A/N: I can't count the number of times I've rewatched Re;surrection and the original Code Geass as a whole. Lelouch's character development is just so remarkable. So while I was sitting in bed contemplating what to write because I had material for something and I just didn't know what, I slowly began to give birth XD

End result? This. In a nutshell, it's my C.C. appreciation post. I make no promises on the quality. This may be very bad for all I know XD

Setting? Perhaps it takes place shortly after they left Zilkhistan. So just presume they're in a neighboring country XD

MAJOR SPOILERS for Re;surrection. So if you haven't seen it, go watch that first ;)

Thank You, C.C.

It was easy to laugh at how traveling was much easier now compared to how it had been up until a few months ago. For the most part, it was a relief. Not just because traveling from one place to the next with little liability was a good thing. But also because it was simply relieving to know that she had succeeded at bringing him back.

He was back… Back for good, and no longer lost within the shambles of what remained of C's world.

Recalling how he'd been during the past year, it still brought back remnants of sorrow and self-loathing. He never asked to be brought back to life. So perhaps what she managed to reconstruct and recover in the other world was a consequence for her selfish decisions.

But against all odds, she brought him back…

He wasn't even supposed to be with her. He deserved to be with Suzaku and Nunnally. He deserved to see his friends again and to live a life with them. Even if it was a life of secrecy, technically. At the very least, he'd live out his days with the company of those who mattered most to him.

And yet he, with his knack for doing the unexpected, decided to defy each and every barrier she had built as protection around her fragile feelings and her secret wishes. In the end, he chose to be with her.

She would never tell him, but it warmed her heart.

And though neither of them thought to voice it out loud, she liked to think they both knew that he had fulfilled her wish. It was nice to not be alone anymore. At the very least, when all the spare parts from C's world would run out, perhaps they could even die together.

Oh, but who could think of such dreary thoughts when the will and purpose to live was even stronger?

Tracking down the Geass fragments were definitely a must, but it was also fair to want to enjoy the world and the peace that it had to graciously offer. A peace the man beside her brought about — peace he had sacrificed his life, his name, his face, and his legacy for. To be detested and remembered by history as abominable filth in exchange for a brighter future and a united world.

What a sacrifice… The very epitome of a noble heart.

And the owner of that said noble heart was looking at her in that funny way again. That look where she couldn't quite figure out if he was studying her or (gods forbid) gazing at her fondly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" C.C. asked immediately, meeting those stunning purple irises, gazing at her with emotions swirling in them.

"What was it like?" L.L. began, placing his arms one on top of the other above the railing that marked the border between the sidewalk and the beach that stretched on for miles before them. "It couldn't have been easy. Caring for a dysfunctional body like mine."

At the mention of his mindless state and the tribulations she'd gone through last year just to keep him safe, C.C. sobered and kept her eyes trained on the sand below, discreetly watching as a group of children rough-housed each other and tossed a beach ball back and forth.

From gate to gate, she'd dragged him halfway across the world in search of a way to retrieve the relentless individual he'd been. "It's in the past. You're back now, and that's what matters. Why do you ask?"

"We never discussed it. And I did tell you when I returned that you and I had a lot to talk about. Under the circumstances, we didn't have much time." A loved-up couple passed by, blind to the conversing pair. Nevertheless, L.L. tugged his cap lower over his face. "But now we do…"

C.C. couldn't help but sigh. "What do you want me to say?"

The question caught him off-guard. Why wasn't she being sarcastic? She should have at least joked about how a terrible companion he'd been. How unhelpful and useless.

A closer look at C.C.'s face revealed the shadow of melancholy that came over it. Was it a sore subject? Did she really suffer horribly in the past year because of him? How heavy of a burden had his dysfunctional being been to her? To his eternal regret, he couldn't fully recall a clear picture of what his soulless body had been like. There were fragments — vague recollections and bits and pieces of images.

It was a giant puzzle with many missing pieces. And the only person who could paint a picture of it for him was standing beside him, clutching her new penguin doll tightly in her arms as they watched the rest of the world move and breathe around them.

However, if he was sure of one thing, it was that C.C. suffered once again — more than anyone alive did. And she, of all people, really shouldn't have to. After what she'd already endured, he regretted to think that he had contributed plenty to her tribulation in the past year. Yes, he did his best to care for her and balance his agenda when she'd been the reverted slave girl. But that stretch of time had been nothing compared to the length of her journey with his shell of a body.

"I'm sorry you had to go through it." He said in the end, suddenly unsure of what to make of this conversation.

He had been expecting a taunt or at least, a peek of the Witch's mischievous behavior. But it seemed to have disappeared for the moment. The Witch who had endlessly tormented him with her teasing and her jokes during his rebellion was nonexistent. In her place stood a jaded woman with centuries-worth of pain riding on her fragile shoulders. His debilitating state last year contributed plenty to that weariness.

It was a different side of C.C… But it was C.C. all the same.

"Don't apologize, L.L. The whole ordeal was my doing. If there's anyone to blame for the condition you were in, it was me."

In some ways, she had changed. And so did he… It was just a matter of getting to know each other again.

"Was I a royal pain?" He smirked, doing his best to inject humor after the conversation turned to a dark route.

To his immense relief, a small smile bloomed across C.C.'s lips. "Very much so, I suppose."

She never told him, but they were disheartening memories. To have known him during his rebellion as a dauntless and brilliant military leader, and then see the shell of the man that should have been. Her mighty Emperor reduced to nothing more than a simple-minded toddler affected her more than she let on.

She'd had to feed him, bathe him, protect him, and comfort him in times of random distress. But even so, she knew she would do it all over again if it meant restoring him to his original state.

A warm hand snuck into her own, and she turned to look up at him when he gently squeezed her hand. He wouldn't ask her to divulge if she didn't want to. But at the very least, he hoped she knew and was sure of one thing.

"Always know that I'm eternally grateful to you, C.C." He stepped closer ever so slightly, ignoring the penguin clutched in her arms, keeping him from embracing her fully. "Not just for taking care of me for the past year. But for the years before that. You could have left long ago, but you stayed through everything." He ignored the small gasp that left her as his palm gently cupped her cheek. "You helped me recreate the world, and you insisted on letting me enjoy it. And I will thank you forevermore. For your sacrifices and your loyalty. For never leaving me. Thank you, C.C."

Her chin propped up against his shoulder, the arm she had around his waist squeezed him tighter. Was this what this entire day was about? When they'd woken up in their motel room this morning, he insisted on coming out to enjoy whatever the little town had to offer them. They had spent the day roaming around popular streets, doing window shopping, and L.L. went out of his way to give her her new doll. In the end, they found themselves here. Enjoying the sunset as it painted the skies orange and pink, bathing the rest of their world in an otherworldly glow.

And listening to him talk about how much he felt he was indebted to her launched the butterflies in her stomach into a wild frenzy. Pulling back from the embrace to stare at his face, one of his hands instantly came up and framed her cheek, a thumb brushing across the underside of her chin delicately — as if she were made of fragile china.

"Thank you, C.C. Thank you..."

Whatever else she'd been about to say disappeared and scattered to the wind, folding beneath the whims of his kiss and the warmth of their blossoming love that consumed her entire being.

For him… For L.L., she'd do it all over again…