(A/N: I promised that I would explain how Lelouch got involved in this predicament, and I intend to make good on that this chapter. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: The Hotel Jacking. I also want to apologize for the two month delay. I know I promised chapters, but life got in the way. I have no excuses. Enjoy).

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. Cornelia of the Defection would not be possible without the assistance of my beta Greatkingrat88

Yesterday

Lelouch had just finished a student council meeting, and completed his homework—correctly, for once—and was just about to settle down for the evening when his cell phone rang. He had expected Milly or Shirley, and was surprised to see Euphie's number. She had insisted they exchange numbers, the last time they met, and Lelouch had let himself be persuaded, mostly due to the fact that he already had Cornelia's number.

"Yes?" Lelouch answered unenthusiastically as he stood in front of his bed.

"Oh, Lelouch, you answered! I was worried I was going to have to leave you a voice mail." Euphie exclaimed cheerfully.

Lelouch put on a tired smile. "I always have time for you, little sister. What do you need?"

"Do you have any plans for this weekend?"

"Nothing in particular, really. Why?"

"Well, you know how Cornelia's sending me to the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center this weekend?"

Lelouch sat down on his bed. "I am aware, yes."

"Well, would you like to come with me? I'll be awfully lonely all by myself."

Lelouch said nothing for a few moments in confused silence. When he finally found his voice he said, in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, why not? I mean, you spend so much time with my sister." Euphie said and sniffed, putting on an obviously fake sad voice. "I'm starting to get the idea that you don't like me anymore."

"Don't be silly, Euphemia." Lelouch said calmly. "How could I ever dislike you?"

"So you'll come?" Euphie asked, ecstatically.

"Well…"

"Please, Lelouch?" Euphie pleaded. "You haven't spent any real quality time with me since that one time I came to visit. You and I haven't had any time to catch up for old times' sake. It's always you and my sister. You never spare any time for me. So come on, will you please come along?"

"And what if I say no?" Lelouch asked.

"If you don't come with me, I'll cry." Euphie said, sounding unusually cheerful. "And I'll tell Cornelia you were mean to me."

"You wouldn't dare." Lelouch said sharply, calling her bluff. There was no way Euphie could just turn on the water works, or was that petty to involve-

He suddenly heard sniffing on the other end of the phone followed by a loud, crying sound, Euphemia exclaiming, "Lelouch you're so mean to me. All I want to do is spend a little time with my big brother. Is that so wrong? Uwaaaaaah!"

"Dammit! Stop that! I know you're doing that on purpose and I know you're not really crying!" Lelouch said angrily.

"So will you come?" Euphie asked, turning chipper on a dime.

Lelouch sighed in frustration. He knew that all Euphie had to do was tell Cornelia, in tears, that Lelouch was mean to her. Cornelia would then talk to him, demanding an explanation. And then she'd force him to go to the convention with her anyway- different path, same result, only in this case it would have Cornelia mad at Lelouch. Petty or not, Lelouch wanted absolutely no division between him and Cornelia. He then said to Euphie, "This is blackmail, you know."

"No it's not." Euphie replied, without missing a beat. "Blackmail is illegal."

Lelouch brought his free hand close to his face in irritation, squelching the urge to sputter incoherently. Covering his eyes with the palm of his hand and sighing in defeat, he said, "You know, under that childlike naiveté and innocence is the making of a masterful politician."

"I have no idea what you mean," Euphie said, and Lelouch couldn't tell if she was being naively sincere or faking innocence, knowing full well she was extorting him.

"So, what time tomorrow?"

"Ten o' clock! I'll see you then!" She then hung up.

Lelouch adjusted his hand so that he was now spreading his palm across his whole face. He closed his eyes and growled momentarily. The only reason he was agreeing to go was because even if she was joking around, Lelouch knew better than to underestimate Cornelia's love for her sister. That was one battle he would never win. Cornelia might have loved him considerably, but she loved Euphie all the more.

As much as he himself loved Euphie, Lelouch knew how stubborn and infuriating she could be at times. He didn't really want to go. Just because he didn't have any plans for the weekend didn't mean he wanted to spend it lollygagging at a convention center, especially with his hyperactive sister. Regardless of their recent reunion and better filial terms, Lelouch would rather be ready for Cornelia's whim in an emergency rather than stay a whole weekend at some convention. I swear Euphemia, you are going to drive me to an early grave.

"So you'll go against Britannia as a whole, maim its highest officials, become a terrorist and bring about a civil war, but you won't say no to a sixteen-year-old girl?"

Lelouch turned his head to see CC standing nearby and, for once, wearing normal clothes: a blue skirt and a red button-down shirt with frilled cuffs. "What are you doing here? I thought Cornelia was keeping you in protective custody."

CC walked past Lelouch and spread herself out on his bed on her back. "Your sister cleared my credentials. Without the military hounding me, I'm free to walk around as I please."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain what you're doing here?" Lelouch snapped, pointing to the ground with his index finger.

"Isn't that obvious?" CC turned her head towards Lelouch. She then quickly sat up and wrapped her arms around his left arm. "I'm your date." she said with a playful smile.

"Don't be absurd," Lelouch said sternly, roughly removing his arm from CC's grip. He scuffled towards his right, away from her.

CC smirked. "Absurd? What's the matter? Embarrassed that you'll have a lovely lady on each arm escorting you through the convention center?"

"You are not coming," Lelouch said authoritatively, standing up.

"That's not really up for you to decide, now is it?" CC said as she hung upside down off of Lelouch's bed. "Besides, Euphemia asked that I come along. She said she wanted to get to know me better. I said I wasn't going unless you were."

Lelouch slapped his forehead. "You know, both of you are going to send me to an early grave."

"I have my doubts about that." CC said sitting back up and turning around to face Lelouch. She sat up with her hands in her lap, one hand on top of the other, ankles crossed. "Joining up with your sisters was probably the smartest move you could have made." She smirked at Lelouch in a frustratingly knowing sort of way, so typically mysterious and superior. "I'm surprised the idea never crossed your mind."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lelouch said, scowling. "What aren't you telling me?"

And typically, CC just ignored his question, like she did whenever she felt like not answering. "So are you going to pack, or what?"

Lelouch sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get an answer out of CC, and he had not the energy to start an argument. If CC wanted to be quiet, no force in the universe could pry open her lips. He then began dialing on his phone. "Well, better call Rivalz then, tell him that the Student Council is his to…" Lelouch trailed off and he then zoomed over to his calendar. "You have got to be kidding me! That's this weekend?"

"What's got you so uptight all of a sudden?"

"Milly, Shirley and Nina are going away this weekend to the same convention center. Agh!" Lelouch slapped his eyes with his palms. "This is bad!" He groaned.

"Oh, is that all?" CC said, kicking her legs.

"Is that all?" Lelouch repeated, continuing to be irritated. "If they catch me with you two, Milly is never going to let me hear the end of it. What am I supposed to say when I walk into the convention center with two women they've never seen before, one of which is a princess in disguise, following me everywhere?"

"Tell them we're having a threesome, and we're going up to our room together."

"You know I can't do that!" Lelouch exclaimed. His face went a bit red, and he looked away from CC.

"What's the matter? Too afraid?"

Lelouch glared at her in disbelief. "What are you, five?"

"Actually, five-hundred-something." CC said nonchalantly. "I lost count at the turn of the century."

Lelouch couldn't tell if she was joking now or not. He opened his mouth and raised his hand to question her statement only to just as quickly shut his mouth and lower his hand. It wasn't worth the headache.

"Big brother, is something wrong? You're talking awfully loudly."

Nunnally was now at the entrance to Lelouch's room, looking concerned. CC gave Lelouch a devilish smile as if to say, 'How are you going to get out of this one?'

Lelouch gave her a glare that was the equivalent of 'bite me' as he calmed himself and approached his little sister. He bent down slightly and put a hand on her shoulder. "Everything's fine, Nunnally. It's nothing for you to worry about, okay?"

"But I—"

Lelouch kissed his little sister's forehead and rubbed her head affectionately, "When I say everything's fine, it's fine, okay?" he asked with a genuine smile. "I'm just a little worried, because I'm going away with Euphemia for the weekend."

"For the whole weekend? Like a weekend getaway, or something?"

CC tried to resist the urge to burst out laughing, but still threw her head back and laughed silently.

"Sort of. Euphemia invited me to come with her on official, but secret viceroy business. But she really just wants to spend time with me."

"I think you two need it. Euphemia has been coming here a lot, you know, while you've been doing things with Cornelia." Nunnally beamed. "Maybe this is just what you two need to feel like real siblings again."

Like real siblings, huh? Lelouch thought. "Yes, maybe." He said. "Anyway, how about dinner? Are you hungry?"

"Not very, but I could still eat."

"I'll ask Sayoko to make something, then." Lelouch said.

After dinner, Lelouch returned to his room only to find CC, as usual, stark naked in his bed if the clothes on the floor were any indication.

"Forcing me to the couch again?"

"You know, you're always welcome to sleep with me." she said mischievously.

Lelouch made a face.

"As I thought." CC said turning over and facing the wall. "Too much of a gentleman to really make a move. Honestly, if you can't take a bit of flirtatious teasing, you'll be a slave to every good looking countess who stands upon the red carpet when you become emperor."

"Who says I want to become emperor?" Lelouch shot back.

CC, suddenly looking interested, sat up. She was hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees as she tucked them in by her chest.

"My intention was never to put myself on the throne. I intend to watch Britannia crumble under its very foundation. We've tread the path of conquerors for too long. The path of kings, a noble lord who serves his people justly and doesn't abuse his power, that is my vision for Britannia."

"Mmm-hmm." CC said with disinterest as she lay back down. "If you say so."After a few moments of silence she added, "Oh, and you should probably go pack. I can get some sleep since everything's already packed in the limo that drove me here."

Lelouch sighed, and went to go get a suitcase to begin packing clothes. He still wondered how he was going to explain CC and Euphie's presence to his classmates, only to decide maybe he could just avoid the confrontation all together and hope for the best. Besides, the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center was huge; the chances of that confrontation happening were pretty small- especially since their arrival times would be different. Lelouch vaguely recalled Milly saying something about the girls arriving at 1pm. He, CC and Euphie would probably get there before noon if he was being picked up at ten. Hopefully.

Lelouch had only agreed because he didn't want a problem between him and Cornelia. It didn't matter how petty it was or how irrelevant the matter seemed in the grand scheme of things. The fact remained was that he needed to keep a close bond between him and Cornelia.

Since the beginning, Lelouch had tried to remain distant to Cornelia, even now. Despite liking having her and Euphie around, despite things being much easier than they had begun, even now Lelouch felt cold towards his own family. Oh, without a doubt he felt better, but seven years of mistaken betrayal did not vanish at the drop of a hat. Nevertheless, it was strange, downright alien to him, how it had only been a month or so- and already he was treating Cornelia as if she had been a part of his life for the last seven years. Then again, growing up Cornelia had always meant a lot to him, and he'd always meant a lot to her. It was as if his murder of Clovis and the loathing of his family was just water under the bridge, something that had never happened. Sure, he had realized a while back that he could trust Cornelia, but this was more than trust. It was like he had his sister back in his life full swing.

As Lelouch thought about it though, he wondered, was he becoming too trusting? Above all things, the one thing Lelouch was afraid of the most was true betrayal. He was afraid that Cornelia would not hold up her end of the bargain, even now. What if they went so far only for her to back out at the last minute and leave him holding the bag? What if it was all an elaborate ruse to expose him? Cornelia had no obligation, from Lelouch's logical deductions, to hold up her end of the bargain. Everything she said, he only had her word to go on and what she said when under the influence of geass.

Still, a good portion of him wanted to believe in his sister. Up until they talked face-to-face, Lelouch had been living in a bleak world, an empty world. Now, suddenly, his world was vibrant and full of hope again. He had not only Nunnally, but Euphemia and Cornelia as well. And, as Lelouch thought about it, who else in his family really missed him? Who else believed him dead, and only couldn't know about it because Cornelia was protecting him?

And the moment that thought passed he doted on it some more. That's right, he remembered, she's protecting me. Protecting me. Lelouch laughed a little as a crazed look came to his eye. It was like he had either gone back in time seven years, or seven years ago had taken a time travel ticket to meet up with him.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much more he was enjoying waking up every morning now. He was no longer feeling like he was dead weight for his heart, something his brain simply refused to cease function for. He was alive again. He was- dared he think it?- happy. Just having a family that was larger than him and his sister, somehow a part of him felt that was worth more than any grand scheme. Perhaps, in time, the last lingering doubts in his heart would cease.

Should he call the whole thing off, then? Should he go running to Cornelia and just live out his life with her, Euphemia and Nunnally, go back to being a prince of the Empire and—

NO!

A loud protest shouted at him, scolded him. No, he couldn't just give up now. Firstly, he'd too far to back out now; he'd already since passed the point of no return. Secondly, to stop now would mean giving up on finding out the truth to his mother's murder.

Yes, I have to keep going, but at least now, Lelouch rose to his feet to bring his suitcase to the front door so he could grab it on the way out tomorrow morning. I'm not in such a hurry to throw my life away.

The next morning, shortly before ten, Lelouch carried his luggage out to the limousine waiting for him just off the school grounds. He wore a baseball cap to cover his head, being very cautious about rumors spreading through the school. All the other times it hadn't mattered, since he was taking public transit any other time his presence was requested, save that first time he was dragged in a military van. However, if the female student body saw him leaving campus in a limousine with an attractive woman not part of the campus, heads would turn. Lelouch was one of the most envied bachelors on campus, and he intended to keep things that way for simplicity's sake. Not having rumors about him would keep him out of the spotlight. Being in spotlight would invite the craftier members of the school paper. He knew better than to underestimate investigative journalism when the woman who held the master key was looking for any reason to make life difficult for him so that he'd be indebted to walked towards the limo, hoping he wouldn't meet her at the convention.

As the chauffeur greeted him with a silent bow, he took Lelouch's luggage from him and opened the door to let him and CC inside. Euphie was already sitting across from them, looking rather plain for a Britannian princess. A green blouse and an orange skirt, complete with a pair of red-rimmed spectacles could have one mistake Euphie for an ordinary high school student. And that, of course, was the point.

"Oh, Lelouch." she said with a sigh, "Take off that hat, will you? You're inside a car."

Lelouch sighed softly to himself, and pulled his hat off down in front of his face and placed it on his lap. He smiled at his sister. "It's good to see you."

"Yes, good to see you too!" Euphie beamed. "And it's good to see you again too, Miss CC. I'm so glad you decided to come along."

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this for the world." CC said, grinning deviously.

Euphie, too naïve to pick up on CC's intentions, simply said happily, "It makes me so glad to hear you say that."

Lelouch palmed the left side of his face with his hand and sighed. He knew exactly what CC meant, and was annoyed at Euphie not picking up on it.

"Lelouch, is something the matter? You look like you're in pain." Euphie said.

"It's nothing." Lelouch mumbled.

By this point the car had started and the trio was well on their way to Lake Kawaguchi. Lelouch hoped that the whole trip could be a drive in silence, but, of course, fate seemed to have it out for him.

As the car rolled down the street, Lelouch gazed out the window with a bored expression. He watched the scenery slowly pass him by, when Euphie spoke up. "I'm really glad you came, Lelouch. It would've been boring to only have your fiancée come with me by herself."

Lelouch jerked, pushing his back against the leather seat and shouted, "WHAT?"

"Well you know, I was only going to come along if Lelouch was being invited, and I just know he can't say no to you." CC said continuing her underhanded verbal assault.

"Oh, I can imagine so. I mean, you did tell me he lets you sleep in his bed. I wasn't aware Lelouch had grown up so fast."

"Oh, he's quite the gentleman in the bedroom." CC said. Every word she spoke was deceivingly true, and it brought a devious smile to her face.

Lelouch tried to think of something to say to fix this. What the hell had CC been telling Euphie for the past month plus? Without thinking, he blurted out, "No! It's not true! I mean, literally speaking it is true, but it's not true! She's deceiving you! We are not having sex! I am not having sex! I am a virgin and I always will… all right, maybe not always, but I'm celibate right now!"

"Wow, Lelouch. I never thought I'd see a young man so proud of not having sex." CC said, with an unflinching, deadpan expression.

Lelouch only now realized he was standing up and realized just what he had blurted out and where. Heavily embarrassed, Lelouch sat back down and put his hat back on before staring at the floor, the brim covering his face. "Let's just drive to the convention in silence, if we can. Thank you."

If CC was a different type of person she would've burst out laughing by now. Lelouch's reaction to her little scheme was priceless. Building up to this moment was difficult, but the look on Lelouch's face made it all worth it. She had filled his sister's head with misleading, vaguely worded factoids just for this confrontation to come to a head and watch Lelouch embarrass himself in a panic.

There was a long pause of awkward silence, and Lelouch started to hope for the mercy of having the rest of the car ride be silent- awkward, but at least silent, with that green-haired harpy not embarrassing him further.

Unfortunately, this was not going to be the case. "So..." Euphie said. "Let me get this straight. You're not having sex?"

"No!" Lelouch grumbled angrily through his teeth.

"And you're not engaged?"

"No!"

"...really?" Euphie said, looking confused.

"I know, right?" CC continued to tease as she gestured to her curves, "All of this, and he's showing no interest at all. Perhaps he's more interested in men?"

Euphie was about to object, but she then pondered the possibility that her brother might be gay. As she thought about it, finger on her chin, she found the prospect not outside the realm of possibility. "Well, now that you mention it, he always did duck and cover whenever Guinevere tried to pair him off with one of her friends. Is it true, Lelouch? It's okay if you are. We still love you."

"Stop trying to confuse her. I'll say it as many times as I have to," Lelouch said, folding his arms, "I'm not gay."

"No, you're not gay. You just have an impeccable fashion sense." CC said, and Lelouch knew she referred to his Zero uniform.

Lelouch took a deep breath. Was that the way she wanted to play it? Alright, two could play that game. "It's called metrosexual, and I'm fabulous!"

CC held back her laughter, if just barely.

"You know, I could easily prove that I'm not gay."

"And how are you going to do that?" CC asked bemusedly, as she threw her head back, pulling the hair out of her eyes.

"I'll kiss you." He didn't want to have to, but it was the only solution Lelouch could think of to shut CC up.

Euphie slapped her mouth with the fingers of both her hands, blushing slightly. Hearing about Lelouch being in a relationship would be one thing. Watching him kiss a girl would be entirely another. She wasn't prude, but it would be her brother she would be seeing, kissing another girl.

"You wouldn't dare." CC said, and there was a hint of insecurity in her voice.

Determined to prove her wrong and with no hesitation whatsoever, Lelouch slid over to CC, grabbed her shoulders, pulled her closed and kissed her right on the lips, invading the inside of her mouth and taking her by complete surprise. When he was quite finished, he let CC go, slid back towards the other side of the limo and tugged at the lapels of his jacket, popping his collar in the process.

"There." he said. "Now, I don't want to hear about this conversation again. Ever."

Lelouch then got his wish for the rest of the ride to the convention to be in complete silence with Euphie still with her hands clasped to her face in shock. CC, at first, remained completely thrown for a loop. That Lelouch had the kind of... courage to do what he just did. She eventually did sit herself upright and then stared out the window, unfazed by the events from there on out. It meant nothing to her. In her lifetime, CC had forgotten how many men—and women—she'd slept with, let alone kissed. Lelouch was just another pair of lips that had touched upon hers. However, for Lelouch, that had to be his first kiss judging by the haphazard way he had handled it. And while it didn't bother CC at all, chances were it would soon start bothering Lelouch. Not immediately, of course, but CC was certain she would notice when his act of courage started weighing on him. And when it did, CC would be there to take advantage of it in any way she could.

When the trio finally arrived at the convention, reaching their room bore no less confrontation for Lelouch once he realized there were two beds, and three of them.

"Uh, Euphemia. I… umm…"

"Well, when I booked the room I thought you and Miss CC would be sleeping together, you know." Euphie pouted.

"Euphemia, we're rich. You could've afforded the penthouse."

"Cornelia said it would look to suspicious if I did that. I mean, come on, this room isn't so bad."

"Yes, it is rather lovely." CC commented. The room had a large TV, several bookshelves and potted plants, a luxurious bathroom, complete with a hot tub, a mini bar, a full-sized refrigerator, and—as prescribed—two king sized beds. The walls were vertically striped with alternating colors of beige and cream white. The floor was carpeted with a reddish-orange and maroon patterning of twisting vines. The room was air conditioned, and the balcony outside faced towards the mountain range behind the convention center.

After taking all of this in, Euphie said, "I suppose we should start unpacking, then."

Lelouch used one of the bookshelves for his belongings, letting CC and Euphie use the drawers. He placed everything neatly on the shelves, organizing his clothes according to their location on his body—socks and undergarments on the lower shelves, shirts towards the top.

As he started wondering about sleeping arrangements, Lelouch pondered aloud, "So I suppose it wouldn't do to not let Euphemia have one of the beds..."

"You know, you and I could sleep together." CC offered.

"Not going to happen." Lelouch said sternly, shooting down the idea immediately.

"So what, then? You'll sleep with your sister?"

"No, I'm sleeping alone. You two can share a bed."

"Sure, that solves the problem," Euphie said, clapping her hands, cheerfully.

CC, unfortunately for Lelouch, wasn't done poking at him with a metaphorical stick. "Are you so nervous around women that the mere thought of sharing a bed with one is alien to you? And this after you kissed me. You should take responsibility, you know."

Much to CC's surprise, Lelouch completely ignored her. He then squatted down by the bed closer to the window and began unpacking. The age-old witch had completely expected Lelouch to verbally retaliate and try to backpedal. Finally realizing the best answer is no answer, hmm?

What CC didn't know was that her comment was, in actuality, bothering Lelouch. As he unpacked, he couldn't help but quietly grind his teeth together. It wasn't that he realized that keeping quiet was the best solution, it was that the only solution that didn't make things worse. He had no prepared response that wouldn't embarrass him the same way he had done so in the car.

Euphie, Lelouch and CC continued to unpack, Lelouch paying the girls no mind. He was completely wrapped up in his own thoughts as he blotted out their conversation and any haphazard attempt made to drag him into it. Now that he was at this convention, he may as well make the most of it. Social situations didn't sit well with Lelouch, but he made the most of them. He was an actor and this was his stage.

Lelouch hadn't exactly figured out how he could make this situation work for him, especially with CC's constant attempts to make a mockery of him, but he was working on it. After some momentary thought, he began sifting through the night table in between both beds and found what he was looking for: a pad of paper and a pen. He could take notes during the long two-hour presentation at three. If there was any technology worth making note of, he could have Cornelia help that company get funding. If Cornelia made strict supplying deals, all of the soldiers working under her and Lelouch would be better equipped for the inevitable Britannia civil war than they were now.

Of course, he'd have to mentally make it to the convention first. "Lelouch?" Hearing his named called out, rather than being mentioned, Lelouch turned his head to see Euphie behind him. She tilted her head "Is everything all right? You ran for the night table awfully quickly."

"Huh? Did I? Must not have noticed," Lelouch said as he held the pen and paper behind his back. He also inconspicuously closed the night table. "Are you two finished yet? I'm almost done."

"Oh, what a coincidence, we're almost done too," Euphie said with a smile. "What do you say we finish later and get some lunch?"

Lelouch looked at the bedside clock to check the time. Milly, Shirley and Nina wouldn't be arriving for at least another hour or two. "Food sounds great, but I think it would be in our best interests to finish unpacking first."

Downstairs there was a whole buffet spread out for the convention goers, all of it free for those who had their ID passes.

"How disappointing. There's no pizza." CC said with a sigh.

"Well, what did you expect? This is a bit above your average high school party. Of course they're going to have a more sophisticated selection. It's all for business."

"Can you order a pizza later?"

"No."

"Can you two not fight in public, please?" Euphie complained. "I'm supposed to not draw attention to myself, remember?"

"I'm sorry, Euphie." Lelouch said apologetically. CC remained silent. "Can you not?"

"I didn't say anything."

"You're being rude by not apologizing." Lelouch said.

"I didn't do anything to—" CC began only to notice Euphie's puffed up, irritated stare. She sighed. "I'm sorry," She said, covering her mouth with her sleeve, avoiding eye contact.

Brunch was eaten in silence at first. CC had no intention of getting a topic rolling. She had had enough fun for the time being. Euphie and Lelouch continued to make awkward glances at each other. Now they finally had a chance to patch things up and get some real family bonding time going, but neither one could properly break the ice. After all the same question hung on both of their lips: Where to start?

Euphie, however, finally settled on a topic. "So what was it like living in Japan? I only got that one letter from you that you made friends with a Japanese boy." Her tone changed to something more solemn. "I mean we suddenly went to war and…"

"That's my fault," Lelouch admitted flat out, staring at his plate. "I felt so betrayed that the emperor didn't even try to protect me and Nunnally. I could've easily avoided this whole seven years of misery if I just picked up the phone and said something…but I didn't."

"Decisions have consequences. We don't know what those consequences will be until after we've made them. We have to live with those decisions no matter how much we wish to change them. That's a part of life."

Lelouch looked at CC, as she spoke her whimsical words. When she said nothing else and returned to eating, a small smirk crossed his face. "Yeah, I guess that's true," he said. There wasn't anything he could do to take back the decisions he had made. The fact of the matter was he had made them. Just like in chess. You couldn't undo a move you'd already made. You just had to keep going forward. He sighed and then looked at Euphie with a smile. "Anyway, to answer your question, it wasn't that bad actually. Suzaku and I—"

"Did you just say, Suzaku? As in Suzaku Kururugi?" It was as if a light bulb had gone off in Euphie's head.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Suzaku was… is my friend."

Euphie clasped her hands in delight. "Oh, wow, such a small world. I've met him. He's such a nice guy, Lelouch."

"Wait, you met him?" Lelouch asked.

Euphie nodded. "Uh huh. I'm even the one who suggested he attend Ashford Academy."

Not your brightest idea, sister, Lelouch thought, but said, "No kidding." That sounds like something you would do.

"So you two are friends. This is wonderful. If I had known that I would've asked him to join us as well," Euphie said cheerfully.

"Isn't he a soldier in engineering? Can he afford to take a weekend off?"

"Oh," Euphie said as the realization hit her. She tilted her head and scratched the side of her cranium. Her expression was completely puzzled. "I guess that's true." She immediately returned to smiling and sounding happy. "But that means I get to spend more time with you, big brother."

Lelouch's smile widened a little. "Yeah…it does."

CC looked at Lelouch quizzically. His reaction was intriguing to say the least. When Lelouch had talked about his family up until he encountered Cornelia, he only talked about them with disdain. But now his reaction made it seem as if he actually liked being with his half-sisters most of the week. A strange feeling of concern was making itself known in CC. She dismissed it just as soon as it appeared. She violently turned her head to the other side with a thought of, what do I care?

Life had left her cold and detached, like it might when you outlive everyone close to you. She had been an orphan slave girl before she had received her Geass, and had wandered the earth without a care since. Yet, something about this familial situation, of two people just talking, sharing, bonding... it was both alien and intriguing, somehow; a picture of something she never had, never could have- and didn't know if she even wanted. It was... interesting. Not that she'd let them know, of course.

She listened to Euphie and Lelouch talk mostly about the missing seven years between them. While CC was barely listening to the details, she did notice Lelouch avoid very sensitive points in the missing seven years. He only really talked about things at Ashford Academy and before the war started. In the seven years since the war, there was still a four year gap Lelouch refused to disclose to his sister. From ten-years-old to fourteen when he first started at Ashford, Lelouch constantly deflected Euphie's questions back to things about herself. It puzzled CC what Lelouch wouldn't disclose to his own family. Again, she made a mental note to ask him about these things later.

As the conversation died down and everyone finished eating, it was getting close to 1pm. Euphie was unsure what to do for two hours.

"We could always take a look around." CC offered.

"Oh, that would be wonderful. Join us, Lelouch."

"I'll pass. You two go on ahead."

"Oh come on! This is supposed to be bonding time for you and me," Euphie grumbled. "Bonding isn't just about talking you know, it's about having adventures."

"I'm going upstairs," Lelouch said. He knew CC had to know what time it was. He intended to avoid conflict at all cost.

"You're not going anywhere." Euphie said, and grabbed Lelouch's arm with both of hers. "Now come on, stop being a party pooper. Let's look around."

Lelouch sighed. If he didn't cooperate he knew he was in for a confrontation with Cornelia later. However, if he did agree to Euphie's request, there was a higher chance of Milly, Shirley and/or Nina finding him. At first, Lelouch didn't know which was worse, angering Cornelia or suffering under Milly's dictatorship. However, while both short-term results were awful, the lesser of two evils was the latter. After all, there was no guarantee he would run into Milly. And, even if he did, he'd find some way to salvage his reputation at school. However, he absolutely must keep things cozy between him and Cornelia. Lelouch sighed again and then said, "Fine. Where do you want to go?"

"Ooh! How about the gift shop? Just follow me!" Euphie cheered.

CC and Euphie spent some time fawning over trinkets, things, and some of the latest—and rather pricy—tools and technology off the market of the companies that would be presenting at the convention. Lelouch, meanwhile, stalled outside the entrance to the storefront, keeping a sharp eye out for any of his classmates. The last thing he wanted was to be caught like a hunted rabbit by Milly. His hair itched, begging for his hat. At least that and purposely deepening his voice could play him off as someone else. But, of course, wearing one indoors was out of the question.

So far though, at least, it looked like he was in the clear. He hadn't seen Milly or the others inside the store when he glanced in and they weren't anywhere his eyes could scan. As long as they didn't come by this way—

"Lelouch?"

Crap.

Lelouch took a deep breath. There was absolutely no mistaking Milly's voice. She was right behind him, carrying a shopping bag. Inside were clothes. Lelouch took a harder glance into the gift shop. There was a dressing room. Of course!

"Uh-um. Y-you must have—"

"Oh, cut the crap." Milly said, not buying Lelouch's attempt to make his voice deep. "I know it's you. No one else has a jacket that eye bleeding red."

"It's scarlet."

"Okay, now I know it's you. You always talk so pompously."

Lelouch sighed. "Hello, Milly."

"What are you doing here? This is a girl's weekend away," Milly scolded. She then almost immediately put on a sleazy look and said, "Hold on, you weren't honestly thinking of staying with us, were you? Oh, Lelouch, you dog you."

"You have a very wild imagination, Miss President."

"So why are you here?"

Lelouch paused in silence momentarily. He intended to not answer, but knew he couldn't. "…I take it if I don't answer you're going to have the school paper make something up?"

"You got it," Milly winked.

Lelouch sighed internally. He couldn't say that he came here alone. The getaway was a business trip for the Student Council. The only reason it was just Milly, Shirley and Nina was because Lelouch, Nunnally and Kallen had declined and Rivalz and Suzaku had actual work. Financially it would be a waste.

Lelouch had already calculated ten worst-case scenarios Milly could tell the school paper and publish it as fact. To avoid that, Lelouch's only option was divulging little details and hoping Milly would just drop it. "For your information, I was asked to come here by someone."

"Oh? I wasn't aware you had any real social connections in high places other than me, Lelouch."

"For your information, I'm more than capable of making connections you have no idea about."

"Oh really, so who asked you to come here?"

Lelouch froze. Again, if he didn't at least give Milly something, she'd make something up and make it worse than the actual truth. Damn woman, why did she have to be so crafty and persistent? He could just geass her to leave him alone and forget he ever saw her here. However, what if he bumped into her again? What if CC was there at the time? He'd have absolutely no breathing room if that happened. That scenario had to be avoided at all costs.

"I…" he began only to change his vowel tense, "It was important to her."

"Her?"

Lelouch sighed. "Yes, her."

"Oooh, I see now. A weekend getaway with some lady friend? Now I have to know who it is."

"It's not like that, and it's not your business!" Lelouch stated. "You should know me better than to be the type of man to want to go on a romantic getaway."

"Oh? You said it was important to her that you be here, that sounds awfully fishy to me, Lelouch," Milly said.

"I…" Ugh.

"Milly, what's the hold up?"

Oh, great.

Lelouch watched as Shirley came waltzing over through the crowd and then gasped when she saw him. "Lelouch?"

Lelouch put on the best forced smile he could muster. "Hi, Shirley."

"What are you doing here?" Shirley asked.

"That's what I said." Milly chuckled. "Apparently some new lady friend of Lelouch's asked him to come by this weekend?"

"What?!" Shirley shrieked. "Is that true?"

"As I already told Milly, she has a very wild imagination. I'm here with an old friend. She asked me to come by. She…" Come on, think of something. An idea finally hit Lelouch. "She said my intelligence would be invaluable at the convention." He whipped out the notepad and pen. "Obviously I came prepared," Lelouch said as he spun the pen around his finger."

"Oh, I see," Shirley said, accepting the idea.

"Hang on," Milly objected. "Prepared? That pad of paper has the hotel's logo on it. Nice try, lover boy."

Lelouch thought to panic, but he wasn't done for yet. Okay, relax. I can work through this. "It is true that I'll be taking notes for her during the convention. I…I intended to memorize everything, but she…she injured her writing hand."

"Goodness!" Shirley gasped. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine."

Oh, so that's how he wants to play it huh? Milly asked. Okay Lelouch, try and wiggle your way out of this one. "How about we all sit together then?" Milly asked.

"That's a great idea," Shirley said cheerfully.

"No, you can't she…uh…" Lelouch stuttered as he scrambled his brain for suitable explanation. "She's super shy. She…she's very uncomfortable around new people."

"Oh Lelouch, please. We're hardly threatening. I'm sure she'll warm up to us." Milly then saw the look on Lelouch's face. She'd known him for three years. She instantly knew when he was backpedaling. "Unless of course you're lying."

Lelouch stood silent. This was why he had to avoid Milly at all costs. If it was just him and Euphemia this wouldn't be so bad, but CC was added into the mixture. Euphemia was at the convention under an assumed name. She had her own cover to play. He couldn't risk that CC wouldn't tell the others she was Lelouch's fiancée the same way she'd done it to Euphie and Nunnally.

He could risk going into the gift shop and asking Euphie to play along with his whole charade, but there was no guarantee it would work. Still, better than letting Milly have her way with the school paper.

"You know she's actually shopping, let me go get her," Lelouch said calmly and waltzed into the gift shop. He found Euphie immediately and pulled her aside. "I need your help," he said.

"My…help?" Euphie was confused.

"Remember how I told you about my fellow students in the student council? Well, they came this weekend and they found me. I…could you just play along? I have a reputation to keep up at school."

Euphie smiled. "Of course. Just tell me what to do."

As Lelouch explained to Euphie what to do, Milly and Shirley waited patiently for Lelouch and his so-called friend. Eventually, Lelouch exited the gift shop with Euphie holding his arm and pretending to use him as a shield. She was also pretending to try to shrink and disappear behind Lelouch entirely.

"This is her," Lelouch said, introducing Euphie to the others. "This is Estellise Heurassein. She's been a pen pal of mine for a long time now. It's been a while since we met in person. Estellise, this is Milly Ashford and Shirley Fennette. They're members of the Student Council, like I am."

If Euphie wasn't playing a role she would've immediately shook hands with both students, but, instead she kept to the reserved personality, Lelouch had cast her in. "H-hello," she said meekly.

"Hello to you too," Milly said with a big smile. As she examined the bespectacled girl she couldn't help, but feel as if she looked familiar. "Hmm? Say, Estelle," she said, referring to Euphie by a nickname, "You look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"

"I think it's just your imagination, Miss Ashford," Euphie said, backing up more behind, Lelouch. She was pretending to feel intimidated.

"Is this enough to convince you, Miss President?" Lelouch asked. "You're making Estellise quite uncomfortable. She came here only in pursuit of knowledge with me as a fellow intellectual-in-arms, as it were."

Milly sighed in defeat. Something still bothered her about this, but even she wasn't cruel enough to be mean to someone who might actually be as frail as she was acting. Well, I guess you've checkmated me yet again, Lelouch. "Yes," Milly admitted, "I suppose it does."

"Good, now I do believe you haven't had a chance to unpack yet," Lelouch said. "Estellise and I are still shopping and I see you just finished."

"Yes," Milly said pretending to be cheerful, but Lelouch could tell how irritated she was to have been bested yet again, "we certainly haven't. I guess we'll see you later, Lelouch." Lelouch nodded to her and walked back inside.

Shirley, of course, could tell that Milly was uptight. "Prez, is everything all right?"

"Of course not!" Milly exclaimed, clenching a fist. "I don't buy it! I've known Lelouch since before he first started attending Ashford Academy! There's no way he's squirming out of this one! There's something really strange about that Estelle character, and I'm going to find out what it is! We're gonna catch him after the big meeting. Lelouch won't slip out of my grasp a second time. We'll sit in the back and then, after the meeting is over, you, Nina, and I will yank him out of the crowd and we're not gonna let him go until we get at the truth." Milly then grinned devilishly. "Even if we have to torture him!"

Shirley leaned over in disbelief and annoyance. "I think you're getting a little carried away, prez." It would not be the first time Milly went to extremes to try and make Lelouch indebted to her. Shirley had already admitted to herself a while ago how she felt about Lelouch, but even she thought Milly's attempts to collar him were excessive. Shirley had a few questions too, but she wasn't going to hound Lelouch with them. Shirley knew how to be civil about this sort of thing. Why did Milly think it necessary to go overboard?

"Nonsense!" Milly exclaimed and spread her palm out wide, pulling Shirley to her by the shoulder. "Picture it! Ashford Academy's most wanted bachelor, rekindling an old flame! The school paper will eat it up like apple pie a la mode."

"Um, Milly."

The shy timid voice of Nina was barely heard over the loud convention center. The poor bespectacled girl was standing with three suitcases and about five shoulder bags.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Nina." Milly apologized. "All right girls, we can discuss our battle plan as we unpack."

"B-battle plan?" Nina stammered.

"Better get some coffee ready, Nina. Her royal pain is at it again," Shirley told her.

The convention was long, somewhat tedious, but exciting at the same time. Lelouch actually took some notes, wondering if he might call some of these developers to bring them on to his and Cornelia's campaign for technology and weaponry. The Kyoto Group was being a bit stingy, so it was always good to have a backup supplier.

CC spent the entire convention sleeping against Lelouch's shoulder. Lelouch thought she was being rude, but, being a gentleman couldn't bring himself to wake someone sleeping so peacefully. It was then that CC's deduction about the incident in the car finally came true. While Lelouch stole a glance at her in-between presentations, he smiled at her sleeping face as visions of their kiss filled his brain. He immediately shook his head and returned to remaining focused on the stage.

During the presentation, Euphie tried to make heads or tails of a lot of things, but a lot of it confused her greatly. Most of it was techno babble to her. She'd only come to the convention to observe, because she'd never been to one before.

The convention meeting ended past the two hour mark almost pushing three hours. When everything was over, Lelouch shook CC's shoulder. "Hey, wake up." he said.

"Mmmn..." CC groaned, making the cutest yawn as she stretched. "What time is it?"

"Five-thirty, the convention's over."

"Oh," CC said yawning much more naturally, "really?" Lelouch showed her the time on his phone. "Well," CC said, now completely awake, "how about that?"

"Say," Euphie then said, "I know it's a bit early, but do you all want to head out for a nice dinner? My treat."

"That… actually sounds really good," Lelouch said. With the big meeting over, the three only needed to stay at the convention as a formality. Furthermore, any chance he had to leave the convention center was going to be a breath of fresh air. He followed Euphie towards the exit to the convention center only to notice Milly standing by the door. He gulped. "Um, actually I'm going to run to the restroom real quick. Meet you two upstairs," Lelouch said and scuttled towards the back of the room to hide until he was certain the room was completely empty. Milly, in his opinion, had probably believed she missed him. Ha! Going to have to get up pretty early in the morning to spring a trap that predictable on me, Miss Ashford! Lelouch grinned with delight. He slowly strolled out of the convention hall without a hindrance and went up the elevator to his room. He sighed and used his room key to open the door only for the chain lock to become taut, barring his entry to his own room.

"Hey! What gives?" Lelouch exclaimed. He peeked his eye around the corner as best he could, only to wish he hadn't as he saw CC drop her panties to the floor. At the sound of his declaration, CC turned around, giving him a perfect view of her natural beauty. Lelouch slammed the door and put his back to it. He closed his eyes, every part of his body tensing up, unable to prevent himself from blushing. That didn't happen! That totally didn't happen!

As Lelouch calmed down, he stood at the opposite end of the hallway, fiddling with his phone, waiting for either CC or Euphie to open the door. By the time CC finally did, he had completely put the previous few minutes out of his mind.

"Are you coming in, or are you just going to stand outside all evening?"

Without answering, Lelouch entered and made his way towards the bookshelf where he put all of his clothes. He didn't bother asking where Euphemia was. He could hear the shower running now that he was in the room. Why couldn't this room have two bathrooms? After all, now he had to change clothes.

"So, what did you think?" CC asked. Lelouch didn't say a word. She continued to pry. "Oh come on, I know that was the first time you saw a woman naked. How was it?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Lelouch stated with glassy-eyed stare. He soon found his denial answered with CC straddling his back, fingers playfully threading his hair. "What are you doing?" Lelouch asked, finding her behavior more irksome than anything else.

CC ignored his question and just followed up on his previous declaration. "Oh, you are such a liar. You saw everything, you peeper."

"I didn't peep. I didn't see anything."

"What would you have done if it was Euphemia instead of me? I bet Cornelia would do some pretty nasty things to you if that happened."

"Nothing happened. I don't know what you're on about."

"You can't play innocent with me, Lelouch," CC said and then whispered into his ear, "Come on, just admit that you liked the accidental show you got."

It was then that Lelouch failed to realize the water had turned off and so his only inclination that Euphie was out of the shower was an out of the blue, "Oh, am I interrupting something?"

Lelouch nearly threw CC off him, though only had the strength to push himself away from her. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I er…I had a bug in my hair! CC was getting it out for me."

CC, of course, was not about to let Lelouch abandon ship from the disaster course that had been set. "Lelouch peeped on me while I was changing." CC pointed directly at Lelouch while speaking.

"Lelouch!" Euphie clasped her hands to her face.

"Dammit! I didn't peep! It's not like I was trying to see you drop your panties in the middle of the room." …Dammit.

Once again CC resisted the urge to grin and chuckle. Watching Lelouch squirm was fun!

An awkward silence reverberated through the air. Euphie was still sopping wet with a towel wrapped around her body and on her head. CC was already dressed in a fancy yellow gown and Lelouch was just trying to shrink down so small that the carpet fibers would be the size of trees.

"So…" he said, staring at the floor, face redder than a cherry. "Bathroom's mine?"

"Er…I guess," Euphie said, finding the situation just as awkward and unsettling.

Grabbing his clothes, Lelouch walked right by her, went into the bathroom, closed the door and locked it behind him.

Out in the bedroom, Euphie continued to stand dripping wet onto the carpet with CC now sitting on the bed and filing her nails.

Figuring she should at least get dressed, Euphie removed her towel only after she was certain she had a pair of panties in hand and quickly put on her bra shortly thereafter. As she took her time getting the rest of the way dressed and reapplying makeup, she said to CC, "So, I've been meaning to ask you, Miss CC. If you're not Lelouch's fiancée, what kind of relationship do you two have?"

"We're accomplices. Let's just say I promised to help him with something."

"With what?"

"That's between us." She usually didn't like answering questions, but simple things like this weren't a bother.

"Have you known each other a long time? You really seem to trust him."

"Not as long as you might think." CC answered, being vague.

"Can't I know the details?" Euphie asked.

"No." CC replied nonchalantly.

Euphie pouted, but she had talked with CC enough times to know that she was just like this: vague, quiet and infuriating. Still, there were other questions she had to ask that were of the utmost importance to her. "So, do you like Lelouch?"

CC said nothing, but turned her head to look at Euphie.

"It's just…you tease him a lot, but you really don't seem to mind his company. I know you lied about being his fiancée, but I think you two would make a really cute couple."

CC smiled. "There is quite a lot about this world you don't know, Princess Euphemia." CC stopped smiling and returned to filing her nails. "Trust me when I say that Lelouch and I are better off not getting romantically involved with one another."

"You say that, but I think the truth is you really like him," Euphie stated. Again CC whipped her head around to look at the pink-haired princess. "I mean, you may say you don't, but I think you really fancy him."

"Pfft." CC scoffed, staring up at the ceiling. "Lelouch couldn't handle me even if we were romantically involved. Amongst other things, I'm a very expensive woman to please."

"At least you admit it."

Euphie and CC turned their heads to see Lelouch dressed in all black with a red and black tie.

"It's rude to eavesdrop on a conversation between two ladies."

Lelouch ignored CC and turned to Euphie. "So, where are we headed?"

While Lelouch, CC and Euphie were out on a night on the town, Milly was hunched over a table in her hotel room. She was wearing a brigadier general hat, looming over a game board, while holding a riding crop. Why? Because this was her way of being serious about a situation. She did say 'battle strategy', after all.

Shirley sighed as she leaned back on the bed, "Prez, seriously, can't we just call it off for the night?" Shirley was starting to get tired of all the running around. It was getting close to 8pm and Milly had already tried getting information out of the receptionist and forcing Shirley to walk around in a miniskirt. The former nearly got them kicked out. The latter would forever be a mortifying memory to poor Shirley.

"We can't give up now! We'll find that rapscallion, and get him to spill the beans!"

"We could always just ask him after the weekend is over." Shirley groaned.

"No way! That'll give him ample time to make something up. We have to find him tonight! If we can catch him in his hotel room he's busted!"

"But your plans make no sense! I swear to god, I'm never wearing another miniskirt in my life. All those creepy, fat perverts kept staring at my ass! What was that supposed to accomplish?"

"If Lelouch was around, he would've darted out like a papa wolf protecting its cub into the crowd, and pulled you aside to keep those perverts eyes off you. Then I was going to grab him and we'd then use you to gain information." Milly said with a seductive smile.

"Hey! I'm not some ten dollar hooker! I have pride! You can't just use me for a cheap strip tease!" Shirley exclaimed, covering herself despite being fully clothed now.

"Well, if you don't want to be treated like a piece of meat again, help me come up with another plan."

"Um, Milly?" Nina said shyly.

"Oh, Nina, what is it?" Milly asked. She'd been awfully quiet save for the tippity-tap of her laptop keyboard this whole time.

Nina turned around her laptop screen to show an array of cameras showing video feed from inside the hotel.

"Saaaaaay," Milly said with interest, "You hacked into the security cameras? I mean, I know that's illegal and all, but I'll vouch for you at your trial. You have the mind of a regular gossip fiend, Nina."

"Um, actually one of the companies here is testing a new tiny camera that is supposed to be used for monitoring your house. He said it was for parents who want to make sure their children aren't getting up for a late night snack or paranoid people who want to make sure their house is secure at night and when they're away. So I volunteered for the test. I've been busy setting them up at key angles in the hotel. I'm still getting all of them online, but still…"

"This is really something. Did you get that guy's number? I'm gonna have to mail him a check for this."

"Now we're spying!" Shirley exclaimed. She lay on her back and palmed her eyes, groaning. "Can't we just act like normal people?"

"Considering how you feel about him, I'm surprised you're not taking an active role here."

"Lulu is entitled to spend time with his old friends. He said it was nothing serious so it's nothing serious," Shirley complained. She was all for just talking to Lelouch one-on-one calmly. What was so difficult about the simple solution?

As Nina and Milly glanced over the former's computer, they wound up seeing a bunch of military folk running down the hallways, kicking in doors.

Nina started to panic. "Those are Elevens!"

"What? Impossible! There shouldn't be—" Before Milly could argue any further their own door was kicked in and three men wielding guns burst into the room. Nina immediately passed out from fear. Milly cradled her and squatted down by her bed. Shirley bolted upright.

"Everyone on your knees! This building is now property of the Japanese Liberation Front!" one of the men declared in perfect Britannian. "You!" he shouted at Shirley. "On the ground!" Shirley scrambled to the floor on her knees. "Hands behind your head!" Shirley did as she was told. "You! Wake that girl up!"

"She passed out!" Milly protested. "She's not sleeping. You all terrified her."

"I said wake her up!" The man pointed his gun at her.

"Prez!" Shirley exclaimed.

(Stop!) One of the men exclaimed in Japanese, pushing his comrade's arm down. (Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe said we keep all the hostages alive for now. Let her carry the girl.)

The lead terrorist sighed. He then looked at Milly as he completely lowered his weapon. "Fine. Carry the girl, but no funny business. I'll shoot if you draw a weapon."

The JLF had yet to lock down the whole building, and so Lelouch, Euphie and CC were still able to access the building when they got back from dinner and a bit of late night shopping. It was about 8:30 when they arrived back at the hotel and they immediately had guns pointed at their faces.

"All of your hands where we can see them!" A member of the JLF declared in perfect Britannian.

The JLF. Lelouch noted. Well now, maybe this weekend getaway won't be so boring after all. He looked around the room. Too many angles for me to use my geass right now, probably best I cooperate for the time being. Act like a hostage. Besides, Lelouch looked at Euphie, I can't afford to reveal it in front of her. Lelouch did his best to put on a terrified expression and dropped to his knees along with CC and Euphie.

"Follow my men upstairs." the Britannian speaking JLF member said.

"Yes, sir." Lelouch said, feigning terror. He then glanced at Euphie. She was surprisingly calm for a terrorist hostage. Lelouch would've thought sweet, innocent Euphemia would be wetting herself with fear in the presence of an armed threat. Well, someone's certainly grown a spine in the last seven years. Or maybe someone just has faith in their big sister. As the terrorists escorted Lelouch, CC and Euphie to the elevator, Lelouch also thought, even though it was my alliance that got me into this mess. It's my alliance that's going to get me out. Cornelia, this will ultimately prove if my faith in you is well-placed or ill-founded.

Three hours later the JLF had finished locking down the facility and were issuing out demands. Guilford had finally gotten Cornelia involved and she was on her way to the Convention Center. At this same time, Lelouch was packed into a penthouse storeroom with every other convention goer in the building. It was crowded, dark and dusty. At least matters weren't made worse by him having to squat down next to his classmates. That would've made things extremely awkward. Yes, he was still thinking about that even at a time like this.

But, thankfully, those thoughts were not a priority as Lelouch began scanning the room, looking for a way out of this, at least for himself. This kind of situation would be perfect for the debut of his elite force, his aptly decided to be named: Black Knights. However, he needed his Zero Uniform and hopefully they were all together and well-informed of the situation.

As his eyes wandered, Lelouch's gaze happened upon the nearest JLF member. (Excuse me), he spoke up in perfect Japanese.

The JLF member approached him. (What do you want, Britannian dog?)

Too easy. Lelouch thought, and activated his geass, (Might you have one of your men escort me to the men's room?)

Overtaken by Lelouch's mind control, the man said, (Sure, follow me. Don't try anything funny.)

Lelouch followed the terrorist over to one of the other soldiers, who he got into an argument with given the audacity of Lelouch's request under the circumstances. Another terrorist came over and that was exactly what Lelouch was waiting for.

(No need to argue, gentlemen). he said, looking at one of the new terrorists. (Just escort me to the restroom). He then said to the other terrorist without his geass. (Is this not the honorable thing to do?)

Both the geassed and un-geassed terrorist escorted Lelouch to the restroom where upon he turned towards the un-geassed terrorist. (Wait out here for me, no matter how long I take. If you hear me talking in there, it will sound like nothing but gibberish to you.)

(Yes, I understand.)

Lelouch smiled, and entered into the bathroom. The previously geassed terrorist, left to return to the storeroom, just as Lelouch anticipated he would, his duty having been fulfilled and now Lelouch had a selectively deaf drone letting him do what he needed. Immediately, Lelouch whipped out his phone. He had service. If he had had no bars, this would have all been for naught.

He dialed for Cornelia immediately.

As Cornelia was still driving to the convention center in her Knightmare Frame, her phone rang. Without even looking at the caller ID, she put it on wireless in sync with her Gloucester's communication lines. "Hello?"

"Cornelia, it's me."

Cornelia nearly brought the Gloucester to a screeching halt upon the shock of hearing Lelouch's voice. "Lelouch! Is Euphemia all right? Is she there? Let me talk to her!"

"Judging from your statement, I guess you know what's going on. Let me put you at ease- yes, we're all right." Lelouch responded. "I'm quite safe. I got separated from Euphemia, and managed to slip away from the JLF." Cornelia found Lelouch's statement rather odd, but filed it away for later. "She and everyone else are still being held as hostages by the JLF in the penthouse storeroom. I've been inside this whole time, so I don't know if an aerial rescue would work."

"Too risky- they'd start shooting hostages if they think we're refusing to negotiate."

"So they've got the whole place locked down in the last three hours, then. Figures. Alright, Cornelia, I need you to do something for me."

"You have a plan in mind?"

"Something like that."

Ever since Cornelia had shown up in the ghetto, Kallen Kozuki had felt uneasy. She, Ohgi and the others hadn't been able to operate at all for fear it would disturb the alliance. While the others had gotten complacent in the silence, at least thankful they didn't have to risk their lives, Kallen wanted to see action. Sure, Cornelia Care was doing wonders for everyone and the conditions in the ghetto were slowly getting better, but that wasn't freedom. She wanted to see more missions like what happened with Suzaku Kururugi. Kallen hated to admit it, but she was a bit of an adrenaline addict, at least when it came to her country's freedom.

So, when her cell phone rang on her vanity table, half-asleep, she scrambled over to it, wondering who was calling her at this time of night. She didn't even bother looking at the caller ID before answering. "Hello?"

"Is that you, Kozuki?"

Kallen didn't recognize the voice. "Who is this?"

"Wake up this minute, soldier! I'm calling on behalf of Zero!"

That got Kallen's attention. But how did this unknown person know she was…Kallen then realized who it was, "Cornelia?"

"Good. You're awake."

"How the hell did you get my number?"

"Not important right now. What is important is what you need to do. Like I said, Zero needs your help. Surely you know about what's going on at Lake Kawaguchi right now."

Kallen really had had no idea. She was fast asleep before the incident took place and was having a wake period of unrest until Cornelia called. "Uhhh…"

Cornelia sighed, "The JLF took over the facility. Zero's in there, and he's unable to contact you or anyone else except through me. I've sent a soldier of mine to pick you up. You'll both have Zero's uniform in a suitcase on hand. Gather your group of rebels and meet me at my mobile base. You'll all have further orders there!"

"So we're taking orders from you?" Kallen wasn't exactly happy about this.

"Technically speaking, but like I said, Zero can only speak through me at the moment." Cornelia said. "You're just going to have to take my word for it, as difficult as that is for me to ask. I know how hard it would be for me to do the reverse if our situations were switched, but you must do it, soldier."

Kallen took a deep breath. "I'll do it for Zero."

Lelouch waited around in the bathroom, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Cornelia to call him back, immediately picking up the phone once she did.

"She's on her way. What now?"

"Now it's a waiting game."

"And what, piss off the terrorists?"

"It took them three hours to lock down this facility and issue demands. Considering the size of the center, the commander in charge is either incompetent or a patient person." Lelouch was certain he could've had the facility locked down in only two hours. "As long as you're not two hours away, I think we're safe."

"And what if you're wrong?"

"Then it's blood on my hands. I'm the one trying to coordinate this plan, after all."

"It's on both our hands, Lelouch. I'm Viceroy, so the people here are my responsibility. By the way, Lelouch?"

"Yes?"

"You said Euphemia is with the other hostages, correct?"

"I did."

"Then," Cornelia's voice wavered for a moment, "I'm tasking you with Euphemia's safety. If she is at all injured when this concludes—"

"If all goes according to plan, Cornelia, then no physical harm shall come to Euphemia. I promise you."

There was a long silence on the phone before Cornelia simply said, "You'd better." She then hung up and started driving furiously towards the convention center.

When Cornelia finally arrived at the convention, center she parked her Knightmare Frame up front and scrambled into the mobile base where Darlton and the others were waiting for her.

"Princess Cornelia!" Guilford saluted. "We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

"Spare me the formalities, Guilford. What's the situation?"

It was Darlton who answered. "The whole facility is locked down and secured. Rescue from any visible spot is impossible."

"What about blind spots?" Cornelia asked.

"None from what we can see. However," Darlton clicked a button on the console, showing a 3D rendering of the hotel and, in particular, a maintenance tunnel underneath it. "This maintenance tunnel will allow a rescue op from underground. If we send a few Knightmares down there we could have the hostages free before the JLF knew what hit them."

"They've got the whole facility locked down tight. There's no way they'll leave a blatant hole in their formation like that."

"No, but if we blitzed them with a fast enough force they won't be able to call for backup in time upstairs."

"How many Sutherlands do we have?"

"About twenty, but only two are going to fit down that maintenance tunnel at once." Cornelia bit her thumb nail through her glove. "Something the matter, your highness?"

Under normal circumstances, Cornelia would've sent two units down there immediately, but not only was Euphie's life hanging in the balance, but so was Lelouch's. She had to exercise the utmost caution. She took a deep breath. If she was going to start trusting the Japanese, now would be a good a time as any, but, first, she was going to wait for Jeremiah—who she'd sent to go get Kallen—and the rebels Lelouch seemed to have faith in.

"Your highness!" Jeremiah's loud voice echoed through the channel. "I've arrived with the Elevens…er the Japanese you sent me to pick up."

"Excellent. Thank you Jeremiah."

"Yes, your highness!"

Cornelia sighed with relief. "All right, get me Asplund."

"Your highness?" Darlton furrowed his brow.

Cornelia took a deep breath. "We're sending Kururugi and the Lancelot down there to clean house. I'm returning to my Knightmare Frame. Keep me informed of any developments remotely," Cornelia then left the base to walk the streets back to her mobile base. As she did, Kallen was audaciously standing in her way.

"What do you want, Kozuki?" Cornelia asked.

"You said we would have further orders when we got here."

"I'm about to call Zero for those orders. I was just returning to my Knightmare."

"Call him from here. I'll watch." Kallen glared stubbornly. She might have trusted Zero, but she wanted to make absolutely sure that Cornelia wasn't trying to deceive her. For all she knew, Zero wasn't anywhere near here and Cornelia was using her and the others hoping to lose them in the ensuing conflict. A few of her comrades had thought of the possibility on the way here, and Kallen was starting to believe it.

Cornelia was about to reach for her cell phone and call when it rang first. It was Lloyd. "Is it online?"

"We're ready to deploy when you are."

"I'll need a few moments. Bring your base around towards the maintenance shaft and wait."

"Understood."

Cornelia hung up and then dialed for Lelouch, Kallen still glaring at her in the moonlight. "What's the situation?" Lelouch asked her.

"Your band of rebels is here, and we're in a position to infiltrate. Kozuki's restless. What should I tell her?"

"What's the infiltration plan?"

"We're sending the Lancelot down into the maintenance shaft to clear out the terrorists to make it possible to send more soldiers down there to rescue the hostages."

"Arm Kallen and the others if they're not already, hand Kallen my briefcase and tell them to wait for an all clear at the maintenance shaft. When the signal's clear have them infiltrate ahead of your own soldiers. Have Ohgi and Kallen reach the restroom on the top floor by the penthouse suite. There's a lone guard standing outside. Once I'm Zero, feel free to act as you normally would."

"You're sure about that?"

"The only guards Kallen and Ohgi should encounter are the ones near the elevator and outside the bathroom. The rest have the hostages in the storeroom. If you clear out the maintenance shaft, there should be minimal resistance."

"Right then, let's do this." Cornelia hung up and then looked at Kallen. "Take Zero's uniform and wait for the Lancelot to clear the maintenance shaft. You and the others are then going to head in to rescue the hostages ahead of my soldiers. You and Ohgi are to take Zero's uniform to him at the restroom on the top floor. From there you'll be under Zero's direct command." Kallen didn't move. "Why are you still standing around? You have your orders, now move!"

"Zero's really up there? That was really him on the phone with you?"

Cornelia approached Kallen, standing within arm's reach of her. "I can imagine what's going through your head right now. It might seem like it would be convenient for me to not risk any of my own troops, sending you to die. However, know that if I really wanted you out of the picture, I would have made it happen a long time ago. I don't need to make things look like an accident. No one will care about the deaths of a bunch of rebels. I could've overrun you at any time and eliminated Zero in person if I wanted you out of my hair. So if you're going to start trusting me, like I'm trying to trust you, you'll accept my words at face value and worry about what ifs after the fact. Besides, will you take the risk that I'm not lying and abandon Zero? Can your Japanese honor take that kind of blow?"

"Don't speak of honor to me, Britannian!" Kallen exclaimed.

"My little sister is in there." Cornelia said, her voice a bit quieter. "Do you realize the trust I stake in you and Zero both? She means the world to me- everything."

Kallen tripped over her vocal chords; she hadn't expected that answer. Hearing Cornelia's going to extremes by trusting both her and Zero, all for her little sister, made her seem more... human. Kallen was reminded of how far Naoto would go for her. She opened her mouth to speak, but let it hang open, no sound coming out. She closed it again and then, finally, spoke.

"I see... if... if Zero is really there, you have my apology in advance. She nodded determinedly, and added, "We'll get your sister back in one piece."

I've done my part, Lelouch, Cornelia thought as Kallen walked away. The rest is up to you.

Thanks to Suzaku's efforts, the maintenance shaft was soon cleared. The all-green signal came, and Kallen and the resistance stormed the facility, armed and ready. Although they were members of their own nationality, they understood that these people took their patriotism way too far. Inoue, the squad leader, stormed the lobby with the others, and began securing it for the sake of Zero and the greater good, while Kallen and Ohgi made their way towards the penthouse.

Firing with the best accuracy possible, Ohgi was lucky enough to dispatch the Japanese at the elevator with a single pistol shot to the head each, managing to have quick enough reflexes to raise his pistol and shoot before they recognized him as an intruder. Upon making it to the restroom that Zero was supposedly inside of, Ohgi was able to rely less on luck taking out the guard. He, unbeknownst to Ohgi, was still in a trance from Lelouch's geass, allowing Ohgi to not have to shoot at a moving target and put a bullet in his head much easier.

Kallen needed both hands to carry Zero's luggage else she would've offered support fire. Upon reaching the restroom, Kallen knocked. "Zero, we have your uniform."

The bathroom door opened slightly, as Kallen and Ohgi watched only Zero's hand and sleeve reach out for his suitcase. Once in hand he pulled it inside and shut the door. Ohgi then looked at Kallen.

"So I guess the Viceroy really wasn't lying." Ohgi said.

"Yeah, but it just makes me wonder what Zero was even doing here in the first place."

"I had personal reasons to be here. I didn't expect that the JLF would attack." Zero said, exiting the bathroom. "Ohgi, take my briefcase and bring it back to the van you were driven here in. There should also be a box somewhere in it. I want you to distribute the contents to the others once the lobby is secure."

"Uh, sure… wait, how did you know we were clearing the lobby?"

"Securing an escape route is vital. It's the prudent thing to do in this situation," Zero said.

Ohgi nodded. "I'll get it done, sir."

"Good. Now then, Kallen," Zero said, handing her a pistol, "You're with me."

"Yes sir!" Kallen exclaimed proudly. She was glad to be working personally alongside Zero.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, going up against the JLF?"

"I'll be fine. Just trust me as you have been doing this whole time."

"Yes sir."

Leaving Ohgi behind, Kallen and Zero walked down the hallway together as they reached the penthouse storeroom.

"Zero!" One of the JLF shouted.

Hold! Zero shouted in Japanese, not using his geass. Lest you want needless blood to be spilled! I'd speak with whoever is in charge around here, my assistant as well!

The soldiers all looked at each other. After a brief delay they silently agreed it would be best to let Kusakabe talk to Zero. He was more than likely worth more alive than dead. Kallen and Zero were then escorted to Kusakabe in the penthouse suite.

"Zero!" Kusakabe exclaimed when the masked man entered the doorway. "And…"

"I'm his bodyguard!" Kallen exclaimed, "Don't try anything funny!"

"Your dog barks loudly, Zero." Kusakabe chuckled.

"She's more used to Knightmare Frame combat than she is to being on foot." Zero said and walked into the room and sat on the couch across from Kusakabe. Kallen stood next to him.

"So, to what do I owe your presence, Zero? Have you come to join the JLF?"

"On the contrary, I came here to tell you what a fool you are, Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe. I should've figured you were the one behind this. Katase warned me about you."

"Katase is the fool here thinking we can make peace with the Britannian dogs! But you, Zero, you understand, don't you? You understand that Britannia must be crushed in order for Japan to be liberated and given back to its rightful owners."

"Wrong!" Zero exclaimed. "There are those in Britannia who fight the country from within. Surely you know of the fact that I found a powerful ally and that I have been working tirelessly to join forces with the JLF."

"Insolence! Japan will not take help from outsiders!" Kusakabe barked.

"If that is what you believe then you are a damned fool, Kusakabe! The enemy of my enemy is my friend or is that an old phrase you are unfamiliar with? My ally would welcome you with open arms if you would join us. By pulling this stunt though you'll make the Japanese look to be little more than savages. I'm prepared to build a bridge between us and Britannia. Why do you resist such an alliance?"

"We don't need help from filthy Britannians! We must fight using our own strength!"

"Pretentious! If Zealotry and patriotism was all that was needed Japan would've won its war seven years ago. What's needed to win war is power. The strong always wind up devouring the weak so the weak must find a way to outmaneuver the strong by any means necessary. By refusing the help I have given, you isolate yourself into a small corner that resists the greater good."

Kusakabe laughed. "You are the fool, Zero, if you honestly believe that an alliance can be made between Japan and Britannia. It will only cause trouble! You are a fool! Katase is a fool for believing you! A force fighting the empire from within? Preposterous!"

"Will you not trust my judgment? Have my words not rung true over the last month?"

"The only thing I've seen is handouts given to appease the people. How long before those handouts vanish and things return to their oppressive state?"

"You're a soldier under Katase, yes? Then your place should not be to question why, only to do."

"Don't speak to me about hierarchy, Zero! You are a foreigner, how could you understand we Japanese?"

Zero was silent for a long while. Kusakabe thought he had gotten through to him only for Zero to say, "Kallen."

"Yes sir?"

"Could you go downstairs and fetch the others. Have them meet me on the roof."

"Th-that's fine, but what about you?" Kallen asked.

"You have no need to worry about my physical health, Kallen. You are excused from this meeting."

"Yes sir," Kallen said and exited, closing the door behind her.

"And are we to follow you to the roof, Zero?" Kusakabe asked in mockery.

"No," Zero answered without missing a beat. "You said before I dismissed Kallen that I couldn't understand the Japanese. If being Japanese means believing in your patriotism far beyond the point of rationality then you can be certain I cannot understand it! I have no need for soldiers that refuse to see the bigger picture!" Zero's helmet opened over his left eye and cried, "PERISH!"

Zero watched as every member of the JLF in the room committed suicide. Gunshots rang out and Kusakabe stabbed himself with his family sword. Zero sat in silence for a moment to let the oozing blood and dead bodies penetrate his mind, adjusting to the sudden change of scenery when the door was thrown open. A JLF member ran into the room, gun raised.

"Ah! You! Zero!" The soldier gasped when he saw Kusakabe. "Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Kusakabe realized the futility of this farce and committed seppuku along with the rest of his men out of dishonor and shame." Zero pulled his gun on the soldier. "The Viceroy will be storming this facility as we speak. You can either die with your commanding officer or turn yourself in. Those are your options." By this point Euphie appeared, her spectacles missing, behind the JLF member. Zero immediately recognized the situation and saw the man begin go turn towards Euphie.

In a loud booming voice he declared, "I wouldn't if I were you! The Viceroy is very protective of the sub-viceroy, her poor little sister. Hostile takeover of a building is one thing, but if you think for a minute the Viceroy isn't going to crack down on you hard for trying to hold her little sister hostage, then you're even more of a fool than Kusakabe. If she doesn't outright kill you, she will torture you and leave you in a state of perpetual agony, where every breath you take reminds you of your painful existence. Your reckoning is already at your door." Zero stood up. "Why make it worse?"

Panting in fear the terrified terrorist ran to tell his fellow terrorists what had transpired here. The hostages had to be freed. Without Kusakabe they were all up a creek, with no paddle.

Euphie then looked at Zero, puzzled and terrified. She didn't know what to do now. She had come here to negotiate the release of the hostages, using herself as a bargaining chip in their place, but now she was face to face with the last person she expected to be here and Lelouch still hadn't returned from the restroom.

"Are you hurt?" Zero asked her.

"N-no." Euphie stuttered.

"Good. Come in here, and lock the door."

Euphie nervously did so. When she was inside she said to Zero, "You are…working with my sister?"

"I do. Does that bother you?"

"Of course it does! You murdered my brother! My sister called you revolutionary trash! Why would she be working with you?"

Zero sighed as he reached for his helmet. If Euphemia didn't find out now, she'd find out soon enough. Once she did, she'd wonder why he kept it hidden from her. Furthermore, even if he could vaguely word his way out of revealing his identity, when Euphemia cracked down on Cornelia, she'd definitely tell her or have Lelouch do it himself. Logically, that meant revealing himself to Euphemia now. "I didn't want you to find out this soon, Euphemia, but I suppose I don't have much choice." Zero removed his helmet revealing one Lelouch vi Britannia.

Euphie gasped in horror and shock. "L-Lelouch?"

"Yes."

Euphie didn't know what to do. Her initial urge was to cry. From everything Cornelia had told her, from everything she knew about Lelouch, it all made sense why he had chosen Zero. However, that didn't excuse murdering family members. No, nothing Lelouch did was excused, at all. His family loved him, surely he knew that? He admitted to her that he should've written back that he was alive. Was the loneliness and betrayal that he felt so powerful that it had driven him to such extremes? How could he? How could he disregard such a loving family? How could he kill his own family?

Unable to think or speak, Euphie waltzed over to Lelouch and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a big red mark. She then stared at the floor. "How could you?"

"Huh?"

Euphie stared at Lelouch, tears running down her face. "How could you do this? We loved you! You said it yourself, you should've trusted us. In seven years…in seven years did you never once think about us?" Euphie stared at the ground again, sobbing profusely for a few moments before saying. "Now I understand why you didn't want to spend time with me. You don't love us. You don't care about us at all. This whole thing is to fulfill your own selfish ends, isn't it?"

"That's not true at all!"

"Then explain!" Euphie shouted over him, looking at him. "Explain to me why right now my brother's murderer has to my brother as well." Euphie's voice dropped down to a squeak. "Just…why?"

Lelouch avoided eye contact, looking solemn. "There are things in this world you're not ready to understand…things in this world you cannot understand. I know what you might be thinking, but age is not a sign of maturity. It is only a number. When we were little, we didn't understand why Cornelia had to wander around the grounds with a scowl a lot, always trying to get her to smile. However, now I stand in a similar position. Both of us have seen too much. The light that once illuminated our ideals has vanished. Like CC said, sometimes you make decisions you're not proud of and you have to live with them." Lelouch finally found the courage to look Euphie in the eye. She wasn't sobbing, but she still had puffy red eyes.

"I made the decision to kill Clovis and don the mantle of Zero. Had I known I could've just waltzed in, everything being fine and dandy, I wouldn't have done that. However," Lelouch's solemn, sympathetic look became more hostile, "I didn't know that. I didn't know how much you really cared. I," he stared at the ground, his solemn looking coming back, "I was blinded. Vengeance consumed me. In actuality I intended to wait longer before I made my move against the empire, but circumstances have changed. Perhaps if they hadn't I would've been more rational in my thinking in hindsight. However, as CC said, we cannot ponder about what ifs and should nots. We can only deal with the consequences we have wrought and do our best with them."

There was dead silence in the room for a bit before Lelouch held his helmet closer to his body, bringing it right under his chin, like a child holding a large ball. "For what it's worth…I'm sorry."

There was another silence, and Lelouch wondered if Euphie could let this go.

"I'm so sorry, Lelouch."

Lelouch lifted his head up in confusion. "Why are you apologizing?"

"You were so alone, all this time, sent away from everyone who mattered. Of course you started hating us! You never had a choice, you never had us be there for you. All this time... without us." Euphie sniffed again, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You felt abandoned. You cursed us, hated us. But…the fact that you and my sister are working together…shows that you just wanted to be with us that, like me, you want what's best for Britannia. Lelouch…" Euphie started crying as she ran towards Lelouch and bear hugged him. "It will get better now, Lelouch, I promise. Your family is here, and we're never leaving you again!"

Lelouch closed his eyes and put his arms around Euphemia. She was right. It would get better. After all, things had been looking up from the moment he and Cornelia met.

With the hostages slowly being funneled out of the convention center, Euphie had a right mind to talk with her sister about keeping things a secret from her. However, before she reached Cornelia, a bunch of lights came on from the top of the convention center where Zero and a few people in black garments stood.

"People, fear us or rally behind us as you see fit! We are the Black Knights! We of the Black Knights stand for all those who have no weapons to wield, regardless of whether they are Elevens or Britannians! The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took Britannian civilians hostage with the intentions of executing them had their demands not been met. It was a wanton and meaningless act. Therefore they have been punished.

"Just as the former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Elevens, we cannot stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out and so we made him pay for his actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong! The only ones who should kill are the ones who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again no matter how mighty or how formidable our foe may be!

"Those of you with power: fear us!" Zero declared as he tossed out the left side of his cape. "Those of you without it," Zero tossed out the right side of his cape "Rally behind us! We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!"

As the lights died down on the rooftop, Zero then turned towards his comrades in arms.

"We'll part ways here. I'll see you all in a week's time with another gift, a base of operations."

"So that's it, you're just leaving us?" Inoue asked.

"My identity must remain secret; I must return to my civilian identity. And all of you deserve a good night's rest."

Tamaki yawned. "Yeah, suppose you got a point there, Zero."

Kallen looked at Zero, uneasy and then spoke. "Zero, are we really dead set on working with Britannia in secret until the time is right?"

"Yes. And when the time is right, we shall show the world the Viceroy's true colors. For now though, consider our mission concluded." With a swagger in his step, Zero then left the rooftop and headed for the elevator. He made his way to the restroom on the ground floor and called for Cornelia to bring him his briefcase so that he might change.

Once Zero had returned to being Lelouch, Cornelia threw a warm blanket over him and escorted him outdoors before returning to overseeing the freed hostages. She couldn't exactly be his personal escort in public, too many heads would turn.

Lelouch joined the crowd, looking for a bench to sit upon. It hadn't even been ten minutes before CC found him and sat down next to him.

"Your speech was amazingly corny."

"Don't start with me." Lelouch grumbled.

"Aww, mad that the weekend is ruined?"

"More like relieved. At least now I can go home. After all, it's not like Euphemia's going to stick around with her identity exposed, people will mob her."

"Don't be too sure of that," CC pointed as Euphie came rushing towards her and Lelouch, sliding onto the bench and sitting on Lelouch's opposite side.

"Shouldn't you be on the other side of the military line?" Lelouch asked.

"My sister said it was okay. This is my weekend getaway, remember? Besides, everyone's too busy hugging their families and getting hot chocolate and trauma therapy to notice little old me."

"Please do not say things like that in such an upbeat tone."

"And also, the both of you, it seems, need a lesson in tempting fate." CC added as Milly, Shirley and Nina were headed right for the trio.

You have got to be kidding me! Lelouch exclaimed.

"Caught you red handed!" Milly exclaimed. "The jig is up, Lelouch! You're not leaving this spot until I get an explanation! Who's this green haired girl? And how the hell did you get a princess to pretend to be your pen pal? Princess Euphemia hasn't even been in Area Eleven for the past three years."

When Euphie exposed herself to defend the hostages she removed her glasses after standing up. Nina, Milly and Shirley all recognized "Estellise" immediately.

"Er, well…" Lelouch tried to come up with an explanation. He was hoping Euphie might give him a hand, but she didn't seem as quick on the uptake as he was about these sorts of things.

"You're busted, Lelouch!" Milly exclaimed. "You're going to give us a full and frank explanation and it had better be air tight! Also, just where did you disappear to, mister? I saw one of the terrorists escort you out of the room. What happened?"

"Well, naturally I was crafting a clever plan to save the day. As I distracted the guard's attention, I quickly knocked him out with a judo chop and stole his gun, and from there I heroically started fighting the terrorists, taking them out one by one, using only my ingenuity, wits, and a sub-machinegun. It was all I could do to not cry "Yippie-kay-yay", as I mowed down one terrorist after another- without killing anyone, of course. That would just have been wrong. Unfortunately, that Zero and his black knights just had to steal my thunder, or I would have single-handedly saved everyone myself."

"Was that before or after you hid in the broom closet?" Milly asked. It was bullshit, blatant and unashamed bullshit; anyone could tell.

"Oh no." Lelouch said sarcastically. "You caught me. My elaborate lie has been thwarted!"

"And don't think your little male power fantasy is going to get you out of answering some questions!" Shirley piped up. "Tell us how you know Princess Euphemia and tell us who this woman is too! We're your friends Lulu! You owe us that much!"

"Yeah, we're your friends, Lelouch," Milly stressed with a devious smile. In truth, Milly knew exactly how Lelouch knew Euphie. She was one of the few people who knew he was an exiled prince. However, not only was she going to keep that fact a secret, but unless Lelouch specifically was going to play the "Wait a minute, you know why" card to Milly to have her bail him out she was keeping a buttoned lip. The more she pressured him the greater the chances of him needing her help and if she bailed him out he'd owe her big!

Lelouch, of course, had no intention of using Milly as a bail out, no matter the cost and did his best to explain his relations to Euphie without giving away his heritage. "Oh, you know. I…we…um…" oh come on, think of something! You're better than this.

However, it seemed fate was going to cut him a break this time as the sound of sweet relief came in the form of his cell phone ringing. "Oh that must be Nunnally wanting me to sing her a lullaby or wish me a good night. Poor girl must be worried about not seeing her big brother for two nights in a row. Could you excuse me, I'd hate to embarrass myself in front of my friends." Lelouch then ran around for cover behind some trees, answering the phone, seeing the Caller ID as Cornelia before he picked it up. "You have no idea how much I owe you right now."

"I'm sure I can think of something." Cornelia said, having been watching Lelouch from the comfort of her Gloucester. Just because she couldn't escort Lelouch didn't mean she couldn't still keep an eye on him. And she knew an awkward situation when she saw one. "I've asked Jeremiah to wait at the military line for you. He's going to escort you to me. We need to talk about tonight."

"Uh, sure." Lelouch didn't question it. After all, a little banter about political maneuvering would be a welcome alternative to trying to bullshit his way past Milly "Gossip Queen" Ashford, especially with CC present.

Jeremiah bowed to him, telling Lelouch his gratitude at seeing him safe before escorting Lelouch to Cornelia's mobile military base. He met Cornelia on the bridge, which was cleared out at present. Its various overseers were helping hostages and working on getting vehicles out of the parking lot for people who weren't staying the whole weekend. Sure, the local police should be handling this, but the military was already here and Cornelia had told them she had things under control. A little PR never hurt her before.

When Lelouch saw that it was just the two of them, he thought nothing of it. Obviously he and Cornelia were going to be talking about things she didn't want anyone else to know about.

"Nice speech." She said to him to break the ice.

"Not bad for something unrehearsed, right?"

"Sure, if you like Shakespearean drama, but it got the job done. Are you going to have another one when we announce our alliance?"

"Of course."

"Good. Then enough dancing around the obvious, how did you, in your own words, sneak past the JLF?"

"Huh?"

"More importantly, according to Euphie, the terrorists leading the cell committed suicide while you were masquerading as Zero. I don't buy it. I also think it's rather convenient that you were able to sneak into Clovis' office and murder him without anyone noticing you. I'd be blind to not see a pattern of you having inhuman luck. And there's also the matter of my soldiers and your speech. I hope you understand, little brother, that until I get an answer," the doors to the room locked tight from the inside as Cornelia pushed a single button, "You're not leaving this room."

To be continued…

(A/N: Will Lelouch have to spill the beans about Geass in order to maintain Cornelia's alliance? And will he be able to return home without Milly hounding him? What is on the agenda next for our rebel leader? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter of Cornelia of the Defection. In all seriousness, I really hope the comedy in this chapter wasn't too much that it made the hotel jacking a serious case of mood whiplash. And although it will sound like I'm rushing things, next chapter will have the coup de grace for the liberation of Japan. Chapter 7 will mark the start of Britannian civil war and after that will be another hiatus while I work on other fanfiction and figure out what the hell I'm doing with this one. When I return to Cornelia of the Defection after that, it will hopefully be for the long haul to finish what will be a story that shouldn't exceed fifty-two chapters, just like the anime itself didn't exceed 52 episodes. Anyway that's all from me for now. Ja ne!)