301"I hereby renounce my claim to the throne!" – Regular speaking
'How dare the Emperor abandon Nunnally!' – Regular thinking; Italics not in singular quotations are used for emphasis
"Q-1, strike the left flank now!" – Speaking as heard over radios and other communication devices
"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, DIE!" Speech influenced by using Geass
Disclaimer: I don't own any franchise that is used in this story nor do I make any profit from it whatsoever.
I hope you enjoy the story.
Prologue: The Fall of a Prince
(Pendragon, Britannia – Aries Villa – 7:38 pm – October 11 – 2009 a.t.b.)
Dead. Murdered.
Lelouch was in shock. One second he was watching his mother twirl with Nunnally around on the staircase of his home. Moments before he had been running down to join her and Nunnally so they could continue their game of hide and seek with Anya. And the next second, countless bullets flew through the glass windows in the ballroom of the Aries Villa and the air, shattering countless antiques, sending colorful glass shards flying through the air and Mother was dead. Nunnally was covered by their mother's body!
Lelouch was trembling, his face contorted in fear as he stared at his mother's cooling corpse laid over Nunnally as if to protect her from some unseen threat. 'This – this can't be real. This just has to be a bad dream. It just has to be! Just one terrible, horrible nightmare! Please let this be a nightmare! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease! Oh God, why can't I wake up?!' Suddenly, Lelouch's trembling body stilled as the fact that this was reality and not just a terrible nightmare sank into his panicking, racing mind. 'This is real… Oh God this is real! NononononononoNO!' "Nunnally!" Lelouch screamed as he sprinted as fast as his nine-year-old legs could carry him down the staircase.
As if his voice were a signal, the guards of the Imperial Villa started barking orders over their radios and the guests started running around panicking, trying to find places to take cover from a possible second attack. While the guards started to try and restore order and the guests panicked wondering if they were going to be targeted next, Lelouch ignored everything going on around him as he knelt down next to his mother's body and pushed the corpse off of his little sister's shaking body and cradled Nunnally's trembling form as best his own shaking arms would allow him to.
"Oh God, Nunnally please don't die. Please don't die! Don't leave me too!" Lelouch begged as he choked on his tears. He prayed to whatever deities that existed to not take his sister away too. Her head turned to face him as tears ran down her cheeks from her shaking eyes.
"Big Brother?" Nunnally's voice was choked, as though she were having a hard time speaking. Lelouch choked out a half-sob as he tried to sigh in relief but found himself unable to as Nunnally lurched toward him and grabbed onto his formal clothing that his mother had insisted he wear that night and latched onto him in a tight hug as though she feared Lelouch was going to leave her too.
Nunnally buried her face in Lelouch's chest while Lelouch nuzzled his face in Nunnally's hair and returned Nunnally's embrace with equal intensity as the two siblings held onto each other, desperate for reassurance that the other was still alive to give the other comfort as they wept. Soon though, the emotions proved too overwhelming for the two vi Britannia siblings' young minds and they passed out on the stairs of the Aries Villa. The two siblings fell into a fitful sleep, unaware of just how much their lives were about to be changed.
(Pendragon, Britannia – Aries Villa – 10:02 am – October 12 – 2009 a.t.b.)
In his bed, Lelouch tossed and turned in a fitful mockery of sleep. His body lurched up in reflex before his mind became fully conscious. "Nunnally!" He screamed in a voice filled with terror. His eyes flew open, taking in his surroundings as he realized he was in his lavish bedroom and not in the ballroom where his mother was killed. He started to shiver, his blood feeling cold as he recalled the nightmare he had after he had fallen asleep.
The previous night's events had played out in his mind, while he was trapped in his body, forced to watch as his attempts to take control and keep Nunnally and his mother away from the ballroom failed, as though he could rewrite the past by preventing his mother and sister from replaying the tragedy all over again. The only difference was that Nunnally hadn't been spared. When he ran down to see if his little sister was still alive, she hadn't responded to his voice. She had been cold and dead just like their mother and he screamed as he realized that the nightmare from the previous night could have been far worse. At least in reality, his beloved little sister was still alive.
Lelouch straightened as he realized something was wrong. 'Where's Nunnally?' Where was she?! Lelouch jumped from his bed and ran to his bedroom door.
As he threw the door open, he shot forward and dashed right into someone's legs. He grunted as his tiny body fell backwards after running into whatever was blocking his path. He looked up to see a woman with light violet hair arguing with someone dressed in the uniform of his mother's guard. As the woman turned to see what had bumped into her legs, Lelouch realized that the woman was Cornelia li Britannia, one of the only family members he was actually close to.
"Leave us." Cornelia ordered the guard.
The man looked like he swallowed something sour as he tried to protest. "But Your Highness-"
Cornelia interjected before the man could finish speaking. "Now Jeremiah. Leave. I need to speak to Lelouch." The older princess narrowed her eyes at the guard. "Or do you think that I'm not capable enough to protect him?"
Lelouch ignored the guard, who had paled dramatically at Cornelia's insinuation, and glared up at Cornelia. "Where's Nunnally?" Lelouch shouted. "Where is my sister?!"
Lelouch didn't have time for anything else at that moment. He needed to know that Nunnally was safe, that she was still alive and that his nightmare was just a bad dream. He started shaking as Cornelia looked down at him with a strange expression. As if she weren't aware what emotion she was supposed to express. Why would Cornelia look at him like that? Was he wrong, was Nunnally gone? Just like mother? 'No!' Nunnally had to be alive, she just had to be.
"Lelouch, Nunnally's in the hospital." Cornelia said slowly.
Lelouch's eyes widened in fear. "What?" The young prince rasped. His sister was in the hospital. His little sister was in the hospital! His body started to tremble in fear and he shook his head in denial. "No, why would Nunnally be in the hospital?" He hadn't seen any wounds on her the previous night. But he had also been so focused on the fact that she was still alive that he would have missed anything. Oh God, what happened to Nunnally?!
Cornelia shot Jeremiah a look and he took the hint.
Lelouch ignored the man as he walked away, not taking his eyes off of Cornelia for an instant. Cornelia started walking down the long hallway and gestured for Lelouch to follow her. "Follow me; we're going to go see Nunnally." Lelouch's eyes widened and he sprinted to catch up to the li Britannia's longer strides, hoping that Nunnally was going to be okay.
Luckily for him, he had been put to bed in the same clothing he wore the previous night. Not that he cared about anything other than making sure that Nunnally was alive at that moment, but it would have reflected badly on him if he had been seen by any of the nobility in anything other than proper clothing regardless of the fact that he was just a child.
He followed behind his older sibling silently. He was too scared for Nunnally to want to talk to anyone right now. He needed to see, with his own two eyes, that Nunnally wasn't dead like mother. That she would still be the warm little sister that he knew her to be and not a cold, dead corpse. As Lelouch followed Cornelia through the door that led to the ballroom, he froze.
The image from the previous night was superimposed in his mind over the now bloodless staircase before the sight was blocked off by a female body.
Cornelia whispered into his ear as she knelt down and held his shaking body in a comforting hug, "Shh, shh. It's okay Lelou. Nellie is here for you." Lelouch was so out of it that he didn't even react to Cornelia using his dreaded nickname that Euphie and Nunnally had come up with.
He just held onto his older sibling tighter as he leaned on her. Cornelia picked up the older vi Britannia gently and continued to carry him down the staircase. Lelouch buried his face into Cornelia's shoulder and quietly whimpered as they passed the place his mother had been standing the previous night.
The trembling in his body lessened slightly as they left the Imperial Villa and entered Cornelia's vehicle. "Take us to the hospital please Guilford." She said as she buckled Lelouch and herself in.
"Yes, My Princess." The voice of Cornelia's personal Knight of Honor sounded from the front seat.
Lelouch stared aimlessly out the window in the backseat as Cornelia tried to comfort him. 'Please, please let Nunnally be okay. I don't care what price I have to pay, just let Nunnally be okay. Please.' Lelouch was silent the entire drive and as he looked up at the beautiful blue sky that was over Pendragon, he felt sick. His mother was dead and his little sister was in the hospital, the sky shouldn't be so clear after such a terrible tragedy.
(Pendragon, Britannia – Pendragon Hospital – 11:37 am – October 12 – 2009 a.t.b.)
The hospital was relatively quiet, something that Lelouch appreciated. It gave him time to think.
Cornelia had stopped speaking to him on the way to the hospital when it became clear he wasn't responding. Although she did have plenty of things to say about the traffic that caused them to take so long to get to the hospital, most of it definitely not meant for an ordinary child's ears. Luckily for her, Lelouch was no ordinary child and Clovis had the habit of cursing rather vocally when Lelouch beat him at chess so he was no stranger to swearing. Though the Eleventh Prince made it a point to not curse until he was older after he cursed when suffered his first, and only, loss after Schneizel defeated him and got scolded by the White Prince.
The Second Prince had taught Lelouch everything the nine-year-old knew about chess and had watched Lelouch start creating his own unique form of strategy by playing Clovis and other members of the Imperial Family and the nobility. However, his own form of strategy wasn't fully completed yet and as a result; Schneizel knew what Lelouch was going to do almost before he even did it when the nine-year-old boy challenged him. It reminded Lelouch that he wasn't as unbeatable as he thought and it made him extremely mad for a few days after his loss. He got over it eventually, but he still felt mild humiliation whenever the incident was brought up.
Schneizel was a tactical genius, unmatched by nearly everyone in the Imperial Family save maybe Cornelia. However, Cornelia wasn't a tactical genius like Schneizel, her talents were in inspiring the soldiers who followed her. A skill that didn't really translate to chess. Nevertheless, she was the only one, aside from the young Lelouch, to ever give Schneizel a hard time when playing chess. She never beat him, but she had managed to make every victory of Schneizel's very difficult for him. And Lelouch was a genius in his own right; despite being only nine years old he had a mind that was greater than most children at least twice his age.
And now, he needed to turn his brilliant young mind to who killed his mother and how they did it. He knew that infiltrating Pendragon was a virtually impossible task, and if the assassins, because he knew they had to be professional assassins, had managed to infiltrate, why didn't they target the Emperor? Why target one of his many consorts instead? The only ones who he could think of that would want his mother dead would be terrorists, politicians from the E.U. and the Chinese Federation, and… the nobility!
Lelouch's eyes widened slightly as he had an epiphany. 'Mother always said that the nobility hated her for becoming a Knight of the Round and marrying Father. The nobility would also be the only ones who would be able to smuggle in assassins under the guise of their guards, but… no that wouldn't work. They wouldn't have the kind of authority to change their guards so quickly without anyone noticing and no professional killer would be so foolish as to take a job with such a glaring mistake.'
Lelouch closed his eyes in thought as he mentally listed all of the requirements necessary for the assassins to have been able to attack and kill his mother. 'They would need to have the money to hire the most skilled and professional assassins in the world, they would then need to be able to smuggle them in under the disguise of guards, and they would need the authority to have the nobility and other palace guards ignore the sudden change.' Lelouch's eyes shot open as he tried to stop his body from trembling from his realization.
'The ones who had mother killed, the ones who hurt Nunnally, they have to be a member of the Imperial Family. No one else would have the authority and funds necessary to pull it off.' Lelouch studiously ignored the small voice in the back of his head saying, 'No one else, except the Emperor.' The Emperor would have no reason to kill his mother, he loved her. She was his favorite wife. Mother had told him so.
"Excuse me, Your Highnesses," A doctor interrupted his train of thought as he entered the waiting room from the door leading to the more secured levels of the hospital. The kind reserved for treating the nobility and the Imperial Family. "You may enter Princess Nunnally's room now." The doctor turned around as both Cornelia and Lelouch stood up from the waiting area to follow. "Just make sure to stay quiet. The Princess needs her rest and she must not be disturbed." Lelouch began shaking slightly as he heard the doctor whisper, "Poor child."
He had to see his little sister with his own two eyes before he could figure out what to do with his newly discovered knowledge. He practically sprinted down the hallway towards Nunnally's room before Cornelia caught up to him and grabbed him by his collar. "Lelouch calm down. The doctor said to not disturb her. You need to stay calm." She hissed at him as he tried to claw his way from her grip.
At his older sister's chastisement he stopped struggling. "Fine, I'll stay calm just let me down so I can see Nunnally." He hissed back. After Cornelia set him down and walked the rest of the way to Nunnally's hospital room Lelouch stayed behind her so she wouldn't be able to grab him again and so he could try and calm himself down before he panicked. He needed to keep a level head before he made some mistake by accusing the Imperial Family of regicide.
That wasn't something that could be done without proof and no professional investigator would take a nine-year-old seriously, whether he was a Prince or not. Especially if he was targeting members of the Imperial Family. The Imperial Family did not get investigated by professional investigators or prosecuted without ironclad evidence. Ever. It was something of a rule, one that would make it impossible for Lelouch to turn to anyone for help. 'Except for maybe' – his train of thought was cut off as he realized that he and Cornelia had arrived in front of Nunnally's room.
He quickly pushed his way past his older half-sister and quickly and quietly opened the door that was keeping him from Nunnally. He ran to his little sister's bedside and his eyes widened in surprise and shock.
Nunnally was hooked up to a bunch of machines that Lelouch only had a vague idea of their functions and she was being sedated by an IV drip in her arm with an oxygen mask on her face. But what surprised the eldest vi Britannia the most was the bandages wrapped around her head covering her eyes and the fact that she was only dressed in a small hospital gown that only went to her mid-thighs, clearly displaying the bandages wrapped around her legs. Her tiny body covered by such a flimsy gown and wrapped in bandages terrified Lelouch.
He had never realized how fragile Nunnally was, but what the hospital had put her in flaunted that fact in a terrifying way. Nunnally was supposed to be the tiny terror that joined up with Euphie and Milly to chase him around the gardens of the Aries Villa while Anya watched until he collapsed from exhaustion, not this fragile doll that was covered in bandages. "Nunnally," Lelouch whispered hoarsely as he reached out to take his beloved little sister's hand.
Her hand was cold as he curled his fingers around her own, he quickly grabbed her hand with his other one and squeezed it to try and bring some small comfort to the unconscious six-year-old. He held her hand with his own and brought up to his cheek as his eyes started to water. He pressed her hand against his lips and kissed her knuckles, trying to convey to his beloved little sister's unconscious form that her big brother, her Lelou, was still there for her.
He had hated that nickname when Nunnally and Euphie had come up with it, saying that it was too girly. Although Milly had found it hilarious despite being unable to properly pronounce it the way Nunnally and Euphie could. Now though, now he was going to cherish it as much as he possibly could. It was a gift from his beloved little sisters and he was never going to take it for granted again.
As he continued to look upon his unconscious sister, Lelouch was filled with a fierce protective love, only matched by a newly burning hatred. He was going to utterly destroy the ones responsible for this. They stole his mother from him and they had almost stolen Nunnally from him too. They wouldn't get away with this. As long as he was alive, the ones responsible would never be safe from his wrath. Even if he had to burn the world to the ground, he was going to destroy the ones who had stolen his mother and hurt his little sister.
His thoughts of violent and bloody vengeance were interrupted as Cornelia sat down in the chair next to him to look at Nunnally's unconscious form. Lelouch took a steady breath and calmed himself down. It would be very bad if he gave anything away to Cornelia. He had no idea whether or not she would take his side if he let her know his innermost thoughts. He needed to be careful, not just for himself, but for Nunnally as well. He would never be able to forgive himself if his actions ended up getting her hurt or worse.
He stayed silent at Nunnally's bedside the entire day, holding her hand and giving silent reassurance that he was still there. Not once did Nunnally's unconscious form stir, but Lelouch knew that it wasn't anyone's fault, no matter how much he wanted to blame somebody for Nunnally's misfortune. The doctor had said she needed to rest so he was fine with her being unconscious as long as it was for her to heal properly. He ended up falling asleep at her bedside holding her hand, not once leaving her side, not even to eat.
Cornelia picked him up and carried him back to her car, letting him sleep. She had Guilford, who had followed the Prince and Princess to Nunnally's room, but stayed outside both out of respect for their privacy and to guard the door in case anyone decided to try and finish what the assassins started, drive the two back to the Aries Villa and she tucked him back into his bed.
Almost immediately after being separated from Nunnally, Lelouch started twitching fitfully in his sleep. It steadily got worse until Cornelia left him alone so he could sleep in his bedroom. Almost as soon as the oldest li Britannia had left him alone, he started tossing and turning violently in his sleep. This was a routine that would continue for the next six days until Cornelia made a mistake that would forever taint the relationship she had with her little brother.
(Pendragon, Britannia – Aries Villa – 8:22 pm – October 18 – 2009 a.t.b.)
Lelouch glared at Cornelia as the two of them stood in one of the many hallways of the Aries Villa. "You're responsible; it's your fault as much as it is theirs." He spat at Cornelia.
During the last six days Lelouch's attitude had been getting darker and darker with his recent actions matching his descending mood. He had gotten rid of almost all the staff in the Aries Villa because he didn't trust any of them, refused to eat anything he didn't personally make or watch be prepared and have the cook eat part of it first, and had almost all of the guards fired. It was a wonder he even still had people working on the Villa with his paranoia.
After he realized that a member, or members, of the Imperial Family had been the ones responsible for the death of his mother and the crippling of his beloved little sister, he realized that if they could pay off professional assassins, then the employees at the Aries Villa would be all too simple to bribe. So he solved that problem by getting rid of anyone who wasn't explicitly necessary for the maintenance of the Villa.
He also made sure to never refer to the Imperial Family in any way when he was speaking of the assassins. He, and more importantly, Nunnally, couldn't afford any mistakes. He had to make sure to keep his knowledge to himself until he could make a plan. The guards that had been on duty the night of the tragedy had been executed for negligence resulting in a regicide and had already been dealt with, but then he learned something else.
"I told you Lelouch, I had no idea what was going to happen!" Cornelia shouted at Lelouch. Cornelia had called off a large number of the guards the night his mother was attacked. He trusted her! And she had been part of the reason why his mother's security had been so lax. In his mind, that made her just as responsible for what happened as the ones who paid the assassins and the ones who pulled the triggers.
"I don't care! I thought I could trust you, but you're just as responsible for mother's death and what happened to Nunnally as them!" Lelouch shouted back. 'How could you Nellie? I thought you could be trusted, but if you're even partly responsible I don't want you anywhere near me or Nunnally.' The Eleventh Prince growled and threw out his left arm violently, "Get out! I don't want to see you anywhere near me or Nunnally ever again!" His voice obviously shocked the older li Britannia, it partially surprised him too.
It sounded far too guttural and animalistic to have come from a nine-year-old, but Lelouch wasn't complaining. If it helped him get his point across he couldn't care less what he sounded like. Cornelia's stance softened. "Fine, if that's what you want Lelou, I will leave."
Lelouch quickly interjected. "Don't call me that, after what you did, you don't have the right." He snarled.
Despite Lelouch's statement, Cornelia slowly walked toward the young Prince. Lelouch stiffened, wondering if he had pushed Cornelia too far and she was going to silence him. His eyes widened in surprise as Cornelia knelt down and gave him a light hug.
"I will leave, Lelouch, if that is what you want. Just know that your big sister Nellie will always be here for you. No matter what." Cornelia whispered into his ear quietly. When she realized that Lelouch's body was still tense as though he were preparing to be attacked, Cornelia stood up, looking down at her little brother sadly, and silently walked away.
Lelouch stood in the hall of what was once his home, trembling in anger. 'How dare she pretend to care, as if she didn't have a hand what happened to Nunnally and mother.' He entertained the thought that maybe Cornelia wasn't lying, but disregarded it after deciding that if she hadn't told him about her calling off his mother's guards before now, she wasn't trustworthy.
He entered his bedroom, where Cornelia had been taking him after he had fallen asleep after his latest visit to his still unconscious little sister, and crawled into his bed. 'I can't trust anyone here.' Lelouch thought to himself as he stared at his bedroom ceiling from his bed. 'Cornelia betrayed my trust and Schneizel isn't here, stuck in negotiations with E.U. politicians across the ocean. And if Cornelia had something to do with what happened Schneizel could also have a hand in it.' Lelouch shivered at that thought. His half-brother was absolutely ruthless. Even though Lelouch knew that Schneizel cared for him, he couldn't discount the possibility that the White Prince wouldn't eliminate him.
'Schneizel is far too cunning and if he had a hand in mother's death and Nunnally's injuries… I can't afford to let him know that I suspect even one member of the Imperial Family. Schneizel wouldn't take any chances and if he thought I suspected just one, he would assume it's him and try to have me silenced if he had anything to do with this.' He dearly loved his brother who had taught him so much, but he knew that Schneizel was someone who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice anything if he needed to. That was his entire philosophy when it came to chess and it translated directly into his life as well. All pieces save for the King were expendable to him and once a piece was no longer useful he wouldn't hesitate to discard it if it became necessary to dispose of it.
Lelouch then began to think of other people who might be able to help him. He began disregarding them one by one as he realized that none of them could be of any help regarding his goal to find the ones behind his mother's murder.
'Clovis won't be able to help; besides he's probably too busy trying to play politics in Area 7.' Clovis was never one for rocking the boat anyway. Not even if one of his favorite siblings asked him to.
'Euphie's barely any older than Nunnally so I know that she had nothing to do with this, but she's too young to be able to help me.' Suspecting Euphie of anything would be pure insanity. The pink haired girl wouldn't hurt a fly.
'Milly's been exiled with the rest of the Ashfords and, besides, she's too young to be able to help me anyway. Ruben might have been able to help, but he's gone with the rest of his family.' It wasn't like the Ashfords would be able to uncover anything else anyway. As far as Lelouch knew, they leaned more toward engineering and building Knightmares than politics and subterfuge. Plus, he wasn't too sure they'd be willing to help him after he didn't even bother to learn they'd been exiled during the last week.
'And Anya… I haven't seen her since the night mother was killed, but she's also too young to have been responsible. Still, I wish I could find her. She was always interesting to talk to. Maybe she would be able to help me.' Lelouch turned over in his bed as he sighed. He wondered what happened to his friend.
There was one other after Anya who could help him, but she lived on the other side of the planet so she would be unable to help him either. Besides, they had only known each other for a single week earlier that year, he doubted that she remembered him all that well as a result, and she was Nunnally's age as well, making her unable to assist him with his endeavor in his mind.
'I really can't trust anyone it seems. Anyone who could help me could possibly have a hand in mother's death like Cornelia and anyone who couldn't have anything to with it is too young to help me or in a completely different country.'
Lelouch buried his face into his pillow after letting out a large yawn. He was exhausted. 'I'm too tired. I won't be able to think of any plans like this, but maybe there is one thing I can do. If I can get a meeting with Father, he may be able to help find the ones behind what happened.' Lelouch yawned widely again as he felt his eyes droop shut. 'I'll ask my guard to set up a meeting in the morning.' Lelouch decided as he drifted off into yet another fitful night of sleep.
(Pendragon, Britannia – Imperial Pendragon Estate – 1:27 pm – October 19 – 2009 a.t.b.)
Lelouch walked the path towards the Imperial Palace of Pendragon confidently. He knew that he would have to appear untouchable as he had his audience with the Emperor or the den of vipers that was the nobility would devour him whole.
He stopped in mild surprise as he saw someone who he thought had disappeared, leaning up against one of the many pillars that lined the walkway to the palace. "Anya, what are you doing here?" Lelouch, while happy to see the first friend he made that wasn't related to him in some way was okay, he was confused as to where she'd been.
"Lelouch." Something was off with Anya, she seemed distant as she pushed off the pillar and walked toward him. "I think I know what you're planning to do and I want to ask you," Anya stopped a few inches away and looked at him deep into his eyes, her pink ones boring into his violet. "Please, don't confront the Emperor. I don't want to lose my friend." The pink haired girl pleaded quietly.
Lelouch sighed. She had ignored his question, just like she usually did. At least that much of her hadn't changed. She only ever answered questions she wanted to and no more than that. Although he had a feeling if he saw Anya she would try to talk him out of this, despite not being the most talkative girl. Especially when compared to Nunnally, Milly, and Euphie. He scratched the left side of his head as he replied, "Anya, I need to do this. I need to find out who killed mother and hurt Nunnally." He narrowed his eyes in anger as he thought of the ones who hurt his family. He stared intensely into his friend's pink eyes as he finished his statement. "Until the ones responsible have paid the price I can't back down. Not even for you. I'm sorry." Lelouch stared resolutely into Anya's eyes to show how serious he was about his plan.
It evolved into sort of staring contest, each one unwilling to back down. Until Anya averted her eyes. "Okay Lelouch." Anya conceded.
Lelouch smiled solemnly. He closed his eyes and laughed slightly as he realized something. "Heh, I think that might be the first argument I ever won against you."
Anya gave Lelouch a small smile at his comment before she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. Lelouch blushed lightly as Anya gave Lelouch another small smile as he placed a hand on the place where her lips had met his cheek in surprise. "Just please make sure you and Nunnally stay alive until we can meet again okay Lelouch? Can you promise me that?" Anya asked quietly.
Lelouch gave Anya one of his few real smiles, the kind he reserved solely for those closest to him. "Of course, Anya," Lelouch declared softly, "I promise Nunnally and I will definitely stay alive." His smile changed into a small, sad one as he finished. "Hopefully by then she will be able to see you again."
Anya's smile disappeared after that and she gave Lelouch a small hug and whispered "Good luck." in his ear before letting go and leaving him behind. He watched Anya leave and turned to face the doors of the Imperial Palace.
Lelouch took a deep breath as he prepared himself for his meeting with his Father. His meeting with Anya hadn't changed his mind. He had come too far to stop now, no matter what she wanted for him. Meeting with his Father was always a nerve-wracking experience because of the man's enormous physical build, at six feet six inches tall with broad shoulders the Emperor cut an imposing figure, but despite that Lelouch felt confident in himself.
The Emperor's sheer presence was simply overwhelming and if one was unprepared they would quickly find themselves as nothing more than a cowering waste of space as the man walked all over them. Charles zi Britannia was a true Social Darwinist and, because his presence was so powerful, one could practically feel the reason why he ruled one-third of the planet. His intimidating aura alone could drive many people to their knees.
"Announcing the presence of Lelouch vi Britannia, Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, and Seventeenth in line for the Imperial Throne!" The herald called out and with that announcement, the doors to the Throne Room opened dramatically and Lelouch glared straight ahead. He refused to show weakness, especially with so many of the nobles in the grand room. He strode confidently forward and knelt in reverence for his Father, crossing his arm over his chest in a respectful salute with his fist over his heart as the custom dictated.
"Your Majesty, I have come to ask of the progress of the investigation of my moth- Fifth Empress Marianne's murder and the attack on Twelfth Princess Nunnally vi Britannia." He disliked referring to his mother and sister so formally, but he needed to obey the rules of the court if he was going to be taken seriously. Hopefully, the Emperor had discovered something he had not and was able to figure out the identity of the bastard who killed his mother and crippled his sister.
The young Prince stared at his Father through his bangs, trying to see the expressions on the Emperor's face. As if it would give him a clue to the identity of the one who hired the assassins. Lelouch's eyes widened beneath his long ebony hair. The Emperor's face remained impassive, as though he had expected something different. "Yes, what of it boy?" The Emperor's voice boomed. "That's old news. I have already captured the terrorists responsible for my wife's death and they have been taken care of." The Emperor then completely disregarded Lelouch as he turned to a man at his side. "Deal with this; I have more important things to do."
Lelouch's eyes widened in shock at the complete apathy the man had shown him. He had lied directly to Lelouch's face. It wasn't terrorists who had stolen his mother's life and his little sister's legs and sight; he knew it wasn't terrorists. The only reason his Father would cover it up was… if he had a hand in it. The man beside the Emperor, because a man who could so callously disregard his favorite wife and her daughter would never deserve to be called Father, took a step toward Lelouch before the boy stood up gracefully from his submissive position and took a step forward to bring the Emperor's attention back onto him.
He stood up straight and glared directly at the Emperor before he spoke his mind. "Old news? Terrorists? It wasn't terrorists! I demand a proper investigation, one which I will lead! I will have justice for Nunnally and my mother! If I can't have that then I hereby renounce my claim to the Imperial Throne!" Lelouch threw out his right arm to emphasize his declaration.
The court went silent for a moment, the nobility staring in mute shock at the young Prince. Whispers started traveling throughout the gathered nobles, wondering if anything like this had ever happened before. Renouncement was common throughout Britannian history since it was a bloodless way for the members of the Imperial Family who had mild or no interest in ascending to avoid being pulled in to the competition for the position of Emperor or Empress, but there had never been any Prince or Princess as young as Lelouch to renounce their position nor had it ever been done for a reason such as this.
Then the Emperor silenced the whispers with a gesture.
The Emperor turned the full force of his own glare onto Lelouch, but the Prince refused to back down. "Impudent brat!" the Emperor bellowed. "You demand? You can demand nothing! You are nothing more than a living corpse! You are dead to me and you have always been dead! Dead from the moment you were born. Who gave you the fine clothes you wear and a comfortable home? The food you eat and your very life? All of those I have given to you, in short you are not nothing to me because you have never existed."
Lelouch tripped backwards over his long cloak when the Emperor stood up and flung his arm out violently. "You renounce your claim to my throne and yet you dare speak such foolishness such as demands to me?! Lelouch, you are dead, therefore you are not entitled to any rights. I am sending you and Nunnally to Japan, as Prince and Princess you will serve well as bargaining tools. Now get out of my sight you foolish corpse!" Lelouch growled viciously at the Emperor.
He barely held himself back, if he attacked the Emperor, with no weapons and surrounded, he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to Anya and he would be unable to care for Nunnally. He stood up from his position on the ground and glared at the Emperor with a vitriolic hatred. "Fine then! If you won't find out who is responsible for mother's death and Nunnally's injuries then I will! No matter where you send me or how hard you make it, I will find them and I will destroy them!" Lelouch roared as he ripped the cloak from his shoulders, tearing the ruffled shirt beneath slightly. The former Prince then turned on his heel and strode out of the court with his head held just as high as when he entered, leaving the entire court in shocked silence at the audacity of a single boy's rage to speak against the Emperor in such a manner.
Just as Lelouch was about to exit the court by the doors that he had entered as a Prince not even two minutes ago, Lelouch turned his head slightly and glared at the Emperor out of his left eye. The violet orb blazing with undisguised hatred. "And if I find out you had anything to do with this, not even the title of Emperor will protect you from my wrath Father." Lelouch spat. Lelouch turned around and stepped out of the Imperial Palace when he heard the Emperor speak once more. "Is that a threat, corpse?!" Lelouch stopped and didn't bother to face Emperor one final time, keeping his back to the man he once believed to be a loving father. "No, Charles, it's a promise." He growled. As the former Prince walked away the Emperor's booming laughter followed him, as though the man were taunting him.
He needed to get some air. Lelouch decided to wander the gardens of the palace one final time since he would be unable to appreciate their beauty in the future. He walked to where he entered the path to the palace and took the path that branched out to the left of the straight path that led to the Imperial Palace.
This path was different from the one leading to the palace. Instead of Grecian columns lining a marble stone path, there were trees that were covered in the leaves of autumn, painting the path with scattered red, brown, and orange leaves as they fell off the branches, the path was also not a simple stone but a light brown-grey granite that shined multiple colors in the sunlight as the light reflected beautifully off the rock.
He sighed lightly as he arrived at his destination. It was a small meadow with a countless number of flowers, which were almost always in a constant bloom. He walked to the center and allowed his body to collapse.
He stared at the clouds in the beautiful blue sky for what felt like ages before he noticed that the clouds were beginning darken quickly. 'Oh no, is it going to rain? That's just great.' Lelouch groaned before he stood up, his desire for relaxation completely ruined.
He quickly walked back down the path as he thought about what he should do to keep out of the rain. It wouldn't be very good if he ended up catching a cold now of all times. 'I should be able to sneak into the palace since I had my guard take the car as soon as I arrived. Everyone will think that I've left already. I'll just need to make sure I'm not spotted and I call my guard as soon as I need to leave.' Lelouch snorted lightly at the thought of his guard as he quickly made his way back down the path towards the palace.
The man was terrified of upsetting the Imperial Family ever since the death of his mother, a fact that made Lelouch willing to use him since he didn't trust any of the other guards, and he was always sure to be less than ten seconds away from Lelouch, or if he was acting as Lelouch's driver, less than a mile away from wherever Lelouch left the car. It was annoying, but whenever Lelouch told the man to leave, he always made sure to be just out of sight and never out of earshot.
The man was currently just around the corner of the gate to the Pendragon Palace. Close enough that Lelouch could run to the car without anyone being the wiser, even with his absolutely terrible stamina, as long as he was quiet.
Lelouch went off the path that led to the doors into the Imperial Throne Room, where he was no longer welcome, and searched for a window where he could sneak in so he could keep dry. His eyes darted around and he quickly found a small open window above a cluster of bushes near the edge of the forest that surrounded the palace.
However, just as he was about to reach up and grab the edge of the window, he heard the Emperor's voice. "Why did you kill Marianne V.V.?" Lelouch felt his heart stop. This was it, this was the man who murdered his mother and hurt Nunnally. Not even ten feet away, speaking with the Emperor.
He needed to leave now, before he was noticed. He didn't have time to learn anything else about his mother's killer or he risked getting caught and killed. No matter how much he wanted to dive through the open window and try to strangle the one responsible for all of his misfortune.
He quickly and silently made his way to the forest surrounding the estate without making a sound.
Lelouch was sure that if he stayed to hear that conversation, he would be found out. He couldn't afford that, if he was killed there was no one who would be able to take care of Nunnally. And so, the former Prince silently stalked his way through the forest and found his way to the walls surrounding the Pendragon estate.
He quickly followed the wall to the gate where the guards let him out without a word as they assumed he was simply coming from his audience with the Emperor.
As Lelouch got into his car he ordered his driver to take him to the hospital. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that he needed to see Nunnally, even if she was still unconscious. Just being near his beloved little sister was enough to calm him down and make him happy.
As he sat in the car, Lelouch looked out the window, seeing the grey clouds continue to poor down rain. 'I don't know or care who you are V.V., but I do know one thing. I will destroy you for stealing away mother and Nunnally's legs and sight.' He suppressed a growl at the thought of the man responsible for all this.
His thoughts then turned to the man who he no longer acknowledged as his father. 'The Emperor will also pay for abandoning Nunnally and mother. The both of you will pay in blood for the pain you caused them! I swear it, no matter what I must do; I will see to it that the two of you die for what you've done.' Lelouch turned to rest his head against the cool window as he tried to relax himself.
'I need to calm down, I can't do anything yet. First things first, I need to make sure Nunnally's okay and see if she's woken up yet.' With that thought in mind Lelouch let thoughts begin to wander as he was driven to the hospital.
(Pendragon, Britannia – Pendragon Hospital – 6:26 pm – October 25 – 2009 a.t.b.)
Lelouch sat on his bed in the same hospital room as Nunnally, holding onto her hand with both of his own as he had made a habit of doing to both let her know that he was still there for her and to reassure himself that Nunnally was still with him and not gone like their mother.
After his exile was announced, not publicly or with that exact word of course because that would reflect badly on the glorious Emperor, he had decided that he didn't want to return to the Aries Villa without Nunnally. So he had the doctor who was caring for Nunnally bring in a spare bed for him to use so he could sleep at the hospital and keep an eye on Nunnally.
The doctor had ended up noticing that Lelouch hadn't eaten a thing after showing up to the hospital, being too busy watching over Nunnally for any sign of waking up, and gave him an ultimatum.
Either he could eat the food that the doctor would bring him, or the doctor would send him back to the Aries Villa and not let him come back until Nunnally regained consciousness.
Lelouch picked the obvious choice and decided to eat in the room. The only times he left was when he needed to use the restroom since the hospital room didn't have one. Otherwise, Lelouch was keeping a constant eye on Nunnally's form whenever he was awake.
And, finally, on the day Nunnally turned seven, she started stirring from her medically induced slumber. Her hand instinctively curled around Lelouch's as her body stirred as she finally woke up. "Whose there? And why is it so dark?" Lelouch's heart almost broke as he heard Nunnally, his sweet, beloved little sister, sound so scared.
She tried to pry her hand from his grip, but Lelouch simply brought up her knuckles to kiss them in reassurance. "It's your Lelou, Nunnally. Your big brother is here for you." Lelouch's voice cracked as he tried to hold back his tears. Nunnally was okay. She was still alive. But the doctor had been right, Nunnally was now blind. He may never be able to see his beloved little sister's beautiful violet eyes ever again.
The doctor had removed the unnecessary machines after his second visit and one final scan, leaving only the bandages around her legs and the IV drip to give her body nutrients while it was resting with the remaining machines being used to measure her vital signs. However he warned both Lelouch and Cornelia that Nunnally may never open her eyes again.
He explained that the trauma of witnessing her mother's murder so closely had done something to her mind and it may result in her developing a conversion disorder. It was a psychosomatic reaction to severe trauma that was only perceived through a single sense, sight in her case, and it made the one suffering from it simply 'block off' that sense from their brain, resulting in them losing that sense of perception as though they truly lost it.
The doctor had said that very few people who ever react like that to such severe trauma ever regain the use of the sense that they blocked off, but that there had been cases where the patient recovered, but he warned them to not get their hopes up.
He also explained the fact that Nunnally had ended up getting hit by a large number of bullets in her legs that night as well. The bullets had practically shredded the developing muscles in her legs and shattered her leg bones, while miraculously missing her kneecaps. She could still bend her knees just fine, but the damage to her legs was so extensive that, with current medical technology, her legs would be unable to be properly healed so they could support her weight.
Meaning she would be unable to walk again until the proper technology was invented, either to heal the damage or to make it so that her crippled legs didn't need to hold her weight up alone. She would luckily still be able to still feel with her legs, since damage hadn't been done to her spine and she wasn't paralyzed in that way, but the nerves had been damaged as well so the sensations she would feel from her legs would be more subdued than normal.
Had she been older and her leg muscles more developed, they may have been able to do something to heal her bones and muscles, but she was far too young for the necessary procedures to work properly.
Nunnally sat up halfway, pushing with her elbow so she could face the direction she heard her brother's voice from, and she reached out her other hand from her spot lying on the bed, trying to feel around. "Big Brother? Why is it so dark? Can you turn on a light please?" Her voice was still weak from being asleep for two weeks, but it was the same voice he remembered from before the tragedy.
He let go of the hand he was holding and reached out to pull Nunnally into a hug. "Lelouch, please, what's going on? Why is it so dark?" Lelouch buried his face in Nunnally's hair as he took a shaky breath and began explaining what happened during the two weeks she was unconscious.
He had to be careful not to overload Nunnally with the information, but he refused to lie to her. After everything he learned the past two weeks and uncovering the many deceptions surrounding his mother's demise, the only person he felt he could trust completely was Nunnally. And he refused to be like all those who participated in the deceptions surrounding that night. He would never lie to her. Nunnally was the only one who he knew would understand his actions, his feelings, and what was going to happen to them because of what he did and what he learned and still accept him no matter what.
When he brought up her injuries and why she couldn't see him, Nunnally started sobbing violently. Lelouch paused in his explanation long enough to change their positions so that he was sitting on her bed with his back against the wall holding Nunnally in his lap, with her legs out to his right side, as he tried to soothe her by holding her as tight as he could and rubbing his hand up and down her back to try and calm her down. Once her sobbing ceased Lelouch kissed Nunnally on her forehead and made her a promise. "I will never abandon you Nunnally. From now on, I will be your legs and your eyes for you. I will always take care of you, I promise."
After she calmed down, Lelouch asked Nunnally if she wanted him to continue with his explanation. Lelouch stayed quiet as Nunnally silently contemplated his offer to continue. If she didn't want to know, all she had to do was say so and Lelouch would stop his explanation, but if she wanted him to continue, all she needed to do was ask. She turned her face from his chest towards his own face and he felt his heart crack slightly as he once again beheld Nunnally's now permanently closed eyelids.
"Can you promise me one thing Big Brother?" Nunnally's voice was quiet, but Lelouch heard it just fine.
He grasped one of her hands with his free hand while his occupied one continued to rub Nunnally's back in soothing circles. As his fingers curled around her hand Lelouch said, "Anything Nunnally. I will promise anything you ask of me." He truly meant it too. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his beloved little sister.
Nunnally's brow furrowed slightly as she frowned and asked for what she wanted. "Please, promise me that you will never lie to me and that everything you just told me was all true. It's hard to believe everything so quickly and I'm just so confused." Nunnally's voice cracked slightly.
Lelouch placed his forehead against Nunnally's and held her hand even tighter. "I promise you Nunnally, everything I just told you was the truth. I swear Nunnally, in this world full of lies; I will never lie to you. I promise I will never, ever lie to you my beloved little sister. You are the most precious thing to me in the entire world." Lelouch said softly. He meant every word.
Nunnally then returned the grip he had on her hand with equal intensity and brought it up to rub on her cheek. "Thank you Lelouch." Nunnally said happily. She then gave her beloved older brother a smile that practically lit up the room, "Then in return, I promise I will never lie to you either. My Big Brother, I'm so glad I didn't lose you too. I love you so much. I don't think I could handle living without you." She burrowed her face into Lelouch's chest and wrapped her arms around him in the tightest hug she could manage which he gladly reciprocated. "Thank you for being my Big Brother Lelou. I love you so much." She mumbled as she nuzzled his chest happily.
Once the moment ended, Nunnally pulled back slightly and asked Lelouch to continue with his explanation of what happened the past two weeks.
She gently scolded him when she learned about his fight with Cornelia. "You didn't give Nellie a chance to explain herself. She loved mother very much and she would never do anything to hurt her."
Lelouch frowned slightly then explained why he fought with Cornelia. "She called off mother's guards that night. I'm not sure why, but I didn't want to take any chances."
Nunnally frowned when she learned of his reasons. "I understand, just please make sure that you don't jump to conclusions like that again. That's not a very good thing to do you know." She giggled as she heard Lelouch huff in indignation.
"Fine, I suppose I could apologize to Cornelia, just this once. I don't want Euphie to try and get back at me after all." Both Nunnally and Lelouch laughed quietly at the thought of Euphie trying to get even with Lelouch. The last time she did that, she shoved him in the pond in the gardens of the Aries Villa. After his 'scolding' was finished, Lelouch continued his explanation.
He detailed some of the other events that happened that he hadn't really paid attention to at the time, being too worried about Nunnally. He explained that the Ashford family, allies that had sponsored their mother when she was one of the first Knightmare pilots, had lost their noble title and were exiled from the country.
He also explained that there hadn't been a funeral for their mother for some reason. When Nunnally had questioned him on that subject he replied, "I don't know." It grated on him that his mother wasn't even being allowed to be laid to rest and it had brought his already bad mood even lower.
When he explained what he did with the employees at the Aries Villa, Nunnally frowned again. She opened her mouth to scold him again, but Lelouch cut her off. "Yes, I know. I made a mistake, just like with Cornelia, but please let me finish this part of my explanation before you scold me. Okay?" Lelouch then explained the suspicions he had about the nobility and the Imperial Family having a hand in what happened to their mother. He also explained his reasoning to Nunnally and since it was an understandable, if paranoid, assumption she let Lelouch off lightly.
"I understand Lelou. I'm glad you realized that you were wrong, but I want you to apologize to those people if you ever meet them again. Okay Big Brother?" Nunnally said gently.
Lelouch smiled, before he realized that Nunnally couldn't see it, and forced a slight laugh. "When did you become my handler?" He said jokingly before softly replying to Nunnally's request. "Okay, Nunnally, if I ever meet those people again, I'll apologize for getting rid of them because I was paranoid." Lelouch then got to the part of the explanation he was dreading.
After he detailed his meeting with Anya, with Nunnally pouting saying that "Anya had almost stolen his first kiss from her" and made the two of them giggle like the children they were for a few minutes, Lelouch got to his explanation of his confrontation with the Emperor.
Lelouch wanted to make sure that Nunnally was prepared to hear what the Emperor had done. "Nunnally, my audience with the Emperor wasn't good at all. Are you sure you want to hear it?" He asked softly. Lelouch felt like he should warn Nunnally about what happened before he started that part of his explanation.
Nunnally frowned stubbornly and tapped Lelouch on the nose with her index finger. "Of course I want to hear it. You said it was very important right? Then I'll need to hear it if I'm going to be able to help you think about what to do. Right, Lelou?" She finished cheekily. Lelouch laughed quietly.
It was good to see that Nunnally hadn't completely lost her spunky attitude from before that night. It was still heavily subdued, but he could tell the tiny terror that was his little sister was still in there somewhere.
With that gentle 'scolding' Lelouch began the most important part of his explanation. He needed to make Nunnally understand that the Emperor was abandoning them because they were no longer useful to him. He couldn't have Nunnally still believe the man was a loving father after what he had done to them.
He poured out all the emotions he felt during that meeting, his feelings of betrayal, his anger and rage at the Emperor's complete apathy towards Nunnally and their mother, along with the burning hatred he now felt for the man, and he reiterated almost word for word how the Emperor had called him nothing more than a corpse and how he was exiling them to Japan as political bargaining tools.
By the time Lelouch finished his explanation, leaving out nothing, not even his own words toward the Emperor, Nunnally was shaking and sobbing into his chest. His hatred for the man who fathered him grew even more because he had forced Lelouch to make Nunnally cry. He held his little sister closely as he comforted her from the shock of having the image of a loving father destroyed so thoroughly. He rubbed her back soothingly as he kissed her on the head and did his best to calm her down. He knew that she must have been having trouble with her newfound knowledge of the Emperor, but he had promised to never lie to her, no matter how much he wished he could protect her from the cruel truth that their father abandoned them without a second thought.
As he was comforting her, Lelouch was unsure if he should continue with what he learned about after his audience with the Emperor. He decided to ask her if she wanted to know once she calmed down. The last part of his explanation would be the most earthshattering yet and he needed to make sure Nunnally would be able to handle it.
As Nunnally's sobs started to abate, Lelouch continued to hold her tightly as he asked her, "Nunnally, there is one more thing that happened, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about it. It's something no one else knows that I know. Do you want me to finish or do you want me to stop?" Lelouch stayed quiet as Nunnally slowly stopped sobbing into his chest.
Nunnally stayed silent for a few minutes before mumbling something unintelligible into his chest.
"What was that? I didn't hear what you said." Lelouch spoke gently.
Nunnally turned her head up to face her brother. "I want to know. I already know everything else, I promise, I won't tell anyone anything you told me tonight. I don't want anything to happen to you." Just the thought of someone taking her precious brother away from her terrified Nunnally to her very core.
Lelouch sighed. Of course she would want to know. So, before he finished up his explanation, he made sure to explain to Nunnally one more thing. "Nunnally, I want to tell you right now that I'm not going to say his name." When Nunnally opened her mouth to protest, Lelouch cut her off gently. "It's not that I don't trust you, but I can't have anyone think you know it. It could put you in danger and that's the last thing I want for you."
Nunnally then closed her mouth and nodded her head, still facing her brother, even if she couldn't see him. Lelouch then dove into the last part of his explanation to wrap up everything that happened to him while Nunnally was unconscious.
"I thought that I could take one last walk around the gardens of the palace to rest, since I wouldn't be able to see them ever again, but after I laid down to relax in the meadow for a while I noticed it was about to rain. I quickly made my way down the path and turned toward the palace. I was looking for a window I could sneak into so I could stay dry and when I found an open window I was about to climb into I heard the Emperor's voice." Lelouch shivered slightly as he recalled just how close he had been to being caught. He had a feeling that if he hadn't left when he did he would have been noticed and he probably wouldn't be alive to tell Nunnally of this.
"He was in that room with someone and he asked that person why he killed our mother, but I didn't hear anything after that. I didn't want to risk getting caught by the Emperor or whoever was with him so I left as quickly as I could without being noticed. The only thing I know about him is his name. I quietly made my way into the forest and snuck back out of the palace estate and had my guard take me here. I've been in the hospital with you ever since." As soon as Lelouch finished his explanation, he stayed silent to let what he just said sink in Nunnally's mind.
Nunnally was also quiet, as she learned that the Emperor knew their mother's killer well enough to hold a conversation with him in one of the palace's private rooms. She started trembling as the last shard of her image of having a loving father disappeared, being replaced with a feeling of rage. She hugged her brother tightly and whispered into Lelouch's chest with a surprising amount of venom in her voice, "I want to kill him. I want him dead." Nunnally was furious and Lelouch was only slightly surprised that Nunnally could speak with such anger.
After all, he felt the exact same way and Nunnally was his full-blooded sister. It would make perfect sense that the two of them would feel the exact same way about the man who hurt their family.
He wrapped his arms around her in his own hug and replied, "So do I Nunnally, so do I. Unfortunately, we can't do anything right now, but I swear to you, I will find that man one day and I will kill him for stealing mother from us and for taking away your legs and sight. I will make that man pay for everything he did to you, I promise." Lelouch swore.
He would never let anything bad happen to Nunnally ever again if he could help it. She was the only thing he had left in the world. Nunnally was now Lelouch's only reason for living, for something other than vengeance.
If she but asked, he would give her the world.
Author's Note: I hope that you've enjoyed reading my first chapter of Code Geass: Zero's Revolution. I know that what happened in canon is different from what I've portrayed in this chapter, but I have an explanation for it. You see, this story is based on the premise of Lelouch trusting Nunnally more as well as him discovering the Emperor speaking with V.V. in a private room in the palace. It's something that could have happened in canon, but when Lelouch was discovered, the Emperor wiped Lelouch's mind using his Geass.
Here, Lelouch ran off before he could learn anything more than V.V.'s name and so he was never caught, he never forgot Anya, he never forgot his fight with Cornelia about her removing his mother's guards, and he realized that the deceptions going on around him were far more elaborate than he believed. The Emperor also is unaware of Marianne residing in Anya's mind until just before his conversation with V.V., which is why the Emperor was unable to use his Geass to make Nunnally and Lelouch forget about her. His control over his Geass isn't quite as perfect as it is in canon just yet (it becomes perfect over the next several years, though it is close at this time) and so he wasn't able to use it on Nunnally to make her forget Anya either since Lelouch practically never left her side instead of being sent back to the Aries Villa after being caught. He wasn't sure if he could erase such a small, insignificant memory of Lelouch waiting with Nunnally at her bedside without making a mistake so he decided to leave their memories of Anya alone. Ironically, to Lelouch the memory isn't insignificant at all. The Emperor is unaware of just how deep their bond is so he could have easily altered the memory slightly, but he was far too cold to understand.
I believe that it's easier for the Emperor to alter memories significant to the person he's using his Geass on than it is for him to alter smaller memories that aren't as prominent. Case in point, Shirley still knew about paper cranes and the whole make a thousand of them and your wish will come true thing, but she was just unaware of who taught her about them. That's because, to the Emperor, that memory was insignificant despite its importance to Shirley and its connection to Nunnally.
The difference between the argument between Lelouch and the Emperor can also be explained by him using his Geass on all the nobles to forget about Lelouch's boldness, because it wouldn't be very good for his reputation if it got out that his nine-year-old son stood up to him without flinching, and he gave them fake memories of Lelouch cowering after he fell down from tripping over his cloak. He would have used his Geass to implant the same fake memories of that moment into Lelouch after he was caught outside the window, making Lelouch have a severe subconscious fear of the Emperor.
One last thing, I will be making this a partial crossover with Nightmare of Nunnally since I want to be able to give her a more active role in the story. It's still going to be mainly like the anime, but it will have elements of the spin-off manga to give Nunnally more depth as a character. It's rather annoying to me when authors disregard Nunnally's character potential and keep her as simply the reason for Lelouch to fight Britannia. Like a bird in a cage. She has so much more potential as a character than many give her credit for, especially with her darker side that can rival Lelouch's that most people disregard when it concerns Nunnally's character. Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up so no one thinks that the characters I use from Nightmare of Nunnally are simply overpowered or useless OCs.
I hope that this explains my reasoning behind the changes I made well enough.
Now,
Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, REVIEW! (Note: I don't actually care if you review or not since I will definitely be updating this story. I just really wanted to say that.)
King Draconias Over and Out.