A/N: As I said in "Visits", I felt like this story worked better as a second story rather than a continuation. So here it is: Redemption.

Lelouch vi Britannia, the infamous Zero, was in the Vermillion City, looking out towards the setting sun. It was strangely beautiful. But he had things to do. A coup to co-opt. A nation to break apart.

He prepared to leave when he felt something press against his back. He glanced slightly behind himself and saw Suzaku glowering at him. "Zero," he said quietly, "I'm only going to ask you this once. Is there a way to remove geass?"

Lelouch said nothing.

The door to the balcony opened and Kallen came out. "Ze- Suzaku!" Kallen said, "Schneizel said-"

"Tell me, Zero," Suzaku said. He pressed the gun further into Lelouch's back.

Lelouch kept his gaze on him. Why was he trying this now? "What is geass?" Lelouch said slowly.

Suzaku grimaced and he put his gun down. "Don't harass his majesty tomorrow, Zero. This was agreed to by the Chinese empress too," Suzaku snapped, and he stormed away as Kallen ran up to Zero.

"Are you ok?" Kallen said once he was gone. Lelouch nodded.

He decided to worry later about Suzaku and Eberhardt from the party earlier. "Kallen," Lelouch said, "contact CC and tell her to begin moving in the flagship. Then go find Kaguya and tell her we'll be leaving soon."

"Understood," Kallen said, and she walked away.

He waited until Kallen had completely left then said, "you can come speak to me now, doctor. We're alone."

Dr. Max Eberhardt walked out onto the balcony. "I'm glad you picked up on that, Zero," Eberhardt said. "Acting in front of Schneizel is hard enough."

"I figured you had more to ask than just whether I'm the old Zero or not, Dr. Eberhardt," Lelouch said. "You are a long-standing royal physician. What I do should have no impact on you. So why do you care who I am?"

"Why do I care? It's not so much for me, but for a patient of mine," Eberhardt said. He walked over to the balcony and looked out at the city. "What if I told you that I have a patient I saved on the Avalon?"

"When was this?"

"Right before the Black Rebellion," Eberhardt said. He glanced at Lelouch and said, "of course, I can't tell you too much. That would violate my oaths as a physician. But I can guess that Suzaku was probably threatening you over that." A harsh gust of wind blew Lelouch's cape, and a thought came to Lelouch – a tiny glimmer of hope. Eberhardt fell silent. Once the wind was gone, he said, "I wish I knew a way to dispel geass, but for now I don't know how."

"So you know what geass is?" Lelouch said.

Eberhardt smiled. "I can recognize it when I see it," he said. "It's very familiar to me." He was silent for almost a minute, looking out at the city, then said, "I think I know who the old Zero was. That he had geass. Now he plays at being a student at a local high school, like before. I'm not actually going to ask you if you are the same. But if you are…"

"If I am?"

"Then please, protect my patient," Eberhardt said. "I learned tonight that the time will come soon when they need protection from Britannia. The only salvation may be with you."

"By any chance," Lelouch said, trying to quash any emotion as he spoke, "is your patient a princess?"

Eberhardt smiled. "Patients are all the same to me," he said. "I'm just giving you forewarning. I hope, for your sake, nothing bad happens to them."

"Understood," Lelouch said. Eberhardt nodded and left, and Lelouch couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope: that Euphy had survived his shot.

The flicker was confirmed a few weeks later, when Rolo told him a strange girl was at their door, and Lelouch went to the door to see Euphemia, looking a little worse for wear. She had glasses on, and Lelouch could tell they weren't just for disguise. Her eyes themselves looked duller than he remembered. Her hair was shorter and paler and tucked as much as she could in a hat. Her skin was whiter than he remembered, like she hadn't been in sunlight in a long time.

But still, it was his sister. His sister, who he'd turned into a monster, who was in Japan now without killing any Japanese. His sister, seemingly cured from the curse of geass.

After she went to bed, all Lelouch could do was start laughing in joy.

But as he drifted off to sleep, a single thought started coursing through his mind: the massacre itself. He hadn't really thought about it – after all, he had no plan on ever stating what had actually happened between him and Euphemia, and why she had really snapped. And he knew people like Suzaku weren't about to start going around and telling people. But Euphy was such that she would probably try and tell people what had happened, because she needed to clear her own name and apologize for her actions.

All this meant that a reckoning was going to come in. Lelouch had to decide how to handle that.

That night, he dreamt of shooting Euphy again.

The next day at school was very strange. Euphy, the nightmare, the massacre – it was all weighing down on Lelouch. He almost fell asleep in three classes. Suzaku was faring no better – he seemed both antsy and more fake and angry than ever before, and something told Lelouch that it was best not to tell him where Euphy was right now. Strangest of all, Shirley was avoiding him.

A thought occurred to him towards the end of the day, after noting that, all day, Shirley hadn't been at school. Euphy was free of geass. If whatever process had been done that was applied to Shirley, then she would remember who he was and what he had done to her father. But he had no way of knowing without finding Shirley. She wasn't answering her phone, so for lack of anything better to do for now he decided to go visit Euphy.

He found her cooking in his kitchen. "I'm so glad to cook for real again," Euphy said when Lelouch walked in.

"They didn't let you in prison?"

"I was a danger to everyone."

"Oh… sorry."

She nodded and turned back to her food. Lelouch's phone buzzed. Shirley? But it wasn't her – it was a Black Knight contact. The trains had come in. "I need to go pay a visit to the train station," Lelouch said, "be safe."

Euphy nodded.

Euphy finished eating her tomato soup and was washing out the pot when she heard the front door open and close. She put the pot down and peeked out from the kitchen. No one was there.

Rolo and Sayoko weren't in, and Lelouch had been gone for half an hour. Euphy frowned. Maybe she'd imagined it… a side-effect from geass' removal. She prepared to go back to the pot.

Then she heard a thud from outside. She gasped and rushed over to the door and looked through the peephole. Outside, Sayoko was lying on the ground, and in the distance was what looked like a cyborg. Rolo moved in, and the cyborg froze – and then an orange sphere emerged around the cyborg, and he easily defeated Rolo.

Orange sphere… "that was what freed me," Euphy said to herself.

She rushed to get her disguise back on then rushed outside. "You just missed Viletta," Sayoko said, and she coughed and said, "Jeremiah is going after Master Lelouch. Rolo's gone to provide reinforcements…"

"Alright," Euphy said, and she brought Sayoko inside before running back outside.

Tracing Rolo wasn't too hard, and Euphy knew enough about driving that it was easy enough for her to follow Rolo in a school car while Rolo drove what looked like a stolen motorbike through the highways. Rolo got off at a mall currently filled with billowing smoke and he ran in. Euphy saw Suzaku momentarily, talking to emergency workers… but she decided to rush inside instead.

She found guards lying on the ground with several guns on the floor. Euphy looked around and bit her lip. "That must've been the cyborg," she said aloud, and she picked up one of the guns. She doubted it would work well on him but protecting herself and Lelouch was more important.

She continued through the hallways, quietly, on the lookout for potential threats. She wondered what the doctors would think about her crawling around a bit of Japan, armed, again.

She tensed up when she saw a figure moving in the smoke. It didn't look like the cyborg. "Who are you!?" Euphy said, holding her gun up at the figure. Her hands were shaking.

A tall, orange-haired girl stepped out of the smoke. She had a gun herself, pointed at Euphy. "Who are you?" the girl said.

"Um, a- a friend of Lelouch's," Euphy said.

The girl's face brightened. "Really?" she said, "me too! I'm Shirley. I could swear I've seen you somewhere before…"

"I-I'm not surprised," Euphy said, "I'm, uh, I'm Euphy."

"Euphy… wait," Shirley said, and she held her gun up right at Euphy, "you're Suzaku's girlfriend. The massacre princess, the one that killed all those people-"

"No – I mean, yes, but I – I didn't mean to!" Euphy said, taking a step back, "I was forced-"

"Did… did Lulu do it on purpose?" Shirley said, her suspicion being wiped with a look of discomfort.

Euphy quickly shook her head. "He didn't mean to either, Shirley, we were going to work together!" Euphy said.

A third figure stepped out of the smoke – Rolo. "What are you two doing with guns?" he said, looking between the two.

"We're trying to find the cyborg," Euphy said quickly.

"Rolo," Shirley said, and she added, "you're helping Lulu too, right? Helping Zero?"

Another unreadable something flashed across Rolo's face. "Yeah," he said, "you're not trying to find him, are you?"

"Of course," Euphy said, "we need to help him. He's in danger, right?"

Rolo's face went blank as he stared at Euphy. "We're trying to help him reunite with Nunna," Shirley said, "that's all, Rolo."

"Your little sister now too, Rolo!" Euphy added quickly.

Rolo looked down, away from both of them. "Little sister?" he said.

Then they all looked up as they heard two sets of feet coming towards them. "This is the knight of seven!" Suzaku's voice said, distantly. "Come forward or face Britannian might!"

From the other direction, Euphy picked up on Lelouch's voice saying, "why isn't Sayoko picking up?"

"Does Suzaku know about Lulu?" Shirley said.

Rolo shook his head. "His cover might be blown!" Rolo said, "maybe I should-"

"No!" Euphy said, shaking her head harshly, "please, Rolo, don't put Suzaku in danger." She bit her lip and said, "Shirley, hold me hostage."

"Huh?"

"Make it look like you want to kill me! When Lelouch shows up, he can stop me, and then he can keep up his cover!" Euphy said. She didn't actually know what cover Rolo was talking about, but it was clearly important.

Shirley nodded. "Right!" she said, and she held her gun up to Euphy. Euphy leveled her gun at Shirley too. And then she waited for Lelouch and Suzaku to arrive.

Events moved quickly: Jeremiah, of all people, showed up to attack the school. Rolo said he had a geass canceller. Fortunately, he wasn't looking for Euphy. Unfortunately, he was looking for Lelouch. However, Lelouch had ended up receiving unusual company before that: running into Suzaku, who he guessed was still looking for Euphy, this time on foot, and then Shirley, who had an emotional meltdown and tried to jump off the roof. Lelouch had surprised himself by jumping after her with no regard for himself, and he probably would have died with Shirley if Suzaku hadn't saved them. And then Jeremiah had arrived, and Lelouch sent Suzaku and Shirley away.

The meeting with Jeremiah ended up being better than he could have ever imagined, as he now got a perfectly loyal soldier to Marianne and her son. And then he'd set back through the mall and wound up finding Shirley, Rolo, and Euphy. All three had guns.

Shirley was staring in disbelief, and Euphy was looking at her almost warily. Rolo glanced up at Lelouch and then away towards the hall, then ran off. "Shirley?" Lelouch said, walking up to them, "what are you-"

"Guys!" Suzaku called, and he ran up to the three. "Wait- Euphy?"

Euphy looked at him. "Suzaku," she said, "what're you-"

"I-I thought you were dead!" Shirley said. She glanced at Suzaku and then her hands started trembling and she pointed her gun at Euphy's head. "You- do you know how many people died because of you-"

"Don't blame her!" Suzaku snarled, stepping in front of Euphy, "blame-"

"Zero," Lelouch said, stepping in front of Shirley. He eased the gun out of her hand and said, "blame Zero, Shirley. Not her." Suzaku breathed in sharply, but he lowered his arms. Lelouch let Shirley's gun drop and then turned to Suzaku and Euphy. "Isn't that right, Suzaku?" Lelouch added.

Suzaku was quiet for a second, and then looked down. "Yeah," Suzaku said, "that's right."

Lelouch turned back to Shirley, who was looking at him wide-eyed. Then she nodded. "Alright, Lulu," Shirley said. "Um, I'll wait for you outside." She walked away, and Lelouch turned back to Euphy and Suzaku.

"I'm right about Zero, aren't I?" Lelouch said, crossing his arms. "Officially, Princess Euphemia went crazy or something and tried to kill the Japanese. But rumor has it that Zero met with her before that all started."

Suzaku was clearly trying to hide a glare at Lelouch as he said, "and do you know how that happened?"

Lelouch shook his head. "Torture, maybe. Or a hostage. I'm afraid I don't know," he said, shrugging. He looked at Euphy and said, "I suppose I owe a royal proper respect, however." He knelt down and said, "I am Lelouch Lamperouge, your highness. Please forgive my girlfriend. She has a big heart and doesn't always think through her actions."

Euphy stepped out from behind Suzaku. "Um… did she lose someone in the – in the massacre?" Euphy said.

Lelouch thought for a second, then said, "I've… never pressed her on it."

Euphy nodded, then said, "also, Lelouch, why are you-"

But Suzaku took her hand and shook his head. Lelouch barely hid his smirk at this – Suzaku was helping to keep his cover. "It's been an honor to meet you, my lady," Lelouch said, standing again. "Suzaku, did you catch the terrorist?"

"I… no," Suzaku said, quickly releasing Euphy's hand. "But… I've got to help Eu- the Princess right now."

"Alright. Until later," Lelouch said. He waved goodbye to them and quickly found Shirley in the hallway. It seemed she'd been listening in. "Do you think he bought it?" Lelouch said once he estimated they were out of earshot.

"I hope so," Shirley said. "He didn't notice my bad acting, at least. Um, Lulu, did you mean to-"

"No," Lelouch said. "I can't tell you how happy I was to see her alive."

Shirley nodded. Then she bit her lip and said, "she said something like that. When did you find her?"

"She showed up at my house last night," Lelouch replied. They walked further into the mall and he said, "Schneizel's trying to kill her. I just hope Suzaku will listen to her."

Shirley nodded. "We ran into each other and then that boy showed up – uh, Rolo. I hope he's ok too," Shirley said.

Lelouch smiled at this. Her memory had been more affected by the geass canceller than he realized. "Rolo will survive," he said. "C'mon." They were approaching the exit of the mall, so he slipped his hand into Shirley's. "Let's get out of here."

Suzaku lead Euphy through the smoky rooms and then said, "forgive me, Euphy. I have to take you back now," as he tore a strip of cloth off of her shirt.

"Suzaku!" Euphy said, "no, please, don't!"

"I'm sorry. It's for your own good," Suzaku said. His mind was still working over the implications of his meeting with Lelouch and Shirley. He didn't know where Shirley had found a gun, or, for that matter, Euphy. He just hoped that she hadn't shot any Japanese yet. But the most important thing was that Lelouch didn't recognize Euphy – and he defended Euphy against Shirley by saying that Zero had been the killer.

Was it possible that normal Euphy was right, and Lelouch hadn't meant to transform her?

"And if you bring me back, I'll die! Please don't do that to me!"

Suzaku was snapped out of his thoughts by Euphy. She was struggling with her makeshift handcuffs, tears in her eyes. "You won't die if I put you back in your apartment," Suzaku said. He sighed and said, "I'll move you to a new apartment. You've probably seen this was Japan by now. The next place won't be."

"Suzaku, I don't care if I'm in Japan!" Euphy yelled. "I-I've been hiding out since yesterday, and I haven't killed anyone! It wouldn't even occur to me anymore!"

"What are you talking about?" Suzaku said, turning to face her.

And then his eyes went wide when he looked into hers. The red fringe was gone.

"Please, Suzaku!" Euphy said, "I-I command you, as my knight, to listen to me!"

Suzaku was too stunned to say anything. The red fringe… "how?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Euphy said, "but I don't want to kill anymore! The pain that went with that – it's gone! It's all gone!"

"You – you –" Suzaku wanted to say that she had tried this before, the red fringe was completely gone. Somehow, geass was gone. He laughed and gave her a big hug. "I hope you feel a lot better now, Euphy."

"Suzaku…"

He undid her restraint, and then he threw his arms around her as they kissed. They broke off, and Suzaku said, "I- should we tell the Emperor? Or Schneizel?"

"No!" Euphy said, "we can't tell him!"

"Schneizel?" Suzaku said, "why not? He made sure you could come to Japan with me."

"Schneizel wants me dead," Euphy said.

"Says who?" Suzaku said.

"Says us," came the voice of Max.

Suzaku turned around, and saw Max and Julie walk out of the smoke. "While you were in China, Sir Kanon called me and told me to set up the computer systems so that they would stop taking recording on a certain day," Julie said. She was looking down and said softly, "I-I did it, but it felt wrong. I knew what might happen."

"And I got a call too," Max said. He held up his phone and said, "here."

He pressed a button, and the distinct voice of Kanon came over: "Dr. Eberhardt, we have orders from the Prime Minister. Your patient is too dangerous. We've decided to, ah, transfer her ourselves. Don't tell Kururugi, or your life will be forfeit too."

"Then- when you Schneizel talked to you in China," Suzaku said, instinctively taking Euphy's hand and trying to guide her behind him to protect her. She didn't move. "That was to confirm-"

"Yes," Max said. "But killing a patient, or stepping aside to allow it, is against my oath as a doctor. I decided to figure out what to do to protect Princess Euphemia. So I decided to see if I could figure out if that Zero was the same one that shot her."

"And what do you think?" Suzaku said.

"I don't know," Max said. "I couldn't probe much with Prince Schneizel there."

"Then…"

"Schneizel wants me dead so he can control you, Suzaku," Euphy said. "I'm not safe here, anymore."

"Then what do we do?" Suzaku said, "do we run away? Is this the time?"

"Nunnally still needs you," Euphy said. She looked at Max and said, "what do you think?"

"Our options are Europe, Australia, or the Black Knights and their alliance," Max said.

"The Black Knights would be the easiest to get to, and they have no extradition treaty like the other two," Julie said. "If anyone, I'd say them."

"That's out of question!" Suzaku barked.

"Suzaku," Euphy said, turning him so she could look him in the eyes again, "I think we should trust them."

"Why?"

"Because they're our best option. I think Zero feels guilty for what happened."

"Have you talked to him?" Suzaku said.

Euphy bit her lip and shook her head. Suzaku took a deep breath. Euphy was bad at lying. She probably had. But…

"We'll go wherever the princess wants to go," Max said.

"Then… I'll leave it up to you, Euphy," Suzaku said.

"Then I choose the Black Knights," Euphy said.

Suzaku nodded. "I want to call him, then," Suzaku said, "let me be the traitor for this."

"Alright." She took a paper from her clothes and handed it to Suzaku. It was a number written in her very neat handwriting. "This… this is Zero's number."

"Understood," Suzaku said, taking the number.

"You'd be willing to work with him?" Euphy said.

"I'd work with the devil himself if it meant protecting you," Suzaku replied. He looked at the paper, and then took out his phone. He took in a deep breath and said, "I swear it."