Sorry everyone! I posted the wrong thing for this chapter. Here's the right one ^^;
Chapter 10: Snow White
Mr. Nakahara woke to moaning. He opened his eyes and checked his watch. Four o'clock in the morning.
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced at his daughter. Sunako was stirring in her sleep.
Mr. Nakahara stared at her at first; he pressed a button, calling a nurse.
Ten minutes later, the nurse came in. "Has she woken up?"
"Almost," he whispered.
Sunako stirred again.
"L…" she mouthed.
The nurse approached her and examined her.
"This is remarkable," she whispered. "Not even the doctors thought that she was going to wake this soon…" she didn't finish voicing her thoughts. "Let her sleep. She'll wake on her own very soon at this point."
The nurse left and Mr. Nakahara watched his daughter. His vision blurred and he covered his face, trying to still his tears of relief.
"NO!" Venita screamed, clutching her chest. "NO! NO! NO!! SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!!"
"Think or hope what you may, true love can never be stayed," the Mirror said. "My answer remains and always remains thus: I can never tell a lie. Though Venita be fair and beautiful and valued by all the world, none will be as pretty as the princess who bears skin white as snow, hair black as ebony wood, and lips red as the reddest rose."
"Lies! Lies! LIES!!" Venita shrieked, collapsing to the ground still clutching her heart. "YOU'RE LYING!!"
"I pray thee, I am not. Venita thou hast lost thy beauty." The Mirror reflected Venita's true appearance:
Her skin was wrinkled and lined. Her cheeks were hollow. Her nails were yellow and cracked. Her nose was crooked. Her beautiful mane of hair was flimsy and thin. Her bosom sagged. Her perfect teeth were gone and what teeth she had left were yellow and cracked.
Venita screamed. Her voice was dry and cracked. She crawled away, shielding herself from the ugliness that was her true self.
"No! NO!"
Venita's heart jolted and she clutched her chest tighter, digging her ugly nails into her leathery flesh. She forced herself to stand and ran towards the window, she climbed out and jumped to her death with an ear splitting shriek…
Sunako opened her eyes. She opened and closed them, trying to adjust to the light. She rubbed her eyes. She could just barely lift her arm.
"Hey, love," a nurse said, standing over her. "How're you feeling?"
Sunako opened her mouth to speak. No sound came out. She wetted her lips. "Hurt," she croaked, "everywhere."
"Don't worry, honey," the nurse said. "I'll get you some medication. You're going to be just fine."
She left.
Sunako eased her head to the right. There was one chair, but no one in it. She eased her head to the left. Obachan and her parents were still asleep. Sunako reached over and gently touched her father. He woke. "Hey, Dad," she croaked.
"Shh," he said, "don't strain yourself too much, Sunako, okay?"
Sunako nodded. She looked at the ceiling again. L…where are you? You said you weren't going to leave until the end of the year…
What if it's already gone?
No! It couldn't have!
Sunako covered her eyes with both hands, trying to still her tear ducts. L, where are you?
L shook hands with the Chief.
"I can't believe you were here all these months," he said. "I'd ask you what you've been up to, but…"
"I'm still here for another few months. If you need my help, just call Watari," L's phone started to ring, "one moment," he said, answering it. "Yes?"
"I thought you'd like to know," Watari said, "Nakahara-san woke up this morning."
L tried to speak. "Thank you," he finally said. "I'll be there as soon as I can," he hung up. "Thank God," he said.
"Ryuuzaki-san?" Chief Yagami asked.
"Oh, his girlfriend got into an accident a week ago and was comatose," Matsuda blabbed. "Sounds to me like she just woke up."
"And you know this how?" the chief demanded.
L didn't stay, nor did he give Matsuda a chance to explain to the chief.
"You're driving," L snapped at Matsuda, dragging him to a police car.
Sunako had been eased up so she could be fed.
After her dad saw she was up, her mom and Obachan woke.
Obachan, who was always so strong, had broken down in tears and collapsed on the floor.
The door opened and the boys came in.
"Sunako-chan!" they said, sitting around the bed.
"You're awake!"
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Don't strain yourself too much, Sunako-chan."
"Glad to see your up."
After them, Noi had come in. She was still bed ridden, but she was, unlike Sunako, allowed to walk around now. The moment Noi saw Sunako, she broke down.
"I'm sorry, Sunako-chan," Noi said, sitting on Sunako's bed and hugging her. "I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have taken you out shopping!"
"Noi, it's not your fault. And I'm alright, so don't cry anymore. Please?" Sunako said.
Noi looked at her.
"A true lady never shows her tears. They're jewels that no one should ever see. Right, Obachan."
"Oh, hush," Obachan said, having regained her ability to stand. But she did not, in the least, stop crying.
Sunako's classmates filed in, one by one.
Nana, Nene, and Nono hugged her individually, trying to be careful of her ribs.
Tomao and Machiko also came.
Sunako talked to them as best she could, trying to relax as she talked to her friends and relatives.
She looked at the door every so often, especially when someone came or went.
Around noon, she looked again.
He was standing in the doorway, staring at her.
"L," she whispered with a smile.
He approached the group and everyone turned to him.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Mr. Nakahara demanded, standing in his way.
"Dad!"
L bowed to Mr. Nakahara. "I'm Ryuuzaki Yamato," he said after he straightened.
Mr. Nakahara glowered at him.
"And how do you know my daughter?"
L didn't back down. "I love her."
The room silenced.
The boys looked at Sunako.
Noi bit her lip and Sunako averted her gaze.
Kyouhei was about to open his mouth, but Takenaga silenced him with a look.
"So that's why you were worried about Sunako being near Sensei?" he whispered to Noi.
Noi nodded. "At first, yeah, but Sunako seemed so happy, I couldn't help feeling happy for her when they started dating."
"How long?" Ranmaru asked.
"A little over a month," Sunako admitted, "Almost a month and a half, I think."
Kyouhei looked away, shaking his head.
"Mark me, kid," Mr. Nakahara growled at L, "if you do anything to my daughter, I'll kill you."
L shrugged. "I'll certainly deserve it."
With that, Mr. Nakahara and L shook hands.
Kyouhei looked at Sunako, "You sure about him?"
Sunako nodded. "I am."
Kyouhei shrugged, not meeting Sunako's eye. "That's good enough for me, I guess. If you're happy, then I'll leave it be."
The group glanced at Kyouhei nervously—this was…so unlike him.
"Thank you," Sunako said, "For understanding, Kyouhei."
"I don't, but whatever."
L approached Sunako and kissed her hands. "Thank God," he whispered. "There is a God."
"Of course there is," Mrs. Nakahara agreed. "Now, Yamato-san, we'd like to talk to you."
L glanced over at Mrs. Nakahara and Obachan.
Both had supposedly innocent smiles on their faces.
"Sunako-chan, your family's scary," he muttered.
"Tell me something I don't know," Sunako agreed.
L kissed her forehead and went to her mother and aunt.
The nurse came in. "That's IT!" she shouted. "This isn't McDonald's! Get out! All of you—OUT!"
The group filed out one by one.
L kissed the crown of her head before leaving with the group.
~Seven Years Later~
L Lawliet tiptoed down the hall. He was glad he insisted on soft carpets, even if Sunako said that Chihiro could make a mess of them sooner or later and it'd be a pain to clean.
L, first, looked in the nursery.
Chihiro was fast asleep in her crib. Sunako, apparently, had gone to quiet the baby before he came home…
At three o'clock in the morning.
He entered the room and kissed the crown of Sunako's head. Sunako stirred. "Wha…L?"
"Hey, love. How is she?"
Sunako stretched. "I had to change her at…midnight…gods, I'm sore."
L kissed her again, helping her out of the chair.
Sunako headed to bed in the Master bedroom across the hall.
Before joining her, L stood over the crib and smiled down at his baby girl.
Chihiro stirred and whimpered. She opened her eyes and recognized L. She rubbed her eyes and reached for him.
L picked her up and sat in the recliner…
When Sunako woke the next morning, she went to see if L ever made it out of the nursery.
She shook her head, staring at him, in the recliner, Chihiro drooling on his shirt.
Better go make breakfast, she thought, heading for the kitchen.
And they lived happily ever after…
The End…