Sleep

Dedicated to Project Clu-Clu who showed me how to love writing fanfiction and rant!

For regular humans, or mortals to be exact, sleep was something that was valued and caressed with care.

Even if it wasn't tangible, the weight of life, no matter the amount, soon pulled down on the eyelids of the beholder down into a dark abyss as well as into their wildest thoughts and imagination where they could think and do anything they desired to do.

On the other hand witches lived forever, and those dreams are worthless since they don't have anything they desire with their everlasting supply of sand in their hourglass.

So why even dream?

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Everything was silent and dark.

The streets were quiet with no light.

The wind was still and felt as it was threatened if it even thought of making the smallest sound.

Of course, what else would Lelouch suspect at three in the morning?

His legs were tired and dragged as he brought himself to walk slowly along the alley ways of the Area 11 ghetto. It was a long, exasperating, operation he had held for the Black Knights, not to mention his third day without sleep, and the amount of fatigue that came with having a double life was beginning to catch up with him.

His eyelids felt as though they were two hundred pounds each and his slowed breath was his brain getting ready to put him into a forced sleep where he could relax for a least a second.

The thought of sleep was so comforting.

In fact, the ground itself looked just as good, if not better, than the master bed he had in his room.

The discarded newspaper looked as decent as a fluffy blanket and the rock-hard brick looked as comforting as a pillow.

However, despite the temptation, he had to get home to his beloved sister.

Also, for his equally as exhausted accomplice falling behind next to him whose eyelids were already seventy five percent closed.

"CC," he whispered, "Don't fall asleep. We only have like a mile to go!" He finished a yawn that almost made him fall asleep in mid air.

While it was true he wanted his sleep, his main concern was getting back home to Nunnally as well as getting his witch back home.

He couldn't have her falling behind or being taken away by the Britannian royal family again, so he had to always keep her in his sights, no matter how sleep deprived his body may be.

He waited a minute for an answer, but when he got no response, he turned around to see that CC was still a fair distance beyond him and was faltering as she tried to fasten her pace to catch up to him.

Since it was clear to see she was struggling, he deciding to wait for her.

Shockingly, to his horror, he stopped and turned around to see her take another few steps before falling to the ground in exhaustion as well as hitting her head on a fallen pipe.

The noise could be heard by Lelouch by how fast her body gave way onto the pipe, and seeing the blood dripping down, Lelouch mustered all of his strength as he ran back to access the damage that had been brought upon his companion.

'Just please, please don't be anything serious!' Lelouch pleaded to an empty space in his mind as well as to his surroundings. 'Please be ok! We have to get back!'

Naturally, it only took a few seconds for Lelouch to speed walk to his fallen witch.

Luckily, there wasn't that much blood at all, but it was enough to stain his new dress shirt a dark red around the collar along with parts of CC's forehead as her body remained in the same position; small and immobile .

"CC! CC!" Lelouch said as he was shaking her as well as patting his jacket sleeve over the small wound on her forehead.

Even though he had seen her pass out before, this time was different and he was actually panicking after his lack of sleep and awareness that his partner was bleeding and was most likely unconscious caught up to him.

The panicking lasted for about five minutes before it came to an abrupt end as he saw the relaxed, gentle movement of her chest.

As he breathed a sigh of relief, what little parts of the brain that was still running despite his lack of sleep finally registered her diagnosis; she was fast asleep.

Her breathing was slow, as well as his, and it made him relaxed as he let out a huge sigh of relief once again. Despite that, Lelouch couldn't take his mind off of how peaceful she looked.

Her face and mouth weren't in that annoyed, smirk expression or sarcastic tone. Instead it showed a small smile in content.

Her hair was sprawled on the ground, but still looked elegant with its long locks showing off her green hair. However, it wasn't witch-like at all like it usually was. It wasn't straight with strictness, but all over the place as if it were free.

Her closed eyes didn't look like they had to forcibly be closed, but looked like they were relaxed and free of the chains that had been holding them up for centuries.

Every feature showed gentleness and pureness; things Lelouch didn't think CC was possible of producing let alone expressing.

With all of this in mind, Lelouch slowly picked her up off the ground and put her on his back despite himself almost falling over due to his lack of stamina and his lack of sleep.

He almost regretted his decision as her sleeping weight felt more like dead weight as he stumbled back and forth to keep balance.

Nonetheless, he got his balance and slowly but surely, continued his mile long walk back home to Nunnally.

'This witch better be thankful," Lelouch said with a smile on his face, "She knows I have little to no stamina and she still falls asleep like this." He finished as he shook his head while giving hers a gentle rub.

He couldn't sense why, but he felt like he needed to protect her in the state she was in. She carried almost a childlike essence to her as Lelouch held her legs in his arms while reaching up to make sure her arms were still attached to his body on occasion.

It was something he'd never seen from her before, and he never knew if he'd see it again, so he began to observe and listen.

He walked with a steady pace for about ten minutes before he heard a little murmur escape CC's mouth.

"…."

Upon hearing her voice, he stopped for a second before looking up at his shoulder saying, "What is it CC?"

"…..me"

"What?"

"Help me." She repeated herself with a voice filled with sadness and urgency.

Lelouch's eyes widened in surprise.

This witch, no HIS WITCH, was asking for help. She actually needed help from him after everything they had been through, or he had been through.

She had always been helping him, but now it was a different story.

After all this time lying to him about how she is fine on her own, she is finally asking for help.

'I bet she is dreaming about her past' Lelouch thought as he looked over the pitch black sky. 'I bet it still haunts her to this day. Even if she has an infinite amount of time in this world, there are just some things that she will never be able to forget.'

He then thought back to a time they had gotten onto the discussion of dreams.

.

Lelouch had just awoken from a nightmare and he awoke to find CC sitting on her knees staring at him with her round golden irises.

After getting used to the closeness of her face and looking at the clock and realizing it was way past one, he questioned how she was still awake and why she cared not to sleep.

He remembered her response being that she was she didn't wish to dream.

After seeing his confused expression, she explained, "For regular humans, or mortals to be exact, sleep was something that was valued and caressed with care. Even if it wasn't tangible, the weight of life, no matter the amount, soon pulled down on the eyelids of the beholder down into a dark abyss as well as into their wildest thoughts and imagination where they could think and do anything they desired to do. On the other hand witches lived forever, and those dreams are worthless since they don't have any desires with their everlasting supply of sand in their hourglass. So why even dream?"

After explaining to her how dreams shape people and what they will do in life, she fell silent and replied by stating that since she had nothing she wanted to receive or do in her life, all her dreams were of despair.

The conversation had ended with CC snuggling Lelouch back to sleep as she sat there with her round orbs still wide open.

She never slept that night and he would know because he didn't either.

.

Sighing and feeling sympathy for his dream-lost tiny accomplice after remembering their late night chat, he looked up into the closed golden irises and said, "I'll help you with whatever you need. What do you need help with?"

"He's gone!" CC said, a little more than a whisper.

'She's probably thinking of Mao again,' Lelouch concluded with a hint of jealousy in his thoughts.

Mao was somebody who was once very dear to CC, and she had even admitted that she had loved him. Even if it was more of a maternal love, it was still love and she worried about his well being constantly and Lelouch knew it.

Clearing his throat, he started "He's ok CC! Mao is-"

"No! It's Lelouch! He's gone! I," CC said in her full voice full of sadness and desperation this time with small tears rolling down her cheek. "I can't find him anywhere! Help me!"

While silent whimpering was filling the silent air, Lelouch stood there speechless and not knowing what to do.

'It's me?' His thoughts screamed. 'She's crying because she lost me?'

The person who he thought wasn't afraid of anything, not even death, or showed any emotion had lost him and was desperate to find him in her mind.

Should he remain silent?

Would she continue crying the whole way home?

Should he wipe her tears away?

Would new ones take their place?

Should he wake her up?

Would she lock herself up and never ask for help again?

Should he reassure her that he will never leave her?

His mind was in a whirlwind that was making everything he knew in his brain collapse. It was like a chess board being thrown into the air. All of the moves were questionable depending on how she would react to each response.

'I have no idea what to do or even think!' Lelouch thought has he released one hand to hold his head for a second to slow down his brain which was racing in millions of circles.

With Lelouch stuttering and going through his options, he missed CC murmur, "Please you have to find him! He's someone very important to me." As she returned to her dream and remained silent.

With Lelouch pondering his options, he only heard her last word; me.

Thinking she said something along the lines of "Help me," he looked up and grabbed her small hand and intertwined it with his.

"Don't worry witch, I'm right here." He said as he finally found the right words to say.

Yet again as he turned away, he missed her say, "Thank goodness" under her breath as her grip on him got tighter.

Thinking she still couldn't find him, he turned around once more and planted a small kiss on her forehead as he whispered, "Again witch, I'm right here," As he tightened his grip on her small frame he was carrying home while he added, "I'm your warlock, and a witch's warlock is never far away from his witch's side. It's fine. Sleep."

This seemed to calm CC down enough to slow her breathing back to normal and for her flowing tears and muffled whimpers come to a stop as a smile was now visible on her face as well as Lelouch's.

Everything would be right in her dream world and in the real one.

She had found him; the most important one in her life.

He was right in front of her the whole time and she hadn't even known it, and she had found him by accepting the fact that she needed him.

Not only in her nightmare, but in reality too.

They were, and always would be together and facing everything that came their way as accomplices, or more specifically the witch and the warlock, and that was all it took to bring closure to her nightmare in both her dreams and in reality.

.

After that, she didn't mumble a word or sound, at least not audible to him, the rest of the way home as Lelouch kept one of his hands on top her's the whole way home.

.

Because of his poor stamina, Lelouch didn't end up getting home until four am that morning and the smell of morning dew could be found crawling up his nostrils as he finally reached the door to the Student Council house as well as his home with CC still holding him in a near death-like grip.

Once inside the house, Lelouch placed CC on the bed as gravity slowly broke the grip she had around his neck as he helped her head find the pillow and body find the blankets. Once that was done, he went to the bathroom to supply a bandage for the cut she had received when she had first fallen.

'This witch better know everything she puts me through' He sighed with a smile on his face as he applied the bandage to her head. 'Both mentally and physically.'

With that, he stole one last glance at CC's sleeping face before collapsing next to her on the bed without even removing his clothes or pulling up the blankets.

With everything that had happened, the sleep hit Lelouch almost as quickly as his geass entered his victims and a tranquil quietness made itself present in the room of the two accomplices.

All was silent before a little voice whispered, with a smile on her face, to the out-cold sleeper Lelouch before falling back to her own dead sleep.

"Thanks for carrying me home Lelouch."

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So hello everyone! Here's a little one shot I made for you guys! :D As for The Day the Witch Became a Student, or TDTWBAS, it is being beta read by me and Project Clu-Clu, my new absolute bestie on here and should be out in a few days! :D Back to this one, it came to me in school, I think, but got morphed at home when I actually got typing! I hope you guys enjoyed this one, and the ending is up for the viewers to decide, whether or not she was actually asleep on his back or she was just a really good actress! XD I hope you guys liked this! Reviews are nice, I love reading feedback! :3 Thanks again! –Breezy