He was outside in the palace gardens with Nunnally, enjoying the newly blooming perennials which Nunnally had picked out herself during the rebuilding of the capital. The smell of pollen was strong and even through his mask, he should feel allergies begin to tickle his nose.

His eyes glanced over to the sunflowers on the far end of the garden and he felt childhood memories returning. Nunnally had asked him what flowers he would like to see in the garden and he suggested sunflowers first. They reminded him of that peaceful summer when he had dragged Lelouch with him to go see Mount Fuji. It had been amusing to watch Lelouch have so much trouble keeping up with him and climb up hills. That was the one thing he always one-upped Lelouch on.

"Suzaku." Nunnally's voice called him out of that memory and he turned around to face her. He frowned behind his mask, not liking that Nunnally insisted on calling him by that name.

"Your majesty, please call me Zero."

"Why are you so intent on acting like you aren't Suzaku around me? I know what my brother and you did, and you aren't dead to me, Suzaku."

He shook his head in defeat. It mattered not how many times he told her that he couldn't be called Suzaku Kururugi any longer, that man was dead. Even when they were in the privacy of their own company, it felt as if he was breaking his promise to Lelouch when he allowed her to do as she pleased.

Lelouch.

But that boy who was like looking at an old photograph, he didn't mind that boy addressing him by the name of a dead man. It seemed normal. It felt as if Lelouch was there calling his name once again and everything that had happened was only a nightmare.

He heard Schneizel call for Nunnally, there was some business to be taken care of and he turned to lead her back into the palace.

"No Suzaku. I want you to enjoy the flowers more. It's probably just more paper work that needs to be done anyway. Enjoy the fresh air for once." She smiled at him with those wide her wide blue eyes, before walking slowly back towards the palace. Years of slow and painful physical therapy had granted Nunnally the ability to walk once more and 'Zero' felt as if he had done something right in helping her through the steps of recovery.

He pulled off his leather gloves as he walked further into the garden, finally stopping in front of a large stone water fountain. He placed the gloves on a bench as he walked closer, letting a hand lazily dip into the water, enjoying the cooling sensation. He always felt overheated in this outfit, he doubted he could ever get used to it. It was part of the burden he had to carry, he guessed.

He heard laughter and looked up through the waterfalls to see a familiar silhouette.

"Su-! Mister Zero!" Andre ran quickly around the fountain noticing 'Zero' immediately; stopping himself from calling out the name that was only to be used, "very secretly."

"It's a surprise to see you Andre." 'Zero' patted the boy on the head while he held up his hands for 'Zero' to see what laid in them.

"Look Mister Zero! I found a bunny in the garden!"

'Zero' sat down on the bench, removing his mask and smiling. "You can use Suzaku now, Lulu."

"Yay! Our secret nicknames!" The boy ran in a circle, holding the defenseless rabbit in his small arms before collapsing onto Suzaku's lap with the animal.

"What should we name him? I wonder where I could keep him in my room?"

Suzaku laughed and shook his head, picking the rabbit up in his hands, half expecting it to bite into his hand. "I don't think it would be a good idea to keep him Lulu. Rabbits need to live outside."

Lulu huffed, unsatisfied with being told no. "But-"

"You can't keep him, what about his family? You wouldn't like to be taken away from your Mama or Papa would you?"

"No…"

"Then let's put him back where you found him." Suzaku stood up, leaving his mask and gloves behind as he walked with Lulu further into the denser part of the garden until they reached their destination.

"Here is where I found him…" Lulu pointed down at the base of the tree, small tears dancing on his eye lids.

Suzaku sighed, placing the rabbit onto the ground, watching it hop away quickly before reaching down to Lulu and lifting him up onto his shoulders. "Don't cry now, you can come see the rabbit whenever you want to. You know, I used to have a cat."

"A kitty?" The boy's voice picked up immediately and Suzaku let his head fall back to look Lulu in the face.

"Yep. His name was Arthur. But I had to give him away when I came here."

"Oh… do you think he's happy without you?"

"I hope so. I'm sure he's on some orange farm right now chasing mice."

Lulu laughed at the idea, taking small handfuls of Suzaku's brown hair to keep himself balanced. "Do you think Mama would let me get a kitty?"

"Hm. Maybe! You should ask her." They finally made their way back to the fountain and Suzaku placed the boy back on the ground as he went to pick up his discarded helmet and gloves.

"Suzaku?"

"What is it Lulu?"

"Why don't you let anyone else see your face?"

Suzaku paused, turning to the boy who watched him with worried eyes. He moved close again, kneeling down to meet him eye to eye. "You're the only one Lulu. You're the only one I can trust with my secret. You can keep this secret, right?"

He nodded his head strongly, holding his hand upto his heart. "Oh course I can keep a secret! The Great Mister Zero has asked me to!" Suzaku smiled, rubbing his head before standing back up and placing the mask on his face.

"Make sure you tell me if your mother lets you get a cat."

"I promise."

'Zero' watched as the boy ran to the exit of the garden, turning around to wave at him numerous times before vanishing from his line of sight.