I like this chapter a lot actually. However there is extremely mild boy x boy ness going on between Schneizel and Kanon (I couldnt help but be a fangirl) Also if you do not believe in God, do not take this chapter offensive. There is no preaching and I'm not stating my religious views, but a character in this story does believe in God. This chapter is basically all the pairings that I'm going to have in this story. However, if you want more of a pairing tell me, (no telling me less though or I'll cry cause I love these pairings too dearly.)

Credits go to 30 Seconds to Mars for the lyrics. I do not own Code Geass

A Beautiful Lie

Chapter 5- Romance

On a mountain he sits, not of gold but of sin
through the blood he can look, see the life that he took
From the council of one
He'll decide what he's done with the innocent

Kallen looked around nervously as she walked. It was bad enough that Lelouch almost begged her to go on this date. When she told her friends in the Black Knights they burst out laughing, everyone except for Kento; he looked away. Kallen figured it was because he knew that Lelouch wasn't just a boy she knew from school; he was Zero. 'Maybe he's jealous?' Kallen tried to reason with herself as she walked down the street with Lelouch. Lelouch didn't have to hide his appearance. He casually strolled down the street as if nothing was wrong. Kallen on the other hand was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. If anyone recognized her; it would all be over. Lelouch grabbed her hand and she blushed madly. 'What's he thinking?!' They continued walking down the street until they approached a movie theatre. Kallen sighed in relief; at least in there she wouldn't have to worry about being recognized. Lelouch, like a gentleman, paid for the tickets out of his own pocket.

"Do you want anything to snack on?" he asked as they walked towards the concession stand. Kallen looked at all the snacks. She didn't want to abuse her power of being the woman on the date but she was really hungry.

"Large popcorn, those sour gummy worms and a Sprite?" she asked innocently. Lelouch chuckled and went up to the concession worker and ordered all that she had asked for.

"Are you not getting anything?" Kallen asked.

"Oh, I'm sharing with you Miss Fatty," Lelouch teased as he popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth. The pair walked into the theatre. Kallen was relieved that the previews were already on. They found seats near the end of one of the rows and sat down. Kallen then became nervous. She held the sour gummy worms, Lelouch held the popcorn. The drink was in the cup holder between them. 'Would it be rude if I just reached over and grabbed the popcorn?' Lelouch seemed perfectly relaxed as Kallen looked over at him in the gentle glow of the movie theatre. She secretly wanted to punch him. Here she was freaking the hell out and he was Mr. Chill. "Popcorn?" Lelouch asked. Kallen accepted and grabbed a few pieces of popcorn into her hand. She felt a little more relaxed now that he had invited her to reach over. The movie began and Kallen stopped thinking about anything but the movie…for a few seconds. 'He likes Kento?! I never took Lelouch to be even remotely gay! Well actually…wait…nevermind. Maybe I thought of him as a little gay. I wonder if he's going to ask Kento on a date too. Does this mean that Kento and I are now competing? Wait…I don't even know if Kento likes him! I'm getting ridiculous. Why should I care if Kento likes him? I'll just have to kill him. Wait! What?! Kallen! What on Earth are you thinking?! Maybe I should talk to Kento and hear what he has to say. Yeah, I'll do that.' Kallen settled into her seat and remained focused on the movie for the remainder of it.

Schneizel sat at his desk pondering over bills that needed his approval, and papers that needed to be signed. He sighed in discontent as he looked out the window. Down in the courtyard Kanon was practicing hand-to-hand combat. Schneizel stood up to watch from a better angle. Kanon had been working hard on learning how to fight without weapons for almost five years. He believed that if the Britannian army relied too heavily on knightmares they would lack real skill and obedience. Kanon's skin was glowing softly as sweat clung to his muscles. His trainer was clearly an Eleven, which made Schneizel wonder what kind of combat he was learning. Schneizel never had asked Kanon his opinion on Area 11; he simply assumed that Kanon didn't care either way. Schneizel laughed softly to himself as he thought of the only thing Kanon seemed to have an opinion on; him. Kanon's love for Prince Schneizel had been apparent since they day the two had met. Kanon would constantly fuss over the prince and worry like a mother would about him. Schneizel was flattered actually. He deeply cared for his friend and was very thankful for him. Kanon's teacher swung his foot up and it connected with Kanon's lip.

Schneizel winced in pain as he watched the blood splatter. Kanon fell over and held up his hand signaling that the lesson was over. He stood up and walked away without saying anything to his Eleven trainer. Schneizel returned to his desk and pretended as if he hadn't seen anything. When Kanon walked in Schneizel looked up with eyes of worry. "Kanon! Are you ok?"

"My trainer hit me pretty bad. It was by accident though. I'm fine." Kanon walked over to a mirror and looked at the damage. His lip was swollen.

"Do you want any ice?"

"I'll get it myself. Your Highness should stay here and continue on with your work."

"Kanon-"

"It's fine. I'll be back soon." Kanon walked out of the room and down the hall. He made his way into the kitchen and put some ice in a bag. He washed the blood off of his face and placed the ice on his lip; wincing when the pain surged from the cold. He walked back into his own private quarters and looked at himself in the mirror. 'I don't know why he keeps me around. I'm not particularly useful. Am I like one of those trophy boys? Does he only keep me around because he finds me attractive? No, my prince wouldn't do that to me. He's honest to me. I'm loyal to him, just a dog; loyal. That's why he keeps me around. He knows he's safe when I'm there. I'm just his dog.'

When the movie ended Kallen's nerves became erratic once again. Her heart was beating a little to fast for comfort and her palms were sweaty. "Lelouch? Can we just go back now?" she asked. Lelouch looked a little pained. "I mean, I'm just nervous. What if someone recognizes me? There are Britannian soldiers everywhere!"

"Could I at least buy us some ice cream first?" Kallen sighed. He was hell-bent on this date working out.

"Sure, why not." They walked to an ice cream parlor and Lelouch ordered two chocolate ice creams.

"Do you want to sit here and eat or go back?"

"Go back. I'm sorry-"

"I understand." They walked in an awkward silence for most of the remaining time. "Well, here's where I pretend I've walked you home."

"Yeah, I guess so. Where are you going to come back into the hideout from?"

"C.C's going to help me with that." Kallen was freaking out inside. She didn't know whether to kiss Lelouch or to not kiss him. Lelouch took a step closer to Kallen and grabbed both of her hands. "I'm sorry; I didn't want to make you nervous."

"It's fine, Lelouch. I did have a good time." Lelouch's eyes sparkled for a moment with glee. He kissed Kallen on the cheek softly. Kallen grabbed his face and placed her lips over his. They deepened their kiss with arms around waists and eyes closed. Kallen loved Lelouch's taste; he had a sweet flavor to him. Lelouch's mind went blank; he had forgotten who he was. The universe was gone, the Earth was gone; nothing mattered except this one kiss. And then…shatter, everything was back.

"I should be going inside now." Lelouch pressed his forehead to Kallen's.

"Yeah, I guess you should."

"Lelouch, I wouldn't mind going out on another date with you," Kallen offered as she pecked him on the cheek before turning around and going inside. Kento watched from his window as they finally decided to stop sucking each other's faces. Kento clutched his chest. Feelings that he thought didn't exist stirred his senses. Pain surged into his body as he crumpled to the floor. From under his bed he took out a photobook. He flipped through the pages. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he stared at one photo in particular; it was of him and Naoto, about two days before Naoto was killed. They were holding each other in front of a sunset.

"Naoto, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you die."

Cornelia paced back and forth in the common room of the hideout. She needed to talk to her brother about battle plans and strategies. Guilford's eyes followed her every movement. Finally, Zero came into the room, brining all the attention to himself. "Zero! Where have you been? I've been waiting to talk to you all day!" Cornelia said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the room. Guilford's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden display. He stood up to follow but Cornelia stopped him. "It's fine Guilford. We can trust him." Guilford's eyes told Cornelia that he still didn't fully trust Zero, but he was going to allow it to slide. Cornelia smiled at her knight before dragging Zero down the hall and into her room.

"It's so clean!" Lelouch said as he stepped in. Cornelia rolled her eyes.

"You've always been so messy, Lelouch," she stated as she lay down on her bed. Lelouch sat down on the couch and waited to hear what she had to say. "We need to ambush the Britannian fortress. I know its weak spots. If we do this then we can have a clear shot at Schneizel.

"It has weak spots?" Lelouch asked rather surprised.

"Its defense system can't cover it completely if there is an attack coming from each side, and the attacks have to be strong and I mean strong."

"So an ambush with highly powerful weapons at each side could work in penetrating its shields?" Lelouch asked for clarification. Cornelia nodded.

"How do we bring about this ambush?" Lelouch asked. Cornelia smiled a very wicked smile and unrolled a sheet of paper.

"This is how." Lelouch analyzed the paper before making any judgments. His Shinkirō would be in the front with some reinforcements. The Guren would be to the right with reinforcements as well. Behind the fortress would be Cornelia and her knights and the final, left side had a big question mark.

"It's incomplete," Lelouch stated.

"I don't know all your high powered weapons. I know with Guilford and I combined, and along with all the Glaston Knights we could easily make a large coordinated attack that would penetrate the fortress' defense systems. Once that happens, I'll lead a small group of people inside the back and we'll find Schneizel."

"If you get in before I do, don't kill Schneizel. I'd like to speak with him before you do." Cornelia's wicked smile spread across her lips. She loved the menacing tone Lelouch was using as he asked for Schneizel to be alive.

"What do you want to speak to him about?"

"Nothing important; just a nice chit-chat before he meets his doom. I'd rather him know that I'm not dead too."

"We need just one more highly powered vessel of any kind to get though the left side of the fortress."

"I've got an idea." Lelouch turned on his heels and placed Zero's helmet back on his head. He knew just the person to ask.

Kento sat in his room alone in the dark. He had stopped crying a long time ago, but he felt no need to move. A knock was heard on his door. "Go away! I'm busy!" Kento said.

"Lies. Let me in Kento!" demanded Zero. Kento stood up and moved over to the door. He turned the lights on and allowed Zero to step inside. Lelouch took off his helmet and held it in his hands. "Would you be willing to do something for me?" Lelouch asked.

"Depends, what is it?" Kento asked. Lelouch smiled. He liked how Kento wasn't head over heals loyal to him.

"Cornelia has come up with a wonderful idea. We're going to ambush the Britannian fortress. She's worked out the details but I seem to be lacking in another knightmare with the ability to blast a highly powerful attack at the fortress at the same time the other three do. This knightmare isn't built yet and it doesn't even have a potential pilot. I was wondering if we could make this knightmare for you."

"My own knightmare?" Kento didn't actually seem to excited about it.

"You'd get more recognition that way," Lelouch said in attempt to bribe the man.

"I don't know. It's a big responsibility. If I messed up, we'd all be in trouble."

"We're not going to rush this ambush. We need to build the knightmare and then have you test it to make sure you can use it properly. I'd never put you in a situation where you have never seen the knightmare before and expect you either to die trying or make it happen." Kento replayed his last statment over in his head a few times before coming to a conclusion on what he would do.

"Fine. I'll do it." Lelouch smiled in thanks. His eyes wondered over to a picture on Kento's nightstand.

"Is that Naoto?" Lelouch asked. Kento seemed surprised. He didn't recall telling Lelouch about Naoto!

"Kallen told me."

"Oh yeah, you two went on a date today. How was that?"

"It was nice. I enjoy being around her. She makes me feel good."

"Yeah…" Kento didn't seem too interested in the conversation, but Lelouch didn't want to leave just yet.

"Were you crying? Your eyes are red."

"Yeah. I saw you two kissing from my window and it just reminded me of Naoto. I just miss him, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lelouch asked sounding very unsure of himself.

"Ha, thanks but no thanks. What's done is done. He's dead and I'm still alive. His troubles are over now."

"No they're not." Kento looked up at Lelouch in confusion.

"I'm sure he's still worried about you."

"Do you believe in God?" Kento asked. Lelouch was severly astonished. He did not see that coming.

"I don't know what I believe." It was a truthful answer. Occasionally Lelouch believed and occasionally he didn't. He juggled religion and philosophy and eventually thought it was better to not think about it.

"I do. But I just don't understand. Why would God take Naoto away from me and leave me here alone?" Lelouch didn't want to talk to Kento anymore, but he knew if he left, Kento would only feel worse. Lelouch sat down beside Kento and sighed deeply.

"I guess, sometimes God takes people away because He misses them."

"But it's not fair! Naoto was so young!"

"Unborn children die too, even before they have a chance to see the world."

"I just don't understand why God does such cruel things sometimes."

"Maybe you're just looking at it at a wrong angle. God does everything for a reason. Maybe He wanted Naoto to be your guardian angel because he knew that you and him had a deep bond with each other. Maybe that's why you're still here; because on each step of the way, Naoto has been there right beside you."

"Lelouch?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I don't think I could have allowed myself to live any longer if it weren't for you."

"You're welcome." Lelouch stood up and left the room. Kento looked at the picture of Naoto and smiled.

"I guess…I kind of always knew I wasn't alone. You've been here this entire time, haven't you?" The picture seemed to smile only brighter.

I hope no one got offended. In my novel Oblivious the main character thinks about God a lot and no one ever was offended, but today at school (in my archaeology class) we were discussing evolution and a fight broke out between a religous person and a non-religious person. My professor ended it by saying, "20 bucks God decided evolution would be more fun and less work! ok next topic!"

I love my archaeology professor. She cracks me up. Let me know if you want any of these pairs to be more involved with each other. Review and the story will continue! And I'll review something of yours.