Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. I never have, I never will and I am only saying this once so I will not repeat it in later chapters.

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Fall Into Dusk

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1

Nightmares of Devastation

The shadows did little to provide them with shelter or safety and Lelouch cradled his little sister close to him. The shadows melded together with the blood that stained the ground and the fires that raged from building to building. Smoke filled the air, making it difficult to breathe, and Lelouch coughed as he struggled to make out any sign of where his friends had ended up.

He saw nothing beyond the blood and the fire and the darkness that drifted across the land as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. No stars. No moon. It was a quiet, black night. Nothing but darkness and the stench of blood and the smell of smoke and the feel of heat from the burning fires…

Lelouch Lamperouge sat up sharply, a soft gasp escaping his lips as the nightmare, a nightmare that he hasn't had in many years, echoed in his head. Swinging his legs off his bed, Lelouch stood up and walked to the window in his room, peering out at the sleeping Ashford Academy campus, resting his forehead against it.

Just what made me think about that? He thought. He didn't know. It had just hit suddenly; he knew that he was likely to never forget what happened during the invasion but, recently, his nightmares only ever came back when something triggered them. And he couldn't figure out just what had triggered them this time.

It was early morning, about an hour before he usually woke up, and it was Saturday, which meant that he could have slept in a bit. Milly had a Student Council meeting scheduled for noon and Lelouch was planning on going with Rivalz to gamble afterward but he didn't have anything else planned, beyond having breakfast and dinner with his little sister Nunnally.

Deciding that it was unlikely he was going to get back to sleep, Lelouch wandered over to his dresser and changed before leaving his room. The apartment within the East Wing of the Student Council Clubhouse was eerily quiet since no one else was up; Nunnally usually slept in until about ten on the weekends and Sayoko had likely already left since she said, the day before, that she would be going shopping in the morning. And she was more of a morning person than Lelouch and Nunnally were; if there was one thing that Lelouch and Nunnally had in common, it was that they weren't morning people.

It made their time at the Kururugi Shrine interesting, especially whenever Suzaku and Shintaro had to team up to get them both up in the morning.

Lelouch frowned and pushed the thought out of his mind. He hadn't thought about the two friends he'd made at the Kururugi Shrine seven years ago in years either; they had both grown to be his first and best friends but they'd gone their separate ways about a week before the invasion ended and he hadn't heard from them since. He hoped that they were all right, especially Suzaku; he was an emotional wreck when Lelouch last saw him, which was why Shintaro had decided to stay with him for a bit longer.

But, considering what Suzaku had been unfortunate enough to witness, Lelouch could readily understand.

He, himself, had witnessed something similar a few months before he came to Japan.

Forcing himself not to go down that particular lane of memory, Lelouch set out to gather the supplies he would need for his little sister's breakfast, deciding on making her favorite, which he usually did during the weekends. On the weekdays, they were usually too busy trying to get to class on time—when Lelouch wasn't skipping—that they usually only grabbed an apple or a slice of toast before leaving.

Saturdays were different. Saturdays were Lelouch's favorite day of the week because he could usually spend the entire day with his little sister with it just being the two of them, especially since it was only occasionally that Milly would schedule a Student Council meeting on the weekend. Nunnally attended those meetings, even though she was only an honorary member, but Lelouch cherished the days he could spend bonding with just his sister.

Cooking would also help him get his mind off his nightmare. Talking with Nunnally always helped him get his mind off his nightmares too. He never really discussed them with his little sister because he didn't want Nunnally to have to be burdened with the same dark memories that Lelouch was shouldering; while she had heard most of what happened during the invasion, she had been fortunate that she hadn't witnessed what Lelouch, Suzaku, and Shintaro had witnessed.

The same images that were, for some reason Lelouch still couldn't figure out, haunting him again.

Lelouch didn't know how much time had passed by since he woke up; he was busy in the kitchen, having washed the dishes, made himself breakfast, and worked on Nunnally's breakfast, when he heard the door to the kitchen slid open.

"Good morning, Nunnally," he said without turning around as he heard the whir of Nunnally's wheelchair as she guided herself into the kitchen and to the table.

"Good morning, Big Brother. Ohh, something smells good? What're you making?" Nunnally asked and Lelouch glanced at her over his shoulder as she tilted her head to the side, her eyes peacefully closed to the rest of the world but her face easily revealing curiosity.

"Your favorite," Lelouch said, turning his attention back to the stove.

"Pancakes! What's the occasion?" Nunnally asked, though Lelouch could hear the excitement in her voice.

He chuckled. "Does there really have to be an occasion to make your favorite breakfast, Little Sister?" he asked.

"It's been a while since we've had pancakes, Big Brother," Nunnally admitted with a smile.

"True. What do you want on yours?" Lelouch placed two pancakes on a plate, cutting them into little squares to make it easier for his little sister to eat, and walked over to the fridge, opening it and scanning the contents. "We have blueberries, strawberries..."

"Strawberries," Nunnally said in an instant.

Lelouch laughed lightly. "I should've guessed," he said with a warm smile, even though he knew his little sister couldn't see it. The smile became a bit pained at that reminder but Lelouch pushed it away; despite her handicaps, Nunnally was happy and that was all Lelouch cared about.

Pulling out a container of strawberries from the fridge and a bottle of syrup from the cabinets, Lelouch chopped the strawberries up into smaller pieces and placing them on the plate of pancake bites. After pouring some syrup over the breakfast, he walked over to join Nunnally, placing the plate in front of her and handing her the fork.

"Oh, it smells really good! You've gotten to be a good cook, Big Brother," Nunnally said as, with some help from Lelouch, she began to eat. "Mmm, just as good as usual."

Lelouch chuckled. "I'm a quick learner," he said. Sayoko had been the one to teach him how to cook when he was fourteen, when he'd stubbornly decided that he wanted to cook for Nunnally too, and he'd been very quick to absorb everything she taught him. He'd always been like that; quick to learn and understand anything that he was being taught. Having a very good memory helped, which was why he was managing to pass his classes despite skipping or dozing through most of them, except for P.E. P.E. was the bane of Lelouch's existence, which was why he hardly ever went; he only went when he absolutely had to in order to pass the class. It was a shame that he still had to take it; he hated exercise with a passion.

Unlike Suzaku, who was an exercise nut, and Shintaro, who didn't mind exercise just not all the time.

Lelouch frowned again. Why am I thinking about them today? Was it just because of that nightmare, even if they had never even made an appearance? He thought.

"You okay, Big Brother? You've been quiet for some time," Nunnally asked in concern, turning to face him, syrup slipping down her jaw.

Lelouch picked up the napkin and gently wiped the syrup away. "Just thinking. I'm okay, Nunnally," he reassured her.

"You sure?

"Yeah, I'm sure." It's probably 'cause the nightmare reminded me of the invasion and that's why I've been thinking about Suzaku and Shintaro, he thought.

"So what're we gonna do today, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked, apparently deciding not to question him further, even though her brow still furrowed just a little bit. She gave him a beaming smile as she finished off her pancakes and stretched out a hand to him.

He took her hand. "Milly has a Student Council meeting at noon and, after that, I'm probably just going to go into the settlement for a bit," he said, releasing her hand and patting the top of it. "Tonight, we'll have dinner. How does lasagna sound?"

Nunnally beamed. "You know that's my favorite dinner too. Is there an occasion that I forgot about or something?" she asked.

Lelouch laughed and ruffled his little sister's hair. "No, I just decided to make your favorites today, that's all, Little Sister," he said with a fond, loving smile.

Nunnally giggled. "Okay, Big Brother," she said with a smile.

Lelouch glanced at the time. 11:30. "Huh, I didn't realize that much time had gone by," he commented, vaguely recalling that Nunnally had gotten up later than usual. "We should head over to the meeting room. Don't wanna be late or Milly will have my head."

Nunnally giggled and Lelouch, once he put Nunnally's breakfast plate and silverware away, walked over to Nunnally's wheelchair. Even if she could drive it herself, she didn't mind it when Lelouch pushed for a bit.

"Aren't you going to eat something, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked.

"I ate already," Lelouch said as he guided the wheelchair away from the table and out of the kitchen, heading for the elevator that would take them to the first floor of the clubhouse. "I got up a bit earlier than I intended."

"Oh. Everything okay?" There was concern in Nunnally's voice.

"Everything's fine, Little Sister. I just woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep," Lelouch assured her, not wanting to tell her about his nightmare, nor did he want to relive it himself. He still didn't know what had triggered the return of that nightmare but he decided against worrying about it for now.

. . .

She stumbled toward the bloodstained body her brother was crouched over. Her eyes were wide with horror and disbelief as she struggled to keep in the chocked sob that was threatening to escape her throat. The alley that she, her brother, and their mother had taken refuge was empty now, save for her, her brother and...

She collapsed next to the motionless form of her mother, tears streaking down her face. "Kaa-san! Kaa-san!" She cried as she grabbed her mother's motionless hand, gazing at her mother's ashen skin, the crimson stains on her body, her glassy eyes staring emptily into the sky…

Kallen Kozuki gasped and she jerked herself out of the memory she had unintentionally landed in when she had lied down in the den for a quick nap. Sitting up and wiping away the tears that had streaked down her face, Kallen looked at the grandfather clock that ticked away above the fireplace. 3:05PM.

Two hours. I've been asleep for two hours. I'm surprised the bitch hasn't come to wake me up yet, she thought, covering her mouth when she yawned as she climbed out of the couch, running a hand through her unruly red locks.

She hadn't thought about that day, that tragic, unfortunate, wrong-place-at-wrong-time day, in years but she couldn't get it out of her mind now. It was forever imprinted on her mind as a reminder that she was truly all alone in the world; her father was back at Pendragon, and Kallen didn't give a damn about him, her bitch of a stepmother was, well, a bitch, and Naoto…

Naoto…

Kallen closed her eyes, resting the palm of her hand on the door frame as she struggled to control her emotions. The last thing she wanted was for her bitch of a stepmother to see her crying; the last thing she wanted was to give that bitch more ammunition to cruelly mock her with, and make Kallen have to reign in her temper before she knocked the bitch's teeth out. But she couldn't help a few treacherous tears escaping.

Three months. It had been three months since she had last seen Naoto, had last seen her brother. He had been on a mission with the resistance that he had formed six months prior to that mission, a mission that turned out to be a total bust; not only was half of the team caught by Britannia and executed, the other half had been so critically injured that most of them died, and Naoto had gone missing.

No one had heard anything from him for three months. They didn't know if he was dead or alive. They didn't know if he had been captured by Britannia or not. They knew nothing.

And it devastated Kallen that the only member of her family that she truly cared about was missing and no one knew anything about his whereabouts or his condition. He could be dead in a gutter somewhere and Kallen hated that she didn't know. She hated that she couldn't look for her brother too; she wanted to look for him but it would be far too suspicious if she tried. Naoto had been disowned by their father when he was eighteen and had stormed out of the Stadtfeld Manor after telling both of their parents to "fuck off" so she wasn't supposed to care.

Not if she wanted to keep on the somewhat good side of her stepmother.

Not if she wanted her true loyalties to her Japanese half, as opposed to her Britannian half, to be revealed.

Naoto had told her that the morning that he left. He told her that he wanted her to remain where it was safe.

"At least until you're eighteen, Kallen-chan. Then they legally can't do a damn thing if you decide to leave. Now, though, they can. Besides, you're safer here."

Kallen had wanted to argue, had wanted to demand her brother to let her go with him, not wanting to lose the only member of her family she loved that was still alive. But, upon seeing the desperation in her brother's eyes, she reluctantly gave in.

It was only a few years later that Naoto formed his resistance.

Three months after that, Kallen had started helping out with the resistance in any way that she could without revealing her loyalties to Britannia, doing things that her brother decided wouldn't be too risky. Even if she was irritated that her brother coddled her, at least he was willing to let her help a little bit so she let it go.

Then, three months after that, he was gone.

Clenching her hands into a fist, Kallen took a deep breath to calm herself when she heard the noise of one of the family maids cleaning nearby. Not wanting anyone to catch her crying, she took a few more deep breaths, letting them out slowly as she calmed herself down. Wiping the tear stains off her cheeks, Kallen opened the door to the den and walked out of it.

She disappeared into the kitchen to grab something to eat before returning to the den to eat it. As she found herself curled up on the couch, chewing on her sandwich, her gaze was drawn to the book that had fallen to the floor. She vaguely recalled that she had been looking through that book when she'd fallen asleep.

She wasn't a big reader but, mostly out of curiosity, she had decided to take a look at her big brother's favorite novel and found that she was actually enjoying it.

Finishing her sandwich, Kallen reached down to pick up the book, only for the bookmark she'd been using to fall out. Great, now I'm gonna have to skim the book to find where I was, she thought as she reached down to pick up the bookmark.

"What are you doing?" Her bitch of a stepmother's voice echoed in the silence of the den.

Bookmark in hand, Kallen leaned back against the couch cushions, giving the bitch a cool look. "Reading. What does it look like?" she said, barely able to keep a sneer out of her voice. Some of her loathing must have slipped into her voice because her stepmother's nostrils flared in irritation.

"You've been in here for the past three hours," she said.

"Don't pretend like you care," Kallen snorted, turning her attention back to the book and flipping through the pages to try to find the page she'd left off on. "What do you want?"

"You're as insolent as ever," the bitch said with a snort. "We hired a new maid."

"And I care why?"

"Show her around. I have important things to take care of," the bitch said.

Yeah, like another manicure and getting your hair done, Kallen thought scornfully but she reluctantly put her bookmark into the book at a random page—she'd have to go back and find the actual page she was on later—and stood up.

"I'll send her in. At least try to look presentable and not like you just rolled out of bed," the bitch said and strode out of the den.

Kallen resisted the urge to throw the book at the back of her bitch of a stepmother's head.

The door to the den opened a few moments later and a shy Japanese girl around Kallen's age stepped into the room; she had peach-colored hair that went to the middle of her back held away from her face by two black hair clips and dark-blue eyes. She was dressed in a white button up shirt with a torn dark-blue jacket over it and dark-blue jeans that were torn at the knees.

"Um, Mrs. Stadtfeld said that you'd show me around, Miss," she said.

Kallen's eyes softened and she walked over to join the girl. "None of that 'Miss' stuff. I'm Kallen. What's your name?" she asked, holding out a hand.

The girl seemed surprised. "Um, I'm Yumiko, Miss Kallen," she said, taking her hand hesitantly and shaking it.

"It's just Kallen. Come on. I'll show you around," Kallen said. It would be just like the bitch to hire someone who's Japanese to work here. She knows that I hate seeing my own people working like slaves for bitches like her. God, I hate that bitch! She thought but pushed the thoughts out of her mind and gave the girl Yumiko a warm smile.

The girl was Japanese after all and working as a maid was one of the few jobs that Japanese people could obtain without going through the Honorary Britannian program. Those who did go through with that program were just traitors to their own people and Kallen resented them for it.

Even so, working as a maid for someone like Lady Stadtfeld was pretty horrible and Kallen pitied the girl who was likely just trying to make ends meet without becoming a traitor to her people.

She decided, as she led Yumiko out of the den, that she would try to make the girl's stay at the Stadtfeld Manor as comfortable as possible. It was the least she could do for her fellow Japanese.

. . .

Flames. Flames. So many flames. Explosions. Bright. Fierce. Loud. She covered her ears, struggling to block out the noise, block out the screams of agony from those unfortunate enough to get caught in the blast. But she couldn't block it all out; she could still hear their screams, muffled though they were.

She felt tears streak down her soot-covered face as she stumbled away from the devastated city engulfed in flames. Craters filled with bloodstained bodies or bodies charred beyond recognize. She had to get away. Craters filled with debris. The stench that arose from burned bodies. The coppery stench of blood…

With the last remnants of a scream on her lips, Satomi Ihara jolted out of her sleep and sat up so sharply that the room spun for a moment. Gasping as a cold sweat covered her skin, she drew her knees to her chest and wrapped he arms around them, burying her face into her knees, her shoulders trembling with restrained sobs.

So much devastation. She had never really forgotten what happened seven years ago. She had never gotten over it like others would assume. She still suffered from nightmares, though they no longer occurred every night since she'd started talking with Katai, who'd been a licensed therapist before the invasion. She doubted that they would ever truly go away; Katai had told her that was the nature of experiencing a trauma. It did not just go away, no matter how much she wanted it to.

She took a few deep breaths, releasing them slowly and trying to calm herself down. Meditate. That was what Katai told her. He said that it might help and Satomi had learned that it did a bit, even if it usually only calmed her down. It was enough.

The memories still clung to the forefronts of Satomi's mind and she decided that she needed to get her mind off it. She needed to do something so she decided to walk around the base and see where everyone was. After their latest mission, of which they had stayed out all night and part of the morning trying to get the supplies they needed while avoiding the Britannians, Matsuo had told them to get some rest. Satomi had told them that she was going to take a nap and asked Eisaku to wake her up in two hours.

That was four hours ago.

Satomi made a mental note to track Eisaku down and ask him why he didn't wake her up as he said he would.

Folding her arms behind her head, Satomi gazed up at the ceiling. Seven years. It had been seven years since the invasion and she had changed quite a bit during that time; she used to be shy but, while she did get shy around newcomers, she was much more social than before. That helped her with her skills as a pickpocket and had helped her survive the five years that she'd been on her own before Izumi and Matsuo found her.

They'd given her a roof over her head and fed her and Matsuo insisted that she didn't have to repay them. She insisted that she had to; it was the honorable thing to do and if there was one thing that Satomi took away from all of her father's lessons, it was to always try to do the honorable thing.

She paused at the top of the staircase, sadness and brief traces of anger going through her as she thought about her father, her kind, always laughing father who was also an honorable and ruthless fighter, who refused to just let Britannia walk all over them. He would have fought Britannia to the ends of the world if…

She shoved the thought viciously out of her mind, not wanting to relive that particular incident. She could never get the image out of her mind; her father's bloodstained body, the culprit...the culprit…

She slammed her fist into the wall as she fell to her knees, tears springing into her eyes, the memory of what happened returning to her head. She always reacted like this whenever she remembered that incident but she couldn't help it; the betrayal haunted her day and night, it would not leave her alone, even more so than the memories of the invasion. The resentment, the hatred, the bitterness, the sadness; it all resonated deep within her whenever that incident came back into her mind, whenever she thought about him.

"Satomi-chan? Are you okay?"

At the sound of Katai Takemura's voice, Satomi lifted her head to find the kind dark-green haired man kneeling down beside her, concern in his light-brown eyes. Swallowing, she nodded slowly, brushing aside a few strands of messy auburn hair that had stuck to her face because of the tears. "I...I'm okay," she said.

"Are you sure?" Katai asked, sitting back on his heels. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know," Satomi sighed, turning her blue gaze to the ceiling above. "I just...I can't talk about this. I mean...I know it's been seven years but I just can't talk about it. I don't know why. I just can't."

But you do know why. It's because you don't want to betray him, even though he's already betrayed you and your family, an inner voice said in the back of Satomi's mind and she shoved it away, even though a part of her believed those words to be true.

"I understand," Katai said, pushing himself to his feet. "Whenever you're ready to talk about it, you know where to find me. Anyway, I was just about to come and wake you up. Ayame's making an early dinner since Matsuo has something to tell us."

"Another mission?" Satomi asked eagerly. She wanted to help out and Matsuo was willing to let her help out, stating that she was seventeen and old enough to make her own decisions, and she would be very thankful if she could be doing something. It would help take her mind off her nightmare, and him.

"Something like that, though I doubt it's going to be very big, not after what happened last night," Katai said.

Satomi frowned. She knew that last night hadn't exactly been the best outcome but, at least, they got the supplies that they were trying to get, even though two of their members had been killed as a result. It did scare Satomi a little but, after two years of working with Matsuo and his men, she'd slowly grown accustomed to the idea that her life would be in danger from the moment she decided to fight to free her country from Britannia.

She knew the risks.

She knew that she faced death every time she went out on missions.

But she would still do it.

Otherwise, she would never forgive herself for not being brave enough to continue along the path that her father had already started walking. Her brave, kind father who was willing to fight back even though he knew that he might be killed by Britannia as a result.

Even if that wasn't how he ended up dying…

Satomi shoved that thought away again.

Either way, she wanted to be brave like her father. She had decided, when she turned seventeen, that she wanted to fight back for her country, she wanted to free them and that was why she was taking a more active role with Matsuo and his men.

Father, would you be proud of me? That I'm fighting back just as you would have had things been different? Satomi thought.

"Satomi-chan?"

Satomi pulled herself out of her thoughts and turned to Katai who was watching her in concern again. "Oh, sorry, did I space out again? And did you say something?" she asked with a faint blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. She had a tendency of getting so wrapped up in her thoughts that she often missed some things that were said to her.

Katai shook his head. "I was just going to ask if you're ready to head down for dinner or if you want to stare at the wall for the rest of the day," he said.

Satomi frowned at him. "Of course I want dinner. It's Ayame's cooking! At least it's not Eisaku's turn to cook," she said. She was pretty sure Eisaku could burn water.

Katai chuckled. "I'm pretty sure everyone is thankful for that," he said as he led the way down the stairs and Satomi followed him. They walked down the dust-covered hallway and into the kitchen, the only truly clean part of the abandoned hotel.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Eisaku Takizawa greeted her with a wave of his fork, his long light-blue hair tied at the nape of his neck. Ayame Kyubei, her lavender-purple hair in a tight bun, was already handing out the plates of food; hamburger patties covered with cheese, a handful of salty chips, and a strip of bacon.

Satomi narrowed her eyes and she stomped over to Eisaku, poking him hard in the shoulder. "You were supposed to wake me up after two hours," she said firmly.

"I was?" Eisaku blinked.

Satomi huffed, snatched Eisaku's bacon off his plate and walked to her seat, munching on the slice of bacon even as Eisaku whined, "Ayame! She stole my bacon!"

Ayame chuckled as she handed Satomi her plate and then handed Katai's to him. "Unfortunately, I only had enough in the packet for one slice each," she said. "We were really lucky to get that much during our last food raid."

"We're going to have to go on another food raid soon," Matsuo said, biting into his slice of bacon.

Satomi nodded in agreement but then noticed that they were missing a member. "Where's Yumiko?" she asked.

Matsuo finished his slice of bacon. "On her next mission," he said. "Just enjoy your dinner and I'll explain everything afterward."

Satomi frowned but nodded and went back to eating, smirking at Eisaku who was glaring at her and muttering "Bacon thief" under his breath.

. . .

The hail of bullets came to an end and he slowly peeked out from around the garbage dumpster he'd been shoved behind by his mother. He swallowed, his eyes wide as he gazed at the bloodstained form of his mother but didn't dare move until the Britannian soldiers had moved away.

Once they were gone, he slowly moved to his mother's side and took her hand. She gazed at him with rapidly glazing eyes. "I wish...that I could have...seen Japan as a...free nation again and...that we...could have...been a family...without any...worries," she whispered weakly before her eyes drifted closed and she went limp.

Naoto Kozuki jolted out of the sleep he had involuntarily fallen into, blinking away the tears that had welled up in his eyes at the nightmare that clung to him of the last time he had seen his mother. Six years ago. That was how long it had been since that day, that dreaded day where he, his sister, and his mother had been unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This had been before his father had married the woman who would become Lady Stadtfeld and Naoto had often wondered if his father would have married that harlot had their mother survived. Just as he did now, he always pushed that thought away; there was no point in thinking about 'what ifs'. It never helped matters, no matter how much he wished that things had been different.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Naoto crawled out of his makeshift bed and limped toward the small mini-fridge in the corner, wincing as he put pressure on his injured leg. Given to him by the owner of the restaurant he was living under, who was a sympathizer to the resistances fighting against Britannia named Michi Tagawa, the mini-fridge was stocked with simple foods like bread and cheese and beverages like bottled water.

Three months. That was how long it had been since Naoto had been brought there, since the day he had saved his life; Lone Wolf, the most mysterious resistance fighter that anyone has ever come across. He always kept a hood over his face and never affiliated with anyone; he would help other resistances, usually, but he never officially joined them. That was why he was called Lone Wolf; he held no allegiance to anything but his own goal.

At least, that was how everyone saw him.

When the mysterious Lone Wolf had saved his life, and had spent the next week working on making sure he didn't sleep into a coma or make his injury worse, Naoto had learned that the Lone Wolf was far more complicated than anyone had originally thought.

He was also the only one who had discovered the Lone Wolf's true identity.

It had been a shock, to say the least, and yet it made some sense. If anyone were to find out the identity of Lone Wolf, if anyone were to find out that he had actually survived when the rest of his family had not, then his life would be in jeopardy, especially if the news reached the wrong ears. If Britannia found out that he was alive then they would want to find him and kill him because of the symbol that he would represent for the Japanese people.

A symbol of hope.

Simply because of the last name that he had.

Naoto had reassured the Lone Wolf that he wouldn't tell anyone to which he had expressed his gratitude before telling Naoto that he would need to remain put for a while.

"You're being hunted since you managed to escape Britannia's clutches. And, with your leg as it is, you won't be able to run very far."

Naoto had argued, insisting that he had a resistance he needed to return to, that he couldn't just abandon them. And, even though he hadn't said it out loud, he also knew that he had to return for his little sister; he knew that Kallen would be devastated if he didn't return and he couldn't put her through that.

Lone Wolf insisted that Naoto needed to rehabilitate his leg to be able to walk again and, according to Tagawa who had been a doctor when she was younger, he'd have to get used to having to move around with a limp because of how badly damaged his leg was before he could do anything.

Reluctantly, Naoto agreed before asking just how long it would take to be able to walk again and resigned himself to at least three months of rehabilitation and regaining his strength.

"Three months should also be enough time for Britannia to forget about searching for you. You do know that they got a good look at you, right?"

Naoto snorted, nearing the mini-fridge, as Lone Wolf's words echoed in his head because he knew the resistance fighter was right. Since Britannia knew what he looked like, they would keep searching for him for a while, especially since they also figured out that he was the leader of his resistance and he had killed the commanding officer of the unit that had attacked him and his friends out of self-defense, and Naoto was not going to lead them back to his friends and little sister.

He understood that he had to stay away for the time being, no matter how much it hurt knowing that his little sister wouldn't know what had happened to him.

He also knew that it was likely that his sister was going to be pissed at both him and Lone Wolf for keeping his survival a secret for three months but it couldn't be helped. He would do anything to protect his little sister, even if it meant staying away from her while Britannia was likely engaging in a manhunt for him.

Especially since he had the blood of a high-ranking Britannian soldier on his hands.

It had been in self-defense but it wasn't as if Britannia would care.

They never did.

Even if Naoto looked Britannian, everyone knew that he was the disgraced, disowned son of Lord Johnathon Stadtfeld who chose his Japanese heritage over his Britannian one. Thus, they would care even less that he had killed a soldier in self-defense; to them, he was a filthy half-blood who chose to be an Eleven rather than the supposedly 'better option' of being a Britannian.

Tch, I've never been a Britannian, not since the invasion and definitely not since I lost my mother, Naoto thought.

He knelt by the mini-fridge, wincing as he did so. His leg was still bothering him, even though it had been three months, but Naoto had this feeling that he was going to have to deal with these little pains for the rest of his life. It was not as if "Elevens" could get decent medical treatment since they didn't make nearly enough money to pay the bills and most Britannians didn't care about "Elevens" anyway.

Though we're not Elevens, we're Japanese, Naoto thought as he searched through the fridge and pulled out the ingredients to make himself a sandwich. He then limped over to the little table near the small window in the basement and sat down to make it.

It was only about five in the afternoon and Naoto, chewing on a bite of his sandwich, smiled softly to himself. To think, I thought myself too old for naps. I certainly don't mind them now, he thought. Naps, even if they were not planned, certainly helped him to relax and rest his leg, especially when he had to work on strengthening it and walking on it, which made it tired and aching by the time he was done. At least he could walk around for a lot longer than he could three months ago.

Still, it had been three months and Naoto had been, for the past few days, coming up with plans to rejoin with his resistance as well as explain why he'd been missing for the past three months. His leg was never going to be fully healed but Naoto could walk around with a perpetual dull ache in his leg so that was good. Not great but good.

Hmm, Lone Wolf did say that it was likely that Britannia will have forgotten about me by now so that'll work to my advantage. I'll have to go slowly and rest a lot to make sure I don't make my leg worse, a cane will probably help. Maybe I can ask Tagawa-sama for one when I leave, Naoto thought as he finished his sandwich. Considering Tagawa walked with a cane herself, she might have extras to give to Naoto.

It was worth a shot anyway.

"Naoto-kun?" a voice called quietly and Naoto—think of the Devil—turned around as Michi Tagawa made her way down the stairs into the basement, her cane tapping the steps, her kind eyes fixed on him while her gray hair hung straight to her shoulders, one hand resting behind her back.

"Yes, Tagawa-sama?" Naoto asked, standing up and limping over to join Tagawa.

Tagawa glanced at him with a sympathy and sadness in her eyes. She always gave him that look; she didn't pity him, for which he was grateful, and he understood why she sympathized with him. Even if her weak legs was due to age and not an injury, she still understood what it was like to walk around with a limp everywhere.

"It's been three months since that nice young man brought you here," she said. "Are you leaving soon?"

"Likely so," Naoto said. "I thank you for everything you've done for me, Tagawa-sama, but I need to get back to my friends and to my sister. I've been gone for too long, even if it was to keep them safe."

Tagawa smiled gently at him. "Once you tell them that, I doubt they will be too angry with you. Frustrated, maybe, but not angry," she said.

"Except Tamaki but then it doesn't take much to get him angry," Naoto mused. He liked Tamaki, he really did, but Tamaki had probably one of the shortest tempers he'd ever seen, and he grew up with Kallen when she was in her bratty, temper-tantrum-every-five-seconds stage.

Tagawa chuckled. "Cherish your friends and your family, Naoto-kun, especially in this day and age," she said.

Naoto's eyes softened. "I do," he said. "By the way, do you think I can have a cane? It'd make it easier for me to walk."

"I had a feeling you'd ask for one. That's why I came down here actually," Tagawa said and held out what was in the hand behind her back. It was a sturdy-looking polished wooden cane. "It belonged to my husband but it's still very durable and I have no doubt it'll work for you. Go ahead and take it. I think he would have wanted you to have it since you need it."

Touched that she was giving away something that belonged to her late husband, Naoto took the cane. "Arigatou gozaimasu," he said quietly.

Tagawa smiled at him. "Douitashimashite," she said.

. . .

The blood. So much blood stained the ground. Falling, falling, drip, drip, drip. Darkness filled the room. There was no moon. There were no stars. At least, none that he could see; the sky was overcast and rain fell down in a heavy downpour, obscuring even the light from the lanterns that hung outside.

Drip. Drip. Blood. So much blood. It was everywhere. It stained everything. Its horrible coppery stench filling his nostrils, filling his sight. He couldn't escape it. He couldn't breathe. It was dark. Dark. Dark. Dark. Suffocating darkness. It had him in a choke-hold, the blood permeating the entire area, filling everything, its stench so strong, strong, strong…

"Hey, you stupid monkey! Get your head out of the clouds!" A shout sounded, breaking Shintaro Ihara out of the doze he had unintentionally fallen into. Gasping and starting, he just barely stop himself from jumping out of his seat in the mess hall. He blinked and gazed around, a faint flush of embarrassment on his cheeks as he heard some of the older soldiers snickering in cruel amusement and he looked down.

Falling asleep in the mess hall of all places? Shintaro had to resist the urge to groan and smack his head against the table in front of him. It hadn't been his fault that he had been unable to get to sleep the night before, that was due to the very nightmare that was bothering him now, but he knew enough not to say anything about it. The Britannians that he worked with wouldn't give a damn if he was being truly honest with himself; they would never resist the opportunity to sneer at and insult him and Shintaro had just given them perfect ammo to use against him.

He sighed, resting his chin on the palm of his hand and ignoring the sympathetic glances his fellow Honorary Britannians were giving him. They knew that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because he had woken them all up more than once with his screaming. At least they weren't cruel and they didn't get angry with him; they had just asked him if everything was all right and, when he refused to talk about anything, they left him alone.

According to his bunk mate, Kazuhiro, Shintaro wasn't the only one who had nightmares.

It was normal, especially for those who were Shintaro's age who'd been unfortunate enough to experience the invasion.

Shintaro shivered at the memory of the invasion and shoved it out of his mind, mostly because of how the invasion ended and because of the nightmare that still clung to his mind like a cobweb. He refocused his attention on the food in front of him, even if he wasn't very hungry and the unappetizing food made him even less hungry. He knew he had to eat, especially since they were likely going to be doing their evening drills soon.

Why am I here again?

Shintaro had been thinking about that question off and on since he applied to be an Honorary Britannian and joined the military when he was sixteen. He knew that one reason was because he wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, so that what happened during the invasion wouldn't happen again, even if it meant fighting against his own countryman.

He was seen as a traitor because of that but he couldn't understand why his own people couldn't seem to understand that he just wanted to protect people and that was what the military was supposed to do. That was what he had always been taught about the military and he believed that it didn't matter from where the military came, they all had the same goal.

He knew that Britannia has done many questionable things in the past and he wasn't naive enough into thinking that Numbers were being treated the same as Britannians but he knew that they still had their lives. That was something that they should cherish, that they shouldn't throw away over some lost cause, like those terrorists who insisted on fighting back against Britannia.

Shintaro knew that fighting to free Area 11 from Britannia's control was a lost cause. He was, according to Kazuhiro, a pessimist, but he strongly believed that he was right. The terrorism terrorists were using to free Area 11 was stupid; it would only cause much needless bloodshed. Even freedom fighters, whom Shintaro did see as separate from terrorists, were fighting for a losing cause.

Britannia was just too strong. Nothing those freedom fighters and terrorists did would change anything, not against the might of an empire that controlled one third of the entire world, so why should they give their lives for a cause that would never succeed? Why were they so willing to give their lives for a cause when fighting to protect the innocent was a much worthier cause?

He didn't have the answers to any of those questions and he likely never would.

Another reason that Shintaro had joined the military, and was fighting for Britannia, was because he knew that not all of Britannia was bad as those terrorists and freedom fighters seemed to think. He had met a few Britannians who weren't bad, two of whom had become his closest friends seven years earlier.

He smiled a little as he forced himself to eat some of the unappetizing food in front of him and his thoughts drifted to Prince Lelouch vi Britannia and Princess Nunnally vi Britannia. The prince and princess who had come to live at the Kururugi Shrine; the prince and princess that Shintaro had become fast friends with—he had become friends with the prince a lot sooner than Suzaku had—and who proved that Britannians weren't all bad.

Even if Lelouch was a bit rough around the edges at first, and he and Suzaku had disliked each other at first glance, he had warmed up to both Suzaku and Shintaro during the almost year that he and his little sister had been staying with Suzaku's family. By the time the invasion rolled around, the three of them had become nearly inseparable friends.

I haven't thought about either of them in a while, Shintaro thought, spooning some more slop into his mouth and chewing, though he wasn't really tasting what he was eating. He was too lost in his thoughts. I wonder how they're doing.

He hoped that Suzaku and Lelouch were all right, Suzaku especially, and Nunnally of course. The brown-haired princess was a sweetheart and it was thanks to her that Shintaro and Suzaku got to see a side of Lelouch very few people got to see.

As he thought about those two, his thoughts drifted to that nightmare that he had the night before and he shivered again, especially when his thoughts drifted to Suzaku. Guilt gnawed at him but Shintaro pushed it away, focusing on the now; nothing could change the past and Shintaro could only hope that his best friend, with whom he had been raised, never learned of what happened, of what his nightmare was alluding to.

No, he would keep that to himself, just as he had from almost everyone for the past seven years. Only a few knew the truth and they hated him for it, he knew, but no one else did.

Shintaro was planning on keeping it that way.

So he focused on the happier times that he had with Suzaku, Lelouch, and Nunnally.

I would like to see them again, he thought. At the very least, I'd like to confirm that Suzaku's safe and Lelouch and Nunnally found the Ashfords.

"Yo, Earth to Shin, you in there?" Kazuhiro's voice broke Shintaro out of his thoughts as did the hand waving in front of his face.

"Calm down with the waving, Kazu. You're gonna poke my eye out," Shintaro said with a light chuckle as he swatted the hand away.

"Well, you were spacing out again," Kazuhiro said with a shrug. "You've got a bad habit of doing that. What're you even thinking about?"

"Nothing important," Shintaro said, avoiding his eyes and looking around the Mess Hall, noticing that there weren't that many people left. "Are the drills starting soon?"

"Yeah, we've gotta head out to the field now," Kazuhiro said and stood up. "C'mon, Mr. Spaces Out All The Time."

Shintaro rolled his eyes and stood up, forcing a grin onto his face. "I wouldn't be talking 'bout spacing out, Mr. Can't Keep His Eyes Off Natalie. What're you doing? Undressing her with your eyes?" He bolted after he said that, laughing and thankful that it was only Honorary Britannians left in that area of the base; everyone else was already at their designated spots on the field.

"Why you…? Get back here, you little bastard," Kazuhiro shouted and ran after him.

Shintaro chuckled as they neared the exit leading out of the base and he slowed down to a walk. That sudden bout of laughter had helped him to push aside the memory and he was thankful for that. He didn't want to relive that incident and teasing Kazuhiro and laughing helped.

Some people say that laughter was the best sort of medicine.

Shintaro found that it was also true that laughter was the best way of getting one's mind off the bad things that they were thinking about.

. . .

Gunfire. Screams of pain. A bloodbath. That was what it was. Blood stained the walls, the carpet, the furniture, the bodies that lay in crimson pools on the ground. Soldiers stood around the bodies, not looking the slightest bit affected by the amount of blood around them. Britannians.

The bodies on the ground, each bleeding from vicious bullet wounds to their torsos, their heads, their necks. All of them he recognized because all of them he had seen fall; every last one of them, he saw fall at the hands of Britannia. He had heard the crack of the gun each time it was fired; he had seen the bullet sink into the bodies of each and every fallen person; he could still smell the coppery stench of blood permeating the area. He couldn't get it out of his mind; nothing could get the scene out of his mind, nothing. It was imprinted there, never to be removed, to forever haunt him…

Suzaku Kururugi yanked himself out of the nap he had been taking and the result was him tumbling off the little cot that he was calling a bed. He winced when he landed on the ground and pushed himself to his knees, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking around.

Sunlight streamed in through the broken window and Suzaku, getting to his feet, noticed that the sun was hovering above the horizon. "Didn't realize I had taken that long of a nap," he mused and yawned. "This probably means I'm not going to get much sleep tonight."

It wasn't uncommon. Suzaku had been suffering from nightmares of the day the invasion of Japan began and it always intruded upon his sleep. He never could get a full, restful sleep because of them; sometimes, he could get six hours of sleep but he couldn't seem to stay asleep for much longer than that. It got to the point where he'd trained his body to function on anywhere from one hour to six hours of sleep a night.

The day the invasion began was something that Suzaku would never forget. He couldn't. It was the day he had lost everyone, and he had seen them all fall, killed by Britannia. He had seen those Britannian soldiers pull the trigger, watched as his beloved cousin Kaguya, Kaguya's parents, and his own parents fell to the hailstorm of bullets.

If it hadn't been for Tohdoh, he probably would have given away his position and gotten killed himself.

And would have gotten Lelouch and Nunnally killed as well.

Suzaku didn't blame Lelouch and Nunnally for what Britannia did and that was only for two reasons. One reason was that Nunnally was far too much of a sweetheart to have anything to do with what Britannia did. The second reason was that Suzaku had seen the look on Lelouch's face whenever Britannia or anything relating to the Emperor, usually the latter, was simply mentioned, even if it was in passing.

The look of complete and utter hatred.

Lelouch hated Britannia, though Suzaku also knew that his hatred was more focused on the Emperor himself than on anyone else.

There was no way that Lelouch could fake that kind of emotion. It was so strong, especially whenever the Emperor was mentioned, that it always broke through the apathetic mask that Lelouch usually wore. And if an emotion could break through Lelouch's mask without him noticing, since he was practically hyper-aware of everything, then it had to be true.

Since Lelouch hated his birth country and his father, Suzaku knew that he couldn't have been behind what happened to his father and his family.

There was also a third reason too. Lelouch had admitted to Suzaku, Shintaro, and Nunnally, while they were trekking across the war-torn Japan trying to find safety, that Japan had become more of a home to him than Pendragon could ever be, and that he saw the Kururugi family as more his family than the Emperor could ever be. Suzaku would have to admit he was touched by that, not just because this was Lelouch and Lelouch rarely ever let anyone know what he was truly feeling, but also because it meant that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was after losing his family.

Seven years have gone by and Suzaku had been so busy that he hadn't really had the chance to see whether his two best friends and Nunnally had gotten to safety. He knew that it was likely, since Shintaro had stayed with Suzaku until they had reached the Kururugi safe house and his family's own safe house was only about a mile away, and Lelouch and Nunnally were Britannian. He hoped that meant that they wouldn't be harmed, especially once they were in the heart of Tokyo, the first city to fall to Britannia's invading forces.

Shaking his head and pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Suzaku focused on things that were going on now, especially things concerning the terrorist movements within the Shinjuku Ghetto or lack thereof. There was only one resistance group in the Shinjuku Ghetto and they had gone to ground when their leader disappeared three months earlier.

Suzaku was honestly surprised that he hadn't moved on to another ghetto, and another terrorist organization, in the past three months. He supposed that there was just something about Naoto Kozuki that kept him around. There was also the fact that Naoto reminded him of someone he knew, of someone whom he never thought he'd ever become best friends with.

Naoto Kozuki actually reminded him, a little, of Lelouch.

He honestly had no clue why though and he wondered if he was just thinking that because he missed them. He missed Lelouch and Nunnally, just as he missed Shintaro; they had been through so much together during the invasion and, while Suzaku understood the reasoning behind their separation, he hadn't wanted to leave them.

Especially not so soon after losing his entire family.

He decided that he would stick around for a little longer. He wasn't affiliated with Naoto's Resistance but he didn't mind helping them out whenever they needed it; they weren't like the Blood of the Samurai.

Suzaku's lips twisted into a frown. No matter how much he hated Britannia, he still could never condone the deaths of innocents, Britannian or otherwise. The Blood of the Samurai hadn't cared about any innocents that were caught in the crossfire of their attacks; they never actively sought out civilians, no, but any civilian that got in their way was killed, no matter if they were Britannian or Japanese.

That was why Suzaku refused to work with them ever again.

Maybe that was why he remained nearby to help Naoto's Resistance. Naoto shared the same sentiment he had about the innocents and about the need to lessen civilian causalities whenever and wherever they could.

A knock sounded on his door and Suzaku, grabbing his black trenchcoat and throwing it on, lowered the hood over his eyes and walked over to the door. He opened it a crack and inclined his head once before stepping aside. "Come in," he said.

The door opened further as a bushy-black-haired young man made his way into the room, a red headband wrapped around his head. He closed the door quietly behind him and stood across from Suzaku, fidgeting nervously.

"We need your help," he said finally.

"With what?" Suzaku asked.

"Do you remember, three months ago, when Naoto said that he believed Clovis was planning something and that he had a spy trying to figure out what?"

"Yes."

"Well, the spy just reported in. We know what Clovis is creating and we need to get it out of Britannia's hands before they can unleash it," the bushy-black-haired young man said.

"And you want my help to retrieve this 'item', whatever it is, Ohgi?"

"We've got a plan, of sorts," the man, Ohgi, said. "We just need you as backup in case things go south. We...don't want a repeat of what happened three months ago."

"That hadn't been Naoto's fault anymore than it had been yours, Ohgi. You both were just unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens, more often than you would think," Suzaku said. "Believe me, I've seen it happen many times in the past couple of years." And he had; since he had gone off on his own, he had been unfortunate enough to witness that happening a lot.

Ohgi sighed. "I know," he said.

"But you think that if I'm there to help you then it'll only help." It wasn't a question.

Ohgi answered anyway with a slight nod. "Besides, we both know that you're an ace knightmare pilot so you could help if we could get you into a knightmare," he said.

The only reason they knew that Suzaku was an ace knightmare pilot was because, during the incident three months ago, Suzaku had used a stolen Glasgow to fight off the Britannian knightmares that had been attacking Naoto's team; Ohgi, who'd been the only survivor—that wasn't in hiding—had been amazed.

Even Naoto, when he regained consciousness, had admitted that Suzaku was one hell of a pilot.

"Yeah, like Kallen will let me anywhere near her precious Glasgow," Suzaku said with an amused smile.

"True," Ohgi said with a chuckle. "But, still, will you help us?"

"First off, do you know, exactly, what this item is?"

"The spy...he says that it's poison gas," Ohgi said softly.

Suzaku's jaw clenched. Poison gas. Why am I not surprised Britannia would make something like this? He thought. "When and where?" he said. He was not about to let poison gas remain in Britannia's hands if he could help it, not when it could lead to an all-out massacre.

"Monday afternoon. You'll be our backup in the old subway tunnel at the rendezvous. If we are in need of help then we'll call; if not then you'll just meet our getaway driver there. Hopefully, the plan will go off without a hitch though," Ohgi said.

Suzaku inclined his head and smiled again. "You've really come a long way as a leader, Ohgi," he said honestly. "You're not nearly as nervous as you were three months ago."

"T...Thank you," Ohgi said and sighed. "I don't see why you won't lead us though."

Suzaku chuckled. "I'm more of a fighter than a leader, Ohgi," he said. "And, besides, I prefer working on my own."

"Will you always work on your own?"

Suzaku hummed. "Maybe. I don't really know," he said with a shrug. He hadn't really thought about joining anyone but he supposed that anything was possible. "I'll see you Monday afternoon. You know how to contact me."

Ohgi nodded. "I will see you then," he said and turned around, walking toward the door. He paused and then added, "And thank you, Lone Wolf," before he disappeared out the door.

. . .

Next Time: Skirmish in the Shinjuku Ghetto

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: and there you have it! The first chapter of my newest CG fic! I really hope you enjoy it. Here are some notes...

Blaze: excuse me for a moment (walks out of the computer room) Bakura! Suzaku! Kallen! Lelouch! Get in here! You need to do the notes! (Walks back into computer room)

Bakura: (walks into computer room) Ra, Blaze, did you have to yell?

Suzaku: (walks into computer room) I was heading this way anyway

Kallen: (walks into computer room) so was I

Lelouch: (walks into computer room) let's make this quick. I have an Emperor to kill again

Suzaku: as usual, you sadistic bastard

Lelouch: once again, when it comes to the Emperor, I don't deny it. Anyway, Blaze would like to say that her first note is that, for this story, there are going to be OCs but, unlike in Rise of the Black King, most of these OCs are side characters who will, hopefully, not be flat characters; however, there will be four major OC characters, two are introduced in this chapter, the third will be introduced in chapter two, and the fourth will be introduced in chapter four.

Suzaku: Blaze's second note is this story has a complicated plot so if things don't make sense right now, more likely than not, it will make sense by the end (or the end of the sequel).

Kallen: Blaze's third note is about the pairings. The main pairing is Lelouch and me with Suzaku likely being paired with an original character (she loves the Suza/Euphie pairing to death but she has stated that it just won't work for this story) but there are other pairings but she won't reveal them because it will constitute spoilers.

Bakura: Blaze's fourth note is that the events of Akito the Exiled will be touched upon in this story but they will occur far earlier than in canon and, thus, Akito Hyuga, Shin Hyuga Shing, Leila Malcal, and other characters that are introduced in Akito the Exiled will be in this story, and play a pretty large role toward the end and in the sequel.

Lelouch: (studies the list of notes to see if they got everything) hmm, I feel I'm missing something (keeps scanning the list) ah, here it is: Blaze's fifth note is this story expands upon just what (in her eyes and in the eyes of this story) the World of C truly is in regards to alternate dimensions and the powers of Code Bearers. Basically, this story explores the World of C, Geass, and Codes far more thoroughly (and likely less canonically since she doubts this thorough exploration is canon and she doesn't pretend it will be).

Suzaku: final note, I know that people might not be happy with the usage of Japanese but here's her explanation. Britannia has taken away everything from the Japanese people. Is it really a big leap that they would take away their language and make it so that the language is banned and the Japanese don't speak it out of fear of retaliation? That is the way it's going to be in this story so there will be use of Japanese words but only little ones, like expressions of gratitude and that kind of thing, and honorifics throughout this story. Also, the Japanese may not be correct but I did my best (and actually did some research to try to ensure that I use the appropriate words and honorifics).

Blaze: welp, that was a long ass author's note. I think my muses got everything down but if there's something I missed then I can always mention it in a later chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of my brand-new Code Geass fic and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.