Lelouch dashed through the corridors of the Royal Court, not caring that judges and lawyers were actually staring at him in surprise. He gasped for breath as he skidded into the entrance of the High Court of Britannia, almost into the crowd of people that were exiting the courtroom. Lance recognised him and immediately grabbed his arm, leading him to aside to talk to him. Lelouch immediately grasped the young assistant by the arms and shook him, violet eyes boring into pale blue, demanding for immediate answers.

"Where is she? Where is Kallen?" Lelouch was rigid with shock, his arms were shaking on Lance's.

"She was left with the person who interrupted the court case-"

"Shit-"

Lelouch immediately let go of Lance and sprinted down the corridor, his long coat flying out behind him. Lance stood there stunned before following the prince.

"Talk."

The word was steel out of Kallen's tongue. Pointing the gun that she was authorised to bring inside the courtroom, she stared down at him with a expressionless face. Her foot was on the man's chest, the heel digging into his heart. As she waited for the man to start talking, she kept her eyes trained on him, wary of what he would do.

He however, acted completely out of her expectation.

His eyes suddenly flared bright blue and the Geass symbol that she had never expected to see again appeared in them. Grabbing her ankle, he forced her down on the floor and wrested the gun out of her hand. Kallen hit the ground hard, and she flinched in pain as she felt his foot connect with her wrist and heard the tell-tale crack that told her that her right hand was now useless. She was stunned, she didn't even anticipate this.

"You did not expect this to happen, did you?" breathed a voice. Kallen's eyes widened. The voice was not of the masquerading soldier, but of a woman. At the same time, Kallen felt a cold finger slide down her cheek.

"Ge-geass..." she choked out.

"Yes dear, Geass," whispered the feminine voice again and the other free foot of her attacker slammed into her stomach. She choked as the feet left her body and doubled up in pain. Cold fingers grasped her face and jerked her face up to meet her attacker in the eye. Kallen simply couldn't will her body to move and she was forced to look directly into the ice-blue eyes gleaming with Geass.

"Now you die, Q-1."

Lelouch rushed down the corridor, hurling himself at a speed that he didn't know that he was capable of before turning into the corridor. He froze at the scene before him. Kallen was lying on the ground, her head forcibly pulled up with the barrel of a gun pressed to her forehead...

"Kallen!"

At the sound of his voice, the figure holding the gun whipped around a shot was immediately fired at him. Before Kallen or Lelouch could react, Lance darted in front of Lelouch and deflected the bullet. The dark figure cursed before running out of the corridor. Lance immediately rushed out after it, cocking a gun in his hand. Lelouch meanwhile slid to a stop in front of Kallen, cradling her face in his hand as he looked anxiously at her.

"Kallen! Are you okay? Kallen, answer me!"

"I'm alright," she swallowed nervously, but she was somehow vey frightened. Slowly, she grasped the front of his shirt and pulled herself up. Lelouch immediately put his hands behind her to support her. Breathing in pants, Kallen allowed him to hold her in his arms before attempting to stand on her feet. Lelouch, not trusting that she was alright, kept his hands around her. Her smaller form was shaking under his arms and after a few attempts to stand up properly while failing utterly at the same time, she let him hold her up, breathing deeply into his chest.

"Milady!"

Lelouch looked up to see Lance rushing at them. At soon as the knight skidded to a halt in front of them, Lelouch immediately let him take Kallen, aware that some nosy judges and lawyers were peeking into the corridor. There would be some pretty bad rumors flying around the next half of the day if he wasn't careful and Schenizel wouldn't be vey happy about it. Gritting his teeth, he motioned for Lance to take her outside to his car. The chaffeur cocked his head in surprise, but kept his mouth shut as Lelouch shot him a death glare.

It was a long ride back to the Stadfeld mansion as Kallen was not even looking at him. She rested her head on the velvet back of his carseat, her eyes closed. Lance looked at him in the rearview mirror with silent, thoughtful eyes, before shaking his head. He looked over at his ace, drinking in her slender form that was rested on the carseat. Red hair tumbled out of the braid onto her back, spilling over her body like a waterfall. She was simply beautiful, like she had always been.

Abruptly, the car came outside the Stadfeld mansion, Kallen's eyes snapping open in unison with the stopping. Immediately, she threw the car door open and flounced up to the gates, leaving behind a rather flustered Lance.

'Kallen."

The voice was low, powerful, commanding. The same voice that she had listened to back in their days as a Black Knight, the very same voice that stopped her. She stopped dead in her tracks, but didn't turn around to look at him. She felt the weight of his stare grinding into her back, but simply refused to turn around. Lance stood there quietly, unsure of what to do. It wasn't until the big gates started to open and Lord Stadfeld bustled out of the mansion, looking slightly unnerved by the situation. Kallen swept past her father, not looking at Lelouch at all as she walked up to the front door before entering the house. Lance stood rooted to the spot, blinking rapidly while trying to digest what had happened.

"Your Highness?"

Lord Stadfeld's soft voice drew Lelouch's attention away from Kallen's back. Looking to the noble, he nodded.

"Yes?"

"I'll talk to Kallen about it, I'll make sure she apologise-"

"There's no need to do so."

It was now Lord Stadfeld's turn to blink rapidly in confusion. Meanwhile, a shout of "Lance!" came from inside the house, prompting Lance to snap out of his trance and rush inside the house. Lelouch turned around so that he was now eye-to-eye to Kallen's father, who waited patiently for him to start. The man's cerulean eyes, identical to Kallen's stared unblinkingly at him, showing his intelligence and also fatherly concern for his daughter. He waited patiently for the prince to speak, his red hair flying about in the wind that suddenly swept the compound.

"Don't worry about it, Lord Stadfeld, it's alright."

"That's precisely what I'm worried about, my lord." Lord Stadfeld's handsome face crunched up in worry for a moment before smoothing out. "I have not been blind to the rumors that have been spreading out since you announced a visit to Japan without the company of your wife-" the noble's eyes narrowed at the mention of the visit. Before he attempted to continue, he was interrupted by Lelouch.

"Do not speak about it," murmured Lelouch in a dangerous voice, so dangerous that Lord Stadfeld immediately stopped what he was about to say. The expression in the prince's eyes told him that he did not want to speak about the topic with anyone anymore. Silently, Lord Stadfeld bowed his head, knelt down and addressed the prince in a formal manner.

"Very well then, your Highness, I wil refrain from bringing up this topic anymore. If you'll excuse me, I'm not in the time to see your car off. I apologise for that," replied Lord Stadfeld in a cold tone before standing up and walking back into the mansion. Lelouch stood there, his eyes glazed over with fustration before he entered his car again, flinging his head back against the seat that Kallen had occupied before. Inhaling in her scent deeply, he clutched at the fabric. His eyes snapped open as he suddenly realised something.

I miss her...more than I actually think I do...

Burying his face in his hands, he broke down into sobs as he clawed at his heart, trying to quell the pain there. However, there was nothing that could replace the ripping sensation in his chest. There was only one remedy to heal him, to make him himself, to make him smile again. That remedy however, had just refused to heal him.

Kallen watched Lelouch's car drive off, dressed now in a simple black shirt with knee-length denims. She collapsed down beside the wall, tears forming in her eyes as she slammed her head against it. She gripped her aburn tresses in her hand, clentching it so tightly that it hurt, but she didn't care. It was nothing compared to the pain that was ripping through her chest, making her seem like a pathetic little girl again, like that time when her brother died. She grabbed at her heart, choking on howls that echoed throughout the room.

She still loved him, why was that so hard for her admit it? Now, seeing him walk away from her again was like being in the 18th pit of hell, relieving the most terrible events in her life again. Every part of her body craved his touch again, every part of her mind wanted his attention again and most of all, every part of her heart wanted his love again. She couldn't live without him loving her again. She wanted him, she wanted her Zero, she wanted her leader...

...but most of all, she wanted Lelouch to be hers again...

Lady Yuuko Stadfeld-Kozuki looked at her daughter with a worried expression on her face. She didn't want to see her like this, but she didn't dare to try comforting her either. Now she only could watch her cry from outside her room, helpless. Just then, she felt arms around her. Loooking up, she found herself looking into her husband's eyes, who quietly told her not to do anything. Bowing her head, she leaned into her husband's embrace, trying to think of a way to console her daughter.

Lord William Stadfeld looked quietly at Kallen, keeping his arms around Yuuko, the wife that he had reclaimed after Area 11 was turned back into Japan. He knew that Kallen had loved Lelouch deeply and the prince also had indescrible feelings for his daughter as well. He didn't know how to approach Kallen, nor didn't he know how to face Prince Lelouch again. Leaning his head against his wife's, he closed his eyes as he let Kallen cry.

For now, they could only let her do so.

YAY! OTHER CHAPPIE FINALLY! Oh yeah, officially got this story off hiatus XDDD