Disclaimer: Death Note does not belong to me. And even if I do find a death note, I doubt I would ever use it.

A/N: This is largely inspired by the last few scenes in The Last Name live action movie, where it shows the lives of those who were left behind. I suggest listening to the track "Pure Love" in The Last Name movie soundtrack when you read this.

Requiescat in Pace

Sitting in her supposed cell that had been her home for quite some time, Misa glared hard at the dishevelled man before her. Her eyes were rimmed with red from crying over Light's death, but right now, anger fuelled her determination to show no weaknesses before the famous detective L, to give him no satisfaction for his supposed victory. It would have been what Light himself would do, and what Light would want her to do.

"If you want to kill me, then go ahead," Misa said defiantly as she raised her head, refusing to back down. "I'm ready to go where Light is."

L stared blankly at her with his unblinking dark eyes, as though it had never occurred to him to resort to such crude method as execution. "That's why we have to put you in incarceration. Kira is dead, and by definition, so will the second Kira." Abruptly L pulled out one of the Death Notes and showed it to her. "The two Death Notes will be destroyed. And my guess is after that, you won't remember anything about the Notes or the shinigami."

Misa's eyes widened in surprise; how did L know so much about the Notes?

Tilting his head curiously to one side, L regarded Misa with a look that could have been scrutiny or pity. "With your memory gone, the second Kira will be gone as well. Executed, to be exact. And what remains will be your love for Light-kun."

It took Misa several heartbeats to realize what L was saying, and it only confused her further. "You are letting me go? But why?"

There was a ghost of a smile on L's unreadable face. "I've solved the case, and the culprits are caught. That's good enough for me. My only regret is that after all this, I was unable to pull Light-kun back."

Though Misa might not be a creature of logic and reason, she had her own set of intuition. Perhaps her heart had already sensed it, but only now did she at last catch on to all the subtle hints that had been sprinkled before her.

"You and Light," Misa whispered slowly, her mind torn between curiosity and denial. "Do you..."

But L did not allow her to finish. With an almost childish smile that seemed both gleeful and sad, he uttered softly in that soothing voice of his, "Goodbye, Amane Misa-san."

The Notes were destroyed, along with Amane Misa's memories of Kira. At last, all the remnant of the Kira case was gone, except for one: L himself.

He had tied up all the loose ends that needed to be tied up; all that remained was for him to await his death.

He would meet the same end as Yagami Light, who was killed by the heartless shinigami Ryuk; he supposed there was a certain irony in all this. They were alike, he and Light, perhaps that was why they remained bitter enemies till the end.

L was not lying when he told Light that it was regrettable they could not become good friends. Had the circumstances been any different, there would have been a high probability that they would run into each other due to professional reasons, and become the best of friends with the occasional heated rivalry. Or perhaps, if L allowed himself a little indulgence he had denied himself all this time, something much, much more. But instead, he and Light were the worst of enemies.

And now, Light -- Kira -- was gone, therefore, it was time for L to make his exit as well.

Some might think it a waste, that it was foolish of him to throw aside his life in order to expose the truth. But to him, the truth he had at last uncovered was worthwhile. Didn't people always say the truth shall set you free?

As a detective, it was his job to uncover the truth, no matter how painful or how sad it would be. The process of searching for the truth was surely one he thoroughly enjoyed, but it was the moment when the truth was out that he was granted a fleeting moment of liberation. And soon, perhaps, he shall be delivered the true liberation, the true oblivion.

A flutter of apprehension crept up to him at his impending end, but soon after his mind was calm once more. L would never really be gone; only the person behind the alias L will be different. He knew he could rest in peace, knowing that others will follow in his footsteps. With people like Yagami Souichirou around, there might yet be hope in this world.

Yes, he, L Lawliet, will be able to die in peace with a smile on his face; and at last, he can let himself be carried away by memories of a certain aloof someone.

A year had gone by in a flash; being an idol certainly had kept Misa busy. With all the tv show appearance, film roles, interviews, photo shoots, and even concerts, she hardly had time to take a deep breath, let alone grieve for her lost loved ones.

But during those quiet late night hours when she was alone in her flat, she would think about Light.

At first, she could do nothing but cry over Light's death at Kira's hand, but she had gotten better now. Nowadays, remembering Light would always make her smile. No matter that the memories she had of Light were far and few, those were happy memories that no one could ever take away from her.

Although, ever since Light had gone to where her family was, Misa had a distinct feeling that she had forgotten about something very important; yet she could not remember what it was no matter how hard she tried. It was alright though, because she knew she would figure it out in the end.

Tonight was Light's birthday, and like feathers pure white snow was falling from the sky. She had purposefully begged her manager to give her the night off, and as expected, she got what she wanted in the end after much sweet talks. Even though Light was not here anymore, she still wanted to make this a special occasion; she never got the chance to celebrate Light's birthday with him.

She had asked her manager to buy her a birthday cake, not a large one with too many elaborate decorations, but a small one with coffee icing and strawberries on top; Light was very fond of black coffee. A single black candle stood at the centre, its warm glow wavering uncertainly.

"Happy birthday, Light," she said, smiling at the photo she had placed beside her family photo on the small altar, where candlelight surrounded those smiling faces with golden halos.

After blowing out the candle on the cake, she took in a small fork full of cake and winced. The cake was a bit too bitter for her taste, but she ate some more, for the taste reminded her of Light.

When she caught one of the strawberries with her fork, the memory of that person called Ryuuzaki suddenly appeared to the forefront of her mind. Although she had only spent a handful of time with him, she had felt that he was a bit like Light in some way; the mysterious air that Light exuded also surrounded Ryuuzaki.

He was the one who told her that Light was killed by Kira, and he was the one who comforted her, albeit in his own eccentric way. Fleetingly she wondered what he was doing right now, while another part of her wondered if he was also thinking about Light.

It was some seconds later when she beat herself over the head. What was she thinking? Sure, Light and Ryuuzaki had worked together on the Kira case, and they were almost like friends. But Ryuuzaki had no reason to think about Light as she was prone to do, had he?

Shaking herself out of her silly rumination, she abandoned the cake, and stretched herself on the bed. "Light," she softly called out, before she closed her eyes, hoping that he would visit her dreams tonight. And then, they could celebrate his birthday together with champagne and cake.

And perhaps, she would finally be able to remember what she had forgotten.

With a small smile gracing upon her glossed lips, Misa fell deeply into the sweet slumber.

Finis.

A/N: Requiescat in Pace, rest in peace. I thought of this piece as a series of vignettes that we didn't see in the movie, with a dash of my own invention thrown in. And as a side note, thank you very much for reading both this fic and my previous DN fic.