A/N: I apologize, it's a little on the short side. I'm not sure if I should end it here or try to keep going. SayuxNear ended up being more difficult to write than I had originally anticipated. xD Still, this chapter came out okay. Hope you enjoy! R&R.
--
if i could float and drift forever
i'd join the shattered dreams together
i'd spy upon the disbelievers
and scatter them into the seasons
i'd fly to hidden places in the sky
(tell me where my friends go)
--
The check comes shortly after the waitress clears away their platters (Sayu's, wiped completely clean; Near's, barely touched). Near stares at where it lies between them, unsure of what is expected of him. Should he pick up the bill himself, offer to pay for it all? Is that what Sayu anticipates, wants? He gazes across the table at her, searching her face for some sort of indication as how to proceed from here. He doesn't get too good of a look, however, before Sayu's features are obscured by the inky black curtains of her hair as she leans sideways to grab something out of her bag. She produces a credit card and slaps it down, waving the waitress over to collect it and the bill.
Near's head is cocked to one side inquisitively as he twirls his hair.
"It's the least I can do," she says by way of explanation. "For dragging you in here."
Her card and the receipt come back a moment later. Sayu stuffs the card back into her bag, scrawls her signature on the dotted line, and swings her purse up on her shoulder. Near shuffles his way over to the door, and Sayu holds it open for him as he follows her out onto the sidewalk. Neon lights from nearby billboards illuminate their surroundings in the oncoming twilight. Vehicles rumble by, and Near smells a combination of wet tar and car exhaust. The streets are black and slick with moisture.
"It must have rained while we were inside," Sayu comments absently, turning her eyes upward toward the sky. Near follows her gaze and looks up. The clouds overhead are gunmetal grey, but dispersing rapidly, revealing the darkening heavens above them.
Sayu looks almost chimerical in the encroaching night, the garish colors of signs surrounding them making her features strange and distorted. She folds her arms across her breasts, her nose lifted almost aristocratically as she stares up into the swirling infuscation. She looks so very much like Light in that moment, a resemblance that is so unnerving that Near actually has to divert his attention elsewhere.
"It's almost hard to believe," Sayu murmurs thoughtfully after a moment, "That the very fabric of reality hasn't come apart at the seams. I mean, here we are. The world is still turning, even without him. He was so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, wasn't he?"
It was probably meant to be rhetorical, but Near feels compelled to respond anyway.
"I wouldn't say that. There's certainly a lot less... calamity, isn't there?"
"Are you talking about him specifically, or his contributions that led to the defeat to Kira?"
Near does not respond, instead allowing Sayu to come up with her own interpretation. They stand in silence, side-by-side, so close that their shoulders almost touch. Near spots his first star of the night, and points it out to her with a lazy lift of his hand.
"He certainly was a... chaotic force of nature," Near offers after a moment.
"Yeah. He definitely... kept things interesting, didn't he?" She smiles bitterly.
Something about the rueful tone of her voice sparks something in him: inspires a kind of wistfulness that Near usually tries to repress. He studies the girl beside him in a new light, takes into consideration how much pain she has endured over the past few years. She has lost her father to the hands of her lover, and then lost her lover to the hands of her brother.
You must be the unluckiest girl in the world.
"I'm sorry," Near says, and he means it.
"Why?" She asks him earnestly, and Near blinks. "I'm not." And he knows that she means it. Sayu has not allowed herself to succumb to despair over the loss of her loved ones. Despite the trials and tribulations she has endured, Sayu has somehow found the strength within herself to transcend the point of grief, rise above it. After the tragedy that has befallen her, she may not ever be considered whole again - but she certainly isn't broken either, wasted. Near finds her spirit admirable, even respectable. He is certainly impressed.
"I'm glad to have met Mello," she continues, nodding to herself. "And I'm glad to have met you." Before Near really gets a grasp of what's transpiring, Sayu leans into him, her warm, slightly chapped lips brushing his cheek. He reaches up to the touch the place where her mouth grazed his alabaster skin, feeling faintly dazed.
"Consider it a token of my appreciation," Sayu says, smiling impishly as the muted expressions go flickering across his face. "I think you've managed to give me the closure I've been looking for, Near. Thank you."
I don't understand you, Near thinks, nodding mutely.
Sayu glances down at her watch, takes in the time, and frowns. "I should probably be heading back..." she observes, looking a little anxious."Thank you again, Near. You've been a great help."
But I haven't done anything, have I?
"Take care." It's just like their first encounter, back at the graveyard: Sayu waves at him and turns to go without further ado. The only difference is this time, instead of disappearing into the converging fog, she merges with the crowd and is carried away. Near stares at her retreating back until he can no longer make out her form in the sea of suits surrounding her. Sayu does not glance back once.