Chapter 37
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note
The amusement park was huge. At first she had wondered why he bothered bring her here. After all, wasn't an amusement park for children? She was going to question him when he read her thoughts and gave her a lopsided smile. "You'll see." He had said.
And she did see. The rides were thrilling. This was what she should have been entitled to as a child, rides, not stimulations that could cost kill her. Riding safe, thrilling roller coasters as a child, enjoying the tense atmosphere in the Ferris wheel as a teen, laughing with her friends in the haunted house at each other's weak nerves should've been life. She was glad he was showing it to her now.
Not that the adventure had been without accidents. The paranoid side of her couldn't refuse checking for loose screws around the roller coaster, checking the lock functions on the Ferris wheel door and effectively destroying props in the haunted house earned them a few unwelcome stares, but L was able to efficiently patch up the damage with some money and well structured, unarguable sentences.
This ride however, is a new challenge entirely. It had began simply with a question.
"Hey Anna,"
"Yeah?"
"You still afraid of the water?"
"I don't think so, the Shinigami are done watching over my life."
"Then let's go."
She actually wasn't sure if she was still afraid of the water, but it was too late to turn back now. They stood in front of the gigantic door, the intimidating sign looming over them both.
Watermaze.
They had both changed into their swim suits- hers being a white two-piece and his black shorts- and were facing their challenge by the gate. The rules weren't too comforting either.
One: No compasses
Two: No additional equipment besides goggles
Three: No coming back the front door
Tip: You are about to lose all sense of direction, if you really can't do it, please scream loudly so one of our staff will give you a hint. Thus you will be able to continue your journey at the cost of your pride. There are ropes on the side for you to hold on to, but the water is deep the whole way through. Only certified swimmers or people sixteen years or older may enter.
Even if all that didn't even make her nervous, the fact that L was shirtless for the first time in front of her made her a little giddy. She tried to block out the all too feminine side, to no avail.
The waterway was lit by an eerie green light, which reflected off the water and bounced in 360 directions. "Let's get going." She breathed, and dove off the platform into the water, hearing L's splash just as she surfaced.
No fear- good.
"Stay close." L teased, treading water.
"Very funny." She replied, as they came to their first decision.
"Left or right?" Anna asked.
"One second." L took a deep breath, and dove, coming up with a small red flag, stationed four meters on the bottom of the maze. "Marker." He raised his eyebrows, and stuck it to the right side of the wall. "Let's go this way." He said.
They had no sooner turned the corner when something broke through the water's surface, coming straight at L's face. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, and raised his arm to block.
"You got bitten by a piranha." A machine laughed, "Haha, player 2, minus ten points. Current score: 0."
"Ouch." Anna laughed.
L shrugged and tossed the little rubber toy fish aside into a tube that brought it back to piranha central. "But my score is zero, and we've only just started. The fact it's not in the negatives means we have gained ten points by making the right turn, come on."
They swam forward, and Anna plucked another flag- this one with a thicker stem- from the side. They had only barely made a left turn when another piranha came flying their way, this time at Anna.
"Hiya!" she yelled, and chucked the flag at it, pinning it to the opposite wall before it had time to open its jaws and contact her. The little rubber fish was unusable.
L stared, "Destroying equipment, player 1 minus fifty points." He sighed, eyeing her with a playful glint in his eye.
"Proper use of given equipment. Player 1 add thirty points, current points, thirty." The machine beeped. "Please return both the flag and piranha to the service tube."
The detective's jaw nearly dropped.
"Wait, I should have forty points from making the right turn." Anna analyzed.
"This means that we just made a wrong turn that took off your points. We've got to go the other way." L smiled, "Good catch. The point system gives quite a few clues."
It was a long course. Soon they began to get tired, clinging on to the ropes instead of treading water the piranhas and other sea creatures also increased the rate and number in each of their ferocious attacks, and the intercom stopped reporting points somewhere along the middle. The last score it had given was when L nearly got pulled down by a giant squid, costing him fifty points.
It was an interesting maze; sometimes the waterway was so narrow only one person could squeeze through at a time, other times it required true trust in the partners. More than once, Anna cherished the feeling of clinging onto L's bareback- since he was the stronger swimmer- as he helped her across some currents. It was a challenging course they had set for themselves, choosing the expert level.
"Okay, so combining all the options, how many possible out comes are there?" Anna asked.
"Three to the power of three. Twenty-seven." L replied, "We've been through four."
"All of which turned us back here." Anna shivered. The water was sucking at her body temperature, and it's gone quite cold. L slid towards her on the rope, one are around her waist to keep her warm. "Thank you." She murmured, "There has to be a pattern."
"A pattern we have to know. We've seen it through out this entire maze." L continued. "Wait."
"Our most used turn that was correct was right…followed by straight, then left." Anna counted on her fingers.
"The fishes also came from right, straight, left in that order, over and over again."
They smiled, "Let's get going."
The eerie green light faded as they swam through the last of the watermaze, until there was a tunnel that was completely submerged by water. "I guess we swim through." L whispered.
"But we can't see light on the other end, we could potentially drown." Anna stated, "I know I sound paranoid but…I still think we shouldn't."
L smirked, "Well I'm going." He dove under the water and disappeared into the darkness.
"Wait!" Anna sighed, but what choice did she have? Taking in a deep breath, she dove under, swimming into the tunnel.
It really did seem to go on forever, and Anna's heart thumped with tension. But at last her head broke the water's surface and she gulped down the air greedily, all the while looking for L's familiar face. The detective was nowhere to be found, and Anna frowned. Hadn't L bothered to wait for her? For in front of her was the gate, exit to the Watermaze, and she saw with a grin that player 1, herself, came up with 200 points, and L had 190. Close call, but she had won, though it was pointless to gloat over her victory when he's not here.
Might as well get out of here first, Anna thought, not welcoming the idea of anymore incoming threats from this bizarre maze.
She changed back into her normal clothes quickly, glancing worriedly at her watch as she put it on. "5:30am." She muttered to herself, "not long till sunrise." she felt a icy claw squeeze at her heart and bit her lip, "Not yet." She muttered, knowing the Shinigami were watching, "I have until sunrise you idiots."
She dried her hair as best she could, pulled it in a hasty ponytail, and walked outside, but what she saw there surprised her. "Matt! Mello! Near! Misa!" she exclaimed, running up to them.
"I called them." L said, "I thought maybe you'd like to see them."
He didn't say "to say your goodbyes." Anna thought with a laugh, but ran up to her old friends anyway. "Hey Matt." She smiled, "Thank you for everything."
"L told us." Matt stepped forward and gave her a hug, "I'll miss you."
"Don't think on it for too long." Anna hugged him back, "Will do me a favor?"
"Yeah?"
"Look after Amane Misa for me."
"Sure." Matt said, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
Anna grinned, and kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks Matt."
"No problem." The bronze haired boy winked, he took Misa's hand and smiled at the fearful blonde girl. He didn't blame for being scared, she was the second Kira and standing with the world's top detectives.
"Misa, will you keep the Death Note?" Anna asked.
"It's not the power of the notebook I wish to keep, but my memories." She replied.
"Keep it." Anna said, "I trust you."
Misa stepped forward and hugged her, "I'm sorry for everything I did."
"Thank you for coming to Britain and risking your life to help me, Anna." Near looked up at her, and Anna smiled, seeing that the boy had the same haunting eyes as L did. "I apologize for what happened in the end, it was bad planning on my part."
Anna shook her head, "You did great." She hugged Near, "I'm sorry I won't be able to work with you in the near future."
Near closed his eyes and hugged her back, "I can see what L love so much about you."
Anna stepped back, "Mello."
"Yeah." Mello replied, the atmosphere was awkward in a second. "I…I'm sorry." He scratched the back of his head, for once unsure of what to say. "It was great-" he hesitated. It wasn't really great working with her…they fought a ton, what should he say? "It was great that L found you." He said in the end, offering her his hand to shake.
"Yeah, it was." Anna laughed, relieved of the awkward silence. She shook his hand.
"Okay, let's hug." Mello sighed, and she laughed as he pulled her in for a hug.
L rolled his eyes and sighed. Indecisive successors…
Anna fell back into step beside him.
"All done?" he asked
"Yup." She replied.
"You missed one." A voice called, and a dark figure silently walked out of the shadows, his face becoming visible under a street light.
"James!" Anna smiled. L nodded, and she walked briskly up to him and hugged him tightly, "Thanks."
"No, thank you." James replied, "Guess what? I have a heart."
Anna grinned, "Then I've done my part."
"Thanks for coming." L said last of all.
They nodded, and one by one left, James giving her one last lingering look and a small smile. "Anna." L whispered, and she turned to follow him. "I hoped we'd have more time than… this. Years, decades…I never imagined it'd be hours."
She stayed silent, not knowing what to say. L sighed, and she followed him to a different section of the park, there was a steep hill but nothing else very interesting. As they walked to the top of the hill though, she understood. The park was on the very outskirts of the city, and the hill overlooked endless grassy fields. It was a place to watch the sunset…or sunrise.
Anna took a deep breath and sat down. L crouched beside her, and she set herself comfortably against his shoulder.
"I am sorry." L said, "You know I can't-"
"Yeah." Anna replied, "You can't let a dangerous criminal like Yagami Light live. It doesn't matter, either way, it's my time."
"I'll miss you." L sighed.
"I'll be back." Anna replied, "I should tell you. The deal I made with the Shinigami King."
"Your price?"
"Yes. My price, to serve him as a Shinigami for all of eternity, that's it." Anna said, "But I won't let it be that way. I have attachments here on earth, so I probably will never become a full Shinigami. It's very complicated, but there's a chance I'll be able to talk my way out of it."
"And if you can't?"
"It'll be a sad existence for us. I'll be stuck in Hell, and you'll be up in Heaven. When push comes to shove, we may even have to fight each other since the Shinigami King is waging some sort of war." Anna's tone toughened, "I won't let it come to that."
"Neither will I." he promised.
She looked up at him with a smile, and he looked at her with his haunting black eyes. Anna let out a sigh, and reached up, clasping her hand around his neck. L complied, and leaned down to kiss her.
The kiss began much the same way as the others did, their lips moving in synch with each other. Gently, but harbored with the intense feelings they had for each other. Then it began to feel different, and Anna opened her eyes when she felt him enclose her lower lip in his lips.
L's eyes were open again, waiting to see what her reaction would be. She knew he could feel her grinning, and parted her lips. Suddenly she felt heat burning from the top of her scalp down to her toes at their new connection. Her arms wrapped around his neck, his fingers tangled in her hair, enclosed in the darkness that surrounded them.
L felt her hands suddenly tighten as a ray of light pierced his eyelids. He slid his hand through her hair and supported her back, pressing her tightly against himself, holding her like she held him. Anna felt her heart stop, and she buried her face in his shoulder, all her body longing for air. Then she relaxed, there was no point in fighting, she let her muscles fall limp. There's was too much to say for the little time she had, so she didn't try to speak much either. She casually eased up to his ear, "I left something for you in my room."
She felt him nod, and grinned. More light pierced the sky, turning the clouds into a bloody, bloody red.
L held her limp body in his arms, "Come back, I know you will." He said, not knowing if she could hear.
Then Ryuk's form erupted from the sky, his shadow falling over both of them like a cloud. "I'm here for the girl." The Shinigami said, only for once, there was no smile on his face, only dead seriousness.
"I know." L replied.
The Shinigami floated closer, and then extended a hand that went straight through the limp body. When Ryuk pulled it back, Anna's shimmering soul emerged; she rubbed her eyes, and looked back at L with a sad smile.
"I'll need her body too." Ryuk said, "For her transformation, you know."
The detective hesitated, but stood up, carrying the body, and offered it to the Shinigami.
His expression still containing none of its usual humor, Ryuk extended a hand towards a sky, and a black gate appeared out of thin air. "Any last words?"
"Destroy the Death Note." Anna said hastily, "You were reborn with the memories when you were brought back to the Shinigami Realm, so you'll still remember everything. Also…L, life does go on, and time flows. If ever…you don't want me to come back, if you're happy with your life and move on, just say so, I'll be watching."
"I would always want you back." L said with a touch of anger in his voice.
The shimmering soul smiled, "Fate will deliver the message." Then she turned and nodded to the Shinigami, and Ryuk hauled the body and soul through Hell's Gate.
L turned around, and hurried back to his house.
She left something for me…
Author's Note: What to say...I spent a long time planning this out, the setting for her death was really hard, i didn't know where to put them or how to describe the scenery. Use ur imaginations! The last chapter is really short, but i wanted to save it. I'm starting to gather some ideas to jot down for the uh, second story, which i have yet to name. So give me suggestions!
I'm not sure how i wrote this chapter...it's weird...oh well, give me ur response by reviewing!
PS: readers that want pictures, any email u give me on a PM or review will not show up, so make sure u have it on a profile or put spaces between the letters or something. thanks