Chapter 1: A Peaceful World

It's been two years since the success of Lelouch's Zero Requiem plan; the whole world was finally at peace. Suzaku Kururugi, better known as Zero, now served as the 100th Empress of the realm, Nunally Vi Britannia's personal protector.

The rest of the Black Knights, now led by Suzaku Kururugi, keep the peace of the world through guarding the UFN, however, their ace pilot, Kallen Kozuki was now put in the reserves as she now attends college… or at least that's what's supposed to happen.

"Oh no!" the red head shouted as she rushed out of her apartment, wearing a red t-shirt, green camo jacket, blue jeans, and black sneakers. Her sudden outburst scared a cat that was peacefully sleeping on a nearby wall, "I'm gonna be late again!" she thought while sprinting down the street, leaping over a large puddle. Her green camo jacket swayed in the wind as she landed on the ground, before dashing forward, "It's all Tamaki's fault! If I hadn't helped him with opening the Zero Café, I wouldn't have slept past my alarm!" she cursed while hopping over a wall.

The sun beamed down on the girl as she climbed the steps to the Was-Auch-Immer College, that was until she entered the cool hallways of the learning center. Finally, she arrived at her classroom and checked her phone, only to find a disappointing sight, "Damn, a minute late…" she thought while looking at the lock screen. It was a picture of the old Ashford student council, though she paid special attention to one particular raven-haired boy, but quickly perished the thought, putting her phone away, and sliding open the classroom door.

Four hours later…

Kallen was now on the phone underneath an oak tree, with an egg sandwich in her right hand, "Do I really have to do this? Can't I just continue to work with the Black Knights as a full member?" she asked the person on the phone

"I know, but you need the education," replied the voice of Kaname Ohgi, "Someday, the Black Knight's will be disbanded, after all, we'd be hypocrites if we preach world peace, but still keep a standing army around once it's been achieved."

"Hypocrites… huh?" the red head muttered while taking a bite of her sandwich

"How's school life treating you?"

"It's fine. The classes aren't too difficult, but it's kind of hard to make friends."

"I'm sure you could do it if you really tried," Ohgi said while a baby began to cry in the background, "After all, you don't have to pretend-"

"Is that Naoto?" Kallen asked, quickly changing the subject, "How's he doing?"

"He's doing good, just a little bit cranky now that mom's gone out for groceries"

The sound of a drawer opening could be heard while baby Naoto continued to cry, "I think I'll go now. Lunch's about to end here, bye." Kallen lied, abruptly ending the phone call with a click, returning to the home screen which was a picture that focused on Lelouch Lamperouge, the only one she had of him smiling.

"Lelouch, did everything really have to end like this?" she thought to herself, "Couldn't there have been a way for you to survive? To live in this peaceful world, even if it's only as Zero? Suzaku does a poor job as is, acting only as a security detail for Nunally, and leaves the planning to Schneizel or Todoh. Though, neither of them have the same effect as you." she then laid her back into the tree, slowly allowing herself to relax, and begin to think about what Ohgi said, "the Black Knight's disbanding? For some reason, I can't see that happening. I mean, what'll happen if someone breaks the peace? Who'll stop them once we're gone?"

Suddenly, the alarm on her phone went off, signaling for her to head to class, "I do sometimes wonder: What would've happened if you were still alive?" she thought while going through the motions of school, like taking notes, or moving to the next classroom, "Would you really allow the Black Knight's to disband? The Knight's for Justice you put so much effort into creating? I guess it doesn't matter anymore, after all, you can't change the past…" finally, the day ended, and she arrived home.

"Looks like mom isn't home yet," Kallen thought as she walked through the apartment that was filled with various pictures, plants, and furniture, until she arrived at her room; casually throwing her bag in the corner and crashing onto the bed, allowing her thoughts to freely roam in her mind.

"I know I just move on, but I can't help but wonder if there was something I could've done differently? Even if it still ended with Lelouch dying, I still want an answer from him."

The question rung throughout her mind continuously, ever since she witnessed the Zero Requiem, "What do I mean to you?"

Kallen sighed heavily, "In the end, I still couldn't get a straight answer." she then turned over in frustration, covering herself in a red mink blanket, preparing to sleep despite it being so early, "Maybe sleep will help me get rid of these thoughts…"

Of course, it wasn't that simple. It never was.

After thirty minutes of tossing and turning, Kallen finally shot up in frustration, "Damn it! Why can't you just get out of my head today!?" she thought while rubbing her temple, images of the boy she once loved, or rather, still loves flashing through her mind. Then, she pulled out the keys to her Guren and set it on the night stand, "I can usually shake these thoughts off, but today they seem so persistent…"

"Would you do it?" a voice in her head asked, disrupting her original thought process

"Do what?"

"Would you go back in time if given the chance?"

"Go back in time… would I do that?"

"You could get the answers you yearn for."

"But do I want to go through that pain again?"

"You don't have to."

The voice's reasoning finally got through, and with it, all thought of Lelouch disappeared, "Yeah, I could change everything if I went back."

"So, do you want to?"

It took only a moment before the red head responded, "Yes."

Except, the voice didn't respond, instead, it disappeared, along with any thought of Lelouch and traveling to the past, "That was… weird…"

That's when the sound of the front door opening caught Kallen's attention, "I'm home," her mother called

This caused Kallen to leave her room, "Welcome back. Oh, you got groceries?"

"Yeah, didn't you read the note I left you this morning? We're out of milk"

"Sorry, I was running late and missed it."

"Again? You know that's…"

"A bad habit, I know," Kallen finished her mother's sentence, "I've been trying to get used to waking up earlier, but it just doesn't seem to be working."

Ms. Kozuki began to stock the fridge with groceries while a smile crept onto her face, "Well, at least it's good to see you acting like a normal girl at least. Have you made any friends?"

Kallen shook her head in response, "Well… other than just talking to people in class, not really…" This caused her mother's smile to falter slightly, regardless, she continued to stock the fridge in comfortable silence, "Hey… I know this might be a silly question, but… if given the chance, would you go back in time?"

The question caught Ms. Kozuki off-guard, but she thought about it deeply, "That's kind of hard to answer, huh? Because, while I'm happy with how things turned out, I still wish some things could be better…" she looked around the cluttered apartment, "But… I'd say no. Even if I could change things around, I have no idea how those choices would impact us now; it'd be too much of a risk, for me at least." she then saw her daughter look down in distress, prompting her to ask, "What brought this up?"

"I don't know… the thought just crossed my mind today when I got home…"

"Ah… well, what would you do? You must've been thinking about it for a while, right?"

Kallen scratched her head in embarrassment, "I mean, I could definitely see the pros going back in time, but it's like you said, I have no idea how my actions could affect the future; things could just end up worse. And despite knowing this…" the young woman trailed off, continuing the rest of the sentence in her head, "I still want to go back… and get an answer…"

Suddenly, she felt the loving touch of her mother's hand on hers, "Kallen, the past is in the past, we can't change it, and I know you think you've made some mistakes, trust me, we all have, but know that I'm here if you want to talk about anything." she said in a caring tone, "I love you."

"I love you too," Kallen responded with a smile

"Now, then," Ms. Kozuki turned to the cupboards and pulled out a pan, "What do you want for dinner? I was planning on making curry, but that might take a while. Can you wait an hour?"

The young red head nodded, "Yeah, I think I'll go take a nap in the meantime. Thanks mom."

With that, she left to her room, before falling onto the bed, and lifting the blanket over her tired body, yawning in the process, "Man, when did I get so tired?" she thought while drifting in and out of consciousness, "Maybe I won't be present for dinner… I'll have to tell mom…"

August 2016 a.t.b, Japan.

Gentle rays of sunlight assaulted Kallen's face as her eyes fluttered open, "What time is it?" she wondered while reaching over to her nightstand, which was missing completely, causing her to shoot up in surprise, "What!?" she exclaimed while looking around her old, empty room of the Stadtfeld manor. "There's no way…" she muttered while reaching for her phone, checking the time.

6:49am, August 9th, 2016

This caused her to do several double takes, hoping that she was reading the calendar wrong, or maybe this was some sick prank, but upon checking her phone's images, she found out it was very true. "Did I really travel back in time?" she wondered before getting out of bed, and covering herself with a pink bath robe, before taking a peek into the hallway, "It's exactly how I remember it…"

Kallen closed the door and approached her closet, "There's still some time before school begins… " she thought while taking out the Ashford Academy uniform, and setting it on a nearby chair that was adjacent to a round wooden table, which had an unopened brown envelope on it, "Is this my schedule?" she wondered while opening the envelope, revealing a class schedule.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Kallen permitted whoever it was to enter, "Oh? You're going to school today, Mistress Kallen?" said Ms. Kozuki once she opened the door.

The sight of her mother in that infernal maid outfit brought a tear to Kallen's eyes, prompting her to ask, "What's wrong, Mistress Kallen?"

"Please… please don't call me that…" the young red head whispered while on the verge of break down, "Mom, you don't have to pretend anymore…"

"What do you mean?" Ms. Kozuki asked in astonishment

"Don't give me that, I know that you're staying for me!" Kallen retorted in an almost shouting tone, "But… you don't have to act like you don't know me…"

This brought tears to Ms. Kozuki's eyes, "Why… why are you saying this? I thought you hated me… after all, I've been a horrible mother this whole time…"

"Don't say that! Anyone else would've left a long time ago… you've done the best you could with what you had. And for that… I want to say thank you!" Kallen said, finally breaking down into tears.

After that eventful morning, Kallen was now walking through the halls of Ashford Academy with her book bag in hand, and her hair in the Stadtfeld style. Numerous students were off to the side, with girls talking about the latest gossip, while the boys talked about a new video game that was just released, however, this all evaded Kallen as only one thing was on her mind.

"Why did I do that?" she thought while arriving in front of her class, "I ended up being late because of how much I cried!"

"Ah, Kallen," the teacher called, interrupting her thoughts, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Um… yeah, I've been feeling better recently, and my doctor said it would be okay for me to attend school now."

"That's good. Your seat's the third from the last row, by the window."

After taking her seat, Kallen began to bury herself in her thoughts once again, "Did I do the right thing? I mean, now my mom won't be at the refrain warehouse, right? Hopefully that's the only major change now…" suddenly, someone sat in the chair next to her just as the bell rang, but she paid them no mind, "Well, it's not like I can do anything about it now." she began to dig through her school bag, pulling out a notebook, textbook, and a pencil case in the process, "Hopefully, history class isn't as painful as I remember…"

Despite the 2 years that passed, Kallen still held deep resentment for the old Britannia, and the next thirty minutes of class only reminded her of the scars they left on the Japanese people. Eventually, the teacher began to call on people to read aloud passages from their books, and Kallen barely stifled a yawn, however, the next name to be called caused her to freeze in place, "Lelouch, could you please read the passage about Washington's Rebellion?"

The seat next to the red head suddenly shifted, and the student stood up, causing her to slowly turn and face them, "Very well," the raven-haired boy said while picking up his textbook.

"Lelouch…" she thought while scanning his every inch of his face with eyes full of shock, his voice triggering many memories she had once forgotten. Her first instinct was to slap him, slap him for lying to her, slap him for pushing her away, slap him for…

Before she could finish that thought, she felt a tap on her left shoulder, causing her to look straight ahead at one of her old 'friends', "Hey, you've been staring at Lelouch for a while," she whispered, forcing a deep blush onto Kallen's face, matching the color of her hair.

She wasn't going to hear the end of this.

Lelouch on the other hand, finished reading his passage, and sat down, only to be met with a giggle from the blonde girl in front of him, and his seatmate slamming her head onto the table. Of course, the exiled Prince waved it off as some joke they told between each other, which wasn't exactly wrong, and minded his business.

It was now lunchtime, and Kallen was busy hanging out with her friends eating differing meals ranging from sandwiches to pizza. "What am I even supposed to do?" Kallen thought while eating her lunch, ignoring her friend's conversation, "I want to stop the Zero Requiem from happening, but how do I do that?"

"Kallen?" asked one of the girls, "Are you even listening?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something…" she responded in a gentle tone

Big mistake.

"I bet you're thinking about Lelouch, right?" called her blonde classmate from earlier

"No, it's not like that!" Kallen said, becoming defensive.

"Aw, you totally like him!"

"What happened?" asked a blue-haired friend

"She was staring at him in class, like, really hard!"

"No way!"

"Damn it! I hate these girls! They're always trying to find something to gossip about, even if it's at the expense of one of their friends." Kallen thought.

"So, what're you going to do?" asked the blonde, "Are you going to ask him out?"

This caused Kallen to blush profusely as she shook her head, "No way! I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"I barely know him!" she lied

"That's true… if you ask him out now, he'll say no in a heartbeat."

Kallen sighed in relief, "Wait, that brings up a good point. I have an advantage here; I know Lelouch, but he doesn't know me. If I can get close to him this year, then I'll be golden for next year! I'll have a head start. Though… there lies the problem: how do I get close to Lelouch?"

The bell for lunch suddenly rung, signaling for the girls to head to science class, except for Kallen, who had P.E now, "That's it! If I remember correctly, Lelouch usually sneaks away during P.E. I'll just have to keep an eye on him during this time!" Kallen thought while changing into her gym clothes, "Thankfully. I've already got an excuse not to participate in P.E, so this'll be easy."

Today, the teacher decided to have everyone run 2 miles, meaning they would have to run 8 whole laps around the track, giving Lelouch enough time to slip away, which he fully planned to do. After completing his second lap, the raven-haired boy noticed the teacher begin to flirt with a passing female teacher, signaling his chance to slip away, little did he know, he was being followed.

"Man… I need a better system for this…" Lelouch mutter while taking a seat underneath a tree. His spot seemed to be built for hiding, as the tree was next to one of the school's various fences that overlooked the settlement, there was also a bush that prevented anyone from seeing past the large tree trunk, meaning they'd have to be right on top of it to see anything.

The exiled Prince rested his back against the trunk, allowing for a cool breeze to flow over him, rustling the leaves above, allowing for the gentle sun to seep through. Peaceful was the only word that came to Lelouch's mind when describing the spot. Of course, that peace wouldn't last long, as a certain classmate soon walked through the bush.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone else knew about this spot," the red head said meekly

"That's odd, because I don't remember seeing you here before." Lelouch replied after taking a deep breath.

"Well… I rarely come to school to begin with. My name's Kallen Stadtfeld, by the way."

"No, I mean, I've never seen you in this exact spot before."

"Ah, well, I only come here during lunch sometimes. You know, when I don't really feel like hanging out with my friends," Kallen replied, quickly recovering. Lelouch wanted to continue, but decided against it since he was still tired from his short run, that's when the red head asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Instead of saying anything, Lelouch simply waved off the question, indicating for Kallen to do whatever. So she took a seat next to him, not too close to where their shoulders were touching, but close enough to where he knew of her presence.

The silence continued for another 10 minutes, "This isn't going to work, I need to say something," thought Kallen, "But what do I even say?"
Another 10 minutes passed, and the two were still sitting in comfortable silence, until Kallen decided with a direct approach, "It's a nice day today."

"Yeah," Lelouch responded dryly

"Good for a run."

"Mmh"

"Do you not like exercise?"

"I'm just not an exercise nut like some people are. What about you?"

"Okay, this is good, he's responding," thought the red head, "Well, my health's pretty poor, so I can't really participate in P.E"

"Really? People usually say what's wrong with them instead of just saying they have poor health"

"Ah-"

"What's your problem?" Lelouch pressed

"Well… I…"

"Don't have an illness? You don't have to lie. This whole time, you've been sitting up straight, unlike how you were slouching earlier."

"Damn, he noticed that…"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. It's none of my concern why you're faking it."

Kallen let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, I guess…"

"At least there was little progress," the red head thought while jotting down some notes, "Though, I would've liked it if he didn't figure out I was pretending to be sick." she then quickly glanced at Lelouch, but instantly snapped back to her paper, because the boy was staring out the window.

"What do you want?" he whispered

"Nothing. What're you thinking about?"

"It is a good day today, isn't it?" he responded.

It seemed like the rest of the day passed in an instant, with Kallen making no further progress in befriending the boy known as Lelouch, and she wasn't too happy with it. "Was it always so difficult talking to him?" she thought while entering the Stadtfeld manor.

"Welcome back, Kallen," Ms. Kozuki greeted, "How was school?"

"It was good, classes were a bit slow at times, but nothing too bad."

"That's nice. How about Naoto? I haven't heard from him in so long, do you know where he is now?"

"Naoto? But Naoto's…" before Kallen could finish that thought, she quickly pulled out her phone, and scrolled through her contacts until she landed on Naoto's, pressing the call button instantly.

It took a few rings, but her once dead brother finally picked up, "Hey Kallen, what's up?"