Author's Note: So, I was going to like, not upload this for a while. Especially since I have a WHOLE LOT of homework and tests and quizzes coming up and whatever, and because I thought it would be fun to make you guys all stress out about Jewel's choice ;P ...but I just couldn't do it to you guys ;P You owe me ;P

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, or anything remotely associated with it.

August 5, 2024. 6:59 AM... 19 Days Left...

"YOU CHOOSE WHICH ONE WILL DIE!" he demanded.

"No! Why!

"You betrayed us Jewel. You and your party acted deceptively. You're lucky I'm only going to kill one of them!"

"NO! PLEASE!" I begged, tears forming in my eyes.

"Which one dies Jewel!"

"No! Please! Don't do this! You don't have to do this! We'll get you what you want!"

"It's too late for that Jewel. You had your chance and you blew it. Someone is going to pay now! Someone is going to die!"

"You don't have to do this! I'll get you what you want!"

"You're trying my patience girl! You decide who dies, or I will!"

I looked at the boss through my teary eyes and saw nothing but cruelty and hatred in him.

"You've got thirty seconds to make a choice, or they'll both die," he threatened.

I stared back at Mello and my baby girl as hot, angry tears poured down my face. Violent tremors and sobs started shaking my body uncontrollably.

"CHOOSE!" he demanded again, "You have twenty seconds!"

I couldn't let them both be killed! I had to do something, but what? If I tried to fight the boss the two gunmen would kill my family. If I went after the gunmen I might be able to stop one of them before I and the person I chose to save would be shot; but the other would surely die.

Whatever happened, whichever one lived and whichever one died, it was going to be on my hands.

I was going to be the killer here, not the gunmen.

"Fifteen seconds! Make your choice!"

I couldn't kill my daughter, and I wouldn't kill Mello!

I had just gotten Mello back! After all these years Mello was mine again! I wouldn't let him go! I couldn't! Not again!

I wouldn't end my daughter's life. She was barely ten years old. She was so smart and beautiful and loving. She was such a kind soul! She was like Mello and I and yet she wasn't like either of us. She loved literature and poetry. She loved nature and flowers and was going to do good things with her life. She was purity in its rawest form.

"Ten seconds!" the boss called.

An uncontrollable wailing erupted inside of me; deafening me from the inside out.

I looked over to my baby girl and saw tears and fear in her azure eyes. I loved her so much, and it was my duty to protect her. It was my job to keep her safe! I would not be responsible for her death.

'I love you baby,' I mouthed at her. She closed her eyes, bowed her head and started crying full force.

I looked over to Mello and saw nothing and yet everything in his eyes. I saw fear and worry, and I saw that he was trying to hide it. I saw that Mello was trying to be strong because in his eyes he was the obvious choice.

'It's okay," he mouthed at me, and nodded slowly. 'I love you Jesse,' I read on his lips.

He was sacrificing himself.

A flood of tears flowed down my face and brought my hands to my face to try to hold them in.

"Five seconds!"

My shaking intensified.

"Four seconds!"

My heart jammed in my throat.

"Three seconds!"

My breathing ceased.

"Two seconds!"

I bowed my head and closed my eyes tightly.

"CHOOSE!"

I only had one choice.

"M-m-me," I stuttered.

"What?"

"ME!" I shouted, my resolve strengthening. "Let them go and kill me!" I begged. "Please! Let me be the one to die! Just let them go! Don't kill them!" I pleaded.

"Mommy no!" I heard over my sobs.

"Jewel! What are you doing!"

"You for them?" the boss asked, incredulous.

"Me for them," I whispered, my breathing returning to normal and my tears slowing.

They wouldn't have to die. They could both live. Mello could look after Michelle, and keep her safe.

"Jewel are you crazy!"

I sniffled and looked up at Mello. A small smile made its way to my lips. "I can save you Mello. I can save both of you."

"Jewel you don't have to do this! Just pick me."

"I won't do that Mello," I shook my head. "I can't kill you. I won't."

Mello struggled in vain against his captors. "Don't listen to her Gunner!" Mello said, addressing the man behind me. So that was his name; knowing it was a moot point now, I wouldn't be around long enough to use it.

An evil laugh came from the guy behind me and he said, "It was lady's choice Mello. You know that. It was an interesting choice, but I am obliged to honour it."

"You gave her a choice between me and the kid! She wasn't a factor in this."

"Her choice was a little creative, but it is one I can accept," I could hear the sneer in Gunner's voice.

"It's alright Mello. I want to do this. I want to save you!"

"Jewel! Your life is worth more than mine, don't throw it away!"

"But I'm not throwing it away Mello. I'm trading it. I'm trading it for a life that means so much more to me than my own."

"Jewel no!" I saw fear and pain behind Mello's eyes now, and a determination to not let me get away with my decision.

I smiled and the tears started again, lighter this time than they had been before. "It'll be okay Mello," I said again. "Just take care of her okay?" I said, motioning to my daughter... to OUR daughter. "She's yours now. Raise her right okay?"

"Mommy!" my little princess called.

"It'll be okay babe," I smiled at her through my tears. I lost myself for a moment as I realized this was going to be the last time I saw her.

"Mommy no! You have to stay with me!"

"You have Mello now kid," I sniffled, "and uncle Matt. You're really going to like him, he's a lot of fun." I saw my little girl about to break down so I said, "You have to be brave hun! It's up to you now," I winked. "Make me proud kid."

She bowed her head and started crying again.

"Jewel, c'mon!" Mello pleaded. "Think for a second. Take it back. Marsh needs you!"

"And I need both of you," I said. "You're asking me to kill one of you, and live the rest of my life with that choice."

"Jewel, you survived eleven and a half years without me! You can survive another eleven and then some. Marsh needs you!"

"No Mello," I smiled again, "she needs you now. I've taught her everything I know, it's time for you to take over."

"But-"

"Alright, enough of this!" Gunner cut in. "We get it. You don't approve, the kid is going to be disappointed either way, and this is the only way Jewel can die with a clear conscience. End of story."

Gunner gave me a sharp kick to the back of my knees and I fell to the floor. Another round of cries and protests erupted around me as I felt the cold steel barrel of my own gun press up against my temple.

I squinted my eyes shut hard and tried desperately to fight the sudden and intense fear that jolted like lightning through my blood.

I didn't want to die, I didn't.

Gevanni had accused me of being ready to die. I had responded by telling him that I was merely resigned to my fate. But neither was true. I never wished to die, and I wasn't ready to. But if that's what it took; if that's what it took to be able to save the two people I cared more about in life than anything... I was willing to do it.

"Any last words?" Gunner asked as the steel barrel was pushed harder against my head.

"I love you Mello, I love you Marsh." I wanted to call them by their given names. I wanted to say Mihael and Michelle and taste the sweetness of those two words one last time, but I knew I couldn't compromise them in front of Gunner and his men.

Just one more sacrifice.

I heard Gunner cock my gun and I waited. I waited for the shot and I wondered if it would hurt. Would I feel it, or would I die instantly? I tensed up and shut my eyes so tight it hurt.

BANG!

A tiny, shrill cry escaped my throat and I felt my body jump.

I waited. I waited for pain, I waited for blackness, I waited for the nothingness.

BANG! BANG!

Three shots? Weren't three shots a little excessive? Maybe he just wanted to make sure I was dead.

BANG-BANG! BANG!

Two more shots in quick succession and then a third. Maybe this guy just really hated me. Maybe he had gone against his word and shot Mello and Marsh too. My heart sank at the thought.

Then I realised something. I realised that I was realising things, and, that bothered me. Wasn't I supposed to be dead? Maybe I hadn't died right away. Maybe I was bleeding out and it would have to take another couple minutes before I truly died. Or maybe my body was dead but my spirit, or my soul or both were still trapped inside.

Then I heard something.

The gunshots had caused quite a ringing in my ears, but as it cleared I heard something else. I heard something resembling the noise one hears outside if a beehive. The sound of a thousand vibrating, paper-thin wings. The sound of a thousand tiny hearts beating all at once, the sound of thousands of tiny feet all stamping around on wax honeycombs.

As more time passed the buzzing and humming became more distinct, more discernable. Like an old radio; all you get is static and then, like magic you start to hear things, you hear voices and recognizable sounds. You turn the dial ever so carefully, don't go too far. Slower, don't miss the channel!

I almost had it, but that's when the pain started. A terribly tight squeezing around my chest.

I had once had a python wrap itself around my arm, and the squeezing and pressure then was much like the squeezing and pressure now. It was getting harder and harder to breathe by the second. I wasn't taking in air and the pressure was increasing exponentially. Then it spread. It spread into my waist and around my neck and head. I tried to fight against it but my arms were pinned to my sides and I couldn't feel my legs.

I fought desperately to pull in enough air, to extend what few remaining moments I had left. A life in pain, I had decided, was better than no life at all.

But as I struggled for my life I noticed that the noises were still becoming clearer. The buzzing, the static, was turning into... voices.

I couldn't tell how many at first; they were all jumbled into one. I focused on them and tried to pull them apart. My pain and the squeezing in my chest had taken a backseat in my mind, I had one last puzzle to solve.

Voices; three voices of varying pitch and depth. I listened harder; I had to find the words. I concentrated and like a swimmer breaking the surface of the water everything came into focus.

"Jewel! Jewel can you hear me?"

"Mommy! Mommy wake up!"

"Gem! C'mon kid! Open your eyes!"

I didn't want to. I was afraid of what I would see. I was afraid of what was happening around me.

I opened my eyes slowly and life came into focus.

I found myself in the centre of an epic group hug. My little girl had latched herself around my waist in a death grip. Mello had his arms wrapped tightly around my back and was holding me desperately to him and Matt, Matt had my head completely trapped in his arms.

I took all this in, and then passed out.

I woke up a little while later to the sound of people talking above me.

"It was probably just shock or stress."

"She'll be just fine I'm sure."

"When is she going to wake up?"

"She's sure been fainting a lot."

"Can you blame her?"

As soon as I opened my eyes all talking ceased and all eyes turned to me.

I sat up self consciously and looked around. I was once again in my own bed, but this time there were five people with me, not just three. A petite platinum blonde was sitting at the foot of my bed, legs crossed and wide eyes watching me intently. Mello and Matt were on my left, and Gevanni and Near were on my right.

"Okay, in three sentences or less, someone tell me what happened."

"Well Matt came in and-"

"No, no, no. From the beginning." I looked at my little girl at my feet. "Just how did you get there?"

She sheepishly ducked her head and said quietly, "I just wanted to help. I'm really sorry mommy."

I wrinkled my face in a mock show of displeasure. I couldn't stay mad at her and I was just so happy she was still alive. I was just so happy I would still be able to hold her and kiss her and tell her every day how important she was to me.

"When we were leaving, Marsh said she wanted to stay here. She promised she was going to behave. We figure she followed you," Gevanni explained.

"I got out by picking the lock on my cell, but the guards showed up and I didn't have enough time to get Mello out, so I just booked it. I regrouped and came back with weaponry," Matt said.

"They took me into that room we were in and brought Marsh in right after. That's about when you showed up," Mello told me.

"Matt came and got us," Near started. "We got to you guys just in time by the look of it."

Not more than two sentences each; collectively ten sentences. I shook my head in disappointment, but it wasn't anything I couldn't wrap my head around.

"So what happens now?" I asked and yawned. Today... these past five days, had been more than trying.

As Near started to answer I opened my arms wide to the tiny ten year old at the end of my bed. A large smile grew on her face and her eyes lit up and sparkled; the horrors of this morning already long forgotten from her mind. I leaned against the back wall and held her close as Near explained the situation.

Near talked about the bomb and the money. How the two were still missing and it was up to us to do something about it, but I wasn't hearing him. All I could focus on right then was the rise and fall of my girl's chest and the feel of her heart beat against me.

"We're still working on the S.W.A.T. team lead you gave us, but no one seems to know anything. It's more or less a dead end right now."

"Someone knows something," I interrupted. "We just need to dig a little deeper."

"I have an idea," Gevanni cut in and I heard an angry undertone in his voice. "Why don't YOU tell us what happened to them before anybody else gets hurt!" his accusation was directed at Mello.

"Me!" Mello responded, "This was out of my hands a long time ago. As soon as you and your team showed up it became a free for all. Don't you dare try to pin this on us."

"It's your fault there even is a bomb!"

"You guys should have taken care of it! Isn't that your job? Isn't that what you were trained for?"

"Your bomb almost got a lot of people killed! My men at the office building, your own friend Matt, Marsh, and oh yeah! My fiancé!"

Oh crap.

I bowed my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. I could REALLY go for some bubblegum right now.

Like he was reading my mind, or just my body language, Matt shuffled over to my desk, opened the top drawer and pulled out a full pack of Bubblicious. He tossed it underhand at me.

"THIS guy?" Mello shot at me, and I gave a kind of sheepish, I-don't-know-what-you-want-here, kind of shrug. I popped a brick of gum into my mouth.

"Yes 'this guy'!" Gevanni came back. I could tell that even he was having trouble controlling his temper now. He was usually as reserved than Near.

"She's my daughter's mother."

"She's my fiancé."

"She doesn't belong to you!" they both said at once.

"Well this just got awkward," I interrupted. I scooted around Michelle and got off my bed at the end so as not to appear to be choosing sides. I wasn't getting into it with them right now. I went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich.

Halfway through my endeavour I heard five pairs of feet come in behind me.

"Look, this can be dealt with later. There's a bigger problem we have right now," Mello spoke up.

I turned to face them. "What is it?" I asked. I was sure that there wasn't a whole lot that could move me anymore.

"That bomb's timer was preset," Mello said, a stern and serious expression on his face and in his tone. "It's set to go off, no matter what, in nineteen days."

Author's Note: Thanks to all who voted on my age :D You're all pretty awesome, and quite the uniform guesses all around I found. But there is one clear winner... and one person who's getting a runner up prize just because someone was paying some serious attention to detail ;P They'll be announced in the next chapter :)

...And no, I'm not actually going to tell you all my age ^_^ There've got to be some mysteries in life ;P