[IC: moar aftermath]

[pizzapathic]

[Sometimes, C.C. likes to just start walking and see where she ends up. It's hard to get too lost when you will eventually reach a barrier, anyway. If she finds a place quiet enough, she might stay for awhile just to think-and at this particular point, there are plenty of things to think about.]

[RETURN OF THE GEASS R2 SPOILERS LIKE WHAT]

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[thekingsgambit]

[And in the not too far distant, a certain ex-emperor is probably sharing that feeling as he seeks out a place to remain away from the world he's not sure how to accept. Cornelia's communicator is still in his pocket, a reminder of how precarious his presence actually is. He hadn't given her anything to tell the others... Would she mention him at all? Either way, if he stayed beyond their sights, perhaps it wouldn't matter.]

[pizzapathic]

[At the sound of approaching footsteps, she is a little startled. Who else would come all the way out here?]

Who's there?

[thekingsgambit]

[Pauses immediately in his walk, back going ramrod straight, as he turns at the question and moreso its speaker.]

... C.C.?

[pizzapathic]

Lelouch?

[thekingsgambit]

[He wonders briefly if she is making the same mistake Cornelia has. Assuming him to be his younger self. He focuses on her eyes, eyes that had always held such loneliness. She had been his accomplice... but in the end, he had left her. There had been no other way. Even knowing she understood -- she had told him his path was right -- he can't push back the guilt that comes with seeing her again.]

... I was not expecting to find you out here.

[pizzapathic]

I could say the same to you.

[thekingsgambit]

This place has never missed a chance to deliver the unexpected.

[pizzapathic]

... Yes.

Are you all right?

[thekingsgambit]

[The pause and its subsequent question reveals all he needs to know about C.C.'s perception and he faces her with a genuinely lost look.]

That seems to be exactly the problem...

I am... not sure what is going on.

[pizzapathic]

[sigh]

I'm sorry.

[thekingsgambit]

[Hears the soft sigh fall across his ears. He's not the only one who must be puzzled at being back here. Not the only one finding familiar faces and continuously reliving the memories that accompany them. He carefully closes the distance between them, meeting her eyes, his still glowing with the Geass' unfiltered luminescence.]

As long as the others do not know, there is still time to figure things out.

... And you? Are you all right, C.C.?

[pizzapathic]

... I don't know how much they saw. As for me, I saw everything. How it all ends.

For that reason, your well-being is more important than mine.

[thekingsgambit]

[Is a bit surprised at her first statement.]

Saw... ?

[But his confusion falls amid the importance of the second one and he shakes his head softly.]

My well-being no longer matters. It has already been decided. The others though... I know nothing about what has happened to them. Or you.

[pizzapathic]

I am nothing to be concerned about. Life goes on... sometimes to an obnoxious degree.

As for the others, I haven't seen them since. I would assume if you are all right, then they are as well.

[thekingsgambit]

My intention was not to leave you with such regrets...

[Long pause before he starts speaking again, voice slightly thick as he broaches the subject of his siblings.]

I have only seen Cornelia and... Nunnally. Cornelia is as I remember but Nunnally... Do you think it is possible that separate time lines may still exist?

[pizzapathic]

I know. As I said, don't worry about me.

I've learned not to rule anything out here, if nothing else. It's entirely possible.