"What do you say to a brother you've only just met after 14 years?"

Though Rolo kept his back to the other, stubbornly remaining silent, he'd visibly stiffened at those words.

"...Welcome home, perhaps?"

----

"...Mm, I'm home."

Lelouch dropped his schoolbag into one of the dining rooms chairs, heaving a sigh.

"Welcome home, Onii-sama!" The voice that greeted him was sweetly cheerful, as a young girl wheeled into sight, bound to her chair by useless legs.

His mouth broke into a gentle smile, the one her reserved just for her. "How was your day?" she asked, returning a smile she was unable to see.

"Typical, boring, the same as always," he replied nonchalantly, crouching beside her wheelchair and smoothing down her wavy locks of honey brown. "And how was your day, Nunnally?" He pronounced his sister's name as if it were something to be treasured dearly.

She giggled at his touch. "Sayoko-san showed me more origami today! Though, I still like the cranes best..." Nunnally caught his hand in hers, surprisingly deft for a blind child, and held it lightly. "Oh, and C.C.-san came over!"

At this news, Lelouch's face fell, yet Nunnally continued on unaware of this. "She did origami with us for a while, and she ordered a pizza for all of us, too! Isn't that nice of her? Sayoko-san seemed happy that she didn't have to cook as well..."

"Yes, that's very nice of her," Lelouch replied in a strained tone, running a hand through his own dark hair in exasperation. "I'll have to remember to thank her later. And where are Sayoko and C.C. now?"

"Oh, C.C.-san said she had to go home a little while ago," she answered, "And Sayoko-san went to run me a bath."

He stood as she released his hand. "Aa, that's good then. Why don't you go get washed up now?"

"Alright, Onii-sama."

She wheeled herself off to the bathroom from where sounds of running water and Sayoko humming to herself drifted, and Lelouch went to his own bedroom. Slipping inside and locking the door behind him, he turned a glare on the green-haired girl lounging on his bed and eating a slice of pizza, the box half-empty next to her.

"'Had to go home,' huh?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "And I've told you, don't eat on my bed. You'll leave crumbs."

"I grew bored of folding paper," the girl said simply. She blatantly ignored his request, picking up another slice instead.

"Didn't I also say not to order pizza on my credit card without my permission, C.C.?"

She shrugged, rolling onto her stomach and picking at the comforter, careless of the grease she was getting on it. "It made your sister happy, didn't it? You should be grateful."

Lelouch scowled at the stains she was leaving on the sheets. Didn't that witch know how hard it was to wash out grease stains? And he'd have to do it himself, considering how difficult it would be to explain to Sayoko how the stains got there in the first place. "Whatever," he muttered, taking a seat at his desk and flipping open his laptop.

A few minutes passed in silence, nothing but the sounds of Lelouch tapping away at his keyboard and C.C. chewing on cheese and pizza crust. It was a silence the prince was thoroughly enjoying. So of course, the damned witch had to break it.

"Ne, Lelouch, you love Nunnally, right?"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Obviously," he replied. After all, he'd hardly be resorting to terrorist acts if he didn't.

C.C.'s voice broke in again. "Unconditionally?"

"Of course."

"Even if she didn't care about you?"

What a stupid thought. "Yes."

"Even if she'd been lying to you all along?"

Lelouch gritted his teeth, trying to keep his voice even. It was quite difficult, C.C. seemed to love nothing more than driving him nuts. "Nunnally wouldn't lie to me."

"It's a hypothetical question, Lelouch."

"Then yes. Even if she lied, I'd still love her."

"Why?"

Exasperated, the brunette boy turned away from the screen of his laptop to face her. "Why are you asking all of these idiotic questions?"

C.C. treated him to a smirk. "What, afraid to do a bit of actual thinking about these sort of things, boy?"

"Tch." He turned back to his work with a huff, choosing to ignore the 'boy' comment. "Fine. I love her because she's my sister. It's only natural. Happy now?"

Much to Lelouch's annoyance, the witch persisted. "What if she weren't your sister?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Answer the question, Lelouch."

"I won't," he snapped. "It's unnecessary and stupid, now will you shut up so I can get some work done?"

C.C. pursed her lips, looking only a bit less irritated than the prince. How dare he speak so rudely to her, regardless of what she said to him, because the whole rudeness thing didn't work both ways, so she didn't need to worry about it herself. A few more minutes passes in silence before she spoke up again.

"Ne, Lelouch..."

Lelouch felt his eye twitch. "What, C.C.?"

She paused for a moment, her golden eyes lacking their usual lofty mirth. "Lelouch..." she repeated gingerly, searching for the best way to word her question. When she found nothing suitably polite, she just went with her more typical blunt phrasing. "What would you do if I told you she wasn't really your sister?"

He narrowed his eyes at the green-haired girl, giving her a cold violet stare. "I said enough of your silly hypothetical questions."

"Who said this one was hypothetical?"

"Huh?"

"I'm being serious, Lelouch," C.C. drawled. She faced him fully, the pizza beside her temporarily abandoned. "What will you do...if I tell you Nunnally is not really your sister?"

Aaaand chapter 1 done! =D Sorry that this first chapter is a bit short, they get longer from here on out. And apologies if these early chapters aren't as good as the ones that will come, setting up a plot as a background for a love story is difficult, and as much as I would love to just jump right into the LuluRolo, I have an obsessive need to set up an entire story before anything else... XD; Hope it satisfies nonetheless. And for those who are waiting for the yaoi and brotherly love to begin, have patience. This is gonna be a loooong fic, so it'll be a few chapters before we get there XD; And sorry for the lack of Rolo this first chapter, I promise the next one should satisfy his fans more =D

I'm aiming to upload a chapter a week, updates occuring on Sundays out of pure nostalgia (who else besides me misses Geass Sundays to death?). Reviews would be greatly loved and appreciated!