*SPOILERS UP TO EPISODE 25 (Silence), VOLUME 7 CH. 58 (Zero). ((…Do I have that right? XD))
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any of its characters. Some language used from Ep. 25 of the anime.
A/N: Originally, Ch. 2, Fade, from my story Hope was the end of this, but I thought the end I have now suited nicely. Review! :)
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Bells
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Light awakens to the sound of rain.
He yawns, blinks, reaches across the pillow for something that is not there.
And then he pauses, fingers hovering in empty space as the memories come and steal away his blissful sleep. His hand curls back, dejected—he suddenly feels so lonely. But he shakes it off, chalking it up to his newfound freedom as he stands, stretches, and tries his very best not to think of L.
He dresses slowly, because he's early, because it's so peaceful in his room, alone, with just the soothing sound of the rain. Because he doesn't want to face L with these eyes, eyes that he knows are suddenly harsher and colder and so very much like they were the very first time they met. But he knows, too, that he can't stay here, either; here, alone, he can already start to feel the dread eating away at him, that voice in the back of his head whispering things he does not want to hear.
So it is, four minutes later, that he finds himself walking down the long hallway and listening to the rain echo off the thick metal frame of the building, caught between running one way and the other because he has nowhere to go now and he just feels so terribly alone. Somewhere inside he's screaming, torn apart by all the blood and the lies and, god, he can't take it this time—
And then he stops. Glances out the window, blinking just to be sure he's not hallucinating. But he's not; it really is L, standing out there, alone, in the pouring rain. He almost smiles at how very unpredictable L remains even after so many months, even today—and before he can remember that he's Kira and L is L and that he really shouldn't be doing these things, he is outside.
He calls L's name, once. L turns, like he knew he would, and just looks at him with those dark, empty eyes. Light shivers, because those eyes are even emptier, now, than he's ever seen them before, and he can just feel them looking right past him into Kira.
And then, slowly, L brings a hand up to his ear. Light calls his name again, but the hand stays; he is smiling, now, and Light has to look away with shame in his heart.
But he looks back again, looks back because so suddenly he can feel the time ticking away and he wants every last second of it. So he steps out, gingerly, into the rain; lets it soak through to his broken soul while Kira waits behind. He is still Light, just for a little bit longer.
It is quiet when he reaches L, like the rain has faded to background noise; he feels like he should say something, but he doesn't know what—so he settles for simply looking at L. L, with his head tilted up, grey eyes appraising the grey sky . . . he looks almost ethereal, Light thinks, his porcelain skin glowing in the strange light of the storm. And he's so beautiful, so delicate and vulnerable like Light has never seen him before . . .
He is the first to speak. It's barely more than a whisper, and Light has to almost strain to understand it—"I hear the bells." L shifts, slightly, and Light steps closer.
"The bells?" he repeats, glancing towards the sky; he cannot hear any bells.
"Yes," L murmurs, tilting his head. "They're unusually loud today . . . I wonder if it's a church, or a wedding, or perhaps . . ." He drifts off, eyes turning downcast. "I'm sorry," he says. "Nothing I say makes much sense, anyways."
Light steps closer, sliding his fingers under L's jaw. "No," he agrees gently, tilting the detective's head upwards. "It doesn't."
And then he leans in, slowly, presses his lips to L's. Everything around them blurs into the most beautiful sort of heartache, and he knows from the soft, sweet way their lips move that this is goodbye.
He never wants it to end—but it does, and afterwards he pulls L to his chest and just holds him.
One last time.
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(And when it is all over, when L's eyes close for the final time, he thinks for a moment that he almost hears bells ringing somewhere in the distance.)