A/N: Oh man, took some time, but here it is! As promised!

Dislciamer: Code Geass is not my property.

Pt. I

Lelouch slipped on his school uniform jacket. He was exhausted from running around all night with the Black Knights, but as it was a school day, he had no choice but to prepare for the day ahead. C2 was still lying on the bed, wrapped in the blanket that the Britannian had been forced to share ever since she had appeared in his life. Lazily watching him get dressed, she asked, "Another day acting as a harmless student…. When are you planning of breaking your façade?"

"When all of the conditions have been cleared, and I can show the world who I really am without Nunnally being in any immediate danger. That's when. When the time calls for it, I'll shed this mask forever. Until then, I'll have to settle for this." he replied while packing his black briefcase

"Hmph… One would think you hate having a normal life, even if it is fake."

"A normal life won't change the world, C2." he countered.

"Yes, well, that's debatable."

"I haven't the time for trivial debates like that. I have to go to class."

"Only to sleep through them. It'd be better just to skip class and sleep in, Lelouch." the immortal advised.

"Teachers mark attendance. Besides, I don't always sleep through class."

"No. Although when you don't, you rarely pay attention, as I've learned."

"Even if I don't pay attention, I can outsmart any and every one of them."

"Ah ha, but you could never be able to outrun them." said the emerald-haired girl. Before he left his bedroom, the violet eyes of the exiled prince landed on the languid intruder of his life, and told her, "There's a festival today. I need you to obey me this one time and stay inside, witch. The press will be crawling all over campus, and if you're caught on camera, Britannia will know immediately where you are. Do you understand?"

"Yes, fine. Whatever." she rolled over so that her back was to him.

"In return, I'll give you my credit card so you can entertain yourself with all of the pizza you want."

"No need. I already took it from your wallet."

He glared at her for going through his things, but left without saying anything more. Once she was alone again, C2 stretched and wondered out loud, "And what kind of trouble shall we brew today?"

. . .

"No, the horseback riding club gets lot 46, not 23. They're refusing to change? Tell them that the student council has ordained that they get lot 46 for the festival today, and if they don't move, they'll lose half of their funding. If they're still not agreeing, tell them to come speak to one of the representatives."

Lelouch snapped his cellphone shut and rubbed his temples. School festivals were always trivial and frustrating events that simply wasted his time and energy. Although he was grateful towards the Ashford family for giving shelter to himself and Nunnally, he was always a little irritated at how they allowed a mere teenage girl make a prestigious school such as Ashford Academy seem more like a playground, and less of an elite learning institute. He stood up to walk away from the bench he had been occupying, when his dark thoughts towards the fairs the student council often hosted were interrupted by a familiar voice yelling, "Luuuuuuuuu~luuuuuuu!"

"What is it, Shirley?" he asked, donning a more pleasant voice. The orange-haired teenager rushed up to him and said, "President is looking for you. She said she needed you to do something. She's over at lot 3, the swimming club's spot."

"Alright. Who'll take the calls though?" they began to walk together in the direction of the outdoor aquatic facilities.

"Nina will. It's all been figured out." she replied.

As the two made their way to the school's pool, Lelouch inquired, "Do you know why the President is looking for me?"

She only blushed and mumbled an answer that he couldn't hear. He brushed it aside, as Shirley usually acted this way whenever she spoke to him. When they arrived, the student council president ran up to the secret terrorist and head-locked him. Spinning him around, she asked in a cheerful voice, "Lelouch, would you be a darling and help me out with this contest?"

"What… What do you want me to do?" he managed to choke out.

"The prize-giver!" she answered while lifting her two arms into the air for more pizzazz. Lelouch, finally free, took a deep breath to fill his lungs with much needed oxygen before repeating, "Prize-giver?"

"Yup!"

"The prize for what?" he took notice of how Shirley's cheeks were quickly starting to blush.

"For the diving contest! The swimming club is holding a diving contest, where the audience is going to place bets on whoever they think will perform the best. The participant who wins will get a reward from you, and whoever bet on that person will have a chance to be in a lottery to win this enormous Cheese-kun!" Milly explained excitedly.

"Alright, but what's the prize?"

"A kiss!"

"What?!"

"The entire club voted on who they wanted it to be from out of the student council, and it was unanimous! Right, Shirley?" the blonde wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

"U-um, well, it just turned out like that, one way or other. You're okay with it, right, Lelou?" questioned the smitten teenage girl.

"Whether I'm okay with it or not, I'm going to have to do it, aren't I?" grumbled the raven-haired boy.

"You got that right!" exclaimed their club president gleefully. Lelouch groaned and was thankful that C2 wouldn't be there to witness the event. Shirley left, saying that she had to go change. Before the remaining two could go to their spots on the stage, the President grabbed his sleeve and said, "I didn't tell you a few things though, Lelouch."

"What is it?" he wondered if things could possibly get any worse.

"The kiss can be either on the cheeks or the lips, or the forehead, or the nose, or whatever. But you and the winner have to agree. And it's a given you have to do it on stage, so you'll have to figure it out quickly where you'll be kissing the girl. Although, I'm guessing that most of them will say the lips. You're quite popular amongst the ladies, if you didn't know that already."

"And the other thing? he asked dejectedly.

"There is a case where no one will get a prize."

He saw a light in the darkness.

"What's the case?"

"If either all of the bets are equal for each contestant, or they all receive the same score. Although if I were you, I'd put my hopes on the equal bets."

In his head, the genius calculated the probability of people betting equally; it looked dismal. Resigning himself to his fate, he followed the enthusiastic blonde to the platform.

. . .

"Welcome to the Amourous Diving Competition, where the prize of the day is a kiss from our very own high school dream prince!"

Lelouch stood up from his mock throne, and waved to the cheering crowd. The President had stuck a crown on him, asking him for this one favor in order to make it more interesting, and promptly sat him down on the stage, all before he could recollect his thoughts. Below him was the panel of judges, who were seated right at the edge of the Olympic-sized pool. He found it incredibly ridiculous how his past had snuck up on him this way, but bit back any protests; he was too busy watching the counting of the bets to complain. There were 5 competitors, and luckily, they all had about the same number so far.

As the entire swimming club was performing the opening ceremony, Milly walked up to the platform where he had been forced to stay. Standing besides him, she asked, "How are you liking the presentation, your Highness?"

"President, I am just about this close to just walking off of-"

"Oh no, you can't do that. Or I'll make you do all of the clubs' paperwork and budgeting. By yourself. Do you really want the extra, tedious work, Lelouch?"

He gave no answer, and the blonde smiled. Patting him on the shoulder, she said soothingly, "Don't worry. There's a strong candidate for winning, although the audience may not know. Shirley's been practicing for this for a couple of weeks. You'll be okay."

The prince only groaned at the possibility as Milly wandered away quite quickly, knowing that his patience was wearing thin. Turning towards the betting counter, he could see the ominous numbers that would decide his fate; the bets were 64 to 64 to 64. As he looked down the row, hope rose, and he dared to think that he could come out of this without having to do paperwork or kiss someone, when he saw the last number. 63. And the gates to the pool were closing too, which meant that no one would be admitted into the audience for the competition either. Lelouch thought quickly; he only needed one more person, but who could he call that was nearby and would cooperate with him in such a strange request? He couldn't use Geass on anyone here, as it would require for him to call attention of someone, and then everyone would surely look at him when his Geass was activated; that would just evoke chaos.

Then the solution stepped into light. He frowned at the idea, but it would have to do. Taking out his phone, he dialed the number for his "home". After 4 tense rings, someone on the other end finally picked up and said, "Hello?"

"Sayoko. I need you to get C2. Right now. It's urgent."

A few seconds later, he heard her familiar, relaxed voice ask, "What is it?"

"I need you to come to the swimming club contest immediately." he drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair impatiently and saw Milly notice that he was on his phone.

"Swimming club contest? Why should I do that? You told me to stay inside today. You even willingly gave me your credit card for once."

"Forget what I said before and just come."

"But for what benefit? I have to get dressed in a school uniform and then go all the way to the pool and leave my beloved pizza."

"What do you want in return then?" the student council president was starting to make her way towards him; he didn't have time to argue with the witch. He had to get her here now.

"After the contest, I want to wander around the school grounds. And I don't want you nagging me, or putting a bag over my head, or throwing me into a truck full of tomatoes, or preventing me form enjoying the festival."

"The press will-"

"I'm completely capable of evading them."

"… Fine."

"Wow, you must really need me-"

"Just get here now!" he snapped before ending the call just as Milly came over and said, "Your Highness, please don't make any phone calls, as it's incredibly rude to the competitors and distracting to the judges."

"President, there's one more person coming to the contest. I need you to let them in. They really wanted to see the contest, but they're just running a little late."

"A friend?"

"…. Someone like that." he glanced at the huge yellow plushie sitting on a stand nearby. Hopefully, C2 wouldn't try to take it.

"Are they coming now?"

"She's on her way."

"Oh, so it's a girl."

"She'll be betting on Shirley." he paid no mind to her last comment.

"Have you consulted your…. "friend" about this?"

"Yes. Could you input her vote, please?"

"Yes, your Highness!"

He watched her hurry away, and as soon as the counters displayed five 64s, relief flooded through him. Soon, the gates began to open, signaling the arrival of C2. Their eyes met, and she began to make her way to the stage. Sitting in the chair besides him as if she owned it, she said, "Well, I'm here, as you begged me."

"I did not beg from you." he leaned on his elbow while watching the diving performances with a somewhat bored expression.

"Oh, but you did. That wasn't just asking, Lelouch-"

"It's called making a deal, not begging. I am completely above begging."

"I'm pretty sure it was begging-"

"Lelouch!" interrupted Milly. She walked up to the throne for the third time in ten minutes and questioned, "Is this your "friend"?"

"I wouldn't call myself a friend to him." answered the immortal idly. She wrapped her arms around his left and asked while invading his personal space, "Right, Lelouch?"

"So…. You're the princess?"

"What?" the witch was confused; she had never said she was a princess.

"Well, your boyfriend is the swimming contest's prince, so you would be the princess, wouldn't you? Hm…. This is all a little complicated. I suppose we'll have to throw out the lips option, since the "princess" is here. The swimming club won't be happy, but… What can we do? We can't just break up a relationship because of something like this. Especially if it involved Lelouch…." thought out loud the conclusion-jumping teenage girl before walking away.

"You wouldn't call yourself a friend to me? What in the world did you mean by that, witch?"

"I'm a princess, right now, Lelouch, not a witch. You should pay attention more often." she brushed his cheek with her hand to taunt him further.

"How could I, when you're holding onto me like that?!" he hissed.

"Does that mean you're affected by my touch? Don't tell me you've fallen for me."

"This woman is crazy."

"Only hungry. You interrupted my snacking to drag me all of the way here. Ah, my lovely pizza… How I miss you so." the emerald-haired woman said in a melancholy voice.

"… How many did you buy since I left?"

"You'll find out, once the credit card bill comes in."

Lelouch only sighed, and C2 put her hand on his cheek, teasing, "Oh, has the savior of the world's weak, Zero, been chained down by the enormous pizza bills of his top advisor? What to do, what to do…."

. . .

Milly watched her raven-haired friend and his mysterious girlfriend from a distance. It amused and amazed her at how he reacted to her; it was different from when he was interacting with anyone else. It was as if… As if he could be himself with her, with nothing making him have to hide the truth. The student council president thought, 'It really is his girlfriend! Although they should really tone down the flirting. Everyone is starting to notice.'

. . .

The prince also realized that, slowly, all of the attention was turning towards the stage. Slipping his arm from C2's grasp, he muttered, "We should really stop."

"What were we doing?" she asked innocently.

"Never mind. Just stop touching me."

"You never say that when we sleep in the same bed together."

"C2, we've been over this before. Whatever happened during that night when we were sleeping, it wasn't my fault that we ended up like that."

"I think it is. You were the one whose arms were wrapped around me like this."

Nearly rising from her chair, she embraced the Britannian, as if to show him something that he didn't know, when he already did. Irritated, he asked, "Then what about you?"

Hugging her, he countered, "Even if I'm at fault, you're not completely free of blame."

"But you see, this wouldn't have happened if you had just given me your bed."

"You really think I would do something like that for you? You're not just a witch, you're also concei-"

"Ahem, your Highnesses. If you could keep your hands to yourselves, then the audience can pay their attention towards the public displays of diving, and not the public displays of affection."

The Britannian immediately released C2, and chose not to speak to her for the remainder of the contest, despite her constant teasing. As it went, even though Shirley had practiced longer, harder, and more than anyone else, she lost, due to looking over at Lelouch for reassurance, only to find him flirting with a green-haired girl on stage. It would be an understatement to say that she was upset; she would've rushed up to her crush, if not for Milly blocking her way to the dais.

. . .

"Lelouch." said the student council president. The sun was setting after a long day full of festivities and laughter. Knightmares were rolling around the school grounds, helping with the cleaning up of the aftermath, and had been overseeing everything. The raven-haired teenager next to her was busy skimming over the contents of his clipboard, all the while keeping an eye on his mysterious lover. The girl herself had been going around the festival with Lelouch the entire day, as he simply refused to let her out of his sight. As a result, he had neglected most of his duties to trail her around.

"Yes, President?" he answered. It had been an utterly exhausting day for him, especially with having to follow C2 everywhere, making sure she wasn't caught on camera or any suspicion from government officials and students alike.

"I didn't ask you this earlier, but you called….. Her name is C2, right? You called C2 over to the swimming contest on purpose, didn't you?"

"…. Maybe." he replied cautiously.

"Then did you ask her to come so that you could be with her, or so that she would vote, making the prize null?"

"I will choose not to answer that question." he checked something off while his eyes wandered over to the immortal, who was trying to kick Arthur away from her pizza.

"Aw, come on, Lelouch. Just a simple yes or no will do. Did you invite C2 so that you could be with her? It must be; you spent the entire day with her. It is, isn't it? You know, if you wanted to go on a date with her, you could have just told me. I would have given you a break from all of your responsibilities, and-"

"I have to take C2 home. Can you take care of the rest for me? Thanks!"

"I know you're just running away from my question, Lelouch! I will get an answer from you! Just you wait!"

"Do as you please, President!" he yelled back while waving behind him. Jogging away, he walked up to her and asked in barely disguised disgust, "You ate that thing all day long, and yet, you still choose to eat it after all of this time. How can you possibly stand it?"

"You will never be able to understand my love for pizza, even if I tried to explain it to you."

"Nor do I really care to know. It's time for you to go inside, C2. I'm exhausted because of you, and I don't have the energy to argue with you. Let's go."

"After I finish this."

"No. Now."

His patience with her was already short, and with his fatigue, he become frustrated. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, making her drop her slice of pizza. Dragging her with him, he began the walk to the student council building where he lived with his younger sister, when C2, who had gotten over the initial shock of losing her pizza, started to fight back. The witch tugged in the opposite direction he was going in, resulting in the veering into a side path. The Britannian let the immortal go and turned around to face her. In a cold voice, he said, "I have suffered and have had to make immense sacrifices because of you today. I failed to plan the Black Knight's next-"

"Lelouch. It isn't my fault if you're not competent enough to plan a strategy and explore the school festival at the same time. I didn't even ask you to follow me; you did that of your own accord. Also, it seems you've forgotten something important, but the person who called me out here today in the first place was you. You even gave me your word you wouldn't bother me as I went around the festival."

"That's completely irrelevant-"

Spotting a policeman, he pulled her into the shadows of the building. Pressing her head to his chest to muffle her protests, he spun on his heel so that his back was facing the sidewalk. The Britannian could hear him speaking to someone and realized it was the Academy's superintendent, or rather the man dubbed as Milly Ashford's grandfather.

C2 suddenly dug her nails into his shoulder blades and he bit back the impulse to cry out in pain; did this woman not cut her nails?!

The second they were alone again, Lelouch shoved the pizza girl away and hissed, "Did you have to claw me like that?"

"You should consider changing your cologne. It's too minty and… And… And ambrosial!" she sneezed.

"I'm not wearing cologne."

"Yes you are. There's no other way you're able to smell that nice."

"…. No, I'm not. C2, we live together. Have you seen a bottle of cologne in my room?"

"You could have hid it in the bathroom. Come here." the witch pulled him down and then delicately sniffed his neck.

"Lelouch, I wish you wouldn't lie to me. It's so obvious; you're-"

"I'm telling you, I'm…"

He realized how close their faces were and froze. Fortunately for his pride, he wasn't the only one with this reaction. After some time had passed in which he shattered the trance he had been put in, the raven-haired man muttered, "I'm not wearing any fragrances at all. If anything, you should be more lenient on the perfume."

"Perfume?"

"How are you smelling like citrus after all of that pizza?" he picked up her hand and put her fingers near his nose and then moved to her wrist. She stared at him in surprise until the emerald-haired woman said, "… Unless you're going to kiss my hand as an apology for nearly suffocating me with your abuse of fragrance, I'd like to have my hand back." she was about to slide her hand out, when his grip tightened and told her, "We have to go home."

"You can go home. I'm not."

"Where are you going?"

"Worried? How strange… Have you really fallen for me?"

"… You're right. We're not going home. We're going to a mental hospital."

"… If you must know, I'm going to Pizza Hut. You made me waste a whole slice of pizza and-"

"Just order it like you always do." he intertwined his fingers with hers so that her hand couldn't slip away.

"The very reason why I'm not ordering is because I don't want you watching me eat pizza because all you'll do is complain and then try to take some from me."

"That was once-"

"You nearly ate the whole box by yourself."

"I think you're getting confused. I had two slices and you had the remaining eight."

"It doesn't matter. I just don't-!" she gasped in surprise as the floor suddenly gave away from underneath the arguing pair. After falling for what seemed an eternity, gravity brought them crashing back onto the ground. Lelouch and C2 alike gasped from shock; in the hole that they had fallen into, there was freezing cold water. The water level was a little above his waist, but it was cold enough that it stunned him. The emerald-haired girl asked after regaining her composure, "How far down have we fallen?"

"Several meters. What is this place?"

"A sinkhole. Look, this was man-made; the walls are concrete."

"And yet, they don't put a ladder here. C2, there's no way out."

"You think I can't see that?" she snapped irritably.

He plunged his hand underwater and reached into his pocket, pulling out his cellphone. Groaning, he said, "It's dead."

"Well this can't get any worse. What are we going to do? Wait here until someone finds us? Which will be never, since the hole's on the side of a small pathway."

"Let me think."

"Your cell is dead, we're stuck in a deep hole, in which the water level is at my waistline, not to mention how it's freezing cold, and the sun is setting, which means no one will be outside. Lovely…. Just wonderful."

"Let me think! C2, shut up and let me think of something!"

She said nothing, not because Lelouch had told her to be quiet, but because she had nothing more she wanted to say. A long silence passed, until the Britannian sighed and said, "There's nothing we can do but wait."

"Can we not climb out by ourselves?" she tried to stop her knees from shivering and retied her hair into a high ponytail so that it wouldn't touch the water.

"Even if you stand on my shoulders, that's a little over 3 meters at best. I'm sure we've fallen more than 3 meters. And like you pointed out, the walls are made of concrete, and it's new enough that it's completely smooth. There's no ladder. No other place to go. It's just a hole in the ground full of freezing cold water."

"This is such a great situation we're in, thanks to someone."

"Are you trying to say that it's my fault?" he glared at her.

"No. You came up with that yourself."

"Witch, if you had listened to me, then we wouldn't hav-"

"If you had kept your promise, then you wouldn't have had to give me that needless lecture, and-"

"I did keep my promise. But I know you. I know you and your personality, and I know your personality would land you in trouble, along with m-"

"I didn't ask for you to baby me. If anything, I'm older than you, Lelouch. By a couple hundred years."

"C2, don't resort to petty tact-"

"It's not pettiness, it's a fact. And besides, who's the one who started this whole argument?"

"…. This is exactly the reason why you always try my patience. You always act as if I'm the one at fault, that it's because of me everything goes wrong!"

C2 began to laugh, and Lelouch's scowl darkened.

"What's so funny? Is the cold making you crazy?" he spat venomously.

"You… Have you heard yourself? Have you heard us?"

"What?"

"We sound just like a married couple, and yet, that's the farthest thing that we are, or could be, or ever will be. This is ridiculous. Stop trying to shirk off the blame, and come up with a solution, Lelouch."

"You…."

She was still laughing, when they both heard an ominous crack. C2 stopped as her laugh echoed up into the sky hauntingly. Both stood still and silently until the immortal asked, "What was that sound?"

"… The weather forecast." Lelouch's eyes widened.

"What about it?"

"They said that it would rain tonight."

"… Rain?"

Just as she asked her question, a drop of water fell in between them. Quickly, it was followed by one more, then three, then ten, then too many to count. It was a downpour, completely drenching the two.

"Oh my God…"

"The rain's… The rain's freezing." She managed to choke out.

"It's rising."

"What's rising?"

"The water level… It… Damn it."

The water, which had originally been a little above his waist, was rapidly rising. In a matter of minutes, it had reached his lower torso. He looked at C2, who was shorter than he was.

"I can handle the water. I'll be fine as long as it doesn't go up much."

"It's already to your chest, and it doesn't look like the rain is going to let up soon. What are you planning to do?"

"I would worry about yourself, Lelouch, you're the one who's morta-"

He unbuttoned his jacket and put it over her head before pulling her closer to him and grabbing her hands. Wrapping them around his neck, he looked down at her and she inquired, "What are you doing?"

"Don't let go." he simply replied and then bent down slightly.

"What are you-"

Putting his hands on the back of her thighs, he lifted her up.

"What is this, Lelouch?" she moved his jacket so that it was covering both of their heads.

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're holding me."

"Excellent observation. Now we know your vision still works."

"Lelouch."

"It would be appreciated if you would wrap your arms and legs around me tighter, so it would be easier to hold you." he grunted while hitching her up higher.

"Why are you holding me?" the emerald-haired woman questioned again.

"As we were arguing, the water level rose yet again, and was nearly to your chin."

"And?"

"I'm not letting you die, C2."

"I can't die-"

"You can, momentarily, and I'm not letting that happen. I'm not going to lose you."

She studied him, and realized her heart had started racing at his words, until he continued, "Because I don't find it ideal to be stuck in an enclosed space with a dead body only for company, even if it is temporary."

She scolded herself; 'You should've known better. And why would your heart even race because of him?'

"Everything you do is for your convenience." she said flatly.

"And that is one of our mutual parts of our personality."

"Let me go, Lelouch."

"No."

"Why? Don't tell me you like holding-"

"C2, the water is cold. If we don't die by drowning, we're going to die because of hypothermia. Just stay close to me so that we won't freeze. I need your warmth."

"You need a lot of things from me. You need the Geass from me, you need me to stay inside all day long, you need me to tell you everything that I know, you need me to save you when you get trapped as Zero, you need me to-"

"I get the point."

C2 said nothing in retort, and simply hugged him tighter with her arms and legs. She leaned her head on his shoulder, which made him complain, "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"You're literally breathing on my neck." he didn't add how it was making him feel more uncomfortable than he already was.

"I'm not holding my head up."

"Everything you do is for your convenience."

"You should try coming up with your own comebacks."

A long time passed, and luckily, the rain slightly relented, but the water level didn't move from its new height of being up to Lelouch's chin. Even through the layers that the school uniform provided and the added warmth of another human body, the frigidness of the water cut through clearly. C2 could feel Lelouch trembling; whether it was from the cold or from exhaustion, or maybe both, she didn't know, but for once, she felt sorry for him.

"Put me down, Lelouch." she began to badger him again to let her go.

"Stop being stubborn, witch."

"You're the one being stubborn. Nothing good will come out of this if you collapse from exhaustion."

"I'm not going to collapse. And I'm not letting you go. We're both getting out of here, C2, and we're getting out alive. Both of us."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It's a promise."

At his words, she was silenced, until she unclasped her hands from around his neck and put them gently on his cheeks.

"What are you doing?" it would be an understatement to say that he was taken aback.

"You're cold, aren't you? You're colder than I am."

"There's no need to-"

"Your lips are purple…" she resumed wrapping her arms around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"So are yours."

They said nothing, and the only sound in the hole was the pitter-patter of raindrops.

"Lelouch."

"Yes?"

"…. I'm scared."

He was surprised at her unwonted display of weakness in front of him, but said nothing about it. He wasn't quite sure what to say, when she added, "I don't want to die."

"You're not going to die." the Britannian finally managed to reply.

"Because you promised? How much longer do you think we can last here?"

"I'm not sure…"

"You don't want to die either, do you?"

"That's the second to last thing I want to do."

"What's the last?"

"Submit to Britannia."

"I should've known." she smiled softly to herself.

There was another silence, until he suddenly asked, "C2, if you hadn't met that nun… What do you think your life would have been like?"

"If I hadn't met the nun? I probably would have died."

"I mean if the event leading up to you meeting her hadn't happened."

"… I'd have helped out on the farm. Yes, the farm… And then my master would have traded me to some man for a pig or a cow or some other animal, and I would have been the mother of 5 at the age of 16. And then died a miserable death after a miserable life. And all of that would have taken place hundreds of years ago. I would have had a meaningless, wretched life, forgotten as time went by. And I wouldn't have met you."

"No, you wouldn't have had."

"And what about you?"

"Me?"

"What do you see yourself doing if your mother hadn't been assassinated?"

"Nunnally would be healthy and well. We would be a Britannian prince and princess living in a cage of lies and injustice. I would've been given a high government position from the Emperor, or put in charge of an Area. A few years later, I would be married to a corrupted aristocrat's daughter or someone of the like. Then I would have competed with my other half-siblings for the throne of Britannia. And like you said, I never would have met you ever in my not-particularly-insignificant but all-the-same meaningless life. At least, it would be meaningless because I wouldn't have even dreamed of destroying the Empire to rid the world of injustice. I would have been fine with the system because I was at the top, and would have been comfortable. After my death, I would be put down into history books, but that's all I would be; a name. I won't do that; I won't just be a name. I'll be an idea; names fade with time, but ideas do not."

"So you would rather have this life than the one you could have had?"

"In a way, yes."

"Interesting."

They said nothing, and that's when they noticed the complete silence.

"The rain stopped." the witch removed the makeshift umbrella from their heads and peered out of the entrance to look at the clear night sky.

"So it has." he sighed.

Lelouch was exhausted; carrying someone for an hour wasn't an easy task, especially if they didn't have that much physical strength, even if the water made it slightly easier. But it was the water that was the main problem; it was sapping him of energy and what little strength he had in the first place. He had almost lost his footing several times, and the only thing that had kept him from drifting into the darkness of his mind was the witch in his arms.

"C2."

"Yes?"

"I have a question for you. Will you answer it?"

"That depends. What is it?"

"Your Geass was to make people love you unconditionally, right?"

"Yes." she replied cautiously.

"And you said that as time went by, you forgot who had once loved you and who had once hated you."

"Yes."

"Then have you ever loved anyone?"

The question had been on his mind as of late, but he had always pushed it aside, asking why he would wonder about such a thing. Why did he want to know if anyone had ever earned her love? Or if she had loved someone in the past, or if she could love someone now…? Why would he want to know?

He looked at her, waiting; the moonlight was shining brightly, making her seem like some ethereal being.

But she was ethereal. She didn't seem like she was a part of this world, long detached from the norm…

'But she's still human. She still has feelings.' and Lelouch wanted to know. He wanted to unearth the secrets of this mysterious woman, because he thought…

He thought that he could heal her. Just as she had picked up the pieces of his shattered self, whether it was unintentional or on purpose on her part, he wanted to do the same. Because he cared for her.

"Have you ever loved anyone, C2?"

And so, he waited for her answer.

A/N: Okay, so... In truth, that ending part where it reveals Lelouch's thoughts wasn't supposed to happen, but the thing was getting too long, so I had to halve it, but I think... That ended pretty nicely. Be on the lookout for part 2 to see what becomes of our witch and warlock!