Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, no matter how much I would love to. :3
Manner of Dying
"Death – Manner of dying; act or state of passing from life."
The dictionary definition of the word seemed to be less-than-adequate, leaving much too much unsaid, in the opinions of the recently deceased.
Of course, Light Yagami would know soon enough what awaited him. What passed as an "afterlife." He knew for a fact that heaven did not exist, nor did hell. There was just… nothingness.
It was not a comforting thought to the mass murderer as he lay there dying, sprawled across the cold floor of Yellowbrick Warehouse. He had killed so many, written so many names in the notebook of death. But that was supposed to be a good thing. He had been purging the world of evil, getting rid of the scum. He had been saving humanity.
Hadn't he?
He knew one person who didn't think so. The one person that had given him the most trouble. The one person who had never really left him alone, even after the pest was eliminated. And, for the life of him (not that that was worth much now), he had not expected to see that particular person on his death day.
"Light-kun."
The voice was a bit muffled, but grew clearer as the sounds of the warehouse faded into the distance. Strange... Light had thought he was alone. Who…?
"Light-kun."
The voice was perfectly clear now, as if it's source was sitting right next to him. No, it couldn't be. Not him. Not now.
"Light-kun," the voice said persistently. "Light-kun, you're dying."
That certainly got the man's attention. Light opened his eyes, somewhat surprised to see the lack of luminosity. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of blinding white light that you walk in to? No… He supposed that that prospect should have died along with the idea of heaven.
Along with the darkness, Light saw L.
Yes, L, the greatest detective the world had ever known. The one person who had given Light a world of trouble and more. The only person capable of shoveling down nothing but sweets and still remaining healthy.
Light almost smiled at that last thought.
"I know, Ryuuzaki." He sighed, using the name that he'd become familiar with for the famous detective.
Light shifted and, with the slight movement, seemed to hover for a moment before settling back down again. L was in his familiar crouch next to the lying form of his friend, thumb securely in his mouth and his wide eyes fixed solely on his ultimate demise.
"You killed me, Light-kun." The detective said in a softer tone.
Light was unable to say anything for a moment.
"I know, Ryuuzaki." He repeated, his tone softened along with L's.
This knowledge seemed to hang in the space between them for a while, the silence heavy with it. Light didn't know what to say. Of course he had killed him. That had been the only choice, the only solution. He couldn't have been able to evade the genius's suspicion forever and hadn't really wanted to try.
It would not have been a "new world" with L still in it.
"Why are you here?" Light asked finally.
L looked around, obviously not exactly sure of the answer himself. "I was waiting for you, I think." He said. "We never finished things… I do not like to leave things unfinished."
Light understood that. He understood that perfectly, being the same way.
"I'm not going to apologize." Light warned.
"I know, Light-kun."
"I don't feel bad about it."
"I know, Light-kun."
Well, okay then. Light was struck speechless again, obviously a new record.
"You almost won, you know." L said, seeing that Light was not going to respond. "I was watching."
Light sighed, almost wanting to chuckle. "Of course you were, Ryuuzaki."
"…Of course?"
"Yeah. You always loved to watch things."
"I did not enjoy watching this." He said, a small frown pulling his brow together.
"Hm. I suppose that makes sense. You said it yourself: I almost won."
"But then you died, Light-kun."
A beat.
"Yeah."
"I did not enjoy watching that, either."
Light gave L a puzzled look. "I thought you would have, Ryuuzaki. It means that you won."
"I did not want Light-kun to die," L said, looking down and wiggling his toes a bit. "I simply wanted him to stop killing people."
Another beat.
"But I was killing people to make the world – "
"I wanted him to stop killing people," L repeated, still looking down.
Light sighed again. "Alright, Ryuuzaki. I have. I've stopped killing people."
L looked up, pulling his thumb out of his mouth, eyes as wide as ever. "That is good." A smile.
Light chuckled for real this time, smiling too. "Yeah, sure."
More silence for a bit, the pair content with sitting quietly in the bleak nothingness.
"There's no cake here." L said softly, breaking the comfortable silence.
Light looked at him for a long moment, taken off guard by the childlike observation.
"I'm…sorry." He managed.
L blinked. "Light-kun apologized." He said, surprised.
"Not for killing you. For the cake."
"Oh." L looked down again. "I would have liked there to be cake."
Light sighed, shifting again, repeating the slight hovering act before he settled down once more.
"What if we find some?"
L looked up again, his expression akin to that of a child that has been offered a delicious treat.
"There is nothing here." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Yes… But you were waiting for me and here I am." Light said, opening his arms for a moment. "That probably means we can go now."
"Go?"
"Yeah. We can move on to whatever's next. Things are finished now."
L began chewing on his thumb again. "Finished," he echoed thoughtfully.
"Okay, Ryuuzaki?"
L looked up once more, watching his friend for a long moment.
"Okay, Light-kun."
With that, the two stood, the movement causing them to float along for a moment before pressing back down to the nonexistent ground. L stood hunched over, thumb in mouth, his ruffled appearance contrasting with Light's perfect posture and neat clothing. The two were complete opposites.
"We will find cake, Light-kun?" L asked hopefully as they both felt the hesitant pull of whatever was coming.
"Yes, Ryuuzaki. I promise we'll find cake."
This is just something I would have loved to see happen at the very end. I had eagerly been waiting for a moment such as this, something that would give me a bit of closure. It didn't happen, as you all know. xD Amazing authors such as Ohba have a way of surprising you. But that fact does not erase my need for a bit of a happy ending. I'm a sap, I know. But this is what would have happened had I been in charge of Death Note's end. Or, at least, something like it.
Thanks for reading and I hop you enjoyed it. Review, please! :3
Light: Don't listen to her. She's making me look bad.
L: Light-kun is being a baby. He knows that he wanted to find me cake.