A/N: Okay, I am overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter. So here is the list of people I want to thank for encouraging me to hurry up and get my work done so I could write more! SecondToNon, .Alex Cullen's Productions, yukisaru, Great Aunt Florence, asami-chan37, SuzaLuluLOVER, GoGothGirl, Master Elora Dannan, enchanted nightingale, Silver-White Tiger and Raven the Joker. (I think I thanked most of you already for the reviews.) also my favourite and alert-ees: darkryubaby, UNTensaZangetsu, Candelabra, Eevetta, Ireleda, Jayuna, lady of Mystery and Chaos, Lanslyna, Naome 666, Val-Creative, YaanKarasu, Startfruit-22, tripfag, 00Styx00, 13thhourbells, Vuli, Kuso-baba, Ura Hawkings, sylee, Murderous Phantasm, xxyumiulrichxx and Dagzar. And finally Dragonrider4000 all the encouragement…

Wow, there's a lot of you…

Anyway since I know you've been waiting, time to catch up with the other half of the dynamic duo…

Disclaimer: I still don't own Code Geass…

Suzaku was annoyed. No, that was an understatement, he had been absolutely livid when he'd figured it out. It had been like some form of betrayal, although he wasn't sure if he could convince anybody else of that. In fact, if he hadn't done so already, he would have seriously considered killing Lelouch for putting him through this. He hated himself for thinking that, after all it was his job to be the one who remembered Lelouch with respect, not with malice; he owed it to his friend who had managed to bring about the peace they'd both been fighting for.

All the same, he couldn't help but be just a little bit irked. At first he'd simply been upset because Lelouch had left him and his sister; they both missed him terribly. What had been worse was that they couldn't grieve for him openly, since they were supposed to act relieved that the supposed tyrant was dead. He knew Nunally was distressed, he'd passed by her quarters and heard her crying by herself enough times that first week, and he wasn't allowed to reassure her. He wasn't allowed to reveal his identity under any circumstance, he'd promised Lelouch. 'Kururugi Suzaku' was dead to the world and so it should remain. And what could Zero have done to reassure her? Not a lot; he'd been the one that killed him after all. But he didn't have the right to be distressed over this, or annoyed with Lelouch's memory about it. He'd already taken out all his feelings on Lelouch when he'd revealed the plan. And in the end he'd gone along with it anyway, since it was a good plan and would work, and Lelouch did believe his death was a necessary atonement. Suzaku wanted atonement as well. What would one more death be on top of the pile of those he'd killed, even if it was his friend, if it meant that finally peace was achieved?

Of course Lelouch was a lot more than just a friend to Suzaku. As children they'd been inseparable. Well… until Britannia came along with its war and separated them. But it had been Britannia that had brought them back together again years later, before Lelouch had became Zero and Suzaku the pilot of the Lancelot, setting themselves up as enemies, if only just. In fact it almost seemed like their meeting had triggered those major changes in each of their lives. Lelouch as Zero had saved his life shortly after that. He remembered Zero calling him an idiot for refusing to join their cause, and he wondered if he should have known then the identity of the man in the mask.

Later, he'd met Euphemia, that sweet and gentle princess, and she'd sent him back to school. To Lelouch's school in fact; another remarkable coincidence. At first he'd tried to keep his distance from the former prince, as Lulu seemed quite popular and Suzaku assumed that associating with an eleven would not help. Not to mention that he was one of few people who actually knew of Lelouch's former identity which had to be kept secret at all costs. But somehow, after that insane chase of Arthur, where Suzaku had saved Lelouch's life, Lelouch had managed to get him easily accepted by the rest of the school, and especially by his friends on the student council, although Nina had remained cautious.

Eventually he'd found out that the seemingly carefree Lelouch he knew at school, that he had believed to be his best friend, had been Zero. Had been the one that killed Euphemia, had been the one to continuously fight against him yet inexplicably spare his life at every turn. He had never felt so betrayed. At that point in time he'd thrown their apparent lie of a friendship behind him, and turned Lelouch over to the emperor.

When they'd met again, Suzaku had been very wary. Although Lelouch had supposedly had his memories wiped, Zero had returned, and he couldn't help be suspicious, he knew how good an actor Lelouch was. As it turned out, he'd been right to be distrustful of Lelouch, since he had regained his memories, and had even managed to convince those keeping watch on him to join his side somehow.

Shortly after Shirley's death, and after the emperor had challenged Zero to a battle for the world, Lelouch had confessed to him, begging him to protect Nunally for him. He'd confronted his 'friend', and convinced himself that Lelouch, despite his methods, did actually want to do the right thing, despite the constant lies he'd spoken. Suzaku could tell at that point that it was a form of defence, that Lelouch found it near impossible to just speak honestly. He'd been willing to join Lelouch's side there and then, but Schniezel had interrupted. The look of betrayal on Lelouch's face, as he jumped to the conclusion that this was something Suzaku had planned, had been enlightening. Perhaps he'd just been misunderstanding Lelouch due to the situations. Perhaps it was all a matter of unfortunate circumstance on Lelouch's side that had caused Suzaku to feel betrayed.

He'd gone to kill the emperor, only to discover Lelouch was there with the same intent. There, in that strange place, he'd watched Lelouch destroy his parents for the future of the world. He'd agreed to help Lelouch to bring about a peaceful future. He'd been there, as the 'Knight of Zero', when Lelouch had declared himself emperor, and geassed all the naysayers present into submission. He'd fought on Lelouch's side as he stood in battle against the rest of the world, eventually emerging victorious.

And then finally, he was Lelouch's killer…

When Suzaku thought about Lelouch, he preferred to think of the smiling easy-going version that he'd seen at the school, as opposed to the vengeful version Zero had represented. Neither of those truly represented the real Lelouch though, they were both masks he wore to hide his real self. Suzaku had known the real Lelouch. He hadn't worn his masks so much when they'd been children, although perhaps that was just a lack of practice. The real Lelouch was the one that had revealed his plan, Zero Requiem, and asked for Suzaku's help, had apologised profusely for all the trouble and hurt he'd caused in the past, during that brief period when it had only been Lelouch, Suzaku and CC.

CC remained a mystery to Suzaku. He knew she was immortal like that other boy, VV, and that she'd given Lelouch his geass, but other than that he knew nothing. He'd often wondered about what sort of relationship the two had held, especially considering the amount of trust Lelouch had shown towards the green-haired woman. Despite this he'd eventually felt a degree of kinship with the mysterious woman. They'd both wanted to protect Lelouch after all, as his sword and his shield.

Well… Suzaku had fulfilled his role very well. He'd certainly been Lelouch's sword. Fighting for him, and helping to parry blows against him. He'd been a sword for him quite literally when he'd run him through with the self-same, somewhat ridiculous, pink sword Lelouch had waved around. He remembered the expression of heartfelt gratitude in Lelouch's eyes as he'd done so, and the tears he'd shed upon seeing it.

He thought back on Lelouch's final words:

"You will be the defender of justice, and wear a mask forever."

Had Lelouch known then what he was asking?

"You will sacrifice all of your own happiness for the world… eternally."

Had Suzaku understood what he was agreeing to when he'd accepted?

No he hadn't. If he had… he'd probably still have agreed. This was Lelouch, asking him to protect the world. He couldn't reject that, no matter the cost.

Even if 'eternity' did turn out to be truly eternity…

He wasn't sure how it had happened. He couldn't remember when he'd first noticed. There had been many situations over the first few years in which he could have died. But he put his survival down to the geass Lelouch had placed on him. The geass that even now still gripped his body from time to time, forcing him to move in ways he might not otherwise have managed. The geass he had some conscious control over, activating it and fighting against it when the situation called for it. Perhaps it was this geass that had caused it? Or perhaps the geass was just one of many contributing factors. He knew he'd probably never get the answer, and never was an awfully long time.

He'd noticed that he seemed incredibly resilient to illnesses three years after Lelouch's death, when practically everyone in the royal household had come down with a cold. At the time he'd put it down his continued good health to his being physically fitter, and to the mask he wore every time he left his chambers acting as protection.

Eventually it had come to his attention that he didn't appear to be any older than he had been when he'd first donned Zero's mask. Of course, since nobody ever saw his face, no one had been able to point out that he looked remarkably young for his age. Time continued to pass by, and Suzaku remained unchanged.

Circumstances had forced him to conclude that maybe, just maybe, he was now immortal. Or at the very least he was now immune to injury, illness and age… Who knew, perhaps in a few years time, when he hit the age his body would have expired at naturally, he would just suddenly drop dead. Suzaku was extremely annoyed with his situation because he didn't know what was going on, there was no conceivable way for him to find out, and he absolutely could not talk to anyone about it. So instead, he blamed Lelouch. This was remarkably easy to do when the other was no longer around to protest otherwise.

'Live on', he'd said. Well, when exactly would you like me to live on until?

Actually, there was one person he could have spoken to. That person had known the identity of Lelouch's killer. That person would also likely have some understanding of what he was experiencing. Suzaku could not visit him however; it would attract too much attention. Besides, that person was in hiding and Suzaku only had the vaguest idea where to look. It had been a long while since they'd been around, but no news of their death had been reported.

Suzaku knew he should stop reflecting so much on the events of his past, and stop thinking so selfishly. It was his job to protect the world and its future. He should be thanking Lelouch, or what ever it was that had caused this, and be more focused on the present. The events of fifty years ago may still have been talked about, but were beginning to fade out of living memory. The present generation couldn't really hope to understand what it had been like. There weren't even Knightmare Frames around any more. The majority of the war based technology had been scrapped shortly after Lelouch's death, and that which remained was now in museums. His own Lancelot had been destroyed in its last battle; it was how he'd faked his death. Not that there wasn't Knightmare-like technology around, but it was now being used for more peaceful purposes, such as in construction, agriculture and mining. This was more in line with what the Ashford Foundation had intended, before the military had got a hold of the technology. Occasionally old Knightmares had been brought out for use in ceremonial occasions, but with all their offensive weaponry disengaged.

And now… Well at the moment Suzaku was worried about Nunally. Of course he was always worried about Nunally, since that was his responsibility, but she was sixty-five years old now, and he was increasingly worried about her health.

Just as his thought's turned to Nunally, there was a knock at the door of his chambers. Turning away from staring at the mirror morosely, he swept up and donned his Zero mask. Opening the door revealed a young woman he recognised as one of Nunally's attendants. He stood in the doorway expectantly, waiting for the girl to speak.

"Lord Zero, her majesty requests an audience with you in her private chambers."

Suzaku nodded his acquiescence, and assured the girl he'd be along shortly.

A/N: Ok… I answered one question, but I set up a couple of other mysteries. Who is 'that person' that Suzaku refers to? Why does Nunally want to see Suzaku? When the hell are Lelouch and Suzaku going to be in the same place at the same time?

And I have a question for you guys. If I could somehow magically bring Rolo into this story, should I? I've made a poll, so go vote! Again, plot suggestions are welcome, because though this is developing it still doesn't really have a direction.