Lelouch. Zero. Whatever you wanted to call him. You knew him well. Well enough to become the closest thing you had to a family.

Regardless of his escapades and dances with death as his alter ego, you were always around in school and whenever he needed something to fall back on.

The longer his efforts went on, the more he kept you in the dark. Especially about his final plan. His plan for peace, then having the alter ego of 'himself' publicly kill him after he rose to the throne and achieved that grasp at power. Attending that ceremony and witnessing the events, was devastating. Like a part of you had just been stripped from your life.

You denied that the Lelouch you knew had fought for an end like that. You didn't know that was what he wanted.

In honour of him, you joined up and mixed with the very people he took in to battles with him. The remnants of The Black Knights under the rule of the empire he passed down. You picked up skills, soon becoming a close match to Kallen. But what made you different was how quiet you were, almost mute. Not by nature but by choice. Feelings hardly expressed, only battling on your mind. You could say a coping mechanism.

A tough year on from that distasteful day, and you were silently observing and listening to your surroundings, a usual habit, and you caught wind on a conversation that C.C. had brought him back for reasons unknown. Reigniting that spark, you frantically searched through this base only to stumble on the command room he left empty. Faint voices your ears tuned into. Familiar ones at that.

The rumours were true.

Your back against the door frame you had only a second to really compose yourself. He let both Kallen and C.C. go about their business, preparing for the upcoming battles before calling out to you.

"I know you're there..." He could sense your presence from a mile away it seemed.