[Nobodyman9]

All right, here's the sequel chapter to my Shirlulu fanfic. Hope you enjoy.

Spoiler for size:

It had been six months since Shirley had regained her self-consciousness, and ever since then Lelouch had never been so attentive to her. He was in her room practically every second of the day, leaving only to cook, clean and do other mandatory tasks around the house. He even slept in the chair next to her bed, despite Shirley’s insistence that he sleep on his own bed so he could have a more comfortable night’s rest. But Lelouch would hear nothing of it. It had seemed so hopeless for so long, day after day tending to the body of the once bright and cheerful girl that had made him so happy, and now that he was truly able to talk and eat and be with her again, he wasn’t going to take a single second for granted. Besides, he had to help her through her very difficult healing process.

The geass was indeed an awesome yet horrific power. Even after Shirley had made her initial breakthrough, the geass was still present and continued to try to overtake her mind. Granted, there was nothing malicious in its nature. It was simply trying to fulfill and maintain the command that Lelouch had made all those years ago, as it was meant to. However, day by day, week by week, the geass’s power had slowly and gradually begun to lose its dominance as Shirley’s mind became more and more active.

Shirley was, unfortunately, still confined to her bed due to the fact that almost all the muscles in her body had atrophied from disuse over the five year period. However, the recovery of her mind and body had gone very well, exceeding even Lelouch’s expectations. Every day, as her mind continued to repel the geass, she recovered bits of her memory. She was also steadily rebuilding and regaining the use of her muscles, at first through the paradoxically simple yet arduous task of moving her fingers and toes, and more recently through calisthenics. She was still unable to support herself on her own two legs, but she remained hopeful that one day she would be able to stand and perhaps even be able to swim laps around a pool like she used to.

As for her mind, she and Lelouch found it very important for her to maintain constant mental stimulation so she could further repress the geass. She kept her mind busy by reading, solving puzzles, going through old keepsakes to reawaken personal memories, and having conversations with Lelouch. Thanks to their efforts she now had most of her memories intact. She remembered all the key major events of her life as well as the knowledge of how to perform all voluntary body functions. There were still several minor memories that eluded her, but she remembered a little bit more every day and she and Lelouch couldn’t have been happier with the miraculous recovery she had made.

It was a beautiful autumn day and Shirley was lying in her room curling up with a good book as she had often done over the past four months (it had taken two months before she remembered how to read). Currently she was reading Pride and Prejudice and thankfully her reading of it had, so far, gone better than her reading of the The Scarlet Letter. About half way through reading the latter she had spontaneously remembered that she had already read it, effectively ruining the rest of the book for her. But no matter; it showed that her memories were returning and she was quite enjoying her new book.

There was a knock on the door.

She looked up from her book. “Come in Lulu.”

Lelouch entered the room holding a tray that held two bowls of chicken fried rice and two glasses of milk; their lunch for the day. He made his way to the ever-present bedside chair.

“How do you like the book so far Shirley?”

“It’s really good Lulu.”

He sat down. “I trust you don’t remember reading that book as well?”

She giggled. “No. Not yet anyway.”

He placed the tray on her lap and then removed a bowl and glass for himself. He carefully placed them on the end table that sat next to his chair.

“Remember anything new today Shirley?”

Shirley’s gradually reawakening memory was an exciting event for the both of them. With Shirley it was a very personal experience as she was the one making the recovery and the one having to do the remembering. She never knew exactly what she would remember or when she would remember it, but it always gave her a sense of joy and fulfillment when she rediscovered the lost pieces of herself. Sometimes she got discouraged when she went for long periods of time without recovering any memories, but inevitably they would come.

Lelouch himself was very enthused whenever Shirley regained a new memory. He would usually ask her two or three times a day if any new memories had come to her, and it was the part of the day he looked forward to the most. Having been so distant from her in the past, he was now able to discover everything about her that he had never gotten the chance to know before. It was quite a remarkable venture as they were practically starting from square one, and at any given time Lelouch knew just about as much as Shirley knew about herself. Sometimes Lelouch would even aid in her memory recovery by telling her things about herself that even she may not have been aware of. All in all, he loved his conversations with Shirley and oftentimes would even oblige himself by telling her some of his own life experiences.

He waited patiently as she cycled through her thoughts and she stirred the contents of her bowl.

“I remember a few things.” She paused briefly. “I remember one time when I was seven years old and I fell off my bike and scraped my knee. I started to cry really hard, but then my father came and fixed me right up. He put a band-aid on, patted me on the head and I stopped crying.”

Tears began to form in her eyes.

“He was always so kind to me.”

Regrettably, Shirley had also remembered her father’s fate and the man who had caused it. Lelouch looked down, ashamed.

“I’m sorry Shirley.”

Shirley forced her tears back and smiled.

“It’s okay Lulu.”

When Shirley initially recovered the memories of her father’s death and Lelouch’s involvement in it, it was quite distressing for her, but thankfully she did not suffer a mental breakdown as she had before. She recovered said memories about a month after her initial breakthrough, before which Lelouch had been debating whether or not he should confess the situation to her, but Shirley remembered and approached the matter first. She told Lelouch that she knew he was Zero and that she knew what he had done to her father, and it was then that Lelouch revealed all his secrets to her. He told her about his life as a Britannian prince, his mother’s murder, his quest for vengeance, his contract with C.C., and his role as the leader of the Black Knights. Having been told everything, she took some time to absorb the information and think things over, during which she was very distant from Lelouch. It was a very miserable time for Lelouch as he was faced with the possibility that Shirley might hate him forever, while at the same time knowing he probably deserved it if she did. But after a week’s time Shirley had made her decision, and Lelouch was much relieved to hear that she had forgiven him. The feelings of guilt still plagued him, but he was happy that he could still maintain a happy relationship with her.

He lightened himself up and continued the conversation.

“Remember anything else Shirley?”

“Hmm, well I do remember one other thing, but I’m not sure if I should say it.”

“Oh come on Shirley. Please tell me.”

She gave a slight chuckle. “Well, I remember one time back at Ashford during the Spring Festival, and we were all taking part in the three-legged race. I was paired up with Nina and you with Pres.”

Lelouch had a look of great unease on his face. “Oh yeah. I think I remember this now.”

Shirley started to laugh as she spoke. “And when the race started Pres started running so fast, but you couldn’t keep up and she was practically dragging you across the field by your ankle.” She burst out in laughter.

Lelouch simply observed with mild disdain. “And just when I had fully repressed that memory.”

She settled herself down. “Oh, I’m sorry Lulu.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you can still remember.” They smiled at each other. “Well, we should probably eat before it gets cold.” And so they commenced to enjoy their meal.

At this point Shirley had become quite adept at using utensils as well as most instruments in general. She daintily scooped a spoonful of rice and brought it up to, and placed it in, her mouth. Lelouch was quite happy with her progress, not only with her handling spoons and forks, but also with her ability to consume solid foods. It certainly was a far cry from her having applesauce be spoon-fed to her.

They continued with their meal, having casual conversation sometimes between bites. Shirley methodically picked out bits of chicken, rice and vegetable with her spoon and took the occasional swig of milk, consuming them without incident. Lelouch was pleased to see that she had finished the meal first, eating all the contents of the bowl, as well as the entire glass of milk, and not dropping a single grain of rice during the course. He finished shortly thereafter.

“That was good Lulu.”

He gave a warm smile. “I’m glad you liked it Shirley.” He took his empty bowl and glass and placed them on the tray on Shirley’s lap. He promptly lifted the tray containing the empty dishes. “Well, I’ll just take care of these now.”

While he made his way to the door Shirley began to contemplate. It was something she had thought about for quite some time and the more she mulled it over the more clear the solution became. True, it would change many things and the results could potentially be disastrous, but she knew it had to be done. It was at that moment she made her decision and she said something Lelouch never would have expected her to say.

“Lelouch, we need to go back.”

Lelouch came to a dead stop, tray still in hand. He turned to face her.

“What do you mean Shirley?”

“Lelouch, we’ve been alone in this cabin away from the world for so long. We’ve left everything else behind. We can’t keep doing this.”

He placed the tray on a nearby table.

“Shirley, you’ve been in a comatose state for five years, and it was all my fault. Somebody had to take care of you.”

“And I’m grateful for that Lulu. But I’m better now. There’s no reason for us to keep doing this.”

He walked to his chair and sat down. “Shirley, our old lives are gone. Almost everyone we know thinks we’re dead. How can we possibly go back after all these years?”

“What difference does it make Lulu?” Her voice became slightly more frantic. “What about your sister? What about my family? What about our friends, and the Black Knights, and your contract with C.C.?”

He paused and placed his hand on hers. “It’s too late for that Shirley. What would we do? Just show up and expect to be taken back in? Besides, you’re still recovering. You can’t even walk yet.”

There was a brief silence between them. Suddenly, Shirley removed her hand from Lelouch’s grasp and lifted the sheets and blankets off her bed. Then she did something else Lelouch never would have expected from her. She moved her legs off the side of the bed and began to stand up. Lelouch immediately rose and stood in shock and awe.

“Sh…Shirley”

She was now standing firmly on both legs. She grunted as she strained her muscles and managed to take one step forward. She continued to push herself and managed to take two more steps as Lelouch looked on, not believing his own eyes. However, as Shirley prepared for her fourth step, she lost her footing and began to fall. Lelouch reacted immediately.

“Ah, Shirley!”

He rushed to her aid and caught her. They paused in motion, Lelouch being glad at having avoided such a close call, and Shirley being somewhat disappointed in herself for not getting farther. He lifted her up and carried her the short distance back to the bed. He sat her back down and he kneeled taking a minute to catch his breath. The incident had certainly startled him, but he had to admit that he was astounded that Shirley had been able to stand and walk. He thought of everything that had just transpired, from Shirley proposing going back to their old lives to her being able to use her legs, and he pondered what it meant for the two of them. She spoke once more.

“Lelouch, you said that you loved me. That’s the whole reason I’m able to talk and move again. So I need to know Lulu. Is it true? Do you love me?”

He raised his head and looked into her eyes, and as he looked he saw many things. He saw the girl who he had taken care of for the past five and a half years. He saw the girl he had spent so many good times with at Ashford. He saw the girl who he had hurt so much, who had always been a joy to be around, who, for five and a half years, had been his sole reason for living, and who, just now, had given him another miracle. He spoke the words that he knew were just as true now as they ever were.

“Yes. I love you Shirley.”

She smiled.

“Then let’s go back. You and me.”

It was then that Lelouch had a moment of clarity. He took a hard look at himself, at Shirley, and at room around him. He looked at the large white empty space that had remained unchanged for the last five and a half years and he made a shocking realization. This little world that he had made for himself and Shirley was not an island of peace and comfort, but a prison. A prison that had blocked him and Shirley away from the rest of the world. It was a prison that had kept them away from their friends and family and the reality of the world, locking them up in a dream land. Even worse, it was one that he had made and kept himself due to his own stubbornness. He knew then that his time had been served and now he and Shirley had to break free. His resolve was firm, but he made one last plea to Shirley.

“If we go back, we may find that we won’t like how things have changed.”

Her response was prompt and confident. “It’s okay. Whatever we find when we go back we’ll face it together.”

She leaned forward and kissed him.

Very confident.

They gazed into each others eyes, their smiles bright with warmth and resolve. That day they both knew they would leave the cabin, but Shirley still needed some literal legwork. Lelouch thought it would be at least two more weeks before Shirley could leave the house, but she was ready to go after just one. Thus, a week after their resolve they left the old cabin and everything within behind, barring a few essentials and anything else they wished to carry with them. They bravely went out into the world that cool autumn day, not knowing what they would find, but still hoping to reclaim their old lives. They walked side by side, happy and confident, drawing strength and courage from one another and believing that there was no obstacle too great for them to overcome.

Unfortunately, what awaited them was far worse than anything they could imagine.

There were some parts of this chapter I felt kind of weird, mainly with my diction and sentence construction. I also hesitated to use Pride and Prejudice since I've never actually read the book, but from what I've heard it seems like a book that suits Shirley. And yes, as you can tell by that last line it's pretty much set in stone that I'm going to turn this into a long-running fanfic. So stay tuned sports fans!

Oh, and I made a few more changes to the first chapter as well. Here's the link.

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...68#post2436268