Elona 20th, 12 ArS
The morning sky was charred with puffy columns of smoke. For the second day, firefighters were extinguishing the ghetto, clearing away the rubble. Clovis was not stingy not only with bombs, but also with plasma, which could not help but cause great fires.
Viletta made her way through police cordons, waving her identification card, dodging reporters rushing to film hot footage. Finally, she broke out into a deserted space, the center of which was the Jedi. Those around them were clearly eager to avoid them.
Today they were going to visit the crash site of the capsule ship. Viletta was pleased with her idea of involving the Jedi as a party that was in no way connected to Clovis and had enough power to pressure him. Moreover, the Jedi were renowned for their moral principles, and from that they immediately fell for the word of an innocent boy. On the other hand, they were clearly hiding something. Why else would they be so interested in this case and not just helping Rivalz?
Anyway, Viletta decided to cooperate. For now, the Jedi were her best chance.
The descent took quite a while. Finally, they reached the familiar wrecked ship, ducked into the dark aperture, turning on their flashlights.
"Well, that was to be expected," Viletta hummed when she didn't find the capsule in place. "They had, of course, already disposed of the evidence."
The Jedi glanced at each other with a frown.
"We'd like a sample of the material. Though I have my suspicions, from the pictures, holograms and descriptions you provided, it is all too shaky for definite conclusions," Kenobi said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.
The three of them searched every corner of the ship. To no avail.
"What about outside the ship?" Viletta suddenly suggested.
"Why?" Kururugi asked in surprise.
"There were a lot of additional elements on the capsule. Maybe during the crash some of them ended up outside with the wreckage of the ship," she explained her thought.
The Jedi approved of the idea, and they went to inspect the crash site. Not only did they search the floor where the ship had landed, they also looked up a couple of other floors, and they spent hours in the process.
"It's no use," Kururugi sighed. "Even if any of those pieces of metal turn out to be useful, we'll hardly know it."
Deciding to take a break and let their tired legs rest, they crouched directly on the floor. For some reason, Kenobi sat in a lotus pose and closed his eyes.
"What is he doing?" Viletta asked.
"Meditating. I am not sure what he wants to do," Kururugi said, glancing intently at his master.
Viletta shrugged. She didn't understand all this nonsense about the Force. The Jedi are very secretive, so no one knows how their magic works.
After a while Kenobi opened his eyes.
"Just as I thought, it's an unusual metal. Suzaku, can you feel it?"
"No, it's nothing special..."
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't let the Force through. Try letting it go around, is there anything in its way?"
Kururugi sat down in a lotus pose, too. His lips were pressed together, sweat appeared on his forehead.
"No, nothing, master," he said frustratedly.
"That's fine, it's correctable," Kenobi hummed, evidently promising his apprentice an exhausting workout. Then he got up, walked over to the pile of scrap metal they'd collected, and began rummaging through it. The reverberated echo hit Viletta's ears. At last he pulled out a small piece, blew the dust off it. It glowed a pinkish-bronze color. Viletta and Kururugi came over to take a closer look.
"I think it's neuranium. It confirms our suspicions."
'What suspicions?' Viletta thought irritably. These Jedi are definitely playing some kind of game of their own.
"Is something wrong?" Kenobi asked, looking at her as if he could read all her thoughts on her face. Viletta had no doubt kept her face neutral, so who knows, maybe the Jedi really could read minds.
'May your beard drop off!' she thought gloatingly. Kenobi didn't react. Either he was good at keeping his composure, or he couldn't read minds.
"Nothing, it's all right," Viletta said aloud.
"Then please take us to the site of the death of the rest of the Viceroy's guard."
On the way to the site, Viletta pondered what Kenobi had done to find the piece of the capsule.
'Does the Force work like an X-ray or something?' She found the thought of radioactive Jedi very amusing. Curiosity overpowered and she decided to ask them the question.
"It's hard to explain to a non-forcesensative," Kenobi answered. "Why don't you try, Suzaku?"
"Master! You explain it better than I do!" He protested.
"Oh no, Suzaku. What will you do without the skill of explanation when you have your Padawan?" Kenobi smiled slyly again.
Kururugi frowned, gathering his thoughts.
"The Force is... Well, some people compare it to light, some people compare it to sound, or even to vibration. If you compare it to light, in the Force the living things glow instead of the sun."
"How... strange," Viletta commented.
"Well, non-living things prevent the Force from spreading, but not by much. It's like cloudy glass. But the neuranium, the teacher says, is opaque."
"What's interesting is that you don't notice it much unless you look closely. It's just... sort of lost against the background of many objects of different transparency, especially in small quantities. It's hard to find if you don't know what to look for. You might mix it up with a few layers of something else," Kenobi interjected.
Viletta nodded thoughtfully. A strange picture had formed in her mind of a world of shadows and murky glass with lanterns wandering in it.
When they arrived at the site, they weren't surprised to find no dead soldiers.
"Yeah, I guess there's nothing to see here," Viletta suggested.
"Something bad... bad things happened," Kenobi said, frowning.
"No wonder the Force is seething, so many sentientsts have died," Kururugi said, chilling as if he'd been caught in a sudden draught.
"That's not what I'm talking about. Something else happened here."
Kururugi's eyes widened with horror.
"Could this be the Dark Side?!"
"I'm not sure... It's been a long time. But the hum is really too high, there is a surge of the Force or the use of some powerful technique."
The Jedi looked at each other.
"What's going on?" Viletta burst out.
"Strong emotions are distorting the flow of the Force. And the strong, negative, destructive emotions of the force-users are what we call the Dark Side. The after effects can be felt even after a while," Kenobi explained, clearly thinking about something else.
It wasn't the answer Viletta was expecting, and it irritated her again. Nevertheless, some of the lanterns in the murky glass world turned red. So she imagined what the Jedi was talking about.
"We need to take this neuranium to forensics to try to figure out where it came from," Kenobi continued. "We'll have to fly to the Temple on Coruscant."
'No, no, are you going to fly away and leave me with nothing?!' Viletta mentally shrieked.
"How long is this going to take?" she asked aloud.
"Quite a bit…"
"Then I have a suggestion," Viletta said firmly. "I can enlist some connections in the crime lab at the CTU. They'll do the analysis, and it won't go on the books. I guarantee no one will know. More importantly, they'll do it quickly, and you won't have to fly anywhere.
Kururugi smiled happily, but Kenobi only squinted suspiciously.
"But what are your terms, Miss Nu?"
Viletta only sighed in relief. At least, such a businesslike approach was understandable to her and completely satisfactory. And who knows what's in the heads of these Jedi and what they are guided.
"In exchange for my help with the analysis and further assistance in this investigation," she emphasized the word "further" intonation, "you will share with me the information you know about this case."
"I won't believe that you were interested in Rivalz' welfare. So why would you get involved in this dangerous venture?"
'So are you really interested in something else besides helping the boy?' mentally snickered Viletta. She'd been sure she'd have to deal with strange monks who were rushing to do good. It turned out they had brains,
"You're right about that, Master Jedi. But I have no intention of betraying you. I have a vested interest in seeing the truth about Clovis's machinations come out and he be judged for his crimes," Viletta replied, without lying a word. She tried to give the impression that she was interested in justice, though she wasn't sure Kenobi would buy it.
She stepped forward and held out her hand to the Jedi.
"All right, it's a deal," he shook her hand after a brief hesitation. "Well, since we're allies in a way now, I'll lay out our theory."
Viletta froze in anticipation.
"Our theory is that Clovis contained a Force-sensitive creature in that capsule, on which he experimented. However, after the crash, it escaped and destroyed his guards sent to apprehend it. This means that Mandalore is now home to an extremely dangerous force-user. It would be risky to leave the planet anytime soon. Suzaku and I will work to capture him. And you, Miss Nu," Kenobi looked intently at Viletta, "will try to unwind the tangle from the Viceroy's side. To begin with, we must find out where he procures his neuranium, which is a very expensive and rare metal."
Viletta smiled broadly. The case was taking an interesting turn.
The cramped room used to be a storage room. But the dust was wiped off, mold was eradicated as best we could, rust was cleaned. Hastily they set up a room for Naoto. Ohgi opened the creaky iron door as carefully as possible.
"How is he?" Kallen asked, looking at his brother in despair. He was mostly unconscious, only occasionally regaining consciousness. Their baar'ur*, Rem Khao, answered sadly:
"I'm doing what I can, but I need medication, or better yet…"
"I can run to the drugstore and get you everything you need!" Kallen exclaimed.
"He needs a hospital with these burns and fractures, not pharmacy pills," Rem objected.
"Kallen, listen to me," Ohgi interrupted. "There's nothing you can do right now."
"Yes, I can. Tell me something to do, and I'll do it!"
"Then I'm telling you to go home. You don't belong here."
Naoto's group base was destroyed and most of the sentients died. The survivors managed to hide in the underground, in one of the abandoned subway stations. Needless to say, the conditions were horrible. Moreover, the large flow of refugees made the situation very tense. At any moment, one could expect an attack by hungry and desperate sentients.
"No! I will not leave you behind!" Tears came to Kallen's eyes. Even her memories of the war faded against the nightmare of the present. Ohgi put his arms around her.
"Kallen. Naoto always wanted you to stay out of this. And you have that opportunity, unlike the rest of us. Please take advantage of it."
"No, never! I am a Mandalorian, and that's it! ! And just because my mother had a crush on a goddamn Republican doesn't change that!" Kallen shouted, pushed Ohgi off, and ran away.
Ohgi caught himself thinking that he wished he could run away like that. But he couldn't, for he was responsible for his friends' lives.
The master exhausted the padawan with meditation for several hours, but in the end he relented and released him. Suzaku decided to spend the evening free for a trip around Sandari. And he already knew exactly where he was going.
Walking out of the Viceroy's residence, Suzaku strolled along the upper footpath, looking at his surroundings with curiosity. He remembered how almost the entire town resembled the current Grass. From that it was nice to see the new buildings, very similar to the Coruscant buildings, except lower.
The sidewalk stretched along the transport canyon, dipping into the megablocks, blocks of multi-level cities, widening in some places, giving space for flower beds and trees. There were no green areas on Coruscant, except for private gardens. Suzaku smiled happily at the crown of the tree above him, dancing in the wind. Then a purple glow caught his attention..
A shining purple spire towered over the city, reflecting the evening sun's rays onto the surrounding buildings. Lilac and orange reflections bounced across the walls, creating a festive mood. Endlessly refracted in the windows, mingled with their reflections and reflections of reflections, and settled into a glowing mist on the lower levels. Suzaku marveled at the fabulous spectacle.
'What a beauty,' he thought, pulled out his datapad and opened the Holonet. "Tower of Babel", Suzaku read the name of the building. At the same time, he checked the map to see if he was going in the right direction.
Deciding to look at the city from a different perspective, Suzaku dived into the turbolift. Beyond the transparent steel, several levels flashed by. It was considerably darker below, there were no trees, and the air seemed more stuffy, unlike the upper windy levels. The city was giving off the heat it had accumulated during the day, making it hotter. In the morning, and a few levels below, it would probably be cold. The glare of the sun ran beneath their feet and along the walls, reflected by the aircars whizzing by.
Suzaku then noticed people passing by looking at him unkindly. He had noticed oblique glances before, but now it was obvious that he was being shunned. It's understandable that a Jedi robe attracts attention. But why were the stares so mean?
This made Suzaku somewhat sad. Without thinking long, he turned into the nearest clothing store. He found a row of cloaks, picked one at random, and it turned out to be too small. Suzaku had no idea what size to take. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd chosen his own clothes outside of the Order. After a while he settled on a dark blue cloak with a stand-up collar. It was thinner than his Jedi's, which he'd left in the apartments so he wouldn't dry out from the heat.
Money was no problem. Jedi were allocated funds for personal expenses during missions. Suzaku decided that there was no harm in spending a little.
With his new cloak covering his Jedi robe and sword on his belt, Suzaku attracted much less attention. So he paced through Sandari, back to the upper levels, until the gates of Ashford Academy rose in front of him, beyond which he could see a park and some buildings. Here Suzaku was even confused. He couldn't think of an excuse to get inside, could he? What was he counting on, anyway?
After wrinkling at the threshold under the guard's gaze for a while, Suzaku was about to leave. But then behind the fence he saw a figure in a pink dress and a wheelchair. A wide smile appeared on his face.
Lelouch had no desire to sit in class or talk to anyone. He was still in that strange state of detachment from the ordinary world of routine. But, unfortunately, it was necessary to start dealing with domestic problems.
C.C. was only at first glance a cute creature with big eyes. This witch had managed to steal Lelouch's bed by pushing him onto the living room couch, for which he swore revenge. But he hadn't yet figured out how.
Then it became necessary to buy new school uniforms to replace the ruined ones. This, too, took some time. Then Lelouch made his way to a parts store, where he got everything he needed to fix his right C8-K0. After a couple of hours of fiddling, he was forced to admit that he was not all-knowing and not all-sufficient in this world. He hated asking for help from anyone, but there was no other way.
Lelouch entered the student council building from the back entrance, not wanting to be spotted by Milly or Shirley pestering him with questions. As expected, Nina was sitting in one of the small rooms with her laptop computer.
Nina Einstein was a quiet and private girl with two braids of dark, unruly curls and big, round glasses. It was not clear how she became a friend of the bright and energetic Milly. Nevertheless, they had known each other since childhood. Nina had been on the student council longer than Lelouch himself, Rivalz and Shirley. She was also a genius at technology. Nina was the one who helped Lelouch assemble the C8-K0.
"Hi," Lelouch smiled at her. She just nodded back. She hardly ever smiled at all. Now, through the Force, Lelouch caught a slight melancholy, tiredness, and irritation. But as soon as Nina saw Sayoko, her mood improved dramatically. Digging into droids was something she knew and loved. Especially ones like the C8-K0.
"Can you help fix it?"
Of course, that meant that Nina knew about the hidden functions of the Seeait-Keyo. However, Lelouch was sure that she would not blab about it, and therefore quite trusted her. He wouldn't even be surprised if she had the same droid, or even several, given her nervousness.
After finishing the repairs, Lelouch decided to spend time with his little sister, after which Nunnally went for a walk in the park with the repaired Sayoko. Lelouch, on the other hand, sat by the window and started to think about his future plans, when suddenly C.C. jumped up to him and grabbed his arm.
"What are you doing?!" He shouted in horror as he felt his Force rapidly curtailing, shrinking, and fading away. He jerked his arm in panic, but his three-fingered hand was tightly grasped. "Let me go!"
His eyes went black, the world shrank into a stuffy cocoon around him. Fear swept over him, for it was just as it had been eight years ago...
The Jedy master looked no older than Lelouch, but his gaze was cold and indifferent. It was frightening. He held out his hand, and it, too, was cold.
"From now on, you are banished forever…"
"Why are you yelling like that?" C.C. twitched her ears in displeasure. "Take the Force away from you I'm not going to. Listen to yourself. It's inside."
"Ah-h-h-h, so you can, in theory?!" Lelouch exclaimed. Of course she can! It was to be expected. Here were the pitfalls of a blind pact.
Lelouch let go of his panic attack when he felt the warm glow of the Force inside him. The Force didn't go anywhere; it just seemed to shrink in size, compacted, and out of sight.
They sat in silence for a while on the floor below the window. How he had ended up downstairs, he did not remember.
"What was going on, exactly?" Lelouch asked.
"Jedi. While you were gaping I smelled him. Not far he is. If he hasn't caught you yet, it's good."
"What? Jedi? Here?" Lelouch was taken aback. He had overheard on the news that a Jedi had arrived on Mandalore, but very little was being reported.
'I can't be found so quickly!'
"What did... what did you just do?"
"The buried presence, this technique is called. To that point a force-user rolls up their Force where they are no more radiant than an ordinary sentient. Your Force I just rolled up forcibly."
"I see. Hmm, I don't feel any Jedi," Lelouch said, listening to his senses.
"That's because when you're cloaked, your sensitivity is severely reduced. To stealthily sense others it takes a lot of training," C.C. replied. Lelouch decided to take advantage of Green's unexpected frankness and asked again:
"Why do you use such a strange buried presence that it's as if you're not in the Force at all? I think it would look very suspicious when meeting a Jedi face-to-face."
This time, however, C.C. was silent.
'It didn't work,' Lelouch mentally sighed.
"He's right there," C.C. whispered tensely, "outside the window."
Lelouch couldn't stand it and cautiously lifted his head above the window sill. From the second floor he could see Nunnally hovering in her wheelchair next to a curly-haired young man in a dark blue raincoat. Judging by their smiles, they were happy to talk to each other. Lelouch stared at Nunnally's companion in shock.
"This can't be!" He whispered in astonishment. He was so shocked he couldn't say anything for a few seconds. "It's Suzaku! He's not a Jedi. I know he's Force-gifted, it's no big deal."
"Yeah? A Jedi robe he's got under his cloak, look closely, and Jedi boots sticking out underneath," C.C. said skeptically.
Lelouch frowned. Can' t his friend, a Mandalorian, goddamn it, be a Jedi all of a sudden, can he?
"No, there has to be an explanation…"
"In the Force he's shining a Bright Star like. This is how trained Jedi are felt only," C.C. snickered, bringing the usual irony back into her voice. Lelouch shook his head irritably.
"Even so, he's my friend, I trust him. Let me go, I want to talk to him!"
"No."
"C.C.!"
"Then who said yesterday that the Jedi he couldn't trust? In eight years нou haven't seen him. Use your head," she said, sounding so condescending that it made Lelouch want to make a new hole in the Green's head. Nevertheless, her arguments were reasonable.
"Okay, let's say he doesn't need to know that I got the Force back. But Nunnally has already told Suzaku for sure that I'm home. What do you want me to do, go out to him with you on my arm? How about hiding under the bed or in the closet?
"Your buried presence I can't maintain 'remotely,'" C.C. said quite seriously.
"Fine, just fine! By the way, they're going into the house."
"In this state, can you hold the Force?" C.C. suddenly asked.
"What? Wait, how am I supposed to..." Suddenly, something squeezing the Force into a tight ball disappeared. The Force began to flow out on all sides. Lelouch tried to rake it all back together, but the Force felt like it was seeping through his fingers. The pressure returned, but now it was softer, weaker.
"We can risk it, I think. He's only a Padawan, not much sensory development," she murmured to herself. "Lelouch. Push on the Force from all sides."
Lelouch didn't quite understand exactly what C.С. said. Rather, he felt the way she held the Force. When the pressure disappeared a second time, he was ready and tried to repeat the feeling.
"It seems to be working," he breathed out.
"Rolling the hardest part is; a matter of concentration and stamina, the rest is," C.C. said admonishingly, and then she departed. Really right under the bed.
They knocked on the door of the room.
"Lelou-u-u-ush, you'll never guess who's back!" Nunnally called cheerfully. Lelouch got up from the floor and opened the door. Suzaku was standing on the threshold, smiling embarrassedly. Lelouch stepped forward and hugged his friend tightly.
"I am so glad to see you!" Suzaku said, unclasping his arms.
"So am I," Lelouch smiled a little nervously, as the lion's share of concentration went into keeping the Force rolled up.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yes, I just didn't expect to see you after all these years."
"Let's go into the living room!" Nunnally called.
The next half hour was Lelouch's dream for many years. Sayoko cooked a delicious dinner, Nunnally was glowing with happiness, Suzaku told him that things were going well for him in the Order and in life in general, Lelouch told several stories about how Milly threw the craziest parties. Except that Lelouch had been sitting on pins and needles for half an hour, and he couldn't get a piece of Agamar's potatoes down his throat. He was constantly making sure the Force didn't get out of control. It was exhausting.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Suzaku asked.
"Yeah. I'm going to the bathroom," Lelouch said, and within seconds he was in his room. C.C. peeked out from under the bed, chewing on another slice of pizza.
"It was harder than I thought it would be," he admitted. C.C. walked over to him and took his hand. Immediately it was easier. After a few minutes, a slightly rested Lelouch returned to the living room. For the next few hours Lelouch excused himself on various pretexts. Though he knew he was causing his sister and friend bewilderment, he couldn't keep the Force to himself for long.
Nevertheless, they had a really good time, gushing about their lives, their interests. As Suzaku was about to leave, Lelouch tugged at the edge of his shirt collar. Once upon a time, he and Suzaku had invented several such gestures to secretly send signals to each other. This one specifically meant to meet in a safe place on high ground. That is, on the roof in this case. It was time for a serious conversation.
The sun had already disappeared behind the city horizon, but its rays were still shining on the tops of the skyscrapers. It was getting colder. Lelouch was already waiting, leaning against the railing.
"You've been jumpy all evening. Are you sure you're alright?" Suzaku asked, walking over to him. Lelouch was silent for a long time, staring into the distance.
"No."
"Is there... something I can do for you?" Suzaku asked worriedly.
"Just tell me why."
"What wh..." Suzaku began, but Lelouch interrupted him, turning abruptly.
"You know what they did to Mandalore, what they did to me! Why did you become a Jedi?!" His voice rang with rage. Suzaku took a deep breath.
"You see... I thought I was doing the right thing, that I would be of more use to the world."
"No, I don't see, Suzaku! The Order is destroying other people's lives along with the corrupt Senate. How can you even support them and say it's right!" Lelouch looked at Suzaku not so much with anger anymore, but with frustration.
"Yes, I know, the system isn't perfect. But the Jedi also do a lot of good things! The Viceroy wanted to get rid of Rivalz, but we stopped him," it was a dirty move, but Suzak really wanted to show Lelouch that they were fighting for what was right.
"What?" His eyes widened in surprise. "Rivalz is alive?"
"Yeah, that's how I heard about you. I wasn't sure it was you, but I had to check."
Suzaku was no master at sensing the emotions of his interlocutor, but now he could clearly detect fear and confusion in addition to relief.
"Don't worry, no one knows that you were in Grass except me and my master. And he thinks you're dead."
Lelouch nodded lethargically, digesting the news. Suzaku briefly recounted what happened to Rivalz.
"Look, I know why you feel bad about the Jedi, I understand that. I agree that the masters acted too harshly back then. They were wrong about a lot of things. But that doesn't mean that the whole Order is wrong. And for me, it's a chance to make the world a little better."
"Of course... I believe you're a good man and you'll try to do the right thing," Lelouch sighed. He didn't seem so angry anymore. "But this system is rotten."
"Even so, I'll change it. I will become a Jedi Council member, or at least a master, and I will make sure that no one else gets hurt, that no one else repeats your fate. I really do have a chance. The Jedi are not the last people in the Republic."
"You won't make it. It doesn't make any sense. The system will break you before you can change anything and you'll be just like everyone else," Lelouch leaned back against the railing. There was bitterness in his voice now.
"I won't let that happen. And what is your alternative?" Suzaku said confidently. Lelouch was silent. "The destruction of the system, the entire Republic? No, that's even worse."
Lelouch looked strangely, firmly into Suzaku's eyes.
"I don't believe the Republic can be fixed. So the only way out is to destroy the old one and create a new sta…"
"Hey, hey, Lelouch, what are you talking about?" Suzaku took him by the shoulders as if he wanted to shake him awake. Lelouch looked away. "Don't let your hatred cloud your judgment!"
When Suzaku saw that his words had no effect, he continued:
"Better a system that somehow works than chaos and anarchy. Total war will only make life worse for everyone! That's why I want to become a Jedi, to be able to prevent what happened on Mandalore. Hell, we came here to find a peaceful solution."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lelouch muttered as he pulled away. His strength had deserted him, and he didn't feel much like arguing anymore. Suzaku was right, at least in that peacetime was better than war.
Together they saw off the last rays of the sun.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I knew you and Rivalz had been attacked by bandits, I shouldn't have pulled a fast one on you. And I didn't even ask how you were feeling!" Suzaku was really embarrassed.
"I'm fine."
"How's Nunnally? She's…" Suzaku decided to change the subject.
"She's fine, but as you can see... There's no cure for these injuries."
Suzaku didn't dare ask any more questions, but Lelouch continued:
"You know about the vision. It's a kind of psychological trauma. We can only hope that Nunnally will come to her senses at some point. And as for the legs... to cure an injured spine is not to put a prosthetic arm or leg, it's an extremely complicated and expensive operation. And... it's not even about money. Only the most advanced clinics on Coruscant do this kind of surgery. You know we can't go there. They'll know who we are."
Lelouch was silent on the other alternative. It was criminal and very risky.
"You probably won't like what I'm about to tell you... But have you ever thought about going back to Coruscant someday? The Ashfords will help you. I know it sounds wild, but maybe it's not that bad." Suzaku asked.
"You already know the answer, why do you ask?"
"I just don't think I could live like this, hiding."
Lelouch imagined for a moment what Suzaku was talking about. Hiding would still be necessary, just under a different person's mask. It was no better than his current pointless state.
"Will you show me your sword?" Lelouch asked, suggesting not to discuss the unpleasant subject any further. Suzaku smiled, taking the long two-handed hilt from his belt. Lelouch weighed it in his hands. The green blade lit up in the night air.
"At least your dream of having your own lightsaber has come true," Lelouch smiled.
"Do you still have the one we made?"
"Yes, it's been gathering dust in the safe ever since," Lelouch said casually. That partial lie came so easily from his lips.
Soon they said their goodbyes. Lelouch collapsed wearily on his bed, finally letting go of the Force. He felt as if his spine had been pulled out of him.
"What happened, hmm?" C.C. asked.
"It's just... How can I fight against my own friend?" Lelouch whispered. Something resembling despair lodged in his throat.
*Mand. medic.