Hey there you guys. Jeeze, it seems like everything happens to me..or at least me and people I know. The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. Anyways, I finally finished this chapter. Believe me, it was not easy starting this, but I hope you like it as it is.

Disclaimer: We do not own Deathnote...there'd be a lot more cross-dressing if we did :P *sigh* Imagine THOSE fangirls after seeing L in a mini skirt XD

It was almost 8pm when Mai finally decided to wake up. The room she was in was dark, the only light visible was the light from under the door. She could have sworn she heard a few voices coming from the other side as well. She was so focused on trying to figure out who's voice belonged to who that she didn't hear the growing footsteps. She jumped slightly when she saw the door creak open. She squinted, trying to make out who was coming in. She could see enough to know that it was a guy.

"You up?" he whispered. Right then, she knew who it was. She would have threw herself in his arms if she wasn't so tired. He closed the door behind him and slowly walked over to what looked to be a closet in the dark. He flipped then closet light on, not wanting the room too bright for Mai.

"I know you just woke up..don't want your eyes hurting." Matt said smiling over to his younger sibling. He walked and with out a word lied next to her. Mai already felt her eyes filling with tears at the sight of her brother's smile. She quickly wiggled herself into his arms and buried her face in his shoulder. She could detect a small hint of cigarettes, but she could tell he had attempted to cover it up before coming in.

As if he read her mind, he spoke..

" Sorry, Im trying to quit..."

Mai chuckled a bit.

"Good..but right now, we don't have to worry about that. I missed you so much Mail..." At that, everything was silent. Mai closed her eyes and felt herself drifting back into a peaceful slumber. The last thing she remembered feeling was the warmth of Matt's tears on the top of her head.

"Me too...you have no idea.." Only a few minutes after did Matt fall asleep as well.

XxX

Lidner splashed cool water in her face and hissed at the cold sting. Still, she needed it, she's probably need to make coffee too. She and the other SPK members, even though everything was finally over, they were still up late. She dried her face with a near by towel and turned to walk into the hall. She didn't bother to replace the lipstick she wiped off. She could hear Mello yelling, probably at Near, all the way in the control room. She couldn't hear Near, but knowing him he was probably responding quietly. She wandered down the hall and into the automatic doors to see Rester sleeping at his desk and Gevani organizing papers, putting them in boxes. She looked over to the lounging area and saw she was right about the old rivals arguing. The dark haired girl from earlier left hours ago after being questioned by Near. She was quick with her answers, very polite and didn't seem to have anything to do with the Kira case at all. Near asked her if she could come back tomorrow just to be certain. That was the only time she hesitated, but agreed in the end. Lidner turned around when she heard a sudden dripping sound. She saw that Brooke was making coffee.

'She's still here..' She thought looking from her to Near and back. She smirked and walked over to the tall brunette. Brooke looked over her shoulder and gave a warm smile when she saw Lidner coming. She poured a cup for her.

"Coffee?" She offered. Lidner smiled and leaned against the counter as she took it.

"You read my mind. Thanks" She turned and began adding cream and sugar to her coffee.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. After everything that's happened today..I don't want to have any nightmares." She took a sip from her cup. Lidner nodded remembering that they didn't get to handle Mikami's corpse before Brooke and Mai came in.

"Sorry about that..but you're a young girl. You should get your rest." She said stirring. Brooke gave a small chuckle.

"Thanks, but I'm not too young. I just turned twenty one a few weeks ago."

Lidner looked at her with her eye brows raised.

"Wow..you look seventeen or Near's age. You have a very young face..I wish I did." She smiled beginning to sip at her coffee. "Speaking of which...you wouldn't happen to like Near at all would you?" The question caught Brooke off guard and made her choke on some of her coffee.

"Wait..what?" She exclaimed giving Lidner a look.

"I just couldn't help but notice the way you looked at him earlier today. Seems like you really like him."

"Wh-what are you ten?" She yelled embarrassed. Lidner laughed at her expression.

"From your reaction, I take it I'm not far off. I don't blame you..he's very likable." Brooke's cheeks tinted a light pink as she turned her head in Near and Mello's direction. She could only see the back of Near's head, but that was still enough to make her stomach clench.

"He's so pale.." She commented. Lidner nodded.

"He's certainly inherited his mother's gene." She said finishing her coffee. Brooke looked up at her suddenly.

"His mother?...You know his mother?"

"..Knew." She corrected.

"Oh." Brooked looked down at her feet.

"It was very long ago...and he doesn't show any signs of remembering what happened. He was very young."

"He is still very young." Brooke added. Lidner nodded as she turned to rinse her cup and place it in the dishrack. She touched Brooke's shoulder.

"You're welcome to stay here for the night. It's to dark for a girl to be walking through the streets alone."

"Y'know..you all are very trusting..letting two strange girls stay here. How can you let me sty so easily without a second thought?"

"You are friends of Mello no? He may not be number one..but he's very smart. If he trusts you enough to have you both here..we have nothing to worry about." She answered simply and turned to head for the hall. "I'm gonna get some sleep. You should too." She then walked through the automatic doors and disappeared behind them in a matter of seconds. Brooke shifted her attention back to the two rivals.

"Dammit! You piss me off you know that? Is that a mission of yours? You..y-ugh!" Mello threw his hands in the air in frustration and stormed away in the same direction as Lidner. What did Near say to get him so worked up? It had only been a few minutes. Soon after, Near stood slowly and headed for the bathroom. Did he forget that she was in the room? Or..did he just not care. Brooke knew she might have been over thinking things, but the thought still bothered her. She watched as he closed the door behind him. She then placed her coffee cup in the sink and walked to the couch. The first thing to catch her eye was a very familiar looking rubics cube. She smiled to herself knowing it was the one she made for him. She also spotted a few finger plushies laying next to it as well. She sat down where Near sat and picked up the plushie that looked the most like him. She lied her head on the arm of the couch as she placed plushie Near on her index finger. She traced the hair lines with her other finger, not realizing she was slipping into a deep sleep every second she spent resting on the couch. She hadn't realized how sleepy she was. Why did she feel so tired now?

Brooke closed her eyes completely, her hand dropped without the plushie slipping off and fell asleep within seconds.

After slashing water in his face, Near looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time in years..Near observed his features. His skin seemed to have lightened a bit from the last time he looked at himself. the dark shade under his eyes were more visible...reminded him of someone..

"L..." He murmured. He thought back in time..when he first found out about L's death. He never really reacted to it. He remembered saying that L was a loser..and he regretted it. At the time, he was only angry at him for letting himself be killed. But was he really mad at L? Or himself for not being able to prevent it from happening.

L saved his life when he was a child and treated him as if he were his child. He couldn't return the favor..and for a while he hated himself for it. Near sighed and pressed his hands to either side of his face, as if to push the thoughts out of his mind.

"Forgive me.." He exhaled before walking out of the bathroom and back into the control room. His eyes widened slightly to see a sleeping Brooke on the couch. He hesitated before walking over to the couch to observe the girl. He spotted his plushie on her finger and didn't even realize he was smiling from seeing it was his caricature. He watched her face as she slept. Her expression was so peaceful and at ease. He looked around the room suddenly and grabbed a small blanket that was sitting on the seat of a chair. He flapped it open and covered Brooke with it, not wanting her to catch a cold. He stood watching her for a moment longer before lying down on the far end of the couch . He reached behind him for one of his plushies, searching for a specific one. He felt around it and knew he had picked up the right one. He pulled the L plushie to him self and looked into its plastic eyes.

"..How would you define affection for someone?" He asked L quietly.

It didn't take long for Near to fall into as deep of a sleep as Brooke. From everything that's happened..he needed a good night sleep.

XxX

Sorry so very very sorry for being late with the update. I've been really busy lately. I took the ACT twice so I had a lot of studying to do. On the upside, I am now a Senior! A short Senior, but a Senior none the less ^.^

These short chapters are just little minisodes. I'm just showing what happened after the Kira case was over. The story will start to build up again soon, I promise :)

Alright my beautiful loyalty readers, I'm off to start the next chapter. I'll be making a computer game of this story as well so that you can get a visual of everything. I'm sure you can guess that it will take a while. Anyways please review and bare with me alright?