Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait! ^^ I was a bit distracted while writing this chapter, seeing as I wrote the beginning on a Mt. St. Helens field trip on a bus with fifty one other teenagers! It gets pretty noisy! Anyways, I buckled down today and finished this chapter. I'm fairly proud of this chapter, and Light's dad gets to express his judgmental feelings towards homosexuality. Heh, sounds fun right? Hope that was enough to make you want to read it! :3 This plot seems to be coming to a close in these next few chapters, and I hope that you all enjoy the little that is left of this story, well, I think there's only a little left. I'm planning on 24 chapters...don't know for sure yet!

Anyways, on with the story!

What Lies Beneath

From then on, and the mornings to follow, I kept myself sane. I kept myself above the water, above the devil in disguise. He still talked to me, yes, but he could not form sentences, for the water filled his lungs. L, though happy, seemed different. Just content? I couldn't tell. "What's wrong, Light?" I snapped out of my daydreaming to look over at the soul purpose of my life. "Nothing." I murmured, but he saw through it. He always did. He came to sit beside me, pulling me to him, my head resting against his tone chest. "I would like to know what's bothering you, Light. Care to tell me?"

I looked down, I couldn't tell him. "Actually…" I started, hoping my voice didn't falter as I pushed myself up, my eyes level with his. "I'd like to know what it is that's bothering you." Suddenly, like always, soft lips met mine. My thoughts began to stray, my resolve disappearing. How long had it been since I'd felt this alive? This wanted? "Nothing at all." He whispered in my ear, pulling me in for an even tighter hug. "Everything is perfect as long as you are here. As long as Light is here, I'll always be happy." I felt heat run to my cheeks, and I closed my eyes, hiding my face in his chest.

"I love you, L."

I admitted everything…

I put my life on the line…

What would his answer be?

A small, light, ringing of a chuckled met my willing ears. It filled my senses, making me smile unconsciously. "I love you too, Light. More than you will ever know." I hadn't realized that tears were falling, that I had enough control over my body to contain the ability to cry. My arms felt like dead weight as I hugged him, unable to feel his warmth through them, but knowing it was still there. Just under the pale skin was a world of crimson warmth. A world I wanted to drown myself in.

"Thank you." I whispered, my voice and body beginning to tremble. Thank you… Was that all I could say? I narrowed my eyes, feeling pain shoot through my head, and I gripped it, my fingernails digging into my temples, wanting to rip them out. It was a loud piercing noise, penetrating my eardrums, causing me the pain I so much craved. "Enough, Light." That wasn't L's voice…no…this voice was much louder. "It's shameful." I turned; looking from L's almost frozen expression to the man I had not seen in a very long time. "Dad…?" In his hand he held a gun, aimed straight for me, but I figured that the noise had been from a blank round. "Get away from L now, Light." He said sternly, and I looked to L for guidance.

He looked just as blank as I did, and those coal like eyes narrowed at my father. "How did you find us, Yagami-san? No, more importantly, how did you get in?" I watched him, his wrinkles growing deeper by the second as his eyebrows furrowed. "Watari-san let me in." He said simply, "He called and told me that Light was staying here after I asked if I could see my son that I hadn't been able to see in over a year." His voice was ruff, filled with disgust. "Then I come in, and this is what I see." I flinched at his tone that was clearly directed towards me.

I slowly moved off of L, standing up on shaky legs. "Dad…you…" He shook his head, "You are coming home with me Light, I will not tolerate whatever it is that has obviously happened between the two of you." L stood up, standing in front of me protectively. Had it been in any other situation, I would have been focusing on how happy I was that he was protecting me. No, not now. "Yagami-san, I believe Light is old enough to decide on his own what he wants to do in life. Sexual preference is also his own decision."

I had never seen my dad more pissed than he was now. "I see what you're doing, L. You still suspect Light is Kira though the killings have long stopped. That's why you're getting close to him! You're taking advantage of my son to get a confession out of him!"

A moment lost in time…

As glass and debris shattered everywhere…

A vase of roses left to die on the floor…

While L knocked it off the table…

"That's enough!" L yelled at him, and my eyes widened. L never raised his voice like that…something was horribly wrong. "The Kira case is over, Yagami-san. It's been long over! You have no business in my home, and you have no business with my Light. If you believe for one second that I am taking advantage of him, then you can give up on being a police officer. You are supposed to provide justice, what kind of justice are you giving right now, Yagami-san? Who are you to pass judgment on others?" I backed up behind him, my hands trembling. That brought me back to a different time, a time where things were much simpler. The boredom, the Death Note, the will to rid the world of criminals. Yes, a much easier and simpler time. It seemed like I was a different person then, well, I was. At that time I was Kira.

Dad moved to look at me, and then back at L, his gun lowering. "I just…want my son back…" He whispered softly, tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. "I just want the old Light…" The old Light…? He wants…Kira back? He wants… I fell back, hitting the ground with a thump, my form shaking. L quickly bent down by my side, trying to shake me back into awareness. He knew, he knew that I believed it. That I believed Kira was better. L was the only one who knew that, and he always would be the only one.

Kira was the better me. He was stronger, he didn't cry, he didn't hide behind weak smiles, he told beautiful lies. I was the weak one, the one father didn't like, the one that even I believed, L looked down. I couldn't do anything on my own, I couldn't function normally. I was insecure, I was afraid. I felt fear, Kira didn't. I felt pain, Kira didn't. I loved L…Kira…Kira could never love L like I did. That was the only thing I was better at; loving the man that kept me alive.

The relationship almost seemed like a child dependent on it's mother, and the thought made me laugh. A loud and crazy ringing that echoed throughout the apartment, forcing both L and father to cringe. Yes, it was a realization that brought me to this point. A realization that brought a great downfall. The glass was breaking, melting away to become the water surface once again, and Kira stirred. L turned, glaring at dad. "See what you've done…" My eyes were distant as I watched Kira stand before me, blood dripping off of his limbs. "See, Light. They want me more than they want you." He walked forward, taking my trembling body into his arms, making his way over to the water's edge.

"In this life there is many decisions we make Light. Some take us to higher places, some make us fall like fallen angels. You are my angel light, and as such you need to fall before we are able to reach a higher place. A place where you and I can live together happily. A place where we can stop fighting.

A place where I own you…

A place where you are only mine…

A place where your will is my wish…

"Until that day, Light. Until they finally break my will to consume you. I will always keep you contained. I will always keep you here. For as long as I possibly can." I placed Light in the water, watching him sink to the bottom, his body unmoving, his eyes on mine. Water filled his lungs, and I watched in joy as he began to suffocate. "Goodbye my Light, I promise to take care of L for you."

I knew that the second I opened my eyes, the glint of metal would be there, and that if I truly wanted to, I could aim that glittering metal at L's head and pull the trigger.

When I finally came to the very surface, and my eyes stabilized. Light's father was nowhere in sight, and L was gone. I pushed myself up off the ground, only to feel the cold metal against the back of my head. "You're not my son." I cocked my head back, smiling up at the man Light called family. "No, Yagami-san. I am Kira."

Well, at least for now.

Until I can make myself believe that I was Light.

If I could believe that…

Then everything was under my control.

Somewhere though, in the back of my mind…

Light had screamed.

I laughed. How beautiful.

Well, there you have it, another chapter wrapped up. I must say that I am proud of this chapter, though Kira is a bit possessive towards the ending. It's only going to get more angsty and violent from here on out so if you don't want to take a ride on the angst train, I would get off now. Thank you very much though, for all of the reviews. When I began writing this story, I never dreamed that it would ever be popular, so your reviews have proved to me that I am a better author than I first believed. I'm pretty much a pessimist.

Drop me a review if you dug it! ^^

Until Next Time - Lexi-Chan