Just start reading. I – I – I'm so sorry for the delay. Do 2 chapters and 6,657 words make it up to you, at least a little bit? Siento muchísimo, mis amores.

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"Light!" L yelled, jumping out of his chair and wrapping his arms around Light as soon as the death note landed on the floor. "Breathe, Light, breathe," he soothed, trying to get the boy to stop screaming. The screams that had come from him had in no way been caused by the sight of the shinigami.

Light was startled by the abrupt change from being alone with Kira to being alone with L. Had he been dreaming? He couldn't shake that he could still remember everything—he wasn't touching the death note. What had Kira done? What had he done? Had they caused this?

"No," he whispered, curling into himself.

"Light?" L repeated, not sure what else to say. He'd always known: whatever he was going to do depended upon Light's actions.

"I don't want to become Kira," Light whispered, his voice hoarse.

The corners of L's lips pulled up into a tiny, poorly hidden smile.

"Then don't be," he answered, tightening his hold around the boy as if he were comforting him from a nightmare.

"I don't know if it'll be that easy," Light admitted, letting L's warmth coat him like a blanket.

"We'll figure that out later, right now we still have to worry about Higu—"

"—HIGUCHI HAS COLLAPSED!" They heard from outside.

'Or, maybe we don't have to worry about Higuchi, then,' L corrected in his mind with a morbid sense of humor.

"I didn't kill him!" Light denied immediately, staring at L with fear of rejection clear in his features. "I swear I didn't!"

"Calm down," L stated, holding his position, "I saw you throw the notebook, not write in it."

"HIGUCHI IS DEAD!" They heard.

'Tsk, and we had just caught him too,' L whined. It was like losing the prey at the end of the hunt. At least he'd discovered the weapon.

"I . . . have a lot I need to tell you," Light admitted, looking and feeling guilty. L had already told him a few times before that he didn't really care that he'd been Kira, but even if that were true, Light questioned if it would it still be true after Light told the detective about the plans he had made before? How he'd hid pieces of the death note in his watch and buried the other death note? What about his original plans to use Misa to trick Rem into killing L? Light's heart twisted the hardest at that plan; he'd grown friendly with Misa and he'd so painfully fallen in love with L, there's no way he could execute that plan. He was disgusted that he'd ever been able to think of it.

Even if L accepted him, now he had to wonder if he could accept himself. He wasn't too upset over having killed the criminals—he knew that wouldn't bother him—but now that he knew from his memories that he had killed innocent law enforcement officers and a vigilante just trying to get the truth and avenge her fiancé . . . he wasn't sure he could forgive himself for that. How could he have ever done that?

Power he heard, whispered in his mind. And it was true: he'd done it for power.

The ends justify the means.

Right?

No matter what, he had to tell L everything, and the sooner, the better. Light prepared himself to just spill everything that very moment.

"Let's just get you back; you don't look so good."

That's the last thing Light heard before he passed out.

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Light woke up, staring at a somewhat unfamiliar ceiling and completely unsure of how much time had passed. He blinked away the foggy edges of his vision and tried to sit up but groaned at the splitting pain that attacked his skull.

"5 hours," L stated aloud, knowing what the boy's first question would be. Light turned his head to locate the detective and found him perched on a chair next to the bed Light was laying on.

More of Light's senses were drifting back to him, though still dulled. Deciding not to lift his head again, Light lifted up his arm to identify the burning he felt. He found an IV drip in the fleshy part of his forearm as well as another drip in his hand that he couldn't feel yet. Was he in a hospital?

L answered what he assumed would be the next question, "We are in the clinic on the 8th floor of the investigation tower."

"Watari?" Light asked, his throat aching, probably from all the screaming.

L tilted his head, "He's fine," he answered; he hadn't predicted that question.

"No, is he a doctor?" Light couldn't help it; he was becoming really intrigued with that old man's skills.

"Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"He is, but he's not licensed in Japan," L clarified.

Light added that to the list of reasons why Watari was a bad ass:

- Chef (he could poison your food or make the best meal you'd ever had)

- Sniper (he could shoot your ass down or save it)

- and now doctor (again, he could save you or kill you without anyone ever finding out).

And that was just the list Light was made aware of so far. "Damn," he mumbled, wondering what other talents Watari was hiding.

L grinned, feeling flattered that Light was impressed with the man who had helped to raise him.

"What time is it?" Light asked abruptly, unable to do the math in his current, groggy state.

"Almost 2 in the morning," L answered, still analyzing Light's complexion. He had gone extremely pale just before he'd passed out and most of his color had come back in the time he'd been unconscious with the saline and morphine drips.

"Ugh," Light groaned out, clutching his head again, "What happened?"

L explained that Light had gone pale and passed out. He would have hit his head on the helicopter controls had L not caught him. There wasn't much they could do for Higuchi, since he was already dead, of a heart attack no less, so they rushed Light back via the helicopter. Watari had become nervous after 5 minutes of Light still being unconscious and made L constantly check his breathing and heart rate while Watari flew the helicopter.

Light added pilot to the list.

When Watari finally got the boy stabilized, he decided on a low morphine concentration and a saline drop to keep him from dehydrating. He told L that he could change the morphine concentration once Light woke up. The team had already gone through the notebook—the death note, as L now referred to it. They knew about the rules and had talked to the unresponsive shinigami.

Light's heart dropped. "Higuchi died of a heart attack?" he asked, worried that Kira had done it during the time lapse.

"Correct," L answered, but shooed away the suspicion Light wore by added, "Watari had the hospital send him their autopsy report and he says it looks like a real heart attack; I personally think the stress with being the 3rd Kira taxed his heart. The deal he made with the Shinigami probably didn't help either."

"Oh," Light sighed. It wasn't that he was particularly happy that Higuchi had died, but he was relieved that the man had just died rather than been killed.

"Is Light ready to tell me all that he wanted to tell me?" L asked, switching tenses for no reason. Light still found this adorable, regardless of what had just been asked of him.

Light let out a breath and began, "Yeah, I might as well. You were righ—NNG!" his head felt like it was splitting open from the inside when he tried to speak. L's eyes grew wide as he hypothesized what had caused Light's pain.

"Does Light want more morphine?" he asked, testing one theory.

Light gritted his teeth as the throbbing in his head slowed, "No."

L bit his thumb, "What is Light's favorite color?"

"What? Why?" Light asked, wondering about the sudden switch of topic.

"Just answer."

"Grey, I guess," Light answered, scrunching his face at the question. The pain was subsiding.

"What does Light know about the ER pathway?" L asked, staring and monitoring.

Light blinked and tried to recall what that even meant. He searched his brain for that one histology book he'd read once in the library while waiting for his sister. That was quite a few years ago, so his explanation was unconfident and slow. But he did answer.

"Ok," L stated, noting that Light showed no signs of pain as he had answered those questions, even for the one he actually had to think about. Next he prompted, "What does Light think about the authenticity of the last two rules in the death note?"

"Those aren—AH FUCK!" he grabbed his head as he was again interrupted by the skull shattering pain.

"That's peculiar," L understated, accepting his new theory to be mostly correct. Light had his memories, L knew that for sure based on what the boy had told him before passing out. Even though Light seemed willing to discuss it with him, something kept stopping him.

"Do you think it is Kira keeping you from telling me?"

Light bit his lip to keep from crying out as the pain increased. He attempted a poorly executed nod before the pain forced him to squeeze his head as tight as he could to try to alleviate the pressure.

"Understood, I'll refrain from asking these questions until a later time," L informed . . . though he failed to inform that such "later time" would probably be while Light slept (and not from passing out). But this was just L working off another theory.

L observed Light's pained expression and reached his hand out to pat it on the boy's head. As soon as he did, he watched the pain slowly trickle away.

"Thanks," Light muttered, embarrassed, once the pain had gone again.

L smiled at him, always amused with what strange things Light became embarrassed about.

"Do you . . . want to," Light began, his face heating up. "Um, lay down?"

"With you?" L teased.

Light cleared his throat, "Uh-huh, yes."

L wasted no time climbing onto the hospital styled bed with that adorable blushing boy. He was glad to see color back in Light's face. He wanted to wrap his arm around the boy's shoulders, but the short chain prevented such actions.

Light melted against L, finally feeling the pain dissipate. They both lied flat against the barely inclined bed and just rested for almost an hour occasionally talking about nothing of importance, but mostly enjoying the quiet serenity.

"Light," L began, his tone more serious than the friendly banter they had been using.

"L?" he answered back, showing that L had his full attention—not that L ever didn't have his full attention.

The detective brought his thumb up to his mouth, chewed, and finally got on to his point, "What made Light choose to wear this chain?"

"What? You said I had to so that you could watch me 24/7," he answered, wondering why L would ask something so pointless.

"No," L amended, "This chain."

Light's eyebrows lifted almost unnoticeably and he clamped his mouth closed. So L was trying to solve another mystery.

"Are you bored, L?" Light inquired, rather that answering the question. He remembered why he chose this short chain . . . oh boy did he remember.

"Not particularly, but I don't like leaving things unknown. I did notice your attempt to evade," L informed, smirking. He was tempted to say he knew all of Light's facial expressions now, no matter how minute. Trying not to become overconfident, he reevaluated and decided that he was almost one hundred percent sure that he knew a minimum of 90 percent. But still.

Light rolled his eyes.

"I saw that."

A tiny smile worked its way onto Light's face.

"I saw that, too."

Light laughed. "You're so annoying," he teased, rolling his head to the side to place a kiss on L's cheek.

L forced the blood to stay away from his cheeks.

"And I saw that," Light copied as he reached to grab L's chin to turn the man towards him.

L just smiled and let the boy pull him into a kiss.

The kiss started innocent and sweet, but turned playful as they nipped at the other's lips and played tag with their tongues, giggling as they did so. Their lips parted so they could rest their foreheads together, smiling like children who just got away with something naughty.

Their lips found each other one last time before they parted, lying back on the bed with their heads turned to face each other.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" L asked, caught in the boy's charm.

"Hmm, yes, I do know that," Light grinned.

"Arrogant too," L smiled back.

"I like to call it confidence," he countered, sticking his tongue out childishly. L quickly leaned forward and gently caught the boy's tongue with his teeth. "Ou're a eanie," Light attempted through a caught tongue and laughter.

L pushed farther to bring them into another kiss. Light made a soft sound and gave in to it.

L pulled back and asked, "Am I still a meanie?"

Light scrunched up his face, "Yes, yes you are."

"I'm glad you agree: it's a good transition for me to ask you once more why you chose to wear this chain," he responded, wearing a falsely innocent smile.

"I thought you were supposed to be the best detective in the world?" Light avoided.

"I am."

"Arrogant too."

"But it is a fact," L responded, tilting his head.

"Aww, adorable, arrogant, and in denial," Light provoked.

L taunted back, "I knew that Light thought I was cute, but I didn't know he thought me adorable as well."

They fell back into a comfortable silence when Light refused to comment.

"Should you be embarrassed by the reason?" L asked, breaking that silence.

Light sighed; L was not going to let this go. "I was at the time," he answered honestly.

"But are you now?" he pushed.

" . . . I'm . . . not," he stated slowly, clearly lying. L raised an eyebrow and Light continued, "I mean, I'm embarrassed for you to know . . . I guess."

"Why?"

"Who's the detective again?"

L pouted at Light's remarks; he obviously wouldn't be asking so much if he already had figured it out. Maybe he could hack into the security footage? He immediately rejected that idea: if Watari had set that time frame to a password, then there was no way L would hack past it. Watari was amazing with security, it was a wonder he always refused to hack. He always declined, saying something about "pride" or "respect" or something silly like that.

He knew it had something to do with him and after he'd turned around to let Light undress. Light wouldn't have done anything to—

"'Wandering eyes,'" L mumbled, suddenly remembering the words Watari had used that fateful day.

Light visibly stilled.

'So that was important,' L thought to himself, still a bit confused. He now knew that the boy had had a sexual dream about him during the night before their handcuff was switched, but he recalled wearing a towel at the time, so there was nothing for Light to see.

" . . . Correct," Light affirmed, deciding to help L figure it out. It was more embarrassing to have the detective pondering over it than it was to have him just know it.

Probably.

Hopefully.

L tilted his head and repeated aloud, "But I was wearing a towel."

Light blushed for a moment before subduing the blood. He prompted, "So?"

"So there was nothing over which Light's eyes could wander."

"You sure?" 'I think I hate myself,' Light thought, questioning why he allowed himself to be tortured so.

"Of course I'm sure."

Light sighed and asked himself how someone so intelligent could always miss these key points. He finally gave in, "Well, you were topless and wet." 'Oh that sounded worse than it did in my head,' Light cried inwardly, both wishing that L could just read his mind and get it over with . . . and thanking whatever deity existed that L could not.

"That's it?" L asked.

'What do you mean "that's IT?!"' Light screamed at him in his mind, letting his eyes narrow in displeasure.

L thought back; it was true that they didn't really have or yet recognize their attraction for each other at the time . . . and it was true that, perhaps, that dream had been Light's first realization. Seeing L semi-naked and semi-vulnerable must have—

"—HA!"

Light's eyes narrowed further after hearing that laugh come from that pretty little mouth.

L laughed more. He couldn't help it! The laugh had just burst its way out. Light still hated how much he enjoyed that sound especially when he was the cause of it.

"L," he said sternly, though his glare had weakened.

"I-I'm sorry," L apologized, gaining control of his laughter, "I'm just imagining what must have been running through your mind!"

'Oh you really don't want to know,' Light admitted in his head.

"Oh man that's funny," L confessed as he wiped a tear from his eye. His stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

"It's not funny."

"Oh but it is funny."

"No."

"But yes."

Light rolled his eyes, "Well whatever, now you know."

"Light has desired me for quite some time," L teased, knowing there'd be two most possible outcomes:

1.) Light would hit him.

2.) Light—

—blushed a deep red and chuckled. He leaned forward and put his lips near L's and taunted, "You're goddamn right."

They made out once more before finally having enough.

When Light yawned, L told him, "Light may sleep, if he wishes; I'll still be here, of course."

Light smiled and nuzzled against L's neck, glad to be rid of the pain in his head and glad to be with the one he loved far too much.

When he fell asleep, L took a deep breath and waited the thirty minutes it would take for Light to be fully asleep. And though it didn't show, he was both nervous and excited to see if his theory was correct.

After roughly thirty minutes, the boy did in fact move: he lifted his head away from L's neck and opened his eyes to look straight into L's.

And those eyes?

Well . . .

. . . they were red.

"Hello, Kira."

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Woot woot. So, I was writing this chapter and was interrupted. When I came back after about an hour to the sentence I had started, I realized all I had written was: L

I was like, well fuck me, that doesn't remind me at all of what I had been planning to say.

This chapter had a bit more banter than I wanted and is a little fluffier than I originally intended, but meh. It shows the development I wanted.

Thank you for reading and (as always) please review! : D

Después de tanto tiempo, ¡todavía os amo! . . . espero que me améis también. Un millón de gracias por vuestra paciencia durante la espera.

和对不起,我不开始下一章。现在我开始!Seriously, I'm starting it right now!

~Aia~

p.s. Do you like Kira?

p.p.s Are you sure?