It's not like you didn't know that;
I said I loved you and I swear I still do.
And it must have been so bad;
'Cause livin' with me must've damn near killed you.
And this is how, you remind me
Of what I really am…
This is how, you remind me
Of what I really am…

Nickleback – "How You Remind Me"

Chapter 22: A Killer's Heart

Emi climbed the stairs to Light's room slowly, uncertain of what she was about to do. Drevan had left that morning for Daikoku Wharf, his instructions for her clear. But she wasn't sure if her resolve to follow them was as strong as it was originally. Drevan had told her the plan, and even if it was vague at the end, Emi had understood that Drevan intended to go through it wholeheartedly. But was it right…?

She stopped in front of Light's door, hesitating a moment before knocking quietly. He opened the door, looking down at her in confusion.

"Emi?"

"May I come in?" Emi asked, her eyes on the floor. Light moved aside, letting her step into the room, and she sighed. "Drevan is beginning a plan today that could seal our victory, and he wants me to bring you and L with me to meet him."

"He's left already?" Light asked, suspicious. "Where are we going, and why should we bring L?"

"You will see where we are going in due time. As for L, I don't know how long we'll be gone, and I didn't think you would want to leave him locked up with no food for that long." Emi lied easily. It was too easy, really. She wanted to tell Light the truth, but that would be the end of everything. Drevan's plan made sense, in the end.

Light nodded slowly. "All right. Shall I get L?"

"Yes. I'd like to leave as soon as possible." Emi replied. She turned and left the room, startled by how easy it had been to lie to the master of liars. She shook her head, sighing. Things were in motion, now, and she didn't think she would be able to stop them if she wanted to. All that remained was to watch and see what happened.

xXx

L looked up, surprised, as Light opened the door and stepped into what L had mockingly begun to call 'his room'.

"Light-kun knows that it is not lunchtime, correct? And he's already brought me my breakfast…" L said, more to himself than to Light. Silently he pondered Light's reason for coming to visit him, knowing that it would be nothing good.

Light walked over to the bed, unlocking the chain from the headboard and un-cuffing the other end from L's wrist. L stared at him in puzzlement, unsure where this was going. "Are you letting me go?"

"No. We're going out, and I don't know how long we'll be gone. You have to come with us." Light said quietly, not meeting L's eyes.

"Where are we going?" L asked.

"I don't know. Drevan says this could seal our victory. Wouldn't you like to be there to witness that?"

"I do not wish to see murderers win, Light-kun." L said sharply. Light raised an eyebrow.

"Are you coming?" he asked. "If you fight, I have normal length handcuffs. Or shackles, for your feet. Please don't make me use them."

L deliberated, then meekly followed Light from the room. His mind was whirring a mile a minute. What was Drevan planning at this unknown location? It had to be something Light didn't realize. L had easily picked up on the fact that Drevan hated that he was still alive. He felt the white notebook slide against his stomach and sighed. Did they wonder what had become of Taro? The boy still had his memories, but L assumed he would stay away.

Emi was waiting with a car out front, and L and Light climbed into the back without protest. She drove away from Drevan's house, heading back towards Tokyo.

xXx

L saw the moment that Light realized where they were going. His face went pale, and he mouthed something that L couldn't quite see.

"What is it, Light-kun?" he asked.

"Yellow Box…" Light murmured. "Daikoku Wharf's warehouses… He wanted us to come here? Does he know?" L remembered suddenly that Yellow Box was where Light had died, killed by the Shinigami Ryuk in front of Near, the SPK, and the entire task force. He himself had been there, ethereal and faint, but there. Obviously this place would have this kind of effect on Light.

Light looked frantically towards the front of the car, where Emi was driving. "Emi! Why are we here?"

"Drevan thought it was appropriate." Emi replied. "That Kira should win in the place where his downfall occurred." She pulled into a parking area outside of Yellow Box, getting out and opening the car door for L. Light got out on the other side, puzzled. L stared at Emi, trying to read her expression, but it remained elusively out of reach. She refused to meet either of their eyes, leading the way into the empty warehouse.

Daikoku Wharf had been abandoned for a long time. Dusty cobwebs hung from the ceiling, and the fans that had once circulated air throughout the room were rusted and broken. Light looked around as if in a dream, as though uncertain whether this was really happening.

Emi walked over to speak to a man L and Light hadn't noticed. She knew his name. Drevan had told her that morning, because through Shinigami eyes he could tell that this man was called Takuo Otoharada. They looked at each other warily for a moment, then the guy spoke.

"You're Emi?" he said roughly.

"Hai. Where's Drevan?"

"He's gone over to the other warehouse. He said you were to follow him when we're done here." Takuo said. He glanced at Light and L, and Emi nodded.

Light frowned in confusion as Emi took a step towards them both. "What's going on?" he asked, wary of the expression on her face.

Emi looked at the ground, then up, her eyes locking with Light's. "He cannot be allowed to live." she said. Light knew instantly that she was talking about L. He started to protest, but she cut him off. "He would betray us at the first opportunity. We would be forced to hold him prisoner forever. This has already been decided, Light."

"I didn't agree!" Light snapped.

"Drevan and I both knew that your opinion is biased. There isn't room for protest, Light. The only thing I can ask of you or L now is if we can know his name." Emi said. She waved her black notebook at him. "If we had his name, it could be painless."

L, his eyes wide, stared at Light. Light shook his head once, sharply. "No!"

"Then there is no other way." Light stared at her curiously, uncertain what she meant, and then gasped.

L's eyes were wide as the man standing beside Emi raised the gun. He didn't hear the shots, the pounding footsteps, Light's voice screaming his name, his real name. His world had shrunk to where the only things in it were him and the bullets currently speeding towards him. Suddenly, there was something between him and the shots, Light's arms wrapping tight around him and refusing to let go, forcing L down with him. L shuddered, his face buried against Light's shoulder, as the other forced himself up, breathing heavily.

"Light…" L breathed, confused but unable to stop clinging to the other. "What…?"

"I won't… lose you… again…" Light panted. He winced then, a small gasp of pain escaping his lips, and L's eyes widened. No, no he couldn't have…

"Light!" Blood was soaking through the back of the other boy's shirt, revealing the severity of his wounds. Light smiled, though it was pained. He hadn't been fast enough to get L away, so he had blocked the shots the only way he knew how.

"The way I see it…" he murmured, his eyes hazy, "I've already… been shot once… in a past life… So I can… handle it… again…"

L sat up, clinging to Light tightly. "You have to get to a hospital, Light…" One of Light's hands was curled up, holding on to L's shoulder as his head rested in the crook of L's arm, and L's memories shrieked irrationally that No, this wasn't right, it's supposed to be me dying in your arms…!

Light laughed. "You called me Light… No… honorific… You've never… done that outside… of France… before…" The laugh turned into a cough, and L was horrified to see him coughing up blood. He recovered, adding weakly, "Sorry, L…"

"Light!" L cried. Light smiled, summoning the strength to speak the words that both he and L had been avoiding since that long-ago day in their apartment, when something had changed between them.

"I love you…" he whispered. L buried his face into Light's hair, feeling tears threatening his eyes. In the end, Light had been stronger than Kira. All he had needed was something that mattered more. L mattered more.

"I love you too, Light." he said, tears slipping down his cheeks. Light reached to squeeze his hand, before his grip went limp and his eyes closed. L let out a strangled sob, as he clutched Light's hand tightly to himself.

Emi had written down the hit-man's name, as instructed, and he had fallen dead. But she stopped, staring at L and Light, unable to finish the second part of her instructions.

"Light cannot be trusted. Both he and L must die. We knew that this was inevitable. Emi, after you kill the man I hired, you must write down Light's name and kill him as well…"

Emi stared at L, who was still cradling Light's hand. She took a hesitant step forward and whispered, "He really loved you, didn't he?"

L turned, as if remembering that she was still there, and his eyes were so full of hate that Emi recoiled from them. He placed Light's hand carefully down, and stood up, yanking the white notebook from under his shirt. Emi gasped.

"You had it!" she whispered. "Shidoh is looking for Ryuk, to see where Taro went, but you have it…"

"Would you kill Taro too?" L said, his voice dead. "Drevan spares no mercy, does he? He intended Light and I both to die." His eyes blazed. "Where is he?"

Emi hesitated, but gasped suddenly as everything seemed to come to her at once. She pointed to the door at the far end of the warehouse. "Through there…" She looked up at L, who glanced from her to the door and back. "For the one you loved." Emi said. "It's what I would have wanted, if someone had killed Drevan."

L noted the past tense, but said nothing, turning and walking the length of the warehouse before disappearing through the door Emi had indicated. Emi stared at him until he vanished from sight, then looked around the room. Light's body lay near the middle of the room, and if she tried, she could imagine the SPK and the Japanese task force standing around watching Kira's defeat. But Light wasn't Kira anymore. Only the shadow of a memory. Closer to her lay the dead hit-man, his gun sitting where it had fallen from his hands as he died. She leaned over, picking it up, and stared at it for a long moment. She sighed almost inaudibly, looking back at Light again. In the end, love had won over Kira. Was that what it took? L was, very possibly, walking away to his death. With Shinigami eyes and a Death Note, Drevan had the advantage. Could she stand by and let this happen?

She wasn't sure anymore.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Rest in Peace, Light-kun. ToT

Sorry, people. This is how it had to be. Drevan is L's fight, and always has been. I'm sorry about Light. But this time around, it was for the right reasons. Kira was not the death of him this time.

The hit man is named after the first and second people Light killed in the book. This has no relevance to anything except my own bizarre sense of humor. :)

Next chapter, we will find out where Near and Taro have been, and the secret of Drevan's goals and past. I'll leave you with some more song lyrics. It might be a while, because I'm booked next weekend, but I'll see you next chapter.

OH! I'm putting up the bonus chapter I mentioned a chapter or two ago. You can get to it through my profile. (turns red, mumbles) Ehh... Something I've never written before, obviously...

Love,
Li

Like a gift from the heavens,
It was easy to tell…
It was love from above
That could save me from Hell…

He had fire in his soul;
It was easy to see
How the Devil himself
Could be pulled out of me…

"Into the Night" – Santana