"Announcing her royal highness, the empress of Britannia!"
Lelouch wheeled Nunnally forward and stopped her behind the small podium that was set up. A crowd of thousands stood before them below the stage they were on, and millions more were watching intently at home via their television sets. Lelouch returned to the line of guards standing behind her as she began her speech. He couldn't help but feel immensely proud of her. As Zero, he had of course addressed such masses as well in fervent speeches. And now, Nunnally was doing much the same thing, only at an even earlier age.
C.C. stood by his side, as indeed she always had, and he was certain that Orange was lurking around somewhere in the shadows.
"…With the help of Zero, we were able to reach a peaceful agreement with the UFN representatives."
Beneath his mask, Lelouch smiled as the people began chanting. "Zero! Zero! Zero!" Though similar chants of his alias' name were often preceded by horrible personal tragedy, this time Lelouch was glad. They were cheering for him because he had prevented war, rather than because he had declared it. Still, in the back of his mind, he couldn't shake a foreboding sense that something terrible would soon happen. However, he simply dismissed it as bad memories from the past and refocused his attention on the present.
…
Nunnally finished her speech and another cheer went up from the crowd. Once again, Lelouch was immensely proud of her. At the same time, the strange, foreboding feeling from before returned to him. He looked around. There! In his peripheral vision he saw a shadowy figure hiding in the corner of the stage. It reached for something on its belt. It unholstered a pistol and charged straight for Nunnally.
Time slowed to nearly a standstill for Lelouch, yet his mind raced. He tried to figure out a way he could stop this mysterious figure, but it was no use. There was no way he could reach Nunnally in time. He began moving anyway. There had to be something he could do. The figure was getting closer and closer; Lelouch wasn't going to make it. "NUNNALLY!"
She turned and saw what was approaching her. The crowd silenced itself. Then, just as suddenly as it had slowed, time suddenly tripled in speed from Lelouch's perspective. He couldn't even see all the action in its entirety. All he could see was a flash of green, followed shortly by a loud bang and then a gasp from the crowd.
C.C. hit the floor. Blood began to pool under her.
By the time she did, all the guards – including Orange boy – were on top of the assailant, wrestling the gun free from its hand. Lelouch was frozen by shock. His mind was just barely catching up with what had just transpired in what couldn't have been more than a few seconds. He rushed over and knelt by C.C. Her eyes were closed, and the pool of blood underneath her was growing with each passing moment. He had seen her shot many times, sometimes with multiple rounds at once. Sure, those times had been painful for him, but since she was immortal, he had never wept for her. He knew she would always come back. But now, with that trait absent from her, this one bullet tore open his heart, which was already slashed and mangled by previous tragedies, anew.
"Lelouch…"
He grabbed her hand as she opened her eyes. He opened the panels on his helmet so she could look into his eyes, where tears were already beginning to pool. Seeing this, she spoke to him again, so quietly he could barely hear her.
"Lelouch, don't cry for me. You've fulfilled your promise." He couldn't even begin to understand what she meant, and doubted he could even if he were in a better state of mind. She continued. "Just as you promised, I can finally die…" she forced a weak smile "…with a smile." He whispered her full name. She faded, and her hand fell out of his.
He closed the panels on his mask, if only to hide his tears. In a sudden fit of anger, he turned toward the assailant, the guards on top of him parting as he approached. It was apparently a man, but Lelouch couldn't see his face, as there was a white cloth wrapped around it. On this cloth was a crude painting of Zero's mask, as if to portray the symbol while at the same time emphasizing that the wearer was not the original. That angered Lelouch even more. He tore the sheet of the man's face. Secretly, he wished the assailant was someone he knew, perhaps because at least then he could discern some sort of motive. But alas, it was just another random, nameless man. What angered Lelouch even more was that he felt it may be necessary to thank this madman. Despite the pain it caused him, this man had doled out a suitable punishment for Lelouch; the punishment he had sought after for so long. As atonement for all his sins, he would be condemned to an eternal life of solitude.
…
Lelouch approached the house, carrying the cold, lifeless body of C.C. Suzaku came rushing out, but said nothing. They simply proceeded to the spot where they had met several days before.
After the incident had ended and Nunnally's safety had been assured, Lelouch finally admitted to her that their reunion couldn't last. He told her he would take C.C. back to Japan, where she belonged, and that they could never see each other again afterwards.
He and Suzaku dug a simple grave for C.C., then simply stood for awhile in silent mourning. Afterwards, they wordlessly switched places and Suzaku departed in the Sutherland he still had parked in the clearing. Lelouch was alone. He had always known C.C. would die before him. That fact was inevitable now that he was immortal and she was not. But he had expected many more happy decades of simply living together with her. He would have been ready when the time finally came for her to go. But this was too much for him. The only fact he could take solace in was that he was finally paying his debts to the world he had destroyed.
He had found his punishment: it was failure. Failure to predict the flaw in the Zero Requiem that would lead to his immortality. Failure to create a truly gentle world. And above all, failure to protect those he loved most dearly. He thought of them now. Euphy. Shirley. C.C. His failure had condemned him to an eternal life of painful solitude.
And failure was sweet, if somewhat bittersweet.
Thank you all for reading "Sweet, Sweet Failure." I never imagined it would have as much success as it did. I hope you all enjoyed this last installment, despite its dark nature. Stay tuned, as I may surprise you all with more someday.
