Mrs. Lawliet: Perhaps he should. *nod* Mayyybeee he's been thinking about Sam too much.

Your Mom: Sorry this response is so far ahead of where you are, but- now that you're this far, I might as well confirm your theory! Congratulations, that was BB~~ Have a cookie! *tosses cookie*

Guest: Apologies to you, too, for responding so far ahead. I do hope you're even able to read this. .-. But that line, "I will know a difference between a god and God"... I myself really liked that line too... However, I think I got that from someone...maybe in one of the speeches of my English teacher last year. He was awesome. So I can't really take credit for it...but I can agree and say I like it too... .3.

Guest: Not sure if you're the same guest as above, so I'll greet you over again. Sorry this reply is ahead~ Ah, well, yes, the weirdness of the pairings are even mentioned a few times... ^^; Anna is in fact 13, and Near is 18. And L is indeed 30... and Sam is like 19. :T Weiiirrrrd.

B: I enjoy Three Days Grace. *nod* Ahh, the title "The Phoenix" for BB. Yeah, yeah, that happened back when BB accidentally infiltrated Mello's hideout (which was actually BB's old abandoned hideout). There, Mello and BB had a little confrontation alone, and right before B left Mello asked who he was, and he said, "I am the phoenix, and she [Sophia] is my mockingbird." Then he left.
So that's where that's from. .u.

Alllllright, here's your chapter~

At SPK headquarters, the first thing they did was feed me. Thank goodness. I wasn't able to eat much, but I was famished, not to mention parched. Thankfully, Light, Anna, and the other SPK members had an early dinner with me, so it was less awkward. Then they treated the wound on my shoulder from that stupid nail that had stabbed me. The wound was swollen, though, so Halle told me that they would be driving me to the hospital afterward just in case. To be honest, I just wanted to get home, but I accepted this and once Near gave me the confirmation that I could leave, Rester drove Halle, Anna, Light, and I out to the nearest hospital. A woman directed me to a room, taking me away from Rester, Halle, Anna, and Light to leave them in the waiting room. Doctor Taniguchi was the man who took me in.

I waited in the room before the doctor came; he was a dark-haired, balding man with round glasses and thin lips. He smiled at me upon entering. "Well, Miss Matsuo, what seems to be the problem?"

"Um," I said, "I got stabbed with a nail – a rusty nail to be precise – and I'm just here to make sure it's not gonna turn into something bad."

"Could you show me?" he asked me, pulling on some of those rubber doctor gloves.

I nodded and lifted my sleeve to show him the puncture wound. "Alright, it's swollen. It might be infected…. How long ago did this happen?"

"Five days."

"Hm…. Can you tell me when you last had a tetanus shot?"

I frowned. Oh, shoot. Like I remembered that. "I forget…. Um… at least… six years ago?"

He nodded. "What type of vaccine did you receive?"

"I don't remember…. I can tell you I was in America, though."

He nodded again, still eyeing the wound. "Alright…. Have you had any symptoms?"

"What sort of symptoms?" I asked him.

"Stiffness of the jaw, or perhaps muscle spasms; stiffness in the neck muscles; difficulty swallowing…."

I tilted my head, feeling out my neck muscles, and thought back to the food I'd eaten at SPK headquarters and how it felt to swallow. I even moved my jaw a little just to be sure. "Um… no…."

"Hm." He felt my neck, then massaged my jaw a little before saying he'd be right back. He came back with a syringe. "I'm just going to give you a booster shot, alright?" he said, and I allowed him to give me the shot. He gave me some antibiotics, assured me I would probably be fine but told me to come back if I had any symptoms, and sent me off back to the waiting room to meet up with the others. I breathed a sigh of relief as we entered the car. I could head home at last. Oh, how good it would feel later today when I dropped into my own bed…. Much better than having to sleep tied up in a chair, let me tell you.

Well, we were soon in our driveway, and Light and I shared one last, quick kiss goodbye before I slid from the middle and out the door. I closed the car door behind me, and Anna and I watched them go. Anna was waving enthusiastically. She told me again how happy she was I was back, and I responded and gave her a hug before I headed upstairs. I lay down in bed and gazed out the window by my bed onto the backyard. I stayed awake for a few hours, just relaxing. It was nice. And then, at around 7:30, I slept. It seemed the nicest feeling in the world.

"Are you really working for Kira?"

Mikami glanced at the boy to his left as he took a bite of his dinner. He had dark hair and wide blue eyes. Wide, blue, curious, speculating eyes. His name was Kenji; he was Sara's brother. He was younger than Sara was, and he seemed nosy.

Ryuk was chuckling at the boy's question.

"Kenji," Natalia frowned.

"Sorry," he said insincerely, not even looking at his mother.

"I apologize," said Mikami, closing his eyes. "This dinner must be terribly awkward for all of you."

"It's… fine," said Natalia.

Kaito shifted.

Sara flicked Kenji's ear, and he looked at her. "What, Sara?"

"Don't ask our guest things like that!"

"Sara, he's not a guest," Kenji pointed out to her. "He's a fugitive. He's on the run, Big Sister." He looked to Mikami again. "So, are you?"

"Near thinks I am involved with Kira, this is true," said Mikami, "though I am not. But tell me this, Kenji: would I have told you if I were working for Kira, if I was?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment. Then, "No, I guess you wouldn't." And he turned back to his own meal and ate.

Mikami thought of the shinigami behind him, and then of his god and of me. He thought of how he would have to send Ryuk off to check if I was free yet. He thought of my kidnapping, and wondered how long Mello would have me in his hands. He thought of what Mello might be doing to me, his supposed goddess, and frowned ever so slightly out of anger towards the Kira rebel.

Dinner would end, though, and he headed up to his room. Kenji followed him, and Mikami tolerated him for awhile, but he eventually asked him for his privacy at eight o'clock, and Kenji headed to his room. He was about to close the door and lock it when Sara came and apologized for her brother. Mikami assured her it was fine, and she asked if he really wasn't a criminal. He told her yes, he really wasn't, and she told him how horrible that was, and that she was so glad she'd taken him in. He accepted this, she left, and he closed the door at last, locking it with a little click.

He waited a moment, then headed to the desk set up against the wall, flicking on the small green lamp. "Ryuk," he said in a low voice, "shouldn't you be checking on Natalie?"

"Oh!" he yelped, and Mikami's eyes narrowed slightly in vague irritation. Sure, this thing had given him his eyes, and for that he was grateful, but this shinigami in particular was lazy, forgetful, and… to be frank, rather irritating. Ryuk put his long black finger to his thick purple lips. "I guess I should do that, huh?" His wings stretched out from his back, and he was soon taking off.

The shinigami came back about an hour later, telling Mikami that I was out. I was out, yes, but now Light had been taken in by Near. Ryuk asked if he should take us the notebooks anyway. Mikami told the death god they would wait until Light was free, too.

And Kira's worker worked hard until it was time for him to retire to his bed.

I woke up only once that night. I randomly had a coughing fit in my sleep, and eventually I had awoken and coughed some more, trying to find a position where I could breathe better. To be honest, I felt bad, because in my waking up I had woken Light up too. Eventually I had to get up and get a glass of water, but afterwards we slept peacefully again.

I woke up early due to Light waking up (we dubbed it even, then), but he wanted me to go right back to sleep, so I did and I drifted in his consciousness until 9:30. I got up, then, and greeted the already-up Anna and made waffles just because I was happy. Anna had one too. I asked Anna where Sam was, but apparently she hadn't been home for a few days. I thought of the Sinful Murder Cases and nodded. B would have made his final move on Sunday, so Sam and L would be busy. Something occurred to me.

"Anna, who was watching you overnight while I was gone?" I asked her.

"Oh," she said, and swallowed a mouthful of waffle. "Sam called Matsuda to sleep over on Saturday, and then he was allowed to come over on Sunday night, too, 'cause Sam was still with L."

I blinked, then. "Wow, I'll have to thank him for that. In any case… Anna, I'll be heading to work to be the living proof that I'm fine. You staying here?"

"Nah, I'll head to the SPK," she shrugged. "Even if Near doesn't get much done, Light's fun to talk to."

I smiled at that, then bade her farewell before heading out the door. I was going to pull out my cell phone, then remembered that Mello still had it. I'll have to borrow Matsuda's, I concluded, and made my way to NPA headquarters. I remembered that last time I'd headed to HQ, I'd ended up kidnapped. I then remembered that I'd never brought Matsuda his apple crisp….

I entered headquarters with a smile on my face, and it seemed that even the newer guy behind the desk in the lobby recognized I had been gone, and welcomed me back. That right there just made my day. I headed to the elevator, then immediately strode down the hall into the main room upon reaching the third floor. There was a sense of idle yet building excitement as I neared my friends. Those I cared about. Matsuda in particular, as he and I had probably become the closest in my time on the task force, save for Light. I found him at Ide's desk, presumably asking him a question. The moment I saw them I got a stupid grin on my face, unduly excited to surprise them on my return. Again, Matsuda in particular.

Ide, who was facing me from his desk, saw me first, and just looked at me for a second, no longer listening to Matsuda.

"Hey, Ide, are you even listening to me?" Matsuda asked, and I could hear the frown in his tone.

"Matsuda, Natalie's behind you," Ide informed him, and Matsuda wheeled around.

"Ide," I pouted, "you're no fun."

"Natsumi!" Matsuda exclaimed, and hugged me. "You're alright!"

I hugged him back gladly. Oh, how I did love hugs…. "Of course I'm alright!" I scoffed. "What, you think li'l old Melly would bring me down? Nah!"

"Well, I gotta say you scared us a little."

"Yes," Ide agreed, getting to his feet. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Did you tell Aizawa about you being back yet?" Matsuda asked me, and I shook my head. "Well then, we should do that. You coming, Ide?"

"No. Sorry, Natalie," he apologized, looking at me, "but I have a lot of work to do on the Sinful Murder Cases."

I beamed at him. "It's fine."

"C'mon, Natsumi," said Matsuda, and he began leading me away from Ide and towards Aizawa's office. "Wow, Natsumi, I've gotta say you scared me there. Kidnapped by Mello? I mean…." He laughed nervously.

"Yeah," I agreed. "And we all know what happened the last few times…."

"Yeah…," Matsuda responded, and paled slightly. "First suicide… then being traumatized… then being killed by Kira. None of them ended so well for the victims, huh?"

"At least we can be grateful that Sayu got out alive…."

"Yeah…." There was a moment of silence, but Matsuda's voice edged its way back into the void. "…By the way, I was told Light was taken in by Near. Is that true? I mean, I know he headed there right after you were kidnapped by Mello, but…."

I nodded. "Yeah, Near wanted to keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn't do anything Kira-like."

Matsuda sighed. "So both you and Light ended up being taken in by one of the two…."

"Yep."

We soon reached Aizawa's office, and though it turned out he had already been informed of my freedom by Near, he caught me up on what had happened and we were able to talk for a bit before Matsuda and I left his office again. "Oh, right," I said blankly as we left the room. "Matsuda, am I allowed to use your cell phone? I'd use mine, but I think Mello still has it…."

"Oh, yeah," he said, fishing in his pocket to grab it. "Sure." He handed it to me.

"Thank you," I smiled, and wandered slightly away as I dialed Sam's number. It rang three times before she picked up.

"Hello?" Her voice was flat. Irritated? Yes, I thought so.

"Well, gee, Sam, at least sound a little happier," I grinned.

"Who is this?"

"It's Natalie, my dear friend!" I grinned. "Who do you think?"

"Oh." She paused. "Oh, hi, Natalie." I deflated a little at her lack of enthusiasm, but kept smiling. "I'm kinda irritated right now. Sorry. Where are you calling from?"

"Matsuda's cell. Mello still has mine. How are things? I mean, I heard about what happened with BB and the case, but—"

"BB?" Sam asked me. Likely wondering how I knew it was BB that was the killer.

I remembered that I had learned it was BB with Light, while we were working on the case in secret, but I couldn't tell her that. Anna had told me afterwards, though…. "Yeah. Anna told me he was alive."

"…Oh. Okay. Yeah, he really doesn't make us very happy right now… but… other than that, I guess we're fine. You?"

"I'm great now that I'm not locked in a basement anymore," I smiled.

"…He locked you in a basement? Bastard."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well…." There was a pause on both ends of the line. "Sam, can you come home tonight? You don't have to take L, if he's busy. I'll have Light over, too, if Near lets us, and obviously Anna…. It's like… getting together after awhile. I mean, I guess it hasn't been so long, but it seems like it to me."

There was another pause. "…Sure, Natalie…. We'll come. We can come."

I smiled, relieved. "And L won't be drugging me this time, right?"

She laughed. Yes, I'd made her laugh even in her irritation. I grinned in triumph. I did love making people happy. "No, Natalie, L won't be drugging you. But that time was amusing."

"Oh, you shush up," I smiled, and she laughed a little more. "So," I asked, "I'll see you tonight, then?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we'll be there…."

"Great!" I beamed.

"Yeah…. We'll see you then."

"Yep. Goodbye, Sam."

"Bye."

We disconnected, and the smile lingered on my face as I handed the cell back to Matsuda. "Here ya go," I said, flashing another grin.

Matsuda smiled in turn and took his cellular device back. As it was about time for lunch break, Matsuda and I went out and had lunch together, chatting and catching up on the little things. Things like how he'd met a black cat in an alley, and how he'd fed it his snack. Then he'd told me about just what happened Saturday night, when the police force had to go out to Shinjuku on L's orders in order to try and catch the killer. I told him about how the killer had nearly killed Anna, as I hadn't told him about that, and then he got even more upset that the guy had escaped. "Yeah, the authorities are starting to think it wasn't a suicide," he said. "That the killer isn't dead, 'cause there's no evidence it was suicide. But we know better, and L knows better, and it's all so frustrating!"

After he headed back to NPA headquarters, I went back home to relax before Sam and L came over later that night. And oh, how nice it felt to streeetch. I flopped down onto the couch and relaxed for about three seconds before eyeing the computer and rolling onto the ground. I unplugged the computer from the wall, idly wondering if Anna had headed to SPK headquarters. She wasn't home. But I was sure she was fine, and after her incident with BB, she wasn't going to be straying far from the path between here and SPK headquarters anytime soon. Not unless there was someone with her, at least.

I took the computer back to the couch, and set it on my lap before flipping it open and pressing the power button. I'd felt the sudden urge to write. I hadn't done that since… March, I thought it was, and really it was only a one-day thing. I'd been unable to concentrate anyway, then…. And before that, I hadn't been able to write since before we'd come to this world, save for the occasional drabble here and there in the time skip, back when we were still in the original Death Note timeline. So technically, I hadn't written, really written, in years.

I'd loved to write. There was this need to write, you see, and in this need I had once written and written and written…. Writing once took up most of my free time. I would write whenever I could, if I could. Just so long as I didn't have that dreaded writer's block. Writing had been my other reality, then, yet now…. Well, I guess I'd gotten too involved with this new reality and I'd lost the time to write I'd once savored.

Now, I had the chance to write again. Things were quiet, there were no distractions, and I had tons of time to get back into the flow of things. Sure, the Light half of me would be doing something completely different. There, I would be in SPK headquarters, watching as Anna entered and greeting her warmly as she said hello. Asking Near whether I could go to Natalie's house, just so everyone could be together. For one night, at least. It wouldn't exactly be like old times, as Sierra wouldn't be here, but it would be nice.

The words began to flow.

I had written six pages of that recollection of things since Maxey Island that I'd never finished by the time Anna came home along with Light. I stopped writing and saved. I was at the part where I informed the others of my group that we were officially in the Death Note world. Ah… old times.

The computer was closed and plugged in, and the three of us talked and played Uno as we waited for our final two visitors to arrive.

Okay. So this is IMPORTANT: Okay so L's past is coming up, and I kinda went overboard with writing it - it's over thirty pages long. So I know it's gonna be more than one chapter but-but-but what I need to know from YOU is what I should do. Edit parts out? Omit the whole section? Keep putting up chapters regularly even though it'll take a few weeks to get through his past? HELP. Please please please give your input in your reviews, pretty please.

Thank youuu.

Fun Fact: I even checked which part of the first story Natalie would be at if she were writing it that far. *nod*

Review? For food. Food is nice.