Time skip!

A much mature woman walks around the streets of Los Angeles in confusion. This place isn't England. She wears a light coat with intricate threading designed by Versace and paid at a high price. Her Jimmy Choo stiletto pumps are worn for an advantage, considering her short height and small figure. The brown hair on her head probably drinks the sunlight, since it shines so much under the light.
The ordinary citizens of California stare at her in awe, some doing double takes. What a beautiful woman. Is she a celebrity?

She sighs, and glances at her surroundings, hoping to find a nice hotel somewhere, and soon. She was about to be late for work.

"I really need to find a place to stay..." She told herself and looked around some more, "Near gave me the name of a reserved hotel, but I can't find it anywhere..."

Just when the classy woman was about to collapse on a nearby bus bench from desperate stress, a car honked at her from behind. She looked around and found a stranger with goggles waving & smiling at her. She twirled around. Maybe he was waving at the wrong person. When she realized nobody around her was paying attention to him, she waved back at him awkwardly. Guess he was talking to her.

"You needa get to somewhere, miss?" The man walked up to her and held her hand, "I'm sure a pretty lady like you shouldn't get lost out 'ere."

"Oh, well... I was trying to find a place to stay-"

"No need to fear! Just give me the name and location, and I'll drive yer there," He flashed a friendly grin at her and kissed her hand. He seemed familiar, but the woman couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"A-ah, a friend of mine gave me the name and address right here although I can't seem to find it..." She handed him the ripped piece of paper. The writing was slanted forward- baseline neatly scrawled in a straight line. Her friend was a perfectionist.

"Oh ~ ho!, not to worry. I'm pretty aware of this... Place..." He scratched his head. She sweat dropped. Should she really trust this person?

The young man in the goggles walked over to his car and opened the passenger door for her.

"Here ya go miss. Just step inside and I'll take yer there."

The woman flinched and thought, 'Is he... Is he serious? I mean! Oh no! What if he... and to... And... Oh my god...'

"Come on, don't be shyy~" He chirped and pushed her into the seat. He shoved her gently, but there was a bit of an impatient tone in his voice. Don't get me wrong, he was hot- but a pervert is a pervert.

She cringed, but nodded. What if she could trust this hot guy? Who knows, maybe they'll end up together and this was all a big misunderstanding and he's really a taxi driver.
Shakily, she grabbed the seat belt and fastened it tightly. Oh! But what if he was a wanted criminal? What if he rapes her and kills her? ...And rapes her again?

A few minutes later.
"That would be 5 dollars, Miss...?" He rose a brow and took the cigarette out of his mouth.
"Etoo... Ukumi...," Aya studdered and handed him the money. Careful, don't give out your whole name.

She had more time to look him over now. Wild red hair hung loosely by the sides of his head. Steampunk styled goggles rested peacefully on the red nest of his head. At some points, she could see his black studded earrings behind his shaggy hair.
"Right, right." He grinned and took the wad of cash from his pockets. He seemed to like layering his clothing. Sheepskin vest over striped sweater, brown buckled boots over blue tight sectioned jeans from-

"Calvein Klein," Aya said aloud consciously. She clasped her hand over her mouth and stared at him frightully in embarrassment. It was a habit for her to notice brand names and designer clothing.

The man smiled, the cigaratte in his mouth bobbing up and down as he did so, "Yeah, that's right. How'd you know?"

"Oh, the uh, stitching?" She replied quickly. Liar. She was too busy looking at his butt. The pockets clearly had the logo on it: 'CK'

"Well, I'm Matt, just plain ol' Matt. Y'know, you looked kinda... Kinda familiar y'know?"

She hesitated for a while, then nodded. "Of... Of course... Matt."

"Please, we ain't strangers, Miss Ukami,"

"Oh... Yes, right... Right..." Aya repeated slowly.
"Hey, Miss Ukami."
"Yeah?"
"Is that your real name?"
"Eh?"

He crossed his arms and stared at her through his goggles. "You heard me. Do I have to repeat it again?- Is. That. Your. Real. Name ?"

"Of... Of course it is!" She studdered.
"Riiiight..." He scratched his chin, "... You positive?"

"Why are you still here?" Aya scolded, flustered with his persistence.

"I see... Well, I'm sorry for wasting your time Miss Ukami," He smiled fakely at her, but then immediately turned around and slammed his fist on the car in disgust, "Dammit! I really thought you were Air! But I guess that proves it! Thaaat proves it! You ain't no Air!"

... Air...!

He mumbled a few more words with his cig on his lip and fumbled with his jean pockets.

"C'mon. Shit, where are those stupid keys..."

"Wait! Matt?" Aya lept forward to grab his shoulder and twirl him around, "Matt?"

He smirked at her, and said, "Bingo! Stupid Air! You thought I'd give up easily like that? Feh! You'd fall for anything, neh?"

Aya smiled, her eyes tearing up. She didn't care about the drips that fell on her expensive coat. Hell, she could always spend her life savings on another.

"Matt..." She bit her lip and rested her head on his furry cream vest, "I missed you so much. I went back to look for you, you know?"

The lively colors of his voice faded.
"Why'd you go back?" Matt said, throwing his cig on the ground, discarding it improperly. A hotel employee shot him a look. He stuck his tongue out, but then continued to carry on with the moment, "You found a family, didn't cha?"
"They passed away," Aya frowned and tightened the grip on her friend, "I've looked everywhere for you."

"H-Hontou-ni, Air chan?"
"Hai..."
"Gomen ne, Air chan... I wanted to find you too but Mello-"
"Matt! Don't call me that in public!- Baka ne?"
"Hey, that's mean, Air chan!"
"You're the one who called me stupid.."
"I always call you stupid!"
"Why can't I call you an idiot in Japanese then!"
"Because... Because that's just stupid!"
"Vous tes idiot, Matt."
"Don't tell me I'm an idiot in French, Air!"
"Non mi interessa."
"Don't you dare say that you don't care in Italian!"
"... Te kiero."
"Now that's better, you Mexican enchilada," Matt whispered dramatically in her ears as if it was a deep thing to say. He slid his lips across her cheeks and kissed her when he found a landing spot, "I love you too, Aya."
"... But I don't like enchiladas, Matt!"

"Shush! Don't ruin the moment!"

"Hello? Near?" Aya walked into the room and found her old friend playing with his multi-colored sets of legos. His droopy black eyes shifted towards the location of her voice, but then continued making whatever he was constructing.

"Hello. Air," He muttered as he worked at his monotonous pace and picked up a yellow square lego from the yellow pile, "I lost you at the airport. What happened?"

"Um, I was distracted," Laughing quietly, she crouched down next to him and stared wonderously at the shiny & spotless chunks of blocks, "What are you making?"

He sighed. Aya always treated him like a child. Can't she see, he's grown up now?

"A fort."
"... May I assist you, Near?"

After a silent nod, Aya picked up a blue piece from the pile and began placing it on top of the yellow one, "Do these packages come with flags?"
Near took the time to face her and shrug, then quietly resumed his attempt to complete the structure he started.

Minutes ticked by, and soon, hours walked past them. The atmosphere was tranquil and peaceful, unlike L's chaotic residence of sweets and such, Aya noted.
"Have you spoken to L before he died?" Near asked, breaking the noiselessness time.
"I have."
"When?"
"You know when, Near," Aya took a moment to smile, "After my mom died, I went to work with L for a while... But I decided it wasn't meant for me. It was too much to handle- no wonder I'm fourth in line by the way- I couldn't take it anymore so I packed up and left for England. You know when your instincts tell you what to do? Well, mind told me to find Matt again. And, well, after that, I bumped into you."

He rested his head on his arm and rose a brow at Aya Ukami, confused yet calm, "What couldn't you take it anymore?"

"I was a fool back then-"
"We were all fools in the past, Air."
"That's true, but I suppose I was a bigger one."

Her companion smirked and gave her a signal to go on.

"It was all so confusing. First of all, I didn't know whether or not Kira was evil."
"Really now," Near said aloud, then picked up a red lego to connect it with the yellow one.
"Yes. But L gave me an analogy to prove that he was, a bad person."

"What'd he say?"
"If you were framed by... Oh, let's just say... Misa Misa- for doing a crime you did not commit- you would certainly be in jail would you not? When you're in jail, your name shall appear in the news. Therefore, Kira would be able to get a glimpse of your name and murder you. Now what do you say about that?"

For a moment or two, Near left his mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out of his throat. It was definitely certain that L's successor was dumbfounded. He ended up gazing at Aya with a blank face the whole time until he managed to say something. Was she this stupid?

"And how did you reply?"
"At first, I didn't know what to say. But one thing's for sure, L had too many sweets that morning."

He stiffled a chuckle. A short, but satisfied chuckle.

"I mean, he did gargle my whole vanilla cappucino from the coffee store down the street..."
"I see," He said, taking interest in the conversation and rested his chin on his hands this time, "Please, do continue Air."

Throughout their whole conversation about L, Near stared into Aya's eyes with curiosity. What exactly has she been through all these years?