By Paigenotpage

Chapter 1

It was a cold, rainy winter day in England. The temperature outside was a ghastly 16 degrees and there were no people walking in the streets. No windows were open, no children playing out in their yards, no poor fools outside begging for some change.

Everything was utterly desolate and as L watched the scenery pass he thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

‘It has been entirely too long,’ L thought to himself while he subconciously brought his thumb to his lips. He had been gone 13 very long months working on a case in America. It was the longest he had ever worked on a case and the strain of it was begin-ning to all come crashing down as he finally allowed himself to relax in the backseat of the BMW. Of course the case ended well, the criminals were brought to justice and L was thanked and paid for his services. They all had the same ending. L was seeked out, he decided whether we wanted the case, and if he chose to take it he solved it. He was the world’s greatest detective. He did not accept failure, he did not lose.

The scenery changed as Watari got closer to Wammy’s. The buildings thinned out and more and more trees had begun to line the road as they made their way through the countryside. Once L had been asked by Watari why he didn’t choose a home away from the orphanage, for he certainly had enough money. L simply looked at him with the same blank stare he always did and answered truthfully, ‘I suppose for the same reason that you haven’t left as well.’ There was nowhere to go, no one he wanted to go with, and Wammy’s had always been the place that he called home.

L jumped slightly as he was pulled out of his own thoughts by Watari opening his door. “Are you alright L?” Watari furrowed his brow as he questioned his charge.

L ran a hand over his face, “I’m quite alright Watari. I suppose I was simply caught in my thoughts.” Watari paused for a moment and nodded his head as he widened the door opening so L could exit the vehicle. He decided to keep a bit closer of an eye on the young man, for L was many things but he was not one to not have a firm handle on his surroundings. L was simply someone that you couldn’t surprise. His wandering thoughts were cause for concern to the older man.

L ignored Watari’s offer of an umbrella as he always did and walked through the gate to Wammy’s. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the impossibly large building that was the orphanage.

As the rain pounded around him and the thunder boomed so loud it could wake the dead, L took a deep breath and let the rain seep through his thin clothing and finally let it all sink in. He smiled slightly as he pushed the doors open, he was home.

L was not suprised that there were no children running the halls. There was no yelling, no loud music, no fighting. This simply was not done at Wammy’s House. The children that lived here were extremely gifted, most of them were being groomed to become the next ‘L.’ There was no escaping that one day L would not be there anymore and he would have to have a successor. In his line of work it was likely that a successor would be needed sooner rather than later and he was prepared for it. He fought for justice, and if the price was his life than so be it. This was what his purpose was and he accepted it.

“Here is a towel L, I’m sure Roger would not be happy with you tracking up the floors.” As usual, Watari popped up from out of nowhere with something that L was in need of. Watari was the only person L allowed himself to be close to, the only father figure that L ever had.

L nodded his head and took the towel but made no move to dry himself off. There was something off about Wammy’s but he couldn’t put his finger on it. L was dumbfounded because this was most certainly not like him. L always had answers, he very rarely was ever put in a situation where he was unsure of something yet he was standing in the en-try way of Wammy’s sopping wet and scratching the back of his head with a confused expression on his face. After a few moments of silence Watari realized L made no move to make use of the towel, he peered at the younger man’s face and his eyes widened in surprise at his expression of confusion, “Is something wrong L?” Watari did not like that this was the second time in 5 minutes that L was not acting like himself.

L brought his thumb to his lips and mumbled, “Something is different,” he said sim-ply.

Watari let his eyes wander around the room. All of the children were in their lessons, Mrs. Marrow would be in the kitchen with the rest of the staff preparing the evening meal. To the normal eye, nothing was amiss. The staircase was as pristine as always, the grandfather clock’s pendulum keeping it’s usual rhythm, coats were on their hooks and the curtains had been recently brushed. Before he could say a word on the matter L’s head snapped up. “Flowers.”

Watari took another turn about the room and saw that L was indeed correct. There were beautiful bouquets of lillies, roses, baby’s breath, sunflowers and more on many surfaces of room. L walked through the entry way and looked around the large foyer and tea room and found flowers on the coffee tables, the entry tables, the shelves. “Hmmm.” L hummed to himself as he studied the bouquets. They were tasteful, fresh and what caught L’s attention, they were something that had never been there before. “Something has changed here at Wammy’s.” L stated matter of factly.

As if in answer to his statement L and Watari listened as the piano began to play from the music room. Watari listened as the notes reached his ears and thought that he hadn’t ever heard anyone in his life play as beautifully as this. It was obvious to the older man that L was just as transfixed as he was, for he had actually let his eyes close as he just absorbed the music.

And then, she began to sing...

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...”

The voice broke L out of his daze and he found himself wandering through the halls to the music room. He had to see the fingers that played the keys so skillfully, see whom the voice belonged to that sang the words so perfectly. At that moment L knew that he had never heard something so beautiful in his life.

“That saved a wretched like me...”

He was getting closer and the voice was getting stronger.

“I once was lost, but now I’m found...”

L was vaguely aware of Watari following close behind him but he couldn’t under-stand why the other residents of Wammy’s House weren’t flocking. Didn’t they hear the voice?

“Was blind, but now I see...”

L rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks at the entrance to the music room. She sat at the piano with her eyes closed as her slim fingers danced over the keys. She looked utterly at peace surrounded by the dim light of the gloomy day and the flowers that L knew without a doubt were her doing. She swayed slightly with the music al-lowing her long auburn waves to brush along the piano seat. She wore a white sundress and her feet were bare. Her voice was soft, but rang out clearly over the piano. She continued to sing again and all he could do was watch.

As she finished the song her eyes slowly opened and settled immediately on L. Her eyes were deep emerald and if L believed in silly romantic notions he would have said that they were laughing as she looked at him. She made no move to get up from the piano seat but smiled broadly as L allowed himself to walk into the room. Afer what seemed hours to him she finally spoke in a voice that was just as pretty and soft as she looked, “Hello, you must be L. I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

Chapter 2

L figured he shouldn’t be suprised that she knew who he was. If she was in Wam-my’s House it was because she was gifted and being groomed to possibly be-come his successor. He had been gone for a long time and there was no telling

how many new children Roger had taken on in Watari’s absense. L’s only problem was that this woman was obviously not a child. “Are you a pupil here at Wammy’s?”

The young woman tossed her head back and laughed freely which had a pleasing effect on L for some reason unknown to him. “No L, I know I may look young but I’m not THAT young.” She teased.

“You play and sing quite well.” L stated.

The woman finally stood from the bench and L was suprised to find that she was quite a bit shorter than he. She approached him and looked at him serenely. “Thank you for your compliment, uncle said that they do not come from you lightly so I will accept it graciously. Aren’t you going to ask me for my name? Or seeing as though you are L, do you already know it?”

Uncle? L blankly stared at her, her eyes were shining with laughter and he realized that she was teasing him. “Yes. Your name then?”

Before she could answer him the grandfather clock chimed and children began bus-tling out of the rooms. L was aware that the children knew he was coming home today and now that their lessons were over they were free to roam the house to hopefully get a chance to speak with him. Even though he had spent most of his life in the orphanage he made his appearance scarce, he was not very comfortable in social situations. He was in the middle of weighing the pros and cons of staying where he was to learn more about the mystery woman when Watari made his appearance known. “L, Roger would like to see you in his office immediately.”

L surfaced from his own thoughts to find that the girl was gone. L turned to follow Watari to Roger’s office. “Watari? Do you know who that woman is?”

Watari shook his head as he lead the way to Roger’s office. “I’m afraid I don’t. She was very talented wasn’t she?” Watari asked with a smile.

As they neared the door L brought his thumb to his lips again, “Yes she was. A little old to be a student don’t you think?”

Before Watari could answer Roger opened the door and ushered in L and Watari. Ev-eryone said their hello’s and were seated around Roger’s desk. “L, we are glad that you are back safe. I trust that you had a good trip in?” Roger asked sincerely.

L nodded his head. “Mmm, yes it was satisfactory. Who is the young woman who is

very accomplished with her singing voice and the piano?”

Watari and Roger both had to hold in a chuckle, L always got down to the point of things when he wanted answers. “Hmm, I do not think that accomplished is the correct word... She is gifted is she not? She is my niece, Caroline.”

L nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Is she at Wammy’s to train to become my suc-cessor?”

Roger shook his head and sighed slightly before he continued. “She is not here to become a detective. Over the years I have realized that I have done my students a grave disservice. We have focused soley on training in detective work, mathematics, history, foreign languages. Never have you all been allowed to be creative. It has never occured to me until months ago when I heard her sing and play that this was something that needed to be brought to Wammy’s House. I asked her if she would like to come here and teach and she readily agreed. The children enjoy her just as much as they enjoy the new courses.”

“So you wish to make the children more well-rounded. That is a good idea. They are engaging in piano and voice lessons?” L questioned.

“They are not all interested in the arts,” Roger continued, “no one is forced into any of the classes but many of our students have really blossomed and found talents that the didn’t know they had. She isn’t just a piano teacher and a vocal coach, she is gifted in many areas of art. She can sing, dance, play multiple instruments, draw, paint, and act. She teaches them whatever they wish to learn, even the students that don’t take her courses respond wonderfully to her. She is a breath of fresh air here at Wammy’s.”

L absorbed all the information that Roger was giving him and analyzed it. Roger was right, courses in art would definitely benefit the children. After all, Wammy’s sole pur-pose was not for creating detectives, it was for the gifted, and children who were gifted in art should be given a place. “Yes.” L said suddenly, “That is a good idea.” L accepted the tea that Roger served him and added a large dose of sugar while letting everything settle in his mind. “I believe you called me in here to debreif on the case in America? I shall tell you everything.”

Caroline smiled as she sat down to dinner with the rest of the staff and students. The entire building was buzzing with the news of L’s return. She couldn’t help but be amused with some of the more outlandish claims students had of his return, “I heard he walked all the way from the airport!” “No way, I heard that he came in covered in blood!” “You’re both wrong! I heard Watari had to carry him in because he was in-jured!”

“Okay wise guys, we all know you’re making this up. Have any of you even seen L yet?” Caroline asked with a knowing smile.

Emily, the youngest girl and the one with the most outrageous claim of L covered in blood blushed slightly, “Okay so maybe I haven’t seen him but that’s normal. Every time he comes home we never even see him. He stays locked up somewhere and the next thing we know he’s leaving to go work on another case.”

Caroline picked up her wine glass and took a small sip while patting Emily’s hand, “Well, what would you say if I told you that I saw him today?”

A young man named Mello popped up next, “That’s not possible. I am one of L’s top successors. I myself have only seen him a few times. There is no way he would make an appearance to you.”

Caroline was a very agreeable person. She was someone that was very easy to get along with and could find common ground with everyone, but Mello happened to be someone that she had a little trouble with. She fought back a sigh and said, “You can believe whatever you like Mello, but I met him this afternoon.”

“Did you really?” Emily asked excitedly, “What was he like?”

Caroline smiled at the young girl’s enthusiasm, “Well,” she started, “he was very po-lite.” She answered truthfuly, she hadn’t heard more than three sentances from the man and had only been in his company for a few minutes.

“I heard he was really creepy looking.” Emily stated bluntly.

Caroline frowned, “Emily that is a very ugly thing to say! I can assure you that he is perfectly fine looking, and I shall not hear anymore from you or anyone calling anyone something nasty.”

Emily flushed and went back to eating her food, “I’m sorry Miss. Caroline. You’re right, it was not a very nice thing to say.

Caroline ran her hand through the young girl’s hair once and smiled down at her. “It’s quite alright darling, a comment like that could hurt someone’s feelings, especially when it isn’t true.” Emily nodded and Caroline excused herself from the table. With all the excitement of L’s return today she had been neglecting her favorite book and she was eager to get back to it. Caroline loved a lot of things, but reading would always be her favorite. She was humming softly to herself as she walked out of the dining room and bumped right into the man of the hour. L steadied her and stared at her with his wide blank stare. Caroline laughed to break the tension, “I’m so sorry L, sometimes I get caught up in my own little world and I don’t even notice what I’m doing.”

L continued to stare at her and said, “Opening your eyes would help Caroline.”

Caroline laughed at his blunt words, also noting that he had learned her name some-where along the way. “You are correct I suppose, but when your eyes are closed your other senses are heightened and sometimes that’s where all the fun is.”

L smiled slightly, “Yes, well you are the one who ran into me so I think your other senses may not be working corectly.”

Caroline laughed again and tapped his head surprising L, “I was beginning to think there was no humor locked up in that head of yours. I’m happy to know that I was wrong. I won’t keep you any longer, I’m off to lose myself in a book. Tell the others not to come looking for me, I’m off to meet Mr. Darcy!”

L realized he was standing very close to her and took a step back, “Pride and Preju-dice. These are the books you like to read?” L asked, genuinely interested.

Caroline smiled and winked at him, “Among other things.”

Caroline turned away from him to head up the stairs when he brushed his fingertips slightly across her forearm to get her attention. Caroline shivered slightly at the unex-pected contact and turned back to L. L quickly shoved his hand back in his pocket and said, “The things that the children say about me, they do not bother me,” he said matter of factly.

Caroline rose an eyebrow at him, she certainly hadn’t expected him to have heard the conversation at the dinner table and smiled slightly. “L, I trust you’ve already heard my piece on the matter but I’ll repeat it none the less, it is not nice to say things that aren’t true.” Caroline lightly touched her fingers to his shoulder as a comforting gesture but quickly brought her hand back when he flinched.

L was no longer looking at her, but rather at a painting on the wall. “I would like it if you would play the piano again soon. Goodnight Caroline.”

Caroline grabbed the banister and turned back at L with a brilliant smile on her face, “Just follow the music when you hear it, that’s where I’ll be. Goodnight L.”

Chapter 3

“Greensleeves.”

Caroline smiled and continued to play on without missing a note or opening her eyes. “Beautiful isn’t it?”

He had finished up a number of cases in the early hours of Saturday morning when he heard the faint sounds of the piano from the floor below him. Before he even realized he was doing so L was traveling down the stairs towards the music room. He sat on the chair closest to the piano and absently slipped his thumb into his mouth and watched her. She wasn’t just playing the music, she was living it.

Now that he had the oppurtunity, L studied her more closely. He had already deduced that she was around 5 feet and three inches tall, almost an entire foot shorter than him. Her deep auburn hair was long, thick and wavy and stopped just short of the middle of her back. She was slim, pale and had a light dusting of freckles on her nose and cheeks. Like him, she rarely had shoes on and favored sun dresses. In the two weeks since he had been back he noticed the flowers in the house were changed almost every day, and she often wore flowers in her hair. Today was one of those days. Her hair was tied up in a bun with pink and white orchids tucked behind an ear and she was wearing a white maxi dress.

“It is a rather melancholy melody isn’t it?” L questioned.

Caroline smiled slightly and opened her eyes to look at L. “It depends on how you look at it I suppose.” She stopped playing and sighed. “This was my mother’s favorite song for me to play.”

“Mmm, they passed away 5 years ago. You miss them” L stated.

Caroline laughed lightly and went back to playing the song. “I shouldn’t be suprised that you knew that, and what an odd thing to say, of course I miss them. We were very close before they died. Long ago I accepted that everyone has a little tragedy in thier lives at some point in time. They were chosen to leave, and they left. So when I miss them, I play this song and it makes me feel better.”

“You simplify their deaths easily.” L was curious. He didn’t think he had ever met someone who could make light of such a situation. Too often he was in the middle of a case surrounded by heartache, pain, and suffering. Their pain was the reason for his being so detached from society. If he didn’t make any bonds with anyone, he couldn’t be hurt when they were broken. He did not feel and he did not care, so therefore he could not suffer.

“It’s not a matter of simplifying their deaths, it’s accepting them. I was angry for a long time, but I threw myself into my music, books, and paintings and somewhere along the way I realized that I couldn’t let it rule my life.” Caroline glanced over at L and continued, “You will lose people in your life L, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the life you have with them.”

L’s eyes widened at her words. He knew there was no way that she knew what he was thinking, but it was alarming to know just how much her words were on track with his own thoughts. This slip of a woman was an enigma to him. Part of L’s job was being able to read people, to know what they are thinking, know when they are lying and telling the truth, to pay attention to even the smallest details but for the life of him he couldn’t do it with Caroline, instead of interrogating her like he planned, he ended up being distracted by her.

Suddenly Caroline stood and walked past where he was sitting, “I made you a cake this morning, Watari told me that strawberry shortcake is your favorite. Would you like a piece?”

L got up and grinned at her, “Cake for breakfast? I wouldn’t have figured that would be something that you condoned.”

As they walked into the kitchen Caroline dug around in the fridge and pulled out a slice of cake for L and a bowl of fruit for herself. “To each his own I suppose.” She said with a knowing smile. She handed him the cake and poured them each a cup of coffee to go with their breakfast.

Before L and Caroline had a chance to enjoy their breakfast Roger entered tooking troubled. “Are you alright Uncle Roger?” Caroline asked earnestly.

Roger sighed and said, “I’m alright Caroline.” He turned to L and said, “L there is a case that may need your attention.”

L didn’t look up from his cake, for it was quite delicious. “This is a delicious cake Caroline.”

Caroline smiled at him, before she could thank him Roger spoke up, “L, the case needs your attention immediately.”

L sighed, his work was never done. “Yes. What is the case Roger?”

Roger looked at L oddly, “Wouldn’t you rather speak of it in my office?”

Caroline took that as her que to leave the men to discuss L’s new case and began to clear her dishes but stopped when L spoke, “Caroline and I are enjoying our breakfast. If you would like to inform me of the case here I have no objections.”

Caroline felt she had nothing left to do but take her seat. Roger continued to look at L like he had lost his mind. Apparently the discussion of cases always took place private-ly in Roger’s office. Caroline suddenly felt out of place, “I do have a few things I need to work on before the children’s piano lessons today.”

L continued to eat his cake, not lifting his eyes to either Roger or Caroline, “Non-sense. You have not finished your fruit and I happen to know you are very strict on finishing your breakfast.”

Caroline stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth and turned to stare at L. The past couple of weeks L had been scarce to her eyes around the house, but apparently he was around more than she knew. Caroline wondered what else he knew of her if something as silly as her eating habits was something he was aware of.

“The case Roger?” L asked sounding quite bored.

Roger cleared his throat, “Yes, well. There have been a number of art thefts going on at some off the top museums in the world. The Lourve, The Smithsonian, The Acropo-lis. Major artifacts are popping up missing everywhere.”

Caroline continued to eat her breakfast but was listening intently to ther conversation. L was an enigma to her her, she had always wondered how his brain worked, how he solved all of these cases so quickly. She knew he often solved multiple cases in a few hours span of time. It was completely incredible, to her his mind was a work of art.

L barely took a second to even let the information register. “I will check the surveil-lance records of each museum that has been hit. Obviously this job was done by the same people. They would have scouted out the location of each piece during normal business hours before the theft. If they are smart, which they would have to be to steal from the top museums in the world, the criminal would have changed their appearance. I will be able to detect minute manneurisms that will set the criminal apart from others. If my deductions are correct as they usually are I will spot the criminal in the tapes and I have him for you in an hour.”

Caroline had completely forgotten about her breakfast and openly stared at L. “You’re completely brilliant. You know that don’t you?”

L turned his wide eyed stare to her, “It was a simple problem with a simple solution.”

Roger left to collect the tapes and Caroline started clearing away their dishes. She shook her head and chuckled, “L, I can tell you have a hard time accepting it but you’re a genius.”

L may have been staring at her blankly but Caroline was learning to read his eyes. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head, “I have been called many things. Eccentric, inhuman, weird,” and then he chuckled lightly, “Creepy looking. But never a genius.”

Caroline smiled as she remembered their encounter outside of the dining room a week before, “Well I guess I will have to remember to remind you from time to time.”

Caroline smiled broadly at him as she finished clearing their plates and said nothing as she left the kitchen in the direction of the music room. L brought his thumb to his lips and thought of nothing pertaining to the art thefts. His mind was focused entirely on Caroline. She was mysterious, beautiful, and full of life. L didn’t understand the

way he was drawn to her. She did not judge him, she did not treat him like he was any different than anyone else. She was the one person he couldn’t pin down and it was quite distracting to him.

She was a problem that he was determined to solve.

Chapter 4

“You’re doing wonderful Emily.”

Caroline praised the young girl as she practiced her scales on the piano. The younger girl smiled and flushed with the praise Caroline always so easily gave out. “Am I really doing well?”

Caroline smiled while watching the young girl concentrate on the keys. “Yes, you have been practicing, I can tell.”

Emily smiled. “I have! As soon as Roger lets us out of our lessons I go straight to the piano.” Caroline continued to smile but said nothing. She often heard Emily play for hours on end, even at dinner she would hum the songs that she practiced. The young girl had an affinity for the piano and it pleased Caroline greatly. “Miss. Caroline, may I tell you something?”

“Of course, you can tell me anything Emily.”

Emily took a deep breath and paused her practicing, “I don’t want to be a detective like the other students. I don’t want to be a doctor or a teacher or anything that we learn in our normal lessons. I want to learn to play the piano like you and one day teach all of the children here like you do.”

Caroline thought that her heart would burst, she had never felt so accomplished than she did at that moment. “I’m flattered Emily. You will make an amazing instructor. We will have to practive extra now don’t you think?”

Emily’s face lit up and Caroline melted. “Can I really? Oh I can’t wait to tell my friends! You’re the best!” The younger girl jumped off the piano seat and into Caro-line’s arms in a hug. Caroline held her close and the girl pulled away with a large grin and returned to her scales.

After a few moments of silence Emily moved from scales to a melody that Caroline had shown her the day before. “Is L the tall man with dark hair that slouches when he stands?”

Caroline laughed at the abrupt change of subject and at the younger girl’s description of L. “Well yes he does have dark hair and slouches when he stands. Have you met him?”

Emily shook her head, “No I haven’t, but he often watches you while you play in here.”

Caroline’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked down at the younger girl. “Does he?”

Emily nodded. “I often come down here when I hear you play, but he is already here. He stands in the doorway and watches you. He never stays long, but he’s almost always here when I come down.”

“So I have been had.”

Caroline and Emily both jumped at the intrusion from the front of the room. Caroline felt the heat creep up into her face knowing that L had heard their conversation. She quickly regained her composure. “Hello L, have you come to lurk in the doorways some more? Or would you like to play?”

Caroline couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw an endearing trace of scarlet on L’s cheeks before he looked back down at his feet. “I’m afraid that I don’t know how to play.”

Caroline faked a gasp causing L to look up and Emily to giggle. “There’s something that you don’t know how to do? Well that won’t do, we will have to sign you up for lessons immediately.” Emily giggled harder and Caroline shot her a wink. “Emily here has decided that she wants to take my job so you can be her first student.”

L realized that she was teasing him and decided to go along with the mood, “Thank heavens she is, it’s about time someone who is talented takes over the helm.”

Caroline laughed and L watched her as the joy took over her face. Her cheeks flushed slightly and her emerald eyes were brilliant. He thought at that moment that Caroline was a sight to be seen when she was happy, for she lit up the room with her musical laughter.

L made no move to leave as the clock chimed signaling the lunch hour for the stu-dents. Caroline stood from the seat and ushered Emily towards the dining hall. She hugged Caroline and quickly ran past L to meet the other children for lunch. L watched her go and then turned to Caroline. “The girl likes you very much.”

Caroline sighed happily and smiled at L. “I’m glad, for I like her very much. She told me today she wants to teach the piano like me. It’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever received.”

L was thoughtful for a moment, “You enjoy simple things.”

Caroline motioned for L to follow her as she walked out to the garden. “Yes,” she answered simply.

He watched her as she crouched down in the flower beds and pulled a few weeds be-fore cutting a few fresh flowers. L didn’t spend a lot of time here and had never noticed the gardens before. “Are the flowers your doing?”

Caroline nodded her head, “Yes, flowers are one of the simple things that I enjoy.”

“You have a lot of lillies, is it because Lily is your middle name?” L asked.

Caroline laughed her musical laugh as she turned back to L with a handful of flowers.

“Just what other suprise things do you know about me L?”

L took her question literally and thought a moment before answering. “I know you sing to yourself constantly. Any time you walk past the flowers in any of the rooms your fingers absently brush the petals. Whenever you are with the children your smile is at it’s brightest. When you do something you enjoy, whether it be playing the piano, singing, painting, or reading you immerse yourself completely. I’ve watched people call your name multiple times and you still block them out while you’re doing what you like.” L paused momentarily and said, “Oh yes, and you watch those cartoon Disney movies late at night when you think everyone is asleep.”

Caroline brushed past L and he followed her back into the music room where she be-gan arranging her flowers on top of the piano. Caroline looked over at him and winked, “You forgot to add that I hate orange juice.”

L shoved his hands in his pockets and stared blankly at her, “Hmm, I was unaware of that.”

“You must be losing your touch L, first you admit you don’t know how to play piano and then you weren’t aware of my distaste for orange juice? You might need to decide on your successor in the very near future.”

L smiled one of his rare smiles, “I forgot to add that you enjoy to tease people.”

Caroline smiled down at her flower arrangement and turned to face L. “It’s unfair that you know so much about me yet I know so little about you don’t you think?”

L shrugged, “There isn’t much to know, I’m a very good detective and I like cake.”

Caroline laughed again and L realized he enjoyed making her laugh, it made him want to laugh as well. “Yes I am well aware of that, how about Disney movies?”

“I can’t say that I’ve ever desired to see one.”

Caroline moved closer to him and he tensed slightly, he was not used to being so close to people. “Now that is a problem, and to think that I was beginning to like you a little.”

L’s eyes widened and Caroline winked at him. She closed the distance between them and pushed something into L’s hand. She smiled at him and then moved past him to-wards the hallway. Just before she left the room she turned back and said, “By the way, you’re correct. I do like lillies because Lily is my middle name.”

She turned into the hallway and L looked down to see that he was holding a white easter lily.

L looked up and Caroline was already gone. He wasn’t sure how long he was staring down at the flower in his hand when he heard a low chuckle coming from behind him. L’s head snapped around and he saw Watari standing behind him with a smile on his face. “Hello Watari.”

“Have you been picking flowers L?” Watari asked.

L looked confused and said, “Of course not. Caroline gave it to me.”

Watari chuckled again and said, “My boy you’re going about it wrong, you are the one that’s supposed to give flowers to her.”

L looked down at the flower in his hand and then said, “Why would she want me to give her flowers when she has plenty in her own garden?”

Watari shook his head and sighed. “I guess I should blame myself for not discussing this with you earlier. Let me ask you something son, how does Miss. Caroline make you feel?”

L let the question roll around in his mind for a second. “Well, most of the time I feel rather annoyed.”

Watari laughed and asked, “Why do you feel annoyed?”

L answered quickly, “Because I can’t figure her out. It’s my job to be able to read and disect people and I can’t even begin to understand what goes on in her mind. I find that I spend most of my time thinking about her and right when I think I might understand her, I see her and everything goes blank.”

Watari put a comforting hand on L’s shoulder and said, “My boy, that’s what happens when you’re attracted to a woman.” L’s eyes widened slightly but continued to silently stare at Watari. Watari continued, “My question to you is, what do you plan on doing about it?”

L paused in thought and then turned and exited the room without another look at the older man.

After dinner Caroline returned to her room where she showered quickly and changed into a pair of shorts and an oversized off the shoulder sweater. She had just tied her hair up when she heard an unexpected knock at her door. She opened the door and smiled, “Hello L.”

L was holding something under his arm and was scratching the back of his head ner-vously. “If you aren’t busy, I would like to watch this movie with you.”

Caroline looked down at the movie he held out to her and her face lit up in a brilliant smile, it was her favorite: Beauty and the Beast. She looked up at L and saw the faint scarlet flush on his face and she knew the reason he was there wanting to watch the movie was because she enjoyed it so much.

At that moment she opened the door wider to let him in, and she knew that she was sunk.

Chapter 5

“I do not understand how in the world this program is entertaining to you.”

Caroline laughed from her spot on the couch next to L. She was actually quite sur-prised that L made it through the first 15 minutes without complaining, let alone the entire movie. They had sat together silently, both of them quite nervous and

unsure how to act. L found himself relaxing once Caroline began to sing along with the movie, he found that her voice had quite the calming effect on him. “How can you not love it? They’re singing dishes for Pete’s sake!”

L gave her a look and said, “Yes, exactly. Singing dishes that turn into people, com-pletely unrealistic.”

Caroline playfully smacked his shoulder and rolled her eyes at him, “That’s not all it’s about silly. Didn’t you get the underlying meaning? It’s about looking past a person’s appearance and loving them for who they are on the inside, not what they look like on the outside.”

L brought him thumb to his lips, a trait that Caroline was beginning to find endearing. “Well I suppose you are correct, though I think that the beast shouldn’t have had the chance in the first place.”

Caroline looked at him questioningly, “Why do you say that?”

“Well first of all in the very beginning of the film he turned the young woman down for being shall we say, unappealing... strike one. Then he imprisoned the female char-acter’s father... strike two. Lastly he kept her in the mansion against her will until she developed Stockholm’s Syndrome and decided she loved her captor... Strike three.”

Caroline threw a pillow at him and laughed, “Oh L, it’s called romance! You know, meet the girl, become interested in the girl, get her to notice you and then dote on her, then fall in love and live happily ever after.”

L stared at her blankly, “I can’t say that I have ever been put in a situation where ro-mance was called for.”

Caroline sighed and switched the tv to cable and looked at the program that was on without paying attention to it, “Well I haven’t either, but I think girls are hardwired with the basic idea: moonlit walks, sweet words, stuff like that.”

L was silent for a moment and then quietly asked, “Are those the things that you want?”

Caroline was thoughtful for a moment, “I think that romance is in the eye of the be-

holder. I’m a simple girl with simple pleasures. I don’t want expensive gifts or dates. I just want a real connection with someone, you know what I mean?”

L watched her as she started chewing her thumb and smiled, he was sure that it was a nervous habit that she picked up from him. “You are most definitely not simple, far from it actually. You are the only person I’ve ever met who’s mind I can’t disect. I can’t tell what makes you... well... you and it’s driving me insane.”

Caroline turned and looked at L and smiled slowly, “Careful L, you’re on the verge of sounding romantic.”

L ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated grunt. Caroline rose an eye-brow at his frustration and he said, “That’s exactly it! That’s exactly what I’m trying to do and I don’t know how!”

L fell silent and he felt his cheeks redden as Caroline turned towards him on the couch. He watched her as she tucked her legs under her and leaned forward on her knees. He didn’t really know what to expect from her after his outburst, she was silent and he wished that she would just say something. Caroline stuck her hand out and rested her cool palm lightly on his cheek, which he felt redden even more. She leaned closer to him and his breath started to quicken. Just inches away she looked him in he eyes and whispered, “You’re doing a wonderful job.”

Then she closed the gap between them and pressed her lips against his.

L was elated, dumbfounded and nervous instantly and all at once. He wasn’t used to feeling such emotions and was trying to figure out how to sort them and how to keep Caroline’s soft lips against his at the same time. Caroline seemed to sense what he was feeling and pulled back a few inches and smiled at him. “L, it’s okay... turn your mind off and just relax.”

And so, he relaxed.

It was humorous to him that the second he turned his brain off, he seemed to know just what to do. He angled his body towards hers and brought his hand to the base of her skull and cradled her head. Caroline tilted her head sideways slightly and she parted her lips slightly and deepend the kiss. He could feel his heartbeat quicken and Caro-line’s breathing become erratic as his kisses lowered and he began kissing her neck. He slid his hands down her arms and was holding her waist as she was pushing her hands through his hair.

And then, his phone rang.

L tried to ignore it, he really did but Caroline was the one that pulled back. For the first time since he had met her she looked shy. Her face was flushed and her eyes were cloudy with passion. He couldn’t think of a single thing that was more beautiful than her. She smiled and said, “Don’t you think you should answer that?”

L wanted to throw the damned thing out the window and never look at it again, in-stead he took her hand and squeezed her fingers and said, “I’m sorry, duty calls.”

L flipped the phone open and said, “Yes?”

“L. We have a situation that needs your attention.”

L was really thinking twice about throwing the phone out the window. “Watari, is it such an urgent matter that it cannot wait until tomorrow morning?”

Caroline giggled and whispered to him, “It’s okay, it’s your job, I’ll still be here when you get back.”

L smiled shyly at her and was about to say something back when Watari interrupted him, “L? Is that Caroline? It’s 2 in the morning.”

L quickly interrupted the older man, “I’ll be right down.” L hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket. He stood up from the couch and turned back to look at Caroline who was smiling up at him. “I’m sorry.”

Caroline stood with him and put her arm through his and guided him towards the door, “It’s okay L, I understand.”

L opened the door and turned back to look at Caroline, he was unsure of where they stood and what to do next. He thought that he should kiss her goodbye but after their bout of passion his bravery had diminished.

Apparently Caroline was getting used to reading L’s expressions because she laughed and said, “This is the part where you kiss me goodnight and then we lay awake for hours thinking about each other.” L laughed and he swiftly brought his lips down to hers. He grabbed her hand and squeezed the fingers lightly. He pulled back a few inches and whispered, “Goodnight Caroline.”

Caroline smiled up at him and said, “Goodnight L, good luck with the case.”

L turned to leave but after taking a few steps he turned back to her and said, “You know, Beauty and the Beast may be my new favorite movie.” He turned around and started down the hall before he caught her expression, but he could hear her musical laughter until he disappeared down the staircase.

Chapter 6

“So he’s calling himself Kira? How juvenile.”

L took a small sip of his overly sweetened coffee. He smirked at the image of Car-oline blanching at it’s taste as she prefers her coffee black. L shook his head to clear out the thoughts of Caroline and focus on the case at hand.

Watari rose an eyebrow at the young man who was currently staring at a list of crim-inals killed by the so called ‘kira’ and smiling like a lunatic. “L are you even listening to me?”

L continued to sip his coffee and look at the list of criminals in front of him, “Yes of course. 23 criminals have died of heart attacks in the last two weeks, all seemed in perfect health before hand and just dropped dead.”

“What exactly were you doing with Miss. Caroline at 2am in the morning?”

L immediately snapped his head up and stared at Watari, the older man supressed a chuckle at the younger man. “We were watching a movie, this is hardly the time to be discussing such things Watari.”

Watari nodded his head, “I agree, so I suggest you put thoughts of the young lady aside and concentrate on the case.”

L took another sip of his coffee and silently agreed with Watari, people were dying and he needed to focus. “There is a link here.”

Watari pulled up all the information that he had on the case and showed him what each case had in common. “They’re all criminals, they all died between the hours of 5pm and 2am, and they all were located in Japan.”

L brought him thumb to his lips and thought hard, after a few moments he began mumbling to himself. “There has to be something else, this so called ‘kira’ is claiming that he had a hand in these people’s deaths but there’s no way that he could have been present for all of them. Autopsies have shown that there was no sign of poison or any type of foul play, they just died from a heart attack.” L looked up at Watari and more clearly stated, “How is it that 23 people drop dead of heart attacks in a span of two weeks? This Kira person has to be telling the truth about these wild claims. Someone is responsible, and anyone who has the audacity to give themselves a nickname certainly has the gumption to publically announce that he’s responsible.”

Watari rubbed his chin and ran through all the facts. “There is something we are miss-ing, there is a link somewhere.”

There was a knock at the door and Watari turned to answer it, L was far to focused with the problem of finding the missing link.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep and I knew that you were down here working. I brought you all some cake and fresh coffee.” L turned around to see Caroline in the doorway with Watari. L could see that Watari was trying to get Caroline to leave, probably before he noticed it so she wouldn’t throw him off track.

“It’s okay Watari, let her in. She will constantly be on my mind anyway so I might as well learn to multi-task.”

Watari sighed and Caroline flushed deeply much to L’s delight and amusement. Caro-line sat on the couch opposite L and served him a slice of cake and poured his and Wa-tari’s coffee. L watched her out of the corner of his eye and she looked up and smirked, “Don’t get used to this, You’re both just lucky it’s too late to play the violin or that’s where I would be with this cake right now.”

“You play the violin as well?” L asked.

Caroline nodded and stole a piece of his cake, “Among other things. What’s the case about?”

L glanced at Watari and he shrugged. He decided that it wouldn’t hurt her to know about the case. Kira was widely known in Japan already, it was only a matter of time before she heard of it anyway. L filled her in on the case thinking she would eventually grow bored but with each passing minute she was getting more and more interested.

“So there is a link we are missing here, may I see the list of victims.”

Watari handed her the list and she ran over it. “So these dates next to their names are the dates they had the heart attacks I presume?”

L nodded his head and watched in facination as Caroline concentrated hard on the list of names. There was something familiar about them and she wanted to find the clue, she wanted to be of some assistance rather than the gopher who fetched coffee and donuts. After a few minutes she realized she had heard some of the names on the list and something clicked. “L, Watari, I think I have someting. I need a computer.” Watari quickly handed her a laptop and she pulled up a popular Japanese news site. “I have a great interest in pop culture around the world. Sometimes a news article will catch my eye and I will read it and keep clicking through and before I know it I’m reading about something completely different. Last week I was reading about his guy,” she pointed to one of the names on the list and L nodded his head urging her to go on. “He was a serial killer in Japan. He killed 4 women and 6 children. Then I started reading about more Japanese offenders.” She pointed to another name and said, “This guy was incarcerated on petty theft. Nothing near as serious as murder, the cases are seemingly unrelated.”

L was fascinated watching her work. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. He could tell that she was on to something and the adrenaline was coursing through her body flushing her face and causing her breathing to quicken. He knew the feeling all to well, he had felt it an hour ago when he was in her room.

She continued to scroll through the site and began checking off names on the victim list. After a few minutes she looked up at L and Watari and smiled brilliantly. “I found the link. All of these people were criminals that were featured on the news. Every single one of them had their name and face on display and what they were being incarcerat-ed for on television.” Caroline handed the computer to L and pointed out to him and Watari where each criminal’s name and mugshot was located. All were posted within the last two weeks. “There are other criminal’s names here but there isn’t a mugshot so there’s another piece of the Kira puzzle.”

L wasn’t looking at the computer anymore, he was staring at her in shock. “Kira needs a name and a face to kill. All of these people’s names and faces were made public. He needs the face, that’s why only the ones with mugshots were killed.” L shared a look with Watari and then he turned back to Caroline, “Caroline you are absolutely aston-ishing. Never has anyone been able to pass me up on deduction skills. I’m actually in shock.”

Caroline rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee as she handed the list of victims back to Watari. “Whatever, I just spent a little too much time on the internet, it was sheer luck.”

L shook his head and moved closer to Caroline, “luck or not you just made an im-portant breakthrough in an important case, you continue to surprise me at almost every turn.”

Watari cleared his throat and Caroline jumped back from L and flushed lightly. “Right, so what are we going to do to find the bastard?”

L smiled and looked from Caroline to Watari, “Actually, I have an idea. We are going to have to hack into the Japanese television network.”

Caroline clapped her hands together and smiled, “Wow, this is so much better than Beauty and the Beast.”

Chapter 7

“I was hoping that I would find you out here.”

Caroline looked up from her book and shielded her eyes to see the person stand-ing in front of her. She smiled at her uncle. “Hello Uncle Roger.” Roger smiled at her and said, “Care for a walk?”

Caroline laughed, “For you Uncle Roger? Anything.” She rolled out of the hammock and out of the shade of the tree she was reading under and slipped her hand through the arm her uncle was offering. “It’s a beautiful day to be outside isn’t it?”

Roger nodded as he steered them through the grounds. “England’s weather is quite strange. Weeks ago it was 16 degrees outside and now it’s a warm 75.”

Caroline nodded and said, “I find that I’m rather fond of warmer weather. I enjoy the feeling of warm grass under my feet and the sun on my shoulders.”

Roger nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, you two are quite different aren’t you.”

Caroline sent a knowing smile to her uncle, “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to bring that up.”

Much to his chagrin Roger felt his cheeks redden. “Well with my brother being gone I just feel like I need to look after you.”

Caroline patted Roger’s shoulder and said, “I assure you that you are doing a marvel-ous job. You are the one that gave me this amazing opportunity. There is nothing I like more than being able to wake up in the morning and give lessons on vocals, the piano, all of the things that I love. I love the children and the house and the gardens. I found something here that’s always been missing.” She smiled at her uncle’s gaze and said, “and no I’m not talking about L. I wasn’t looking for him, he just stumbled into my music room,” she said with a smile.

“I just want you to be careful Caroline. L is completely different from anyone I’ve ever encountered. He won’t let anything come between him and the cases he works on. He will close himself off in Watari’s study for days and no one will see heads or tails of him. He often up and leaves for other countries at the drop of a hat and doesn’t come home for months. L is a dark human being where you are bright like sunshine, I look at you both and I see night and day.”

Caroline listened to everything that Roger said and took it all in stride. “You’re right Uncle Roger. He is different from anyone I’ve ever met. I know he will go on cases, as he should. He’s the greatest detective in the world and he has an obligation to fill. And

you’re right, he is dark while I am light. But if the sun were to die the world wouldn’t be able to survive and if the light didn’t give way to the darkness we would never rest. So one cannot exist without the other don’t you think?”

Roger steered Caroline back to her hammock and laughed a full laugh, “Leave it to you to make it poetic. You are a smart woman, I trust your judgment. Just know that I love you and care for you as if you were my own.”

Caroline felt her heart swell with happiness. She grabbed her uncle and brought him into a strong hug. “I love you very much, you are the most important person in my life now. You know that.”

“I also have something else I want to talk to you about.” Roger stated as Caroline lay back in her hammock.

“If this is about the birds and the bees I will remind you that I am 25 and attended sex education.” Caroline stated blandly.

“What… um… no, that’s not it at all. You are a grown… woman, after all.” Caroline wanted to laugh at her uncle’s obvious discomfort.

Caroline patted her uncle’s hand and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll send you an invitation to the baby shower.”

“Caroline!” Her uncle exclaimed loudly making the various students in the garden to look his way.

Caroline laughed and shushed him, “I’m only kidding! We’ve only kissed one time.”

Her uncle Roger cleared his throat and straightened his jacket. “Right. Well, now that we have that covered. I wanted to speak with you about the Kira case.”

That peaked Caroline’s interest. “Have they broadcasted L’s message yet?”

Roger shook his head. “No, not yet. I heard that you had a hand in helping to figure out how Kira’s, shall we say… powers work.”

Caroline sighed, “Don’t tell me that L is still going on about that. I just stumbled across something on the internet a week ago and I happened to recognize a few names. It was sheer coincidence.”

“L has said that you desire to help with the case,” Roger stated.

Caroline nodded her head, “Yes. I rather enjoyed the thrill of it, and it’s enthralling to see L in his element. He’s just so,” Caroline paused a moment, trying to think of the best way to desribe him while he was working. “Intense I think is the best word for it. He’s a genius as I know you all know, but to see it in action is really an amazing thing.”

Roger sighed, “I was afraid of that. Caroline I know that you are a grown woman but I don’t want you to get caught up in this case. Of all the cases L has dealt with this one is probably the most serious. People are dropping dead left and right and I’m afraid for what could happen to L when the broadcast airs, and what could happen to you if you

get involved.”

“I don’t plan on jumping into the thick of it Uncle Roger, but I want to help if I can. If there is anything I can do I can’t promise you that I won’t do it.” Caroline stated plainly.

Roger sighed again and placed a comforting arm on Caroline’s shoulder. She smiled back at him and he said, “You are definitely my brother’s daughter, not a scared bone in your body. You’re a brave woman and I can’t tell you what to do, just make sure that whatever you do you remember to be careful.”

Caroline placed her hand on top of Roger’s and said, “You can count on it Uncle Roger.”

“So Kira? Why don’t you kill me. Go ahead, try it... Just as I suspected. You can’t kill me because you need not only a name, but a face. I will find you Kira. Justice will prevail.”

L turned off the microphone and pushed it away from him with a deep breath. Since he was still alive he confirmed their suspicions that Kira needed a face to kill. “So I guess we were right.”

Watari nodded his head, “So how long do you think we have before Miss. Caroline comes storming in here.”

L smirked, “Well. I’m about 94% positive that there is a slight lag on the laptop she’s watching Japan’s broadcast from so I would say in about 2 minutes or so.”

L sat back and took a sip of his overly sweetened tea and a bite of Caroline’s delicious strawberry shortcake and awaited the hurricane. Shortly after he heard a door slam and the pounding of feet on the stairs. L looked at the time and mumbled, “Hmm, I was a little off on my calculations. It only took a minute and a...”

“What in the name of all that is Holy did you THINK you were DOING L?” L didn’t get a chance to finish his sentance and was rather annoyed that even though he was expecting the door to slam open he wasn’t expecting the whole room to shake. In his surprise he dropped his piece of cake on the floor.

He scowled down at it and said, “Well that was a waste.”

Caroline stomped over to him and took the plate out of his hand and threw it on the desk, “I’m sorry but I don’t give a damn about your stupid cake, now I will ask you again: WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

L looked up at her and saw that her eyes were blazing. Her usual pale as porcelain skin was covered in angry red splotches and her breathing was heavy and erratic. “Well I was trying to eat a piece of cake. You look quite angry with me, when you’re angry your eyes are the most alluring shade of deep emerald.”

Caroline slowly stood back and took a deep breath. “L, I am way past mad. I am thermo-nuclear, and you scared the ever living shit out of me. I thought I was going to come in here and find you dead!”

L continued to stare at her wide-eyed, “Well we have proven that your theory is cor-rect. Kira needs a face to kill.”

Caroline huffed at him and threw herself into the chair across from L. “I don’t care, I hate you right now.” Watari chuckled but quickly disguised his chortle as a cough when Caroline sent him a death glare. “You owe me a damn violin by the way.”

L knit his brows together in confusion, “Pardon?”

Caroline rose an eyebrow and said, “I was playing my violin and listening to the broadcast. Imagine my surprise when I hear you challenge Kira to kill you on the spot. I dropped my violin and the neck snapped clean in half.”

L frowned and said, “I assure you, frightening you was not my intention. I will of course replace the violin.”

Caroline gave an angry grunt and quickly jumped out of the chair and stalked to the door. “Forget it, I don’t care about the stupid violin. Just catch the bastard and don’t get yourself killed along the way or I’ll be really mad.”

Watari and L flinched as Caroline slammed the door. L looked at Watari and said, “Well, that went better than I expected.”

Watari chuckled and said, “Indeed. If Kira didn’t kill you I was certain that she would.”

Chapter 8

Caroline felt utterly exhausted as she drug herself up the stairs at the end of a busy day. She had spent quite a few late nights with L and Watari helping any way that she could on the Kira case while continuing her classes with the students.

She had just wrapped up a piano lesson with a very impatient student. ‘You have to learn to walk before you can run, Mello.’ She chuckled to herself at the ‘hmpf’ she received from one of her more difficult students. Mello was a nice kid, but he lacked the patience to become a true pianist, he wanted to fly before he even gave his wings a chance to grow.

It was only 6 in the evening, but Caroline felt like it was past midnight. She remem-bered seeing the dark circles that were beginning to appear when she washed her face that morning and sent a silent ‘I’m sorry’ to L and Watari in her head. She was going to have to sit out tonight’s investigation and get some rest. Now she knew why L con-stantly had dark circles under his eyes, she always went to bed before him and he was always up eating breakfast in the morning while she was still wiping the sleep from her eyes.

She got to her room and paused before opening the door. She always kept her door closed and this evening it was cracked open. She shrugged it off and pushed the door open, it was possible Emily had come looking for her. She smiled to herself, ever since the younger girl’s confession she spent almost every waking moment asking for les-sons. Caroline had to admire the girl’s tenacity. She was going to go places.

Much to Caroline’s surprise she pushed open the door to find a large box sitting on her bed. Completely forgetting about her fatigue she hurried to the bed to open the mystery box. On top was a small card that only said ‘For you’. She smiled and pulled off the top and immediately gasped. Lying in the box was a beautiful violin lain in rich mahogany. She carefully pulled it out and cradled it in her arms, instantly knowing it could only be from one person. She slowly turned it over to gaze at her newest prize possession and gasped when she saw the maker’s signature, she immediately put it back in the case before she dropped it.

“Do you like it?”

Caroline jumped at the soft voice from the door and turned around to see L standing there nervously scratching the back of his head and staring at her. “L you big idiot, I cannot accept this!”

L knitted his brows in confusion. “Why not?”

Caroline continued to stare at L like he was a crazed baboon, “L, this is a Giovanni Maggini made violin. Not only is it hundreds of years old, it’s in perfect mint condition like it was made yesterday. I know this cost more than this entire orphanage is probably

worth.”

L moved into the room and sat down on her couch and continued to stare at her. “You said I owed you a violin.”

Caroline had to fight the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. “I was only joking! I didn’t mean for you to buy me anything, much less something of this value!”

“I know how much it cost Caroline, I was the one who purchased it. You haven’t an-swered my question, do you like it?” L sounded annoyed and Caroline frowned at him.

She looked down at the violin and ran her fingers on the smooth lacquered wood. She softly said, “Honesty it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on.”

L nodded and smiled slightly, obviously satisfied by her answer. “I want you to have it, please accept it.”

Caroline looked over at him and took it all in. L, with his messy black hair and wide dark eyes, his endless supply of long white shirts and dark jeans. She thought about all of his quirks: the way he sits, the way he speaks, his genius mind and appetite only for sweets. She thought about the way he kissed her, shy at first but quickly finding his bearings. She thought about the way that he hated to be touched by anyone, yet he could touch her now without even a thought. She felt that she barely knew anything about him, yet she felt like she had known him a thousand years.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to refuse anything that he asked of her. She smiled and sat next to him on the couch, she grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him in for a sweet kiss, “I accept, and I graciously thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don’t deserve it, but because you asked I will take it.”

L placed his hand over hers that still rested on his cheek, “You deserve everything.”

Caroline felt so silly at that moment. She was so happy she felt like she wanted to cry, “I thought you said that you didn’t know how to be romantic?”

L decided to take his chance and leaned in to kiss her again. Her thoughts complete-ly went to mush as she felt his lips open slightly to deepen their kiss. He pulled back slightly and grinned at her, “Isn’t it comical that we always end up kissing on this couch?” Caroline flushed and laughed with him. L pulled back from her and said, “I would love to hear you play.”

Caroline smiled and ran over to her new violin. She ran her fingers over the strings and smiled down at it, it honestly was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. “Any special requests?”

L was thoughtful for a moment and then said, “Amazing Grace. It’s the song you were playing on the piano when I first met you.”

Caroline glanced over at him as she set the violin to her shoulder. “Again, you’re being quite the romantic.”

L nodded his head, “Yes. I read up on it. And I find that you naturally bring it out of me.”

Caroline tossed her head back and laughed, “You studied romanticism? L, you are a true character. Truly one of a kind, in the best way possible.”

L sat back as she tested the violin’s tune and began the song. He became transfixed after only a few notes. He watched her as she let the music flow through her. When she was playing she commanded the room, there was no possible way to not pay attention to her. She could be standing among 100 violinists and he would still be able to pick her out with his eyes closed.

L sat and stared at her for a few moments after she finished the song. She was smiling broadly and her face was flushed and bright with the happiness the music brought her. “I’ve never had a chance to play on such a fine instrument. I feel I won’t be able to ever let it out of my sight.”

L smiled at her joke, but quickly his smile fell. “I am leaving for Japan tomorrow.”

L dismally watched as Caroline’s smile quickly fell. “Oh? Yes, because of the Kira case.” Caroline stated quietly.

L nodded his head. “I can’t continue the investigation here any longer. I am going to have to partner with Japanese task force and continue the investigation there. This monster has to be stopped.”

Caroline delicately placed the violin back in its case and moved the box off of her bed. She sat down and crossed her legs and looked back at L with a troubled expression. “I understand.”

L suddenly felt helpless. He never had to tell anyone goodbye before, at least not someone that he honestly cared for and who in turn cared for him. Caroline’s eyes soft-ened and L flushed, realizing he had voiced his thoughts to her unintentionally. “This is not goodbye forever L. I will be here when you come back.”

L nodded his head even though he had his doubts. He knew that he would have to go above and beyond to catch Kira. He was not your average criminal. He already had his suspicions and knew that the saying keep your friends close and your enemy’s closer was doomed to come true for him. He was going to have to get very close to Kira to catch him, and if he wasn’t careful he could end up paying the ultimate price.

Caroline’s hand on his arm brought him out of his thoughts. She ran her fingers down his arm and grabbed his hand, pulling him upward off the couch. He looked down at her and she smiled sadly at him. “L, I know I won’t see you for a while. Will you stay with me tonight?”

L’s eyes widened at her request, knowing her intent and he found himself powerless to deny her.

Chapter 9

It was a strange thing for L, not knowing what to do or how to act. He could not lie to himself, he had spent many nights lately imagining being with Caroline this way. Yet here he stood, completely dumbfounded on what to do next.

Here he was, standing alone with her in her room. The lights were low, the house was quiet for the night. She was standing there in her flowy purple dress with a shy smile on her lips that was echoed in her brilliant green eyes. He didn’t know how he had gotten so lucky to win her attention. She was like bright sunshine, and he was like the dark side of the moon. You wouldn’t think that you could find two people that were more different.

But were they really all that different, he wondered? They were two lonely people who had a bone-deep desire to help people. Both of them were so talented and so good at what they did that they made it their life’s work. No, he thought. They really weren’t all that different.

Perhaps that was why he fell in love with her.

L took a deep breath and realized that he just wanted her, any way that he could have her. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, testing the waters if you will. He looked into her eyes and she looked up into his adoringly. She stepped closer to him and let her hands rest on his chest. L reached behind her head and pulled the flowers out of the loose twist that her hair was tied up into. He studied the delicate pale pink petals.

“They’re camellias,” she whispered. “They were my grandmother’s favorite.”

L smiled at her as he placed the flowers safely on her nightstand. “I don’t believe I could ever look at another flower again and not think of you.”

Caroline smiled and said, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

L turned back to her and began pulling the pins that secured her hair and her eyes closed at the gentle touch, “As you should.” Her hair began to fall and tumbled down into soft auburn waves. He let his fingers comb through it. “One of the first things I no-ticed about you was all this hair. I liked looking at it, but I love touching it even more.”

Caroline laughed lightly, “I was thinking about cutting it off.”

L pulled back and said, “I changed my mind. I’ll return the violin.” Caroline laughed a full laugh and grabbed L by the neck and pulled him down till his lips crashed on hers.

She fell back on her bed and he tumbled down with her. They spent the night together

sharing awkward firsts but quickly they found their way. Both exploring each other’s bodies and learning more about the other person than they could have ever imagined. After their bout of passion they would lay awake, talking about anything and every-thing and then the process would repeat. It was something they both knew they would treasure for the rest of their lives, not only their passion but the company of being with someone that you had no secrets from. Knowing that there was someone that knew ev-erything about you was something they both held dear to their hearts as the night gave way to the dawn.

They never slept, yet L and Caroline had never felt so refreshed as the sun began to rise. Caroline sat up bring the sheets with her to cover her chest. She turned to L with a smile on her lips and reached over to smooth down his unruly hair. L laughed as he caught her and kissed her temple. “This is not the goodbye that I anticipated, but it is much more welcomed.”

Caroline pulled away from him and looked up at him with sad eyes. “I suppose there is no way to convince you that I should come along?”

If it had been any other case L would have jumped at the suggestion, but this was not just any other case. “It would be far too dangerous Caroline. I’m going to be meeting with the Japanese task force personally, they have to be able to trust me so I’m going to reveal myself to them.”

Caroline gasped, “You can’t do that! How do you know that you can trust them? This could spell out your doom L!”

L kissed her temple again, “I don’t know that I can trust them, I’m about 87% sure the people who are on the task force are trustworthy. I also suspect that Kira is one of them or someone close to them. If Kira is one of them, I will be able to find out immediately through a series of interviews, but that is unlikely. I believe it’s someone close to the task force.”

Caroline gasped, “I understand now. You are going to have to get close to Kira to re-veal him or her. You won’t be able to do it from afar. Whoever is doing this is extremely smart and won’t easily be catched.” She smiled slightly, “It’s a good thing that you are far smarter than anyone who commits murder under some false pretense that it’s for the good of mankind.”

L had just finished closing the lid on his suitcase when Watari met him at the door, “Are you ready L?

L sighed and nodded his head as the older man grabbed his suitcase. He took one last look around his room before he started down the stairs. Halfway down the notes from the piano in the music room below him began to reach his ears and he couldn’t help but smile.

When they got to the bottom of the stairs Watari smiled at the younger man, “I will bring the car around. I’ll be sure to take my time.”

L nodded his head, “Thank you Watari.”

L rounded the corner of the hallway and made his way into the music room. He couldn’t help the sense of deja vu as he watched her at the piano. Her eyes were closed as they always were when she was playing. Bare feet and a flowy dress with flowers in her hair, playing the same song as she was on the day when he first laid eyes on her: Amazing Grace.

He moved into the room and sat on the piano seat next to him. Though she never opened her eyes her smiled widened, knowing that L was there with her. “This has be-come my favorite song to play. I believe you have something to do with it.”

L chuckled softly as she finished the last few notes of the song, “Funny how I was thinking the same thing.”

Caroline opened her eyes and turned to look at L. “It’s time for you to leave,” she stat-ed. Not a question, she already knew the answer. L nodded his head and stood, offering her his hand. She took it and stood with him. “I will not tell you goodbye, because this isn’t goodbye. I will see you again soon.” She stated earnestly.

L nodded his head, he hoped with everything in him that this was the truth. At this point he wasn’t so sure anymore but he pushed the thought away, he would not let his last moments with Caroline be colored so darkly. “You will.”

Caroline kept his hand in hers and walked with him through the entry way and down the walkway to the gate where the car was waiting for him. She turned towards him and smiled her most radiant smile and pulled him down to meet her lips in a long kiss. She pulled after a long moment and whispered, “Just remember that while you’re in Japan. I will be waiting for you.”

L nodded his head and smiled at her. “I love you Caroline, you know that don’t you?”

Caroline let out the breath she was holding and threw herself into his arms, “I had hoped, I love you too you know.”

If L believed in such things he would have sworn his heart had swelled in his chest. “Yes.” He said quietly, “I know.”

Caroline pulled away from him and he kissed her temple softly. He opened the door to the car and Caroline turned back to the gate. “Just so you know, if I think that you are in any type of danger I will be on the first flight to Japan.”

L laughed as he got into the backseat of the car, “I wouldn’t doubt you for a minute. I’ll see you soon Caroline.”

Caroline smiled sadly and blew him a kiss as he closed the door to the car. Watari pulled away from the curb and he sat back once they rounded the corner and Caroline was out of sight. As he let his arms rest at his sides he felt something soft brush his fin-gertips. He couldn’t help the grin that spread on his face, unfazed by Watari’s watchful eyes as he picked up the bouquet of flowers.

They were all different types, colors and sizes, but they were all lillies.

Chapter 10

“You are doing everything in your power to find a believable reason to go to Japan aren’t you?”

Caroline jumped and slammed down the screen on her laptop. She let out a shaky laugh and said, “Uncle Roger, must you creep up on me like that?” Caroline glanced over at the time and winced. “What are you doing awake anyway? It’s

3 in the morning.”

Roger smiled at her and said, “You know I could ask you the same thing, and you’re avoiding my question.”

Caroline turned back to the computer and sighed. She opened it back up and said, “You caught me.”

Roger wanted to laugh as he looked at the screen and saw that she was looking up flight tickets to Japan. “You know you can’t just leave and go to Japan. You have no idea where L is staying and you also know he wouldn’t tell you. It’s far too dangerous for you to be there.”

Caroline sighed and put her head in her hands. “You know that I love him, don’t you?”

Roger smiled sadly and sat next to her on the couch. He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and squeezed lightly, “Yes. It’s rather obvious between the two of you.”

Caroline smiled and began to play with her fingers nervously. She jumped up from the couch and began pacing the room. Roger furrowed his brow at her, this was not like her at all. “Uncle Roger I have a terrible feeling that something bad is going to happen. Every week that passes it gets stronger and stronger.”

“It’s very normal to fret over L’s well-being, he’s in the heart of the most important investigation of his life. He’s going to take risks, but you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing.”

Caroline turned and faced Roger, he was alarmed to see that she had tears in her eyes. He knew Caroline, and he knew that she never cried. “But did you know that he sus-pects the chief of the task force’s son? Not only that but he went so far as to pose as a student at the university to watch him. He’s even asked him to join the investigation! His chief suspect is next to him every day!”

Roger knew all of these things, but he wondered how Caroline knew for L specifically asked him to keep this information between them and not leak anything to Caroline.

“How do you know all this?”

Caroline immediately flushed and looked at the ground. “Well, before he left L sort of taught me how to hack into things, so I kind of hacked into your e-mail…” Caroline trailed off at the end of the sentence and looked at her uncle warily.

To her surprise Roger chuckled, “I should have known that there was no way he would be able to keep you in the dark. You are far too smart for your own good. Have you told him you know?”

Caroline shook her head. “I plan on telling him when I land in Japan.”

“Caroline, I really don’t think…” Roger started.

Suddenly she felt angry. She was tired of being told to stay put by everyone. She was left to sit in the dark and hide behind her piano while the men ran off to war. It wasn’t fair, she knew that she had helped L a great deal before he left for Japan. She knew something bad was going to happen, and she wouldn’t sit back and be told no anymore.

Roger watched as Caroline’s face turned red and her tears quickly dried. She looked over at Roger and he could swear her eyes were almost black with anger. “I’m going. I will find him, and I will help him, that’s final. No one will stop me. If something hap-pens to him while I’m sitting here playing my piano without a care in the world I will never forgive myself.”

Roger sighed. “Once again, you prove to me that you are my brother’s daughter.” Roger pulled a sheet of paper out of the printer and a pen off of the desk and began writ-ing something. He stood and walked to where Caroline was fuming. “And I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I stopped you and something happened to him and you were able to stop it.” Roger grabbed her hand and placed the piece of paper in her palm and closed her fingers over it. “This is the address to the hotel in Japan.” Roger placed his other hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly, “The only reason I’m telling you is because I have the upmost amount of respect and faith in L. He wouldn’t ever let any-thing happen to you, even if it meant his own life.”

Caroline pulled Roger down into a hug and let out the breath she had been holding for what felt like forever. “It won’t come down to that. I won’t let it. We will both be coming home when this is over. I guarantee it.”

The task force had long since left, yet L was still wide awake. As he was reviewing notes on the case he smiled as he came across many with Caroline’s delicate script scrawled all over the pages. He hadn’t seen her in three weeks, and as cliché as it sounded those weeks had been the longest of his life.

Even though he could only logically put down about 24%, he was more than certain that Light Yagami was Kira. To him the young man made it obvious, L’s only problem was coming up with the proof. He was three weeks in, spent almost all of his time with the boy and still he was no closer to solving the case.

What L needed was a break, a distraction if you will and he knew the one he wanted.

He smiled to himself as he pulled out his phone to call Caroline. He frowned when he noticed in England it was well past 4 in the morning, much too late to phone her. He toyed with the idea of leaving her a voicemail when his phone rang.

He was surprised to see Caroline’s number on the screen but quickly accepted it. “What are you doing awake?” He asked suspiciously.

He heard Caroline’s laugh through the speaker and calmed instantly. “I’m sorry for disturbing you father.”

L smiled and said, “I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting a call from you at this hour.”

L could practically hear Caroline’s smile. “Yes, well I figured now would be a good time for me to call you. I figured all of the investigators would have left by now.”

“You are correct.” L stated plainly.

“Well that’s good, because I could use a hand with my bags.” Caroline stated.

L immediately sat up in the chair and his eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I must have mis-understood. What did you say again?”

L heard a muffled crackling and had to laugh at the ‘oh shit’ Caroline let slip out that sounded far away from the phone. “Sorry, I dropped my phone. Never mind about the help, I got myself into the elevator.”

L stood up and started pacing. “Caroline, where are you?”

Caroline laughed nervously, “It depends. Are you in a good mood or a foul mood?”

L stopped pacing and ran a hand over his face. “That depends on where you are.”

“Oh, well in that case I’m at home in bed… naked.” Caroline paused, “What kind of mood does that put you in?”

L let out the breath that he was holding and chuckled softly. “That puts me in a rather sour mood, knowing that you are so far away from me in such a state and I am not there with you.”

Caroline laughed and said, “Well that’s good then, you will be quite happy to know that I am in fact much closer than you believe.”

L sighed and walked into the entry way of his suite. “I was afraid of that.”

Caroline smiled to herself as she exited the elevator on L’s floor. She was certain now that he wouldn’t be angry with her. Maybe a little peeved, but she could deal with peeved. She walked up to his door and laughed into the receiver, “Perhaps you shouldn’t have taught me to hack before you left. I happen to have learned all of the little details in the case that you conveniently left out of our conversations but shared freely with Roger.” L was silent over the line and Caroline smiled triumphantly, know-ing she had outsmarted him. “No need to beat yourself up over it. You should probably come open the door, you know it’s not polite to keep a lady waiting.”

Caroline laughed at the muffled ‘damn it’ she heard before L cut the line and opened the door.

Chapter 11

“Okay, so how do I look?”

L looked over to where Caroline stood and rose an eyebrow, “Caroline, what in the world are you doing, and why are you wearing glasses?”

Caroline waved his comment off and twirled around to show him her new look. “Now Ryuzaki, my name is no longer Caroline. I am Abby, short for Abigail and Abby wears glasses.”

L wanted to laugh at her but didn’t dare. “You know you don’t have to put on your charade when it’s just you and I right? And what on Earth did you do to your hair?”

Caroline smiled and skipped over to the large hallway mirror to get a good look at her new look. She was wearing a pair of brown framed glasses and a pair of khaki shorts with an oversized brown sweater and tan ballet flats. She had spent a few agonizing hours flat ironing her natural waves till they were pin straight. “I straightened it. It took entirely too long, I don’t know how women do this every day. I should have just dyed it.”

L stood up from the chair he was seated in and moved towards Caroline, “You’ll do no such thing. And those bottoms you’re wearing are far too short.”

Caroline looked above her reflection in the mirror and smiled at L’s disapproving stare. “Yes Ryuzaki, Abby prefers short shorts. Her legs look rather nice don’t they?”

L found his gaze traveling to her legs and shook his head before he let his mind wan-der too far. “That’s beside the point. Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far? Using an alias would suffice. I’ve already had Watari go to the trouble of erasing all of your legal documents and replace them with your fake ones.” L frowned and added, “which he wouldn’t have had to do in the first place if you would have stayed in En-gland.”

Caroline sighed and dramatically collapsed into a nearby chair. “L, you’re killing my vibe here. I’m sure you’re well aware that I teach an acting class at Wammy’s, I happen to be an actress you know. “ Caroline looked over at L and continued, “And nonsesne. Watari was pleased to see me.”

L rolled his eyes, “You shouldn’t be here.”

Caroline rose her eyebrows at him and said, “Hmm, that’s not what you were saying last night as I recall.”

L blushed as he thought about the very late night they had last night. “Caroline be serious here.”

Caroline’s expression softened and she held out a hand to L. L grabbed it and tugged it lightly untill she stood next to him. “L, I know you would rather have me tucked safe-ly away in the music room back in England but I’m where I know that I need to be now. I know you’ve said before that you don’t believe in intuition but isn’t it your intuition that’s telling you that Light Yagami is Kira?”

L rubbed his hands down her arms and sighed. “Light Yagami is Kira. I know he is.”

“That’s exactly my point, you know he is Kira yet you have no proof, that’s your intuition talking. My intuition was screaming at me to come here. I don’t know why I need to be here yet, but there’s a reason,” Caroline explained.

L sighed and decided to just admit defeat. She was here now and there was no chang-ing that. He wouldn’t in a million years give her the satisfaction of knowing that her being there was putting him in a much better mood. Not only that, but now that she was here in the heart of the investigation he was more determined than ever to catch Kira to keep her safe. L smiled down at Caroline ans said, “Okay Abby, whats your cover story?”

Caroline broke out in her brilliant smile and said, “I’m one of your successors that you’ve called in to help with the investigation.”

Caroline moved into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. L followed her and said, “That’s believable.” L grabbed two cups from the cabinet and sighed. “Well I guess we better start going through all the notes I have so you’ll be well versed.” He looked over at the clock above the stove and winced. “We’ve got three hours before the others arrive. We better get started.”

“This is Abby. She’s worked with me on cases before, we trained together. “You may also know her as Deneuve.”

Much to L’s surprise Caroline didn’t even bat an eye as he changed her cover story without warning. She had no idea who Deneuve was or why all the men in the room gasped, but she played along beautifully. She passed his first test.

“Hello gentlemen,” she greeted warmly.

“You mean to tell me that she, a woman, is the third greatest detective in the world? I don’t believe it.”

Caroline looked over at the man she knew was called Aizawa and spoke loudly, “Are you meaning to tell me that Ryuzaki has chosen to trust you but you do not trust his word? He has told you all who he is, so what reason would he have to lie?” Caroline narrowed her eyes and continued in a lower voice. “And yes. I am quite obviously a woman. Shall we move on to more important things like catching the serial killer who has now killed hundreds of people? Or would you rather question my sex some more?”

All of the men were silent and L had to fight the urge to grab her in front of everyone

and kiss her senseless. She really was a brilliant actress. Not only did he know she had never even heard the name Deneuve but that it was in fact one of L’s own aliases... much less that Deneuve was the third greatest detective in the world.

“Now that we have determined that I am indeed a female, shall we discuss the second Kira theory?” Caroline asked.

All of the men settled down and took their various placed among the sitting room. When she was sure that no one was looking Caroline shot L a look that said, ‘we will discuss this later.’ She took her place in a chair and took a good look around the room to study all of the investigators. She didn’t let her eyes linger over Light Yagami though she was dying to pick him apart. From the few glances she sent his way she determined he was extremely handsome, if you were into that sort of thing. He was that perfect prep-school pretty that usually came with some sort of stuck-up attitude. She decided to file that information away in her head and move on to L’s theory.

“What’s your take on the second Kira Abby?”

Caroline was surprised to hear the question directed at her from Light. She learned from L that he was very new to the investigation, today was his first official meeting with the task force. “I agree with Ryuzaki. I believe there is another Kira who has dif-ferent powers from the first. I also have an idea on how to draw him or her out.”

L’s head snapped towards Caroline. This was not something that he was aware of. “What is your suggestion Abby?”

Caroline smiled at him and the rest of the men, “You need to send the second Kira a message. This person obviously is trying to get the originial Kira’a attention.” She paused waiting for someone to catch on. When the men continued to stare at her she continued, “So give it to him. Pose as Kira and send out a broadcast challenging the second Kira, maybe he or she will respond. If we are lucky, maybe even slip up and reveal some information.”

The room was quiet for a moment and L was the first one to speak up. He stared at her intensely, “That’s a brilliant idea.” The men all started talking about a strategy for the broadcast but L had tuned them out for the moment, “I’m glad that you came on the case Abby,” he said quietly so only she would hear.

“Yes, this is where I’m supposed to be.” She replied warmly.

Chapter 12

L ran a hand weerily over his face and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He felt that he looked older, even more tired than usual if that was even possible. His perpetual dark circles were even more pronounced. His pale skin was even more

sallow. He wasn’t much of a sleeper to begin with, but he was only running on a few hours a night and it was beginning to catch up with him.

He remembered the men on the task force’s faces as they left for the day. The weari-ness was beginning to catch up with all of them. Even Caroline, who L knew loved her ‘beauty rest’ was on a sleeping schedule very similar to his. He smiled at the thought as he changed into a fresh pair of clothes. She spent every waking moment pouring over case files, surveillance videos, anything Kira related she could get her hands on. She was determined to pull her weight in the investigation. She refused breaks when offered them, ate barely anything and spent the day wired on caffeine. It wasn’t good for any of them, but there was little else they could do until Kira was caught.

L walked over to the large garden tub and remembered how Caroline had squealed in delight over it. Wammy’s bathrooms consisted of only showers and she had longed for a bath for ages. When she first arrived in Japan she made sure she made time for a long soak at least once a day, but latey she had been neglecting the tub for a quick shower so she could get back to the case sooner. L bent down and turned the knobs to fill the tub with hot water and poured a liberal amount of the bubble bath in that he knew she preferred.

As he waited for the tub to fill L thought that if they every caught Kira and put this case behind them, he would make sure she had the largest tub he could find.

L turned off the water once the tub was filled and went in search of Caroline. She was in the sitting room, watching surveillance videos of the square that Light and Matsuda had gone to in search of the second Kira. “Caroline?” Caroline was far too focused on the tapes she was watching to pay attention to L. L walked up behind her and squeezed her shoulders gently. The amount of tension he found there worried him. “You’ve re-viewed these tapes hundreds of times love, don’t you think it’s time for a break?”

If Caroline heard him she made no move to answer his question. “L, don’t you think it’s strange that Light never mentioned his girlfriend to anyone before the second Kira video? Not even his own family knew about Misa until after the second Kira surfaced. She’s a complete twit and worships the ground that Light Yagami walks on. If she isn’t the second Kira then I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.”

L laughed at her comment and began to massage her shoulders. “We are currently waiting on the DNA analysis to come back from the packaging the tapes were sent in.

We can nail her with being the second Kira if it comes back a match. You’re right, she isn’t very bright. Though I won’t celebrate until we have both Kira’s under lock and key.”

Caroline sat back and groaned softly in pleasure from L’s massage. “I know. Maybe I can befriend Misa and get her to confide in me. She’s so obsessed with Light it’s sicken-ing. We know that Light has been seen with multiple girls, maybe I can use that to our advantage. She seems like she would be the jealous type, I wouldn’t want to cross her.”

“That is something to worry about at another time, right now you’re going to have a bath.” L stated.

Caroline spun her chair around and looked up at L questioningly. “A bath? I don’t have time for a bath.”

L sighed and grabbed her hands and tugged her up till she was standing in front of him. “You need to rest, we both do. These late nights are only hindering the investiga-tion. If you don’t give your brain time to recoup then we will never catch Kira.”

Caroline looked at L questioningly. “Since when does L, ‘the greatest detective on Earth’ take breaks?”

L walked towards the bathroom and pulled her along with him. “I’ve never been on a case of this magnitude. I didn’t realize a break was needed till I thought about you.”

Caroline snorted as she followed L into the bathroom. “Is that a polite way of saying I look like crap?”

L turned to Caroline and lifted her shirt above her head. “Caroline, you couldn’t possibly ever look anything less than beautiful.” L put his hands on Caroline’s waist and turned her until they were both looking at their reflections in the mirror. “But look at you,” he stated, “You’re too thin. You’ve lost a lot of weight in the last couple of weeks.” He brought his fingers up to her cheek. “And you are starting to get bags un-der your eyes.” L smirked at her and said, “If you aren’t careful you’re going to start looking like me.”

Caroline sighed and turned around to face L. “I can’t say that would bother me too much, seeing as how you are the most perfect looking man on the planet in my eyes.”

L smiled down at her and kissed her softly. “Get in the tub love, then you will eat a full meal and we will get a full 8 hours of rest.”

Caroline laughed and finished undressing. “A full meal probably wouldn’t kill you either L. And I’m not so sure I even know how to sleep a full 8 hours anymore.”

L watched Caroline as she eased herself into the tub with a satisfactory smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept a full 8 hours, but for you I will try.”

Caroline let her eyes close as she relaxed in the softly scented bubbles. She sighed contently and said, “Darling you can be quite the poet.”

L crouched down next to the tub and trailed the back of his fingers along her soft cheek. “When we finish this case and Kira is locked safely behind bars, I am going to get you the biggest tub that money can buy.”

Caroline opened one of her eyes to look over at L, “I’m not sure there is a place in Wammy’s that will accommodate such a thing.”

L smiled down at her, “Well, I guess we will have to find somewhere other than Wam-my’s to live then.”

Caroline sat up in the tub. “L, are you proposing we move in together?”

“Isn’t that what we are doing now?” L asked.

“Well, yes.” Caroline said slowly, “But you are proposing we make this arrangement permanent?”

L scratched the back of his head nervously, “Well if you object...”

Caroline cut L off by snaking her hand around the pack of his head and pulling his lips to hers in a deep kiss. “Of course I don’t object you big idiot.” Caroline felt L relax against her and kiss her passionately. “You should probably just go ahead and get in the tub with me. I don’t think we will make it to the bedroom.”

L grinned and shrugged out of his shirt, “Your wish is my command my love.”

Chapter 13

“Ryuzaki, we’ve recieved the DNA comparison.”

L picked his head up from the article he was reading, “Yes, what’s the verdict Aizawa?”

Caroline rose a brow as Aizawa smiled, perhaps the first real smile she had ever seen from the man. “It’s a perfect match. Misa Amane was no doubt the person who mailed in the Kira tape.”

Caroline looked over at L whose expression remained completely passive. Caroline wanted to shake him, this was a huge step forward for them. “Ryuzaki, is this enough to bring her in?”

L looked over at Caroline and nodded his head, “Yes, I do believe we have enough evidence to arrest Miss. Amane.”

“What’s the plan?” Chief Yagami asked the room.

Caroline watched as all eyes focused on L. L brought him thumb to his lips as he thought about the best way to bring her in. “I think we should do it somewhere public when Light is around. I want to gauge his reaction on her arrest.”

“You aren’t still on about my son being Kira are you Ryuzaki?” Yagami protested.

L looked over at him expressionlessly, “He is not cleared of my suspicion, no.”

Caroline decided now would be a good time to interrupt before an argument broke out. Mr. Yagami protested his son’s innocence at any chance he got. He would not back down from L if this was allowed to get out of hand. Chief Yagami opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Caroline, “Light is at school right now, we could make our move now. We have to hurry and do it soon before someone else gets killed.”

Yagami looked over at Caroline and said, “You’re right Abby. I have a plan.”

“So I heard you touched Misa’s butt before she was arrested.” Caroline casually men-tioned to L.

Days after Misa was arrested they were alone in the surveillance room watching the live feed of the room where she was confined. She was strapped to a verticle board. Every part of her was tied up so she couldn’t move, her eyes were covered as a precau-tion. They left her mouth uncovered so she could speak, which was something she was unwilling to do as of yet.

L smiled slightly and looked over at Caroline. “I can assure you that I did not enjoy it.”

Caroline smirked at him and turned her attention back to the feed. She sighed slightly, “Are you sure this is the best way to go about this? I feel like it’s just short of torture.”

L frowned and said, “I’m not sure of any better way to handle this. We know nothing of the Kira powers. All we know about her is that she can kill remotely and without a name. That could spell danger for us all.”

Caroline shook her head. “I don’t understand, she’s seen all of us. She knows we are working on the Kira investigation, why are we all still alive?”

L shook his head. “Hopefully she will give us the answers we need.”

Caroline took a seat in one of the chairs and looked over at L. “I hope so, though it’s been three days, I’m not so sure.” She looked over at L and quietly said, “I’ve been thinking about the Kira tapes. Remember how the second Kira mentioned ‘shinigami eyes?’ Do you really think that Gods of Death exist and that this is how they get their powers?”

L visibly shivered. “The shinigami are based on legends.”

“Yes, but aren’t legends based on truths?” Caroline pushed. L turned back too view the feed and didn’t answer her question. Caroline sighed and reached for her coffee. She took a sip and then began another approach, “Did you notice Light’s reaction when they arrested Misa? Or should I say lack of a reaction.”

L huffed and said, “Yes. Lack of a reaction is right. He makes his distaste for Misa quite obvious doesn’t he?”

Caroline nodded but remained silent. After a few moments of silence she abruptly stood up. “I’m going to talk to her.”

L snapped his head in Caroline’s direction as she moved towards the door. “What are you going to say to her?”

Caroline shook her head and called back to him, “I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

Caroline moved out of the suite and down the hall to the room where Misa was con-fined. They were getting nowhere with her being locked up like this. She wouldn’t speak to anyone that went in the room. This was her last ditch effort to try and get her to speak. She still had one ace up her sleeve that she was saving for a rainy day. As she walked in the room where Misa was suspended she thought that today it must be pouring.

Caroline walked in slowly and quietly began speaking, “Hello Misa, it’s Abigail.”

Misa’s head jerked in the direction of Caroline but kept her mouth shut. Caroline continued, “I know that you don’t want to be locked up like this, and I can make it stop if you’ll just be willing to talk.” Caroline paused, still nothing from Misa. “I know that you worship Kira. He murdered the man that killed your parents didn’t he? So to him you are grateful.”

L watched from the control room and nearly dropped his coffee at Caroline’s words. It all made sense, she worshiped Kira for killing her parents murderer. She worshiped Light because he is Kira.

Caroline watched as she saw tears escape under her bound eyes. “I understand why you would feel this way. My parents were killed by a drunk driver 5 years ago. The driver got off on a technicality and is now free to do as he pleases. He recently got mar-ried and has a two year old son.”

Caroline took a deep breath to steady herself. “He’s a murderer and he should have been locked up for his entire life for the two lives that he ripped away all because of a bottle. Instead he is leading the life that my parents should have led. I hate him for what he’s done, but I still do not wish death upon him. Murder is wrong Misa, what Kira is doing... it is wrong.”

Caroline had to do a double take but she could swear that Misa’s lips were moving. She moved closer to her and sure enough she was mumbling something. “Misa? What is it?”

L jumped up and pulled the microphone to him, “What is she saying Abby?”

Caroline shook her head, “I don’t know, she said something about ‘relinquishing’ something. That’s all I caught.” She turned back to Misa and spoke quietly to her, “Misa? What are you trying to say?”

Misa began thrashing violently and Caroline stepped back out of the way. She started sobbing and said, “Stalker? Can you please let me down? I have to go to the bathroom!”

Caroline looked back at the camera that she knew L was watching from the surveil-lance room. Her look of confusion matched the one that L was wearing while staring at the pair through the monitor.

Caroline left the room and joined L back in the surveillance room. The other task force members and Light were all crowded around the monitor watching the tapes. “I don’t understand.” Caroline stated plainly.

All the men turned around to look at her as she walked back in. Aizawa looked back at the tapes and said, “she’s acting completely different. Before she wouldn’t even speak, now she’s going on about a stalker.”

“L?”

Everyone’s eyes turned around to where Light was standing. His eyes were wide and he was staring at the floor. “Yes Light?” L asked.

“I think... I think that I may be Kira.”

Chapter 14

“I wish to be confined. It’s the only way to prive my innocence or my guilt.” Light said quietly.

Caroline was sure that L was feeling the same way that she was. This was a com-pletely unforseen turn of events. Caroline turned her stare to the younger boy. ‘what are you playing at Light Yagami?’

“Son, this is completely ridiculous. You can’t throw yourself into confinement.” Chief Yagami tried to reason with his son.

Light shook his head and gave his father a determined look. “I have to do this Dad. I have to know...” Light trailed off.

L brought his thumb to his lips and continued to stare at Light. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Watari, prepare a cell. Light Yagami wishes to be con-fined.” L didn’t wait for a reply before he hung up the phone. “If you wish to be con-fined, then so be it.”

Light was taken away and Caroline turned towards his father, knowing this couldn’t be easy on him. “Mr. Yagami, perhaps you would like to take a couple of days to spend with your family?”

Cheid Yagami shook his head at her request. “Ryuzaki. I wish to be connfined too.”

Caroline answered before L had a chance, “Mr. Yagami this will solve nothing.”

“I cannot sit here and watch my son be imprisoned!” Mr Yagami yelled before he stalked out the room to follow his son and the other investigators.

Caroline turned to L with a confused expression on her face. “Please tell me that I’m just an idiot and can’t catch on to what’s happening. Please tell me that you know ex-actly what’s going on.”

L quietly phoned Watari to inform him that two cells should be prepared. He turned towards Caroline and shook his head at her. He switched the monitors to the cell that Light was being placed in and sighed. “You are not an idiot and I have no idea what’s going on.”

Caroline slid down the wall she was leaning against and sat with her head in her hands. “What does Light think he’s doing? He’s voluntarily imprisoning himself. He’s either a genius or a complete imbecile.”

L turned back towards the monitors and said, “Light planned this. I’m not sure of

what his intentions are but there’s no doubt about it. Light did this for a reason, it’s all part of his plan to throw us off his trail.”

It had been weeks and the killings had completely stopped from the moment that Light was imprisoned. Caroline’s mood was looking up, they were so close to being able to pin the title of Kira to Light’s record.

L was not as easily convinced as she. Yes, the killings had stopped but it had all been too easy. Something was amiss and L was sure that it would present itself shortly.

Aizawa was currently on surveillance duty, L was upstairs taking a shower and Car-oline was making a fresh pot of coffee. Matsuda was in the kitchen behind her fixing a sandwich. “It looks like we have our guy doesn’t it Abby?”

Caroline grinned at Matsuda over the coffee pot. “Yes it appears that way doesn’t it?”

“What are you going to do when this is all over? You’re from England aren’t you?” Matsuda asked.

Caroline felt her face heat up, how did he know? “I’ll be going home, and yes to En-gland. How did you know?”

Matsuda grinned at her and said, “Your accent. I assume that Ryuzaki will go with you?”

Caroline let out the breath she was holding. She was being silly, based on her ac-cent it was obvious where she was from. Being around L was making her paranoid of everyone’s actions. Matsuda ws simply making small talk, not trying to grill her. She poured both of them a cup of coffee and she smiled. “Ryuzaki will be going his own way.” Technically she wasn’t lying, he would be going his way... it just so happened to be with her.

Matsuda offered her a sandwich that she accepted and he continued the conversation. “I had assumed that you two were, well... you know.”

Caroline laughed lightly at the slight flush on his cheeks. “We are not together Mat-suda.” Again, she wasn’t technically lying. They had never outlined the details of their relationship. They never gave it a title, so she was still being mostly truthful.

Before Matsuda could say anything else Caroline’s phone began ringing. She an-swered it quickly, “Hello?”

“Abby, it’s Aizawa. You might want to come in here, the killings have started again.”

Caroline didn’t even give herself a chance to fully digest the information before she felt her knees give out. Matsuda caught her just at L entered the kitchen. “What on Earth is going on here?”

Matsuda ignored L and helped Caroline to a chair. He pushed her hair out of her face and placed the back of his hand to her forehead. “Abigail, are you okay? You’re as pale as Ryuzaki.”

L shot Matsuda a look before he walked around the table to look at Caroline. Her face was completely devoid of color and her skin was calm and clammy under L’s touch. “Caroline, what’s happened?”

Matsuda went to the faucet to pour Caroline a drink of water. She quickly accepted it when he handed it to her. “Thank you Matsuda.” She took a sip and then sighed to herself. “I’m sorry, I think I just had so many emotions running through me that I just sort of lost my balance.” She looked up at the two men in front of her and said, “Aizawa just phoned me, the killings have started again.”

Without another word L turned and left the room immediately. Matsuda watched L and turned back to Caroline, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Go ahead and go with him, I’ll be along in a minute. I just have to catch my breath for a moment.” Caroline watched the man leave and then dropped her head into her hands.

Light and Misa were both under lock and key, neither of them were allowed out of their cells and both of the cells were completely bare. She couldn’t believe it. They all thought that they were moments away from solving the case and they were now thrown all the way back to square one. There just simply was no way that Light was Kira.

Caroline finished the glass of water before she got up and walked into the surveillance room. All of the men were crowded around the television that was describing the most recent murders. Caroline felt like she wanted to be sick, all this time they were so sure that Light was Kira, and now this.

“You have to set them free,” she said quietly.

L’s eyes didn’t leave the screen and he continued to chew on his thumb, “No, I’m not so sure that they’re innocent just yet.”

At that moment Caroline wasn’t sure of L was completely off his rocker or just a stubborn mule. “Ryuzaki, I know that we have Misa’s DNA on the tape envelopes, but you can’t nail her without a confession.” L continued to just stare at the screen, almost as if he wasn’t listening to Caroline, but she knew better. “And Light, he obviously can’t be Kira.”

Caroline walked closer to the men. Matsuda and Aizawa turned away from the tele-vision screen and were looking at L, waiting for direction. L continued to stare at the television with his usual wide-eyed stare and still said nothing. Caroline was starting to come unglued. “Ryuzaki! This is stupid. Can we please stop focusing so hard on Light and try to find out who Kira is? People are losing their lives and all you are doing is trying to pin the title on someone who is locked in a cell completely cut off from any-thing and everything!”

Ryuzaki kept his eyes on the television but pulled his phone from his pocket. He quickly placed a call. “Watari, I assume you know the killings have resumed again?” After a brief pause L continued on, “I need you to bring Chief Yagami in here. I have one last plan to try and drag Light’s confession out of him, but I’m going to need his

cooperation and help. I’m about to ask him to do something that will probably be very hard for him.” L cut the line and resumed chewing his thumb while staring at the tv.

Caroline was getting pissed. “You won’t let it go will you? What are you planning on doing?”

Finally, L turned towards her and said, “I’m going to have Mr. Yagami drive Light and Misa out of town and try to drag a confession out of him by holding a gun loaded with blanks to his head, more or less.”

Caroline was stunned, angry, and suddenly so very tired all at once. “You know that’s completely insane right?”

L shrugged his shoulders and said, “It may be a tad bit outlandish, yes. But I will do what I have to in order to catch Kira.”

“You’re serious aren’t you? You’re really going to ask a father to hold a gun to his son’s head, blanks or not, in hopes that his impending doom would force him to confess to save his life?” Caroline asked, completely bewildered.

L looked into her eyes and said, “Again, I will do what I have to in order to catch Kira.”

Caroline shook her head and walked to the stairs leading to her bedroom. “I’m sorry, I just can’t stand by and watch you ask Mr. Yagami to do this. This is too much for me.”

“Are you leaving the investigation Abby?” L asked her quietly.

“I don’t know.” Caroline answered truthfully. She left the room and went up the stairs without a backwards glance.

Chapter 15

L didn’t really have a fondness for people in general. He liked being alone. He liked doing things his way without any question or doubt. He had never cared how his actions affected anyone else because at the end of the day all he was

worried about was solving cases, any way that he saw fit. He didn’t like the unknown, he always felt secure with his actions until Caroline Lily Ruvie came into the picture.

He was standing outside of the door of the room that he had come to refer to as ‘their bedroom,’ though now he wasn’t sure if he was welcome anymore. Caroline was angry with him, that was something he was sure of. What he wasn’t sure of was how Caro-line dealt with her anger. Would she yell at him? Would she cry? Would she run away? Months ago when she first came to Japan he would have given anything for her to get on a plane and go back to England where it was safe, but now? He didn’t know the answer to that question. He would be lying if he said he wanted her to go, he was too selfish to deny that. He wanted her to stay, but the question was did she want to stay?

His thoughts were running rampant in his head. He started pacing in front of the bedroom door. Technically it was his bedroom, should he just walk in or knock? While he was weighing the pros and cons of tucking his tail between his legs and going back downstairs he heard a soft voice beyond the door. “You’ve been outside the door for over 5 minutes, just come inside.”

L took a deep breath and opened the door. Caroline was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed. She was staring at something that she was holding in her hands. L walked into the room and shut the door. When she didn’t look up he awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at her.

Finally Caroline looked up at L with her clear emerald eyes. “You’re wondering if I’m mad at you.”

L took a few steps closer to her and said, “Yes, the thought has crossed my mind a few thousand times the last few hours.”

Caroline smiled slightly and L relaxed a tiny bit. If she was smiling then logically she wasn’t about to scream at him. “This was my mother’s journal. I carry it with me wher-ever I go. I’ve continued writing in it where she left off.” Caroline looked up at him. She patted to a space on the bed next to her, beckoning L to join her. He walked over and sat next to her. “She was angry with my father on the day that they passed away.”

“Caroline, this isn’t necessary..” L started.

Caroline quickly cut him off, “No, this is important.” L nodded his head signaling her to continue. She looked down at the journal and said, “She wrote in here about how

angry she was. She said very mean, spiteful things.” Caroline looked up L and contin-ued. “I don’t know if she was angry with him when they were killed. I don’t know if they made things right between them. I like to think that they had apologized to one another and were joking and laughing and completely in love with one another when it happened, but I won’t ever know. I know it shouldn’t matter to me now, but it does.”

L wasn’t quite sure what to say. He never knew his parents. The only love he had ever felt was from her. He had never been angry with her, and didn’t know how to handle her being angry with him. It seems he was just as much at a loss as she was. “I’m sure that they made things right between each other. If your mother was anything like you, she wouldn’t be angry for long.”

Caroline chuckled lightly. “I’m not angry. I’m just realizing that I had this horrible misconception about detective work.” She sighed and said, “I guess I’ve just watched too much television. I glamorized the whole thing and then when the going gets tough, I copped out. I’m just a big wimp really.”

L rose and eyebrow at her. “Surely, you are mistaken.” When Caroline stared at him questioningly he continued, “You hopped on a plane and flew all the way to Japan on a feeling. You’ve spent countless hours poring over this investigation and just because something doesn’t sit right with you, you automatically think you’re a wimp? Where is the Caroline I know?”

Caroline chuckled lightly. “I have flaws like any other human being. I get angry, scared, sad, and happy like everyone else. I’m upset because I thought we were on the verge of closing this case and going home, and then we get thrown for a complete loop. I’m frustrated because I want it to be over and I want us to be able to move on with our lives.”

L looked down at her sadly, “There will always be cases Caroline. They are a part of me.”

Caroline stood up and started pacing in front of L. “I know L, but this is different and you know it. Every second that we are in Japan our lives are in danger. Most of the time you can stand behind a computer and close any case, you’ve never had to get this close before.”

L nodded his head, “Yes, you have a point.”

“I can’t possibly picture having to ask a father to let his son honestly believe, if even only for a second, that his father is about to kill him. Even if his son is a homicidal maniac, I just can’t sit by and watch it.” Caroline went on. “I know that you will do anything you have to do to catch Kira, I just don’t feel the same I guess.”

“I am desperate.” L stated quietly.

Caroline sat back down on the bed and was quiet for a moment. “I have spent the last few hours packing and unpacking my bags.”

“You’re leaving.” L said. He didn’t ask, for he was sure she had already made up her

mind. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears.

“I don’t know.” She said quietly. “That depends on you.” L said nothing, just contin-ued to stare at her. “Do you want me to stay?”

L stared at her. Hadn’t he just been asking himself the same question in the hallway minutes before? He could tell her to go and he knew that she would leave. She would be safe, but she would be heartbroken. “I’ve told myself for hours that it would be better if you left. You would be safe back home in England, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t want you to stay, at the root of it all I am just a selfish human being.”

Caroline tured towards L. “We are all selfish human beings when it comes down to it L.” After a moment of silence she continued, “Have you spoken with Mr. Yagami?”

L nodded his head. “Yes, he will be going along with the plan.”

Caroline walked over to the bed and sat next to L. “When?”

“Tomorrow evening. Everyone is taking off for the night.” L stated.

Caroline nodded her head. “I wanted to ask you something that I know you aren’t going to like.” L continued to stare at her and made no move to say anything so she continued, “I want to take Misa Amane out for lunch.”

L furrowed his brow, he did not understand where this was coming from. “Why on Earth would you want to do that?”

Caroline smiled slightly. “You’re going to have to trust me. I have a plan.”

The End...

Coming out soon, Sailor MoonThe Light of the Moon