A/N: As promised, the epilogue. Very short, but it ties up loose ends and clarifies juuust a bit. The story stands alone without it, though! :)

One last thank-you to all my readers! You rock my socks~

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The whole world was changing, day by day.

"Sugar?"

"Yes, please." L smiled at the doctor sitting next to him, thanking him as he passed the sugar. He put several spoonfuls into his tea, stirring it carefully.

He never expected to be here, to be sharing a meal with Tenma and Nina and all their friends. It wasn't as if he fit in with them, had shared the same experiences they had. Only, somehow, he did fit.

It was spring in Germany again. Everywhere seemed full of flowers and greenery and life. The table was no exception, laden with bowls full of food and fruit and flowers that Nina, Dieter, and Tenma had picked on a long walk earlier that morning. Even the air was full of animated conversation and laughter. It surrounded him, turned the afternoon air gold-brilliant and poignant.

L smiled at Dieter, who was teasing Nina mercilessly about her reaction to Tenma's visit; a reaction that she still hotly denied. Nina was blushing but also giving as good as she got, ribbing Dieter about the girlfriend he had acquired sometime in the last few weeks. Dr. Reichwein was talking excitedly with Dr. Tenma about his latest research paper – an excellent study on the progression of brain diseases in undeveloped areas.

"You're living in Paris now?" Tenma asked him, making L start a bit, turning to him and slipping out of his reverie.

"Yes." He smiled. "When I'm not traveling for work, that is."

Tenma nodded, understandingly. "I heard you just got back from Rwanda recently. How is your research going?"

"Quite well, actually. I'm planning the first article for sometime in early fall." Somehow, he had fallen into a career – not only writing about the atrocities in Germany, but in the rest of the world as well.

Tenma smiled. "Your pieces on Kinderheim were really well-written, you know."

"Thank you." L murmured, finding that he meant it. He had published several articles, under Grimmer's name, about the orphanage and others similar to it, as well as more personal biographies of the Kinderheim alumni he could find information on. Grimmer himself had done much of the research and even some of the writing, but L had added quite a bit of his own work, blending it into a seamless whole.

"Your piece on Grimmer especially." Tenma said, just a touch wistfully. L understood the feeling – he himself regretted not knowing the man better, after spending so much time with his writings. That article he had created out of whole cloth, interviews with Tenma and Suk and everyone else who had known Grimmer. The end result had been a private tribute to the boy who became the Magnificent Steiner, the final piece in his series.

L nodded, accepting the praise without really feeling it, lapsing into silence for a long moment. He had never expected to grieve for the man, having never even known him; but somehow he had grown to care for him posthumously.

Finally, he threw it off, eyes once again meeting the doctor's. "Has there been any word from Johan?" He kept his voice quiet, eyes flickering to Nina. It was a regret that he didn't have enough to expose the earliest years of their training. Perhaps someday.

"None yet." It had been three years since the end of the case, two since Johan had woken up and disappeared. L marveled a bit at the note of hope in the doctor's voice, the way his eyes grew softly troubled, worrying.

"Kenzou-san. You want him to come back, don't you?" He switched to Japanese, conscious of the way Dr. Reichwein's eyes focused on them appraisingly.

Tenma's eyes widened and he let out a breath, shrugging just the tiniest bit. "Nina wants to forgive him."

It was the easy way out and they both knew it. Still, L let it pass, nodding and sipping the sweet tea in his hands. "And how is your research going?" Back to German and to the light pleasantries that didn't seem as inconsequential as they once had.

The doctor's face lit up just a bit and he smiled. "Oh… well enough, I suppose." His voice was modest, even a bit depreciating, but L had learned enough to know that Tenma had been making considerable progress.

"That's wonderful. I look forward to your next paper. The last one was quite fascinating, you know."

"You read my last study?" Tenma half-laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You must have been terribly bored. I'm not a very good writer, unlike you."

"Nonsense." L waved the doctor's modesty off. "And you manage to write like that and still act as a doctor. You have more skill than I, by far."

Tenma lowered his eyes modestly, shaking his head. "Did you hear the news about Kira?"

Kira's name was on the front page of the paper that morning. L had turned away before reading the article. He believed it had said something about assassination. Whether it was successful or just an attempt – he hadn't the heart to check. Nor did he particularly want to know right now, surrounded by friends. He shrugged a little. "I'm sure I'll read about it later."

Tenma's eyes reached his again, understandingly. "I'm sure."

L leaned back in his chair, gratefully, as the doctor steered the conversation back to more pleasant topics, watched as Nina stood and left the table, coming back with a large, decadently frosted cake. That, of course, made him sit up with renewed interest.

Perhaps the world was not changing too much.