"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Year Two

Suzaku (1 Month in)

Suzaku couldn't help but smile as he looked at his new wife, Euphemia kissing him softly. Both of them dressed is formal kimonos, he couldn't help but smile, his cheeks red as he held her close. Her pink hair complimented her pink kimono, white flowers adorning it. His was a plain dark blue, and it had been a long time since he had worn anything formal like this.

Euphemia had convinced him a month ago to marry him in a traditional Japanese ceremony. Britannia had tried to stamp out much of the local culture, but many small shrines had escaped or been below their notice. One was conveniently outside the Tokyo Settlement, and she had excitedly brought him out there in disguise.

And faster than he had expected, it had all been setup, and now he was married to the woman he loved. He still had butterflies in his stomach as she smiled at him and held him close. His mind was still a jumble, but he wanted to bask in this all day. Reality was going to hit them, and he knew that the empire would never acknowledge their marriage, but to him that didn't matter at the moment.

Kallen and Lelouch joined them in drinking sake, both of them smiling at the married pair. Lelouch looked at him, chuckling, "You know when you said Euphemia proposed, I thought you were joking."

Euphemia pouted and shoved her half-brother, "Why would I ever joke about this? I love Suzaku!" She wobbled a bit, and Suzaku realized she might have been a bit tipsy at the moment.

Suzaku kissed her softly, which Euphie squealed at and pulled him in deeper, Suzaku closing his eyes as he couldn't stop himself. Her lips were so soft, and she tasted so sweet. He had no idea why he was so reserved when he realized she wanted him, but he wanted to smack his past self for taking so long.

A cough was heard as Kallen spoke out, "I know this is your wedding and all, but you can save that for the bedroom." Suzaku and Euphemia reluctantly broke their kiss, and Euphemia blew a raspberry at the other couple.

"Why don't you two get a room?"

Kallen just smirked, "Lelouch and I were planning on it when we got back. We got a new set of handcuffs-" Kallen let out a grunt as Lelouch poked her side, causing her to glare at him lightly. But that turned back to a smirk as Euphemia went bright red.

Lelouch laughed, "Kallen, you know that's not proper to do in front of a princess. Look how red she is." Euphemia just buried her face into Suzaku's chest, which he just chuckled at and held her close, kissing the top of her head as she mumbled into his chest.

Suzaku squeezed her ass lightly, which she squeaked at, looking up at him, "You are being mean, you bully." Her face was still red, and he couldn't help but blush himself. He had rarely seen her get drunk, but she had shown herself to be unable to handle herself.

Suzaku just hummed as his heated face only grew more red as he looked at her cleavage. Trying to distract herself, only barely seeing Euphemia's smirked when she saw where his eyes went. She stood on her toes and whispered in his ears, "I bet you want to have all sorts of fun after this, don't you?" Her heated tone only caused him have to fight his growing desires.

Lelouch rolled his eyes, and looked at his sister, "Can you two save that for later? You can have him all night." Euphemia held onto Suzaku possessively, and Lelouch smiled, "I'm happy for both of you. I never expected my best friend to marry my sister, but I won't complain too much." He then chuckled, "Though Suzaku was the second choice."

Euphemia blanched, and Suzaku looked at him in confusion, "Second choice?" He knew his friend knew a lot, especially about his family, but he didn't expect that. He looked at Euphemia, who he could tell was just about to explain.

The princess looked around wildly, glaring at Lelouch, before looking up at the eyes of her new husband, "Don't take him seriously. He just wants to be mean." She pouted, Suzaku giving her expectant eyes, which forced her to speak, "When I was a little girl, Nunnally and I argued which one of us was going to marry Lelouch. But I'm over that and I love you."

Suzaku glared lightly, Euphemia shaking a bit, before he laughed and she looked at him with wide eyes, before glaring herself, "Why are you being so teasing?" She tried to turn away from him, but he pulled her close, keeping her close.

"You know I love you." Suzaku didn't notice Lelouch and Kallen fake vomiting off to the side, but his eyes were only on the princess. He was about to pull her in for another kiss, when the sound of car breaking and footsteps walking up the stairs echoed through the air. Everyone's face turned, and noticed Cornelia walking up the stairs.

Euphemia's expression filled with joy, but Suzaku turned to see Lelouch's face was white, and Kallen was trying to control herself. 'Right. Cornelia said she wasn't coming to this event, so why would he expect this?' And when he turned back to look at the viceroy, he eyes were glued to his old friend, and he realized that this was just going to get more complex.

Cornelia

The imperial princess had come to this wedding to give her begrudging blessings to her sister, despite her dislike of her sister marrying an eleven. 'There is no point fighting her over this, even if this would never be acknowledged.' Her father had shown no interest in setting up her sister with a marriage, leaving that on Cornelia's shoulders. 'But I would never force her to marry, to leave her lonely.'

Suzaku had shown himself to follow orders and act like a knight, so her doubts had faded a bit as Cornelia mentally prepared herself to see her sister with an eleven. But any thoughts of that were blown away as she looked at her half-brother that had disappeared and been reported dead during the invasion of Japan. 'Lelouch.'

Her lips trembled and tears threatened to spill as she walked towards the group, her entire focus on Lelouch. She took deep breaths and only stopped when she stood in front of the young man, the redhead next to him taking a step back, though it was clear her posture was defensive.

But she didn't care at all, wrapping her arms around Lelouch, who didn't return the hug, tensing up. Tears slipped down her face, and she could barely keep from weeping, "Lelouch. You're alive!"

Her brother took a breath and he looked at her, nodding, "Yes."

Cornelia swallowed heavily, her voice a bit shaky, "Why didn't you come home? Why didn't you tell me after I came here? I wanted to…" Her voice trailed off, not wanting to say part of her motivation for her actions on her regrets.

She took a breath, and let go of him, Lelouch's voice low as he spoke, "Why would I come back when our father used my sister and I to justify his war? The man who abandoned us when our mother died, your hero?" He scowled, "I would rather have scraped by here than go crawling back to that man."

Cornelia looked down at the ground, her past regrets coming bubbling back up. Marianne, her hero, had died under her watch, and she did nothing to help. Nothing to stop it. She didn't know what to say, but when she looked up, Lelouch's eyes had softened a bit, a breath leaving him, "Nelly, I don't blame you for that. Or for what our father did."

More tears flowed at hearing that old nickname, and she sniffled, "I'm just relieved you are alive. But Euphemia and I are here to protect you. I can make sure you would be safe. How long has Euphie known? How did you survive? And where is Nunnally?"

Euphemia stepped up, her voice slurring a bit, "I found him and her at a local festival by accident. He hadn't intended to find me or I him. But we have been meeting in secret since then. He didn't want to worry you, or bring up any old feelings." The warrior princess saw a look pass between the two, but she couldn't read what it meant.

Lelouch nodded at Euphemia's answers, and continued, "She is correct on that, and I survived thanks to Suzaku. He helped me take care of her after we survived a bombing." Lelouch clenched his fist, "And she was taken by someone during the attack on the palace a year ago. I failed her." While her mind was focused on her sibling, she glanced over at Suzaku, a new respect blooming in her chest. 'He protected Lelouch despite being the son of the former prime minister? Maybe he isn't the worst for Euphemia.'

Cornelia looked at her younger brother with concern, and she took a breath to contain some of the raw emotion flowing through her, "She was kidnapped? By who?"

"I think it was father. I don't know how he knew, but one of his agents must have been sent." Cornelia bit her lip, concerned that the emperor was acting without even her knowledge. 'I'm not surprised, but why wouldn't he tell me?'

She nodded at that, and smiled, "I'll try to find her. You have my word." She could see a smile come to Lelouch's face, which cheered her up. Anger still flowed through her, but hearing Nunnally got kidnapped made her realize Lelouch hiding himself made sense, even if it hurt her.

She looked to her sister, her real intentions coming back into her mind. She pulled her sister into a hug, "Congratulations. You look beautiful." Her words weren't truly happy, but just seeing her sister beam at them warmed her heart.

Tears began to stream down Euphemia's face, and she just nodded, "I didn't think you would come."

"Guilford convinced me to see you. Despite our recent disagreements, you are becoming a willful young woman. And your choices are yours." She looked over at Suzaku, "You take care of her, or you will learn what it means to truly make me angry."

Suzaku just nodded, sweat rolling down his neck, "Understood." Cornelia couldn't help but smirk, and letting go of her sister, she turned to look at Kallen, whose arm was around Lelouch's. There was something familiar about her, the red hair very similar to Zero's bodyguard, but it was down, not spiky like that woman's.

"And who are you?"

Kallen just curtsied and looked at the princess, "Kallen Stadtfeld. Heir to Richard Stadtfeld." Her blue eyes looked up at the princess, Cornelia examining her, looking her up and down before responding. Lelouch's arm was tight and the way he held her defensively told her more than he suspected.

"So it appears you know his identity, and he cares for you. It's good he found a good Britannia woman. Just keep him safe." Kallen just smiled, and nodded.

"I'll try my best."

Cornelia was about to turn around and leave when her sister hugged her waist, her breath definitely smelling like alcohol. She wanted to be annoyed at that, but her sister was an adult now. Euphemia's smile was infectious as she begged her sister drunkenly, "Noo! Nelly, you need to stay and celebrate!"

Cornelia rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist, "Fine, but it's only because I want to make sure you are safe." But it wouldn't be the worst idea. 'I can get to know my brother's girlfriend, as well as learn more what happened to him. And I will try to find Nunnally when I get back to the homeland.'

Euphemia (3 months)

Euphemia sat in the main throne room of the Palace in the Tokyo Settlement. Currently some lower level bureaucrat was giving a speech about how they would miss her sister, and normally Euphemia would be sad at this, but she for one had months to come to terms with this, along with another thought occupying her mind. All of the other figures around her almost seemed to disappear as she fell into her thoughts.

It had been a month ago, and she, Zero and Jerimiah had been hammering out some policy, along with giving Jerimiah some more info he would need when he took over as the main administrator of the SAZ once she had to rise to the position of viceroy. Euphemia had been watching for the last couple minutes, the two men hammering out terms for the police work.

But something had been nagging her as they seemed friendly, almost too friendly. There was no arguing, no issues, just a well-oiled machine as they talked shop. It wasn't the first time she had seen this, but something in her had stirred, and she had barely responded in time when they started asking her for her knowledge.

And she had to mentally beat herself up after that meeting, not having gone too in depth looking up Jerimiah's file, despite working for her for over a year. Calling upon her limited contacts from the homeland, she had studied the man in depth, starting with his initial service in the Britannian army.

It all was standard, until she read that he served Empress Marianne, and had taken it hard after her death. 'Both he and my sister seems to be more affected by the empress's death more than they like to say.' He had become a purist a few years after her assassination, and had seemed to go crazy during the Black Knight Rebellion, but despite being behind the large machine during the attack against the palace, he had quickly become sane.

'And that was after some of the guards had mentioned they lost their memories for a few hours and the cameras had been shut off.' Her brother must have visited him, the experience of not remembering Lelouch ordering her to do something with his powers coming back to her mind. If Lelouch was the son of the woman Jerimiah gave his loyalty to, than he might even be aware of his identity.

'But for all I know Lelouch is just controlling him through this Geass power. He is smart enough to implant long term commands.' Nothing had come out of it, and Jerimiah had done his genuine best to help the SAZ, but even the doubt that her brother was controlling someone bothered her more than she could say. 'Who's to say what he could do later.'

She was broken from her revery by a slight tap on her shoulder by Suzaku, who nodded at her, mouthing silently, 'It's your turn.' She smiled at her husband and stood up, walking gracefully past her sister, who had just finished her part of the ceremony. Clearing her throat away from the mic, she spoke, a hint of nervousness still filling her voice. The crowd was filled with nobles, the media, and even representatives from the Black Knights and other influential Japanese. Zero wasn't here, but did take note that Diethard was there.

"I too will miss my sister. But the homeland has a greater need than us for her. But I promise to maintain the hard fought peace that my sister and I ensured would be created." She scanned over the crowd, looking at a mix of doubt, hunger and nods of agreement. Confidence began to fill her tone.

"I know I took a risk creating the Special Administration Zone, and I know my move was disliked by many of you but with greater harmony among the natives of this country, and our administration, we can make this place an example of how unity can create a more prosperous and wealthy, as well as peaceful, land." She could almost see the disdain about unity, but she refused to sacrifice her idealism to pander to the selfish nobles of the empire. 'Something I have to keep an eye on.'

"I ask for your support, all of you, and I hope we all can come together to create a new Area 11, to continue to the prosperity of the Britannian empire and the Royal family!" She gave the crowd a confident smile, and clapping began as camera's flashed, and video cameras rolled. 'The courts are going to go over my words over and over. But I will prove I'm not just some shallow princess! I want to make things better!'

One of the aides came to her side, and nodded at her, speaking on the mic, "All invited persons will head to the correspondence room, for a Q&A. Everyone else can head to the reception, where food and drink will be available." The crowd began to disperse, and Cornelia began the planned route to the Q&A session, looking at her sister proudly.

"Short but sweet. Good choice." The older woman smiled, and squeezed her sisters shoulder, "Don't let these corrupt sharks surround you and bite at you. I will not be here to be your shield."

Euphemia nodded and smiled at her sister, "Thank you. I will do my best." Pure affection filled her sister's eyes for a second, before going back to how they were before. They had already done their private goodbye, but she could feel a small hole growing in her heart, knowing her sister would be gone in a few days. 'Than it's just me.'

Kallen (6 Months in)

Kallen sat in the parlor of her father's house, her eyes meeting her father's, which were the same as hers, as she crossed her arms, whose lips were pursed as he couldn't maintain any façade of being angry or frustrated. The man was well build, his red hair a shade brighter than hers. His face was classically handsome, though clearly age was taking an effect. He wore the outfit of a nobleman, but was surprising disheveled as he took a deep breath, looking at her, "Kallen, I'm sorry I had to call you like this, but I think we need to talk about things."

Guilt hung in the air as Kallen didn't break her stare, raising an eyebrow as she tapped her foot, "So, after being away for so long, leaving me with your bitch of a wife, you finally show up. So what is it this time?"

Richard frowned, and Kallen waited for several seconds for her father to speak, but when nothing came, Kallen continued, "So I found out my mother stayed here to take care of me, not for you. When were you going to tell me?"

Richard took a deep breath, "I was aware of why your mother was here. I knew the whole time. But I suspect that you won't accept any excuses for that. But you have to believe me when I say your mother told me not to tell you."

Kallen wanted to say no, but she frowned. 'She would tell him that, would she?' She placed her hands on her thighs, taking a breath as groaned, "For once, I think we are on the same page, at least when it comes to that. But that still doesn't excuse why you weren't there for my brother and me."

Richard swallowed heavily, "I felt I had to use my minor position in court to keep you safe. I couldn't have it known you were half-Japanese, or you would have been treated worse, or even lost your status as my heir. Marrying my current wife was the cost of that."

"Good excuse, but doesn't explain how you treated us. How she treated us." Kallen looked at him, a hint of doubt filling her, but she still looked at him, her eyes still hard, "She treated me and mom like garbage, and you did nothing to help." Her eyes softened a bit, "Did you love mom?"

The rebel noticed a sad smile come to her father's face, a tear running down his cheek, "Of course. Being with her were the best years of my life. It hurt a lot when the invasion happened and we separated, forced apart by the new status of Japan. I lost my love and my children, till I adopted you two as my heirs."

Kallen pursed her lips as raw emotion leaked off her father. All of his neglect still sat in her mind, and simple words wouldn't make up that. But it did cover some of her questions a bit. But now her expression tightened as another thought rose in her mind, "Why did mom tell you not to tell me? Tell us?"

"Sayla was always a stubborn woman. She didn't want you to worry about her, to want to push her away if you knew when you were younger. She was afraid you would attack my wife." He leaned forward and caressed Kallen's cheek, Kallen barely resisting pulling away from him, "You are just like her. So stubborn and brave. I only wished I had done something. But I know just like her, you'll do what your heart tells you to do. Just like your brother did."

Kallen blushed, not expecting her father to show such affection. She pulled away from his hand, lashing out verbally, "You think I will accept you fully? After some honesty and some fatherly affection? After you pushed away Naoto when he acted up and you didn't defend him?" She crossed her arms, hiding herself behind a hard shell. Tears began to flow, "I wanted you to be a father, to push me on the swings or patch me up after I got hurt. But instead I got a man who pushed both his children away and did nothing to stop our mistreatment."

Richard began to speak, but she cut him off, tears still streaming down her face, "But the worst part is, I can't even hate you. I want to be more angry, but now I understand why you did what you did. At least partially." Her father just nodded and Kallen wiped away her tears.

Richard stood up, and with a shaky voice, looked her deep in the eyes, "Can I hug you?" Kallen didn't say anything, but stood up and let him wrap his arms around her. She pressed her head against his chest, and she wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes. Her father's voice was low, "I lost my son years ago, and I don't want to lose you. I can't promise you I will never make a mistake, but I promise to try. To be better."

Kallen just nodded and let herself be held for a few minutes. She hadn't felt this warm since Lelouch said he loved her, and only reluctantly left his embrace. She took a deep breath, getting a hold of herself, "If you try to find me a husband, I'll never come back."

Richard chuckled, "I wasn't planning on it. I heard through the grapevine you had a boyfriend. All I ask is that I want to meet him. Invite him over for dinner next week."

Kallen nodded, and Richard just smiled, "Anything else you think I should do?"

"I want you and mom to talk. I don't want you to hurt her, but I think she needs to know you still love her."

He let out a harsh breath, "I…It's just so…I'll try my best. We just have a lot of history to unpack." He ran a hand through his hair, and Kallen just glared, her eyes less harsh than they were before. Her father was about to speak, when one of the other maids came into the room, a phone in hand.

"You have a call from the Viceroy." He looked at Kallen, who just nodded and he grabbed the phone, starting to move out of the room. Kallen just smiled as she watched her father leave. 'This won't be easy, but I admit it's nice to have my father and mother on better terms. Though I wonder how he'll take the news when I say I want to move out after I graduate.'

Lelouch (10 Months in)

Lelouch, dressed in his full Zero outfit, mask and everything, looked at the Black Knight leadership in one of their hidden command structures on the outside of Tokyo. He took a breath, and looked at Ohgi, "You said you had an issue you wanted to talk about?"

The man nodded, and cleared his throat, "Our recruitment numbers have been going down. A number of more rebellious Japanese people have been saying that we are only serving Britannia, and have been leaving or joining up with small rebel groups in the countryside."

Lelouch just nodded. 'An unfortunate reality. But not something we are unprepared for.' His electronically modified voice echoed in the room, "What sort of numbers are we looking at? And do you know what rebel groups?"

"Minor, but it's been growing for the last six months. Especially with the noble issue we are having. And the groups seem to be operating out of the north, taking up the names of some of the old, defeated groups." Ohgi's stress was very obvious in his voice, and Lelouch could only scowl at the mention of the noble issue. Ever since Euphemia had taken over as viceroy, a number of noblemen had been abusing the separated courts of Britannia, being charged as a nobleman over a commoner.

It effectively meant they got away scot-free when they intimidated or committed a crime against a citizen of the SAZ. He didn't blame his sister, as her political base was weak. 'She's trying her best, but the greed of the empire is a lot for anyone.' He looked at Ohgi, "I want you and Diethard to do a propaganda campaign, making sure to highlight we work with the princess, not serve the empire. Do what needs to be done." The two men nodded, and Lelouch then looked at Tohdoh, "I want you to prepare a bodyguard unit for me. I plan to meet these groups and…convince them to fall in line. I'll need them by tomorrow afternoon."

Tohdoh nodded and spoke in a low tone, "Understood. I should have it done by then." Lelouch would certainly convincing, a smirk rising on his face. 'They will fall in line. Or fall to Britannia. They certainly are a useful tool to those rebels who oppose me.' He knew his sister would hate that, but he was doing what needed to be done.

The rebel leader's attention than turned to Rakshata, who was lounging about like usual, "How goes development?"

The woman smiled, and spoke casually, "As much as I hate some of the facilities I have to use, I have plenty of resources at the moment. We are currently in the prototype stage of the Gekka v2 and increasing our amount of standard Gekkas. If all goes to plan, we should have enough to outfit most of our pilots with them, with only relatively few Burais needed."

Lelouch nodded, and kept a cool tone, "Keep the Burais in storage. We don't know how much we need, and a war is coming. How goes the other projects?"

Rakshata just smiled, "We are currently improving the flight system. They are becoming more energy efficient, and after that I plan to integrate the flight system with some of the more advance frames, like my favorite child, or the model of that machine your friend used." Lelouch rolled his eyes, knowing she meant the Guren and the Siegfried. 'Though Kallen would probably be excited and asking too many questions.'

He resisted chuckling, and spoke in a conspiratorial tone, "And the secret weapon?"

The Indian woman just smoked her pipe and smirked, "The parts are being crafted individually. No one suspects the port is being used. I estimate it should take another year to fully put it together, but the engineers on sight will know better. But I do have a request to ask of you."

"And that is?" Lelouch was focused on the others, a few not in the loop on the secret project, but none of them seemed to speak out. He was lucky Tamaki wasn't here, having been assigned to help train new recruits with Kallen.

"I have heard rumors Britannia is working on integrated flight wings. If you can get anyone to get their testing data, it might help me speed up. As distasteful as using enemy data, I don't have the time I normally do." The Indian woman frowned, but in a flash she went back to her normal smile.

'Asking me to do espionage? Very cunning.' Despite her eccentricities, Lelouch had grown to respect Rakshata's skills and attitude. A bit too attached to her machines at times, she still was emotionally uninvolved with everything else, and was respectful when she asked for resources and sharing her plans.

He just simply nodded, "I'll get agents sent to the R&D department. We should be able to find exactly what you need."

The Indian woman just smiled and spoke one last time, "Then nothing else. I'll keep you up to date if there are any new developments."

Lelouch nodded, and focused back on the group as a whole, "Then we move to our other points of interest." The rest of the meeting went like normal, the standard matters of policy getting discussed and resolved. And as the talking happened, that sense of ominous foreboding didn't leave. 'How much longer do we have?'

Author's Note

And that's the chapter! Only one more year before we reach the present of the sequel. I really enjoyed the Kallen and Suzaku section particularly. These characters are going to be a lot of fun, and Cornelia might even have a few POVs in the main story. I'll see you guys next time!