An Emperor's Promise

Lelouch slumped onto his bed and dropped his white hat on the floor. Putting his head into his hands, he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

He had learned long ago how to keep himself from crying. This time was harder than usual, though. Thousands of people had died because of him. Solely because of his choices. And, now that he had taken the throne, the entire world hated him.

The door opened. It was C.C., the only other person with access to his room. He kept his head in his hands without acknowledging her presence.

There was a long pause before he heard her boots walk towards him and felt the bed sink beside him under her weight.

She said nothing. There was nothing to say.

He felt her arm wrap behind his back and her head rest against his shoulder.

It wasn't the first time she had treated Lelouch like this, but he was still surprised at how much it helped. At the feel of her touch, he instantly forgot about his regrets and began thinking of the future. Of why he was doing all of this. Of rebuilding the world. Of the one, single person who had stayed with him all the way through. The person that was always there when he had nowhere to turn.

Why does she always help me? Does she love me back?

C.C. felt Lelouch wriggle his arm between them to wrap it around her back, resting his chin lightly on her green hair. She slowly let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. They stayed together for several minutes, not moving an inch. Lelouch broke the silence.

"C.C., no matter what happens, I will always stay by your side. We are forever accomplices."

She knew it wasn't true. She knew of his plan. Not that it mattered, anyway. She would live on long after his death. Eventually he would become only a faint memory, replaced by centuries of a dull, unchanging life. He often promises her that they will always be accomplices, but she knows he is just telling her a lie.

Why does he always say that to me? Does he love me back?

She couldn't hold back the tears that had built up behind her eyelids. She let them flow down her cheeks, slowly soaking the uniform under her.

"Lelouch... don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it."

He paused for a moment, before gently tapping her thigh with his index finger. She looked down between them at his hand resting over hers. He flipped it over, revealing the bright red mark imprinted across the palm. "I didn't."

She gasped, breaking free from him to look at his eyes. She could always tell when he was lying by looking at his eyes. He stared back at her with a knowing smile on his face, unflinching. He was telling the truth.

"Lelouch... LELOUCH!" She frantically backed to the other end of the bed, staring at him as if he was a complete stranger. "NO! No, you can't! You'll end up like me! Why did you do it!? How!?"

He frowned at her. He had expected her to be surprised and angry, though. "When my father grabbed me..."

She still looked frantic, but he saw a hint of relief flash across her face. "So it wasn't your choice."

Lelouch looked away. "Well... he actually offered it to me as an option."

The relief vanished as quickly as it came. "The Code is a curse, not a gift! Why would you accept it!?"

Lelouch looked into C.C.'s eyes. "For you."

The golden eyes widened as she averted her gaze. She wasn't sure how she felt now. She was angry at his stupidity, saddened by his curse, but... happy. Happy because he had kept his promise. Because he really did care for her. She turned back to him with her usual stoic expression plastered over her face.

"For me? Or for you, because of me?"

Lelouch chuckled, glad C.C. was back to her normal antics. "Both."

She scooted back across the bed and resumed her position next to him. "You easily could have chosen to die happily. To leave the world a better place than before. Instead you chose immortality. Are you sure that was the right choice?"

Lelouch lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't think I've ever said that I am absolutely sure about any of my decisions. You're wrong about one thing, though: I wouldn't have been able to die happily with the knowledge that you would be alone forever. But now, you can always have someone by your side; someone to turn to when you have nowhere else to go."

C.C. lay down beside him. "You sacrifice your mortality just so I can have someone to be with?"

Lelouch smiled. "Not just anyone. And stop acting like this is a one-sided deal. I get to be with you, too, after all."

C.C. hid her glee behind a mask of nonchalance. "So you really think I'm worth it?"

"Yes."

She turned away from him to hide the redness she could feel on her cheeks. Lelouch sat up and continued speaking.

"In fact, I take back what I said earlier about never being sure about my decisions. I do know, for a fact, that spending a thousand lifetimes with you is far better than resting in peace without you." He held his hand out to her.

She took it, pulling herself up beside him. They sat for a moment, C.C. lightly tracing the outline of the Code with her finger on Lelouch's palm.

She slowly reached down to pick the white hat up off the ground and put it back on Lelouch's head. "Well, Lelouch Vi Britannia, don't forget you still have a duty to complete in this lifetime."

"Yes, that's right." He stood up and walked to the exit, pausing in the doorway. He turned and looked at C.C., who stared back at him with a questioning look. "C.C., I... I really do love you."

She stared back at him with a frozen face for a few seconds, before giving him a warm smile in return. It was the first time she had honestly smiled in as long as she could remember. "I love you, too, Lelouch."

---

Yikes! That was kind of weird to write. I'm so used to comedy... but it was fun (and really hard, comedy is so much easier XD)! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for reading!

And yes, this is what I wrote today instead of updating Trivial Green. Oh well. When an idea pops up in front of me, I have to write it or it goes away just as quickly!

I stole the "does he/she love me back?" line from a story on here somewhere. I searched everywhere to give credit to the author, but I can't find it (nor do I honestly remember what it was about). I just remember reading that particular line (the story only had one character saying it), and then I got the idea for both of them to ask that in their minds at the same time. If you know the story, please tell me, I hate not giving credit to the author!

Gold star to whomever finds the Halo reference in the story. (No, I'm not a huge Halo fanboy or anything, but the story really is great in that game. Much better than anyone gives it credit for! [Hell, they even quoted T.S. Elliot in the Halo 3 E3 preview thing])