CHAPTER TWELVE

Past and Present

Thirteen years ago

Rainy days were the typical weather of England, so it was obvious that the most definable memory of that day was filled with grey skies and snow falling in gentle, huge amounts. But, of course, that wasn't the biggest standout. A five year old girl looked out the window and grinned, feeling the bite of frost on her face and fingertips. She heard the distant sound of children playing inside around the fireplace, all proving their greatness through games and competitions with each other.

But there was still a distinct group of kids all alone in their separate corners, lost in their own complexity that were their minds. Elaine was not one of them. She was simply waiting eagerly for the grandfatherly man to take her out into town. She was too excited to even notice the chill in the air inside the stone rooms, or be annoyed by the sound of the bell being clocked by the wind. There was only one sound she was waiting for, and it was the sound of iron gates creaking as it opened.

And when it came, Elaine shot up and ran out of the room with a squeal. A boy her age, with large green eyes looked at her curiously. "Wait, Lexi!" She stopped, her chubby palms against the door as she tilted her head.

"What's wrong, A?" she asked but she was distracted as she looked out the window. The black car was slowly stopping in front of the entrance and she wanted to meet Watari right at the door so they could make it to London without any haste. The boy grabbed her hand. "What are you doing - you don't want to go out there."

"What do you mean?" She frowned, pouting. Her light gray eyes held the look of a child who demanded to understand the world. She didn't like feeling left out of any information. Being in the orphanage all her life, she knew most of the other children in the building and it gave her some credibility and knowledge of what went on.

"Haven't you heard?" He raised his eyebrow and let go of her wrist, but his eyes still retained a slightly overwhelmed look. She exhaled over dramatically and shook her head. "Sir is coming back with a new orphan."

"So?"

He stared at her but Elaine's– or rather Lexi's face was clueless. They all had their aliases established as soon as Watari picked them up and introduced them into the Wammy's House. "He'll be busy, that's all."

Her irritation softened and she sighed. She took the nervous boy's hands. "Well we'll see about that!" A smile brightened up her face as she let go of him and ran off again to the entrance of the gothic style building. She didn't bother putting on a jacket or scarf, too excited to finally get out. When she got to the entrance, the familiar old man's back was facing her as he helped someone out of the car. She restrained herself, entwining her fingers together behind her back. She felt her hair brush against her bare arm as she leaned over and tippy-toed to see the person behind Quilish Wammy – a boy. A boy with messy dark hair and wide, black eyes.

xxx-xx-xxx

"Mm," the young lady groaned as she wrestled the blanket and threw her leg over it. She arched her back and yawned, rubbing her eyes and trying to ignore the two voices.

"Just wake her up."

"She hasn't slept for a while. Maybe we should just let her rest for a bit."

A sigh. "You're just afraid of touching her."

Splutter. "Ry-Ryuzaki, that's not it! Come on." A chain dangled and Elaine squeezed her eyes shut, rolling over to press her face against the warmth of the pillow. Half awake, she listened to the sound of people walking become more and more distant.

xxx-xx-xxx

Twelve years ago…

"Come on, L! You need to get out of that place anyway!" Elaine giggled as she tugged the boy's arm. He groaned, rolling his eyes and resisted her. She was six years old, her long, dark hair tied up hastily in a pony tail and she wore the typical sport ensemble. Behind her was a nine year old boy wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. His eyes looked incredibly wide with no shadows beneath them but a hint of worn out lines hinted at his growing unhealthy habits. "You need exercise."

"And you need to stop that," he muttered disinterestedly but allowed her to pull him towards the tennis court anyway. She grinned and ran to retrieve the tennis rackets. She handed one to him and he took it curiously before looking back at her. This was the girl who immediately tried to get him to interact with the entire population at the Wammy's House. She was the girl who non-stopped tried to befriend him, the only person who didn't filter their honest thoughts on this strange child. "So what you do is –"

"I'm well aware of how to hit a ball with a racket, Lexi."

Her face dropped a bit, eyes wide. "Okay."

When he looked back at the girl in front of him, who looked like she forgot how to breathe, he sighed with defeat. "So, how do you play?"

And exactly as he predicted, her face lit up with excitement once again.

xxx-xx-xxx

"Emiko."

Nudge.

"Emi, wake up."

"Mmmm."

A sigh. "It's been fifteen hours. Wake up and eat breakfast."

"Let it go, Ryuzaki. Emiko needs –"

"Shouldn't you be somewhere, Light? Perhaps with Misa –" He stopped and the chain rattled once again. "Ah, right, slipped my mind." She felt a cool hand brush over her forehead and flick away her hair from her face. And then the sounds of steps, steps away.

xxx-xx-xxx

Eleven years ago…

In the room highest in the Orphanage, the sky was pitch black and a cool air wafted from the window. The two children heard the comforting sounds of crickets and wildlife as they lit up a candle. Immediately the dark room lit up with a constant quiver of a hazy flame. Elaine pulled a blanket over her shoulders and threw the other end towards L. A smile played on her mouth. "Are you ready?"

He stared. This was strange. He was in a room. Alone. With a girl. Even at his young age, he knew that this was inappropriate but almost two year with her got him to agree to their little meeting. "For what…" He let his question drift in the silence between them. She looked nervous and fidgety and excitedly all at once.

"For the secret!"

"Secret?" he repeated. What secret could she have that would be worth all this work?

"Mhm!" She nodded and inched closer towards him. He leaned back not so subtly but she ignored this. "I can trust you, right?"

"I don't see why not, Lexi," he said slowly and she winced. Her mouth twitched and her facial expression darkened. She squirmed around in her seat and readjusted the blanket around them.

"That's sort of it," she said softly, "Lexi."

"That's not my name." He simply stated. She gave him an exasperated look.

"Well, obviously not. And…it's not mine either." She looked scorned. Her eyebrows knit together and he simply watched her, waiting. She breathed in deeply. They all knew that each child here had aliases and it was an accepted fact. Still, she thought that their friendship extended further than identity. After all, it wasn't like he was going to scream to the world her real name, right? How could that affect her future anyway? "My name is Elaine," she whispered, her eyes wide and hesitant. She watched him carefully for his reaction but his face didn't change.

He simply looked curious. "Elaine," he said, testing out her name. He liked it. "Ellie."

She beamed.

"Hi." She giggled.

"Ellie," he said again and leaned back against the wall. He looked up at the high ceiling and then out the window where a white moon was well above them. They didn't talk. They just sat with their backs against the wall and the quilt around them, shoulder to shoulder. And just when Elaine thought that would be that, she felt her eyelids become heavy and she welcomed sleep with a smile.

And then his soft voice filled the silence.

"You can call me Lawliet."

xxx-xx-xxx

"Oh for God's sake she's been asleep for seventeen hours." Someone groaned and she squeezed her eyes shut, hugging the pillow closer to her. Suddenly, coldness flashed over her body as someone pulled out the blanket from her. She shouted, convulsing ragingly. "No, stop!" She pleaded in a desperate attempt to retreat back into the warmth. She pulled her eyelids apart and ended up staring at a familiar, sleep deprived man. "Do you wish for death, Ryuzaki? Do you wish for me to end you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, up you go." He held out a hand and dragged her up.

Since threats didn't work, she resorted into guilt. "Why would you do this to me, Ryuzaki, why would you bring me this pain?" She moaned as she rubbed her eyes. He acknowledged her complaining with a flick of his wrist, but didn't give in. Thankfully it was dark enough outside that it didn't burn her eyes and her room was nice and quiet with the exception of the deep voices of L and Light.

"We're glad that you've rested though," Light added. L rolled his eyes again.

"Yes, we are ecstatic. It was starting to look like you were in a coma."

"Shut up." She mumbled. She felt hot now, unbelievably hot and for the first time, L glanced back at her with something more than a casual look. Light frowned as well, his eyebrows knitting together and faster than L could, he leaned in towards the dark haired girl to place a cool hand on her forehead.

"You seemed flush," he said, "maybe we should call a doctor."

Flushed? For whatever reason, they both looked at L for confirmation – or perhaps even permission – but he simply shook his head before not so subtly brushing Light aside so that he was crouched up on Elaine's bed. He leaned in close to her – too close, their faces a breath apart – and his eyes scanned down her face. She saw him, and only him. A clear, pale face stained by dark shadows beneath moving black eyes. His colouring all hinted at his partial Japanese heritage, but that defined jawline and angle of his nose was evident of his English, Russian and French background - and she was so close to him if she just leaned in -

"Ryuzaki," Light said slowly, "what are you doing?"

Elaine didn't react, and neither did her childhood friend. But knowing that Light would perhaps nag at him later, he muttered, "Well considering the fact that I hold doctorate in Sciences and several other fields, a physician isn't really necessary."

"How am I, Doc?" she asked then, a smile on her too-red face. His mouth twitched at a frown.

"You're stressed," he declared. "Go eat fruits, no cake."

The way her face dropped was on the borderline of comedic. "What?" she whispered. "But it's almost breakfast!" Breakfast was essentially the meal with the most sugar: what with pancakes, syrups and toppings. L knew this well too. At the Wammy's House a little over a decade ago, nutrition wasn't very important. She, among many others, ate whatever she desired so as long as she proved her genius capabilities and her potential to help the world. And she, again like others, took advantage of that.

Light, clearly, did not.

"Really, Emiko, maybe you should just drink water and see how you –"

"I'm hungry." She cut him off and got out of the bed, although she did felt the heat in her face and momentarily stopped, clutching L as her vision blurred and blacked out from her light headedness. Seeing Light's alarm, she quickly said, "I'm okay, I'm okay," before crawling slowly out of bed.

"You sure?" L asked, his voice clearly showing his reluctance.

"Yeah." And it wasn't how weak or soft she sounded when she said this that made him think otherwise, it was the way her fingers were pulling at the sleeve of his shirt...and the way they made their way to his hand, holding on tight.

I think the last chapter had the quickest feedback...ever. I was really excited to write a in the past bit to give a glimpse into their history! If you like, I would totally write up a whole chapter dedicated to that...if you want...(even though I finished writing everything already but I'll just slip that bit in there).

But yes, reviews would be lovely! And thank you to all the wonderful people who read and reviewed the last time. I think I said this about a thousand time, but I was smiling like an idiot when I saw all the feedback after hours of typing non-stop!

And to answer jssjessica, no this story isn't ending soon - still got plenty more to go! :)

P.S. If you have time, I did scribble up some pictures on L/Elaine. Link is on my profile!