The tinkle of a bell rang throughout the nearly empty bar. The barman didn't even look up. He knew who it was. Nobody else came in here at noon. A glass was already cleaned and ready, filled halfway with brandy. He didn't care what it was .Only that it was strong.

The man sat down in front of him, placing a hundred pound note on the counter before downing the drink. A sigh escaped the man's lips, his one good eye not hidden by layers and layers of bandages downcast and dark.

"Women troubles?" The bartender, a large, stout man with a prominent moustache. In all his years of working in this bar, there were few reasons a man would walk in at such a time and look the way that the man across from him did.

The bartender found himself the target of a bemused, but wistful stare. "I guess you could say that."

Jeremiah Gottwald was a man of virtue, of honor. A knight by birth and a noble by blood. To fail his lord was possibly the gravest error he could ever make in his lifetime. And now it was nigh impossible to call himself a knight any longer.

They were his greatest mistakes, failing the Vi Britannias. In his time in Japan he had read about the mythical samurai. Warriors who lived and died by their masters. When their lord died, they did as well. He now well understood the desire. That listless feeling, that lack of direction, left him hollow. Along with the guilt of broken oaths, and now the once proud Jeremiah Gottwald found himself wishing for the embrace of death, or at least something similar.

Refrain had been an option, and it came to mind almost immediately. The red vials and small syringe beckoned to him, especially after his permanent resignation from the army. Most assumed it was due to the scandals, and he let them think that instead of hunting for the truth. After all, how could he protect the general populace when he could barely protect those close to his heart?

"'Follow you to the ends of the Earth', my ass." He shook around the glass, filled again with brandy.

Three black marks on his name. The Vi Brittanias were that, and more.

Marianne, the mother, was his first post. When he was fresh out of the Military academy in Colchester he had wanted to pilot the newly minted Knightmare Frames. He wanted to be out there, fighting for the glory of the Empire. He was quickly diverted away by the future Empress Marianne herself, after being taken under her wing. He admired "The Flash", and with good reason. She was the best pilot in the army. That admiration continued later into his life and never faded. After her marriage and scandalous induction into the ranks of royalty Jeremiah practically jumped on the opportunity to become her guard, and eventually, possibly even her knight.

And then she was killed.

In retrospect, it was honestly stupid to obsess over the failure of the case to lead to a conviction, but he had sworn an oath to protect her and her family. And he had broken that promise.

He could still remember the funeral. A quiet, discreet affair with only close family and friends. The crowd should have congested entire blocks, with wreaths and bouquets flooding the cemetery itself. But it wasn't. Only the Asplunds, the Li Britannia sisters, and Lelouch Vi Britannia herself were present. The younger Vi Britannia was still in critical condition. Overcast, but not rainy, Lelouch's futile attempts to suppress tears were visible for all to see.

"WHY?! Why didn't you protect her?"

The fists pounded against his thigh, the young girl's punches barely hurting him physically. But in his heart, he was close to breaking. Why hadn't he done something, anything? Replace some of the guards in secret, add more patrols, put observers on the Empress. He had followed Cornelia's orders, and his pride paid for it. As binding as his oath to the crown was, in his heart, his oath to the Vi Britannia's was even stronger.

Jeremiah had thought of retiring after his failure at Aries Palace, but the two children of Marianne kept him in place.

After the supposed deaths of the sisters, he found himself in another bout of depression. His work in the Purist Faction had barely saved him from despair.

The discovery that Lelouch and Nunnally were alive had seemed like a miracle, God's second chance given to an unworthy fool. But he had taken it like a man in a desert would water. He swore another oath of loyalty to Lelouch. He would follow her even to his death.

What a load of shit that was now.

Marianne, killed on his watch. Right under his nose. Strike One.

Zero had been executed. Lelouch, and her persona, were now dead. Strike Two.

Nunnally was most likely in captivity, or worse. Lelouch's last order to him was to protect her sister, and he couldn't even do that. Strike Three.

If life was a baseball game, Jeremiah would most definitely be out. And it would be unlikely for anything upstairs to give him another chance to bat. He was done as a knight. There was no honor left to protect, no master to follow. There was just about nothing for him anymore.

The bar's bell rang once more.

The click of the door behind her made Nunnally's heart beat slightly faster. She thought back and realized that she had never left her home by herself until now. Barring the time with V.V she had never been outside without a close friend either. Then again, nobody was home to take her.

The hallway was eerily empty, although that wasn't surprising at the current time. People were either at work or at school.

Outside was a different matter. A cacophony of ordered chaos embraced the girl as she left the lobby. The assault of sounds didn't change in intensity with the recovery of her sight, and she could extract as much information as ever. The birds chirping on the balconies behind her, the breeze rustling trees and grass in the gardens, children playing in the nearby schools. She still heard it all.

The wheels of her chair rolled from bumpy flagstones to smooth asphalt. She ventured left, towards the store Sayoko always took her when shopping. People saw looked at her as she passed, but few actually stared. It had been a while since she starting living in the new SAZ, and people quickly got used to the soft spoken girl and her maid.

Nunnally stopped by a public park, pulling out a book to read. She didn't care what it was, only that it seemed large enough to fill up her time.

She left for the recesses of her mind, baring little attention to the moving world around her. Inside, everything was static. Fragments of memories stood frozen in glass around her, waiting to be touched and played like some eccentric thumbnail for a computer file. She walked-yes, walked-through the floating shards, each one smooth and cool to the touch. Many were just pieces of black glass. No images to go with the moments, but many were still quite comforting to her. These were her past. Moments frozen forever, ready to be played back.

This was all she was. Memories and the past reflected, stuck in some temporal limbo, never moving past those peaceful days seven years ago. Everything Lelouch did for her was to return to those days.

How selfish of her.

"Hello?" She yelled into the expanse around her. It was a blind guess, but she somehow had a gut feeling that whatever had given her Geass was still somewhere within her.

There wasn't much of an answer. The empty space utterly silent.

Nunnally thought back to the party, to what had happened. The promises she had made to… whatever it was. Bringing peace to the world? Even she knew how idealistic and impossible that was. With free will came conflict, that was the nature of people. No, the world was too big of an ambition. Maybe just… Japan. Peace to Japan. Yes, that would be enough. With her power she could do anything. She could make the world Lelouch wanted for her. She could-

"You could what?" Nunnally spun around to face the voice behind her. She found herself staring at a doppelganger, a duplicate of her with snow white hair and red Geass symbols in her eyes.

"I know what you're thinking. You could just take away the anger. You could take away the hate from people. You could make the Japanese and Britannians love each other." It crossed its arms. "You can't. You never will. Geass is powerful, but it has its limits. There's a time limit for how long an emotion you give or take away lasts, depending on who and what you're affecting."

The twin huffed and smirked. "Have you even used it since then?"

Nunnally's head sunk. She hadn't been able to duplicate what had happened at the party since then. No matter how hard she tried.

"This is going to be more work than I thought." It pinched the bridge of its nose. "Fine. You don't want to be powerless. You don't want others to do anything for you anymore. I'll help you. I'll teach you how to use your Geass."

Nunnally looked up at it. "Really?"

"Yes, yes, yes."It sounded quite annoyed. "But not right now." It punctuated with a yawn. "I'm still resting. Not used to a human body yet." It glared at Nunnally. "Don't wake me up like this again."

The apartment was as empty as Nunnally had left it when she had returned.

There was much for her to mull over now. The nature of her power, how it worked, and Nemo itself. It had told her its name before she left. "It means nobody." It had said.

Her power wouldn't solve everything. There wasn't any way for it to. It couldn't pull out all the anger in all the people in the SAZ, let alone Japan or the World. She had to think of something else. There had to be another way.

The sound of the front door opening again knocked the girl out of her musings

"Mistress?" Nunnally heard from the doorway.

"Yes, Sayoko?" She replied to the maid.

"I'm back from picking up the groceries. Are you all fine with pasta for tonight?"

"Ask Kallen and Milly when they get back. I'm OK with it." She wheeled her way over to the kitchen counter, where Sayoko sat, holding a curious black box.

"What is it?" Nunnally asked, settling right beside her friend and caretaker. Her attention shifted to the box itself, small and square, but highly embellished with purple lining and painted flowers. In the center of the face facing the two there was a letter N raised in gold. There was no question who it was from and who it was for.

"The mistress had this made a while ago, and told me to give you it when I thought was right." Sayoko looked pensive, distressed almost. "I think now is a good time."

Nunnally handled the box with care, running her fingers along the carvings. The piece was highly textured, definitely meant for a blind person to handle.

It was definitely meant to be opened, the hollow sound essentially confirmed that. But there was no latch or lock or opening at all. Nunnally looked at the N again, surrounded by a raised ring. There was a little notch on the wood between the N and the outside ring, and Nunnally pulled it off, revealing a small glass plate beneath with a raised fingerprint pattern on top.

She hesitated from pressing her finger against the glass. Should she? Should she take this gift from her sister? The one who went to war with Britannia for her? The one who killed for her? Didn't she hate Lelouch? Nunnally searched her heart, almost desperate to find something to hate.

There wasn't anything. As much as she hated the thing that Lelouch became, she couldn't hate her sister. The one who stayed with her, who carried her to safety after the invasion. Who smiled and loved and cared for her, who made sure she was always happy. No, she didn't hate Lelouch, or Zero. She just missed her sister.

The click of a hidden latch signaled the box unlocking, and Nunnally pulled it open.

The inside was relatively sparse, with only a few rolls of paper within. One of them was much thicker and heavier, and was covered in small dots. It took a moment for Nunnally to realize that it was in braille.

She traced her fingers along the page, closing her eyes to read as if it were habit.

Dear Nunnally,

If you're reading this letter, then I am either dead or unable to take care of you further. There is no way I'll ever be able to make it up to you, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being careless. I'm sorry for still trying to solve mother's case. I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy. I'm sorry for leaving you alone.

Nunnally started to tear up. Her finger shook, slowing down how fast she could read.

But apologizing won't solve anything. All I can say is live, live Nunna. Change your name, change how you look, run away. Don't come back and try and avenge me. Forget about being a princess again. Finish school, get a job, and live. Please, do this for me.

Tears hit the paper, staining the edges before being absorbed into the thick parchment. She did care. Lelouch did want her happiness. Nunnally knew that, deep down. But hearing her sister say that, even beyond the grave, through this sheet of paper, brought her to tears.

The letter returned to a cordial, business-like tone.

In this box you'll find the account and PIN numbers to several dummy bank accounts I've set up. Within these accounts are funds totaling 3.5 million Britannian pounds, as of the date I am writing this. All for you Nunnally.

I'm sorry that I'm not here anymore, and I hope you'll live happily without me. Just know that wherever I am, I'm looking out for you, my angel. I love you.

Lelouch

The tears came in force now, and Nunnally placed the now stained letter back onto the table before breaking down, crying into her hands. Sayoko stroked her back as she sobbed, silently sympathetic. Along with that, she could feel Lelouch's love, once again. Farther away, yes. But still there, lovingly watching.

Don't come and avenge me. Live. Please.

"You idiot." Nunnally thought. "How am I supposed to do that now?"