Inspired by that scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.


So many battles, so many tricks and traps, so many lies and truths and victories and defeats had brought him here. Thousands of people had tried, and failed to bring him to this place. Finally, inevitably some might say, one had succeeded. The Great Detective L had been beaten for the first time. Oddball Ryuzaki had been tricked by the one he thought a friend. L Lawliet was dead.

He lay on a vast expanse of white nothingness, eyes closed, his final moments playing over and over behind his eyelids. The last face he saw, Yagami Light. Kira. His greatest enemy, yet his dearest friend. His only friend. The only one, besides Watari, that L had ever been close to. The only one he had ever truly loved. Most certainly not the only one to betray him. Yet somehow it was his betrayal that hurt the most.

L Lawliet slowly opened his eyes and stood up, shoulders hunched.

Swirling mists and creamy white light. Whispering echoes of half-forgotten words and the smell of freshly cut grass. A strange sense of...peace? His former life; his successors, the Kira investigation, Light... seemed far off and vague. A heavy weight had lifted from his shoulders. He was dead. There was nothing more that he could do. Near and Mello would finish the investigation. He had complete confidence in them, they wouldn't let him down. Finally, he was free.

Now what?

Light...you can't hide forever. Soon, my successors will catch you. The second you slip up, make a mistake, justice shall at last prevail. Then, maybe you will die. Maybe you'll come here. I will not move on. I will wait here. I will find a way to show you that you were wrong.

A lot of maybes, L knew, but that was all he had left now.


A/N: My first published fanfiction, please review and criticize to your heart's content! I'll update this about once a month until I decide to wrap up the story... This was beta-ed (?) by one of my best real-world friends, who steadfastly refuses to tell me her FF.N username. I'll tell you once I've found it. Without her, this story would be even more terrible than it already is! FUTURE CHAPTERS WILL BE LONGER I PROMISE!