Jay's POV
The plane roared through the sky, the wings tilting slightly as the machine banked around a turn. Looking out the window, I watched the ground below us; the buildings seemed like tiny blocks and the people pinpricks of color. Soon, the scenery changed to a spectacular view of storm clouds from above. Flying effortlessly between the billowing pillars of water vapor, I breathed a sigh of contentment.
Well, at least I'm not in a duffel bag this time! Olivia thought at me from her seat. I laughed, meeting her gaze knowingly.
"Could you two please not talk telepathically?" Abo asked. "I feel like I'm missing out on the conversation."
"Oh…sorry. It's kind of a habit," Olivia apologized.
"Olivia just said that she was glad that she wasn't in a duffel bag this time," I revealed, straightening my glasses. Abo laughed.
"Me too," he smiled. "After all, I almost broke my elbow from the turbulence last time."
We were on our way to England in L's private jet, a sleek silver machine that looked like it was built for speed…and probably was. Olivia was ecstatic at the prospect of seeing Near again; she kept on bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement. Abo was also excited about returning to Whammy's House, especially since, this time, he would be able to interact with his characters. As for me, I felt slightly nervous. After all, this would be my first time seeing L's successors in the flesh.
The door to the cockpit slid open, Ryuzaki stepping into the compartment to join us. He crouched in his usual style on one of the seats, surveying us with a familiar stare.
"Olivia-chan…"
"Hm?" Olivia looked up, eyebrows raised.
"A few days ago, you claimed that you and Jay-chan were psychic, correct?"
"Um, yeah."
"Could you prove that to me now?"
Olivia and I glanced at each other.
"…Sure, I guess…" Olivia shrugged.
"What did you have in mind?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat. Abo scooted closer to the group, his curiosity peaked.
"I assume that you are all aware of the game of 'telephone,' right?"
Olivia and I nodded, just as Abo muttered, "No."
I gave Abo a strange look. "You don't?"
"Basically, you send a message around a circle of people, and see if the message is the same once it reaches the end," Olivia explained.
"In this case, I will give a message to Olivia-chan. Then, she will tell the message to Jay-chan telepathically. If the message Jay-chan gives me is the same as the message that I gave to Olivia-chan, then…" L trailed off, fixing me with his stare. "…I will have to believe their claim."
"Okay, sounds good," Olivia chirped. "What's the message?"
Wordlessly, L pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Olivia. Shrugging, she unfolded the paper, her eyes tracing the words inscribed there.
What does it say? I asked in my mind, conscious of L's stare.
Olivia repeated the message on the paper, trying to keep from smiling. I looked up at L in astonishment, my mouth dropping open.
"Seriously? You couldn't think of anything better than, 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers?'"
One of Ryuzaki's eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch. "It was off the top of my head."
"So you have nursery rhymes dancing through your head all day, is that what you're saying?" I let a grin slip onto my face, letting L know that I was joking.
Suddenly, Watari's voice came over the plane's intercom.
"May I have your attention please…we will be beginning our descent in a few short minutes. At this time, I must request that everyone be properly seated in their seats with their seatbelts on…thank you."
"Hang on a sec…We've only been in the air for about an hour," Olivia pointed out.
"And…your point is…?" L strapped a seat belt across his waist nonchalantly, facing towards the front of the plane.
"Um…Never mind…?" Olivia and I glanced at each other, expressions of disbelief on our faces.
Well…he is filthy rich…I think…?
Still, this can't be legal…can it? I wondered.
…Let's just go with it, for now.
Fine. I settled back into my seat, feeling the floor drop slowly beneath me and making my stomach twist.
As we landed in Great Brittan, a shiny black Rolls-Royce was waiting for us on the tarmac. Watari ushered us into the back of the vehicle as our luggage was loaded into the trunk. Olivia and I sat on either side of Ryuzaki while Abo graciously took the front passenger's seat. As we strapped our seatbelts on, Watari slid behind the wheel himself, slamming the driver's door shut behind him. At this point, Olivia was so excited that she was physically shaking, her hand jammed into one of her skirt pockets.
What's in there? I asked. Olivia immediately slid her hand onto her lap, fingers clenched around a small object.
No-thing…
Oh, come on. Now you have to tell me.
I…Well, it's…Olivia regretfully opened her hand a fraction, revealing something white. I squinted closer, a tiny blank puzzle piece coming into view. For a second, my mind didn't compute. Then my brain began making the connections.
Blank puzzle piece… Near…Olivia…Whammy's House … Pocket … Ohmygod!
What?
Near gave that to you, didn't he?
Well, yeah…
"Oh my gosh, he didn't!"
Wha-at?
That's just so adorable!
Oh, shut up…Olivia shook her head, rolling her eyes.
Well, it is!
Yes, I know, now drop it!
He gave you a 'piece' of his heart…awww…Next thing you know, you'll be calling him nicknames, like 'Little Bundle of Joy.'
God, Jay! Stop it; it wasn't like that…Even as she said it, her voice sounded uncertain, and a dark red blush spread across her face and down her neck.
Oh, yes it was, and don't you deny it!
And what about that strawberry that L gave you, hmm?
I glared at her. The circumstances are completely different.
No they aren't, not if you think about it.
I was about to give Olivia a reply when I spotted L staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look at him, my eyes narrowing when I noticed that he had a small smile on his face.
"Can I help you?"
"Oh…not at all. Please, continue with your conversation," L smirked.
"And how did you know that we were having a conversation?"
"Well, there was the fact that you said, 'oh my gosh, he didn't' a few minutes ago without any prior audible conversation. Also, you two have been making faces at each other for the past ten minutes, which, I must say, has been rather amusing to watch-"
"Oh, shut up," I laughed, whacking L on his forearm good-naturedly.
A few silent seconds passed.
"So, can I at least know the topic of this conversation-"
"No," Olivia and I chorused, deliberately turning our heads to the windows to hide our smiles. As my eyes took in the view outside, I leaned closer to the glass, my breath misting on the surface as I exhaled.
Beautiful rolling countryside extended for as far as I could see. Sheep littered the fields, grazing on the grasses and wildflowers. Ancient, sloppy stone walls surrounded the perimeter of the land, dividing farm field from grazing pasture. Occasional trees provided shelter for the various birds; as we passed under one, I could hear them chirping through the glass. The simple beauty of the place was amazing.
"Wow," I muttered under my breath, my eyes fixed on the scenery. I saw, rather than felt, the car turn onto a forest path, the fields suddenly switching from open fields to a sea of trees.
Jay, we're almost here, we're almost here! Olivia squealed in my head. Her excitement was contagious; I could feel the butterflies straining to be free in my stomach.
And then, we turned a corner, and Whammy's house came into view.
It was massive. It was the size of a large high school, but the style of architecture reminded me of a church more than anything else, with tall stone spires, a bell tower, and what looked like stained-glass windows in one part of the building. The building honestly looked like it wanted to be Hogwarts when it grew up. As the Rolls-Royce approached the wrought-iron gates in front of the orphanage, they swung open automatically, welcoming us inside. We drove slowly around the circular path, coming to a halt near the steps to the front entrance. A young woman and an older man stood side-by-side just outside the doors to greet us. I recognized the man immediately, although the woman didn't look familiar, with a plain face and mousy-brown hair.
Is that guy-
Yup! That's Rodger! And the girl's Lucy; I told you about her, right?
Um…No?
Oh…Well, I suppose you could say that she's the housekeeper-slash-babysitter for all the kids. But she's also a teacher and…well, she does a lot of stuff. But she's really nice; she helped me out a lot when I first got here.
Okay, got it…I think…
A sudden thought struck me. "Um, Ryuzaki…You know that Olivia's been here before, right?"
L slowly turned to look at me. "Of course," he shrugged, his voice impassive.
"Umm…You do?" I was pretty sure that I hadn't gotten around to telling L that fact yet.
"Is that a problem?"
"Oh, no. I was just going to tell you myself if you didn't know, that's all…"
Olivia opened her door, stepping out of the Rolls-Royce, a giant smile on her face.
"Hey, Lucy!" She called to the woman at the top of the stairs.
"Olivia?" Lucy sprinted down the stairs, pulling my best friend into a bear hug. "Oh my gosh, you came back! I always knew you'd come back! Oh, everyone is going to be thrilled!"
With a sigh, the rest of us got out of the car, breathing in the fresh air with some relief. Olivia and Lucy had finally broken apart, and were now chattering away like squirrels. I cleared my throat, catching Olivia's attention.
"Oh, sorry…Lucy, this is Jay, my best friend…" We shook hands, nodding politely at each other.
"And this is Abo, another friend…"
"A pleasure to meet you." Abo bowed his head as he shook Lucy's hand, his English tinged with a slight Japanese accent.
"Oh, and this is Rodger, everyone-"
The elderly man near the top of the stairs nodded, his face an expression of pure boredom.
"Well, should we go inside?" Lucy suggested, leading the way up the bulky stone steps. The front door of the orphanage creaked open, and we all stepped single-file into the building, anticipation building in my chest.
The entrance hall was cavernous, the domed ceiling stretching past the second floor. A large grand staircase faced us from across the room, the marble steps leading up to the second floor of the orphanage. Sitting on those stairs was a pair of boys, crouched over a Nintendo DS and obviously engrossed in the game. The boy playing the game had short, red hair, wore a striped shirt, and had a pair of goggles strapped across his head. The boy sitting next to him had longish, choppy blonde hair, wore black leather, and was chomping on a chocolate bar musingly as he watched his friend play.
"Mello! Matt!" Olivia rushed forward, throwing her hands around the two boys before they had a chance to look up.
"Gaaah! Olivia, I can't see!" Matt complained, flailing his arms wildly.
"What the hell…Olivia? You're back?"
Olivia finally released the two boys, stepping back a little to get a good look at them.
"Yeah, and you'll never guess where I've…been…" Olivia trailed off, her eyes squinting as she took a closer look at them. "What the heck happened to you two?"
"What?"
"Well, you've only grown about five years since I last saw you! Geez, you guys look like you're twenty! Are you on some kind of artificial growth hormone, or something?"
"Yeah, you got me, Olivia. I've got a whole stash of it under my bed," Mello sneered sarcastically, stepping down onto the main floor. As I looked at the two of them side by side, I had to admit that Olivia had a point. Even with only socks on his feet (black, of course), Mello towered over Olivia by about six inches. Actually, the Mello standing before me looked outwardly more like the person who had kidnapped Takada on his motorcycle, rather than the angry fourteen-year-old who had left the orphanage after L's death. However, the mischievous, insolent expression on his face convinced me that his personality was still more like the fourteen-year-old.
"Hey, L," Mello nodded at Ryuzaki.
"Mello," Ryuzaki nodded back.
"Well, who are these people?" Mello turned to Abo and me, eyes raking over our forms.
"This is Abo, and that's Jay. They're my friends from outside Whammy's House," Olivia supplied.
"Mello. Nice to meet you," he shrugged, stepping forward to shake our hands.
Just shook Mello's hand…Just shook Mello's hand…I forced myself to stop from acting like a complete fool, keeping my fangirl-ish squeal locked up inside.
"And that guy over there is Matt," Mello pointed.
"Yo." Matt raised a hand, not looking up from his screen. "Ha! Take that, Gyarados!" He shouted at the game, shaking the screen.
"So…Where's Near? Don't tell me that he's taking the same stuff that you guys have," Olivia grinned.
"Do you have to bring up that subject? I was having such a good day…okay, okay, fine," Mello held his hands in front of his chest as Olivia gave him a murderous stare.
"Well… here's the thing…" Mello began, his voice bored. "You see, ever since you left, Near's been acting kinda…odd. Well…" Mello grimaced, "Odder than usual, I mean. Whenever he puts together a puzzle, he always leaves one piece out. And, he's actually been acting nice lately, tutoring some of the younger kids and stuff…"
Mello's nose wrinkled in annoyance. "Oh, yeah. Plus, he's been drinking massive amounts of milk, which is really weird, because he used to hate the stuff. And, as you can imagine, that's had a major influence on his height; he's not such a little sheep anymore, if you get my meaning…"
Olivia's eyes had been growing steadily wider as Mello's speech progressed.
"Well, I have to see this…Do you know where he is?" She asked.
"No, and I don't really care, either. If you really wanna know that bad, go ask Matt; he knows where everyone is."
"Uh…I don't think that'll be necessary…" I motioned to the doorway behind Mello, where a figure clad in white had appeared, silently observing the scene. Olivia whirled around, her eyes bright as they focused on the boy standing there.
"Near?" She sprinted across the room, her arms outstretched. As Near saw her coming, his eyes widened in an expression of surprise and alarm.
"Neeeeaaaarrrr!" Olivia jumped off the floor, shooting towards Near in a full-out flying leap tackle. I winced, sure that this was going to end badly. Then, my eyebrows furrowed as Near actually reached out his hands…and caught Olivia just as she reached his chest.
"Whaaaa…." I stared at the two of them, embracing now, in disbelief. "Did he just…catch…?"
"I believe he did," L muttered to me, his tone just as surprised as mine.
"Like I said…" Mello snorted, walking back towards Matt, "he's not a little sheep anymore."
Author's Note: Yayz! Reunited at last! XD I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so don't forget to Review and tell me what you thought!
Oh, and P.S.- I really do have the most observant readers in the world! A whole bunch of you guys commented on how Olivia was calling Near the Rat by his real name in the headquarters…So, don't worry! I changed it…so stop freaking out, okay? ;)
