Don't hate me for this…

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

L was getting into a habit of sitting on his feet and staring at me until I woke up. It was a bit frightening at first, but I was starting to get used to it. I wondered what time he usually woke up; The bags under his eyes were just as prominent as ever. It still hadn't fully sunk in that this was going to last for the rest of our lives, but I wasn't unhappy about the whole thing. L was… talented, if you understand my meaning. He wasn't lying when he told Light that he was a lot stronger than he looks.

Day by day we stalked Light's movements. He was still searching for me. Every now and then L would give a false clue for him to find, just to keep him nearby. It was clear that he was getting frustrated, but he was not giving up.

I was itching to go outside and explore. It had been nearly a month and I hadn't left the tower; Watari was the only one who ever went out, and only for supplies. I was getting a bit sick of chess and monitors. I was starting to understand what Rapunzel felt like. L was good – very good – at keeping me occupied and happy, but I craved to see the rest of the city. Eventually I decided to just come out and straight up ask him to take me somewhere. I knew he was familiar with the city, the only problem was convincing him to go outside.

"Could we please go out for just a day? It's not like Kira will recognize me, he's never seen my actual face. He still thinks I'm a man."

To my surprise, he responded with, "Lately I've been thinking that would be the best course of action," he looked at me sideways, "you get jittery when you're cooped up. We need you at your best. You're still the only one who can see the Shinigami. When it comes time to steal more notebooks, you need to know the layout of the city."

I was overjoyed. I jumped up tackled him flat onto the couch, showering him with kisses, "Yes, thank you! I've been dying to get out of this tower. Where should we go?"

He sat there, letting me bug him, "Kira has been getting into a pattern with his searches. He never looks in the same place twice within a week. We can't risk him seeing me. My name is all over the internet, if he finds out I'm alive, he could kill me again with a wave of his hand. Therefore, we'll go to the part of the city where he searched yesterday. If we stay in that region, it should be relatively safe."

"You should wear a hat and scarf just in case, though. We know he's got access to computers, he could see you through surveillance." I sat up and practically skipped to the closet, "I'll pick you out a nice, simple disguise. Wait there."

He ignored me, following me into the large closet. Watari had filled it with clothes for me; I had left most of my belongings behind when we moved. I had to admit, he had good taste. There wasn't a lot of color, but the clothes were flattering and good for blending in, which was I suppose what we were going for.

"Here," I tossed L a jacket, hat, and scarf. He chewed his nail, watching me get changed into better out-on-the-town clothes. "Will you stop staring and put those on, goodness," I laughed. He was a dork sometimes. He did what he was told, hiding his face and wild hair.

"I'm curious," I thought aloud, "when all this is over and Kira is gone, will you tell people who you are? Can I tell my family and friends your true identity, or will they always have to think your name is Lawrence? It's a bit weird that they don't know my actual new last name."

"I suppose that would depend on the situation. If the danger has fully passed, I suppose it would be acceptable. However, that would be a bridge we cross when we come to it."

"Yeah, I guess so. If the public found out about it, you'd get swarmed by fangirls without a doubt."

"That doesn't sound pleasant," he commented. I couldn't help but laugh. What an odd picture, seeing this sun-starved recluse treated like the celebrity he was in this world. He'd receive no shortage of invitations to be a guest at comic cons and TV shows. Poor L.

"So," I said, latching onto my husband's arm, "where are we off to?"

He led me to the elevator, but instead of going down, we went up. I was confused, until I saw the helicopter. I practically fainted from excitement.

"This is the safest way to get to where we're going without showing our faces in public." We climbed in and he handed me what looked like giant headphones, "put these on."

I did and the world went quiet. These were some strong earplugs, I was almost worried I'd gone deaf until I heard L's voice in my ear, "is this on?"

"Yeah, we're good. Who's the pilot?"

"I am." He started the engine, pressing a bunch of buttons and switches.

"You know how to fly a helicopter?" I strapped myself in.

"It's easy enough to figure out with intuition."

Somehow that did not sound convincing, so I held on for dear life. I was not keen on flying with a student driver.

Surprisingly, he had no problems flying the thing. I guess he'd done this before. We flew above the city for a bit so we wouldn't attract too much attention to our landing. When we did touch down it was on the lawn in the middle of some park. People gave us weird looks, but mostly ignored us.

L pulled the scarf over his face when we got out of the helicopter, protecting himself from prying eyes. I kept a lookout for shinigami, but there didn't seem to be any nearby. I decided to stop worrying and just enjoy myself. I hadn't been outside in weeks. I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the skies, letting the sun soak into my skin. It felt wonderful. It was warm and bright and perfect.

L led me down a mostly empty street. The buildings were tall and everything was in Japanese. I couldn't understand a single thing anyone was saying. I'm sure I practically screamed tourist, although I suppose I did technically live here now. I wondered if there were any good theatres nearby. I'd have to look it up when we got back.

I saw something at the corner of my eye. I turned around to look, but it was gone just as fast as it had arrived. It wasn't a shinigami, so I shrugged and kept going. I figured it was probably just a native, going about their day.

L had noticed it too. He was less willing to let it go. "Someone's following us," he whispered, "Keep your head down. Don't let whoever it is know that you saw them. We can't let them know we know they're there. They're only watching us for now."

Creepy... I held tighter to his arm.

I whispered back, "How long have they been there?"

"A few blocks."

I started to hyperventilate, but managed to get it under control. I couldn't panic right now. "Who do you think they are?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he walked into a small clothing shop and stole a scarf and sunglasses off one of the racks, "put these on. Don't let him see your face."

I did what he said, ignoring the fact that he just shoplifted, and he led us into a nearby windowless café. We sat down at a table in the corner. It was a good place to keep an eye on the rest of the room. A few minutes later, our stalker came inside and sat down at a table near ours. The person was wearing a mask, So I couldn't see their face, but they had dark hair.

At least we knew it wasn't Light. A waiter came and we ordered two hot chocolates. We talked as if we were a normal couple, making sure not to say anything that would reveal who we were.

"So," I said, summoning my improv skills, "did you get that promotion?" Making up scenes on the fly was a game my theatre friends and I liked to play. I'm pretty good at it if I say do say so myself, not to brag. Except yeah, definitely to brag. I'm amazing.

L caught on immediately, playing along, "Not yet, my boss is still deciding who would be best for the job." He spoke in a completely different voice than usual, sounding more like a normal person than himself.

"Oh, darn. How are we supposed to pay for Alex's tuition without the new salary?"

We kept talking nonsense for a few minutes, hoping the stalker would lose interest and leave. No such luck. I was in the middle of a monologue when the waiter dropped to the ground, clutching his chest. A heart attack.

Immediately after, there was a loud bang like a gunshot and the lights went out. I felt something hit my head and the world faded into nothing.

When I woke up, my head was throbbing. I was tied to an uncomfortable metal chair and blindfolded. My shoes were missing. What had happened?

"Ah, finally. I was beginning to think I had hit you a little too hard." That voice… I knew that voice. Where had I heard it before?

I tried to speak, but my mouth was covered with duct tape. I heard footsteps on a wooden floor coming toward me. I tried to struggle free of my bonds to get away, but it was futile.

The tape was ripped off my face, releasing my mouth. "Ow! Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?"

"Why can't I see your name and lifespan?"

Name and lifespan? Was this one of the shinigami? No… They wouldn't make footsteps. This was definitely a person. But who?

"Answer me!" the voice was a young man, maybe in his mid twenties.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I feigned ignorance.

"Don't lie to me. What are you?" Where have I heard that voice before… It was on the tip of my tongue. Blood was on the tip of my tongue too; the tape had ripped some of the skin off my lip.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked honestly. What did I look like, a goblin? I certainly hope not.

"I see your face, but I can't see your name or lifespan. Even owners of other death notes have names above their heads. So, tell me, what are you?" He must have the shinigami eyes. If he did, I was just as clueless as to why he couldn't see my name or lifespan as he was. I was just a normal human.

"Death note? What's a death note? Is that some kind of weird cult thing?"

"Fine. If you're going to play dumb I guess I have no choice."

"What are you-" I felt searing pain pierce me in the side. I released an ear-splitting scream as my captor thrust a white-hot poker into my rib.

He yanked it out roughly. "Now," the man said, "tell me what you are."

This was not how I had hoped this day would go.