Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its canon characters.
The Battle of Narita was officially over. Britannian forces had been all but annihilated by the Black Knights with JLF support. At the base of the north slope under camo netting, sat the Black Knights' trucks they had used to transport their knightmares. This was their final exit point, where all remaining forces would assemble before heading back to Tokyo.
As the remaining Black Knights began pouring into the area they began prepping the their knightmares and tanks for transport. Inoue drove her Naginata into one of the trailers, behind another tank. As she exited the vehicle she ran into Tamaki, who was overseeing the loading process.
"Where's Zero and Kallen?"
"No clue Inoue, I've never seen them late for anything before." Another Black Knight pointed to a road coming out of the forest.
"Over there!" Tamaki, Inoue, and all other eyes turned to the designated path to see six knightmares, three more than they were expecting, come out of the forest into view. The Black Knights instantly recognized the two black units and the Guren, but the last three wore Britannian shades of blue, purple, and red. As they approached, Tamaki called out to them.
"Hey Zero! Where did you guys get the Brit knightmares?"
"Those frames belong to our allies, Tamaki." Zero replied as he directed the three frames to transport slots left empty from the battle.
"Those don't look like any JLF knightmares I've ever seen."
"Because they aren't the JLF. These three are the remainder of the Britannian defectors that hit them in the back. Each of them did an exceptionally high amount of damage to our enemy."
"Those look like Purist faction Sutherlands." Inoue added in.
"Good eye, Inoue. The entire Purist faction defected to our side during the battle. Cornelia killed most of them at the G1." Zero announced.
"The Purists defected? They hate us, what did you do to change their minds?"
"I have a bad habit of achieving the impossible." Everyone laughed as they finished loading their six knightmares into the two trucks.
"Hey Zero! If the guys in the Sutherlands are Purists, who's in the Gloucester?"
"One of the most damaging traitors in Britannian history, Tamaki. She made our victory possible today." The two Sutherlands' opening cockpits drew the attention of all assembled there. A wave of surprise washed over the Black Knights as they saw Jeremiah Gottwald climb down the tether to the ground.
"You fought well, Jeremiah. I guess Lord Guilford wasn't up to the challenge." Zero greeted.
"The unit guarding the G1 required little effort to defeat, my lord. Guilford, on the other hand, had to fight you all day."
"Are you kidding me, Zero? He's the leader of the Purists!" Tamaki spoke as the single voice of the group's collective worry at what they were seeing.
"Jeremiah saved my life today by engaging Guilford's Gloucester in single combat. He also disabled, and ultimately destroyed the G1 command center. He's as loyal as they get." Zero spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "And besides, Tamaki, the Purist faction no longer exists. They died to make our job that much easier today. Regardless of what you might think about them, you cannot argue with their results."
"Zero's right. All three of them really proved themselves out there today." Kallen supported as she walked up beside him.
"If you say so Kallen, but I still want to know who is in that Gloucester."
The purple Gloucester responded to Inoue's curiosity. There was a metallic click as the locks holding the armor at the rear of the unit's cockpit block disengaged. The heavy door opened and the pilot's seat slid out into the open air. Silence reigned supreme over all who could see, for none of them were prepared for what they saw.
Euphemia li Britannia stood up in her Gloucester's seat, her face illuminated by the last remnants of golden light shining through the trees. She grabbed her assault rifle by the strap and rode the Gloucester's wire down to ground level. Zero broke the minute of silence as she approached him.
"That was a most impressive performance today. You did much more damage than I had envisioned, Euphemia. You almost made this too easy."
"I'm glad that I could actually make a difference for once." The princess replied with a smile.
"Are you kidding me, Zero? The leaders of the Purist faction was already big to swallow, but now you want us to accept royalty? I'm going to choke to death on this one!" Tamaki's mouth fired off faster than most people could think.
"Are you questioning my decision to include Euphemia into the Black Knights?"
"You're damn straight I am! She's a princess! Royalty! Her sister is our greatest enemy!" Tamaki yelled back.
"Wrong, Tamaki. Emperor Charles is our greatest enemy. Cornelia is carrying out his will, not her own, although the two do have some overlap."
"I don't care, she's still the enemy, Zero!" Tamaki reached for his rifle, but found himself staring down five gun barrels before he could even raise it. Zero put his hand up, signaling Jeremiah, Viletta, Kallen, and Euphemia to hold their fire.
"Is she now? Why don't we go over the facts then, Tamaki. Did you provide us with a complete list of Britannian communications codes?" Zero questioned.
"No, Zero."
"Did you provide us with a complete list of the enemy's IFF transponder frequencies?"
"No."
"Did you provide us with Cornelia's complete force deployments, Tamaki?"
"No, I did not Zero."
"How many Britannian commanders did you assassinate today?"
"None." Tamaki was by this point trying very hard to hold back the humiliation he was feeling.
"Well then, it would seem that Euphemia has outdone you in every way possible today, she even has more blood on her hands. Now if you still feel the need to question my decisions without any support, then I would suggest you go join what is left of the JLF over there."
Tamaki didn't move as the Black Knights went back to packing up in silence. He turned to look back at the mountain on the background of pink sky when he heard one set of footsteps approaching him from behind. He expected it to be Kallen, but a different voice sailed into his ears.
"Are you alright? That must have been terribly humiliating." Euphemia's gentle voice asked him.
"I'm fine." He replied in a quick, harsh tone.
"You really don't like me, do you Tamaki?" She gently inquired.
"No, I don't." Tamaki kept telling himself over and over that she was just another Britannian, just another member of a race of monsters. But her gentle nature was forcing him to question that. Euphemia put her hand on his right shoulder.
"It's because of my family, isn't it?"
"Those monsters have done nothing but destroy this country. I will never forgive them. It should be obvious why I don't like you, princess." Tamaki replied, trying to hold back his anger.
"It doesn't have to be like that, Tamaki. Think about why you're wearing that uniform. We both want to create a better world, and we both believe that we can do it. That's why we're Black Knights."
As they turned to go to their separate trucks, Tamaki couldn't get her voice out of her head. More specifically, he could not get over the fact that a Britannian princess had just told him something he actually agreed with.
Seven hours after the final shot was fired at Narita, Euphemia was optimistic about the future, slowly building a relationship with her new allies. Her sister could not have felt more opposite. The very instant that she made it back to her palace atop Tokyo's government headquarters, Cornelia shut herself in her bedroom.
To say that this was the worst day of her life would have been a severe understatement. Cornelia was a winner. No matter what happened, she could always find a way to emerge on top, standing tall above all who dared oppose her. And then Zero broke her legs and threw her down into the mud.
Cornelia had not only suffered the first real defeat of her entire military career, it was absolute. From her entire army, there were only three survivors. And then there were the names of the fallen. General Andreas Darlton, her knight, long time friend, and one of the greatest soldiers she had ever served with stood at the top of the casualty list. Cornelia would have gladly damned every last one of them to an eternity of hell to bring back the one name that was not on the list.
She opened a bottom door on her desk and reached for the bottle of rum, leaving the glass behind. Cornelia rarely drank, it simply interfered with her results driven lifestyle too much. But the rapier that Zero had plunged through her heart delivered a level of suffering she had never before experienced. She pulled the cork and raised the bottle.
Ten minutes later came two knocks at her door. She paid it no attention as the door slowly slid open. Gilbert Guilford, her knight of ten years and the best friend she had ever known quietly walked into the room. He remained silent as he approached the desk. Guilford looked at the assortment of things laying there. A half empty bottle of Bacardi 8, a picture of Euphemia with a shattered frame, a pistol, and one bullet. It took him all of about half a second to see what was going to happen. Guilford looked at the Viceroy's face and saw why.
Cornelia's face was perfect, flawless, and dry. Not a single tear had fallen from her eyes since she had left the battlefield.
"Your highness." Guilford's words provoked no response. He lightly grabbed her hand. "Cornelia." She looked up from the picture and into his eyes. A wave of fear smashed into Guilford as their eyes met. He felt as if he had just seen a million deaths in one second. "You aren't crying." Cornelia looked back down to the picture.
"I failed, Guilford. I couldn't protect her." Cornelia said in a distant, anguished voice. "I..just can't take this anymore."
"Cry. Let the pain out, Cornelia. You can't hold it in like this." Her eyes drifted back to the pistol. "That won't solve anything. It would be no different than if Zero pulled the trigger himself." Guilford walked around and hugged her from behind, resting his head on her left shoulder.
"Guilford..."
"We've been through this before. You felt the same way when Lelouch and Nunnally died."
"They weren't Euphie!" She yelled back at him, making it painfully clear that no life had ever been worth more than Euphemia's. Guilford reached his left arm down under her knees and lifted her from the chair. He nearly lost balance as he did so. Cornelia's tall, strong body was not light, and he had misjudged the effort it would take to lift her. He compensated for the extra weight.
"What are you doing Guilford?" Cornelia asked as surprise gave her a momentary ray of light through her sorrow.
"Helping you, your highness." Guilford gently put her down upon the room's exquisite bed. She just stared back at him in confusion. He sat down next to her and pulled her in.
"Guilford, why are you-" Cornelia began to ask.
"They have taken everyone from us. Clovis, Darlton, Lelouch, Nunnally, Euphemia." Cornelia found her head resting on her knight's chest. "It is just the two of us now, a fallen angel and her loyal knight. I will not let this land consume you as well."
Guilford's bold show of affection paid off. His warm, comforting embrace acted as a shower of bombs against the emotional dam built up inside Cornelia. Her armor failed, and her eyes welled up. Cornelia threw herself around her knight just as the cataclysmic blasts of raw emotion breached her last gate. Streams of pure liquid sorrow rushed forth from her eyes as she began to create an ocean of tears for her sister.
Upon their return to their base in Tokyo, The entirety of the Black Knights threw a massive party inside their warehouse. Lelouch, however, had a promise to keep. And so they had other plans that night. Classes resumed the next day, and they would need to attend in order to maintain their outwardly normal appearances. Lelouch had offered Euphemia a room at the Ashford Academy, but she was quick to decline. Kallen was unnaturally quick to point out that giving her special treatment would cause tensions to build. Of course, Lelouch knew the real reason why Kallen was so quick to back up Euphemia's decision stay at the base.
An hour later they had arrived back at Ashford Academy. Although the side doors through the perimeter wall were always locked at night, Lelouch knew every last flaw in the Academy's security measures. Less than half a minute later he had unlocked the door and disabled its accompanying camera without being seen.
There was only darkness coming from the club house, meaning with almost complete certainty that Nunnally and Sayoko were already asleep. As they approached the entrance, Lelouch motioned for Kallen to remove her shoes. Using their socks to eliminate any sound from the wood floor, the pair made their way upstairs.
They passed by the light switches, needing no more than the light of the full moon shining through the windows. Lelouch and Kallen stealthily moved into the next hallway, opening the second door on their left. Lelouch barely had time to finish shutting the door before Kallen grabbed him from behind.
He had no time to react before he found himself being thrown onto his bed. Kallen jumped on top of him. Lelouch stared across the four inches between them into the bright blue eyes gazing down on him. She had the eyes of a starving wolf upon her helpless prey. Kallen felt noticeably hotter as her heart rate spiked up, her desire reaching uncontrollable levels.
She leaned down and delivered a passionate kiss. Kallen forced her tongue into Lelouch's mouth, licking and probing around to her heart's content. She was reluctant to break away, but her lungs' desire for air proved too tempting.
"Kallen..." Lelouch breathed out before he sucked in the air she had denied him for the past minute. Kallen rested her forehead against his, their eyes filling each others' fields of view.
"I don't know exactly how you feel about me, Lelouch. But I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that I love you."
"Don't you think this is going way too fast?"
"Not at all. Here you are laying in my arms, prince charming making my dreams come true. I don't need any more than that." Lelouch felt moved enough by her words to take the initiative for the first time. He leaned up and kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. Lelouch soaked up her heat, scents, and sounds as he was sandwiched between his soft warm bed and deadliest warrior.
Kallen began aggressively pulling their clothes off. Lelouch's mind took a step back from the reality of what was happening to him and made an interesting observation. Kallen had changed into her Ashford Academy uniform before they left their base, but she left her Stadtfeld half behind. The woman who was now hastily unbuttoning his pants was the strong and aggressive Kallen Kouzuki, not the fragile and timid Kallen Stadtfeld.
Cornelia awoke to a ray of sunlight flashing between the curtains. She opened her eyes and saw bright blue sky on the other side. She tried to move, but felt something strong holding her down. Only then did her half asleep brain register the position she was in. She was laying in her bed, on top of Guilford, his uniform still wet. The night suddenly came back to her. It had taken her nearly five hours of crying into her knight's chest to calm down enough to sleep. From the position they were in, it appeared that Guilford had himself fallen asleep while she cried her heart out.
Cornelia wiggled her way out of his unconscious embrace and replaced herself with a large pillow. She smiled as she observed his sleeping body cling to the pillow like an overboard sailor would cling to a life raft. She picked up a fresh uniform before going to the bathroom to clean herself up for another painful day.
Lelouch and Kallen walked into the student council's meeting room to find it the same as it always was. Milly and Nina typing away on their computers, Suzaku and Shirley filing through stacks of papers, and Arthur sleeping on the end of the table. Milly was the first to notice them.
"Well you two are back a day early. Did something happen with your little romantic getaway?"
"Romantic getaway! Milly don't joke about things like that!" Shirley yelped as she jumped up from her pile of documents.
"So where did you guys go?" Suzaku was next to ask them as he sifted through more documents.
"Camping." Lelouch replied in a disconnected fashion as he caught a glimpse of what was on Nina's screen. Something that even at a glance looked very interesting.
"Camping, huh? That seems a little out of character for the both of you. But I can't even imagine Lelouch with a tent in the wilderness." Milly bounced back in her typical hunger for information.
"We had a nice log cabin up in the mountains with a warm fireplace and a case of fine wine. We would have stayed if Viceroy Cornelia didn't decide to turn our weekend getaway into a battlefield."
"You guys were at Narita?" Suzaku asked with a hint of concern.
"We were on an adjacent mountain. With the aid of some high powered binoculars, we had a good view of the whole engagement."
"How much did you see?" Suzaku's voice now showing signs of worry.
"Most of it. Especially the final battle near the burning G1." Lelouch could see the blood drain from Suzaku's face. "But now I want to know if what I heard over that open channel is true. Was Euphemia really killed yesterday?"
Suzaku went pale as his ears heard the one question he wished he never had to answer. All eyes in the room turned to them in stunned silence. Not a sound was made for half a minute, and then the silence broke. A single tear dropped from Suzaku's face and noticeably impacted a piece of paper on the table. And then came another, and another, until Suzaku was visibly crying.
"Suzaku?" Shirley asked with concern.
"It hurts enough to watch your friends die. Please don't make me go through this again."
"You two were close?" Shirley put an arm around him.
"After Zero appeared on that bridge, Euphemia believed in what he said. She personally ensured that I received a fair trial. The next day we went shopping around Tokyo together. That's where Euphie found Arthur. She even helped me with my homework." Shirley tried to shake some sanity back into Suzaku as he began recalling even the most minute memories.
"It's ok Suzaku. We've heard enough." She tried to comfort him.
Lelouch turned to Kallen and winked. She winked back at him. They were the only two present who knew the truth. That all the pain and suffering Suzaku, Cornelia, and everyone else felt was nothing more than another one of Zero's ingenious plans.
"I..should be getting back to base." Suzaku said as he simultaneously got up and wiped the tears from his eyes. One by one everyone but Lelouch, Kallen, and Nina left the room. Lelouch whispered into Kallen's ear.
"You should go. You don't want to see me do this." Lelouch's left eye flared bright crimson.
"No, I do want to see it. Please."
"Very well." Lelouch walked over to Nina as Kallen took a seat. She had stopped typing and was staring down at her hands.
"Nina?"
"Why? Why would they kill her? Euphemia was so kind, so gentle, so wonderful."
"They didn't." Lelouch stated.
"But Suzaku said-"
"Suzaku said what he believes to be true. He did not lie when he confirmed Euphemia's death, but he doesn't know what really happened, just what he saw." He began to explain
"What are you saying, Lelouch?"
"Euphemia is just as dead as I am, Nina."
"How do you know that?"
"Do you know who I am, Nina?"
"You're Lelouch." She simply replied.
"Deeper than that. Do you know who I really am?" Lelouch inquired.
" N..No. You never talked about your past, always changing the subject or claiming it was too painful." Nina remembered the few times Shirley had tried.
"Lets make a deal. I'll tell you all about my past if you can explain what exactly I am seeing on that screen that involves splitting uranium and sakuradite atoms. "
"Its...its a bomb. Splitting the uranium atoms releases a tremendous amount of energy, if the density is high enough it will start an explosive chain reaction. The sakuradite casing amplifies the explosive effect significantly. The result would be an explosion unimaginably powerful, enough to destroy entire armies or cities with one blast." Nina explained, much to the surprise of Lelouch and Kallen.
"Why are you developing a weapon like that? I thought you had no interest in the military."
"I don't really, but I thought that if I could apply my research to make a powerful weapon that they might give me the funding I need. I originally wanted to make a new energy source from the technology, but they wouldn't be as interested."
"Have you presented this to them yet?" Lelouch quickly asked her, slightly worried at the prospect of Britannian military scientists having this information.
"No, I wanted to run the simulations a few more times and make the reaction more predictable."
"If you had all the funding in the world, how long would it take you to make a viable weapon?"
"If I could get premade enriched uranium, about a month. Why, Lelouch?"
"Because I could use one, or ten. Defeating Britannia is going to require a lot of firepower." Lelouch told her with a grin
"Defeat Britannia... just who are you?" Lelouch could hear the fear creeping into her voice.
"My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, eleventh prince of the Empire. But you would know me as Zero." Nina started quivering in fear as he approached her, his left eye glowing bright red. "But you're going to forget all of that for now. You will join the Black Knights, Nina. You will develop your superweapons for me. And you will tell not a soul about it."
"I understand, your highness." Nina's now calmed voice replied.
A single Gloucester came over the ridge, a sea of activity before it. An assortment of knightmares, heavy diggers, and transport vehicles of all kinds moved about the makeshift base of the mountain. The battle here had ended not even two days ago, but now the real pain was to be felt. The Gloucester pulled up to one of the three large green tents. The unit's cockpit door fell open and the pilot's seat deployed out from behind its armored enclosure.
Viceroy Cornelia once again set foot upon the most hellish place she had ever known. Narita had taken everything from her. Her friends, her army, her confidence, her reputation, and even her sister, all stolen upon this mountain. Cornelia reminded herself to apologize for taking Guilford's Gloucester while he was asleep, as hers was almost completely destroyed in the battle. Although she technically could do practically whatever she wanted, her knight had been the only thing keeping her from total meltdown. She needed him much more than she was willing to admit.
Cornelia was not at Narita to oversee the cleanup operations, there were plenty of lowly officers that were more than capable of digging bodies out of the dirt, but rather she was here for closure, to find out what went wrong, and how her friends and allies died. Cornelia walked into the nearest green tent. Within sat row upon row of body bags, none vacant. A tall man wearing a spotless uniform approached her and snapped off a salute.
"Major Stark reporting, your highness."
"Are you overseeing operations here?" the Viceroy asked.
"Yes, your highness. What can I do for you?"
"General Andreas Darlton. Have you found his body?" Cornelia wanted to know how her friend had died on that mountainside.
"No, your highness. General Darlton's cockpit block was completely destroyed, there would be no identifiable remains." Stark reported.
"How did he die, Major?"
"A large portion of his Gloucester was melted down to slag by some kind of extremely powerful thermal weapon." The Major began to explain.
"That red knightmare..."
"There's more, Viceroy. We found a Sutherland on top of his unit, the weapon melted through the both of them. The Sutherland belonged to a Lieutenant Ericsson. It appears that she attempted to shield him from the attack."
"I'll make sure her family gets a medal for her sacrifice."
"The spelling of Fenette matches this one." Cornelia heard a short distance behind her. She turned and approached the soldier who was directing an orange haired girl and what appeared to be her mother to one of the bags in the row.
"Fenette, as in Joseph Fenette?" The corporal turned in surprise as he recognized the voice behind him.
"Y..Yes, your highness."
"Could you identify the body?" The corporal asked as he turned to Shirley. The look on her face betrayed her feelings. She was scared, sad, unwilling to believe her father was dead. Cornelia saw the pain in Shirley's eyes. It was the same pain she had herself been struggling to overcome for the past two days.
"There's no need, I'll do it."
"You know this man, your highness?" Shirley, her mother, and the soldier turned their eyes to Cornelia.
"Joseph Fenette, one of the best engineers I have ever seen. This man could fix the unfixable with his bare hands with record breaking speed. I was going to have him rebuild my Gloucester, but as it would be, he is just another good Britannian I have to bury this week." Cornelia felt a shaking hand upon her shoulder. She turned to see Shirley, tears flowing down her face.
"Please, your highness, my father was such a good man. Make them pay for killing him."
"What is your name?"
"Shirley."
"I promise you, Shirley, I will avenge those that died here, your father included." Cornelia told her, fully intending to carry out that promise.
Ten minutes later, Cornelia walked up to a large transport vehicle near the remains of the G1 mobile command center. Nearby, the Lancelot was being fitted with a new energy filler. The Viceroy found Lloyd sitting under the nearby tent, typing away on one of his many computers.
"Princess Cornelia, how nice of you to join us." Lloyd greeted her as he looked up from the screen.
"Did you finish the evaluation?" She quickly asked, paying no attention to his cheery mood.
"Two hours ago, your highness."
"And the results?"
"The G1's armor package showed no signs of defects. The armor was penetrated by sustained fire from multiple enemy knightmares at very close range. Even though a 25mm high explosive round would do little damage by itself, hundreds of them fired at close range into one point would break through pretty much any known armor in the world."
"A weapon of that caliber should not have caused the entire G1 to explode." She replied, knowing the specifications and capabilities of knightmare mounted weapons better than most.
"It didn't, your highness. The blast patterns indicate that a HE round or two hit a stack of charged energy fillers in the knightmare bay. That created quite a nasty explosion that detonated anything else that could possibly go boom. Ammo, more energy fillers, and whatever fuel for the tanks that might have been laying around. The G1's heavy armor contained the blast within the unit, destroying the entire interior. It was like they got hit with an airstrike from the inside. Nothing could have survived in there."
"Thank you for your time, Lloyd."
"Not a problem at all, Viceroy. Now would you like to join us for a cup of tea?"
"I have more important things to do, Lloyd." Cornelia walked away from a noticeably disappointed Lloyd to Suzaku, who was in the process of pouring a bottle of water over his head as he waited for orders to continue operations. Suzaku spoke first as he saw her.
"I'm sorry, your highness. I could have stopped them if I had acted sooner, I could have saved her."
"As much as I would like to let you take all the blame, I cannot. Euphemia's death was our collective failure. You are right, Kururugi, you could have saved her. Just as I or Guilford could have saved her if we had turned around thirty seconds earlier, or if I had placed additional defensive forces around the G1. But talking about painful what ifs is not what I'm here for, Suzaku. I need to talk to you, about your future."
"My future? I don't understand, your highness."
"Sit." Suzaku complied, and Cornelia took the seat next to him. "There are two things that I just cannot remove from my mind. The first is what Darlton had to say about you, and the second is the reason that I ignored his advice." Suzaku sat in unblinking attention as the Viceroy spoke to him. "I'm sure you know that I personally do not like you Numbers." Cornelia began.
"I understand, your highness."
"General Andreas Darlton, one of my best friends and most dependable soldiers, had a very different view. He saw such great potential in you, although he never told you, Darlton believed that you were a cut above the rest. He never cared about race, religion, or national origin. Darlton cared about results, and he liked what saw when he watched you fight. Before the battle here at Narita, Darlton requested that you personally lead the assault." Cornelia paused for a moment to let that revelation sink in. "And I refused. Do you know why, Kururugi?"
"It was because I'm only an Honorary Britannian, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Suzaku, I ordered you to remain in the rear because I didn't want the help of an Eleven. I cannot escape the idea that my sister died because I left you behind for something as foolish as prejudice. As much as I hate to admit it, your only equal in battle was in the cockpit of that red knightmare we fought, and I doubt the pilot is Britannian either. The same enemy that killed Darlton and tore a gaping hole in our lines.
While Darlton sacrificed himself so that we could try to save Euphemia, you were sitting in a trailer waiting for orders. It is only now, after he is gone, that I can see that Darlton was right, and I was so horribly wrong. Suzaku Kururugi, you are the strongest warrior we have here in Area 11, and I cannot defeat the Black Knights without your help. Therefore, I have decided that you shall take his place."
"Take his place? You mean that I-" Suzaku tried to ask in near shock as he began to understand what she was going to do.
"Yes, Kururugi. Your knighting ceremony shall be in four days. I think he would be happy, looking down from the heavens, to see you succeed because of your talent, not some birth given title."
"I am truly honored, your highness."
"Save it for the ravenous media, Kururugi."
"Mind explaining why you have been ignoring me for the past week, Lelouch?" CC asked as she pillaged another slice from the Pizza Hut box.
"I've had too many things on my mind after the Narita operation."
"You mean I'm not important enough to earn a place in your thoughts?"
"That's not what I said-" Lelouch tried to counter.
"It's certainly what you implied, Lelouch. Would you pay more attention to me if I were more useful to you, like Kallen perhaps?"
"Kallen is-" He was cut off before he could say any more.
"I've noticed how much time you two have been spending together, how close you've become. I see the way you look at her, Lelouch. You love her, don't you?" CC grabbed yet another slice of pepperoni pizza.
"What makes you think I love her?"
"The way you look at her. I've seen those eyes ten million times. You always look at someone you love slightly differently than everyone else. What is it that makes you love her so?"
"Kallen's strong, loyal, beautiful, she's just so...so.."
"Perfect?" Lelouch looked her in the eyes as she devoured the last slice of pizza, lacking a response."Tell me, Lelouch, what can I do to be more useful to you."
"There are certain...elements that I would like to have removed."
"I thought the Black Knights were against assassination."
"Officially, yes, the Black Knights have nothing to do with such actions, unofficially however..."
"You want me to be your own personal assassin?" CC concluded.
"I would like you to do some deniable operations, CC. I'll buy you all the pizza you want if you agree." CC lunged forward and threw herself around Lelouch.
"You just wait and see, I'll have you yet!"