sealed." The Japanese Liberation Front had sent Chiba to survey and determine if Naoto's Minutement could be trusted allies, and she herself had volunteered to help them. I cannot judge you truly unless I become a member of your group, if only temporarily, the proud warrior had declared.

"And the Minutemen are honored, together with the Japanese Liberation Front we will drive Britania out of Japan." he replied.

"We shall, but I do not think this battle is cause for celebration, even if will be spoken for years to come."

"Chiba, let them celebrate, they deserve it." Ohgi said. "We all need rest." his friend said while glancing at Naoto.

"No, it's okay, you are right Chiba there is much to talk about." Naoto said, waving his hand indicating for them to sit down "Did you find the gas weapon?" he asked. Chiba frowned.

Naoto did not like that. "The Britanians retrieved it?" Naoto asked almost choking on his own words. They had worked so hard to get that weapon, they had lost so much to obtain it. The woman shook her head.

"It has been used. It was open when I found it, exactly in the place where you left it."

"No, that's impossible." Ohgi realized the same thing as Naoto. "If it had been used we would know, we may even be dead, the tunnels where the weapons was connects to this place."

Chiba shrugged. "That's not all, when I arrived there were bodies everywhere, Britanian soldiers, members of the royal guard of Prince Clovis."

"How many?"

"An entire squad, fourteen in total."

Naoto did not like this. Not at all, a creeping feeling came about in his stomach as he stroked his chin with his hand. "Somebody killed them then, and opened the gas cannister."

"There's no way it was a gas weapon." Ohgi concluded. "All the documents we had stolen pointed to it being one, but it must have been a lie, Prince Clovis must have been hiding something in that gas canister, something he desperately wanted back."

"If he wanted it so desperately he would not have withdrawn his forces." Chiba pointed out, but then she looked at Naoto. "But mayhaps it was the Knight of Twelve who ordered the withdrawal, for personal reasons."

"Do you doubt my loyalty to Japan, Chiba of the Four Holy Swords?" Naoto asked fiercely. The woman shook her head.

"No, your distaste for Britania is clear, even the Six Houses of Kyoto seem to trust you. I am just saying the possibility." she quickly explained.

"You may be right." Ohgi said. "Prince Clovis may have been eager to find this gas canister, but the subviceroy may have not realized it and ordered a withdrawal after heavy losses."

"It's a sound theory." Naoto agreed. But did Kallen order a withdraw because we had killed so many soldiers, or because she saw me? "Yet, it does not matter, what matter is the fact whatever was inside the canister is gone and I believe we have been tricked."

"Tricked?" Ohgi asked.

"Whoever was in Sutherland, yes, it must have been them."

"You truly do not know them? Chiba asked. "I understand doubting the nameless man, but their aid was instrumental to our victory."

"I wish I did know them, and while I cannot deny that their aid was vital it may have had ulterior motives. They must have known we had the gas canister, they raced to it after, or even before the battle, killed the Britanians, and took whatever was inside. I struggle to think of another explanation." Naoto said.

Ohgi's face plainly showed he was thinking as hard as he can. "Then who could have been in the Sutherland?"

"I think it's much more important to ask: why would they help us? They could have stolen whatever was inside the canister and left us to the crows." Naoto pondered.

Chiba was the one who looked in distress now. "No, the real question is: what exactly was in the canister?" An eerie silence settled in, interrupted only by the sounds of the drunken party outside the room. A mysterious helping hand from a man in a Sutherland, a gas weapon that wasn't a gas weapon, and dozens of the royal guards of Prince Clovis dead on the scene. Naoto finally spoke.

"The Japanese Liberation Front has eyes and ears everywhere."

The woman nodded. "This is a very intriguing mystery we have afoot, our spy network will find whoever is behind this, and whatever was inside the canister."

C.C I

When the green haired woman woke up she gave a small smile. She had made a contract with quite an interesting young man, Marianne's own son. When she rose she flinched from the pain. Your son will be the one to remove my curse, Marianne. But Marianne did not answer. So be it, it would be better to block Marianne for now, the green haired woman did not want to be tracked by the former Queen of Britannia. C.C would not wait for Marianne and Charles, she would not wait for their plans. She would accomplish this on her own, as fast as she could, she would reach the promised lands of eternal slumber, never to wake up, to never suffer again.

Every step taken by C.C pained her. The straightjacket she had been had been removed by Lelouch and his friend when they had checked her pulse, but her heart had not recovered by then. When they had left, her heart began to beat and the curse of life flowed through her veins once more. She was somewhat surprised to see the dead men of Prince Clovis, but she was pleased. The exile prince has a sharp edge to him, good.

But maybe she was pleased by the indirect revenge. She had been captured a number of times, yet this time had been one of the worst. The men of Prince Clovis had performed numerous experiments on her, it was some of the most pain C.C had felt in six hundred years of existence. But I found my prince, the prince that that will break my chains to life. It may have been worth it.

Every step she took hurt her, watching for glass and any other sharp objects, she took her time. The battle seemed to be ending as gunfire became more and more infrequent, she had seen a dead woman in her first block and the green haired woman noticed they were of similar size.

The dead do not require clothing, C.C convinced herself as she looted the corpse and changed clothes. It was still the afternoon, it was amazing how that quickly chaos spread, it could also quickly subside. She warily walked through the streets of the battle-torn Shinjuku which seemed eerily quiet. After the battle, vultures come out, a brilliant Emperor-General from France told her hundreds of years ago. She needed to be careful, to avoid any problems from the local populace. She was so careful that hours passed and the hour of the owl began, with a cloudy sky blocking the light of the moon C.C decided it was better to rest.

Living was so tiring.

She entered an apartment complex hoping to find it abandeonded but such hope was immediately dashed when a Japanese woman in her mid sixties waved at her. "Hello dear, I see you're not Japanese." The words were not threatening, nor suspicious. But an observation.

"I'm a reporter from the Paris Times," the green haired woman quickly began her lie. "I'm from the European Union and I was covering the battle for my news network." she said in not-so-perfect Japanese.

The older woman smiled. "Please, come into my apartment, it is not safe for a women to be out right now."

C.C was wary, she did not blindly trust old people just because they were old. She had been drugged by an old man who was 102 years old once. Frail faces do not mean frail personalities. Nevertheless she followed. It was a humble apartment with two rooms, a living room with a kitchen and bathroom, and one bedroom. On the couch sat another woman, younger, in her late forties, brown hair and blue eye.

The older woman explained who C.C was and the woman gave a small smile. "Welcome, I hope you are well." she had replied, but in French which took C.C by surprise.

"I am, thank you very much." she replied.

"Do you want something to eat?" the older woman asked.

"No, but I thank you for the hospitality," C.C replied courtly.

"Oh, Kaname, can you make me that beef stew? It always ends up so delicious."

The older woman named Kaname smiled, nodded and began to cook.

The younger woman on the couch seemed weaker than Kaname, even though she was about twenty years younger. "How did the battle turn out?" the young woman asked. C.C glanced discreetly at the Japanese flag on the wall.

"It seems the Britanians were routed, whoever was fighting them likely won the day." C.C explained. Did the prince use his powers to win the battle? I wonder what powers he has. C.C frowned, turning away from the younger woman. I hope he has not overdone it, using it too much is dangerous, plus, the Britanians may found about his power if he is too reckless.

"Oh how wonderful." the old woman exclaimed from the kitchen. "The battle was terrible, I have not experienced anything like that, constant thunders of explosions, gunshots, we hid in the complex's basement, thankfully our brave boys turned the occupiers back, I am so glad they won."

"Kaname…" the younger woman said in a scolding tone. Not in front of the stranger, is what she wanted to say. The older woman realized her mistake and kept quiet. "You are welcome to stay here, it is dangerous right now in Shinjuku, tomorrow it will be considerably safer, I am certain."

"Then I shall stay," C.C's curiosity was enflamed. "Why does a Japanese woman know French?"

The woman smiled. "I have a two great children, a daughter and a son, they were blessed with the chance to study in a very prestigious school in France, I learned the language when I visited them."

There is a lie in this sentence, somehwere, C.C noticed. Hundreds of years of human interaction allowed her to spot such half-lies. "You must be very proud of them."

"I am, but that is a mother's duty, a mother's love, no matter what they had done with their lives I love them all the same, do you not have children, dear?"

The green haired woman shook her head. The older woman came in and put two plates in the table. "Please, eat, the both of you." the older woman insisted. They are kind and trustworthy. C.C moved with the younger woman into the table.

"I don't have children, no, I have no interest in such an endeavor." C.C replied after a bite of the beef stew.

"Oh you would have the most beautiful children, I am sure your husband would be pleased to perform such a duty." the younger woman giggled, C.C smiled. The only husband I want is death. There was a knock in the apartment, the older woman Kaname opened the door and gasped: then she hugged a tall man with grey eyes, brown hair so large hair that it almost looked like an afro.

His son? C.C wondered.

"I am glad you are safe." Kaname said. The brown haired man smiled, glancing at C.C. They stepped outside of the apartment and she heard them whisper.

"...you cannot trust a foreigner…"

"...she is under my protection, I gave her food and a bed…"

Eventually Kaname came back in and the man had left. "Dears, I am going to go to sleep, these old bones are hurting." she said, whispering something into the younger woman's ear. Whatever she whispered, it may have as well been magic words. The younger woman grew a smile, her frail body seemed to grow twice as strong as her back straightened and she held her chin up.

She and C.C remained talking over the dinner table after that. "The European Union is the true rival to Britannia, I hope your people continue the war." she said.

The E.U was the strongest country on Earth, economically speaking. The last war between Europe and Britania had raged in Africa, ending in a Britanian victory thanks to their Knightmare frames. A ceasefire had been declared, Europe was on the ropes undoubtedly. The Corsican Emperor would be sad to see his country suffering such defeats.

The hours passed and the younger woman yawned. "When do you plan to leave, dear?"

"As soon as the sun rises."

"You can stay as long as you wish, you are our guest."

"I appreciate the offer, but I have a schedule to keep up with." C.C said.

"Oh I can imagine being a journalist in such troubling times, it must be a lot of work."

"Yes, yes it is, and my next job is an interview with a prince." C.C said as a cat-like grin grew in her face.