Everything was dark.
L crouched on his chair, a blanket draped over him as he stared into this darkness. His eyes narrowed in thought.
I guess no one remembered. It's not like a lot of people know about it anyway. Though I would have thought at least my successors or Watari would have slightly acknowledged this….
"No one." L quietly confirmed to the darkness, his deep voice quickly swallowed by the suffocating misery hanging in the air. He sighed, his fingers drumming restlessly against the arm of his chair. He had been so caught up in the Kira case lately that he had completely forgotten to restock his sweets. As this would simply not do, he had sent Watari out to go fetch him some dessert. He normally would have been solving another case by now, but without his beloved sweets, this was an entirely much too tedious task. No, the cases could wait. Sweets come first.
There was absolutely, positively nothing to do. Beside himself with boredom, L found himself casually humming a familiar airy tune, his fingers tapping along. His hum soon transformed itself into the words of a song. A song that was usually sung with joy, but with the drab darkness surrounding him it came out rather dismal.
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday, L Lawliet
Happy birthday to me
On the last line of the song, instead of 'to me' a voice had joined in with a 'to you.'
L paused, his lips still parted from singing the last line of the song. He abruptly shut his mouth and ceased his tapping. He calmly looked straight ahead.
"I've been waiting for quite some time, Watari." L barely noticed Watari placing a few objects on the coffee table in front of him.
"My apologies, I had to grab a few extra things." The flick of a light switch, and the room was bathed in bright light.
L squinted as his eyes adjusted to the harsh white glow. He had always insisted (even though he usually preferred the dark) that the light bulbs they used be of the utmost quality.
There, on the table, was one wrapped present, and a big slice of strawberry cake.
"Happy birthday…L." Watari placed a bowl of sugar cubes and a cup of tea next to the cake, and then bowed before turning to leave the room.
A warm, genuine smile broke across L's face. He nodded and timidly reached out to touch the neat bow lying atop his present. He tugged lightly at the bow before directing his attention to the cake, never letting his eyes stray away from his birthday gift, almost afraid that the present would disappear.
Seeing L's smiling face was all the thanks Watari needed.
When Watari had left the room, L greedily dug into his cake, stopping only to eagerly rip open his present. Inside, was a white scroll of paper, also neatly tied with a bow. L carefully slipped the ribbon off of the scroll, making sure to discard it to the right of his slice of cake. He wanted to savor every last bit of his present.
L slowly unrolled the paper, smoothing it out every now and then so as it make it readable.
A blast of colors greeted his eyes. There, in big words: Happy Birthday, L! Love, Wammy's House. Varioussignatures, messages, and drawings from everyone at Wammy's also peppered the large sheet of paper. He could almost see the bright, young faces of the children, giggling while decorating their gift to their beloved idol.
L let the paper slip from his fingers and fall to the ground, a warm, fuzzy feeling quickly enveloping him. He wrapped the thin (yet cozy) blanket tighter around his shoulders. He felt so happy. His eyes grew heavy, and at last he drifted into a peaceful slumber, the first time in a long time that he had ever been able to rest so peacefully.
~..~
Watari peeked through the crack of the door. The sound of food being consumed and the shuffling of paper had long since subsided. He walked out the door. The table was a complete wreck. He quietly cleared the table, scooping up the crumbs to throw away and placing the dining ware into the kitchen sink. He tiptoed back to the coffee table.
All was quiet. But not the lonely quiet of before. No, more like a peaceful quiet.
Watari smiled down on his young charge. It had been a while since L had gotten any sleep. He affectionately tucked the blanket tighter around L.
L shifted.
The blissful smile that had graced his face earlier was still there.
His foot knocked against a rolled up scroll of paper. Recognizing it, he grabbed it, redid the bow, and placed it on the table in front of L. Making sure that everything was in order, Watari treaded softly back towards his room. He threw one last look at the sleeping detective.
"Happy birthday, L Lawliet."
Fin
A/N Happy birthday, L! Your fans love and miss you! I hope everyone enjoyed reading this, and I especially hope L enjoyed his birthday pressie up in detective heaven ;)