A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They're always welcome :) Constructive criticism also is!

Still haven't managed to get my grubby little hands on Code Geass. Still trying.

'v'

'v'

The Palace of Emperor Lelouch. Two hours later.

Nunnally felt uncomfortable as the attendants picked by Cornelia wheeled her through her brother's palace. When her sister's men had brought her to the palace a few hours earlier Nunnally had been too distraught to really pay attention to her surroundings. Now she was surprised to discover whoever had designed the palace had not simply focused on making it functional (real palaces aren't built in a couple of months, this whole structure was a temporary center of power), but had obviously put some effort into giving the place an eerie feel.

There were no windows in the cold hallways Nunnally was traversing. Their dimensions were large, but the lighting was sparse, and carefully positioned columns and buttresses projected large shadows, creating veritable alcoves of darkness and often making it hard to differentiate the walls and ceiling. Without her brother's guards lining the hallways, the place only felt claustrophobic. Nunnally pictured the uniformed men standing in the dark recesses, their faces hidden behind masks and the only touch of color coming from the yellowish eyes on their uniforms, eyes staring unblinkingly at whoever had to pass by them.

The vision Nunnally had conjured was chilling; she could almost feel the Demon Emperor's presence pervading those hallways. It must have been another of his lies Nunnally told herself. Another deception to pretend he was nothing but a heartless tyrant.

It was difficult to push the image away from her mind. Even though she didn't believe the palace was a reflection of her brother's true character, Nunnally couldn't escape the knowledge it belonged to a world Lelouch had created: a cruel and unforgiving place where people had to live in constant fear. That there had been a noble purpose behind the oppression did not make it less real.

Nunnally shivered. The world she would have created with Schneizel wouldn't have been much different from the world of the Demon Emperor. She had known intellectually that the people would have lived in constant fear with the threat of Damocles hanging over their heads. Now in the dark hallways her brother had created she could feel the fear she'd have forced mankind to experience every day of their lives. It pained her to realize just how much harm her brother had prevented her from inflicting; that her purpose had been noble did nothing to allay that pain. It was already painful for Nunnally to accept she had been ready to sentence billions of innocents to perpetual fear. She could only imagine the torment she would be facing had she still been holding the key of Damocles.

Suddenly she realized this was the exact kind of feelings her brother must have endured for nearly two years. He'd manipulated people, forced his will on them and killed them, first as Zero and then as the Demon Emperor. He had committed an endless litany of sins and ruined countless millions of lives as a result, and he'd had to hide the grief it must have caused him. He couldn't risk showing grief. Zero, as the ally of justice, wasn't supposed to feel any kind of remorse for his deeds; the Demon Emperor wasn't even supposed to comprehend the notion of remorse. And the Lelouch Lamperouge who'd lived at Ashford Academy certainly wasn't supposed to have committed any of those dark deeds that keep coming back to haunt you. Rivalz, Milly, Nina, Shirley – he'd had no choice but to hide everything from them. He had even kept his identity hidden from Kallen, who had both been his friend when he was a student and one of his most trusted Black Knights when he'd been Zero.

And he couldn't tell me then, because I would have been horrified and I would have rejected him. She swallowed. I did reject him. I told him I had never wanted Zero, I told him he was wrong to use Geass. I tried to make him surrender to Damocles. I even said he was despicable. (Your Highness?) A heartless man. A demon… Tears rolled down her cheeks. At least his torments are over. He can sleep, now. He won't suffer any more.

'Your Highness, are you alright?'

Nunnally jumped. She had not noticed the attendant who'd stepped in front of her and was now looking at her, concerned. In fact she had not even noticed her other attendant had stopped moving her wheelchair.

'Thank you' she said weakly. 'It's- it's passed.'

The woman who'd brought Nunnally back to her senses surveyed her Princess carefully. A frown appeared on her face, and she took out a handkerchief. Nunnally sat still as the woman did her best to fix the damage her tears had done on her make-up. And then she thought of something.

'You don't have to make a perfect job of this' Nunnally told her attendant, her voice recovering.

'We can't afford to have you look anything less than regal, your Highness' the woman clucked disapprovingly.

'These people know it pained me to lose my brother, evil though he was' Nunnally said. 'They are already going to be surprised I'm feeling up to a top-level meeting less than a day after they've seen me a wreck over my brother's dead body. It might seem suspicious to some if I appear to be perfectly composed.'

'But the pride of the country-'

'This is an order' Nunnally said calmly.

The attendant looked like she was about to protest, but she thought better of it.

'Thank you' the Princess said. 'Would one of you please find me a mirror? I'd like to see what this looks like for myself.'

Nunnally closed her eyes and drew a slow, deep breath, careful to hold herself still as she did. Evidently Cornelia's people seemed to think her younger sister shouldn't be trusted to know what she was doing. Nunnally remembered the voice of the administrator she'd worked with during her tenure as Viceroy of Area 11 (she could not picture the woman's face, as she had never seen it). Ms. Rohmeier had often argued with her over the administration of Area 11. Nunnally remembered vividly a conversation during which the administrator had sharply rebuked her by saying a Viceroy was not an Empress. Well, I'm about to become one she told herself. I won't be a tyrant, but I'll need to make my entourage understand they have to respect my decisions.

An Empress… As she inspected her face, Nunnally couldn't suppress a wry smile. You could have warned me this job wasn't easy, big brother!

'v'

Nunnally was surprised to discover Zero standing alone in the narrow, high-ceilinged antechamber of the conference room she had been led to.

'Nunnally' Zero said, acknowledging her presence.

His voice sounded exactly like the modulated voice of Lelouch had when her brother had been wearing that mask. It was also the first time she was seeing Zero standing in front of her. In their shadowy environment, the masked man's appearance was rather unsettling.

Nunnally forced a small smile. 'Zero. I am pleased to meet you. Have the others arrived yet?'

'They are waiting for us as we speak. But first there is a matter we must discuss alone.'

Nunnally's smile grew wider, albeit a bit sad. The voice sounded like Lelouch's, and the wearer of the mask had evidently trained himself to phrase and accent his speech like Zero's. However Nunnally's ears had been sharpened during her years of blindness, and she could pick up the tiny differences between her brother's voice and this Zero's. She knew what subtle clues to listen for to confirm Zero's identity - articulations between syllables, slight tonal inflection on a vowel. It left no place for doubt in Nunnally's mind: This is Suzaku.

Nunnally's meddlesome attendant was talking to her: 'This might be risky, your Highness' she said as though Zero wasn't even present.

'I have nothing to fear from this man' Nunnally replied confidently.

'His murder of the Demon Emperor doesn't make him respectable' the woman countered. 'This man is a terrorist.'

'True' Zero intervened. 'In fact I am going to remind you of a better reason not to leave Princess Nunnally alone in my company: I am a proven enemy of the Royal Family of Britannia.'

Nunnally's attendants were too stunned by Zero's admission to reply. The Princess decided to let him handle the situation.

He was going straight for the throat.

'You will of course be aware of the reasons I killed three members of the Royal Family' he said. 'Prince Clovis, Princess Euphemia, Emperor Lelouch, all three of them have issued at least one order to massacre civilians. Those massacres were all avoidable. Still they gave the word. The Prince and Princess were punished because their actions were typical of the Britannia their father had inherited. Had Emperor Lelouch not beat me to that post I would have killed Emperor Charles as well, because he would not change his country for the better. I killed his successor after he made Britannia even worse.

'But I will not raise my hand against Princess Cornelia' he continued, 'even though I have cause to do so: she has amended herself, and now she's serving justice. Why should I kill her? I will not raise my hand against Prince Schneizel, even though he committed great crimes of his own: he has no more power. The people of this world do not need me to punish him. Why should I deny their right to judge him for his crimes?

'And now Princess Nunnally speaks with the voice of Britannia. Lest she tries to force another reign like her father's or her brother's on us, why should I harm her?'

Nunnally couldn't help but admire the skill Suzaku displayed in his imitation of the original Zero. Not only had he worked on his acting and his modes of speech, he had also trained to copy Zero's public stances. He seemed just as masterful in the execution of his speeches: neither of Nunnally's attendants seemed to find anything to reply.

'I see you can find no more reasons than I could' Zero finally said. 'And now that you know Princess Nunnally has nothing to fear in my company, I will ask you to leave. Her Highness and I have to attend top-level business before we can join the others.'

'Her Highness has to-'

Nunnally had raised her hand and cut the meddling woman short. 'Thank you for your concern. It has been noted.' There was no mistaking the warning in the Princess' tone. 'You may leave, now.'

Her other attendant left. The woman stood and looked at Zero, evidently anxious to find some sign of danger to point at. Nunnally knew she wasn't going to: not even the people closest to Lelouch had been able to discern his intentions when he was wearing the mask. She suppressed a smile. Big brother is still around to help me.

Nunnally broke the silence. 'You are keeping important people waiting' she said in a level tone.

Finally, the meddlesome attendant admitted her defeat, and she left sullenly, leaving Nunnally alone with Zero.

The masked man dropped his haughty manner. Now that they were alone, he sagged onto the plush velvet of the benches that lined the side of the antechamber. His interlocutor couldn't see his expression, of course, but Nunnally knew in this instant that Suzaku was going through the same kind of ordeal she had been – and it might even be worse: not only Suzaku had to deal with the death of his best friend, he also had to contend with the fact he'd dealt him the killing blow. He needed somebody to share his pain with; someone who could comfort him, like Milly and Rivalz had done for Nunnally. In fact Nunnally was sure she was the only one Suzaku could confide in.

And indeed he tried to open his heart. 'Nunnally-' he began, but she stopped him.

'I know.' She swallowed. 'I'm sorry you had to do this' she said sadly. She was talking both about her brother's murder and Suzaku's assumption of Zero's role.

Suzaku tried to speak a second time: 'I-' He gasped.

But Nunnally had to deny him. She had no way to be sure they weren't overheard in some manner, and if by misfortune somebody listened to Suzaku confessing to her, Lelouch would have died for nothing. She shook her head. 'I'm sorry, Zero', and she laid emphasis on the name. 'I understand your reasons and I'm aware of the consequences of your actions. But I don't want to hear about them.'

That was the best Nunnally could offer him, and she knew it was much less than he really needed. All she could do now was help Suzaku find the strength to resume playing his part as Zero.

She gave him a few moments. Then, much like she had done earlier with Cornelia, she took charge of resuming their conversation: 'You said we had to attend to an important matter before I meet the others.'

Zero nodded, but he kept his silence.

'What was that matter?'

'I need information before we can proceed.' It was still the sound of Lelouch's voice, altered by evident discomfort, but it was steady. Suzaku seemed to have picked himself up.

'What kind of information do you seek?' Nunnally said.

'You are about to announce whom Britannia intends to succeed the Demon Emperor. You will give me that person's identity.'

Nunnally blinked with surprise. She had not expected such an abrupt demand. And as the future ruler of Britannia, she couldn't let herself run over roughshod, not even by Suzaku. 'Is it necessary?' she asked.

Zero did not reply. He got up from the bench and went to place himself in front of the massive doors to the conference room. One unblinking eye stared at Nunnally from each of the doors, and Zero stood between them. Once more Nunnally had the uncomfortable impression her big brother was watching.

She even felt like he might be disapproving of her, and when Suzaku spoke again, he seemed to do it with Lelouch's words: 'You won't be meeting the other leaders until I've heard the name of the Demon Emperor's intended successor.' It was not a threat, but a statement.

Nunnally's discomfort turned into resentment. Was this how things were going to be? She would not comfort Suzaku, so he was going to get his revenge by forcing his will on her? Or was he simply going to ignore her feelings and manipulate her ruthlessly whenever he felt the need to? Whichever the explanation for his behavior was, Nunnally couldn't submit meekly to Zero's demand.

Trying not to focus on the cold glares of Zero's mask and "Emperor Lelouch's eyes", Nunnally surveyed her options. If she would not submit to Zero's will (and in a sense, to her brother's) she could leave, or she could raise an outcry. Trying to force her way past Zero on her own was out of question. On the other hand, if she left the antechamber, she could summon people to get Zero out of her way, but the impression left would be even more disastrous than her just turning away and silently giving up her claims. If she used force against Zero, she'd be acting in the same way as the Demon Emperor, and the other leaders would react accordingly: Not good. Raising an outcry seemed hardly better: in the public eye, Zero was the hero who had freed the world from the tyranny of Emperor Lelouch. If she aggravated him here, there was a good chance the other rulers would support her – they knew the identity of the original Zero and had reason to be wary of him – but then Zero would publicly disapprove of her, and she'd lose her claims to the throne. Her discussion with Cornelia and her understanding of Lelouch's final plan had convinced Nunnally that outcome unacceptable. But the only way to stop Zero would be to completely prevent him from speaking publicly, and this would discredit her and the other rulers. Which was the worst-case scenario.

This was checkmate. She had to submit.

'I am the candidate to the throne of Britannia' she said grudgingly.

Zero did not reply. In fact he did nothing to acknowledge her claim. He simply turned and opened the doors, and then he stepped aside for her. Nunnally saw, then, that she had actually been led to her brother's throne room.

She gasped with surprise. Lelouch had had his throne room built in the exact semblance of their father's private audience chamber in his Pendragon palace.

'This room is a symbol of how no significant changes ever happen in Britannia' Zero said, and Nunnally was shocked to realize he was actually replying to her thoughts. 'Now come. The chairwoman of the United Federation of Nations and the CEO of the Black Knights will want to know if you intend to uphold this tradition.'

Nunnally chose not to reply. It seemed more prudent to her. She was positive the man who'd taken on the mantle of Zero was Suzaku, even disguised by the modulator it was his voice. But his behavior, his use of their environment to manipulate her feelings, and his ruthless manner of dealing with a friend were all signs that something was terribly wrong.

A chilling idea took hold of Nunnally's brain. There was a very simple explanation for Suzaku's behavior, one which could be summed up in one word: Geass. Nunnally knew her brother's power could force people to behave completely out of character. His Geass could even transform people into his slaves without altering their intellectual abilities. And as one who had been subjected to his Geass, she knew that one wasn't even conscious of anything one was doing under its influence. You could try to resist Geass – she certainly had tried – but its compulsions had been incredibly powerful, and Nunnally doubted it was possible to resist them for more than a few seconds before passing out.

Suzaku being subjected to Geass could explain not only his apparent semblance to Zero, but also the alterations in his behavior towards Nunnally. She was certain he had attempted to reveal his identity to her. Maybe he had even fought a desperate battle against Geass to make his attempt to talk to her - before she rebuked him and Geass' power reasserted itself. Then Suzaku had become the same monster Lelouch had been when he'd been wearing Zero's mask. Worse still, she realized Suzaku may not even have been aware of having killed Lelouch, and he would only have returned to consciousness with a bloody sword in his hand and his friend's bleeding corpse lying below him.

Nunnally hardly noticed Zero wheeling her chair into the throne room – she was too far lost in thought to notice. She was still certain her brother had intended to create a world without war. But now that she was confronted with the very real possibility her brother had destroyed the mind of the man who'd been his best friend, and she could not think of any other purpose for doing so than the sick need to keep manipulating the world when he lay in his grave.

Maybe he was a monster after all…

'v'

'v'

A/N: Enter Zero. There's actually a rational explanation behind Suzaku's behavior with Nunnally. A fair warning though: it is twisted. We are talking about Zero ;)