A guest reviewer asked how many chapters I had in mind and to be honest, I don't know. I have a story that will simply take a while to complete. I'm hoping that by the end of this it'll at least be novel length.

And to Natasha-Tenshi: Thanks! You're makin' me blush… :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did I wouldn't be a financially-struggling college student.

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

I told Ellie that there was only one room available in the hotel, but in truth I thought it was best not to leave her by herself; not with everything that was going on. Watari had gone to find his own place to spend the night. I told him Ellie was no threat.

I couldn't get the dream out of my head. At this point it was not a question of if Kira was coming, but when. I would need to install surveillance cameras in Ellie's closet as soon as possible.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard singing coming from the shower. This song was significantly louder than the others had been, with a bit of a modern-pop sound to it. I listened as she sang happily.

By the time the song was over she had turned the water off. "Hey, L," She called, poking her head out the door, "Could you reach into my bag and grab some pajamas for me? I forgot to lay them out." I looked at her bed and saw a brightly-colored duffel bag, decorated with various animated characters. One of them was me.

I reached in and found a comically large yellow T-shirt and pink flannel pants. Were these pajamas? I only ever slept in my clothes. I held them up for her to see and she nodded, so I handed them over and she disappeared behind the door. My eyes lingered on the bathroom door where she had been.

She emerged wearing the clothes I'd handed her. They were far too big for her. She yawned, stretching out her arms. "Hard to believe it's only 9:00," She commented, unplugging her laptop from its charger, "it feels a lot later."

She sat down on one of the beds and opened the device, typing in a few characters. "Think you're ready to move on to the second arch?" She looked up at me, patting the bed next to her, signaling for me to sit beside her.

I complied, sitting down and pulling my knees up to my chest. She rested her head on my shoulder again, this time snuggling close to me far less cautiously than she had before. After a moment's hesitation, I lifted my arm up and draped it around her waist. Ellie didn't protest.

She pressed play and we spent the next 4 hours finishing Death Note. I was furious when Kira had taken control of my name, but satisfied when Near and Mello eventually figured him out. By the end of the season, Light Yagami had unraveled. His calm demeanor slowly deteriorated into madness and he eventually died.

"So," I commented, munching on a cookie I'd had brought up to our room. "Justice wins."

When Ellie didn't say I anything I looked over to see that she had fallen asleep. I closed her laptop and placed it on the bedside table, wondering the best way to deal with this. Her arms were wrapped around my torso and her head was still on my shoulder.

There was no way I could detach myself without risking waking her up.

Instead of chancing it, I decided to just stay where I was. She seemed perfectly content, but she had goosebumps on her arms. I lifted the blankets up and over our heads, encasing the both of us inside of a warm cocoon. She shifted, scooting closer to me. My stomach felt briefly tingly. That was not something I had experienced before. Perhaps I ate something.

I leaned back onto the pillows and stretched out my legs from their normal folded position. Sometime in the night I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew I was waking up. Ellie was still clinging to me, but I had apparently shifted in my sleep as well, because now I had my arm draped around her and I was holding her very close.

Something prevented me from moving, even as the room got gradually brighter with the sunrise. This was the most comfortable I had ever been; I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when she started waking up.

She stirred slightly, nestling further into the crook of my neck. I poked at her cheek, trying to wake her up. She groaned and swatted at my hand as if it were a fly. I poked her cheek again. This time she wrinkled her nose and squinted her right eye open. "What?" she grumbled.

"Morning," I greeted.

I sat up and she let go, protesting when I pushed the blankets back. "Gah, nooooo… why?" she complained, pulling them back over herself and rolling into a ball. "Mornings should not exist," her voice was muffled from under the blankets.

I changed into a fresh set of clothes, not bothering to go into the restroom. She would not likely emerge from the covers willingly.

I ordered for breakfast to be brought up to our room, making sure that they knew I wanted plenty of sweets. I had already finished the tray of cookies last night and I needed chocolate. I sat on the bed that I had originally intended to sleep in and pulled my knees up to my chest, once again resting my hands. I passed the time watching the lump of blankets that was Ellie toss and turn, trying to get comfortable again.

After a while she let out a long, drawn out groan, "I will never forgive you for waking me up so early."

There was a knock on the door, "Room service."

"I forgive you." She bolted up and tossed off her blankets, running to the door and gladly accepting the tray of food. She thanked the portly delivery woman and closed the door, locking the chain on the door. It was good to see she took security precautions.

I grabbed a strawberry and lifted it above my head, dropping into my mouth. The tart flavor exploded, leaving a sweet aftertaste. I grabbed another and moved on to the cookies. Ellie seemed more interested in the omelets. She ate mine, so I ate her slice of cake. She was not happy about that.

"Hey!" She glared at me.

I was not able to deduce what possessed me to do this, but when she reached up in a failed attempt to steal the last tart from me, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards me, pressing our lips together.

At first she was completely stunned, but after she recovered from the initial shock she relaxed. I pulled her closer and she kissed me back, abandoning the last tart and letting it fall to the ground, forgotten.

I released her wrist and wrapped my arm around her waist, cupping my other hand behind her neck. She responded by entangling her fingers in my hair. I breathed her in; Is this what I had been missing all those years when I was doing nothing but solving cases? Until now I'd never had a life outside of detective work. Now all those crimes of passion made a lot more sense to me. If someone were to harm Ellie there was a 30% chance that I'd end up becoming a murderer myself.

She silenced my thoughts by deepening the kiss and I gladly accepted. If it were possible to pull her closer I would have.

And then the phone rang.

Reluctantly – extremely reluctantly – I pulled away and answered the phone, holding it with my thumb and forefinger like I usually do. "Yes," I answered.

It was Watari. This may be the first time I was annoyed to hear his voice. "Sir, your building is ready and the security system is properly installed."

"I see. Thank you, Watari. Please have all of Ellie's belongings moved into the top floor." I hung up the phone and turned to her, "Are you ready to go?"

She shook her head, "No, I need to get dressed. Give me five minutes."

I stood with my hands in my pockets as she busied herself about the room, packing various things into her bag. When she had gotten dressed and had everything ready she slung the sack over her shoulder and grabbed my hand.

"So," she asked, a playful grin on her face, "does this make you my boyfriend now?"

I thought for a moment, then responded, "Yes, I suppose it does." She smiled even wider and placed a peck on my cheek. I would have to get used to this. Displays of affection were new and unfamiliar to me.

She didn't relinquish her hold on my hand until we had reached the car. Watari was waiting in front of the hotel. He opened the door for us and we climbed in, allowing my trusted handler to take us to our new base of operations.

It wasn't too far from Ellie's dorm. This will be beneficial, seeing as we will need to return often enough to check her closet. There is at least an 82% chance – no, make that 83% – that something else will appear there.

Once again I wondered why the closet. Did it have something to do with Ellie? Is it possible that that place was chosen by some higher being? Perhaps her capturing my heart was no accident. After all, if it has been proven that gods of death exist, we can therefore not rule out the possibility that there are other intangible beings. And there was the rule which Ryuk told Light in one of the first episodes: Any human who has used the death note can neither go to heaven or hell. This suggests that heaven and hell both do exist, and by extension, there is a high probability that creatures such as angels may, in fact, dwell there. This only supports the theory that Ellie was sent to me – or more accurately, I was sent to her – for a purpose.

Assuming this is true, what could that purpose be? Did it have something to do with Kira? Or perhaps I was supposed to learn some sort of lesson from her. No, it must have to do with Kira, otherwise if the things appearing in her closet are indeed the intention of some higher being then the grey sand was undoubtedly a message, telling me to be ready when the Shinigami come.

If that's the case I'll need to be prepared. If my dream is more than a dream as I suspect it is, then Kira won't be alone this time; he will have an army of Shinigami behind him. If even one of them sees my face and catches wind of my intention to stop Kira then we'll have a repeat of episode 25.

Since Light Yagami knows who I am, if he sees my face he'll undoubtedly send one of the gods of death to finish me off. I'll need to think of another strategy to stop him. This time I know who he is. Clearly his death would not end anything, seeing as he already died, just as I have. And while I may be alone in this, he has the Shinigami on his side; they could just take his soul into whatever dimension he pleases. I must find some way to stop him from traveling between worlds. Without that capability, he can't hurt anyone else.

This is no longer a matter of gathering evidence; this is war. Good versus evil. And if I lose it means the end of mankind not only in this world, but in every world. More importantly it means the end of Ellie.

Ellie… Everything comes back to her. The last thing I want is to allow her to get involved in this, but she may be a key element in defeating Kira. Light Yagami does not know her name, and he has not seen her face. She knows all about him and how he kills. She could very well be the one to take him down once and for all.

Perhaps it was also no accident that she just happens to be an actor.