Shuichi ran his hand down Adila's bare back smiling when she shivered and writhed beneath the delicate touch that tickled her skin. He had just made love to her, and it was time for him to leave. Over the last two months they had become lovers and friends again. When this was over, he planned to make her more. He leaned down to kiss her shoulder, smiling softly when she sighed with contentment.

Adila rolled over to look at the man she loved. Holding her arms out to him, she returned his easy smile when he pulled her to a sitting position so he could take her into his arms. For the first time in her life she had experienced what it was like to be loved; not owned or worshipped or used, but loved. Her lips sought his for a comforting kiss and yet another reminder of the strong feelings they held for each other. So far she had not returned the sentiment in words when he declared his love for her, but she knew she did, without a doubt, love him.

For the last two months, Adila had worked closely with Gevanni to follow Teru. Disappointingly, although not surprisingly, Teru had not shed a tear or been upset in the least when he learned of his long time girlfriend's death. Relief seemed to be the main emotion he experienced; probably because he would have no more distractions to divert him from his adoration and worship of Kira. She had become a stumbling block and a nuisance to him so with her out of the way he was free to devote more of his time and attention to his god which he did with a renewed vigor. It was frightening to her to watch from the outside just how obsessive and consuming his kind of love could be. No wonder her family had disliked the man the second time around; they had seen what she could not. Now that she had seen him as they did, it scared her and she understood her family's opinion of him.

Tomorrow would be the defining moment of this whole case. Near and Light had set up a face to face meeting at an old warehouse to bring this thing to an end. Needless to say, everyone was antsy and on edge for the meeting. The anxiety was on the level of people that were locked in the room with a ticking time bomb and watching the counter dwindling down. Near wanted to disarm it and Light wanted to blow everyone sky high; who would win in the end?

"Are you afraid?" Adila asked, kissing his cheek and holding onto him. She was not ready for him to leave her.

"Yes," Shuichi answered honestly, squeezing her gently. He needed to leave. He had taken a huge chance coming here with the big meeting looming in the not so distant future.

"I love you," she said, receiving a gaping stare from him in return. She felt offended that he was so shocked by her announcement. "Is it really that startling?"

"To hear it from you, yes," he rejoined, chuckling lightly.

"I wanted to say it. I needed you to know, in case…in case…" her words faltered and she was unable to finish the sentence.

"We'll be fine. I trust Near. He switched the notebook so we certainly won't die like that," he murmured, kissing her forehead.

'No, but there's so many other ways to die. A gun, a knife, being choked…' her mind reminded her. Closing her eyes, she forced the thoughts out of her head.

"How will we ever have a normal life after this?" she asked, looking into his warm brown eyes that were swimming with numerous emotions.

"I don't know. We'll find out together. Adila, will you – " He could not complete the question when her fingers pressed against his lips.

"Ask me when it's over," she said, holding his ardent gaze. "But the answer is yes."

~\0/~

Adila stood beside her Uncle Tony holding his hand as they waited for Light and his team to arrive. She could feel her whole body shaking so profoundly it felt as if she were experiencing an earthquake from the inside out. Her eyes flitted around the dim, dirty, expansive building. There were a million places to hide in here. What had Near been thinking? She wanted to kick him in his little keister because he was sitting there so calmly in his weird half crouch.

The kid had shown what a vindictive sense of humor he has by wearing an L mask to taunt Light even further. He wanted to remind the infamous Kira one more time about the man who almost brought him down before he revealed the one who would succeed in defeating him.

The huge rusty door groaned in objection as someone pushed against it to slide it along its ancient track to open it up. With each inch it opened, the hearts of the people in the room beat faster, some with anticipation, others with blatant terror.

Adila's heart was one of the latter. She bit her lip when Shuichi entered the room among the other officers. He stood next to Light while the others took their positions. Where was Teru? When would he show up? Knowing him, he would be skulking around on the fringes somewhere like a stalker. She dreaded his entrance the most. Her fingers tightened around her Uncle's hand, and he pulled her behind him protectively to shield her from Light's questioning perusal. She was able to completely disappear behind her Uncle as he became a human barricade to hide her. She wanted to see Shuichi, but she was more afraid of losing control of her emotions by seeing Light. Her fingers twisted into the material of her Uncle's suit jacket while she pressed her forehead against his wide strong back that was ramrod straight. She could feel the tension, but she could also feel the strength and tenacity which helped fortify her own steadfastness. Ignoring the strained banter between Near and Light, she listened for any signs of Teru. Within minutes there was a light rustling at the door like a rat skittering around and a large body definitely not that of a rat passed the crack in the door to cast a shadow across the floor.

"Near, he's here," Adila blurted, stepping from behind Anthony Rester.

All of the men in the room turned their attention to her. Adila briefly met the emotionless brown eyes of Light Yagami with her alarm filled golden green ones. Her body shuddered as his handsome face twisted into an expression of sinister glee. He thought he had them right where he wanted them.

"I know your disciple, Teru Mikami, is right outside that door. Go ahead. Give him the order and see what happens," Near provoked the man who was building to a villainous cackle.

"Mikami! Write their names down! Kill them all!" Light commanded him. "He knows who all of you are. He made a deal with the Shinigami to see what they see. He knows your real names. He knows your life spans which alas is about to be cut short. I win. I WIN!"

Adila stumbled backwards when her knees weakened. She found herself in the arms of Agent Gevanni who held her while keeping a gun trained on the still laughing psychotic maniac known as Kira. Near was saying something, but she could not hear what because her heart was pounding too loudly in her ears. Somehow that ominous chuckle of Teru's was able to make it through the noise deafening her to bounce around inside her skull like a phantom. She wanted to scream. Covering her ears, she dropped to her knees when the first shot rang out with ear-piercing volume, resounding through the empty building. She was not sure who fired their gun or why, but several more shots exploded in response causing her to lose control. She panicked and ran for the door where Mikami awaited her but in her terrified flight she had forgotten that fact.

"Adila, no!" Shuichi yelled at her, unable to grab her as she ran by.

Adila screamed when she ran right into Teru's open arms. She felt them come around her to trap her, making her shriek and basically go berserk in her rattled condition. She howled and kicked, pounding his chest with her fists.

"It's a miracle! You've come back to me!" he shouted, tightening his embrace until she had no choice but to stop moving because she could no longer breathe.

"I didn't come back to you. I hate you. I left you on purpose because I wanted to. I went to Near. He's been harboring me and taking care of me. Protecting me from you, you damn freak," she panted, struggling for air.

"Treacherous bitch!" he growled, grabbing her by the neck. He turned her around, pulling her back against his chest.

Adila choked and pulled at his fingers as they dug into her neck crushing her windpipe.

"God," Teru gasped in horror when he saw Light laying on the floor in a pool of blood.

"Why aren't they dead you bastard? I gave you one last, simple order and you could not carry it out! I'm disappointed in you," Light snarled at Mikami, glaring at him with unbridled rage. "You're worthless. You're nothing to me!"

"My god, I-I-" he stuttered, emotion preventing him saying anything else. His god had betrayed him as well. He was unable to contain the sob that erupted from his throat.

Adila probably would have vomited from both of their pathetic displays of emotion had he not been strangling her. She could feel his body heaving against hers as his tears started.

"It's your fault I failed my god," Teru muttered in her ear, squeezing harder. "It's all your fault!"

Adila was unable to scream from his fingers constricting her throat. Her lungs burned from the lack of air. Black spots flashed in her vision and things were growing fuzzy. So this was how it ends. He was going to kill her, and she would be his in the end after all. Fate was a real bitch and cruel as hell.

"Let her go!" Anthony Rester yelled, training his gun on Mikami while the others held their guns on Light.

Two psychos are in room so which should be killed first? It was like a horrible joke but the answer was clear. One would kill the crazy man about to choke the woman to death. Anthony tried to get a clear shot but was unable to because Mikami had ducked behind his niece using her as a safeguard while he slowly choked the life out of her. Damn. He was about to do something he would never forgive himself for and he knew his brother would not understand. If he did not do something, she would be dead anyway. Taking aim at her shoulder that was in line with Mikami's heart, he pulled the trigger.

Adila was unable to scream as the burning pain tore through her shoulder almost making her lose consciousness since she was close to it anyway. She felt herself falling but there was nothing she could do to stop from crumpling into a gasping, coughing heap on the floor.

Light took this as his opportunity to try to make an escape. Making a dash for the door, he was stopped immediately in his tracks when a single shot echoed through the air ominously. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide with disbelief, and his mouth dropping open.

Adila watched helplessly as the man staggered toward her, a small hole appearing in his forehead from the bullet through his brain that had been shot into the back of his skull. Her mouth opened in a silent scream when blood trickled from the hole and down his nose as he dropped to his knees in front of her. She was pulled out of the way roughly by her ankles before he fell forward on top of her. Her head was pulled into the chest of the man kneeling in front of her to block her from seeing the dead man. Unfortunately, she heard Light's head hit the cement with a revolting and soggy sounding smack. Looking up, she saw the face of the one man who had truly loved her all along.

"I've got you. I'll never let you go," Shuichi assured her, rocking her gently to comfort her.

"Is Teru…is he…" She hissed as the searing pain erupted within her shoulder like fire burning through her muscle tissue. She had already forgotten she had been shot but her body was quick to remind her.

"Yes, he's dead," her Uncle answered, kneeling on the other side of her. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I had to take the shot. I'm sorry."

"It was my fault really. You did what you had to do. I'm sorry I lost it there at the end. I tried to be brave. I wanted to be strong, but I –" The tears kept her from completing her sentence. She sobbed noisily and violently but was not sure why. Maybe it was just…everything. It was over. It was finally over.

~\..'../~

Epilogue

Adila was sitting on the back porch of her home that had been built on several acres of her parent's land. Closing her eyes to luxuriate in the warm breeze blowing across her face, she inhaled the pine scented air deeply. Home. What a wonderful place to be. She rubbed her six months pregnant belly, smiling when the baby kicked her. She was waiting for her husband to come home from work at the FBI Field Office in the city of San Antonio.

Shuichi had been excited about the prospect of starting a whole new life with her far from where hell on earth had broken loose. The FBI had been thrilled to hire him after his work on the Kira case and the shining endorsement given by her Uncle helped tremendously. It was a true fresh start for the both of them, far from the constant reminders of a painful past in Japan. The past had followed them to Texas at first. The memories had afflicted them in the form of nightmares despite being far removed from the location. Thankfully after a year, the bad dreams tapered off, coming less frequently with the passage of time. Now, they only occurred on a very rare and unwelcome occasion.

Two years had passed in all since the incident that ended the whole Kira tragedy. They had gotten married and Adila must have gotten pregnant on the honeymoon because six weeks after their extended vacation in Hawaii they discovered the good news that she was with child. They came to a common agreement that she would stay home to be a wife and mother. For once in her life, she was rather fond of that idea and did not mind taking a more traditional and old fashioned approach to their relationship.

Hearing his car coming up the driveway, Adila bounded down the steps of the porch to run through the grass in her bare feet to reach the front yard. She met Shuichi at the car, literally throwing herself at him to give him a kiss. The force of her happy greeting sent the poor man falling back against the car with a grunt while he held firmly to something in his hands. A yap and something warm and very wiggly between them caught her attention. Backing away, she saw that he was holding the cutest little brown, black, and white puppy in his hands. The little dog looked like a Beagle. A Beagle? Apparently he has no idea how much noise those things make or how awful their baying barks sound. She was about to order him to take it back where he got it from when he held the cute little thing out to her and it licked her face before latching it's sad brown eyes onto hers.

"Dammit," she muttered, taking the squirming, yipping bundle of fur from him. She scratched him behind his long brown ears and kissed his head. She was a goner and she knew it when she looked into the puppy's big brown eyes. Peering at her husband, she smiled because she had a weakness for brown eyes evidently.

"An early present for the baby. A kid had them in a box out in front of the grocery store and was giving them away. I couldn't resist," he explained with a shrug, grabbing the grocery bags out of the car.

"I suppose it's my fault as well because I asked you to stop by the grocery store?" she asked, holding the puppy like a baby in her arms.

"Of course," Shuichi returned with a boyish grin on his face. He knew she had a soft spot for that impish smile too.

Adila went to the linen closet to retrieve a blanket for her new furry friend while Shuichi went to the kitchen. She made a makeshift bed for their new resident in the corner by the stove where it stayed nice and warm. After getting him settled into his place, she went to the sink to wash her hands as her husband laid out all the food to prepare dinner.

"Adila, are you happy?" Shuichi questioned her.

"More so than I ever thought I could be," she answered, glancing at the puppy who was already asleep on the thick, fluffy blanket in the corner. She was about as content and comfortable with her new life as that little dog was with his.

"Me too," he said, stopping his preparations to turn to her. Drawing her into his arms, he gave her a kiss that made her want to dump everything off the counter so he could take her right there. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The End!