Author's Note: This can be seen as either a vignette for Higher than Hope or as a free oneshot. Truthfully, I think it makes sense in almost any near-canon LxLight universe. Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile, I've lacked prolonged computer access.
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Seriously.
Warnings: Strong hints of yaoi, but nothing explicit; only spoiler is L's real name, but honestly, who doesn't know that?
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On Moonlit Wings
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When I was young, I use to dream. By day I wandered the streets aimlessly, by night I would soar above them.
Every night I would curl up in the corner of some forgotten alley, and I would fly. My bird-like wings would open and I would be free.
Truthfully, I was free, even by day. I had no family, no home to hold me down. There was nothing I was tied to.
I was free.
But somehow, the wind through my moonlight dappled feathers… it was not just freedom, it was completion, it was joy. It was a sense of eternity, of forever. It was a feeling of peace and tranquility. I was not even bound to gravity. I was as free as the birds.
I could go anywhere. Nothing was holding me back, or down.
Every night, I felt the exhilaration of the evening's chill, like electricity running down my spine and coursing through my feathers. My heart would constrict, I could hardly breath, but a shiver of pure joy would rack my small, fragile body… The wind on my face, the nights cool air… it was my heaven. I would laugh as I swooped down above the streets, with their little lights, mocking the celestial bodies above.
And then I grew older. I was adopted by Quillish Wammy. Of all the fears I held on the snowy day, the deepest, most petrifying of all was that I would not be able to fly again. That my nights would lack that exhilarating, silent flight.
When I went to sleep that night, I was relieved. Just as closed my eyes, I heard the rustle of my wondrous wings. I looked at them in the moonlight. Their beautiful snowy whiteness made we shiver in anticipation. I had been so afraid… but no. I could still fly away anytime. Nothing was holding me down. I could still soar anywhere. I flew high and fast that night, and every night after. I flew like each night might be my last. I flew like the next night may be flightless.
My darkest fears were realized after only a few short years.
I had become to attached to L. To attached to L's justice. And because of this attachment … I would never be able to fly again like I once had. Lawliet would never be able to fly again like he once had. Lawliet was left every night while he slept, with limp wings and icy manacles chaining him to the ground. The world needed L. L's existence kept the crime rate down spectacularly. L could not just fly away. I could not just fly away.
I was grounded.
And there was nothing I could do.
During the daylight I could go anywhere.
But nowhere.
I could do anything.
But I could no longer fly.
I was heartbroken.
I tried to forget the freedom I had once felt in those beautiful dreams… I tried to forget those dreams….
But every time I slept, I was reminded by those limp wings of the freedom and the joy that had been lost.
That was when I became an insomniac.
That way, at least I wouldn't dream.
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But now… I sleep once again. I fly once again. The breeze caresses my wings once again. I am happy once again
But now… you are by my side… We soar together above the brightly lit cities, the moonlight on our wings. I am no longer alone. I am attached to you, but you fly with me, high in the stratosphere. We dance in the wind and soar around the skyscrapers. We are not bound to the ground, we laugh at gravity.
And then we land. We are to some extent bound, but we are bound to Earth like the birds are bound. We are bound to our nest. Not our cage, not our coffin. We are bound to a place of life and warmth. A place of love and comfort.
And occasionally I wake up from these beautiful, incredible dreams.
I pull your lithe body closer to mine and my pale, long fingers tangle in your auburn hair. My warm breath fans your cheek.
"I love you. Thank you for bringing back my wings… Thank you for flying with me..."