(A/N) Finally! Okay, so this chapter is dedicated to Light-kun. As you probably gathered from the A/N at the end of the last chapter, this chap kind of focuses on him. but, you ask, how can it focus on him? he's dead! You shall see…

A quick note: I'm going to try my best to steer clear of religion in this fic. I am going to act on the assumption that there is an afterlife and some sort of mystic being out there that most people know as a god of some sort. Just a heads up, there. ^^

Another note: ***minor spoiler for L Change the World*** ***minor spoiler*** ***minor spoiler*** At the end of the book, it's revealed that L-kun has kept Light's broken watch along with a picture of Watari. That's the reference in the last part of the chap ^^ ***end of spoiler*** ***end of spoiler***

Thank you so much to my reviewers! XxMichyBabyxX, EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMonguin, sharebearthedeathbear, , invisible-gurl, and CocoBunni96! *hands out cookies*

Such a long A/N tonight… forgive me?

I do not own Death Note, nor will I ever. Maybe. I hope I will. But I probably won't.

Light sat cross-legged, back straight, floating within the endless blackness. All alone, he was left to meditate on the life he had had. And the Death I am now in, he added. He could hear Misa calling for him; sometimes he let her find him, sometimes not. That's the one good thing about this place, he thought. If I want to be alone, no one can find me. He ruffled his wings, the blood-red color, signifying someone who had taken human life.

Light rocked back, turning in a slow, lazy loop. So bored… maybe Misa would be a little company.But the company of the goofy blonde was not that which he craved. He craved a particular person's company. I wonder what L is doing…?With a wave of his hand, a small window appeared in the darkness. He leaned over, 'lying' on his stomach.

"Ryuzaki…" he murmured. He watched the raven-haired detective much more than was probably healthy. He laughed humorlessly. Why should he care if something was… healthy… now? He was dead.

He watched L playing tennis with Jane. He- unlike them –noticed the unconscious hand-holding. I'm glad, he thought, that he's found someone.

Keeping with the whole anti-gravity thing, the tears Light began to cry floated in tiny droplets around him. When Light had died, he had left Kira behind completely. Now, as he floated there, watching the Living, he was an innocent, scared young student, with a shameful memory of his own living days.

"I don't want to spend eternity here…" he whispered.

The White Wings came there occasionally. They were free to pass through any of the Realms, while the Black Wings could go back and forth between their own and the Red Wing's Realm, and the Red Wings, the lowest of the low, were stuck in their own Realm. No doubt L would be a White Wing. I wonder if he'll ever come visit me…

"Light!" Misa was getting closer. She had no desire to ever leave the Red Wing's Realm, even if she could. She wanted to be right close to Light, much to his dismay.

With a sight, Light decided that Misa's company was better than sitting there alone and watching Ryuzaki. He let the shield around himself crumble.

"Light!" Misa rushed forward, bowling him… well, not over, but the impact sent them both rolling head over heels.

"Hi…" Light grunted, "…Misa…" How can it feel like I'm suffocating when I don't need air?

"Oh Light," Misa looked up at him adoringly. "Why do you hide?" Her wings shuttered slightly.

"I just need to be alone sometimes," he explained.

"But I get lonely!"

"Don't you have any other friends up here? Or down here? Or whatever?" Light asked, exasperated.

Misa pouted. "But Misa loves her Light!"

"Then… could you do me a favor?" Light asked, thinking on his feet… so to speak.

"Anything!"

"Could you go and try to find Takada? I need to ask her something."

"That slut?" Misa asked, seeming outraged. "What could my Lighty-poo want with her?"

"I just want to give her a piece of my mind, in terms of how much better you are," Light said slyly.

Misa immediately perked up. "I'm on my way, Light!" She smiled, and, giving him one final, crushing squeeze, flew away.

Light breathed a sigh of relief. Definitely not better than watching L,he thought, wrapping himself once more in a cloak of solitude. He knew that Takada would never come, and that would keep Misa busy for a while. He stretched his huge red wings; even though he didn't technically have a body, he still felt ghost muscles stretch and joints pop. Keeping his wings spread, he let himself turn head over heels again and again. He knew that, had he had a stomach, he would want to throw up. But he didn't, so he kept spinning until even the eyes of that celestial body were almost blind with dizziness.

Now I know how Ryuk felt. I'd do anything to relive this boredom.

He reopened the window into Ryuzaki's apartment. The detective, or ex-detective, was sitting in a big armchair across from the girl, Jane.

"But I have to go to work in three hours…" Ryuzaki was protesting. Light smiled slightly. He couldn't get over the fact that Ryuzaki was working in a doughnut shop.

"Three hours is plenty of time for a nap," Jane said. "You look exhausted."

"Nonse-e-e-e-en-" Ryuzaki's scoffing turned into a huge yawn.

"Sleep," Jane commanded. To Light's surprise, Ryuzaki was asleep within a minute.

The young girl smiled and vanished into the kitchen, returning a moment later carrying a bowl of sugar cubes and a blanket. Setting the bowl on the coffee table- presumably for when he woke –she tucked the blanket gingerly around him. Light felt something akin to the bodily feeling of having a lump in his throat.

The girl left, but Light continued to watch Ryuzaki sleep. Through the Kira case, he had hardly slept at all, let alone that peacefully. He always used to twitch and shift about, often waking his unwilling bed-partner.

Then the Winged's attention was drawn away from the sleeping figure and to the door; it opened slowly. At first he figured it was the girl again, but it turned out to be a man… a man carrying three things, each more menacing than the last: a knife, a bottle of gasoline, and a box of matches. Over his face was a black cloth, a baseball cap concealing his hair. If Light had had breath, it would have caught in his throat. He watched the man pour gas over the couch, around and on the table, and in a thick circle around Ryuzaki's chair.

I have to warn him!Light's mind kicked into overdrive, as it had during so many moments when he was Kira. How? Howhowhow?Only the White Wings could contact the Living. He was the farthest thing from it.

Please…"Please!" he wailed aloud. "Whoever's in control of this kind of thing, please! Just give me a few seconds! I have to warn him!"

Light continued to wail like a child, but, no matter how hard he cried, he received no answer.

… … …

L, completely oblivious to all this, was sleeping deeply and peacefully. His dreams weren't definitive, just happy bits and pieces of memories and fantasies.

Jane… Watari… Near… and Mello… strawberries and cake… Jane's cooking…

"Ryuzaki…!" the achingly familiar voice was faint at first, hardly noticeable. But there was a sudden flash of red, and Ryuzaki reached out one hand, brushing against feathers.

"Ryuzaki! Wake up! Wake up, Ryuzaki!"

"Light-kun…?"

"Now! You need to wake up now!" Near-golden eyes appeared an inch from Ryuzaki's dark ones.

"Light-kun…! Why are you in my dreams?"

"Ryuzaki, please!" Light insisted. "I don't want you where I am! Not yet!"

Ryuzaki's eyes flew open. He felt cold steel against his throat.

"What a shame," a man chuckled. "I was hoping to get this over with before you even woke up."

Blood roared in Ryuzaki's ears, and his heart pounded, but his mind stayed crystal clear. "Who are you?" he asked in a monotone.

"Just someone who wants L dead!"

L felt the blade press into his skin. A moment later, though, the man let out a grunt, staggering backwards. The raven-haired man was on his feet in an instant, but the intruder wasn't looking at him. He was staring ahead, knife out. He slashed through the air, and tips of five, blood-red feathers appeared, severed.

"Light-kun…" Ryuzaki murmured softly. He then spun his legs in a wide kick, one heel slamming into the man's head, followed a millisecond later by the other right between his shoulder blades.

"Uhg…" The man staggered, then spun and raced out the door.

Ryuzaki considered chasing after him, but realized he didn't need to, for a feather brushed his cheek and then a breeze swept out the door. He touched his face, feeling blood trickle down his neck.

"Light…" He bent down and picked up the feathers, noticing the gasoline. He examined one blood-red feather.

Walking briskly down the hall to his bedroom, he held the feathers tightly but gently until he reached and opened his dresser drawer. Shoveling out clothes, he uncovered a faded picture and a watch that had long since stopped ticking. He pulled out the later and opened it, revealing the compartment where a scrap of the Death Note had once been stored. He slipped the feathers tenderly inside; snapping it shut, he fastened it onto his thin wrist.

"Light-kun," he murmured. "I remember, my friend. My friend."

… … …

The black nothingness seemed even bleaker after Light's excursion to the World of the Living. He had chosen to be alone, again, though he could hear Misa's plaintive calls. He was watching Ryuzaki, and examining the shredded feathers on the tip of one wing. It seemed that his feathers became visible when severed from his body. He was glad; L had known.

Light found himself smiling as he curled into as tight a ball as he could manage, wrapping his wings totally around himself and entering the half-sleep of the Winged.

(A/N) So what did you guys think? A little different from past chapters; hardly any Jane in this one, and less Ryuzaki than usual. Still, I like the chapter… I like Light as Light, instead of Kira.

Who was this mysterious man? well, we won't find out for quite a while, but if you can still find out something by reviewing! Hints as to the next chapter! =^^=