The next time L visited was Near's 10th birthday. He woke up in the dark of the morning, confused as to what had awoken him. He decided to go back to sleep when someone shifted. He was instantly alert, his eyes widening to take in the little light in the room.

"Who's there–" he started but a hand covered his mouth.

"Shhh," L whispered.

Near gasped, or as much as he could with a hand over his mouth, taking in L's unruly, hunched over form. He removed his hand from the boys mouth.

"Happy birthday, Nate."

Nears eyes widened. "You're not supposed to call me that." He said, shocked. L chuckled.

"Don't you think it's much more endearing? It's so much more intimate to be called by one's birth name on their birthday, don't you think? Besides, nobody heard." He sat down on the bed and put his thumb to his lips. Near didn't know what to day, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"You didn't visit on Mello's birthday."

"I was busy." L said simply.

"But why come on mine?"

"Because I wasn't busy."

"Oh. . ."

"Do you want you gift?"

"You didn't have to get me anything." Near replied instantly.

"Too late." L said, taking out a wrapped box. He handed the pale blue box to Near, who unwrapped it hesitantly. In the dim light he read the white boxy words. Two words screamed out at him.

"10,000 pieces. . ." He said softly. "A puzzle? A 10,000 piece puzzle?!" He was excited and scared at the same time; 10,000 pieces was a lot.

"I believe you can do it." L said, brushing a few strands of silver hair away from the boys face. Then, as quietly as he had come, he left. Near sat there, holding the puzzle in his hands.

"He thinks I can do it." He thought to himself, vowing that it would be done within the week.

That morning, when the sun was barely over the horizon, Near got out of bed and walked into an empty play room, puzzle in hand. He opened the box and dumped the puzzle on the
ground, flipping over the pieces as he woke up. He had started to piece it together and had a portion of it done, minute compared to what he still had to do. Other children woke up and stood in the doorway.

"Oh Near, another puzzle. . ."

"Look at the box– 10,000 pieces!"

"He's never done one so big before!"

"I doubt he can. 10,000 pieces is a lot! He's amazing but not that amazing."

Despite the comments, Near worked on the puzzle until a caretaker tapped him on the shoulder and told him to go to class.

Later on that day, Mello overheard a few other kids talking.

"I heard the teachers talking. Apparently, L visited Near last night and gave him the puzzle!"

"Really?! That's so cool!"

Mello paused where he was standing. L had come to see Near? He had just sent Mello some expensive foreign chocolate, but he had actually visited Near? And didn't even bother to visit Mello?

Mello was furious. He was absolutely pissed. He fumed as he stalked down the hall in search of the odd white haired boy. He passed by the room Near had been working in earlier. It was empty now, nothing in there but a chair and a partially done puzzle.

He crossed his arms. "What makes Near so special, huh?" Mello asked. Although there was no one in the room, Mello hated the silence that greeted his question. In the blinding rage that consumed him, he kicked at the puzzle, breaking apart the progress Near had made that morning. Pieces scattered, flying in every direction. He smashed the picture of the tranquil waterfall that the puzzle would have become. A caretaker grabbed onto Mello and took him out of the room, scolding him for his behavior.

"L came to see him!" Mello sobbed. "He didn't come to see me!"

"Mello," the woman cooed, "he was busy."

"Too busy to see me, but not to see Near!" Mello yelled, breaking away from the woman and running to his room.

"He's so emotional..." she said quietly, shaking her head. She didn't notice the young boy slip past her until she turned to try and salvage the puzzle.

Near already stood in the doorway, gripping the frame. He'd never been one to waste words, but his subtle expression spoke volumes.

"Near, I–"

"No bother." Near said quietly. "It's ruined." then the boy left as discreetly as he had come.

Despite the fact that Near had said to not bother, that it was ruined, Roger ordered that nobody touch it.

Later that night, Near slipped from his room and doom the hardwood halls. Silently, he padded into the room where the remnants of his puzzle where still scattered about. He dropped
to his hands and knees and crawled around, picking up pieces of the puzzle and piling them in the middle of the room.

Although it had been Mello that destroyed the puzzle, he couldn't help but fell it was his fault. L believed that he could do it, but now he can never finish it. Salty tears stung his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He cried as a kid with no emotions would; silently. Then only signs of his sorrow were the tears like liquid crystal, reflecting the light. His body trembling ever so slightly and every so often he quietly sniffled.

Roger stood and watched as Near futilely attempted to put the puzzle back together. But both men knew, no matter how long he worked, the puzzle would be incomplete, a piece forever missing.

Next week, a letter from L arrived. It was addressed to Wammy's House from Ryuuzaki. Roger went to open the simple envelope, but noticed that in the bottom left hand corner were the letters "M" and "N". This letter was for Mello and Near. He decided that Near should read it first; Mello was being punished after all.

But Near wasn't in his room.

On Sunday, the only day the kids didn't have class, Near was usually in his room. Roger had no idea where else he would be. He wandered the halls, confused.

When he finally found Near, he was where he left him that night– the empty play room. The white haired boy was lying on his stomach, his head on his arm, his face buried in the crook of his elbow. His pajama clad body looked so fragile and young that Roger felt a hurt in his heart. One he's only felt once before with this kid– the day showed up at Wammy's, scared and hungry.

He walked into the room and woke the boy up.

Near looked around the room, his sleep clouded eyes taking in his surroundings.

"Wha...?" he asked, confused.

"You got a letter from L."

"Huh? What about the letter L?" near was obviously not a morning person. Roger chuckled.

"No. A letter from L." he said, handing Near the letter.

"Oh." Near muttered, taking the letter and rubbing his eyes. Near opened the letter and took out the two typed pages.

Near was excited to have the letter, although it was pretty boring. It reprimanded Mello for his childish behavior, and informed them that he would be visiting soon. He said, although he
didn't like go out much, he thought it was necessary to get to know his possible successors. Near noted his use of "Possible", as if L decided that neither was good enough so he'd go find some other kids.

Near sighed and neatly folded the letter back up and stuffed it into the envelope. He wondered briefly if he should go find Mello, but knew that his anger for him upon seeing the white haired boy would be multiplied many times over if he found out he was keeping the letter to himself.

He got to his feet with a sigh and walked to the front door.

"Your socks will get dirty." He thought to himself before pushing open the door and stepping into the bright sunlight,

Near made his way to the soccer field where Mello was undoubtfully bullying others. When Mello caught sight of the petite boy walking toward him, he became furious.

"What do you want?" he hissed.

Near held out the letter.

Mello snatched it away. "It's already opened!" He yelled. "You think just because L personally visits you means that you get first dibs?!"

"Roger gave it to me because I was closer." Near stated, narrowing his eyes. "And besides, it's fitting considering you're being punished."

Mello's eyes narrowed to match Nears, though his gaze was much more menacing. He said nothing and instead began to walk to the building. Near had no choice but to follow him, he refused to be in the burning sun much longer.

Yay, second chapter! I hope it didn't suck.

In this fic, L is 19. At least until the next chapter, then he turns 20.

I reread my first chapter and wanted to die. I'm going to fix all my errors soon. I hadn't read over it, so when I did I was like "Geh! I posted that?!" So yeah, it'll be better by tonight.

-Hybrid