Near was a very picky person. Everything had to be a certain way, or it just wasn't right. His dice towers had to be symmetrical, his sandwiches had to be cut into triangles, and his puzzles had to be completed in one sitting.
Kira had been defeated. He was now L. All the pieces of his puzzle were falling into place, yet something still wasn't right. With every new case he solved, every conference he held with the police as L, it became more and more clear to him that things weren't the certain way he wanted them to be.
Normally it wouldn't be a problem. He would knock the tower over and start again. Fix the sandwich himself. Finish the puzzle. But this time, it wasn't quite that simple. He wasn't in control of what was missing. Near found himself missing three important pieces of his puzzle, and he could never get them back.
He tried to tell himself that he appreciated their sacrifices. That he knew they were necessary to stop Kira. Because he knew as much as he selfishly wanted them back, they were gone, and they always would be.
Suddenly Near didn't feel very much like putting together a puzzle today.