Lelouch sensed Kallen's seriousness with the matter and immediately wiped the smile from his face. She stared at him grimly, her mouth forming a thin line. Thoughts raced around his head, trying to think of an excuse that he could back out of this conversation, but for the first time facing Kallen, his mind was completely blank. He stared at her, his hands twisting around one another in grim anticipation.

Kallen fixed her gaze on Lelouch, lines creased her forehead as she found that Lelouch was at a loss of words. Was he really that desperate to have her back? Why was he acting like this? Standing up, she walked over to him and folded her hands over his, looking at him with concerned eyes.

"As much as I want this also Lelouch, we cannot throw away everything just for our own selfish reasons," she whispered. "You have a family, I have responsibilities. People need us, Lelouch," she continued, looking into his eyes with lost expressions. He looked so much like a lost child who was looking for his mother. His purple eyes for once looked lost, that was so unlike his cold ruthless personality as Zero. He pulled her into his arms, warm tears falling down her neck as he cried silently into her shoulder. Kallen wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close as she let him cry into her flightsuit.

"I'm here, Lelouch, I'm not going anyway...not this time."

The private jet touched down as the passengers prepared to leave. There was a large crowd standing at the private touchdown track in front of the large Briannia Royal Manor. Alvin and Andrea were ushered out by Sayako and Jeremiah, followed by Kallen's employees as they milled around protectively. Lelouch was then escorted down by Lance, followed by Kallen, who was adjusting the sleeves of her cloak. Shirley immediately rushed out from the crowd and towards her children.

"Oh, Al, Andrea! Are you all alright? Are you all hurt?" She cried as she enveloped her children in a big hug. Lelouch shot a quick glance at Kallen, who was busy with her right sleeve as she adujusted its length to fit the formality. Just then, Lelouch felt him being hugged tightly by a pair of familar arms.

"Lulu! I'm so glad that you are not hurt in any way! Thank goodness..." Lelouch could only stand still as Shirley wept into his chest, her arms holding him painfully close, his eyes still on Kallen. The Knight of Four flipped her long red hair which was in a braid to her back and ventured forward to greet the rest of the crowd.

"Your-"

"There's no need to do so, Kallen," Cornelia quickly interrupted her, motioning for her to stand up. Euphemia stepped forward and grasped her hands.

"Thank you for returning Lelouch and his children safely," the pink-haired princess said. Kallen bowed her head before the princess.

"It was my duty to protect him, your HIghness," she replied, head still down. Schenizel walked forward and intercepted her from Euphie. He handed her a stack of papers.

"Here are the details, I suppose Lance will escort you to the court."

"Yes. Sayako, get everyone to the manor and set things up, Lance, get my briefcase and let's be off."

"Hai, Kallen-sama."

Kallen walked off into the car that Schenizel held open for her. Just before the door closed, Lelouch made up his mind.

"Q-1."

She stopped short when he called her by her coveted codename before turning around to look at him.

"I need to see you when you come back. When is a suitable time?"

Kallen pulled out a phone and scrolled down a menu while Lelouch waited for an answer expectantly. Shirley stared at him before turning to look at Kallen.

"3.30, is that fine with you, your HIghness?" Kallen asked with raised eyebrows. Schenizel stared at his younger brother curiously. Lelouch nodded.

"Right, at your place then, see you Q-1."

"Thank you, your HIghness."

As the car drove away with Schenizel accompanying her, Lelouch suddenly realised that his brother was actually jealous. A smirk graced the corners of his mouth as he stared at the car that was moving off into the distance.

How ironic, Schenizel was being jealous...of me.

Kallen rested her head on the glass of the bulletproof glass of the car, her eyes sweeping over the details of the report. She frowned, this was going to be quite difficult, it seemed. Just then, she felt a hand cover hers. She looked up to see Schenizel looking at her anxiously.

"Are you okay? Kallen, you seem rather tired," the Second Prince of Britannia asked her quietly. Kallen smiled back him and nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. There's no need to worry about me so much. By the way, your choice of flowers are extremely pleasing this week," she said in response. Schenizel smiled briefly before his face took on a more serious expression.

"What did Lelouch go to Japan to look for you? Was there any important business?" he merely stared out of the window and sighed. Schenizel handed her a glass of water and looked away from her as she took it.

She was such a gifted woman, so like Imperial Consort Marianne, Lelouch's mother. Women like her were extremely rare and few, no wonder Lelouch always kept her by his side. Schenizel gritted his teeth as the car moved towards the court.

Not this time, Lelouch. You can't get back a heart that has already lost its affection for you, I... will win this game.

"Ne, Lulu?"

Lelouch looked up to see Shirley standing in the doorway of his study. He shifted his position to face his wife of eight years.

"Yes, Shirley?"

Shirley didn't answer him directly. Instead, she took a seat in front of him and looked nervously at his gold fountain pen, which was a present from Cornelia for his graduation. After fidgeting for a few minutes while Lelouch waited patiently, she finally looked at him.

"Andrea told me about the talk that happened between the two of you," she whispered. Lelouch swallowed nervously, wondering where this was heading.

"Shirley, I-"

"Don't apologise," said Shirley sincerely. She looked directly at Lelouch with her honey-coloured eyes and smiled.

"I know that you love her, really Lulu," she continued, "I don't mind, if..."

"Stop it, Shirley," said Lelouch, staring at her with an atsounded expression. Getting up from his seat, he walked over to the window and stared outside into the gardens of the Imperial Aries Villa, the place that he grew up in.

"If I had married Kallen and I was still in love with you...Let's say imagine a scenario in which your position and Kallen's are reversed, Kallen would have slapped me and asked why had I married her when I was still in love with you while you..." his voice trailed off. Shirley stared at her husband's back, not comprehending his words.

"Lulu, I don't understand-"

"Of couse you don't," Lelouch's words were harsh and cold. He didn't bother turning around to look at her.

"Kallen would have done everything that you wouldn't have, to summarise it up, and that's why..." Lelouch turned around to look at Shirley. His purple eyes hard and cold, scared her as the intense look in them was nothing she had seen before. Those were the eyes of Zero, the rebel that had freed Japan from Britannia's clutches.

"You would not have understood how Kallen would have acted of she were you...Her passion, her steadiness, her determination, the fighter in her..." Lelouch's voice trailed off as he turned to look back at the gardens. Shirley stared at her husband's back before realising that he was shaking with silent sobs. His tears dripped onto the polished floor. Quietly, she got up and left the room. thinking hard to herself.

Why does Lulu always...hide his real feelings from me?

Lelouch stared hard at the gardens, finely trimmed and pruned. His angry yet sad tears still streamed down his cheeks as he stared at them. That was what he couldn't stand about Shirley, she was too soft, so unlike Kallen who stood firm with resolve. He wanted Kallen to be at his side again, to comfort him when he was down, to laugh with him when they triumphed and to slap him whenever he became an idiot. He wanted her to be with him so badly, his heart ached whenever he thought of her. He still remembered the day when she left him, the day when they triumphed and also the day that they lost each other...

Two people walked silently through the Ikaruga, saying nothing but thinking the same thing. They had triumphed, the emperor had been defeated and all the areas had been freed. They were the ones that understood the entire battle and had seen each other through it.

Zero and his Q-1.

They reached Zero's office and immediately, the mask was discarded and the uniform was slowly discarded until only the white shirt and long black pants were left. Kallen pulled off her Black Knights jacket and took off her headband as well, watching her superior button up his Ashford Academy uniform. He cocked a questioning eyebrow in her direction, earning a rather surprised look in his.

"Kallen, about that promise-"

"I know, Lelouch."

The answer was simple, but somehow he knew that she was hiding something from him. His hands stopped their precedent up his uniform jacket and hung by his side as he neared Kallen. The redhead stared, not understanding his intention. He pulled her to the sofa there and sat her down before looking into her eyes.

"You're hiding something from me, Kallen, tell me, I know," he asked her softly. Kallen looked up at him, cerulean eyes surprised at his gentleness. His hands were still on her arms, holding her gently. Looking down, she stared at the floor, biting her lower lip anxiously before looking at him in the eye and answering his statement.

"The royal family has offered me to join their ranks as a Knight of Round, the Knight of Four to be more exact. They will sponsor my education and they are willing to let me to go to University of Justice, Britannia to let me continue my studies and let me fulfill my dream of being a lawyer. I don't need credits and I will be directly admitted. After I finish my education, I will be accepted to work for the royal cabinet immediately. My father, has told me not to waste this opportunity and so..." she couldn't meet his eyes after telling him everything.

Lelouch stared at her, not believing what she had said. He tilted her head up so that she could meet his gaze before telling her with emotion.

"Of course you can't waste-"

"But I made a promise, Lelouch!" she cried, breaking away from him. "I made a promise with you, I can't break it...not when you've done so much for me..." her voice broke down into sobs as she shrank into the couch, her body shaking with her crying, her chest heaving. Lelouch reached forward and enveloped her in his arms, stroking her hair gently.

"Listen to me, Kallen," he whispered, holding her head between his hands, looking at her seriously. After some sniffling and attempts to calm herself down, she managed to look at him in the eye again. Gently, he swiped her tears away with a small kerchief and held her closer.

"Take that offer, Kallen. I'll wait for you, to come back, just promise me that you will-" immediately,he was shushed by a finger on his lips. Kallen stared up at him, the cerulean eyes turning back into the eyes of Kozuki Kallen, Q-1 of the Black Knights, godness of the battlefield.

"Look, Lelouch, there's something that I have been meaning to tell you."

He stilled at those words, said with firm resolve. Her voice was rock solid, expecting him to listen.

"I want you to move on without me, Lelouch. I want you to be happy with Shirley and have a family, to lead a life like you had if you had not been exiled. I don't want to take up your life now," she whispered. Lelouch couldn't believe it himself. The girl that had wanted to be acknowledged by him so much was actually telling him that she had been a bother and now she didn't want to get in his way. What had...gotten into her?

Phew...this chapter was rather hard to write...Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW~ I might put this story on hiatus for a while as I am having a rather bad case of writer's block...But I do appreciate your reviews~ :D