Chapter 26
The children filed out of the auditorium quietly. Some of them had been moved to tears, others merely quiet with the heavy loss upon them. They had not physically met L, but they had all felt they knew him thru his personal talks with them thru the computer, and what they didn't know, Dr. Thompson had filled in. She let them know that there indeed was someone who was poised to take over the "L" mantle so all that had been done would not be undone, but that he was the first and should always be remembered as such. They had known he was fighting Kira, and they had all been sure he would win and were devastated that he had not and had instead lost his life. Behind them Christine still stood on the stage. The two coffins closed on the floor in front of her, the screen behind her still bearing the picture of L she loved so much; the one she took in surprise as he ate his ice cream. She had told them everything she wanted to, and she was now sure that they not only knew who L was, but would remember who he was. And she had told them about Watari, she had picked the picture from the book as well and had shown it on the screen. Most had seen him around Whammy's but had no idea that he was Quillish Whammy for whom the orphanage was named. She looked across the room as the students filed out, and remembered the first time she stood there, and spotted that odd looking man at the other end of the auditorium, stooped and staring at her with the most intense glaze she had ever encountered.
She picked up a large envelope from the top of the podium where she stood, left the stage and walked over to L's coffin and opened it, catching her breath again as his face came into view. She reached into the envelope and pulled out pictures of the trio and placed them in his right hand. She reached into the envelope again and pulled out one of his incredibly large lollipops and placed it in his other hand.
"You would never forgive me if I sent you on your journey without a sweet, and you don't look like yourself without one" she whispered to him, "And I know you carry the boys in your heart." She touched his face for what she knew would be the last time, and moved the hair out of his face.
"Good-bye, L Lawliet. Yes, I know your full name now; Roger felt there was no harm in me finding out now. You will always hold a special place in my heart that probably won't ever get over this as I feel so many things are unfinished. I find solace in the fact that you have found peace and hope you also find all the damned strawberry cheesecake your mouth can hold." She caught the sob before it came out and forced it back down. She had cried enough; she would save these emotions and convert them to the anger she needed to help her help Near find Kira. She brought her fingers to her lips and then touched them to L's before she closed the lid.
She went up to her apartment where she found both boys. Matt sat on the floor, his beloved goggles over his eyes was and playing a video game. She suspected the goggles kept the red in his eyes from being so noticeable. Near was sitting on the couch with all the articles Mello had cut out spread on the table, one of his robots on his lap.
"I'm sorry we didn't come to the service. But we felt it wasn't necessary as we knew who L was." Near started, Matt nodding his agreement. Christine nodded.
"That's fine. We will have our own private family service in the morning anyway, for those who really knew him. Then we can move forward and find who did this to him."
"In that vein I have begun gathering as much information as I can find right now. I will dig deeper and get information from Japan as soon as I can. Matt will work the computer angle, and draw as much information that he can from the Japanese Police Force and media."
Near stopped for a moment and looked at Christine. " I believe it would be better if we use L's computer, it has everything we need on it for this type of work." Ofcourse that made sense, but that meant they would have to go into his apartment. Christine nodded and noted that Matt had gone slightly pale at Near's words.
"Dr. Thompson I don't know if I can go in there now…" he started. She walked over to him and knelt down beside him.
"Believe me I know how hard it is going up there now. But Near is right about using his computer. And, now, by all rights, that will be Near's apartment as soon as he's ready for it after he's finished classes." At this Near's head shot up from reading the article he was holding. He hadn't really thought about that aspect of everything. If he was going to be the new L, then yes, he would take L's apartment when he was ready. But when would he be ready? It didn't seem right somehow to even think about it. L was still here, in the auditorium. It wasn't right to think about taking over his things.
"Dr. Thompson I don't want to think of that right now," he started, "But the use of L's computer is imperative to putting everything together."
"I know, Near it's far too soon to think about that. I'm sorry."
"I was also thinking that L had to know that things were not going the way he wanted. I can't imagine him not being aware how grave the situation was and preparing for it. Look how far in advance he prepared us." Christine turned her attention to Near and got up from where she was next to Matt.
"What are you suggesting, Near?" she asked.
"I'm suggesting that there's something on that computer that we need to find. It would not be like L not to be prepared for all contingencies. He may have left us information that might help us with the case. All we have to do is find it." He looked over at Matt who was now looking back at him.
"Correction, all I need to do is find it." He said and a smile graced his face. It would be as it was when L set him up to find information as part of his lessons. Somehow this all made sense to him as well. Christine nodded her approval.
"That does absolutely make sense, guys. But we'll wait until after tomorrow, after the funeral. We'll need to rest after all that's happened after it's finally over and get ourselves together. Then we'll tackle the computer problem, okay?" They both nodded and turned their attention back to what they had been doing previously. She knew she should eat something but she hadn't felt hungry since that damned computer had gone off. The boys hadn't really eaten either and she couldn't blame them. She reminded them that there were was plenty of things in the fridge if they felt hungry to which they both nodded and continued with what they were doing. She grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass and went into her room and sat on the bed. Her mind suddenly replayed the first time L had been in her room, eager, nervous and shy all at the same time. She smiled, as she remembered how quickly he got over that and became quite possibly the best lover she had ever had. She banished the thoughts from her mind and poured herself a glass of wine, knowing full well she shouldn't on an empty stomach. But she needed it. Tomorrow was going to be difficult, but at least it would be over. She had made sure that L and Watari would be laid to rest together, and on the grounds of the home they loved, and she would be able to move forward and get on with her next task. Maintaining the health of the children they both loved, and finding Kira.
She held both of their hands as they walked away from the gravesite, not wishing to stand there and watch the coffins be lowered into the ground. That finality was a little bit more than any of them could possibly bear right now. It was almost impossible to walk away from them as it was, leaving them there seemed wrong. She felt Matt stumble on her left and clutch her hand tighter. She looked down at him and saw that he had turned back to look at the coffins just as they had begun to be lowered into the ground. He gasped and buried his head against Christine's side, his other arm coming around to hold onto her. She looked at Near who started ahead of him, his other hand holding one of his beloved robots against his chest as his other hand clutched Christine's tightly. She stopped for a moment to allow Matt to regain his footing and then continued back into the building.
Later in the afternoon as both boys were sleeping in her room, completely worn out from everything and finally being able to sleep without waking from nightmares, she sat in the living room looking at all the articles Near had been looking at. She knew it had only been a few days, but she wondered what was happening with the Task Force in Japan. The only thing she knew for sure about what was going on was that L knew who Kira was but that he was unable to get the physical evidence he needed to arrest him. So this Kira was probably as smart as L was, which meant they must have been in a constant chess match of the minds. She didn't know who any of the members of the force were; she'd never asked and knew he wouldn't tell her anyway. Their identities would have had to have been secret in order to protect them from Kira. How were they going to find out who was on that Task Force? She couldn't very well call Japan and tell them she was L's doctor and wanted to know who was with him when he died, could she? No that would never work. She had no proof to follow that statement. She sighed and stood up, walking to the window that overlooked the grounds. This was going to take time she was afraid. Gathering all of this information when they had so little to go on seemed almost impossible. But perhaps the boys were right and they would be able to find what they needed through the computers. They needed the time; there was no way she was going to let them go to work on this case until they had finished classes, in spite of what Mello did, at 14 they were just too young. You enjoy yourself for right now, Kira because we will find you and we will make sure you never kill again. You took the life of someone from us who can never be replaced, and we will make sure you pay with yours.
