A/N: Oh my god. You guys have no idea. I am SO SORRY I haven't been updating . . . High school is NOT the best years of my life. This chapter has actually been floating around my bedroom for the past few months, but I'm just now typing it. . . Now I know you've all probably moved on to bigger and better fanfics, but here's the next chapter anyway.

Chapter 15

Aurora's flight had been awful. Well . . . Okay, in truth, no. It hadn't. She had a window seat, sat in first class (courtesy of Roger,) sat next to a very nice, rich, elderly lady who would, from time to time, smile warmly at her and attempt a friendly chat about the fancy airline meal they had both enjoyed. At least, Aurora should have enjoyed it. However, the food had tasted like cardboard, and the beautiful landscape below seemed dull. Her mind kept replaying the previous night, (God, had it really been less than twenty four hours ago??) and she would visualize the look Matt must've had on his face after reading her petition. It was true; having too much time to think could be a bad thing.

When the plane landed, she picked up her carry-on bags and proceeded numbly off of the large craft. She went through all of the procedures almost robotically. Shoving through the large crowd of people, sometimes watching a joyous reunion between loved ones, waiting, interminably, for her luggage to appear on the conveyor belt. (Which, she was sure, had already passed by several times, but she just couldn't tell. Anyone who's ever traveled could tell you about that.) After retrieving all of the suitcases, Aurora began searching for someone holding a card with her name on it. Oh, she thought as she spotted an old man in a suit sporting a rather large card with "Sapphira" written on it, forgot that was my name. . . Boy, she really was out of it.

As she approached, the man smiled warmly and bowed, butler-esque. "Sapphira Eshethea, I presume?" Aurora nodded. If his name is Jeeves, I think I'll just about die. Ha-ha. Her humor was still intact. . . "My name is Watari," the man continued, "I'll be taking you to Ryuzaki."

She nodded again. Ryuzaki. . .Guess that's what I'm supposed to call L. Alright! Deductive reasoning slowly returning as well.

Watari led her outside to a sleek, black, Mercedes Benz. . . .Exactly HOW much money do these people have? I know he gets money from commissions, but this is ridiculous. She decided it would be best to keep such thoughts to herself.

When they were both seated, buckled in, and on their way, Watari spoke up again. "Roger's told me all about you. I'm sure you'll be quite an asset, Miss Eshethea." He smiled, handing her a badge. His demeanor reminded Aurora of a kind, wealthy grandfather, whom you only saw once in awhile, only because you felt obliged to visit.

She shook her head slightly. "Please," she said, "It's just Sapphira." Yes, she knew it was asinine to continue using her alias when she was going to meet L. Force of habit, she convinced herself.

The car ride went by relatively quickly, as she wasn't really thinking at all, just taking in the change of scenery. Only when they pulled into the hotel parking lot did she snap back into reality. "I'll send someone for your bags," Watari said.

"No," Aurora protested, "thank you, but I'd like to get them myself, if it's alright with you." Being waited on had gotten really old, really fast. Watari nodded, and, despite her numerous protests, helped her carry a few of her bags.

Once they reached the designated floor, Aurora's heart began to pound. She was about to meet L! Her hands had begun to sweat, and she grew disgusted with herself. She was acting like a stupid schoolgirl. Great. Yeah, I'm gonna sound real intelligent when I can't even form sentences. The door opened.

There, standing before her, was L. THE L. The world's greatest, most renowned detective. He hadn't needed to introduce himself, she could just tell. He was tall, lanky, skinny . . . Far too skinny. His eyes were dark, like Near's, and made her just as uncomfortable. Like he was trying to delve into her deepest, darkest secrets, simply by looking at her. And, for that moment, there was no doubt in her mind that he could. She squirmed under his gaze and shifted her eyes to the black mop on his head. Honestly, he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, complete with tousled hair and bags under his eyes. Then again, who was she to judge, running on only two hours sleep herself.

Aurora stepped into the suite and set her luggage down on the plush carpet. Finally, she gathered up the courage to speak. "My name's Sapphira Eshethea." She held out her hand for him to shake. He bit his thumb and stared at her outstretched hand for a moment before grabbing it. His skin was clammy, and his fingers were boney. "I've always admired your work," she said, trying to take her mind off of his limp handshake, "It's such an honor to meet you."

He put his thumb back onto his bottom lip and nodded slightly. "Mmm. . .Thank you," he mumbled as he made his way to the other end of the room, expecting them to follow.

"Please, don't think him rude," Watari whispered to her from behind. "His social skills are somewhat. . . Lacking." Aurora smiled an encouraging smile, hoping it showed that she hadn't found him offensive at all.

They followed the dark-haired detective to a room filled with the other members of the task force and. . . . Junk food? Our heroine had to do a double-take to make sure she wasn't just imagining things. Pretty much every food that would clog your arteries within minutes of swallowing it was there. She noticed no one was eating any. What's it all for? Aurora could barely finish her thought before L sat down (if it could even be properly classified as "sitting,") and shoved a few morsels into his mouth. . . .You're joking, right? She was instantly jealous of how he managed to stuff himself with insane amounts of sugar like this and still maintain his (girlish?) figure, even though she didn't really need to watch hers.

"This is . . . Sapphira Eshethea," L said between bites. "A respected colleague of mine thought she would be a valuable addition to the force." She noticed he hadn't been too specific. . . He licked his fingers, and Aurora reverted back to numbness at the mention of her previous home. Ryuzaki proceeded with introductions, but the girl hardly listened. She'd never been good with names, anyway. That was problem enough, but these names were strange and foreign to her. The only person who made any kind of impression on her was Matsuda. His eyes were warm and friendly. She figured he would probably be the only one to make an effort to make her feel at home. The others seemed like the "strictly-business" types, the ones who were never allowed to have any fun. So . . . Cold. Could she really handle this? No, she thought, I can't let myself think like that. I've come this far, after all. . .

Matsuda eyed her luggage that sat in the foyer, then looked to her eyes. "Hey . . . You look pretty tired. Want me to show you to your room?" Aurora, along with everyone else in the room, turned to look at the young man. "I-I mean, n-not that you look bad or anything! I just thought you might, well, you know, want to get some sleep. . ." His eyes widened like a deer in headlights and a slight blush crept across his face. "Ahhh . . . I don't mean that in a provocative way, either, but –"
"Matsuda!" She had to save him from himself. "That sounds like a good idea," she couldn't help but grin slightly before turning to L. "Assuming that's alright with you?"

The detective nodded and handed Aurora her room key. "Please," he took a sip of his coffee (more like "a sip of his coffee-flavored sugar cubes,") "can you be back here at seven tomorrow morning?" Since it sounded more like a command rather than a request, she nodded.

Aurora got up from her seat as her eyes met everyone else's. "Well," she attempted to sound as pleasant as she could, "it was nice meeting everyone!" She smiled, "I'm looking forward to working with you all." She regarded the chorus of mutual feelings from the men, and her stomach-butterflies returned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matsuda get up as well, obviously intending to help her with her bags. She smiled at him. Thank God for distractions.

A/N: So there you are, my lovelies. I need to rewatch some episodes of Death Note to see what should come next as far as Light and Misa go. Oh, and I hope I didn't make it seem like Matsuda and Aurora are going to get romantically involved. They're not. That would be a real hit below the belt, no?