A/N: This part took much longer than I expected. Originally, I intended to post it on 23th of December, buuuut it wasn`t meant to be, as I firstly never knew about Bismarck`s birthday, and then other delays, such as massive burnout after sending off assignments. So, here`s it! Thanks for all the support, it was refreshing.

IV Chapter.

The Reunion

On the ship

Charles was sitting in his throne, silently observing the water of the Pacific below his flagship. He smirked. One intervention into a bloody affair that might`ve costed him a Ragnarok was worth it. In the end, Charles could understand Lelouch. He also was a child who would hold to his promise and words they`ve once given. Given how spectacularly he left the throne room after the renouncing his claim to the throne seven years ago, he could still be angry at Charles.

Keeping promise by yourself is easier. The one Charles gave to his own brother, who lost little trust he had after what he had done. To an immortal brother, who was jealous to the bone. To a brother, who had already almost taken dear Marianne.

The events unfolded just as he had predicted. 'Mundane affairs... Now I understand even more why I didn`t ever like them. All of these people and their actions are undeserving of my attention. All driven by ulterior motives, easily swayed by simple lies. Their petty interests are unimportant on a grander scale of Ragnarok.'

His thoughts were interrupted with Bismarck entering the bridge, approaching the throne and kneeling before Charles. "Your Majesty, the plan proceeds as intended. Our search groups and sensors failed to find any members of the Black Knights or their vessels, but they ceased to be a threat to us for some time." Bismarck then gave Charles a folder from his coat. "As Your Majesty predicted, Master V.V. overtook small Schneizel`s project and moved him to the base in Chinese Federation. What course of action should we carry out?"

Charles read through the lines and dossiers, which were comprised of information OSI had managed to gather about it.

'If I let my brother' he felt cringed inside from thinking about him, 'to continue, this still can`t threaten me. This assassin isn`t that dumb to try to kill him'

He reached the description of the assassin, presented in the folder, quickly jumping from line to line. "Oh, a former member of the Royal Guard with personal convictions about vi Britannia`s?" Charles smirked at reading this, "Let V.V. proceed. Inform me on his other maneuvers. He can get more active in the following weeks. For now, we have nothing to worry about." Charles gave the folder back.

Bismarck then took a pause, before continuing "Assassin or even simple agents within our ranks are still dangerous. I will order OSI to discreetly check on members of Royal Guard, the government and Royal Palace`s staff. Geass Order may have infiltrated some of our structures too deep without our consent."

Charles nodded, though he decided to take a more careful approach. "If we do this right now, it can raise suspicion. Give this order after our next part of the plan succeeds. Now, let us proceed with the plan."

"Yes, Your Majesty" Bismarck rose, leaving the bridge.

'Now, for the reunion' Charles thought, with a small smile on his face.

The room was bleak, almost with no lights present. Dull and empty walls made this room stand out from all other on the ship. It was still better from the Temple Tower, at least here were two somewhat comfortable chairs. Only this was temporary, since both occupants did not know what will be next.

On one chair an all-familiar redhead was sitting, with signs of distress showing on her face. Her knife and pistol were taken, as well as any means of communication with the outside.

Zero was sitting in the other chair. He sat with his head on his arms. He was checked for weapons as well, with pretty much no inspections for his identity or instruments to break out.

From time to time, Kallen threw glances at him, whenever her mind was racing about the ideas to get out of this situation and reached a stonewall. 'He made the impossible happen, outwitted Cornelia several times, but now… I never thought that meeting the Knight of One would be so stressful for such person. Or is it the matter of fighting that bastard Charles that made the situation worse for Zero?'

Deep in his thoughts, Lelouch`s mind was running through all of possibilities, but none came close to be successful. 'I don`t have neither information nor forces to kill Charles. Even escape seems hard. The fact that we`re still alive is strange.'

'It`s good, that I made enough contingency plans, and even restructured the organization. Diethard was really a nice catch for my plans. By now the Black Knights should`ve gotten the message, but this still doesn`t help me'

Surprisingly enough, both of them weren`t handcuffed or tied to the chairs. Bismarck probably didn`t expect much of them, as he left them right after capture. Of course, there were several guards outside of the improvised cell, armed with small firearms, stun grenades, as well as with collapsible batons. Information she managed to gather wasn`t enough to break out, but enough to not expect an execution in the next few hours

She looked up from the floor to this blank mask. "Zero, what is our plan?"

"They certainly don`t expect that much from us, since we aren`t restrained." Zero dropped back to hit thoughts, running through the possibilities. 'Does Charles know who I am, and is it because of that he knows I`m here? He never shows interest in small conflicts, and the Black Knights haven`t yet became that powerful to challenge him directly.'

'Yet again, if my identity will be compromised, what should I do? Charles can simply show me unmasked on TV, and this will be destructive to the Black Knights. I can`t even imagine what Kallen would think.' Beneath his mask, he was checking how she was fairing. He met emperor before, and he knows what to expect. For her, it should be much more stressful. She didn`t even meet anyone from the Royal Family, aside from Euphemia – the nicest person to meet and who can share their ideas. 'She is a captain of my personal guard, I can`t expect her to remain loyal after this. Should I reveal who I am before the emperor does this?'

The sight of even more distressed Kallen made him feel uneasy. 'She could even kill me when she learns, though that might still be preferable than whatever that bastard prepared for me.'

She let out a heavy sign, that she kept for quite a while "No matter what happens, I will fight to the end. Find an escape, fight for the justice, for the better world, or die trying. I know well that you`re the man of miracles, Zero – no one, who could crush any Britannian foe we encountered. Could turn up the table if needed"

Lelouch looked at Kallen. He saw determination in her eyes. The same one he had, when he made his promise to obliterate Britannia. It was quite a rare sight to see someone as determined and willful.

"Quite ironic, that I ended up under the command of a man with ideals, that my brother shared and stood for. I hope, all of us will be able to see the creation of this better world."

As they sit in their chairs, awaiting their fate, the door suddenly opened. Light filled the room, with a gigantic silhouette of Bismarck, who was standing in the doorway.

"Get up, and come with me, Zero. His Majesty wishes to speak with you."

Zero reluctantly stood up. 'I can always use my Geass. In fact, this might be my chance, but does the emperor know about it?'

"Wait!" Kallen stood up and walked to Zero, as they begun to leave "I will go with Zero"

Bismarck looked at her with his slightly amused expression, then at Zero and back. "Quite the subordinate you`ve got. Very well, you may accompany us to the meeting."

Kallen thought for a moment, and went with it. Everything is better than sitting in this bleak room. "Not even afraid that I could attack you?"

Bismarck grinned back "Why would I? I doubt that my reputation from combat didn`t reach the Ashford Academy, the Black Knights, or your family. You are an excellent student, you should know it."

Emperor`s flagship, no matter how much it was meant to represent might, power and status of its owner, wasn`t looking that much different from any other military ships from the inside. Bright and elegant corridor, with gray reflective floor and white walls, was nice. Not as nice as any Black Knights base to Kallen or to Zero, but nonetheless interesting.

Kallen tried her best to stay collected. For Zero it was somewhat easier, since his mask was still on.

"I`m surprised that there`s no paintings or sculptures near the walls. Just from whom Clovis got that hedonistic lifestyle? Probably his mother is up to blame"

The prisoners looked around to see a source of the voice. A small girl in knight`s uniform, alongside 2 guards of hers, approached them. From the looks of it, she was barely a fourteen, though her stance and tone spoke of being more mature than she seemed.

The Knight of One turned his head to her "You came earlier than I expected, Anya"

"I didn`t want to miss all of the fun! And these people you`re taking are more than interesting"

Bismarck didn`t try to dissuade her from coming along. She could intervene in almost any affair if she wanted. It`d only exhaust him "You may join, but now we have to proceed further."

She waved her hand "Oh, I don`t want to delay whatever the emperor wants to do"

The group continued to move to the command bridge. Kallen, however, couldn't help but feel the gaze from Anya on her back. She turned her head slightly, just to keep an eye on her. Anya was looking on Zero, sometimes switching her gaze to Kallen. She seemed so invested into the situation, though the redhead couldn`t remember seeing her before, nor in combat, nor outside of it.

Bismarck stopped before the metal automatic doors, waiting to be allowed to enter. As they opened, he forced Zero to come inside by grabbing him by his shoulders, which resulted in an angry look from Anya. It surprised Kallen, as she looked so... strange? Like she cared about him, and wasn`t an Knight of the Round – guard of the biggest enemy of the Black Knights.

Kallen made a step inside, only to be stopped by Anya. "You could accompany him, but you aren`t allowed to go further. In fact, let`s wait the end of it, while speaking"

Kallen switched her look to Zero, seeking for response. He made a light nod. 'I used my Geass on her once, so seeing it in action may be harmful for her loyalty.' He may have liked to see an ally, and not only his archnemesis with his loyal knight, but, if he could finish everything this quickly, then why not?

Anya looked at her, "Oh, don`t be so sad! You`ll have the opportunity to see the emperor as well!"

'Like I wanted to. I only want to see him with a bullet between his eyes' Kallen wanted to say, but went against it.

The doors closed, separating the bridge from Anya and Kallen.

It was an unusual sight to see only as little as three people on the command bridge. Staff left the room, as well as most of the emperor`s guard, leaving only Charles and Zero for a discussion. Bismarck stood behind Zero, with him standing en guard.

Charles begun, as he looked into Zero`s mask, as if like he saw through it "I remember the etiquette required prince to kneel before the emperor, wasn`t it, Lelouch?"

"Out of all people, I never thought you deserved this honor" Lelouch removed his mask, revealing his angry eyes to be looking right into Charles`.

"Judging by the reaction of your knight, she doesn`t even know about your identity. I didn`t expect anything more than this. Truly a child, living in lies. I pity you."

"You say that you pity me, but didn`t you stopped the investigation of my mother`s death? She was assassinated, my sister was crippled and blinded, and after this you had failed to deliver justice to those who murdered her! You refused to acknowledge your mistakes, disowned me. Then you sent us to Japan as hostages, then invaded it! We lived in a warzone, and our place was razed to the ground with an airraid! When Nunnally`s wheelchair was lost, I carried her through a field, with thousands of innocent people lying dead! And you dare to 'pity' me?"

Charles sat unfazed, keeping an eye contact with Lelouch. Bismarck, behind Lelouch, didn`t move, though he was still ready to drop into the situation, whether Lelouch does anything dangerous. 'Not that it`s possible, most of the Royal Family are still to spoiled brats to be able to do anything in a situation like that'. Charles, in the meantime, continued: "I do pity you. I`ve sent you to Japan, since after Marianne was murdered, you had no power. By surviving through this, by continuing to live against all odds, you have only justified my decision."

'I really need to remove this vigilant guard from my back. But how?'. Lelouch looked back, but could Bismarck and Charles know about Geass? There`s no way of testing it. "By leaving us alone in the war-torn country, what right do you have to teach me?"

"It was needed for the plan, which you didn`t need to know about until now."

Charles sat with a wide grin on his face. Lelouch was kept from his plans, but now does he need to know? Charles needs to convince him.

"We have a lot to discuss, Lelouch."

Kallen stood outside, leaning her back against the wall. The Knight of Six leaned against the opposite wall.

Breaking the silence, Anya begun "I observed your records, as well as data from your battles"

"Oh, what of it? Never thought a Knight of Six would get interested in something other than protecting that bastard`s back"

She continued, ignoring her remark. "Your skills are on par with those of the Rounds. Both intelligent and ruthless. I remember some of the knights who you would be on par with. It is quite sad to see such talents being wasted"

"Trying to sway me to your side? Too bad, I don`t care much loyalties to Britannia. After all, I`m tied with Black Knights from the moment I willingly joined them"

"Ironic. You don`t know even who leads your army"

"And what if I actually knew who he is?"

Anya raised a brow, looking at her "But you don`t. If you knew, you wouldn`t be as calm as you are right now."

"Are you telling me that you know who he is?"

"Yes" she swiftly responded, "In fact, you and His Majesty know him as well"

Kallen scowled "Oh, how does little Charlie know this, while I don`t?"

She ignored the insult. "You will know this soon"

"Hey, but you didn`t answer my question!"

"Why should I? In fact, I`m disappointed that you never learned who he is. I really hoped that we`d discuss him more, and you know nothing."

Anya closed in and leaned to her face "Did he never appear without his mask? Did you never had the opportunity to see his face?"

"I… Why`d you care?" Kallen made a disinterested look on her face. Though at the same time her mind was racing through her memories, trying to answer this question for herself.

"Why`d I care? He`s an interesting person. Not that many people had the possibility and none of them used it to this extent to destabilize Britannia so much." Her gaze wondered into the ceiling, like she was dreaming. "His intentions and motives can be understood, no matter how childish or wrong they actually are. You were a powerful pilot, I must admit. You cracked Jeremiah so easily and the number of enemies you have slain is not as high as mine, but high enough to compete with the Rounds!"

"…I had an opportunity to see it. Several times. But I refused to use it."

"Heh. So silly" Anya then took her communicator, as she heard a new message. "The audience has ended. It`s time to head back. You will have a lot to talk with your precious Zero in the next few hours"

As they were accompanied back by the guards through the empty corridor, none of the Knights actually followed them. Kallen was thinking to use this opportunity to slip through, but Zero, for some reason, wasn`t that active. When he left the bridge, he looked like a different man. He seemed relieved, like a burden was lifted off his shoulders. Something happened and she wanted to know what.

Guards led them to the doors, opening them and standing outside of them. Kallen looked around the room. It was different from the previous one, even with window and a TV. Aside from one chair, there was also a coach against the window and a small table with two empty glasses and a carafe, filled with water. This looked almost like a guest room and it, probably, was one.

Zero sat in the sofa, looking into the floor. Kallen sat on a chair. Her curiosity and worry for him were eating her from inside for too long. She sat and was thinking how to approach him now.

"So, what that bastard wanted to ask?"

He sat silent. In her mind, she was wondering about what happened behind the doors 'Was that person right about what the emperor knew?'

"I was speaking with the Knight of Six. With that little girl... Did the emperor know about who you are?"

Zero looked up to her, surprised at her words.

"…Yes, he knew. And before you ask – I had a reason to keep my identity from all of you, including Ohgi, Tohdoh and others. Well, until now, at least."

She looked confused and, at the same time, angry. "So why`d keep it? Who are you?"

He let out a heavy breath. Is there now any reason to keep anything from her? "You`ll see" Zero then reached the top of his mask with his hand, taking it off. Cloth beneath the mask was already lowered before.

She sat, being absolutely shocked and almost rejecting the information she got. Her knees failed her, as she fell back on the chair.

She saw Lelouch. Kallen wanted to believe that her eyes simply mistook him for someone else. All this time, he was the one-single person, whom she suspected the least out of all. Especially after that encounter in the bathroom, any thought she had about him disappeared. Person, whom she disliked for all his arrogance, who seemed to care only about his sister, illegal gambling and absolutely nothing else.

To say, that it was unexpected, was far from fully describing how she felt. Her classmate, which she even slapped for how little he cared about the world around him, how he didn`t try to change it, was sitting before her.

"But…

how…

why…"

"Yes, I am Zero, the man who is the biggest threat to Britannia and who will change the world."

"Why…why would you hide this from us? Did you intent on giving up on us, Japanese? Why would you, a typical Britannian student, go against… And about Euphemia, why was she so carefree near you?"

"All of us wear masks. You, Kallen Kozuki, wear a mask of Kallen Stadtfeld in school, and a mask of brave Ace of the Black Knights in fight.

I, Lelouch, wear the mask of Zero to force the world to go for better direction. This mask is needed, since it helps to convey a message more clearly. I am… we are strifing for the better world, in which strong does not exploits weak, to make a world in which my sister and all of us can live happily. And who does better job at representing this vision of ideal world than a masked hero, with unknown nationality, with no ties to anybody, and who has become a symbol for such noble cause?"

She was somewhat satisfied with his reply, but the feeling of being betrayed hasn`t properly left her.

"Second mask is Lelouch Lamperouge. A typical student, who is smart and cannot be suspected of any ties to his midnight terrorist activity, and who disobeys the law in non-significant ways, just to gamble at to get money. This mask exists to protect those, who are close to me, such as Nunnally.

The third one I have abandoned for a long time. The mask I was born into, and which I hated for all the time. The mask of Lelouch vi Britannia. A mask, which is considered dead for the last seven years. A mask, that suffered the death of the closest, a string of betrayals, life of hiding in the shadows, and which I reject to acknowledge as my own."

Kallen was at a loss for words. His moves, speeches and manners were close to resemble a noble, but it wasn`t for this revelation for her to truly believe or even consider it. "All this time you were a part of the royalty?" He nodded, "Then… I don`t know what to feel. I knew something was up with you, but this… I believe you, what you said about the mask. What you said to me in port before Katase died. And now I still need to know. Do you yourself stand by this? By your words and ideas, that you implanted into the core of the Black Knights? Or are they simply sweet words?"

"Yes" he said, in a calm but determined voice. "All the victories, all the things we`ve done – everything was for it. Everything we`ve done was genuine and without ill intent. The mask of Zero is a mask of retribution and of the better world. And for this it should remain. For this it was created. If I was to begin my revolution without persona of Zero, the mask of Lelouch Lamperouge would quickly fall apart. I would be easily recognized as a royal, and I would probably get executed before we, the Black Knights, could really achieve anything. I`m sorry, that you have to learn about my true self in this way, but my identity was needed to be protected. Now, it matters not as much as it did." He reached for his mask, placing it upon his head yet again. He didn`t spot any cameras or listening devices in here, so his identity could be safe for a little while.

"I was born into the Royal Family, I got betrayed by it and I have severed all my ties to it. You can be sure – I meant what I meant when I was making my speeches. I saw the disdain nobility had for the commoners, even for Britannian. I saw the destruction and the occupation of Japan with my eyes. I observed how repugnant was the situation Britannia put Japanese in. And for this, you can be sure of my loyalty to the cause I proclaimed. 'To be Knights of Justice'"

"I… I need some time to think about this, but I will try." Kallen murmured, having yet to comprehend everything that was said and revealed to her. The fate of both of them fell out of her mind for a while, but now, as she was trying to accept new information, the question of what to do next reappeared again. Especially what will they have in the future.

"So, what you have discussed with the emperor?"

"He wants me to return back to Britannia. You will remain under custody of the Knight of Six. I will come up with something later."

"But won`t the Black Knights crumble without us?"

"Contingencies are in place, and the organization will be able to stand on its feet for a while, until I come up with a way what to do with it."

Kallen fell silent, and then remembered the question she wanted to give him before. "So then, when I saw you with Euphemia before you met me on the island, did she know you`re Zero and your real identity?

"Yes"

"Oh, that`s why was she so…normal during your conversation. Even after we met, she wasn`t too stressed out."

He slightly cheered up at the mentioning of her sister. "Euphemia is the nicest and kindest person from the Royal Family, aside from Nunnally. From all of them, only to these two I didn`t care deep hatred. At the same time, these are the only two who wouldn`t be in favor of current imperial policies."

They discussed some of the stories Lelouch had from the past with his siblings. About all those years in Aries Villa, at what Nunnally would do before the incident, how she played around him and Euphy. It felt so… nostalgic for him. Like a piece of long-forgotten life.

In the end, Kallen lumped into her chair, shifting her gaze to the carpet, "Sitting in the emperor`s flagship, discussing imperial princesses with a rebellious prince, deemed dead for almost a decade, who fought against his homeland and killed one of his evil siblings… Naoto would`ve been surprised to hear such story."

She left a small laugh, but quickly fell into nostalgia for her brother. Lelouch leaned to her "I`m sorry for your…"

"Say, Lelouch" she abruptly cut him, "Did you lose someone dear to you? Was that a betrayal you have mentioned earlier?"

He looked outside, trying to calm himself and gather his thoughts. "Yes, I have. In fact, I was exiled because of it"

"Seven years ago, my mother was assassinated. I was the first to see her body. She protected Nunnally with it, covering her from the bullets. She still was crippled and lost her sight. Officially, a group of terrorists was blamed for it, but I never believed in it, as the security around the royals was extreme.

I called an audience with the emperor, to get the answers from him. For then, I was shocked to see his apathetic reaction for the murder. He called it 'old news'. I rushed with anger towards him, got disowned and exiled to Japan. My last known location was then attacked and razed to the ground by Britannian Airforce with several tons of airbombs. For this, as well as for horrors Britannia would easily drop on other peoples, I revolted."

He then shook his head. "Or rather, it was my reasons. Before today, that`s what I knew about my mother`s murder and what had happened afterwards."

Kallen sat comfortably by his side, listening to the story Charles told him. She didn`t hear him to speak with such emotion ever. He spent half an hour explaining her the details, as well as describing what the Geass was and how it was related to the events that had unfolded.

"Wait, so what are the downsides to this 'geass' of yours? Don`t you tell me that you tried it on me? I`ll kill you if the answer doesn`t satisfies me!" Kallen stood up and, by the way she looked, that wasn`t an empty threat.

"The only downsides are range, need for eye contact and ability to use it only once on a person. For the second question - yes..." she flinched at hearing this. Her face was red, matching the color of her hair, and absolutely furious. "…to identify you. I used it to ask a few questions, from which I learned that it was you who I saw in the Shinjuku and your reasons to fight."

Kallen lowered her fists. "I`ll allow you to live for now, but if you lied" she threw angry look at him "you wouldn`t be left in one piece."

Lelouch smiled. After all, she did accept his answer, and the matter could be thought of as resolved.

He rose up, admiring the view from the ship. Too much was revealed to be easily processed. While his eyes rested, he tried to systemize the events and the new information in his head. His shoulders were relieved from one burden and then burdened by these revelations.

One hour ago

The emperor was sitting in his throne, his eyes focused on an unmasked leader. Lelouch felt like those eyes were drilling and dissecting him, reading his thoughts. "You should be satisfied" Charles spoke, not showing any signs of weakness and simultaneously grinning. "You earned to be acknowledged by me! Not even Marrybell would get this from her stunt in the past as you did now."

Lelouch stood before him, being dumbfounded by this statement. 'What?! The last time we spoke you disinherited me with the same ease! You would never forgive someone who`d drew a flame of rebellion against yourself. What are you up to?'

Charles was amused by the confusion he brought upon his son. "It is your chance to return. Previously, I would`ve liked to keep you there for longer to get C.C. in the same time, but now, as she fled with the rest of your rebels, I have to delay it for later"

'So, he knows about her. Maybe about my Geass as well.' Lelouch frowned. He did expect her to have some ties with higher-ranks within Britannia or other superpowers, but for Charles to know her that personally? Something must`ve been happening in the past behind the curtains. "So you knew about her? Not that I didn`t expect this, but why do you need her?"

"I won`t be revealing the details, as they might be incomprehensible, if you never saw with our plan, but her Code, her immortality was essential for it."

'What`s that with "our"? With whom have you been sharing it? Surely it isn`t Bismarck. Charles doesn`t have any siblings alive, nor any of his consorts were of high importance to him.' Lelouch was trying to work with this information, but it was still far from being understood. Even if he did, there was a lot of more pressing matters to consider, so let it be buried somewhere in his memory.

"I do not wish to disclose much, as most of the details I could mention are far from being believable, or could they be revealed to you, if you still decided to wage a revolution against Britannia.

What I can say though, is that your mother was one of the reasons for me to continue with it, and she was killed because of it. If you go along with it – you can get your vengeance…"

Lelouch was overflowing with anger "HOW DARE YOU MENTION HER? You disowned me for seeking justice for her, stopped any investigation of her murder, and now are trying to manipulate me with her name?"

As Bismarck reached to step in to protect the emperor, Charles stopped him. The knight backed down, and Charles continued. "The investigation wasn`t needed, as I knew who killed her. It pained me to lose her, but that person was out of my reach…until now."

Lelouch tried to interrupt, but he found no words to use. Charles stood up and approached the officially long-dead prince: "I stopped you, I intervened in this farcical circus because your rebellion now became an issue. I give you recognition, I give you the ability to achieve the vendetta you wished for so long, but that`s if you will return back."

Charles then gave a signal to Bismarck, who gave Lelouch a folder. "This is the schedule and a plan for the following weeks. You`ll be placed in one of the secure locations under heavy security, until your return could be announced on the official level. Meanwhile, Anya will be in charge of security. She is quite interested in the knight of yours, so she`ll keep it for a while. Your communication with the terrorists will be prevented."

Lelouch turned around, readying to leave. A slight smile appeared on his face. It was far from what he expected. No execution, nor his Zero identity was revealed. However, before he managed to leave, he heard a question from Charles on the topic he didn`t want to touch.

"I assume that if I were to reach Nunnally, I wouldn`t get a positive reaction from you? Or did you tried to move her somewhere else?"

He looked back at the emperor. His eyes met Charles`, which were curious and amused at the same time. "I know that you have sent a message to your subordinates. They haven`t attempted any attack and they weren`t detected following us, which means you had something planned. I don`t want to resort to other methods of extracting information, but was it about that or have you planned something rash?"

He turned his head back with a smile. "What`d you think?"

Charles let a small laugh. "I see." Maybe he should`ve recognized him a little bit before. He got quite artistic after he met him last time. Of course, should he acknowledge this fact, he would never get Marianne to stop mentioning it, so let the things flow.

As Lelouch was escorted back by Bismarck, he shifted his gaze towards the ocean. Clearly, there is a lot of work to do, but everything can be repaired in time.

The doors opened once again. Charles didn`t have to look at them to know who it is.

"So, how`s my son doing? Saw something different?" Marianne asked him, approaching him from the side.

"He is quite stubborn, I have to give him that" he answered, continuing to look at the horizon.

"You didn`t let him into any details on the plan"

"It wasn`t necessary. He wouldn`t understand it". In fact, Charles wasn`t sure. His son`s stance, ideas and deeds said a lot about him. He was carrying something in his heart, that was close to his own.

"Are you afraid that he will throw away your plan?" she gazed into his eyes, just like she was looking right into his soul.

"You read me too well, Marianne. His views on events of invasion into Japan does present a lot of difficulties to our cause. He seems to be hung up on it too much."

"Maybe he`s right" he looked back to her at these words. "It`s you who see world from this perspective. He saw a lot, and his status was different from yours. He isn`t necessarily right about the plan, but it`s him who saw the world in from all sides. Could it be that we threw him too far from us?"

He shrugged "It can be. I don`t believe in it. There is not that many ways for him to realize his potential to the maximum. He had proven himself to be worthy of participating in Ragnarok, but I won`t give in if he`d be against it. I spent all my life on this project. I`m going against my brother because he betrayed me and threatens its success. He even planned to meddle with the C`s world, had I not intervened into Euphemia`s little project."

Anya turned around, going to the exit from the bridge. "I will ask you to simply take into consideration his opinion, when you allow him into details. I`m his mother, after all"

Behind the doors, Anya stood, musing to herself.

"So, had everything went as we planned?"

"Charles is a stubborn one, he isn`t the one to be easily convinced. You better tell me, C.C., what`s the reason for your sudden interest in this situation?"

"Are you trying to force me to tell you something? Marianne, you`re such a teasing girl"

"Oh-ho-ho, avoiding the answer? Okay, I`ll let you out of this one now, but you will answer me later"

"Yeah, no. I simply know Lelouch quite well, so I want to know how will you do if your little fantasies would go off the rails. Anyway, we`ll speak again later"

C.C. closed the connection, going back to Zero… or, rather, her new cabinet. The smell of pizza and the number of empty boxes wouldn`t convince anyone that a well-organized leader was living here for a week. Not a single soul from the other Black Knights could understand where she was taking them from, even though a certain Tamaki was very persistent into getting the answer.

She threw a glance at the last message she received, while taking a last piece of… what, fourth pizza for this day? No matter. "So, that`s what you planning to do? Heh, okay. I will help you out this time, but how this boy even thinks that I`m using him when he demands this much is beyond me."

This chapter made me rethink my choices for the topic of this fic at least 10 times, but, I hope, this chapter was nice. The next ones will be about Area 11 and some stuff with other characters.

As usual, I`m waiting for the reviews and questions.