One shot of Chistmas at the Wammy's House, without L.

I do not own Death Note, nor any of the characters. :)

Enjoy! :)

It was Christmas at the Wammy House, and Near, Mello, and Matt were sitting around the Christmas tree, wrapping paper strewn around the room, each enjoying their gifts.

Mello had received some chocolate from everybody, no surprise, and he was munching on it, leaning against the wall, wearing a red coat and a dark green sweater that he was forced to wear.

Near was busy playing with his new train set. Every now and then the white-haired boy would rearrange the pieces and replace the dice that Mello kept kicking over due to him being bored.

"Mello, if you don't stop right now, I'll be forced to throw one of them at you." Near would say every now and then. Mello would then stop for a few minutes and then start kicking them all over again.

Matt, on the other hand, was huddled in the corner, surrounded my small boxes of electronic games, headphones on, listening to his MP3. Mello would sometimes casually glance over at him and roll his eyes. At least he was minding his manners by not smoking on Christmas.

Finally, not standing the silence anymore, he stood up and finished off his chocolate bar.

"Ugh, when is L coming back? I thought he would be done with his case by now! It sucks he has to miss Christmas…" Mello glanced over at L's pile of unopened Christmas presents and sighed.

"Mello, L is busy with his work. We don't interrupt you when you're working." Near casually said, but knew that they never bothered Mello when he was working because they would get a face full of fist.

Mello rolled his eyes. "I don't care. It's Christmas! We are always together on Christmas! Damn it, L!"

Near looked at Mello and said, "If you care so much, go as Watari. He should be in his office."

Mello rolled his eyes. He didn't want to talk to that old man. He did want to get some information, but he wouldn't go with Near ordering him around.

"Just go, Mello." Near sighed, turning back to his train set and now finding different uses for his dice, like making mountains and hills for the train to go around. "Please?"

Mello stared at Near's back. Was that sadness he heard in Near's voice? It made sense, though. They all looked up to L, all cared for him. They all were worried about him. L…the only they had ever looked up to. The world knew him as the greatest detective ever, but Matt, Near, and Mello's feelings for L grew much deeper. He was like their brother. L always cared for them and stood up for them, protected them and loved them…

Mello swiftly left the room, a few tears coming out of his eyes. He only left so they wouldn't see that. He bit into his new bar of chocolate and sighed. If something ever happened to L, Mello didn't think there was any reason to live at all.

As Mello approached Watari's office, he finished off his chocolate bar and threw away the wrappings. Not bothering to knock, he opened the door and shut it behind him.

Watari looked up from some papers that were on his desk and waited for Mello to talk. He knew how Mello worked. He enters the room without bothering to knock and then demands answers. That was how it always was, and now even more so with L gone.

"Okay, where is he? I know you know where he is! What's taking so long? Doesn't he know it's Christmas! He never skips Christmas!" Mello shouted, letting all his rage go on the old man.

Watari waited for Mello to calm down, but, seeing as that wouldn't happen anytime soon, he simply replied, "L is hard at work on the Kira case. You know that. Every day he gets closer to finding who exactly Kira is and what they want. And we know how L functions. He won't stop till this case is solved, finished, and through. If he pauses for one day, you know he will regret that. Every day, people are dying because of Kira. Kira must be stopped at all costs."

Petty, empty words. That's all they were. Mello screamed in rage and shouted, "WHY CAN'T YOU BRING HIM HOME? IT'S CHRISTMAS, DAMN IT! HE PROMISED HE WOULD BE HERE!"

Watari sighed. "Mello, you're letting your anger out on me. That's not the way to handle these things. I promise you, when this Kira case is solved, everything will be fine. L will return home and that Christmas will be when you can spend time together."

"Kira, Kira, Kira! That's all everyone talks about around here! Who gives a damn about Kira?! L should have caught him by now! And how is everything going to be fine? Who knows how long he's going to be working on this case!? It could be months, years, who knows how longer before this stupid case is finished! L never takes this long to finish cases!" By now, tears were streaming down his face, and he was letting all his frustration of L not being here on Watari. But he knew Watari would never tell anyone that he had been crying. To Matt and Near, Mello never shed a single tear.

"Mello, how about this: Why don't you go in the kitchen and make Near and Matt some hot chocolate? I know that's your specialty." Watari suggested to Mello.

I don't want damn hot chocolate! I want L back, safe and found! Mello wanted to shout again, but the thought of hot chocolate with Near and Matt made him not say anything.

"Here." Watari said, handing Mello a handkerchief. Mello grabbed it and sobbed into it. A few minutes later, he stormed out of the room, slamming the door and headed into the kitchen.

A few months later, Roger, the new caretaker of the Wammy house, summoned Mello and Near to his office. Mello had no idea what was going on, only knowing that Watari had died. Near knew.

"L is dead."