AN: Usually I write them in the end, but had to change it for once.

Firstly: Since September there were a lot of scam-bots writing me in DM's, with identical texts and offering artwork collaboration. Many people face the same issue (I spoke with at least three different people about it). My advice is simply to ban them, or delete from your DM's. Do not write them back or trust them.

Secondly: When I placed my deadlines for early October, I thought I gave myself too much time. Yet, now I am having a lot of new challenges both in studies and in social life. I learned design and learned to operate a few media pages for different companies, all in the last two weeks. This gave me a lot of stress, yet now, I hope, I am as ready as ever to continue my work for you, dear readers.

Now, onto the chapter itself!

Chapter V

A few days after, late September 2017

"Aaatchoo!" Lloyd loudly sneezed. He tied up his scarf tighter around his neck, wearing a pair of warm wool gloves. "Tell me, Cecille, why are we here? My hands are freezing so much I can't even think straight!"

"You know why, Lloyd," Cecille said, keeping her composure and not having as bad of the time Lloyd has with the cold, "Having a meeting here is for the security reasons. Neither we or the Black Knights have a strong military presence here yet, and while it could change now, this island wasn't a battlefield. Neither we or the Black Knights are willing to commit much resources to fight here."

"Don't tell me you aren't feeling cold?"

"I am, but not as much" Cecille admitted, "I'd trade a lot of things to have a hot bath, or at least not a freezing shower that is in our trailer for Lancelot."

"Hey-hey, either we could get the unnecessary commodities or we could improve Blaze Luminous." Lloyd said, "I'd never spend my… our budget on the first if the second was an option!"

"…Well, I never thought we'd have to test this trailer for harsh weather, so I won't kick you for that…" Cecille looked around, trying to not think about the cold. "You know, even if it was only for landscape, this place Her Highness chose was definitely the most beautiful I've seen in a long time. I saw glaciers only a few times. Rocky Mountains had them, but they were much less interesting as these ones. Here, mountains are quite nice, even while temperature here is much lower than on the normal ground."

"But it's cold!" Lloyd said, adjusting his glasses with a shaking hand before quickly hiding his hand in the jacket. "Why would Princess Euphemia ever want to meet with Zero here of all places?!"

"Lloyd! Need I remind you that you just recently leaked Her Highness' rout to Shikine Island to the media? Of course, she and Suzaku would like to avoid that!"

"-And Zero wouldn't want that as well. Pure luck saved him that day," Duo glanced back, as Suzaku finally arrived on the scene, wearing almost his exact uniform, only his jacket looking a bit heavier than usual.

"Suzaku, how are you not freezing?!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Maybe you could tell Princess Euphemia to change this choice of location?!"

"Her Highness chose it herself, and I wouldn't have had it other way. This does look nice and safe." Suzaku said, turning serious. "Zero should be here in a few minutes. His personal guard should be here by now… Kallen, maybe you could show up to us? It isn't nice to stay there."

True to his words, Kallen did appear a few seconds afterwards, surprising Lloyd, her shoulders covered in snow. "How could you tell I was here?"

"I just know you're loyal enough to ensure that criminal's safety. Also, I have noticed somebody watching me a few hills back." Suzaku responded, "That is admirable, but I really don't think you chose the correct man to place your trust in."

"I'm growing pissed by listening to you." Suzaku frowned, suddenly turning around to meet another newcomer. Zero stood a few meters away, his mask turned to the knight. "Greetings. I don't believe we came here to fight, did we, Sir Kururugi?"

"That's true." Suzaku sighed, noticing Euphemia's personal transport approaching. He turned to Kallen, "We'll speak later, ok?"

Kallen nodded, as Zero turned to face the princess. As the car was slowly decreasing its speed, she leaned to the masked leader. "I'm surprised she brought only Suzaku here. It looks like a trap to me."

"Euphemia is not the kind of person to take that sort of action." Zero said, his head slightly leaned to Kallen. "Still, I need to speak with her."

"But why?"

"If she is manipulated by Schneizel, I need to confirm that. This entire deal makes our position much weaker."

"And if she tries something?" Kallen worried, "She is a princess, what if something happens to your mask? I should then kill her if that happens."

Suzaku twitched a little, hearing the word 'kill'. Surprisingly for Kallen, Zero lightly laughed. "Don't worry, Kallen, I can ensure my identity will remain secret even without resorting to murder."

"But-"

"As I said, there is nothing to worry about. I trust her not to do that, and if anything happens – you are also here."

"Fine, Zero" She growled, not satisfied at all about his decision. He knew that, yet Euphemia knew his identity, and Kallen didn't. It was too risky to allow her to be around at the meeting.

And most importantly, he wanted to speak with his sister.

As Euphemia and Zero left to their meeting, both of them ordered their respective knights to stay behind, allowing the royals to speak without fear of eavesdropping. Suzaku feared that Zero was the one to choose this location for the talk, but it was Euphemia, who wanted to go for the mountains. She told Lelouch that her wish was to explore Japan more. It was ironic to switch sandy beaches of Kamine Island to snowy glaciers of Hokkaido, but it served another purpose – area was desolated, unsuitable for living, nobody could see them.

After a few minutes' walk, they reached a place Lelouch chose – near the edge of plateau. They sat, enjoying the warm tea they brought with them. "How did you find this place?" she asked, taking a sip, "You aren't a type of person to enjoy hikes, Lelouch."

"You're correct, I am not that person, sister," he took off his mask, taking another cup for himself, "I was looking for a places where we could hide a few years ago, and stumbled across this mountain range."

"For Nunnally?" Euphy asked. He nodded, causing her expression to sour. "Such a shame you have to hide from us. We could all live happily…"

"Not in this Britannia. It's stained, corrupted and eroding day by day." Lelouch responded. He looked into the sky, trying to remember something. "I wanted one day to settle in somewhere here. Since the skies are crystal clear and artificial light doesn't pollute it, the stars are looking very nice."

"That's true, but… Do you really think we can't change the system?" Euphy turned away from her tea to face him. "All these wars, conflicts, but the people still want to be happy. Achieving a gentle world should be possible. I hope that one day we, all of us could be together. I, you, Cornelia and Nunnally. All together looking at the stars, or enjoying the days as they were before-" She stopped, tears forming in her eyes. "Is it too much to ask for?"

"Was that what drove you to agree with marrying Suzaku?" He asked. Even while she was engaged for a while, Euphy couldn't contain her blush. "Or was it Schneizel, who wanted to use you? Euphy, you are a good person, but it is used against you."

"Everybody thinks I'm naïve, but I see people for what they could be. Gentle, caring, nice to have around." She clutched her cup tightly. "Lelouch, you're Zero, a cunning, smart and yes, a brave leader. But you're still Lelouch, even after everything you went through. I saw that part of you back when we were on Kamine Island. So maybe I am searching for these bits in other people, but is it a weakness? I want to change this world for the better, just as you."

Lelouch was silent for a moment, waiting for her to drink, while mulling over the spoken ideas. "What I saw was the current world to be, was its cruel nature. Genocides, intrigues, corruption. Yet, we got away from our topic. Say, do the two of you really love each other? Is the marriage a ploy of Schneizel or your honest wish?"

Euphemia glanced at him, curious. "You never saw that? Hah, and I hoped you got more perceptive to the opposite sex, especially after Aries Villa."

"I suppose I haven't changed" Lelouch smiled, "You're still a little Euphy that I still see in you."

"So will you help me then? Will you help little Euphy with her little dream?" She asked, looking him in his eyes. Lelouch felt conflicted: giving his public support would help his sister, yet he knew it would harm the Black Knights.

In the end, he still had to make a choice. It wasn't a hard one.

"I will help you with this, Euphy. Now, I want to discuss a few more things with you."

"I heard the school was quite rough with you after the announcement" Kallen broke the tense silence between her and Suzaku, as they waited for Zero and Euphemia to return. Her face showed no emotion, simply following her leader with her eyes.

"It was tough, but not as much as I first enrolled here. Being a celebrity has its downsides." He responded, his eyes not leaving the princess, following her even after they left completely.

"Suzaku, what you told on TV, was it a slip up or did you… you know… had sex with her?"

Finally, his gaze left Euphemia, simply out of surprise. "Well, I did not want to tell that back then in the interview."

"So you did?!"

"Yes."

"Wow. I am quite surprised." Kallen said "Didn't believe you were the type to go that far"

"I wasn't the one to initiate this idea of marrying." Suzaku frowned. "I like her. No, I love her. But exactly because of it I'm worried. I don't want her to take the most blame if anything goes wrong."

"Too much pathos for me. Too 'noble', as always. Though I didn't expect you to understand politics behind it."

"Being around Lelouch helps a lot with that." Suzaku shrugged. "For all the dislike he carries for Britannia, he always is correct in judging its politics. We talked about that a little."

"Lelouch is a strange person. One moment he presents an interesting point of view like nothing, and in another he still does not want to change anything." Sometimes, she couldn't believe she ever suspected this stupid Britannian to be Zero.

For his part, Suzaku only smiled, knowing full well his reasoning and background for it. "Aside from a few slips I've heard, you aren't much better at school. He dislikes Britannia, yet I respect that he is not getting any more involved in this conflict. All of us lost something, and he himself lost too much to not crumble under enough pressure."

"Do you mean that Nunnally is like this due to Britannia?"

"In a way. That was hard for him. You can speak with him yourself, but more I speak with him, more I see that he will not forgive it for her condition."

Feeling the mood of the conversation changing, Suzaku spoke on another topic. "So, at least after Kamine Island, did you happen to learn Zero's true face?"

"…No. I will confront him one day about it." Truthfully, Kallen was too embarrassed to ask Zero to show his face, never attempting again after Kawaguchi incident. "After all, it is his deeds that matter. What he does for Japanese, and not who he really is beneath the mask. I know he isn't Japanese, but does it matter? Some Japanese lose their minds and resort to terrorism. Some are happily living under Britannia's boots. And there are we, the Black Knights. We care for what he does, what we do together with him, and who he really is would be our least important question of all."

"He cares only about results. We lost a lot of people to this mindset."

"Results are what brings us together. We care for the losses we suffer, or the ones who got caught up in the middle of the fight. We care! But we would never stop the fight because of it, because Britannia does not at all!"

"Quiet! I cannot hear my breathing because of you!" Lloyd exclaimed, immediately hiding under his scarf. "Seriously, you would miss everything because of your petty debate!"

"Miss what, exactly?" Zero finally reappeared, Euphemia right after him. "I hope your discussion was as fruitful as ours, but it doesn't seem like it." He leaned to the redhead, quietly speaking to her. "Let's go, Kallen, the talks are over."

"Was it successful?"

"More than I expected" he said, smirking beneath his mask.

"This is strange…"

"Hm? What is strange, Kanon?" Schneizel sat in his office, glancing through the document. He was curious about his aide-de-camp, who seemed to mull over something for quite a while.

"If I may, Your Highness, but why did you choose to arrange this wedding?" Kanon said, "This is a heavy blow against our national ideology, and a lot of nobles are stunned by this development." Kanon remembered his prince to be a cold-minded pragmatist, so this idea was strange to hear about.

"There were two main things to keep in mind, Kanon. First: the Emperor approved it. Everybody knows that if it was only mine or Euphemia's decision, it would be banned. By making this challenge against the current authority, we won't get disgraced for it. Another is my plans for succession. When Odysseus becomes emperor with my support, our empire must stop decaying and ensure low levels of social dissatisfaction. For that, we must be as meritocratic as it could be possible. It is impossible to achieve if idea of Numbers getting anywhere in ranks is despised by nobility and higher class in general."

Kanon's eyes sparked with understanding. "And for that, we should make a sounding case, that will help us pacify the Area's, have I understood that correctly, Your Highness?"

"Yes. That is my reasoning, but in all honesty… What drove me to this conclusion wasn't this, but Euphemia herself. She… wants to make people happy. I once made a polite joke to her about solving issue of terrorist groups by marriage and Euphy blushed. She is in love with her knight for a while now." Schneizel looked down. "Many people think of her as a mere puppet or of incompetent, but she has the will to get things done. To have her vision be realized. If not for Odysseus, she could make a nice Empress."

"I…haven't thought about that"

"Don't worry about that much." Schneizel deeply respected his sister and, at the same time, was slightly jealous. Jealous of her willpower and desire to achieve something. He had an incredible mind, yet lacked a goal for it. Sometimes he wondered whether his goal was to help such people to rise higher, to help them achieve what they want. That and love for his sibling made him sympathetic to her cause.

And if she needed his help, he'd willingly provide it to her.

One day earlier

Cornelia was still bitter from how her little sister started to treat her. She was becoming less and less close to her Euphy than one single Eleven! As she sat in her own cabinet, holding one of her hard-earned battle medals in her hand, looking through it's curvatures and tiny details. Cornelia mindlessly checked it, trying not to reach again for her whiskey after Guilford had to restrain her from harming anybody. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, somebody lightly opening them, causing her to rise her head.

"I asked not to be disturbed! Who's that?"

A stride of pink hair visible in the slightly opened doorframe, Cornelia immediately recognized her. "It's me, sister. We need to talk"