Cornelia lowered her gun, watching with something akin to satisfaction as Lelouch's body hit the ground with a wet thud. The red-head—Kallen, wasn't it?—seemed to fall with him, dropping to her knees beside the corpse; Cornelia couldn't see her face from where she stood, but with the way the girl's body shuddered, shaking like she'd been struck by her own, personal earthquake, she was probably crying. The princess quashed her momentary sense of empathy (because she knew exactly what it was like to watched a loved one die) and the sharp twist in her heart over the fact she'd killed Lelouch with, quite simply, the raw, brutal truth that she had killed Lelouch. The Demon Emperor - the man the whole world wanted dead.
Around her, it seemed as if the rest of the world didn't quite know how to feel - most of the crowd were simply stunned into silence, the faces of the Black Knights mirroring the entire spectrum of human emotion, from joy to shock to confusion and even to anger, in the case of the Lady Kaguya. Not that their reactions particularly mattered: Cornelia had avenged Euphemia, and even if the rest of the world were to burn in nuclear fire (though she doubted someone as arrogant as Lelouch would ever plan something related to his death), it wouldn't particularly matter.
That global incomprehension lasted for about fifteen seconds until Lelouch stood back up again.
"So," he said, resting a hand on Kallen's shoulder to support himself, as she—and everyone else—looked up at him in disbelief. "That was a thing."
Then he turned to face Cornelia, blood still dripping from the three mortal wounds in his chest. "You know, I never thought I'd see the day when I'd thank Father for something. But, like Tamaki's incompetence—or your ability to do exactly what I want you to do—the universe never ceases to surprise me."
He laughed, low and briefly amused.
"Anyway, if you'll excuse us," he lifted the red-head up by the hand (though, given his distaste of physical activity, an absent part of Cornelia's mind noted it was far more likely Kallen had lifted herself up) as he continued, "we've got places to me. Carry on, chop chop!"
Cornelia saw, not red, but rather that sort of white, mental incandescence that comes from being so angry you can't even think straight.
"How the fuck are you still alive?"
"Hel-lo, Demon Emperor? It's a little in the name!"
With that, he turned and made his way down the street, walking hand-in-hand with Kallen. Though, of course, his progress was briefly arrested when he stopped to toss a final remark over his shoulder.
"You'd better not invite us to the wedding!"
Kallen elbowed him in the side, muttering something under her breath - though, given that Lelouch's collar microphone was miraculously undamaged by his fall, it quickly became a little louder.
"But I wanted to go to the wedding! Do you know how long it's been since I've had time for a decent slice of cake?"
Lelouch's reply, too, was broadcast around the world.
"Six months, thirteen days and three hours. Could be less if you count cupcakes."
The slap that followed probably would have killed someone who, well, was actually able to die.
Six months after the events of the day now universally referred to as 'The Day The Demon Didn't Die (But Probably Should Have)', the world was in relative peace. Led by Zero, Chairwoman Kaguya Sumeragi and Empress Nunally vi Britannia, the Black Knights, the UFN and the Britannian Empire lived together in peace and harmony.
The same, in fact, could even be said for Lelouch and Kallen. Along with Jeremiah, they'd managed to—while the rest of the world was still reeling in confusion—escape to Japan, raiding a few of the Black Knight's former bases that Lelouch had deliberately left untouched for supplies before retreating into the countryside.
After a long and convoluted series of events that involved, at one point, Lelouch, Kallen and Jeremiah pretending to be sisters (Kallen wasn't sure what was worse - how well the two males pulled off the act, or how much she kind of liked Lelouch in a dress), they eventually settled in a town called Kakura, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Kallen had been there a few times before, back when enough of her family had been alive to go on holiday, and she'd always wanted to go back when she could.
They purchased a plot of land on the edge of the town—which conveniently had eyelines in all directions, making it impossible to approach without being seen well beforehand—and, mainly due to Lelouch's sense of humour and Jeremiah's devotion to his former Emperor, started up an orange farm.
It was three months before C.C. found them for the first time; six months before Anya tagged along with her on another one of her visits and never bothered to leave.
Ten years later, after Lelouch and Kallen had finally gotten married—even though at times it had looked like they'd never reconcile after some of their arguments—and Kallen had given birth to their first child (a son, naturally named Naoto), C.C. finally decided that she'd vacillated enough. She granted Kallen a Geass: Absolute Protection, the power to shield another from harm - and a fitting power for a hyper-protective new mother.
Perhaps three years after that, given that Kallen was intentionally not exercising her power at every opportunity (unlike a certain former Emperor), it manifested in both her eyes, allowing her to potentially take C.C.'s Code and join Lelouch in his immortality, though the decision to do so was an extremely difficult one. Not only because neither Lelouch nor Kallen actually wanted C.C. dead—Kallen had initially accepted the Geass to prevent C.C. from finding someone else, not because she wanted to fulfill the woman's wish—but also because Kallen knew that to accept the Code would be to outlive Naoto.
It took C.C. pointing out that the soon-to-be-mortal's life was her own—that she could do what she wanted with it—and that Kallen could either accept the Code and live on with Lelouch, or deny it and abandon him again (after that particularly comment, Kallen refused to speak to C.C. for a week), given that Naoto would never be able to live forever, for the two former revolutionaries to organise perhaps the world's most unique funeral - one where the subject assisted in picking out her own headstone. It read 'Pizza is Love. Pizza is Life', in case anybody was wondering.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Though, considering it hasn't happened yet, that's probably not the right word.
Well. That was a thing. Hope you enjoyed the year-late finale to Impulse!
(No, I don't even know what this chapter is doing here. I'm honestly as confused as you are).
Also, it's probably because I was writing that part after 3am, but I really wanted to include "Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked" in a particular place. Though whether that's because that's what I automatically think about whenever I'm considering people living together in peace and harmony, or a subconscious desire for more Azula, I'm really not sure.
I should probably clarify that no, this does not mean Breath of Life or Second Chances will suddenly be getting an update any time soon. I'm sorry.