Last
Five glances at Death Note. And he sees L's dead face.
L will never admit it to anyone, but there is a time when he doubts that Light is Kira. It starts the moment Yagami forgets the Death Note, and ends not long after catching the third Kira. Maybe if he could pinpoint the end of that period, it would be when he felt the cold chill of Kira's eyes on his back, looked and saw Light, and knew for certain that this would be his last case.
Light Yagami is Kira until L first baits him with the fake prisoner L. In the second it takes him to process the jibe, Light and Kira become two very different people. Kira is blinded by rage, and scrawls out Lind L. Taylor furiously. Light would have (should have, didn't) calmly analyzed the situation, and realized the trap. It would have extended their lifespan by a year or so, but changed almost nothing in the end.
Despite being different people, Kira and Light share the same views. But Kira is the God who will rule the new world. And Light is the human who knows there will be no place for someone like himself in the new world.
If there had been no Death Note, Light would still rule the world. He would live to see the dawn of a New Age with less crime than ever before. And he would do it with L at his side. In fact the only difference would be in the eyes of his subjects.
They would look at him with love, not fear.
L's last thought is: I was right all along. And it is full of satisfaction, regret.
Light's last thought is: I was so wrong. And he sees L's dead face.
This is utter randomness, and I may even take it down later! But I was just reading some of Silver Pard's fics (go and read them, now, because all those fics are made of awesome) and it put me in a Death Note-ish mood. This is what happened when I put my fingers on the keyboard. Consider it a drabble... or something.