I blinked for a minute , my breathe held , before I could say anything about this story...really really beautiful story...so close, so true to the characters ..;'There was something deeper between the two that would just not allow it. Suzaku had tried when he brought Lelouch before the Emperor, but that had merely been check. And they both knew it.'...and that's just a handful..

thank you

Very insightful piece-your perception of the characters is spot on. I enjoyed the parallels you drew between Suzaku, Lelouch, and chess.

It's very good!

Cute your analysis of Suzaku and his view of chess...

Your analogies are actually quite apt, and are correct, for the most part. Of particular merit was the observation that checkmate is impossible when it comes down to a kingknight versus a king.

Just one nitpick. Lelouch has always thought of Kallen as his black queen. She alone received the designation Q1, for queen, while other units are addressed P_ for pawn, R_ for rook, B_ for bishop, and N_ for, presumably, "naito" (those kooky Japanese... then again, K would imply king, so maybe it still makes sense).

Nunnally exists outside the chess game. She is the one person Lelouch would never manipulate like a chess piece. She may be the reason he plays the game, but she isn't one of his pieces.

That aside, I think you did a really good job with this chapter. Keep up the good work. Maybe next time Lelouch and Suzaku can pit their logic and their rationalizations against one another.

Pretty good, but I think you should have done more with chapter 1. Chapter 2 isn't a bad analysis of Chess and people either (I wouldn't agree about who to name as Queen pieces though, I would name Nunnally the Black King and Lelouch the Black Queen, at least for Season 1). But everybody see things differently anyway, all players see different pieces in different lights, some people would view that the queen's only use is to kill the other queen while others use the queen as their primary attack. Other people place great value on their Knights while other people think they're useless.

Ciao for now

_Tis has been a message from your unfriendly neighborhood LunaticChaos_

This is a really lovely, well-written piece. I think your other reviewers have already pointed out what I would have (regarding Lelouch's views on the members of the Black Knights- or at least on the more senior members of the Order) so I'll just say that you did a great job in exploring Suzaku's thoughts and made a character I've always been somewhat indifferent towards slightly more sympathetic.

I also like your representation of Schneizel and the point you- through Suzaku- made about his little concern for sacrificing Suzaku. I've never really thought about what would have happened had Lelouch won the chess match (even though I suppose there was no chance in hell it would have happened, considering the plot) but it does raise a good point about Schneizel and his little seen 'evil side.'

Thanks for an interesting take on the scene, which I admit I didn't put much thought into, it being followed by so many WTF scenes. :)

An interesting piece, but I think you have Suzaku's character wrong. No matter what Suzaku believed, the fact remains that he murdered his own father because he was scared. With that one single move he took away the pride, freedom of choice and future of his countrymen. Noone has that right...noone. Everything he does now has the goal to manipulate the events in such a way that he will appear to have made the right choice. He is willing to sacriface everyone and everything in order to reach his goal as proven from the fact that he sold his own friend and everyone of his countrymen to Britania simply because it could further his goal. And that goal is to become the "saviour" of Japan. In truth I believe that Lelouch may do some wrong moves and he is certainly no saint, but at least he is honest to himself and he is a realist and truly cares for his men unlike Suzaku that is in my opinion a hypocrite. Nothing can be gained without sacriface, be it in your personal life or worldwide events.

Good work, no matter what the Lelouch fanboys might say.

As always, you provide us with a view of whatever good points Suzaku may have left in him that's otherwise unseen by the rest of us. Good piece of work.

One thing that could have made this work better, I believe, is how you think Suzaku would've viewed Zero's move after Schneizel's. As a previous reviewer mentioned, Lelouch is beginning to value his "pieces" more in R2. Suzaku may have noticed that this Zero knows him well, but is not sure whether or not this Zero is indeed Lelouch, so I was rather disappointed you ended your fic there.

Curious words coming from the guy who killed his own father. Lelouch's flaw may be that he sees people as chess pieces, but Suzaku's flaw is that he does the same without realizing it.

Whether it was killing his own father, giving Lelouch to the Emperor in exchange for power, or dragging Nunnally into the dirty world of politics in order to lay a trap for Zero, Suzaku has manipulated his chess pieces just as ruthlessly as any of his opponents.

Interesting read, but two points of contention: 1) Suzaku (at least for for now) is unaware that Lelouch has regained his memories. and 2) A major plot point of R2 is that Lelouch is becoming unable to distance himself from his major 'pieces.' In fact, one of Lelouch's biggest flaws as a commander is that he's unable to accept personal losses (put loved ones in harms way and his pride).