Turn 10.2

I wake up the next day feeling burned out and tense. CC, being as in sync with me as she is, just holds me and strokes my hair. A quick look at my alarm clock shows the time as 6:30am.

"Do you care if I just skip today and we sleep in for a few hours?"

Her response is a kiss and snuggling into my chest, which is starting to show results from the training Suzu and Kallen have been putting me through.

Some fumbling to reach my phone without having to get out of bed, and I send off a short text to Milly that I'm taking a mental health day and not to expect me in class today. Amusingly enough, Milly's own response is that Principal Ashford had already canceled classes for the day, due to the harrowing events, and that Reuben wants to spend the day with his granddaughter. Also, she's asking to bring him in.

I pause to consider. Reuben Ashford was one of the great minds behind the Knightmare Frame, along with Nina's grandfather Albert and others. But do I want to involve him...?

Part of me says no. But then I remember, Milly has already forced her way into my little revolution. He's already involved by proxy.

I text her back: "Set a meeting up in a few days. I need you to come by tonight. Bring Suzaku. Nunnally KNOWS."

Her response is unintelligible. Which is all the more impressive, considering we're communicating by text.

My next message is to Jerry, asking him to come over tonight via the tunnels. Unfortunately, he says he can't make it till after 7:30pm – Cornelia is holding an all-hands-on-deck meeting about rebels in Hokkaido bombing military transport infrastructure.

I tell him it's not a problem. As a member of my sister's inner circle, information like that is priceless; it gives us real-time insight into their counter-terrorism responses.

After a confirmation of "Yes, your majesty!", I toss the phone to the side and proceed to sack out in CC's embrace.

It's sometime around 1pm when we finally wake up again. A quick shower for the two of us, surprisingly devoid of any hanky panky, and we're off walking in the settlement. We're dressed quite casually: jacket, Oxford shirt, and slacks for me, blouse and long skirt for her. CC has put on a blonde wig and glasses.

And of course since this is the Britannian part of town, what could be more at home than casual racism?

It's a sad commentary that I'm not joking at all, and that nobody is batting an eye at five guys kicking around a Japanese guy who's just selling hot dogs and ice cream.

Oh hai there Kallen. Nope, nope, nope. Don't do that. I pull her wrist back and make a shushing sound.

Her response is a furious stare.

After a moment, the group of bullies leaves.

We get three ice cream cones. The vendor gets a very hefty tip, and a business card from CC with a Black Knights recruiting location and our symbol on it.

He's understandably shocked that he's getting this from a Britannian, of all people.

"日本万歳、" (May Japan live for ten thousand years) CC whispers to him as we leave.

"I really need to think up a new battle cry for us," I muse.

Kallen raises an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with 'Nippon Banzai?' It gets people fired up."

I rub my forehead in annoyance.

"Kallen, dear, are the Black Knights a Japanese group, or a non-affiliated one?" CC says with a patronizing tone.

Kallen makes a motion to object, but then pauses to process what CC just said.

"You don't like the Japanese very much, do you, Lelouch?"

I shake my head sadly, "It isn't dislike, Kallen. I simply don't want to make the same mistakes that the old Japan and old resistance groups made."

I sit up straight as I take a deep breath.

"Yes, I dislike the Japanese casual xenophobia and racism a great deal. God knows I experienced plenty of it firsthand when I lived here before the war. But that does not mean I believe that the Japanese people deserve what Britannia did to them."

She's not happy with this topic. I honestly don't care. As someone who is half of both heritages, she knows damn well I'm right. And unlike the rest of our group, she alone has the perspective to realize why we cannot just be a Japanese group.

She sighs and runs a hand through her red locks, "So that's what you meant by 'beholden to no nation'. You don't fight for Japan. You fight for an ideal, one that the Japanese resistance won't readily embrace. And that's why you hate the JLF. Because Kusakabe is just a symptom of Japan's bad history with other countries."

I plant a kiss on her cheek as I smile, "Anyone ever comment that you're as smart as you are beautiful?"

Huh. She didn't slug me this time.

"I'm belting you one as soon as we're out of public, pretty boy," she mutters, her cheeks inflamed.

I give her a devil's smile, "You know what I'll say in response to that. The more important question is, do you understand what I'm aiming for?"

CC pipes up from licking her ice cream, "And more relevantly, told this only to you?"

Kallen's eyes look from left to right, seeing CC and myself on opposite sides of her.

"How the hell are you two so in-sync that you can finish each others thoughts?"

Our response is a synchronized cat smile. "Practice," we both say.

"It doesn't hurt that Lulu has the sex drive of a stud horse," CC quips with a smirk.

"I fucking hate you two perverts."

It's late evening when the the three of us finally arrive. Was it cowardly to just duck out for the day and avoid dealing with Nunnally? Probably.

To which, I dare anyone else in my position, not to do something similar.

As we three enter, Suzaku and Milly are amiably chatting with Nunna and Sayoko. The conversation goes dead silent as I walk in.

A ping from my phone alerts me that Jerry has just arrived. A quick show of my screen, and Sayoko is off to let him in. I'm the only one with unfettered access to that escape tunnel. Anyone else has to be let in, or use one of several passwords that I have for the access door.

Which I change every month. Lelouch, it turns out, was ridiculously paranoid. But as they say, it's not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

As Jeremiah walks in, I clap my hands together.

"So! Tonight we're here, because I promised my sister an explanation about what I've been doing.

"The short answer is: I'm Zero. And everyone else in here besides yourself is involved somehow."

I turn to face Nunnally's blank expression, "Before I introduce everyone, how did you figure it out?"

"It was Sayoko. When you spoke to her as Zero, I could feel her relax. Sayoko would NEVER drop her guard in a situation like that unless she absolutely trusted that person. And there's only one reason I could think of for her to trust Zero. In that moment, I had to know if I was right. So I grabbed your hand. Even through your gloves...I knew it was you," she says clearly.

Well shit. THAT, I did not see coming. As expected from my sister, she found a way to surprise me.

Nunnally has always had a quiet peaceful charisma about her. Hell, look what she got Lelouch to do, in the original timeline. And that's not just because of the sibling connection. She got Suzaku to act in almost the same manner, just by being herself.

"Well done. Let's have everyone introduce themselves, shall we? Just hold my sister's hand as you say who you are," I say as I sit back in a chair.

Suzaku goes first, kneeling in front of her, "Kururugi Suzaku, ace pilot for Britannia, double agent for the Black Knights."

CC goes next, "CC, accomplice and advisor for the Black Knights."

Kallen sighs as she kneels, then raises her head upwards, no longer meek and frail.

"Kallen Kozuki-Stadfelt, also known as Q-1, ace pilot for the Black Knights."

Milly is trying to be upbeat as she smiles at Nunna, even as her expression cracks like porcelain, "Millicent Ashford, Ashford student council president, advisor to the Black Knights."

Sayoko smiles sadly as she pats Nunna's hand, "Shinozaki Sayoko, maid and 37th successor of the Shinozaki ninja school, shinobi for the Black Knights."

Lastly, Jerry. He's having the hardest time here. And why not? He hasn't seen Nunnally in over seven years.

"Je..Jeremiah Gottwald, Margrave and former member of Her Majesty Empress Marianne Vi Britannia's royal guard, double agent for the Black Knights," he says with an unsteady voice.

This one Nunnally did NOT know beforehand. She reaches out and runs her hand along his face.

"...Are you the nice guard who used to play with us? Are you 'orange' ?"

He nods rapidly, his eyes tearing up, "Yes, your Highness. I'm Mr. Orange. It's so good to see you well, your Ladyship."

She tilts her head quizzically, "But why would YOU betray Britannia? You're a margrave, and leader of the Purists."

I close my eyes and lean back, "Well, that's the six million pound sterling question, isn't it? Why would someone like Orange betray Britannia?"

I sit up and open my eyes, amethyst orbs burning.

"For several reasons, among them revenge for our mother's murder."

Nunnally gasps and turns towards me, face looking down, "But Father said it was terrorists-"

"THAT MAN forfeited any right to be called our father, when he covered up Mother's murder in order to protect the real culprit!" I growl out as I stand up. "And now after all these years, I finally have proof. Zero is an instrument of justice, but I'd be lying if I said vengeance upon Charles zi Britannia wasn't one of my incentives."

Nunna looks up at me, her face aghast for a moment, "Why, brother? Why such desire for revenge? Why kill so many people? Why did the people at that hotel have to die, for example?"

"You think the JLF deserved mercy? Their disgusting 蛭子 (leech child) commander threatened to PUBLICLY RAPE EUPHEMIA!" I bellow in fury.

As I probably should have realized, that remark draws shocked looks from the Japanese members of our group.

Jerry and Milly, as the ones not raised in Japan's culture, are confused.

"Sayoko, what is a hiruko?" Jerry whispers to her.

"It is... part of the story of creation in the Shinto faith," she explains, her countenance oddly solemn and subdued. "After the gods Izanagi-no-Okami-sama and Izanami-no-mikoto-sama created the Home Islands out of the sea, they then set out to birth the next generation of gods. Unfortunately, because of a… mistake they made during their courtship, their first child was born deformed and limbless, like a leech. Thus he was named Hiruko, 'leech child', and cast adrift on a boat of reeds before his third year.

"Because of this, our people tend to be… prejudiced, against those seen as 'defective' for whatever reason," she finishes quietly.

Suzaku has a stricken look on his face as he hangs his head in shame.

Kallen looks visibly ill.

But Sayoko? She turns to me with narrowed eyes. "Goshujin-sama, did you call him this?" she asks firmly.

"I did," I growl, my eyes flashing in fury, "after having him dismembered down to a writhing torso on the ground."

Sayoko nods, then goes into a deep bow. "本当にすみません、ご主人様。" (I am sorry, Master.)

I grimace, fully understanding why she's saying this. Kusakabe has been a member of what was once Japan's military. As a ninja who fought for Japan, Sayoko feels Kusakabe has shamed her nation by attempting this crime against me. Particularly as, right now, the Black Knights are the only real threat to Britannia.

I bow in return, "I do not regret my actions, only that they were necessary. Kusakabe's actions shamed himself and those under his command, but they do not reflect upon his countrymen."

I hug Sayoko; with my earlier fury now ebbed, all I feel is tired. "I may have to kill more of your people to stop things like this in the future, in addition to Britannians. Forgive me, Sayoko..."

She's crying quietly and Jerry is tearing up too. He envelopes both of us in a hug.

"I failed you again, my lord. For this is a cruel burden for any man to bare. You need but ask, and I shall wield my sword to spare you what I can."

Jerry...you damned fool. Even knowing that I'm insane, that I aim to destroy evil men both Japanese and Britannian, to stain my hands with blood, you still stand by me and offer your blade for the slaughter to come.

I do not deserve such loyalty. But I will make myself worthy of your oaths. I disentangle myself from them and kneel before my sibling.

My beloved sister, Nunnally. I hang my head as I take her hand in my own.

"Do you understand now why I do what I do?"

She's trembling. I brace myself for whatever comes next.

"お兄ちゃんのバカ…"

I flinch. Oh this is going to hurt...

I'm right. Ow. For such a frail girl, she has a strong slap.

She looks me in the eyes, closed lids to my own violet orbs.

"You think I wanted this?! You think I wanted you to turn yourself into a demon to make a better world?"

She slaps my other cheek, "YOU IDIOT! ALL I WANTED WAS A PEACEFUL LIFE WITH YOU!" she wails.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD! I JUST WANT YOU AND ME TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER!"

Forgive me, Nunna...but, I have to do this.

I take a deep breath.

"And what about Suzaku?"

She stops crying from shock.

"Suzaku?"

I nod. "Suzaku killed his own father, to save his country, and us. I was to be killed and you sold to a brothel. Genbu was selling out his country for nobility."

This, I had not known. Suzaku himself told me sometime ago in a private conversation. Apparently a cabal of Britannian nobles had cut a deal with him under those terms: Japan, and us, in exchange for a noble title.

Except the brothel had been his own idea. A means to make some quick cash on the side, rather than just killing Nunnally.

Nunnally quivers as she turns to Suzaku, "Suzaku...is that true?"

I feel pretty bad, throwing him under the bus like that. But this needs to be aired. And as much as it hurts the both of us, she needs to stop being so selfish.

Suzaku shudders, his fists shaking. I step to his side, hugging him from behind.

"She needs to hear it from you. No one here judges you for it. We're all with you. Most importantly, I am with you," I whisper to him.

Suzaku nods, gulping, "Yes, Nunna. It's true. I killed my father with his own dagger after he slapped me aside for objecting to his plan," he says, tears streaming down his face.

My sister's hands fly to her face, itself displaying pure shock.

"Jeremiah here was disgraced by our mother's murder," I state. "He joined the purists, believing that the Japanese themselves had killed us."

I gesture next to Kallen, "Kallen's brother was killed trying to free her country."

I move next to CC, "CC was tortured and experimented on by Clovis, with our FATHER's knowledge."

Nunnally shakes her sandy tresses as she's crying, "Stop it...please stop it..."

She can't see my tears as I break her heart. Small mercies I suppose.

I turn back to her, kneeling before her wheelchair, "I can't stop. I have seen the evil of our homeland, the evils that still dwell in Japan, and the evils in the EU and the Chinese Federation. The people cry out for a savior, a hero."

I take her hand into both of mine.

"I can be that hero. By taking the role of Zero, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven."

"BUT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE YOU?!" she wails as she slumps in her chair.

I try not to sob. I manage it just barely.

"Because I have the skills, the means, and the will. No one else can be Zero."

She grabs onto me, burying her head in my shoulders.

"お兄さま!!" she cries, clutching onto me. "Please don't leave me! I know the world is evil! I just want you to be safe!"

I gasp at her face, "Nunnally, your eyes..."

She looks at me quizzically, "What? What about my..."

She tentatively reaches for her eyes, moving her hand in front of them.

"But...how...? I can see...?"

I turn her cheek towards me, "Nunnally, look at me."

She cries and laughs at the same time. "You're just as handsome as you were as a boy," she teases weakly.

"I promised I'd never lie to you, little sunshine. Even when it breaks both our hearts," I say, smiling as tears streak down my face.

"Forgive me, big brother, I've been so selfish."

I stroke her hair as I rub her back, letting the tears flow.

All tasks at hand have been cleared. Though it hurt, my sister is no longer shutting her eyes to reality.

"The world isn't evil, 妹ちゃん (little sister). It is only because of the will of evil people that it is the way it is. There are still people who long for something better."

Her violet eyes look around the room, seeing the happy and occasionally teary eyed faces of my subordinates...no. My family. For the people in this room are more worthy of familial affection than most of those with whom I share a bloodline.

"You did this all for me? For my dream of a gentle world?"

I nod my head lightly, smiling, "In large part, yes. But as I've pointed out, there are others who believe in your dream."

"I love you, big brother!"

I whisper into her ear as she hugs me, "I will do my best to win with as little death as possible. But I cannot hope to change the world without bloodshed."

She kisses my cheek and nods as she snuggles herself to my chest.

"I know. But don't lose yourself in hate. You're better than that."

Perhaps. But there's one last secret to be revealed tonight. And it's something you're not going to like.

"Nunnally, there's something you need to know. The reason you were blind...it wasn't trauma."

Milly and Jerry both do a double take at that. The reaction from everyone else is somewhat more subdued. Mostly because they weren't there in the homeland when it happened.

I take a deep breath. This is something CC will have to help me confirm. I know it was there, but I can't explain how I know.

Thankfully, CC is perfectly willing to take credit for being the source on information related to Geass that I reveal.

"Emperor Charles zi Britannia inflicted your blindness on you as part of the coverup of our mother's murder. CC can verify what I'm saying is the truth."

CC steps forward and clasps Nunnally's hand, "It's true. Your father used a special ability to do this to you. Your blindness was NOT a self inflicted response to trauma."

Nunnally grips CC's hand tightly as she looks down, her lip quivering.

"Big brother, promise me two things..."

I raise an eyebrow.

She lifts her head upward to look at me with a fire in her eyes, "I want the bastard who killed Mom to suffer. And I want to be there when you confront our fath-...no. Charles Zi Britannia."

There's a collective gasp from the room at this statement. And why not? No one would ever expect little Nunnally to be so bloodthirsty.

None save me, that is. I knew if anything could make her angry, it would be this. She is after all, a vi Britannia like myself. And we are nothing if not vengeful and protective of our own.

Nemo me impune lacessit nocet. No one harms me with impunity.

I kiss her forehead and nod mock-solemnly, "Yes, Your Highness. Thy will be done."

"And big brother? Your harem shows good taste," she says impishly.

Kallen sputters and goes completely red in the face.

Suzaku blushes lightly and scratches his cheek.

Milly's reaction is more expected. Which of course means she's rolling on the floor laughing.

Jerry and Sayoko are equally aghast and bemused.

And CC? Her reaction is the best part.

"Well, of course it does. It's my harem, too," she says with a smirk and a toss of her emerald locks.

Fuck it. I can't keep a straight face after that remark. Nunna and I are both laughing right now.

It's a happy, relieved laugh. I knew I was right to have faith in her, and she was happy to see her faith in me rewarded.

I'm just happy she and everyone else are okay.

End of turn.