"Well, what did you want to talk about? Advice for handling Lelouch? Because my track record isn't exactly–"

Kallen Stadtfeld interrupted her otherworldly counterpart. No. That wasn't what she wanted to talk to her about. "Are you really satisfied by all this? It ending like this?"

The answer was slow to arrive, the slightly older redhead struggling to come to her answer. "It's an ending." The words came out like she was trying to convince herself. "Hell, not even an ending. The ending was a while ago for me. This is... Well, I guess I could call it an epilogue. Closure."

"And you're satisfied with that."

"As satisfied as I can be."

"Stop that," Stadtfeld demanded, growing frustrated. "You keep not answering my question and giving me some sappy wistful nonsense instead. Are you really me or aren't you?"

"I'm not you, we've been over this," Kozuki reminded her. "Just close."

"Doesn't sound like it to me! I had your memories of him. I know what you felt. The awe of Zero, the respect for Lelouch that eventually turned into love. I know..." The young woman hesitated, knowing first-hand what unpleasant memory she was about to draw on. After all, she remembered it like it was her own experience. She knew the pain of it. "I know when you were there watching him die, when you realised what he really did, you wished you could do it all again. Go with him and see out his ending together. You would've tried to convince him not to, but you would've followed him to hell. He wouldn't have even needed to ask."

"... Yeah," Kallen Kozuki admitted. "I would have."

"Did that change? I don't know who you were since then. Maybe you moved on with your life. Maybe you put those regrets aside, or maybe that's what you're doing right now."

Another long, reflective pause. Another answer that was slow to arrive. "I moved on with my life... It didn't help."

"Would you still follow him into hell?"

On more than one level, the question was not a metaphor. "You know what that would mean." What C had tried to do. It could have the same consequences. But even beyond that, there would be no taking it back. Kallen Kozuki's life as herself would end, becoming an extension of Kallen Stadtfeld. And Kallen Stadtfeld would have a permanent resident in her mind, or soul, or however the metaphysics of it would work. "There's no going back on this."

"I know what you felt, and..." Kallen Stadtfeld responded, her eyes becoming sad. "I guess it's my turn for the sappy nonsense. But I don't want that, those feelings, to just... Go nowhere. It's too sad." She grimaced, her expression like she bit into a lemon. "Fuck, I'm such a girl sometimes."

"I... If we do this, I won't just be a ghost in your head. If that's what you're expecting, you're wrong and we should just forget it."

"... I died," Kallen Stadtfeld admitted. Looking back for a second at the lounging dragon that blocked her view of her King. "If it weren't for him... I guess this body already belongs to him as much as me. At this point, I don't see the harm in a three-way agreement." Kallen Kozuki's face lit up in a blush, creating a wash of indignation to come over the Welsh version. "Oi, me first!"

"Wha–! Whaddya mean 'you first'?! Do you even want to?!"

It was Stadtfeld's turn to blush, not having meant to blurt that out. "Never you mind. My first time, I mean, my body's first time I'm gonna be in the driver's seat! Besides, if you were looking to take his virginity you missed the boat on that one. Got a Russian princess warming his bed." The younger redhead shrugged. "Nice girl. Bit of a prankster."

That knowledge gave Kallen Kozuki pause. Having seen most of his interactions with women in his first life. "I'm not surprised there are other women in his life, but I gotta admit, it's a shock to hear he actually..."

"Yeah," Stadtfeld agreed, having seen most of those times as well. "It's a devil thing, so I hear. More following base urges and all that."

"So much to catch up on."

"You'll have time."

The once ace of the Black Knights didn't argue. That itself was enough of an agreement in her eyes. "So... How do we do this?" A familiar hum interrupted her. "Oh. Hold on... Really?"

"What?"

"Just... Follow my lead."

The two Kallens moved toward each other, one hesitant, the other clearly just going through the motions. Chest to chest, they found each other's hands and held them, fingers interlocked.

"This is weird."

"Shut up, it's symbolism or some crap, I don't know," Kallen Kozuki griped. "This is just, how they said to do it. Make a connection, like..." She rested her forehead against her counterpart's. "Something like this? What about the... You know... The whole becoming one person thing? I still want to be me and I'm pretty sure you want to be you." Another hum from the entirety of the human consciousness observing them. "They don't know. Figures."

"... Magic," Kallen Stadtfeld said suddenly. This close, it was impossible to misread the disbelief on Kozuki's face. "No, seriously. Magic. Devil magic is all about belief and imagination or some bollocks. So... If we both acknowledge we're not the same person, we can coexist in me as different people."

"Feel like we're putting a lot on faith, here."

"Well... Even if he wants me to stop doing reckless things, I've never been the type to back down," the Welsh girl said with a smirk. "Have you?"

"Only for him," replied her Japanese counterpart.

The red light that had moved, followed the pilot of the Guren the entire time, suddenly extended to wrap around the two of them, then dissipated.

-(-)-

A whole world away, a young woman passed away, seemingly in her sleep. Mourned by many. Friends, comrades, family, a grateful nation, a free Japan.

It had been a shock. An outpouring of grief. But those who knew her could take some solace that though she was gone, she passed peacefully. With a wide smile on her face the likes of which they hadn't seen her wear in a long time.

-(-)-

Lelouch ran a hand down his face, looking at the twin Kallens, both utterly unrepentant at what they had just done. The symbolism wasn't lost on him. The light that indicated Kallen's attachment to the World of C was gone. Which meant.. She was really there. To stay.

He felt... Worry. So much worry. Everything he had told his Queen before they dove into the world of dreams, it remained true. The two might remain separate, or one might consume the other, or they might meld together into an amalgam like what was done to create Mash, or...

Or... Or... Or... So many undesirable scenarios rattled around his head. This was something he couldn't fathom. A lack of knowledge or understanding leaving this a situation for which he couldn't predict the outcome.

But...

He walked forward, past the dragon, toward the two near-identical women.

"Look, I know, it's risky," his Queen began to argue before he even said a word. "But this is what we both wanted and we know the risks. If we keep ourselves conscious of being separate and I enforce it with magic, I figured..."

She trailed off as Lelouch didn't stop moving, but turned slightly to approach his Q1 specifically. He didn't stop as he moved into her personal space. His arms coming around her to wrap her in a hug.

"Lelouch...?"

"I'm so glad," he admitted through the fear. "I'm so glad I don't have to say goodbye." Pulling back, he looked down at her, still in his arms.

She smiled up at him, a little wetness in her eyes as she leaned up, her lost love leaning down to let their lips meet. The kiss was chaste, tentative and uncertain. But no less honest for it. "Aha, that's, more honest than I expected!"

"I'm trying to be more honest when it matters."

"Pfft." The Queen's scoff was heard and acknowledged. Lelouch releasing his Q1 to take her into his arms instead. "Uhh?"

"You're an idiot who takes stupid risks, hoping things will all work out. You're going to drive me insane worrying about what crazy idea you'll have next that you won't tell me about."

"Well, fuck you too–!"

"Thank you," he continued, squeezing her tighter. "Whether you did this for her, for me or both. Thank you."

"... Oh. Well," she murmured with a blush, "You're welcome."

He let her go, stepped back. Looked between them. "... I have an idea. You might not like it. But it's better than something someone figured might work hopefully probably maybe."

"This oughta be good," Kallen Kozuki said with a hand on her hip.

"Geass."

Kozuki blinked, thought it through for a half second. "Okay."

"Wait, hold on!" Stadtfeld spoke up. "That's that... Mind control thing, right?"

"I can give one person, or one mind I suppose, one order that they have no choice but to obey. After that, it can never be used on the same mind again, barring special circumstances."

"Wait, if you can do that, why didn't you use it on Hyyyy- sleep god? Or Zekram?"

"Because mind control is a known quantity for more or less anyone aware of the supernatural," Lelouch explained. "Anyone of sufficient power and influence will have defenses against it and I have no idea whether it will be ineffective on someone sufficiently powerful. And if it's ineffective, discovering that weakness might be the last thing I ever do."

"Huh, smart," Ddraig intruded on the conversation. "I have no idea whether something like that would work either. On a sleep god? I'd bet on him over you."

"So you want to mind control us?" Stadtfeld asked with understandable disquiet.

"Ddraig can ensure I don't do anything untoward. A simple order to keep your minds separate. And then I'll never be able to use it on either of you."

"I trust you," Q1 answered immediately.

"Oh, of course you trust him," his Queen sighed. "Oi, big red gecko! If he does something funny, eat him!"

"Oh yeah, I'll get right on that."

Covering his left eye, Lelouch stepped back to make sure both Kallens were in his field of view. "Kallen Kozuki, Kallen Stadtfeld, Lelouch Bael commands you, keep your minds distinct from one another!"

The two young women stiffened slightly, their eyes wide, allowing Lelouch to see the Geass take hold of their minds. Then within the same breath, they relaxed. In hindsight, he was surprised it worked on Kallen Kozuki. He couldn't remember whether the command he gave her had ever been cancelled but he was fairly sure it hadn't. Was it a facet of detaching her consciousness from her body that allowed it to work a second time? He had no idea.

"Did it work?" Stadtfeld asked. "Ddraig?"

"He didn't do anything weird. Keep your minds apart, just as he said. Well, distinct from one another, if you want it word for word."

Lelouch nodded. "I've never had a problem with misinterpreted orders, but I thought I should try to be specific."

-(-)-

Lelouch awoke on the floor of Kallen's bedroom. He sat up quickly, glad for a devil's constitution that he didn't feel any discomfort for the poor sleeping surface. "Kallen?"

"Yeah?"

As he looked over, he saw his Queen rising from her own bed, putting her feet on the floor. "... Which one?"

"Which one d'you think?" she asked in her Welsh accent. Stadtfeld then. "She's still in here, chattering about how weird it is being in here but not in control."

She blinked, then smiled. "And now I'm in control," Kallen Kozuki continued, testing out the feel of her body as she got to her feet, jumping in place and shaking out her arms. "Really is almost the same, but that just makes the differences all the weirder."

"This is going to get confusing quickly," Lelouch muttered.

"Yeah," she agreed, pulling him to his feet. "But it's worth it, right?" she asked as she leaned in for a kiss– "NOPE!" And then shoved him back a step.

"Mm-hm, confusing," the Bael nodded. "Right on the money."

"She can do all that stuff when I say so!" Kallen Stadtfeld declared. "And I don't say so yet!" She stared at her King. "I have something important I need to ask you. Are you hiding anything else from me? Any more secrets you say I don't need to know but I bloody well do?"

"Of anyone, Ana knew the most, and you definitely know more now."

"That's not an answer."

He frowned. A habit. He was used to dodging questions. "... No," he answered after thinking about it for a moment. "As far as I'm aware, you already saw everything. And I don't have anything else I'm particularly keeping secret from you."

"Good." With a firm nod, she grabbed him by the collar of his cape, pulled him close and kissed him fiercely before throwing him on her bed.

"Not that I'm complaining, but–"

As Lelouch tried to rise, his Queen immediately pushed him back down, taking off the sweater she had worn on the visit to see her family and unbuttoning her pants. "I've been told so many bloody times that we're gonna end up fucking. Your mum even asked how our sex life is. Well you know what? Yeah, alright." Dropping her pants, she joined him on the bed, swinging one leg over his body to straddle him as she shuffled down his pants. Unlaced his cape and got to work on his shirt. "I thought you were alright. Smart, charming in a cocky sort of way, maybe a bit pretty for my taste. But I always knew you were lying to me. You were keeping secrets. You weren't shy about it, but I couldn't stand it. And then I found them out."

She pulled his shirt open, pulled him up by his collar for the sole purpose of pulling it off of him to leave his chest bare. Kissed him again as she unfastened her bra. "It wasn't a good way to learn it. Risks or not. Those memories weren't mine to take. But..." She tossed away her bra, pinned her King to the bed again by his shoulders. Her magenta locks hanging about her face as she stared down at him. "I got those memories. I saw what she saw and I saw you how she saw you. Those feelings aren't mine, but I understand why she felt them. You... You're such a prick. Such a self-important, self-righteous, condescending prick."

"I'm working on that."

"Shut up," she ordered, bringing herself down to kiss him again.. Her hands adjusting her panties and his boxers, bringing their most intimate parts into direct, exhilarating contact. His cock sliding against her virgin folds as they began to moisten. "I know why she loves you. I don't think I do. But it's like I can see the road I'd walk down and just how easy it'd be to walk." Her hips rolled, stroking his erection with her womanhood. "I've always had this problem," she admitted with a smirk. "Seeing the danger and running toward it anyway."

Lelouch watched as she raised herself up, not knowing what to say or even if he should say anything. Normally he would, but it was clear Kallen wanted to be in control for this.

"Suppose I already gave up my body for you earlier," she noted with laughter in her voice. "This is nothing." Her hips lowered, the petals of her core spreading to accept him within. "Nn!" Lip trapped between her teeth she sank inch by frictious inch, taking more of him inside her to impale herself upon him.

His hand rose to cup her cheek, breaking her concentration on the sensations of taking him inside her. Once again her eyes focused on him, and as he gently coaxed her, she allowed herself to lower again to kiss him as their hips began to move together. King and Queen, their bodies meeting in a rhythmic writhe as they kissed once again. The redhead gradually growing used to the shape, the size and the heat of the intrusion into her most intimate place. All while their tongues duelled.

"Ah," Kallen gasped as she broke the kiss, rising once again to sit on her knees. Her thighs rising as she began to bounce on his cock, wet slaps sounding from where their bodies were joined.

"You're quieter than I thought you'd be," Lelouch noted, his hands roaming her body as she moved. Doing his best to meet the movements of her hips.

"Imagined this did you?" she asked with a grin through her panting. "Maybe I'm distracted by your sweetheart Q1 going 'Lalala I'm not listening' in my head."

They continued, Kallen Stadtfeld enjoying her first experience, particularly for her King letting her stay in control throughout. Getting used to the sensations, deciding what she liked and what she didn't. Maybe she would let him take the reins next time. But for this time, she got her enjoyment out of it, feeling the oncoming rush of her climax, more intense and visceral than her self-pleasure sessions. And only a moment later, she felt her King twitch inside her, watched his face contort as he experienced his own release inside her. Her eyes widened in panic, only to remember that devil fertility was basically nothing. No need for condoms. Bonus.

With a light sheen of sweat coating her body, Kallen Stadtfeld let herself fall forward to rest on her King's body, letting his cock slip out from inside her. "Not bad," she murmured.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I didn't contribute much. But there's always next time."

"Lelouch?" His name, said very differently. Softer. Less certain. "Can next time be now?"

"Kallen?"

She smiled down at him. "She said it's my turn."

Lelouch held her tighter, sought out her lips to kiss her again. And so began their reunion as he rolled her over. Seeing her smile up at him. He knew what she wanted. How she would want it. The two Kallens, they were similar, not the same. And he knew them differently. Kallen Stadtfeld was fierce and confrontational woman who liked to be in control. Kallen Kozuki... He knew her. She was most of that too. But control... That was something she had willingly sacrificed to him. She gave up her everything, declared her loyalty no matter what. And it wasn't just in war, in command, in service. She... Kallen Kozuki was a romantic at heart.

She had put herself out there, perhaps more than anyone else had. After several attempts, she finally managed to give up her life for him. She loved him. And the one thing she wanted was for him to show her that he could feel the same for her.

Like she had said before, the differences from the Kallen Kozuki he knew were tiny, but he couldn't help but notice them. And yet, this was his Kallen in every way that mattered. And after everything they had gone through together, after all the events that led them right to this moment, he would give her what she always wanted.

Tenderly, he kissed her, his thumb brushing her cheek. Hearing her heartbeat quicken again. Thanking his devil physiology, he lined himself up and slowly entered her.

"Ahh!" She gasped into his mouth, "Lelouch! You're–! I can feel it!"

He didn't answer, instead his head tilted to kiss at her neck as he began to move inside her. She took him easily, his manhood sliding inside her to penetrate her deeply in a single thrust.

"Ah! Lelouch!"

Another difference, Lelouch noted. One was quiet. The other very vocal. Desperate to let him know how good it felt. Maybe that was more appealing, or maybe he just liked being on top more. But when she let out such cute moans, he wanted to work hard to hear as many as enthusiastic as possible.

And so he worked hard, his hips pumping as he deflowered the same body for the second time. Using every trick he had learned from his limited experience to satisfy the woman beneath him. Her breasts jostling from the force of it. He looked forward to the future, when it wouldn't be quite so momentous. So that he could enjoy her body more completely. But here and now, it wasn't about gratification. It was about proving he understood her feelings, that he would meet and match them with his own. And so while she moaned, whimpered and clenched beneath him, he told her with his eyes. With his lips yet without words. There was nothing holding them back anymore. He could show her everything he felt for her. The gratitude. The desire. The love.

And once again he spilled inside Kallen, this time right as her core quivered and clenched with her own climax.

"Lelouch!" she squealed, silenced by his kiss as they reached ecstasy together. "Ah... Haha...!" she laughed as their lips parted. "It was different than I imagined. "I love you, Lelouch."

"I love you too." It felt strange to finally admit it. He had experienced love several times. So often ending in missed chances, or in tragedy. Kallen was the only one he felt he saved from a terrible end for loving him. And yet here they were regardless.

It wasn't ideal. But he would take what he could get.

"She said she's giving me the night," Kallen said with a pleased flush to her cheeks. "Will you stay the night with me?"

"Of course."

The reunited pair fell asleep in each other's arms. Content.

The next morning, Kallen woke in discomfort. Like something was pulling on her in a way she couldn't describe. Not painful but... Disconcerting.

"Hey, wicked! It worked!" she heard her own voice say from elsewhere.

Searching the room with bleary eyes, she frowned as she saw a shape. A very familiar figure of a naked woman. After all, she could see another of it just by looking down at herself. "Kallen? How the hell...?"

"Like I said! Magic and shit! Belief and imagination! Now I'm a ghooooost! Spooky, innit?" Kallen Stadtfeld asked, looking overly pleased with herself.

"Not even a single night without doing something insane," the male voice in the room noted with a grumble. Lelouch rising from the bed to examine the ghostly Kallen. His eyebrows rose as he looked her over head to toe. "Wow." He reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder, only for it to pass through. "Damn."

"You were thinking threesome, weren't you?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"Lelouch!" Kallen Kozuki exclaimed in a scolding tone.

"Devil," he reminded her. "If I have a vanilla sex life that makes me strange. Just something you'll need to get used to I'm afraid."

"Right, and you're not just saying that so you can sleep with every woman around."

"That's right. That's just an additional benefit."

"... Pfft," she couldn't maintain a straight face any longer. "Lelouch vi Britannia, suddenly the playboy everybody thought he was. There's a lot of things I'll need to get used to. Oh, like your name. It's... Bael now, right?"

"That's right," he confirmed as the ghost Kallen vanished.

"Oh," the flesh and blood one jumped. "Sorry, guess my time's up. She wants the driver seat." And with a heavy, lingering blink, the two minds switched places. "Lelouch," Kallen Stadtfeld spoke. "Can I ask a favour?"

Hours later, in a comfortably large house in Aberystwyth, a young man joined a young woman for a visit to her family. The second in consecutive days. There to do something she realised she should have done the first time.

"Mum, Dad, Naoto," she said before taking a deep breath. "There's something I need to tell you. About what happened when I was on deployment. It didn't quite go how everyone reported it. I'm fine now but... I died."

Her mother stared blankly, before bursting into confused laughter. "You died? You mean like, they had to restart your heart or something like that?"

"No. I mean I died. And I was brought back to life." Suddenly, a small pair of wings burst out from her back, the same happening to the young man sitting beside her.. "As a devil."

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"

"Ow."

-(-)-

"I'll need to redecorate this room," Sona mused aloud as she looked around the student council office. A room that looked very much like a student council office, complete with very ordinary desks and filing cabinets.

"Sona Sitri, student council president in her first year," Lelouch thought aloud. "It would be impressive, were it not for the hypnotic cheating and all."

"It's hardly cheating," the devil heiress scoffed as she marked something down on her clipboard. "This isn't about winning some silly student election. I need to have a position like this so I can sell making changes to the school without it seeming too outlandish. That way I can practice for when I–"

"Sona," he lay a hand on her shoulder, smiling down at her. "I know."

"... Right," she looked away, blushing. "You knew that. You were just... What were you doing?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Were you trying to be funny? Because you weren't."

"Sorry." It seemed the safest option to just apologise. After all, "You seem nervous."

"Don't be absurd. What do I have to be nervous about?" Sona asked, nervously flipping through pages of notes on her to-do list. Every single item considered absolutely vital because it was Sona and she could be something of a perfectionist. "I'm just... Leaving the underworld for the first time, away from my family after making very clear that I don't want any help. It isn't like it only hit me today that I will succeed or fail entirely on my own merits and failure would mean my chosen ambition would be a doomed endeavour from the start!"

"... Right. Not nervous at all."

"Of course not. Why would you ask such a thing?"

Lelouch plucked the clipboard from her hand, pulling her into a hug with his other arm. "Sona, you'll do fine. You're intelligent, you're capable and you're dedicated. I know you'll work hard to make this a success. And even if it isn't, it's not the end of the world. We're still young, right? You'll have plenty of opportunities to try again. This is just the first step."

"Right... Right," she nodded into his chest. "Of course. Not that I was nervous or anything of the sort." She smiled up at him. "I'm glad you'll be here with me."

"It's going to be strange having you boss me around," he thought aloud, smiling back at her. "Oh, by the way? The all-powerful student council thing? You know that's just a thing in Rias' anime, right? That doesn't actually happen." The words came out before he remembered his own experience of that actually happening. "I mean, unless the student council president is the daughter of the school's owner or something."

Sona blinked. Pulled out of the hug and snatched the clipboard out of his hand, adding another note. "Thank you, I'll ask Father to file the paperwork tomorrow."

Well. So long as she felt more at ease.

-(-)-

A/N: This chapter seen very early by my generous supporters on THE GREAT FORBIDDEN P! FEAR THE P! LOVE THE P!