10 「Blind」

With the aid of Lelouch and Graham, Jeremiah became an agent for what would become the future Black Knights, a symbol of Justice. His status and rank remained secure, Kewell being demoted instead due to failure to follow orders to capture Zero during Suzaku's break out. He ultimate resigned from service rather than starting over as a simple pilot.

Full trust was put into Lord Jeremiah, instead his men admired him for attempting to acquire the true culprit, though his plan had been flawed as he deceived by friend and foe. Though it was the oldest trick in the book, and it would have worked too if the convoy followed orders that had been logged in the reports which all matched up except for Kewell's.

As Suzaku was proven innocent and acquitted of all crimes, he would go on to meet Euphy, just like before. The only difference was, he didn't have to go off and save the leader of the Pure Bloods as he was bonding with the Princess. Instead learning of her title when her sister, Cornelia, arrives at the scene to pick up the sub-viceroy.

Concurrent with the same evening of Suzaku's official release from imprisonment, Graham not dressed in his armor, stood on the edge of a balcony, looking over that of the Ashford Estate.

It was peaceful in this place. A place where Nunnally could blindly live her life without seeing the ugly which surrounded her. Where she could smile, be taken care of, as she couldn't take care of herself.

She was blind, she had to read braille instead of looking at beautiful illustrations and typography. As Lelouch often believed and stated in the original timeline, the most she could do was smile and appreciation towards others.

He closed his eyes partially as he heard the wheelchair enter onto the balcony behind him. He turned his head and looked at the Japanese maid which served the household and smiled.

"Graham...?" Nunnally asked as she tried to hold back a yawn, she had been getting ready for bed. If she wasn't 'blind' she would be focusing his gaze on him right now.

For the time being, she could only guess where he was standing based on the fient sound of his breathing. He turned his body to face her as he smiled a bit, Sayako leaving them along for the time being.

"...Nunnally," he responded hesitantly at her calling him by his last name.

She reminded him of a tiny pixie from a fairy tale, stuffed in a jar and kept for decoration. Her wings had been crippled and now she was here at the mercy of others.

He could definitely understand Lelouch's feelings towards his sister. She was adorable, like a doll. He walked over to her and gently placed a hand on her head and tilted it back with a miniscule of pressure to make it appear as if she were to look up at him.

She reached up and grasped his hand, a small smile forming over her lips as she remembered their friendship. All the times he had told her colorful stories and reminded her of what it was like to see.

"What if I told you, your blindness is a lie?"

She scrunched up her brows as she heard this question, while it sounded hypothetical, it felt as if he was asking a truthful question. Was her blindness a lie? She didn't understand, how could this be? Her smile seemed to quiver in mental conflict.

"Let me release you from your chains. I will do it with only your permission."

She blinked a few times when he had said this. It was as if she was being asked for permission to be deflowered by him. Her hands tightened around his hands. She knew if he tried, he'd get away with it too. Though she could feel that wasn't his intentions at all, those thoughts weren't even on his minds.

"Break.... My chains...?" The way she asked for him to release her from this curse that he merely suggested, made him snicker quietly in response.

It felt like a ripple of energy came bursting through invisible gates within her mind. Her overwritten memories remained, but they became jumbled up with the truth. She remembered what her father had done to her, having rewritten her memories. Set up the whole incident with the death of her mother.

She couldn't understand why this had been done. Why did their father do this? How could he?! Her lower lip quivered even more, this time in shock and despair. Much like when she had been found beneath her mother's cold dead body.

For the first time, her violet eyes gazed up at the man who had broken the spell on her sight. She saw him, memorized his face. She had never seen him before, and it brought a smile to her face now that she could put a face to his voice and name. That's however when her eyes narrowed on his right eye, seeing the Geass symbol.

She remembered her father having the same symbol in his eyes, both of his eyes. It was clear now that he was just like her father in that respect. He had power to manipulate others.

She knew that it would be an unsafe action to make assumptions about him. He had gone out of his way to free her after all. Freed her from false eternal darkness for what she thought would have been the rest of her life. Now she at least had a chance to take care of herself.

"How did you know about my blindness?" Nunnally asked with her inhumanly kindhearted smile printed across her lips as she stared up at him. She didn't like not knowing if he was in cohorts with her father. Though since he cured her, she found it was unlikely. She didn't know how long ago he had acquired this power, let alone if he had always had it.

"I've spent how many years with you, Nunnally vi Britannia?"

She blinked and lightly jerked her head back at the thought. It had been over seven years since they had been together. Since they had been friends. He had always been around her, Lelouch and Suzaku.

"You may have believed you were blind, but a blind person can open their eyes." Caressing the top of her head, he knelt down in front of the young girl only three years his junior with a small smile across his lips.

She reached forward to touch his face, tracing his features, matching them with her memories in the dark. She lowered her head as her hand remained on the top of her head, having the hand drop to her shoulder.

"My Lady, Nunnally vi Britannia, my people wish for their independence from the Holy Britannian Empire, but your father Charles zi Britannia denies us our salvation with violence and prejudice. Will you lend me your strength and support as the 87th seat of the Britannian Throne?"

Nunnally's face turned a bright red at his words. He called her his lady. He beseeched her for her assistance. It was clear he was asking for a favor through that of the deed he had done.

Restored her sight, revealed her father's devious nature and she knew he held more information. He knew more than he was letting on. Her ability to sense the truth by the touch of hand gave her this insight.

"What of my brother, Lelouch?" She felt his heart rate spike for a mere moment there, until she heard his voice.

"Lelouch has chosen to stand beside me on the Righteous Path, to grant Area 11 its independance and obliterate the suffering caused by the Britannian Empire, for the sake of giving you a world of peace. He wishes to become a symbol of hope for the oppressed."

The way that Graham presented her brother made her smile widely, proud of what her brother was choosing to become. Though she wasn't entirely sure of how her brother was doing it however. That's when she remembered Zero, the man who saved Suzaku from being unlawfully executed for treason he never committed.

"For the Oppressed..." Nunnally said conflictingly looking up towards the purple and pink skyline decorated with patches of stars above. "How is my brother becoming a symbol?" Her eyes rested on the man who stood before her, his own hazel green eyes piercing through hers.

His heart had gone steady, she could feel it.

"He is Zero."

Nunnally got chest heavy, her breathing became unstable, as if she was about to start crying. He had killed one of their siblings. "W-why d-d-did he kill brother Clovis?"

"He believed Clovis to be apart of the conspiracy to assassinate your mother."

Nunnally froze right there and then. Conspiracy to kill and assassinate her mother? She thought back to how her father rewrote her memories. How she had been used as a prop by her own father to set a stage, only to be sent away, crippled by the experience.

"Was he?" Nunnally asked, her voice clearly shaking.

"Clovis attacked him before Lelouch could get a clear answer, but he was clearly hiding names and acting frantically."

He spoke the utmost truth, not revealing certain information. In a sense she was being manipulated by him, without him even using her Geass and without actually fooling her power to feel truths and lies.

There were no lies between them.

She shook in her wheelchair as she hugged herself and looked to the side, averting her gaze from Graham with a coy smile across her lips, biting the inside of her cheek. "I don't think there is much I can do, but stand on the sidelines, but I will try my best to support you. As you are one of my dearest friends."