Chapter 1: Rebirth

Light Yagami awoke in a barren wasteland, with Ryuk looking down at him. "AHHH!" Light screamed, crawling out from under the Shinigami. For the first time, Light looked at what he was sitting on. It seemed to be sand.

"Come on, Light," said Ryuk, seemingly hurt, though Light couldn't tell with Ryuk's big sharp-toothed grin. "I'm not that bad-looking am I?" The Shinigami cackled. "Get up, will you?" Light did so. As he looked at Ryuk, he remembered everything. He was so close to creating his ideal world, and then Ryuk had to go and -

"You bastard!" shouted Light, pointing a finger at Ryuk. "I was close to creating the ideal world! Why did you kill me?!" He glared daggers at Ryuk, who had diverted his eyes to the ground. "Look at me, Ryuk! Tell me the truth! Why did you kill me?!"

"Listen to me," Ryuk said, crouching. "I'll tell you. You had been shot by Matsuda. You were in pain. I thought I would help you and make you not suffer anymore." He looked far away in the distance, as if thinking about something.

"You're a liar, Ryuk," spat Light. "You didn't kill me to stop my suffering. You killed me because if I went to prison, you would have had to stay there with me. And you didn't want to wait for me to die in prison. So, you killed me. Am I right?"

"Pretty much," cackled Ryuk. "Can't get anything past you, can I?"

"No, you can't," replied Light. "Listen, I'm sorry. I would have done the same thing. Obviously, I wouldn't have been able to use the Death Note in prison... I remember you said that you had to wait until I die or the notebook's finished. I understand." It was quiet for a while. "Ryuk, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Where are we?" asked Light, looking down at the figures below. He had an idea, but he just needed to be sure. If my calculations are right, we're currently...

"The Shinigami Realm," replied Ryuk, nonchalantly. "Bet you were thinking that, right?"

I knew it! Light thought. So this is the Shinigami Realm... God, what a mess. "Yeah..." said Light. Ryuk unfurled his wings and stood up. "Where are you going?" asked Light.

"To the Shinigami King," replied Ryuk. "Come on, you're coming too. After all, he does want to meet you."

"Me?" asked Light. "Why does the Shinigami King want to meet me?"

"Beats me," Ryuk said, floating away. "Come on!" Light ran after him, but he kept stumbling because the sand sucked oddly at his shoes.

Light stood in front of a cave, beside Ryuk. The first thing he had noticed was that there was no water in the Shinigami Realm. Yet there was a cave? That confused Light. However, he didn't have time to think about it. Ryuk floated inside and was swallowed by the cave. Light, not wanting to be left out, hurried in after. For the first few steps, the cave was pitch black. Light had no idea where he was going. However, orange glows entered his vision and he saw fires further in. Around these fires were random Shinigami. As Ryuk and Light passed, the Shinigami looked at them. Light stepped closer to Ryuk, though the Shinigami gave as much protection as a balloon.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. "Kira," said the Shinigami King. He sat on a throne made of human bones and the staff he carried had a skull on it. Light recoiled inside. The stench of rotting flesh wafted up his nose. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Light coughed. "Nice to meet you too," he said, quickly. Breathe through your nose, Light thought. When he did so, he coughed violently. Forget that... God, this is disgusting. He glanced at the other Shinigami. How do they stand the stench? "Any reason why I'm here?" asked Light. He breathed through his mouth which reduced the smell of flesh, though only by a small amount.

"Yes," said the Shinigami King, putting his finger in the eye socket of the skull on his staff. "We believe you are able to return the Shinigami Realm to it's former state." His finger swirled around in the eye socket.

That's nasty, Light thought, almost gagging. "Me? What can I do?" Light asked, eyes staring at the far wall.

"You have inspired some of the Shinigami to write names again, though it is a small number. Hopefully, you are able to inspire the rest of our population. Even though you are young in the years of Shinigami, you will mature."

"What do you mean, young in the years of Shinigami?" asked Light.

"He means you're only able to absorb small amounts of lifespan for now," said Ryuk, talking for the first time. "Only about a few months. In terms of maturing, he means that you'll be able to absorb more lifespan."

"Thanks, Ryuk," said Light. His attention returned to the King. "So I've got that bit. I've got a question for you. Where's my Death Note? After all, I am a Shinigami now."

"Of course. We retrieved the notebook from the Human World. Bring the notebook, Guuku." Guuku floated forward, the little black notebook in his hands. He passed it to Light, who flipped through it. "We believe this is the start of a new world," said the King.

Rem's notebook? Light thought. This is perfect. Nobody knows that Light Yagami has returned. Everyone thinks he's dead. Light laughed madly. "Kira is back," he muttered. He clutched the murder notebook to his chest. "And now no one will be in his way of becoming God of the New World!" All I need now is another notebook... I don't think that'll be difficult to obtain.

A/N: Sorry if this was a bit short. This is all I had time to write. Hope you enjoyed it. I look forward to writing this story. I got the idea after seeing the last episode.