Title: Escapade
Rating: T
Summary: A young Lelouch runs away from home one night.
Author: Dark

A 7 year old Lelouch cowed in the corner, trying to shut out the shouts coming from his parents' room.

Too afraid for himself, Lelouch snuck out of bed, grabbed a torch and slipped into the dark kitchen. He entered the secret passageway taught to him when he was much younger, leaving the arguing voices behind in the Aries Villa.

Why was his mother arguing about his father sleeping with other women anyway? They just… slept together for a night. Like how Nunnally was currently asleep with her friends at a sleepover.

Putting the thought out of his mind, Lelouch frowned as he reached the end of the passageway. A flight of stairs led to a door that came out of an alleyway, several streets from his house.

He was out in the world all alone, with nowhere to go. He knew where he was, and the addresses of several people living nearby. However, being a prince, he had no friends like commoners did. Those who wouldn't immediately report his absence to his father somehow.

If he went to the royal palace to sleep in his room there for the night, the guards would surely alert his father. If he visited Clovis or Schneizel, they would likely tattle on him if the guards didn't catch him coming in. But then, a cunning smile appeared on his face as he turned his feet down the street.

Arriving at Nelly and Euphie's residence, instead of the front gates, he walked by the garden, visible to those walking by. Having to fetch the ball every time it flew away in the garden, he knew of a gap in the fence. Glad that he could still fit in it, he stealthily climbed a tree and entered the house via a balcony.

Knocking on Euphie's door, he explained the situation to her, and asked if he could stay the night.

"Sure!" Euphie replied enthusiastically. "We could even have a pillow fight, Lelouch!"

"That would wake up Nelly, no? We can't have her find out. And we have school in the morning! Sorry to disturb you, Euphie. You should go back to bed. I'll use the floor."

"That's rather uncomfortable, Lelouch. Perhaps you could share the bed with me? There's plenty of space."

And so, young Lelouch climbed into bed with a fair maiden for the night and slept soundly and uninterrupted, at least, until an enraged Cornelia woke the two of them up in the morning.

"LELOUCH! What in the name of the Emperor are you doing in my little sister's bed?!"

Startled, the two of them woke, Lelouch having some of Euphie's hair in his mouth. "Well, mom and dad were arguing and I got scared… so I came here to sleep for a night. It's just one night only! And I promise we didn't pillow fight!"

Upon hearing the noise, Victoria Li Britannia came running, only to assess the situation and turn beet red in the face. The Emperor and Emperor Consort were promptly informed, and Lelouch was sent home.

"Lelouch, I apologize about your father and I last night, but you cannot simply go to Euphie's room and sleep in her bed so late at night. You are a Prince. It is inappropriate to do so," Marianne gently explained as Charles watched exasperatedly from the side.

"I wasn't going to wake Nelly up! She would've called you to tell you instantly!"

Sighing, Marianne settled for something else. "Lelouch, it is rude to ask a lady like Euphie for space on the bed. You should have slept on the floor or her sofa instead."

"But she insisted…" Lelouch pouted, not understanding why she was making such a big fuss over where he slept.

"And don't leave the house like that without telling me again alright, Lelouch? We hadn't known you'd gone!"

Instead of seeing why the adults were so angry, Lelouch's only thought was that they did not care enough about him to notice his absence.