Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters. They belong to Ooba Tsugumi-sensei and Obata Takeshi-sensei. I am not making any money from it either so please do not sue.

Notes: This is set at the end of the manga, right after Light died.

This story is dedicated to Xue for being such a wonderful friend and our common love for Death Note!

For The Love Of Chocolates

"When we got there, the place had been cleared of all evidence. We found nothing at all. Nothing except for this," The stout-looking man reported to the silver-haired adolescent lying on the floor.

Near tilted his head up for a better look at the object in his subordinate's hands. Squinting slightly, he reached out hand imperiously in demand for the item. The man surrendered the item wordlessly.

Near brought the object down in front of his face to have a better look. A quick smell at it told him that it was a bar of chocolate. Mello's favorite chocolate. Near turned the chocolate bar over quizzically.

"Nothing else was found?"

"No, sir."

"…It's all right then."

Once again dropping his eyes onto the chocolate bar in his hands, Near made to get up. The other SDK members asked where he was going, but he only ordered that none of them follow him. With that, Nate River walked out of the SDK headquarters with the chocolate bar in hand.

He was not aware of where he was going. He only followed where his feet took him. When he looked up, he had arrived at the old abandoned church. Unbidden, his feet had taken him to Mello's place of death subconsciously.

The place had been burned beyond recognition. It was abandoned and left to decay before. Now, it looked even worse. The great fire that consumed all that was within. Crumbling walls, falling tiles, helpless humans, melting chocolate. Once again, Near looked down at the chocolate in his hand. He wondered if Mello had been eating chocolate when he died. He would have died a happy death then.

"We've caught Kira. The shinigami had Yagami Light's name written in the Death Note. L was right. Justice will always triumph in the end. We've won, Mello," Near silently proclaimed to the now empty plot of land without any change in his expression.

He lifted the bar of chocolate in his hand. He sniffed at it carefully. He took one more look at the empty piece of land where the church used to stand. Shrugging his shoulders, he bent forward to gently place the bar of chocolate on the ground. The silver-haired genius then straightened himself and turned to return to where he came from. He only took five steps when he paused in his gait.

Near turned around slowly. He retraced the five steps he had taken earlier. Tilting his head to one side, he slowly lowered himself and settled on the floor. He continued gazing at the chocolate bar, completely fascinated. Cautiously stretching forth one hand, he inched his way towards the innocent looking chocolate bar lying on the ground.

Picking it up unhurriedly Near carefully turned it over in his hands and observed the enthralling object most closely. Bringing it nearer to his face, he warily sniffed at it once again. Closing his eyes for a moment to appreciate the aroma, Near decided that a chocolate was a chocolate. Opening vibrant orbs, he carefully unwrapped the wrapper around the chocolate.

When he finally saw the chocolate, the genius drew back his head to once again observe the most interesting artifact in his hands. The silver-haired boy slipped out a tongue to lightly lick the surface of the chocolate. Drawing his brows together in a sign of curiosity, Near carefully took a small bite of the chocolate bar.

It was sweet. Much sweeter than Near had thought. Sweeter than what he was used to. He did not like the taste of it. He did not like it one bit. The chocolate was sweet. It was sweetly bitter.

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, the silver-haired youth took another bite before turning to return to the headquarters. Feasting on his newly found treasure, Near made the slow journey home without a backward glance.

-Owari-

FuumaKamui: Hope everyone enjoyed it! This is my first DN fanfic. I hope I have them in character! Please R&R ne?