My version of events of what it would have been like during that last night before the ending of Code Geass. This has been re-edited due to problems with the initial upload. As always:

Disclaimer: I do not own Code geass or any of the characters portrayed in the story. They are the property of Sunrise Studios.

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The last Night

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She was always there by his side. Nobles and commoners alike saw the presence of the grey witch who shadowed the demon emperor's side. None acknowledged her, as all she ever did was blend in with the background; for she was C.C.

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The door slid open, displaying a darkened room. Such a gloomy interior; a fitting accomplice to this fragile night.

"C.C," acknowledged the room's only occupant. She gave no reply, crossing the border and shutting the door behind her.

"I warned you didn't I? Geass will give you nothing but solitude," C.C commented with an air of indifference, receiving a cold chuckle in reply.

"I think I understand how Jesus felt when he was to be crucified," he replied followed by a moment of shuffling before the lights flickered into life. The demon emperor stood before the grey witch, dressed in the Ashford uniform. "A game of chess if you will?"

"Why are you dressed like that?" C.C asked as he set up the chess board. He shrugged in indifference. Even after all his time as the demon emperor, he was still stubborn to the core. C.C sighed wearily seating herself on the opposite side of the emperor. "I suppose you'll be black and I'll be white?" C.C inquired, staring at their seating arrangement. He nodded in reply.

"Why do you compare yourself to Jesus? I never thought you the type to believe in such things," C.C commented as she moved a pawn forward.

"It's simple really," he replied staring down at the chest board in contemplation. Really it's only been one move and his already into thinking mode. "You're right I don't believe in such things. I use him as an example because he was all powerful but powerless at the same time, he was considered divine but also human. He was greater than a king but at the same time our slave," he replied, moving a pawn forward.

"Your point being...?" C.C asked, moving another pawn carelessly forward.

"Ask me on a scale of 0-10, how selfish I am," he replied.

"I fail to see what this has to do with anything boya," she replied rolling her eyes in boredom.

"Just ask," he replied, ignoring the 'boya' comment. It's been a long time since she last called him that.

"On a scale of 0-10, how selfish are you?" C.C eventually asked.

"10, now ask how selfless am I."

She rolled her eyes once again, "How selfless are you?"

"10," he replied. C.C stared at him waiting for an answer, as he moved a knight forward. "It's because we're human that we can be both. Like Jesus who was powerless and powerful at the same time. And like myself, who has no option left but the path in front of me."

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So that's what it was. You're still contemplating the Zero Requiem.

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"You can't think of any other way besides the Zero Requiem?" C.C asked, moving her knight forwards on the chest board. The demon emperor shook his head in response.

"Every other option will not lead to a more complete peace that the Zero Requiem would provide," he replied solemnly. Sadness seemed to radiate from his very being. "I've thought it through countless times, there is no other option now," he continued moving a bishop four spaces to the left taking one of C.C pawns.

"You are both the demon emperor and a loving brother; ironic," commented C.C, moving her knight to take his bishop.

"That's what separates us and other animals. Just because we are one thing doesn't mean we can't be the other. We constantly deceive the world, that's just being human." He continued using his knight to take hers.

"So tell me what are you then? A demon emperor or an angel?" she asked moving another pawn forward.

"Neither, an angel doesn't doesn't kill the lives of innocents and a demon doesn't try to save those who scorn him," he stated, contemplating the chess board, "I'm a warlock," he replied eventually, moving a pawn forwards.

"Oh, seems you have grown a bit." she replied, a sly grin gracing her features. "The perfect accomplice for a grey witch," C.C commented moving her queen to take her warlocks pawn.

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It seems perfect then; a warlock and a witch. Each not being able to deceive the other for they are of the same type.

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"You're moving the king now?" C.C questioned as her warlock went to move the king piece.

"If the leader does not move personally, his subordinates will not follow," he replied placing the king in front of her pawn.

"Do you ever regret receiving the Geass?" C.C asked, her face downcast, her warlock chuckled in reply.

"You've already asked me this C.C. My answer hasn't changed since then, even with the zero requiem being completed tomorrow, I do not regret the contract I entered with you," was his reply as C.C let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"You have a tendency to bear all the burdens on your own," she continued, moving her queen back, "Even if that means deceiving everyone in the process, including Nunnally."

"I realised this back in the world of C," he continued, now moving his remaining bishop forward. "People desire the future. Charles desired the past, Schneizel desired the present so I shall desire the future. I can no longer live only for Nunnally's sake; I'm living for everybody now, even if that means deceiving her in the process." C.C didn't say anything as she moved her queen forward to take his knight. "The Zero requiem is my penance for everything I've done."

"Only those prepared to shoot should be shot at," replied C.C, as another of her pawns was removed from the board. Her warlock could only chuckle as she quoted him. "Your death is the price you pay for casting Geass."

"Don't you think Geass are like wishes?" her warlock commented, as his pawn was now removed from the board. C.C looked at him curiously before replying.

"The Geass is but a curse. If you think wishes can be granted so simply, you're still just a child." she continued as she now stared at the chess board in contemplation. Her warlock only chuckled in response, shaking his dark locks of hair. "Every person who has had a Geass has met nothing but misfortune."

"Either that or their wish was granted," he replied, smiling softly; a sincere smile which hadn't graced his face for a long time.

"Mao, Rolo, Charles, Marianne, Bismarck, You and I, our fates are cursed because of Geass," her tone hinting at annoyance as she moved her queen forwards once again, taking her warlocks rook, "Check."

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He didn't immediately reply, however continued to merely gazed at the chess board. She wasn't as strategic as Schneizel, however she was more impulsive and unpredictable. His continued silence only continued to infuriate C.C. "Mao succumbed to the Geass which eventually drove him insane; Rolo stopped his own heart with his Geass. Charles died chasing after something only Geass could accomplish, Marianne vanished because of her involvement with Charles and V.V. Bismark died along with Charles' dream. You are going to die because of the curse I bestowed upon you just like the curse that was bestowed upon me," she commented, however her voice was slowly starting to rise. There was no emotion in her tone, not after these past long years. Her warlock only smiled softly back at her, as he moved his queen back

"Check."

"You had better explain yourself boy," she replied quite seriously, moving her king out of harm's way.

"How about a bet then?" he replied, moving his queen four spaces to the right, "If you win this chess match, I'll tell you what you want to know, if I win you grant one last request of mine, check."

"Oh… I didn't know you were into games," she smirked, moving her bishop in front of her king, "What would this request be? Check."

"That's for me to know and you to find out," he replied moving a rook forwards to block her bishop.

C.C stared at the chess board, moving a rook forwards saving her king. "Very well I accept the terms of your contract," she replied. "You've played a very nasty card against me."

"How now?" he asked, feigning innocence. He could never get the facial expression right, as his features slowly returned to contemplation mode.

"If I win, I forgo ever finding this last request of yours, especially considering the events of tomorrow. If I lose, I forgo ever finding out what your answer will be," she explained, now contemplating the chess board. Her warlock moved his rook, taking her knight which had previously stopped his advance.

"That's why I based it on a game of chess; every battle is won through information and strategy. Check."

"Now who's being unfair," C.C commented receiving a chuckle in reply.

"I learned from the best after all, witch," he replied, as she moved her king forwards. "Oh, what brought on this change of strategy?" he asked, also moving his king forwards. C.C shrugged her shoulders in reply, she was impulsive.

"A comment an annoying little boya made," A look of annoyance flashed across her warlocks features. After all this time, she could still pull his strings like no other. "So what now? At the rate we're going, it's going to end in repetition," C.C commented as she once again moved her king forwards, "A tie then?"

"Do not underestimate the black king," he declared immediately, causing C.C to look up instantly, "Checkmate."

"What are you doing boy? Are you telling me to grab victory?" she demanded. His king sat next to hers, if she were to move her pawn she'd be able to grab victory. However if I accept this invitation, it'd symbolise my submission to this boy. I will not subject myself to his will! She moved her king back.

"It seems I win," he commented casually, examining the chess board moving his bishop back two squares. He knew her to well. She would never take something that was presented to her; she always had to have her own way. It was the only way he could ever win against her. "Checkmate."

C.C sighed in annoyance, before turning her attention back to her warlock, "Well, what is this request of yours?"

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His reply didn't come immediately. He slowly moved to his laptop opening one file after another. Eventually finding the one he was after, a song started playing one which was both familiar and foreign at the same time.

"A dance if you will, that is the price of our contract," he replied, returning to C.C and offering his hand.

"Oh? And why would you want that as a price?" she asked, accepting his invitation.

"No reason, I have only just come to the realisation that I have been taught, but never had the chance," he commented casually, placing an arm on C.C's waist the other in her hand. She likewise placed her hand on his shoulder, mirroring her warlock.

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To say the pair danced beautifully would've been a huge overstatement. His movements were dull due to lack of practice, techniques long forgotten and rarely used. Her dips weren't at all graceful; she didn't seem to trust his strength to support her.

There was no moonlight spilling upon the pair for the curtains were closed. There wasn't a giant ball room atop their heads nor were there pearl tiles beneath their feet or an orchestra playing their song. They weren't dressed in glamorous clothing that would be the envy of everyone present, nor was there a crowd to watch them in jealousy, or a spot light that followed them as they moved across the dance floor.

Instead there was just the dull bedroom light and plain bedroom carpet which stifled their footsteps beneath their bare feet. He was dressed in his Ashford uniform, for reasons only known to him, and she was in her old strait jacket; for she said it was comfortable. The music was being played through his laptop speakers and Cheese-kun seemed to their only audience; his eyes forever closed.

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But the witch and the warlock danced and that's all that seemed to matter.

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"Mao," he suddenly commented at some point. C.C looked up; she had been looking at her feet attempting to avoid stepping on his toes. "Mao's Geass was to understand people, so he read people's minds." C.C looked away as the pair continued to move around the room. "Eventually everyone became so alien to him, because he knew nothing but them. Maybe that's the reason he was able to understand you so perfectly for you were the one mind that he couldn't read."

The witch didn't say anything, the song started again, but the pair didn't notice. "Rolo was able to find a place in the world because of his Geass. I may have deceived him this entire time, but… he seemed happy in the end, finally having a place in this world."

"You deceived a lot of people." She didn't whisper or soften her voice, she merely stated a fact.

"It was necessary, to get to where I am now," he replied, the pair continued to circle the room. She continued to look at her feet, while he continued to scan the room for obstacles which could be knocked over. "Charles and Marianne desired the wish of mankind. Mankind showed them that their idea was misplaced and thus they vanished in the world of C. I don't believe they regretted the path they took, but I also believe they accepted the decision of mankind." Once again C.C didn't say anything. "Bismarck died fighting under Empress Marianne. He was able to use Geass to stand between the demon emperor and Charles Zi Britannia's ideal."

"Your argument is weak."

"None the less it is an argument," he solemnly replied. How many times had the song started and stopped? Funny, he didn't bother counting. "Before I received the Geass I lived a lie. After I received Geass, I lied to the world as Zero and now as emperor, I'm lying to the world about my intentions." C.C once again returned her gaze to him, "You're right, I'm the type to take all the burdens upon myself. So I'll take the world's worth of hatred to the grave. I'll be the hero that nobody worships but rather everybody scorns. I'll create a world that Nunnally can be happy in," he stated with finality.

"And that's the reason you're going to die tomorrow," she stated.

"None the less, it is my wish," her warlock commented, "Geass doesn't bring solitude. Without it, you would never have been able to meet me and I would never have been able to put my plan into motion."

"You're just being selfish now… Like you've always been," her warlock chuckled in response.

"I learned from the very best didn't I?"

"I suppose you have," C.C solemnly replied. "What am I then? You make me seem like an angel if I go around granting wishes."

"You were never an angel. Someone like you could never have been that pure," he replied, a smirk forming on his features, "You're a witch not an angel."

"I suppose you're right," C.C responded as her heart fell ever so slightly. What had she been expecting his answer to be? After all this time, she was still nothing. She was the one that was in the back cast of every story throughout history, always there but always forgotten. She was the one that always felt nothing but saw everything. She was the one that had no place on the chess board, the stage in which he played.

"But that is a good thing. Witches are still human after all," he continued, as C.C's eyes snapped open and her immortal heart skipped a beat. "You may not exist on the same stage as the rest of us, but without you I would be powerless. I've deceived everyone, everyone except you. You are the one person whom I could never leave," he confessed softly as his witch rested her head upon his shoulder, funny she never noticed their height difference till now.

"Just as I am the only person who has ever stayed," C.C replied, her voice now soft, "That's the problem isn't it?" Her warlock smiled a sad smile.

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The pair danced much more gracefully now then when they had started. They weren't staring into each other's eyes full of love or passion. Her eyes didn't shine like a million stars; neither did his glitter with tenderness. It was a merely a sad dance between two creatures who knew time didn't stand still for anyone.

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"I'm gambling on the idea that a Geass is a person's wish. The things that you can't accomplish on your own, you ask the assistance of others."

"That is the Zero Requiem isn't it?"

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The pair swayed to the music, they had stopped dancing around the room; mainly due to a lack of stamina of one individual, and the laziness of the other.

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"What of my wish then Lelouch?" C.C finally asked. He had avoided her Geass so far, Lelouch smiled sincerely to her question. Slowly inching his head forward till could whisper ever so gently into her ear.

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"There have been many which have fallen in love with you."

"However, there is only one whom I have ever loved back."

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He didn't say goodbye as he left that morning. She didn't stir from her slumber as he left; for there was no need. She was the one that was always lying on his bed during the time he deceived his friends as Lelouch Lamperouge. She was the one that stood beside him as he deceived the world as Zero. She was the one who sat upon the throne to his left as he deceived the world as the demon emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia. But he was the one that was always beside her as her warlock and never once, had he deceived her.

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In memory of Lelouch Vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of the holy empire of Britannia, and the grey witch which accompanied him.