The distinct sound of helicopter blades whipping the air woke her up. Sachi sat up in the bed just as L entered the room. She put her arms around him when he sat down on the bed beside her.

"I have to go," he informed her, an urgency that he could not hide underlying his voice.

"What? What's going on?" she asked, hopelessly confused in her half asleep state.

"Light and I are going to get Higuchi. We're about to end this thing. I – " He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Just in case I don't come back, I want you to know this…I love you."

"What?" She was rendered mute by his insistent kiss before he abruptly stood up to leave. I love you. The words bounced around in her skull but refused to sink into her brain. Throwing back the covers, she ran after him. "L! Wait!"

"I can't. I have to – " It was his turn to be interrupted as she clasped his hand and turned him around to face her.

Sachi grabbed his face and gave him a passionate kiss she hoped relayed everything she was feeling. "I won't say it until you come back to me."

"L! Let's go!" Light yelled, rushing to the door.

Sachi walked behind L to the control room. Her eyes fell on Misa chained to Light's computer chair. Thinking it was an unneeded and drastic measure, her anger flared. She did comprehend the necessity of a gag in the woman's mouth.

"What the hell – " She stared after the men who were running out of the door. "Was that necessary?"

"Don't untie her or we'll do the same thing to you when we get back!" L warned her without looking over his shoulder. Then they were gone.

Misa whimpered and pleaded with her big blue eyes for Sachi to let her go.

"I'm sorry, Misa. I can't," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. She certainly did not want to wind up like that. Besides, it was not a bad thing that Misa was gagged.

Sitting down at her computer, Sachi opened up the link to the camera on the roof to watch them take off. Once the helicopter disappeared into the night sky, she was left with a sense of desolation and overwhelming fear. She began typing in codes to open the audio links between the helicopter and the police officers on the ground. Nothing worked. Access denied kept flashing on the screen making her want to scream in frustration. She could not even open the bugs from Higuchi's vehicle to have some idea of what was happening. L had purposely disabled all of the communication feeds to the control room.

"Thanks, L. Not knowing anything is so much better," she grumbled to herself. There was nothing for her to do but wait.

The waiting was interminable. Sachi paced the room that was empty except for her and her partner in misery, Misa. When would they finally return? She could not contemplate the concept of if they come back. Light's return was inconsequential and meaningless, but L had to come back. There was something she needed to tell him. She had not returned the words earlier in the expectation it would give him the motivation to fight harder and be more careful so he could come back to her. Regret filled her so completely she felt nauseated from the powerful, negative emotion. She should have just said it. She should have told him the three small words that mean so much.

The minutes seemed like hours and the hours felt like days. When would this end? Sachi had rubbed her own hands raw by wringing them like a wet washcloth for hours. Her feet ached from pacing the room. Just as she was about to give into the tears that wanted to fall, she heard the helicopter. Racing to the roof, the door was snatched out of her hand by the strong wind stirred up from the big mechanical bird. Shielding her face from the airborne dirt and debris, she waited until the steady hum of the blades died away with a pathetic descending whir. She ran to the helicopter, passing Light but unable to ignore him. He had an evil glint in his eye that had not been there before. He had always been intimidating but now he was downright frightening. A cold chill emanated from him and sent a shot of fear straight up her spine. She visibly trembled as he turned his threatening eyes on her. A screech of startled terror escaped her when L enveloped her in a crushing embrace.

"What did you want to tell me?" he inquired with an unmistakable glimmer of happiness in his eyes.

"I love you," she answered, pressing her lips to his.

"I'm so glad," he murmured against her lips, returning the kiss with passion and enthusiasm.

Sachi held him tightly while he carefully explored her mouth with his tongue as if he were doing more 'research' on her. She could get accustomed to being a test subject of his.

"Sachi, I need to go. I have to conduct a debriefing with everyone then I'll come to you," he assured her, kissing her again and attempting to keep it quick.

Sachi reveled in the kiss that lingered and neither one of them wanted to stop. She felt his body tense under her hands so she forced herself to pull her lips back.

"Is this thing over?" she asked, looking into his dark eyes.

"No. There's much more to it than I first thought," he answered, putting his arm around her shoulders as they slowly walked to the control room. "There's been some supernatural developments that I did not expect."

"What do you mean? L, what happened? There's something different about Light. I swear he's not the same person that left here," she said, unable to explain any further.

"We'll talk later. You can stay for the debriefing if you would like. A lot of your questions might be answered if you do."

Sachi and L walked into the room to see everyone talking. Misa had been released and had gone to her room. Light was sitting at his computer typing like a madman with a notebook in his hand.

Sachi felt ill upon looking at him and just wanted to be as far away from him as possible. She had not slept well the last few nights and tonight had made her a human train wreck of potent emotions.

"I'm sorry, honey. I-I feel sick so I think I better go lay down," she said, giving him one last peck on the lips before retreating to the bedroom.

Sachi fought the nausea that washed over her in waves, making her break into a sweat. She curled into a tight ball on her side willing the terrible sensation to go away. Taking measured breathes she tried to calm herself down. Maybe it was just a delayed stress reaction from all of the anxiety tonight. When the drowsiness came to her, she did not fight it but willingly gave into it to escape the nausea plaguing her. A good night's sleep was probably exactly what she needed anyway.

~\..'../~

Sachi felt gentle, tickling kisses being applied to her ribs. She moaned and smiled, burying her hands into L's familiar mane of coarse, unruly hair. Her body responded with a rush of wetness as his lips moved lower. He had now awakened her in two ways. She whispered his name when she felt his hair tickle her inner thigh. She had slept naked last night in anticipation of his visit. Apparently the debriefing had lasted a while. She could see the gloomy grayish light of dawn glowing at the edges of the curtain.

"Oh, L," she gasped, biting the back of her hand to keep from screaming when his tongue delved into the previously orally unexplored depths of her body. Her fingers twisted themselves into his hair as he thoroughly enjoyed himself and pleasured her greatly by exploring a whole new world within her. To her boundless delight, once he had satisfied his curiosity there, he decided to make new discoveries about her by probing her mercilessly. He learned how to make her squeal and grunt like a little pig by putting her knees over his shoulders and thrusting into her so deep he touched her womb. It was comical and gratifying all at once. When the end came so did they with a unifying burst of pleasure that made them cry out for each other from the immaculate ecstasy. A lot of frustrations, desire, stress, and love were poured out in that moment. Over the next few days, he would make love to her time and time again. Little did they know, they were making the best use of what little time they had left together.

~\..'../~

The electricity flickered then went out momentarily. Sachi quickly walked to the control room when she heard panicked voices and heard an alarm coming from the computers. All of the screens were white with the words information deleted blinking in all bold black capital letters.

"What's going on? L? What –" She watched him pitch forward and nearly fall out of his chair. Running to him, she gladly shoved Light out of the way to get to L. "What's wrong?"

"I-I think it's a heart attack," he ground out between his teeth. His big eyes settled on Light's face.

Sachi followed his line of vision to look at the man who wore a sadistic grin of pure evil. They were the only ones who could see his malicious face.

"You fooled me. You did something no one else has done before. Congratulations," L gasped, staring at the man who loomed above him menacingly. His gaze switched to the woman who held him while he was dying. Pressing his lips to hers one last time and with his dying breath, he declared, "I love you."

"No, no, NO! You can't do this to me! You can't leave me!" she screamed, holding him tightly. She was pushed over by the heaviness of his limp body and they both fell to the floor. Making sure to fall with him on top of her, she was momentarily stunned by the breath being knocked out of her. Rolling him to the floor gently, she sat up and pulled him to her chest. She rocked him, rubbing his arms and chest in a desperate but useless attempt to revive him. When that did not work she began kissing and stroking his face, begging him to wake up as the men surrounding her stood in petrified disbelief.

"He can't be dead," Light mumbled, dropping to his knees beside her.

Sachi jerked away from him when he attempted to pull her into his arms. She protectively folded her body around L's lifeless one wanting to protect him from Light although it was too late. Her arms cinched around him with an amazingly strong grip as Matsuda and Mr. Yagami tried to pull the dead man from her.

"Sachi, let go," Light pled with her, insincere tears falling down his cheeks and dropping onto her arms as he hovered above her. He grabbed her fingers and attempted to pry them from L's shoulders but she gripped him with every bit of life within her.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed shrilly like a ferocious beast that had been wounded. She had been wounded – terribly because the man she loved lay dead in her arms. The men continued to struggle with her, pulling and poking at her arms until she became sore and bruised.

"Let him go. He's dead. I'm sad that he's gone, but –" The words were halted from coming out of his mouth when his head whipped to the left from a sudden and shockingly strong slap delivered by the grieving woman.

Sachi held L against her with one arm while attempting to slap Light again. "You bastard! You did this! I don't know how, but I know it was your fault!"

Light waved off the officers before they lurched forward to take hold of the maniacal woman. He kept his eyes on her while she gently laid her dead lover on the floor. His scrutiny of her continued as she bent to press one more kiss to L's cold, dead lips. A smile of satisfaction spread across Light's face. He had killed one of his problems. The other he would sentence to a living death. Taking her into his arms, he assisted her with standing. Holding her close to him, he whispered to her with the pretense he was comforting her in her mourning.

"Kill me, Light. Just kill me, please," she implored him, sliding her arms around his waist. Right now she did not care if he used his bare hands to choke the life out of her. She just wanted to die so she could be with L again. Her body and emotions were so numb it did not effect her when his lips brushed across hers.

"No, I won't kill you. I plan to do something far worse to you. You see my dear, I'm going to be L's successor. I want to keep you alive to see me take his place and surpass him. As a matter of fact, I intend to keep you by my side so you can watch me rise to godhood. My plan worked out so perfectly whereas yours and L's failed so miserably. It's tragic really. To see such a magnificent yet bizarre romance ended before it even really had the chance to begin. I'll take care of you," he whispered, sliding his hands into her hair and holding her head while he stared down into her eyes. "You need someone like me to take care of you. You'll need me more than ever now that he's gone."

Shocked and grief stricken, Sachi could not speak or move. She closed her eyes as he pulled her cheek down to his chest, cradling the back of her head in his hand. In her weakened and confused state she did not pull away and allowed him to sway her gently back and forth to comfort her. He promised consolation, solace, and support for her grief stricken mind and body; she needed that more than anything. She tried to think. Thinking would be necessary to figure out what to do next, but her brain could not function through the emotional pain. Run away; she needed to leave and go far from here. It would be imperative for her to get away from the terrifying beast who now held her in his clutches. However, her body was frozen with mourning. Unfortunately, he was correct in his statement – she would depend on him now because she had no one else to help her through the pain. Bastard. She was trapped and he knew it. It would indeed be a life sentence of the harshest torture to be stuck with the man who killed her beloved.

Glancing at L's lifeless body lying at her feet, she began to scream. She did not know if she could stop.