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Suzaku stood in a black void, nothing as far as the eye could see. “Hello?” he called out. Suddenly, a light came from behind him. He turned around, nearly blinded, but he walked toward it. He found himself in the throne room of the Pendragon imperial palace. “This is… Pendragon palace? No, that can’t be right, it was destroyed.”
He looked around and saw a shadowed figure, formless, but taking the vague shape of a person. It transformed into a girl with pink hair and a long white dress. It was Princess Euphemia, the woman who made him her knight and lover. “Why did you do it, Suzaku? Why did you fire the FLEIJA?”
Suzaku reached out to her. “Euphie…? Is it really…”
“All I ever wanted was to make the world a better place. That’s what the Special Administrative Zone was supposed to be. For Britannians and Japanese to live together in harmony. So why did you fire the FLEIJA, Suzaku?”
“I… I didn’t mean to—” he trembled.
Euphemia shot him down in an instant. “You destroyed the Tokyo settlement. You killed millions. And yet you claim to honor my legacy? That’s not what I wanted. You did a horrible thing in my name. I was wrong to choose you as my knight and my lover.”
She started to change into someone else. The figure took the shape of his best friend, Lelouch, dressed as Zero. “You were supposed to be my friend, yet you fought for everything I stood against. And then you dragged me in front of the emperor, my father, as he ripped away my memories of Nunnally! You heard my screams and did nothing. Your insistence on working with the system caused untold death and suffering!”
“Lelouch…”
“You’ll just have to live forever, with your hands stained in blood. You’ll never be loved again, Suzaku Kururugi. It’s what you deserve.” Lelouch said, before he dissipated.
The figure morphed again. This time, it was the 98th emperor, Charles zi Britannia. This was the face of the man who destroyed his country. The man who ordered him to restrain Lelouch as he wiped his memories of Nunnally. He destroyed Japan, and Suzaku was complicit in all of it. “You were never worthy of being a soldier for Britannia, much less a Knight of the Round. Perhaps you should have died with the rest of those Elevens when we laid claim to that island. You are scum, less than dirt. I have no use for weaklings such as you!”
“Stop it!” he cried out.
Suddenly, his father Genbu was standing before him. “You are a traitor to your people, your nation, and your own family. The Resist or Die movement was Japan’s only chance at salvation, and you ruined it, for what? Two Britannian brats? And then you helped Britannia murder thousands, no, millions more of our people! I am ashamed that you are my son!”
The throne room disappeared into the void. Suzaku was surrounded by black nothingness yet again. He covered his ears with his hands, but it was no use. The voices weren’t muffled one bit, he could still hear all of them shouting at once. “Stop… please!”
“Murderer!” Euphie cried.
“Backstabber!” Lelouch yelled.
“Worthless!” Charles boomed.
“Traitor!” Genbu sneered.
“I SAID STOP!” Suzaku screamed. He couldn’t take anymore of this.
The voices did not stop.
They only grew louder.
All four of them circled around Suzaku, towering over him, hurling insult after insult at him. All he could do was curl up and cry.
More voices joined in the chorus of hatred.
“Dirty Eleven!”
“War criminal!”
“Disgrace to Japan!”
“I can’t believe they let a filthy Eleven into Ashford!”
“Please… make it stop…” he cried to himself.
Suzaku awoke in a cold sweat. He looked around at his room, disoriented. He calmed down as he remembered where he was. He was at the UFN headquarters in Hawaii. He looked over at his nightstand at the clock. It was almost 11:00 at night. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to sleep. He saw Arthur laying on his bed, peaceful as could be. Lucky him.
His phone began buzzing. He picked it up and saw the name, Nina. Why would she be calling at this hour? It was four in the morning in Texas, surely she wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t important. He picked up and held the phone to his ear. “Nina?”
Nina’s voice came through. “S-Suzaku! I’m s-sorry to wake you up.” She sounded like she was crying. Something must have happened to cause her to be this distressed. A nightmare, perhaps. There seemed to be a lot of those going around tonight.
Suzaku sighed, “You didn’t wake me up… Here, one second.” He hung up and then called Nina back, this time through video. He held the phone in front of his face, waiting for Nina to pick back up. Sure enough, Nina’s face was red and tears were streaming down her face. “Suzaku, you don’t… hate me, right?”
“What? No, not at all.” He replied. He wondered why Nina would ask that, at this time of night no less. “Did you have a nightmare?”
Nina sniffled, “Yeah… And I take it you can’t sleep either?”
Suzaku’s expression darkened. “The last dream I had was really painful, so I don't want to go back to sleep tonight.” He could still hear Euphemia, Lelouch, Charles, and his father’s voices in the back of his mind.
“Oh, Milly, say hi.” Nina turned the camera towards Milly.
“Err… Hi Suzaku!” She said as she climbed into bed with Nina, getting under the covers with her.
Suzaku was taken aback. “Oh, Milly! I didn’t know you were there. Hi!” he said.
“I wanna talk to you for a little bit. Hearing your voice might help calm me down,” Nina said, voice trembling.
Suzaku nodded. “Honestly, that’s a good idea. It gets lonely over here… I don’t do well when I’m by myself. How’s it going between you two?”
“Oh, it’s amazing!” Milly kissed Nina on the cheek, much to the latter’s aggravation.
“She’s overly affectionate and annoying.” Nina groaned. Milly was always the more outgoing type, and Nina was always more reserved and shy.
“But you love me.” Milly taunted with a smile.
Even Nina gave in and smiled herself. “That I do…”
Suzaku laughed. “You two are so perfect for each other. Life just keeps moving forward. So much is changing, but I’m glad everyone still makes an effort to see me despite it all… Oh, guys, look at this,” he panned the camera over to Arthur, who was still sound asleep. “At least someone is getting some sleep.”
Milly was overcome with happiness seeing the former Student Council pet and mascot. “Aww, Arthur!”
Nina chuckled. “Look at him, not a care in the world."
Milly gasped, as if she just remembered something. “Suzaku, oh my god, I have the funniest story to tell!”
“You’d better not-” Nina objected, but it was too late. Milly had already started. “I’m totally gonna! So we were out drinking the other day with Kallen, and Nina drank a little too much! Kallen ended up having to carry her home. Let me show you the video!”
A second later, Suzaku got a text from Milly. Attached was a video. Suzaku pressed the ‘play’ button, and it opened with Nina stumbling along the street. The sky was dark, and it was late at night. They had just left the bar and were on their way back home. Milly was recording behind the camera and Kallen was helping Nina maintain her balance. Milly asked “Hey Nina, how many fingers am I holding up?”
Nina gave a dumb smile, clearly wasted, and slurred drunkenly “Don’t play with me, Milly. Two isn’t enough and you know it!” Milly and Kallen then started laughing so hard that Kallen nearly fell over herself and Milly almost dropped her phone.
Suzaku smiled and chuckled, “That sure is Nina, alright.” He paused before speaking again, “Speaking of Kallen, how is she? I hear she stayed in Japan.”
“Oh, she just graduated from Ashford Academy a few weeks ago. She came over to visit all the way from Japan, she stayed with us at our place for a bit. That’s why we were all drinking together, we were all celebrating her graduation. Kallen got so drunk she made out with a random girl in the bathroom!”
Suzaku was shocked by this. He didn’t know Kallen swung that way. “Kallen did that? Seriously? I never figured… ah, never mind.”
Nina laughed a little bit. “Oh, yeah, me and Kallen had a little conversation with each other. Turns out she likes both guys and girls. And Japanese society is a lot more lenient when it comes to that stuff compared to Britannia. Before Lelouch became emperor, anyway… I’m glad Nunnally is continuing those policies legalizing homosexuality that her brother put in place.”
Milly chuckled. “Yep. But at least she can handle her liquor better than Little Miss Lightweight over here.”
“Milly!” Nina whined. This prompted yet more laughter from the blonde.
Suzaku chuckled again, then changed the subject. “How about Rivalz? How has he been?”
“He’s doing good. He’s back in California, running a motorcycle repair shop. It’s pretty popular with the locals. They all say the service is top notch. Nina and I are planning to go visit him soon. I wanna drive there, but Nina insists we fly.”
Nina snapped back, “You know how awful the traffic in Los Angeles is! I wouldn’t wish driving through there on my worst enemy. Not even on Schneizel.” This got more laughter out of Suzaku and Milly. “But, I do miss Rivalz. I can’t wait to see him.”
Milly suddenly asked, “So, how is it, being Zero and all?”
“Milly, not so loud!” Suzaku hushed.
Milly quickly corrected herself. “Right, sorry. But how are you, anyway?”
Suzaku sighed. “Well, it's pretty lonely, I won’t lie. But I get to be with Empress Nunnally a lot, which makes it better. It’s a shame she can never know the truth, but I know Lelouch would be happy I’m taking care of her.” He looked saddened upon mentioning that name. Lelouch meant so much to Suzaku, and even now he wished he were still here with him. But the Zero Requiem couldn’t be stopped. Lelouch had to create the gentle world that he wished for Nunnally no matter the cost. He decided to speak of happier things to do with Nunnally. “Plus, she seems to enjoy her job. Her favorite part is meeting the children and making them smile.”
Nina smiled, “That’s good. I can imagine being the 100th Empress of Britannia is lonely and stressful. We try to visit her as often as we can, but she’s just so busy. At least she talks in our group chats often enough.”
“Yeah, I’m glad she isn’t alone.” Suzaku suddenly yawned, realizing that he couldn’t escape sleep any longer, “Well, if my body is offering me some sleep, I guess I’ll take the opportunity.”
Nina frowned as she asked, “You aren’t worried about the nightmares?”
Suzaku smiled, “It’ll be fine. I’m less tense since I got to talk to you guys. I hope you’ve relaxed too, Nina. Get some rest if you can, alright? It was nice talking to you guys.”
Nina smiled as well, clearly less stressed out and sad over her nightmare. “You too! Sleep well, Suzaku!”
“Good night!” Milly waved one last time before Suzaku hung up.
Suzaku set his phone down and went over to pet Arthur. The cat was purring in his sleep.
He dreamed of Euphemia and Lelouch again that night, but these dreams were more pleasant, having the two people he loved most by his side. Instead of the harsh words and insults of his last dream, this one was filled with only happiness and peace. Lelouch and Euphemia both laid their heads on his shoulders as they watched the sunrise over the Tokyo settlement atop the roof of Ashford Academy. “We will always love you, Suzaku,” Euphemia said, “never forget that.”