A/N: I don't own Death Note. This is the last chapter so there can't be anymore cliffhangers, if that's a comfort to anyone. Thank you for staying with the story for so long. I honestly started this whole thing on a random whim and it's my first fan fic ever. So naturally I'm shocked and happy with the response. Thank you! Hope you all enjoy the ending! XD
Chapter 31: A New Beginning
L could hear the Death God's laughter echoing across the workroom. Reficul hovered by L's head with a smirk across his gaunt face.
Reficul taunted him, "You overlooked this possibility, didn't you, Lawliet?"
L ignored the Death God and kept staring forward along with Light. The setting sun shone through a window onto Misa, who sat in an office chair with an opened Death Note in her lap. Light managed to show a calm demeanor and even took a step away from L.
Misa glared at L, "Lawliet, Misa hasn't written down your name yet. But Misa will kill you unless you stay quiet and don't interfere."
Then the blonde Second Kira turned to Light, "Misa dropped by the mansion and Misa spoke to people who knew about you and L." Misa's eyes watered, "How could you do this to Misa?!"
Light sighed and crossed his arms as if he was annoyed, "Misa, Sayu filled your head with a bunch of rumors. None of that is true."
Misa broke out into tears, "Misa also spoke to Matsuda!!"
Now Light looked surprised. L knew that the situation had just gotten even more dangerous.
"Matsuda…told Misa the same things. At first, Misa told Matsuda that you already confessed to everything," Misa sounded disgusted, "Then Matsuda openly confirmed it so he could try to date Misa."
Sadly, I can easily picture Matsuda doing that. L believed her claim. Light also seemed to believe it since he stayed quiet.
Misa wiped at her teary eyes, "Its okay, Light. Misa knows that this must somehow be L's fault. Misa is going to save you and bring back God."
Then Misa grabbed onto a sheet of paper in her Death Note while L and Light nervously watched. Misa ripped out a piece of paper and held it up in the air.
She bribed, "Ryuk, bring this to Light and Misa will give you a big apple later."
Suddenly, L spotted the piece of paper floating in the air as it headed toward Light. Misa cautiously held onto the opened Death Note and a pen, in case Light tried something.
Reficul waved at the floating piece of paper. "I never thought that you'd turn out as a deliveryman for humans." After a pause, Reficul laughed, "Oh, come on. Ryuk, don't be like that."
L simply stared at the levitating piece of paper that supposedly Ryuk was carrying. Light had noticeably worried expression on his face as the Death Note paper came closer along with his memories. L wanted to somehow reassure Light that he wouldn't turn into some horrible, evil murderer once his memories of being Kira returned. But sadly, L wasn't so sure himself.
Soon Light accepted his fate and reluctantly held out a hand to grab the piece of paper. The piece of Death Note paper landed in Light's hand. Then Light quickly grasped it and placed it in his pocket with his head tilted down.
Misa shifted in her chair and hopefully called out, "Kira?"
"Yes," Light looked up at her with a smirk.
Damn it. L recognized that smirk from the night of Arik's murder. Suddenly, L felt doubtful because of that smirk. No, this is just an act. Most likely, Light will try to act like his old-self to gain Misa's trust. That's why… L couldn't take his eyes of Light's infamous smirk.
"Kira," Misa seemed relieved at first. Then she jealously claimed, "You hurt Misa. You lied to Misa and lived with L. How could you do this to Misa?! You promised Misa that we'd make the 'Perfect World' together! Yet you acted behind Misa's back!!"
"You're right, Misa." Light walked toward the hysterical killer, "I should have trusted you with the plan instead of hiding it from you."
"What plan?" Misa tightly clutched onto her Death Note.
Light held up his hands in a nonviolent gesture, "When the New Kira appeared, I had to temporarily postpone killing L because he had information that helped me find the New Kira." Light harshly announced, "I used L."
Hearing those words stung at L while Reficul snickered at his pain. This is just an act. L swore to himself again, even though there was no proof.
Light continued to explain, "Also the New Kira had the Death God eyes so he had an advantage over me. In order to survive, I allied myself with L. I purposely confessed to being Kira just to gain L's trust and his assistance when we were both captured by the New Kira. After I murdered the New Kira, I relinquished my memories and had L do all of the work for me."
Reficul obnoxiously laughed, "Sometimes you have to wonder when Kira's lying or telling the truth." L gazed forward and tried to ignore the Death God.
"L destroyed all the evidence that I was Kira just as I expected him to do," Light actually grinned, "Then the fool announced that I wasn't even a Kira suspect anymore. Misa, I did this because I knew that L was going to get evidence against me. So I tricked him, used him, and cleared my name by gaining L's trust."
Even if it was all just an act, hearing Light say that hurt just the same. L kept a dignified composure, even though he was in conflict with himself. After all, Light was a proven liar, a proven murderer, and a proven user of good people. L loved to believe that he was somehow an exception to all of this. Yet with Light, one could never be sure.
Light congratulated the Second Kira, "You've done well, Misa. I was waiting for you to come and give back my memories."
Misa cheerfully stood up and wrapped her arms around Light, "Misa knew it! Misa knew that you were waiting for her!"
While Misa wasn't looking, L moved toward a computer.
Suddenly, Misa pulled away from Light and opened her Death Note, "Don't move, Lawliet! Its time for Misa and Light to kill L, isn't it? Misa will end this." Misa pressed the pen against the opened Death Note.
Light grabbed her hand, "Wait, Misa."
"Don't you want L dead?!" Misa frantically cried out.
"Of course, I do. But you're still a suspect for being the second Kira. There is video footage of you entering this building, right? If you kill L now, you will only incriminate yourself," Light insisted.
Misa nodded, "So how will Misa and her Light kill L?"
"I'll kill him," Light coldly gazed at L.
L almost cringed from the murderous look in Light's eyes. This better be an act. Reficul's incessant laughter only made things worse.
Light took the Death Note away from Misa, "Since I'm not a suspect anymore, I should kill L. Misa, I want you to leave this building then discard your Death Note."
Misa looked outraged, "What?! Why?!"
"After L's death, people will search through this building's surveillance camera footage. Once it's known that you entered this building, you will be questioned. And without your memories of this situation, you can pass any lie detector or any other form of interrogation," Light persuaded her.
"So you want Misa to discard her Death Note in order to protect her?" Misa trustingly smiled.
"Yes, now hurry. Leave here and discard your Death Note. I'll hang onto this," Light held onto Misa's Death Note and the pen, "After we get through this, there won't be anymore obstacles in our path to creating our 'Perfect World'."
Misa blissfully hugged Light then rushed out of the workroom. After Misa left the room, Light stood very still with his head tilted down. L also stayed still and watched him.
Reficul snickered, "I wonder what's going through Kira's mind. Is he actually considering whether or not to kill you?"
L didn't bother to reply to the Death God's taunts. Then Light set the Death Note down on a chair and took the piece of Death Note paper out of his pocket. Light tossed the piece of paper in the air then it landed back in his hand while his detached facial expression stayed the same. L realized that Light was testing if he had ownership of Misa's Death Note now, which he seemingly did.
Light slid the piece of Death Note paper back into the Death Note then turned around to face L. Light gave a weak smile, "Well, Misa's not a threat anymore."
L felt beyond relieved. Light had just been acting the whole time. Yet L could tell that Light still looked deeply troubled, "Light-kun, are you-?"
"I…I need to think for awhile," Light solemnly gazed at the Death Note in his hands.
Then Light headed toward the door and exited the workroom. Out of concern, L immediately followed him. In silence, Light walked up the stairs to the building's roof while L followed. On the roof, there was some satellite dishes set up on the flat, concrete floor. The wind blew slightly as the last glimpse of the sun was setting.
Light stood by the railing with his back facing L. L headed toward Light to ask a question but then Light broke the silence.
"Sometimes I get caught up in my own lies," Light admitted, "I knew that I was lying to Misa, yet part of me seemed to actually believe it. When I started grinning and I talked about how I 'used' you, I received the same cruel enjoyment like when I tricked Arik then laughed as he died. If that makes any sense at all." Light seemed to be disturbed by his own actions.
L replied while being unfazed, "It's understandable. You will probably have some tendencies to act like a murderer since killing is something that you've actually gotten used to." L thankfully added, "But you didn't kill me, even if you felt some latent desire to do so."
"No!" Light faced L and declared, "I don't want to kill you at all. It's just when I get my hands on a Death Note… The power, it's just-" Light glared at the Death Note in his grasp, "Why the hell am I still holding onto this? Take it!" Light practically hurled the Death Note at L.
L caught the Death Note then noticed two Death Gods watching from a roof of another building. L realized that the other one beside Reficul must be Ryuk. L quickly returned his attention back to Light.
Light announced, "You can keep the Death Note as far away from me as you want. But I'm not discarding it."
L couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You want to remember what you've done as Kira? Why do you insist on punishing yourself?!"
"I'm not doing it as a punishment," Light grabbed a hold of the railing and looked out over the city, "When I couldn't remember being Kira, I thought that I must be as bad as Arik was. I didn't know how I changed as Kira and why. I need to remember so I'll know exactly why I changed my mind on the 'Perfect World' and why I did not take my chance to kill you."
Light released the railing, "Besides, I need my guilt. It'll keep me on track when I'm doing my best to repent." Then Light turned toward L, "And I will do everything I can to make up for what I've done. If I'm not going to be executed, I owe everyone at least that much."
L nodded in agreement then Light continued.
With a bitter smile, Light acknowledged "I've really done some terrible things. Ryuk even warned me that the Death Note would bring me nothing but misfortune. But I still want to remember because… Well, the Death Note actually didn't bring me just misfortune."
"What do you mean?" L inquired.
"Well, obviously," Light confessed, "It's how I met you. And also…I want to remember what you did for me. I want to remember your reaction when I admitted to being Kira. I want to remember why I lo-" Light abruptly stopped in his embarrassed way, "Anyway you get the point."
L already knew what Light was about say before he stopped. L grinned at the Ex-Kira.
Then Light concluded, "And if you don't trust me, I understand. I'm not exactly trustworthy. You can keep the Death Notes out of my sight for the rest of my life-"
L walked up to the railing, beside Light. Then L confidently placed the Death Note in Light's hand. Light looked at L in shock.
"I see no reason to hide this from you. I trust you," L smiled, "Of course, I don't suggest using it-"
Light flung his arms around L's neck and hugged him. Then Light happily gazed up at L. At the same time, L and Light leaned forward and kissed.
One Year Later…
Suzette grudgingly placed on her nicotine patch. Ever since she started working at the newly repaired orphanage, she was forced to give up her deadly habit. Supposedly smoking in front of the orphans wasn't exactly 'child friendly'. Suzette walked through the newly tiled room. L and Light's detective work had paid for all of the repairs. Since Light helped out so much, he had to be given a letter. With the letter L already taken, Light Yagami became known as Y over the world.
Once Suzette entered the kitchen, she snatched a newspaper away from a yellow-haired boy who wore all black.
"Hey," the boy with shoulder-length yellow hair snapped at her.
"Chill out, Mello. Have a chocolate bar or something," Suzette sat next to the fuming, young genius at the table.
"You ate my last chocolate bar," Mello growled at her.
"Oh, heh. Sucks to be you," Suzette uncaringly skimmed through the British newspaper, "What are you doing here alone anyway? Why don't go play with Near or something?"
"I hate Near!" Mello angrily reminded her for the thousandth time.
Then a white-haired boy entered the kitchen with his pajamas still on. Near opened a cabinet and took out a box which had advanced puzzle pieces inside. Then Near turned to silently leave the room.
Suzette pointed at the white-haired genius, "See, Near is going to go play. Why don't you go and play with him."
"For the lasting fucking time, I HATE NEAR!!" Mello shouted at her.
Near didn't even acknowledge Mello's temper tantrum and left the room with his puzzle.
Suzette scolded Mello, "Now why did you go off and do that for?! You seriously need to chill out, Mello! Or I'm putting you on Ritalin, I swear to God!"
Mello furiously exited the kitchen while Suzette continued to look through the newspaper. Then Suzette smirked once she spotted an important news article. On the headline, it read: The Kira Case Closed Indefinitely. Since Kira stopped killing abruptly and did not continue for about a year, there was no new evidence to help find the killer. Supposedly L's credibility took a blow. But with all the other cases that the L & Y Investigations had solved, it wasn't exactly hurting business.
You lucky son of a bitch. You actually pulled it off. Suzette snickered to herself.
Unexpectedly, another orphan entered the kitchen with a pile of mail, "Suzette, you got mail."
"I did?" Suzette reached over and took the envelope which was addressed to her. For a return address it only listed the letters L & Y. Lawliet and Light sent me something.
Suzette curiously opened the envelope and pulled out a card, "Well, about time!"
She excitedly skimmed through the card. Then Suzette happily stood up with the invitation in her hand.
Suzette rushed out of the kitchen and called out, "Mello, Near, pack your shit! We're going to a wedding!"
The End
A/N: Oh my God! It's finally over! This story consumed my life for soooo long. Especially since I had to write some every single day in order to do the fairly quick updates. Now the stress is over. YAY!! But really thank you guys for reading and reviewing. I've read all of the reviews at least a dozen times. And any reviews for my Bitter-Sweet Last chapter will be greatly appreciated. BYE BYE!