I don't own Code Geass.

Act II

Part 2: Dream

**************

In the beginning the King isolated himself to build the world the shining future he envisioned...

One where they, the people of the world, could live happily.

But...

What of the King himself?

***************

Ashford Academy

October 23, 2018, 2:30 P.M.

"ROLAND!!!!" Viletta screamed to the sleeping student.

Roland awoke so shocked that he fell back off of the bench he was sitting on. "Owww," he moaned, rubbing the back of his head as he got up. "You didn't have to scream in my ear coach," Roland complained.

Viletta narrowed her eyes down at him. "Then don't sleep in gym, Roland," she threatened. "Now...Twenty laps around the track."

"What?!"

"That will be your punishment for sleeping in gym you slacker." With a satisfied smile she dragged him to the track and forced him to start running.

Schneider decided to spectate the 'punishment' Roland had to endure. He watched as the blue eyed boy ran his laps around the track. "Again?" sighed a soft voice behind him.

"He was sleeping in gym," Schneider told Kaylin without taking his eyes off Roland.

"Faster!" Viletta yelled at the said boy. "You better finish in the next ten minutes or else I start adding more!"

"But it's only the first lap!"

"Five more!"

"Awww!"

"Six more!"

"He should keep his mouth shut," Schneider commented.

Kaylin giggled. "Well he hasn't done anything to make you fight him yet, so that's good. Right?"

"Humph. That doesn't mean I like him though."

Kaylin and Schneider were eventually joined by Jerry, Marry, the Ashford Student council, and Jeremiah, when Roland got to his fifteenth lap. "What did he do?" Rivalz asked.

"Went to sleep in P.E." Gino answered.

"Idiot," Anya commented as she took a snapshot.

Jeremiah just stared at the young man running. 'The likeness is so uncanny. Were it not for the haircut and the hair and eye colors, I'd say he and Lelouch were twins...Then again, there was also Adam.'

"So what are you guys going to be for the Halloween festival?" Mary asked the others. "I'm going as a Goth."

"Hmm, I haven't thought about it," Gino admitted sadly. "Maybe I'll be somebody's knight in shining armor...What do you think Kallen?"

"We will never happen Gino," she snarled, "So give it up!"

"Okay, okay," Gino said putting his hands up, "Just calm down, I'm sorry...What do you think Kaylin?"

Kaylin's response was a lot kinder. "It sounds good Gino, I'm sure you'll find many princesses that would love to have you whisk them away off their feet."

"Thanks." Gino turned back to Kaylin's red-headed look a like. "See Kallen, now that is a nice answer. You could learn a thing or two from her."

"Don't start with me Gino," Kallen warned.

He ignored her threat and asked, "What are you going as miss Lotus?"

"Hey Kallen! How about you be this?" Rivalz suggested, pulling out his phone with a smirk. He showed her a picture on it and she immediately turned red with an embarrassed face which then turned to burning rage.

"RIVALZ!!!!!!" Kallen grabbed him and dragged him under the bleachers. Everyone just sat back as they heard his cries of pain.

"Ah! Hey! Owowowowwoowowowowwoowowowowwoowowow!! Stop, I'm sorry!"

"What was on his phone?" Jeremiah wondered aloud.

"Kallen once did an undercover assignment in Babel Tower as a waitress," Gino answered. "Shinji sent a picture of her in it to me, Rivalz, Milly, and Anya....."

"That shouldn't bend that-ARRRRRRGH!!! Is this physically possible?! MY ARM!!!"

"It's taboo to know about it," Anya told the others. Hearing Rivalz screams, even Jeremiah as scared of the Red Lotus's wrath over the matter. Schneider was just unfazed entirely; his mind was elsewhere. Kaylin seemed unafraid as well for some reason.

Kallen came back to the bleachers alone. "Where's Rivalz?" Jerry asked.

"Paaaaaaaain..........." was somewhat heard in the background.

Kallen was about to answer but Schneider cut her off. "Why are you so embarrassed over something like that costume?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Did you see it too?" the Guren pilot asked through clenched teeth.

"Hmph. Don't get your panties in a bunch," he said. Everyone could see where this was going. "All your friends know....Bunny Girl."

"I really need a doctor......."

Without warning, Kallen tackled him from behind. That's what would've happened, had Kaylin not stood in her way. "Kallen, don't act so childish over something so trivial," she scolded.

"Grrrr....Fine, just don't tell anyone else....Especially Milly." Kallen shuddered at the thought of the president seeing it.

"Why won't anyone help me?........"

"Milly already seen the picture," Anya informed her.

"I'm screwed," Kallen said, slumping.

"I hate you all......."

"Shut up Rivalz!" Schneider yelled.

"Okay.......I'll just.....fall.....asle...ep......."

"I'll get him," Jeremiah volunteered and went to take Rivalz to the hospital.

"Roland and I are just going as masqueraders," Kaylin told everyone when Jeremiah left with Rivalz.

"I think I'll join you with that," Kallen said. "What about you Schneider?"

"Soldier," he answered, boredom evident in his voice.

"Cowboy for me," Jerry spoke up. No one cared.

They continued to talk about other trivial things until Roland finally finished his laps. When he did they dispersed and went home since there was no council meeting today. Really just a normal day.

**************

The King never thought of himself nor the impact he made on his follower's lives.

When he finally did...All he saw was his own bloodstained hands.

He did not want a future where such sinful hands existed.

He decided to sacrifice himself...Reluctant to the effect that his death would cause.

***************

Kallen's house

10:20 P.M.

Kaylin had taken it upon herself to help teach Kallen how to use her Advent, like how Noa does on the Ark. She taught Kallen to use it the way Nadie had once used it. They did it on top of the roof of Kallen's home when they finished their homework and there were not too many witnesses. But a lot of the time Kaylin was too tired to help by that time due to her poor health....Today was one of those days.

Yet still Kallen practiced by herself, shooting soda cans that she saved. Her Advent ability was generating energy and it's manipulation, plus the default of increased physical prowess. Currently, all Kallen could do with it was fire of one or two light blasts from her hand (if successful), but she did learn how to make a shield well enough.

The shield needs the energy to be spread out to work, but the less spread out the stronger it is. The light blasts required her to compress energy into a ball and launch it out of her hand. How to do that exactly was not the easiest thing for Kallen to figure out. So far, all she could do is use the energy to increase the force of her punches or kicks.

Kallen tried to fire a blast at one of the tin cans. But instead of a blast, her hand lit up with golden light for barely a second.

After the fifth attempt.... "Damnit," the Guren pilot cursed. "How do I fire off a blast?"

"You mean, 'How did Nadie fire off a light blast?' don't you?" asked a voice from behind her. Kallen spun around to see Roland standing in front of the roof door.

She nodded to confirm what he asked. "Is there some sort of trick to this?"

Roland shook his head. "Not sure about it, but I think this will help," he answered. "Imagine grabbing a ball, clench it tight." Kallen closed her eyes and held out her left hand as he said. "Now just open your hand a bit and think of the ball floating in your hand....Good. Now try to form the ball." Kallen's palm lit up and a small glowing golden orb of light hovered over her hand. "Open your eyes and point the ball at the tin can. Then move your arm as if you were pushing."

As soon as Kallen opened her eyes, she aimed the shining orb at one of the cans. She 'pushed' the ball at her intended target and it zoomed toward the can. The light exploded with as soon as it touched the metal, spending whatever was left of the can flying.

Kallen smiled at her accomplishment as she turned to Roland. She saw that Kaylin had just arrived too. "Thank you Roland," Kallen said with a small bow.

"Thank Nadie," Roland solemnly replied. "She told me how she always pictured it."

"Roland," Kaylin said silently.

"It's okay, I'm fine...Kallen, can I want to ask you something."

Kallen quirked an eyebrow. "About what?"

Roland seemed reluctant to answer. "What kind of person is Lelouch like?"

Kallen was caught off guard by the Fragment's question but answered nonetheless. "He is a pompous arrogant jerk that thinks he's so above everyone else," she answered the way she would in the beginning, just meeting Lelouch. Then she changed to a more understanding tone. "But...when I began to learn more and more about Lelouch, I saw that deep down he was like me, losing everything because of Britannia. He was willing to do anything to protect the people close in his heart....." her eyes drooped a bit. "...Even if it meant pushing those people away and isolating himself from them.

"He bore the burden of the world's dreams by himself. Lelouch carried it all until his death..."

"Zero Requiem," Roland said. 'The birth of our existence,' he thought to himself.

'The birth of our existence,' Kaylin thought as well.

Kallen nodded. "If it weren't for Adam and Noa, Lelouch would still be dead. If they hadn't...I don't know if I would've ever been happy as am now." With that she ended her description of Lelouch vi Britannia and they stood in silence.

"He carried the dreams of others," Roland said, breaking the silence. "That means he had no dreams of his own."

Kallen was confused by his statement. "What do you mean?"

"Lelouch carried the wishes of others for so long," Kaylin answered, "That he could no longer have a dream for himself. If you were to say he did have a dream at the time, it was one where the world had peace that would push people to the future."

"But that is a dream is one that everyone shares," Roland added. "It was not just his own individual dream. You, Kallen, had one where you and your mother lived in peace, I'm guessing? Lelouch might have had one like that, but he must have lost sight of it. Either that, or he could no longer envision a world he could enjoy without denying the world's joy. Lelouch vi Britannia discarded his hopes, his dreams, and his own wishes for the wish the people of the world all wanted."

Kallen bowed her head in thought. 'They're right,' she said in her mind.

Roland walked to the edge of the roof and looked up at the night sky. Then Kaylin spoke. "If his plan had completely worked...Some individual dreams, like yours and Nunnally's, would never become reality...Am I wrong?"

"No," Kallen answered weakly. "I wonder if he now sees a future for himself."

Roland was quick to respond. "No," he said still staring at the sky. "Lelouch would die for the world at moment's notice to keep the people's dream going. He would disappear from his loved ones' lives, including yours, if the world's dream required it....And he'd do it without hesitating."

"He'd die again," Kallen said quietly to herself. "I wouldn't be able to handle his death again...Even if it is for all of us." With that she left with that thought burned into her mind.

"Lelouch knows that he makes an impact on peoples' lives," Kaylin said, joining Roland's side. "But he believes that if he gets too close, he will only bring them pain. He doesn't realize the joy he gives them as well."

Lelouch's Fragment nodded in agreement. "For all his intelligence, Lelouch is an idiot," he said with distaste. "Thinking that his death would bring the world absolute joy was foolish. He abandoned his dreams for that? There was another way other than the Zero Requiem......Lelouch just never truthfully bothered searching for it." Kaylin could sense the disappointment in Roland's voice as he continued. "It was noble what he did, but it was also selfish."

"Selfish?" Kaylin questioned.

"Lelouch saw it as the only way for his own redemption...That is a farce. You should live to redeem yourself. Live with the memories of those whose lives were paid to keep you alive for your dream. He died, making their deaths in vain." Roland's closed his eyes in thought. "Death doesn't bring redemption. It brings death, that is all there is," he finished as he reopened his eyes.

Kaylin listened intently to Roland's speech and let every word sink in. Then she looked up into the sky, it was cloudless so they could see the stars. "Do you have a dream?" she asked.

Roland was not hesitant in his answer. "If I did....Wouldn't it be Lelouch's dream and not mine?" he asked back.

Kaylin wrapped her arm around Roland's and leaned her head on his arm. "It would be your dream unless you deny it to be yours."

"My dream..." he paused in thought. Then he smiled as he answered. "My dream is a world full of smiles, for the wind to bring joy as I do. I want everyone to look up into the sky and smile just as I am now!" There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

"A world full of smiles," Kaylin repeated. Then she began to giggle. 'Always the dreamer,' she thought to herself.

Roland blushed. "Sounds like a kid's childish dream doesn't it?" he said solemnly.

Kaylin stopped her giggles as she shook her head. "No Roland, it's a beautiful dream." She looked up into the starry sky and smiled with him as she snuggled more into his arm. "I too want everyone to see the sky like this and smile happily as we are now....Do you think Nadie and Naoto would share the dream as well?"

For once, Roland did not frown at the mention of her name. He just continued to look up at the sky. "Yeah.....Of course they would."

*****************

The King died for the world.

Were it not for the efforts of Sentinel and the Mage, he would remain lost from the world.

In the short time of the King's death though....

A dream was born in the Wind.

******************

On top of Tokyo Tower

"What are you smiling about, Ardor?" the new Remnant asked his superior who was gazing into the heavens above. He was smiling for some reason.

That smile went away as he was put back into reality. "Nothing," he lied. Issac and Lazard were there as well. Both knew he was lying but made no mention of it. "Let's go and find a place to stay," Ardor ordered, "We'll begin searching for Roland tomorrow." No one made a signal of understanding, but he knew they did.

Lazard remained behind as they all disappeared in a whirl of darkness. He put the book he was reading into his cloak pocket and began to vanish as well, but not before quoting the part he read.

The Wind carried the dream in it's heart.

And the dream drifted to those who heard the whisper of the Wind's voice.

The Wind would never be alone in it's dream.

But the Wind knew....

That the dream did not truly belong to it.

The sky stretches on seemingly forever. Look into it with a smile and let your dream be carried to others by the always drifting wind...

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