Marianne
The next morning, Lelouch and C.C. awoke from a good night's rest. The sun showered luminously, through every window in the near-empty house. "Cecilia, there is a small town nearby and I will be gone for two or three hours to buy some fresh food. Stay here and don't go wandering off somewhere. I want to be sure you are safe," Lelouch said by the front door.
"I promise my darling," she replied and gave him a farewell kiss, "I am expecting a feast when you get back."
Lelouch climbed onto the wooden cart and said, "Wouldn't a romantic dinner with select meats, mushroom and good wine be better?"
"Oh you just have to be like this, don't you," was C.C.'s response.
"When it comes down to my fair lady, you deserve the best quality! You know that, don't you," he said with a smirk and started the horses.
"I'll be home in a short while," Lelouch hollered as he waved on the rolling cart, "Be good!"
C.C. stood alone, under the glorious sunlight, in her Victorian dress and braided hair. She spoke quietly to herself, "Marianne, your son is so charming. I couldn't thank you any more at a time like this."
Lelouch was whistling on the path to the town ahead. With his eyes facing straight ahead, he missed a girl who stood on the open countryside hills. Her pink locks tousled in the summer breeze when her eyes fixed onto Lelouch's grey vest and white sleeves. She dropped a basket of oranges and they landed flat in a chaotic arrangement. The girl was startled: very startled, but she did not move from her spot, nor did she speak. Her eyes tracked the cart as it passed swiftly until it was too far to see. And then, the girl picked up her orchard harvest and walked calmly as if nothing had happened.
"What did you say," said a man with aquamarine hair.
"I saw Lelouch vi Britannia," the girl replied.
"Ha-ha! That is good news Anya, master Lelouch has finally settled down," the man erupted in pride and joy, "He said he would join us in the countryside when the time is right."
"I don't get it. I starting to have memories of my own but they are so deceptive," said Anya Alstreim.
"You only know half the story about your scheduled execution, Anya! I, Jeremiah Gottwald will tell you what happened before we became orange farmers!"
"Enlighten me then."
"You see, it all began with his former highness' wish. He wanted to build a better world, a gentler world for his sister, Empress Nunnally vi Britannia. But there was another side to this two-sided sword of a tale. He wanted to confront his father and learn the truth of her Excellency Lady Marianne's premature death."
"You are referring to Marianne the Flash?
"Indeed, she was a noble woman in her own right but was brutally assassinated on the day of my first mission. Lelouch was her only son and he wanted answers. But when he requested an audience of the royal court, he was denied an answer and banished to Japan."
"Poor boy, this story was not made public."
"Precisely, it was never spoken of even amongst the royal family, unlike the death of Prince Clovis and Euphemia. Well back to the point, after Lelouch killed his father, he obtained something that gave him immortality, so he switched his plans in reconstructing Britannia to building hatred towards himself. The Zero's Requiem, guised as a mass execution was to end his tyranny and free the world of suffering. The truth was he never executed the people who opposed his government. That was just a message he personally declared to intimidate citizens. All he ever did was imprisoned those who rebelled, mainly aristocratic families and kept them in a prison for up to two months. They were released after the Zero's Requiem. Your scheduled execution was the only one dispatched for the public to see."
"I see, so the Lelouch vi Britannia we all thought we knew faked his image."
"Correct, unlike most monarchs who fake their image as good rulers, he did the opposite."
"Then he died innocent, yet people today blame all the evil on him."
"That is why I respect him as a man of honour and dignity."
"If he is not dead, then we should pay him a visit," Anya suggested.
"Brilliant idea! Why don't we just do that? Our harvest is nearing its end anyways, we might as well pay him a visit sooner or later," Jeremiah agreed.
Lelouch drove his cart into the town with everybody staring at him. "Good morning! I am new around here and I would like to know where the fruit stands are," Lelouch asked the people who froze around his vehicle. Lelouch attempted again but with a sheepish face, "Sorry about the cart, my house is far away."
"Could it be," cried a man from the side.
"He looks like Lelouch vi Britannia," a woman whispered nearby into her husband's ear.
Lelouch looked around and spots a man walking by his cart and asked, "Excuse me but is there a winery somewhere?"
The man looked terrified and fell on the ground, "Good god! Lelouch vi Britannia is back!"
"Sorry, you must have mistook me for him," Lelouch reacted alarmingly, "I am not Lelouch vi Britannia, he is dead! I am just a citizen who just moved into the country! I'm come here to shop for groceries!"
"You look a lot like him, we were just surprised when you drove in town," a woman said.
"That's nice but I'm afraid I am stuck," Lelouch pointed with a wide smile.
"Let him pass," a man from the crowd said.
Lelouch proceeded to the heart of the town as people returned to their daily.
Despite this place being undeveloped, people still recognize my face. There are things that make a person who they are and that is their personality. Unfortunately, people judge by one's outer appearance over the nature of their heart. I would have to act dumb to convince the people around here that I am not a dead emperor resurrected.
"Goodbye everyone! See you soon," Lelouch yelled in a jolly manner on his moving cart. The townsfolk waved back with content looks. One old lady said, "He can't be the tyrant Lelouch vi Britannia. He is too nice of a lad. A good kid he is." Lelouch whistled on his way home, a tune that sounded like a waltz. In the middle of his journey, his horses stopped when a masked man and petite girl was obstructing the way. "Anya! Hi, nice to meet you here! You look pretty in that dress," Lelouch commented cheerfully whilst he was startled, "You too Jeremiah, what brings you here?"
Anya and Jeremiah each went around the horses to each side of the cart and sat beside Lelouch. "I am honoured to meet you again Lelouch vi Britannia," said Jeremiah boldly.
"Please, don't call me by that name anymore. He is history."
"Right, then what should we call you?"
"Call me Lelouch Lamperouge."
"Very well."
"Maybe you could start by dropping the formalities. People would be less suspicious if you are relaxed.
"I will."
"So what have you two been up to?"
"We own an orange orchard just southwest of this direction we're moving. It was actually my private estate."
"Heh-heh, I see you have truly become 'Orange Boy'."
Anya giggled at that statement and looked at Lelouch's handsome face with a soft stare. Jeremiah looked at the groceries between him and Lelouch and couldn't help but notice what he bought, "I see you bought a bottle of Bordeaux wine, steak, a whole bunch of produce and oranges. Did you buy the local ones?"
"Do you mean the oranges," Lelouch asked for clarification.
"Yes."
"Yes, they are yours right?"
"Aw! We could have given you some if you came by our orchards! Anya only saw you today, right Anya!"
"Right," Anya replied.
"To be honest, I just arrived yesterday and moved to a large house where we're heading," Lelouch replied, "Maybe in the future, how about tomorrow?"
"That would be fine," said Jeremiah.
The conversation lasted for another fifteen minutes until…
"Well, home sweet home," Lelouch said.
"Amazing, this is the old Schroeder manor, a summer lodging of the old Schroeders," said Jeremiah.
"I know and I couldn't believe the last owner sold it for only fifty thousand pounds."
"Fifty thousand pounds? It is worth about ten times more! Did you use Geass or something?"
"You make me laugh Jeremiah. I bought this with the money I had before the Zero Requiem."
"Only fifty thousand pounds? That is less than my estate!"
"Well, I welcome you as guests of the house," Lelouch welcomed Jeremiah and Anya into the house. He yelled, "Cecilia, I'm home."
"Who is this Cecilia," Jeremiah asked.
Lelouch smiled and proudly said, "She is my lover."
"You had a secret affair," Jeremiah questioned.
Lelouch chuckled at his reaction and said, "Mr. Gottwald, there is much you do not know about me!" C.C. walked down the stairs in her dress, jumped into his arms and kissed him. Jeremiah cleared his throat. C.C. turned around apologized, "Sorry for my informal introduction. I am Cecilia, nice to meet you!"
"My you have an energetic sweetheart," Jeremiah said.
Anya looked at C.C. with a bored expression.
Lelouch burst out into laughter and couldn't hold himself.
"What is so funny," Anya said monotonously.
"Nothing…Jeremiah your face was just rich back there. Oh you should have looked at it," Lelouch said with uncontrollable laughter. It was quite random but everybody gave in except Anya. She remained utterly confused. Lelouch started to calm down and said, "Come in, I will whip up a meal for all of us."
"Do you need help," Jeremiah offered.
"No. I'm fine by myself. The three of you can get acquainted." Lelouch walked into the kitchen while the others gathered into the vacant living room.
"I used to serve your partner Miss Cecilia but there is a lot I don't know about him," Jeremiah Gottwald began.
"I know her," Anya stated.
"You know her," Jeremiah was puzzled.
"She is C.C., not Cecilia. We have random conversations all the time but I never see her."
"What are you talking about?"
"She must be joking," C.C. said.
"I am not. You don't have to hide it anymore, it is safe now," Anya asserted, "You always called me Marianne and talk about your relationship with Lelouch."
"Marianne," Jeremiah asked, "You knew Marianne?"
"That was why I couldn't remember everything. Marianne took over my mind periodically," Anya explained.
C.C. smiled and confessed the truth, "It is true. Lady Marianne had a Geass power of her own, one that could transfer her mind into another's body. Anya was the one she chose."
"But why," Jeremiah inquired.
"I was there. I witnessed Lady Marianne's death and she saw me. That was the beginning of my frequent amnesias."
"But why would a little girl be in a secured room at night?"
"The truth is, when I first saw Lelouch face as the new emperor, I did not see an emperor in him. Instead, I saw the face of an innocent boy who had been on my camera phone for ten years,"
"You knew him back then?"
"I was a lady in training under the tutelage of Lady Marianne and we always met her kids. Lelouch was the first to ask for my name and I told him I was Anya. We were at a garden and he picked two roses. I liked him so I took a picture so I wouldn't forget his kind face. He handed me one of the roses and said, "Here you go Anya, just remember these roses represent our friendship." Till this day, I still remember that day over many others."
"Wow, I never knew he was always the ladies man."
"Returning to how I obtained Lady Marianne's memories. I wanted to see Lelouch in private so I snuck into the bedchambers in the Aries Palace after dark, which was against the curfew rule. Instead, I found Lady Marianne and Nunnally. Nunnally was giving her mother a goodnight hug, so I hid behind the stairs, away from their sight. After that, it was a blur. I heard bullets and Lelouch's voice moments later. When I came out, my mind went blank and my memories fragmented. You were right, her assassination was brutal; I was there."
"So that was why you told me you don't have memories."
"Ten years later, she came in," Anya said as she pointed at C.C., "He had probably forgotten about me and seeing how introverted I am, I have given up hope."
Lelouch came out of the kitchen, holding four plates of food in two hands and said, "Dinner is served!"
C.C. stood and said, "It's such a shame our evening plans were ruined."
"We have a lot of time Cecilia, but guests are more important. Now it is an evening for all of us to enjoy," Lelouch said with optimism.
The company of four joined at the dining hall but there was no table in sight. "Silly me, I forgot we don't have any furniture yet," Lelouch exclaimed, "I guess we have to eat on the floor! Sorry about that!"
"This is delicious Lelouch; I never knew you could cook so well. Princes just aren't meant to do that," Jeremiah remarked.
"Living alone with Nunnally in Japan led to the need of taking care of her. It was out of necessity and I had to cater to Nunnally's expectations so that was how I became proficient at making dishes," Lelouch answered.
"Is something wrong Anya," Lelouch asked, seeing her down face.
"It's nothing really," was her reply.
"You hardly touched your food Anya. Is it too strong?"
"No, it's good."
"Well, the food will not eat itself! Here, I will feed you. Have a taste of this creamed mushroom; I remember you used to love it at Aries Palace!"
Tears flowed out of Anya's eyes, perhaps the first in ten years. "Anya, are you crying," Jeremiah asked, "You never cried."
Lelouch stared at her eyes as she cried emotionally and said, "Cecilia… I."
"You have to talk to her," C.C. said.
Lelouch nodded and held Anya's hand, guiding her to the living room. When they left, Jeremiah said, "I've never seen her smile and I certainly never seen her cry before."
"Women like to cry with others around them. She was probably moved by Lelouch's memory of their childhood," C.C. deduced.
"I see," Jeremiah said after a sigh.
Lelouch and Anya were kneeling on the floor under the rays of the setting sun. He asked her, "What has gotten into you? Is something bothering you?"
"No," she wept.
"Is it someone?"
She nodded.
"Who is it," he asked.
"You," Anya replied.
"Me? What did I do to harm you?"
"You didn't harm me in any way. I am crying tears of happiness. Now that I know you still remember me back at Aries Palace."
"Of course I do, you were always with Nunnally and I that I treated you like a second sister."
"I was your second sister?"
"Yes, I liked you a lot Anya."
Anya did what was unexpected of her; she hugged Lelouch and whispered into his ear, "I liked you a lot as well."
Lelouch patted her on the back and said, "I am glad you still remember after all of your reports of amnesia. I am very proud you persisted to record your memories."
Anya stared at his hypnotic violet eyes and said, "You commanded me to remember it, to remember the roses."
Lelouch wasn't very sure what she meant about the roses but decided to go with what she said, "Yes, the roses. They were special weren't they?"
"They were to the two of us," Anya replied.
When the sun was about to set, Lelouch drove Anya and Jeremiah back to their orchard. It was a chatty evening, between Jeremiah and Lelouch at least. Anya on the other hand was quiet, like usual, and thought to herself, "Marianne, you have screwed up two thirds of my life thus far. But you have taught me a lot and I thank you. I thank you for keeping my personal memories of Lelouch intact. It was one of the few rewarding ones. Rest in peace my fair lady."