Lelouch strode elegantly down the hallway in the government bureau of Britannia's new capital. Upon arriving at the Britannian embassy in Japan, he learned that Nunnally had departed shortly beforehand and returned to the homeland. As Zero, her right-hand man, it was easy to acquire the transportation necessary to follow her. He detested wearing Zero's costume once again, but it was necessary. Though the mask was fairly light physically, he may as well have been strapping a cinder block to his face, emotionally. Eventually, he came upon his destination: the door leading into Nunnally's office. He paused for a moment, collecting himself. Then, he drew a deep breath and entered the room.

As he suspected, he was not the only one in the room. There were a number f advisors milling about; a few carrying stacks of papers and folders. In the corner he spotted Jeremiah Gottwald. He had expected to see him as well. His zealous loyalty to Lady Marianne – and by extension, her children – meant that he would guard Nunnally with his life. Lelouch was grateful for that, and was now glad that he had never told Orange boy the truth about Marianne. However, straight ahead of him was the real object of interest, sitting in a wheelchair behind a small desk.

Nunnally...

She looked like she had been through hell and back. Her long hair was unkempt, she had dark crescents under her eyelids, and her eyes were somewhat reddish, as if she had been crying heavily a short time ago. At the moment she was hunched over some paperwork, consulting with two advisors at her side as she did so. Eventually, she looked up and saw him.

"Oh, Zero. You've returned. I trust your flight was enjoyable?" she said.

"Empress Nunnally. Might I have a word with you in private?" he responded in the same flat, emotionless tone he always used as Zero. He cringed as he recalled how many deaths that voice had caused. In reality, it was all part of his act. Beneath the mask, he was overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions. However, he couldn't tell which had a greater grip on him: the pain of seeing her in such a distraught state, or the pure joy of seeing her at all.

She looked slightly annoyed at his request, but then nodded. "Alright." He wheeled her into an adjacent room, and she ushered all its occupants out upon their entry. Lelouch shut and locked the door after the final person had left. Then he proceeded to draw all curtains in the room and make absolutely sure they would be seen by no one. Nunnally broke the silence, again seeming somewhat annoyed. "What is it Suzaku? Can we make this quick? The meeting with the UFN leaders is going to begin shortly and I still have no idea how I'm going to deal with them." As she was finishing, Lelouch began to remove his mask. "It's been a long time, little sister."

She gasped. The last time they had been "reunited," they were enemies, and she had told him she was willing to kill him. Now, it was as if she were seeing him for the first time. Lelouch watched as a sea of emotions played across her face: shock, surprise, fear, and finally unrestricted joy. She broke down, buried her face in his stomach, wrapped her arms around him and wept. Part of her thought she had to be asleep for such a miracle to be possible, but if she was, she didn't care. She would rather endure endless sleep, if this was the reality she faced, than wake up to the world of stress she now lived in. "Oh big brother," her muffled words came to him, "is it really you?" she asked, trying to determine if this indeed was reality. He placed a comforting, gloved hand on the top of her head.

"Yes, Nunnally. It's all over, I've ended it all. I've made the world a gentler place, just as you wished. We can finally be together without fear." She clutched him even harder and wept even more freely. He knew he was lying to her again. They obviously couldn't be together. After all, he was dead, and she knew that as well. But he couldn't help himself. He wanted to revel in the moment just as much as she did. He would tell her later, after things had been set straight, and he had found his punishment.

"Lelouch, I'm back!" C.C. called as she entered the house. However, when she saw who occupied the house, she froze.

"C.C.? So this is where you guys have been hiding," Suzaku said.

"Suzaku…where's Lelouch?"

Suzaku sighed. "He went after Nunnally, so he's probably in the capital by now…Hey wait!"

She was already gone. He sighed again and reclined back in his chair. He was beginning to sympathize with Lelouch, condemned to an eternity of solitude. Suzaku couldn't even stand it for a few days, let alone eternity. At least as Zero he could still interact with people. He had gained a whole new respect for the sacrifices his old friend had made.

"We should disarm. Zero's actions have caused an outbreak of peace throughout the world! We have no more need for weapons," said Ohgi.

"True, but you never know when an extremist faction may arise and disturb the peace. You of all people should know that!" countered Xingke.

They were debating the topic that had been threatening to cause the world to split once more: whether or not the world should disarm and disband its armies. Besides Xingke and Ohgi, Nunnally, Zero, Tohdoh, and a slew of other representatives from the UFN and Britannia sat at a large round table.

Now, Tohdoh spoke up. "Zero, do you have anything to add to this?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," said Lelouch from behind the mask. "There is a way to keep the world's armies intact while at the same time removing all hostile intentions." Everyone at the table, including Nunnally, gave him a blank stare. "Go on," encouraged Tohdoh.

"Deploy them to the civic sector. Strip all Knightmares of their weaponry and employ them in maintenance or emergency services. Hell, even the Knight police could probably use a few extra units. Think of how useful they would be in construction or firefighting; things of that nature. And this way, should the need arise – and you correctly surmised that it shouldn't, Ohgi – they can easily be recalled and refit for war."

The entire table simply gaped at him in amazement, until slowly, they began to agree. Eventually it became unanimous and the discussion was able to move forward onto more peaceful matters. As they were adjourning, Ohgi clasped a hand onto Lelouch's shoulder. "Thank you, Zero. You may well have just saved the world yet again."

After the meeting they returned to Nunnally's quarters, where she had asked to be left alone again, so she and Lelouch could be together. Again, they both knew this reunion couldn't last, but they enjoyed procrastinating on their eventual separation. They reminisced about Ashford and friends long gone. They laughed and enjoyed themselves. Once again, Lelouch felt the creeping sensation as his conscience screamed at him for enjoying himself when he should be enduring punishment. Before he could react, however, the last person he expected to see rudely burst into the room as she so often did.

"Miss C.C.!" cried Nunnally. Lelouch was absolutely speechless, a fact made more significant when C.C. joined him on the couch he sat upon and kissed him. When he finally regained himself, he spoke: "what are you doing here?"

"I still have my end of the contract after all; I'll always be by your side." She said. "Not exactly the easiest task in the world, since you're always doing reckless, idiotic things like this."

Nunnally laughed with glee, probably for the first time in almost a year. Lelouch was reduced to speechlessness once more, but he was still happy. The three were together again, just like old times.


A/N: Thanks for the continued support all. Hope you've been enjoying the expanded story thus far. I have plans for on more chapter so stay tuned!