Woke up this morning and I felt the beginning of a cold, but of course I had to ignore it and went to the beach anyway. I'm such a genius! Now I'm stuck in bed. Ugh.

The Boy In The Scroll

Chapter 2: Crash! (Didn't know what else to name this chapter...)

The sun slowly peaked over the horizon and shined upon the ghetto's as fingers of warmth seeped through the holes and cracks of ancient wooden walls. The rays of light lit up the homes of the Japanese but all was many of the Japanese were scared of the foreboding shadows that stretched across their side of Area 11, set by the buildings that towered on Britannia's side of the once proud Japan.

A swirl of mist emerged from the scroll, that hung on Tamaki's bedroom wall, and took the form of Lelouch. The boy yawned as he stared at the streaks of sunlight that filtered through the cracks on the walls. This would be the first morning he would experience in the last seven years! A simple ray of light intrigued the ex-prince as it shined on the back of his hand and spread warmth through his fingers.

Blinking, Lelouch ripped his gaze away from the patch of gold and glanced down at the sleeping man on the futon. He hoped the man could somehow help him. Though how such an idiot could help him, was a complete mystery to him. Hell, the man couldn't even see him!

Damn scroll…

Already getting bored, the teen decided to test the limits of the scroll and proceeded to float around it. Strangely enough, he could somehow go to each corner of the room when he couldn't even get farther than four feet the night before. The only place he couldn't go was outside the room...

Lelouch made to tap the door, and was shocked to find that his hand was no longer transparent. He stared at his hand as if it was the first time he had ever truly seen it. The possibilities! Lelouch floated down until his feet could touch the ground and was shocked to see that he could actually feel the solid ground beneath his feet. Landing both feet on the dirty mats, Lelouch could still feel himself being held up by his ability to float. Severing those bonds, he let his legs take on the full weight of his body and-

CRASH!

"Ow," Lelouch muttered as he pushed himself up with his arms, only to find that he didn't have the strength. What the hell!? Struggling like a fish out of water, Lelouch felt the raw heat of embarrassment reach his face. He had never been an active child, but to not even have the strength to pick himself up? It was mortifying!

Lelouch quickly pulled at the same ropes he had severed only seconds ago to help him stand. Once floating, Lelouch looked at Tamaki and was a tad disappointed that the man hadn't woken up at the noise he made. The lack of notice was a sharp reminder that Lelouch was only a wondering spirit.

At least it was still better than being stuck in the scroll all day long. Now that had truly been a horrible seven years and Lelouch had no intention of repeating one of those days again.

He could clearly remember his first year in the scroll. At that time his bindings to the scroll had been strong, to the point where he couldn't even sit or lay down.

It used to feel as though he was locked in a coffin that was standing up. It was suffocating. He couldn't move a single muscle and try as he might, he was to fearful to even think of blinking his dry eyes. His mouth was also parched and his empty stomach had caused a grumble to echo in his scroll. That grumbling along with a screaming echo had been his only companion for the first year of being trapped in the scroll. Talk about horrible company. The monstrous tone wasn't something he would easily forget. It was a miracle that the sounds suddenly stopped one day. It was also that holy day when Lelouch finally found he could float and when his stomach and parched mouth stopped bugging him… well, it was either that or he just got used to the feeling…

Lelouch shook his head. It was almost fifteen minutes later when he blinked out of his thoughts, yet a scowl still rested on his face. He would need to stop thinking about his wasted past and move on.

"You get the left side," a voice said and Lelouch immediately snapped to attention and listened to the voice behind the door. He could hear the padding of two people. Soldiers, by how confident their footsteps sounded and the voice was Britannian judging by the accent.

"Roger," the second voice stated as one pair of footsteps grew distant.

*Click* The first man must have loaded his gun.

"Tamaki if you can hear me, wake up!" Lelouch hissed.

The man slept like a rock.

What a day to be a spirit. If only he could somehow wake the man up… Lelouch floated toward the futon and stared down at the man, though his anger was more toward his own uselessness than anything else. "Wake up!" Lelouch screamed.

Still no answer.

Growling, Lelouch grabbed the nearest thing he could get his hands on, a can of pepsi, and dropped it on Tamaki. Quick as a flash, Tamaki sat up and opened his mouth to scream from the sudden pain, only he couldn't get a sound out because of Lelouch's hand.

So maybe he wasn't that useless after all, Lelouch smirked. "There's soldiers outside," Lelouch alerted Tamaki as he removed his hand from the man's mouth.

"What the hell was that?" Tamaki whispered as he rubbed a hand to his stomach. He looked around his room and saw straight through Lelouch. "Ugh, I gotta lay off those pizza's."

*Bang* A gun shot went off.

Tamaki snatched his gun and rolled out of bed. The move was sloppy but it showed that he had some training as a soldier. His eyes widened as he moved behind a dresser and loaded his gun.

Deciding that the man was safe, or at least prepared for an attack, Lelouch turned back to the door. Running over all the options he had, Lelouch finally picked the most outrageous choice and reached for the door knob. Unlike twenty minutes ago, he no longer felt the scroll pulling at his spirit to return. Opening the door Lelouch could hear Tamaki whisper something about ghosts, but he paid it no mind as he floated down the hall toward the first voice.

A man wearing a grey vest soon stepped out of one of the side rooms and proceeded to walk to the next room. When he couldn't open the door he shot the lock and quickly stepped in, only to exit when no one was in there.

"I thought this was the terrorist base," the man grumbled.

Lelouch floated after the soldier as he went deeper into camp. Along the way, Lelouch began picking up whatever he could, broken pieces of wood, pencils, a shirt or two, books…

"There's no one here," the soldier continued after a while as he scratched his head and turned around. His mouth dropped open at the sight before him. To him it looked as if the items were floating and he couldn't see Lelouch at all.

Still, the teen would have his fun… Lelouch missed seven years of his life, what else could anyone expect out of him?

He floated, up, down, around, and was very glad to see that the man could see where he was. Or at least where the items were. A simple idea of writing a note to one of the terrorists came to mind and Lelouch quickly filed the plan away for a later date.

For now…

Lelouch quickly threw all his items at the soldier until he was only left with the longest slab of wood. Hefting the item from one hand to the other, Lelouch tapped the end of it to his other hand before taking a few swings at the soldier. However before he could get clear shot, the man screamed and quickly fled the building while shouting in his head set to his partner about the place being haunted.

"How sad," Lelouch muttered. "The elite are scared of a ghost."

Sighing, Lelouch loyally floated back to Tamaki's room as he began to feel the usual tug from the scroll.

As he expected the Japanese man was still cowering behind his dresser while he clenched his gun as if it were his life line. And this was the man that somehow released him from the scroll? I must have been a coincidence.

Everyone needed to have dumb luck at some point. Though considering the soldier from earlier hadn't checked Tamaki's room, the man must have a lot of luck. Or maybe he was just unlucky seeing as Lelouch now 'haunted' his scroll and the fact it seemed as if no one else was at camp while the soldiers infiltrated.

"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

Lelouch jumped from the sudden noise, and raised an eloquent eyebrow at Tamaki. Puzzled, Lelouch swiveled his head to look at the space behind him and was shocked to see the equally shocked look of Naoto. The man looked out of breath as if he had just run a marathon. Lelouch gave the red head a questioning look, for both his appearance and Tamaki's sudden out burst. When all he received from Naoto was a confused look that mirrored his own, Lelouch turned back to Tamaki.

"Are you okay?" Naoto gasped as he shook away his confused look.

"Wha-what?" Tamaki stuttered and opened his mouth as if he had more to say. Tamaki was holding the rolled up scroll in one hand while the clutched his gun.

"You can see me?" Lelouch whispered, almost scared that if he talked to loud he would somehow disappear.

"I saw a couple Brittanian soldiers running from this direction," Naoto continued.

Tamaki dropped the scroll, and Lelouch felt himself drop several feet from the air. He scowled slightly at that. It seemed as if the leash the scroll had on him, shortened again. "Ehhhh?!" Tamaki's eye's widened.

"You can see me?" Lelouch repeated, though it was more of a statement. Tamaki was definitely staring at him.

"But you were the only one on base, so everyone's fine," Naoto said, as if to reassure the man. "You're okay though… right?"

"What? Of course! What do you think I am? Some idiot?" Tamaki ranted. "Of course I can see you!"

"What?" Naoto cocked his head to side at the last statement. "What are you talking about?"

"The kid thinks I can't see him," Tamaki stated and jabbed his thumb at Lelouch.

"What kid? There's no one there," Naoto said as he gave his friend a worried look. More than likely worrying over Tamaki's mental health.

"He's right there," Tamaki pointed at Lelouch.

"Who?"

"HIM!" Tamaki said and stretched his arm toward Lelouch as he continued pointing.

Didn't he know pointing at people was rude?

Naoto looked toward Lelouch's direction but as expected his eyes landed on nothing. "No one is there," Naoto said, turning back to Tamaki.

"He's right there!" Tamaki screamed, his finger still pointing at Lelouch as he began to shiver slightly.

"I was sealed in the scroll, of course he can't see me," Lelouch stated. "Your blood must have allowed you to see me." And released me… somewhat. Though why you couldn't see me earlier was a bit troublesome.

As he said thought this, Naoto's eyes widened. "Tamaki, I can see him."

A/N: Futon is Japanese bed for those who don't know. And another thing, did anyone catch the use of the word 'kahuna' by Tamaki in one of the Code Geass episodes? I'm not sure how many of you caught the joke since the english meaning is shaman or wise man, but in Hawaiian it means that plus something totally different depending on the context. Couldn't help but laugh that they used a Hawaiian joke XD

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