It seemed like ages, but at last I was there. I put the bike in the garage, locked everything and sped up the stairs to Lewis' room.
"Lewis! Matt! Are you home?"
"Over here." I heard Matt's voice, tired, scared and defeated… It was the first time I'd heard such pain coming from him, my source of strength. It gave me a chill. I ran towards it. I opened the door and saw my eyes landed on Matt, who knelt beside the bed. On the bed lay Lewis, drenched in sweat, but at the same time shivering. He was very pale, paler even than his father had ever been. Still, I saw he was breathing, although not for long. I felt like breaking apart completely, but the very thought of my son laughing again kept me going.
"I don't know what to do… I know nothing of what's wrong with him…" Matt said, his goggles on the floor, his hands running through his hair. "All his symptoms contradict each other… I've checked him and it's insane! His body is…" he broke off. I could tell he was about to lose it.
"Calm down, Matt. I know what to do." I smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. For the first time, I was the strong one, while Matt was breaking down. Ordinarily, this would have scared me so much I would probably done something stupid. However, this time, the stakes were too high.
Lewis…
I recognized his symptoms. Once, when I'd overdone it at training with Mello, I had fainted. Later, he told me I was cold as ice but sweating uncontrollably, little by little losing colour. Mello had been sure I was about to die. Lewis… did he also have Sozoumeshi powers? Had he used them to save Matt back there? Was this even possible?"Come." I pulled Matt to the kitchen. "Help me."
I grabbed some oranges and told Matt to make orange juice. He gave me a puzzled look, but obeyed. I grabbed a glass and poured water on it. I put several spoonfuls of sugar inside and dissolved it.
"Take me the juice as soon as it's done." I ordered Matt, who nodded. I ran back to Lewis' room, drinking the sugary water in one gulp and knelt beside Lewis. I grabbed his wrists in my hands and began transferring my energy to him. Slowly, gently, trying to maintain the balance in his body.
"Come on, Lewis. Stay with me. Come on..." I kept on doing this until Matt came with the juice. I drank it fast and went back to transferring my energy to Lewis.
"I need more juice, Matt." I said. "Please make more."
"I'll need to go buy oranges. We don't have any left. I'll go as fast as I can."
"If you find any kind of instant protein solution, bring it too." I shouted after him.
Since Lewis needed energy, I was giving him mine, while I took simple carbohydrates, which are nutrients that provide energy and are absorbed easily by the body. Like this, I hoped my body would make more energy so I could give it to Lewis. I hoped this would work… and that this really was what was wrong with Lewis… But he looked just as Mello had described me that time, when I asked him later. That's why he kept giving me ice cream and sweets, since my body seemed to turn them very rapidly into energy. I didn't know if Lewis' would work that way, so I let my body do the converting and I just passed it to him. However, I could feel my battery was beginning to run low. My body wasn't absorbing fast enough. That worried me.
I sang to him as I worked hoping to bring him back to me. I got no response.
Matt came back and we alternated between glasses of different juices and protein.
"Come on, Kiddo. You don't want your mother to hit me, do you?" Matt asked Lewis playfully.
"Stop acting as if I'm some terrible person, because I'm not. I hit you only when you deserve it." I told Matt, smiling. Lewis always laughed when he heard us 'quarrel'. However, our voices were strained, there was an edge of panic in them that we simply couldn't hide.
Lewis…
We spent all night like this, singing to him, talking to him, and hoping. For a moment it seemed as if he had lost even more colour. His skin was almost transparent. I could barely keep from crying when I saw it. My dear baby boy was going to die. I couldn't save him… Matt began to give him juice in small spoonfuls and rubbing his neck to make it go down. He could see I was beginning to get exhausted. I kept talking to him, giving him juice, urging him to be strong. After a few hours, around dawn, the little light that remained in his face disappeared. I couldn't see him breathe any more.I began to really panic now. I concentrated more on giving him energy, and didn't feel Matt's hands until he had dragged me away from Lewis.
"Nilla, stop it… It's useless, and you're almost as pale as he is! You keep this up, you'll die, too!"
"Let me go, Matt! I'll give him the lasts of my energy even if it kills me!" I tried to shove him away, but he was too strong.
"He doesn't have a pulse anymore, Nilla…" He was hugging me tightly. "Face it… we've lost him…" Tears were falling down his face. "Please… don't…"
"He's not lost!" I interrupted. "He's right here! Let me…"
"No!" He was holding me so tightly, he was hurting me. I did my best to get out of his grasp, but I was unable to. I didn't care if I had to give my life for Lewis, as long as he lived, and was happy, and grew up…
"Please… There's nothing you can do anymore… and if you die…" Matt's tears were falling on my hair, my neck. "I don't want to be alone… Please don't be foolish… Please don't abandon me…"
The pain in Matt's voice was terrible. How had it come to this? Why did I have to choose between my son and…
I looked at Lewis and gasped. He had some colour, although he was still pale, and the light of life was back to his face. What the hell had just happened?
"Mother?"
His eyes were open. He looked so weak, it seemed as if he was made of glass.
Matt let me go and ran to Lewis, getting there before I did.
"You idiot! What the fucking hell did you think you were doing? What kind of a goddamn…" He was hugging Lewis tightly, stroking his hair. It was at that moment that I really realized just how much Matt loved Lewis, and just how worried he'd been.
I joined them, sitting on the bed at Lewis' other side.
"Lewis!" I hugged him tightly, hissing him all over the face, the hair, his little hands, his arms, and lastly his little feet. He laughed.
"That tickles." he climbed onto my lap. "Uncle Matt! What was that swearing?"
"You gave me a real scare, kid." Matt smiled at him, and I could see the relief in his face. "You're the worst."
I hit Lewis' head gently. "I should kill you. You don't know how panicked I was when I saw you surrounded by thugs with guns on TV." I smiled at him. "What happened, anyway? What did you do?"
Lewis suddenly looked guilty.
"I… I have this sort of… ability… I hadn't told you about before…"
"I can see that. Spit it out."
Lewis sighed.
"You all go on and on about how smart I am, but whenever we're dealing with something important, you treat me like a complete idiot. You thought I wouldn't notice you were planning something, but I did! I knew about Takada, I knew about Light, I knew it all! You are not too smart about keeping this stuff secret." He'd seemed angry at first, then a smug expression came over his features. "However, I am pretty good at keeping secrets. Ever since I was little…"
"You're still little. You're only five." Matt pointed out. Lewis silenced him with an ugly look.
"Fine. Ever since I was younger, I realized I could create illusions. If I concentrated, I could make people see whatever I wanted them to see. It used a lot of energy, but I began to strengthen the ability and found ways to make myself strong enough to use it for greater periods of time. I became pretty good at it." Lewis smiled proudly, and I was glad to see no arrogance in him. He was just happy because of his accomplishments. "I didn't want to tell you about it… I thought you'd see me as a freak, or something… strange…" He looked at the floor.
"Lewis, we'd never think you are a freak, or that you are something strange." I kissed the tip of his nose. "We love you."
"I can see that now. I was foolish… But that was the way I felt at the moment. However, I heard you talk about the Sozoumeshi one day and asked Uncle Mello about it. He told me everything… And I felt a little better. However, I didn't tell him about my power." Lewis sighed. "Tonight, as I went out of the car, I was frustrated. I saw Uncle Matt was going to get killed, and that he was doing his best to save me… I wanted to save him too! So I created an illusion in all of the other guys' brains. They thought a Yakuza band was attacking them… they forgot about Uncle and me. But… as I was working on the illusion… I suddenly found myself in a field of silver and gold flowers. It was beautiful… the sun was shining on me, and a cool breeze seemed to caress my face. It was so peaceful…" Lewis was smiling. "I looked at my body and it seemed to be transparent, I was like a ghost. I could hear your voice, but it was fading. I saw a tree and a figure lying underneath it. I walked to him and saw instantly he was…"
He paused, and seemed hesitant.
"He was what?" I pressed on.
"He was Father. I met him there, Mother."
I didn't even blink. I just looked at Lewis, waiting for him to say it was all a joke, that he hadn't seen Lawliett, or that he had been dreaming, or something. This was crazy. He must have been imagining things. Yeah, that was it…
"How did you know it was Father?" I asked, swallowing hard.
"He looked a lot like me… and, also… I don't know, it was instinctive, Mother. I just knew it was him. He was sleeping under the tree. I just stood there, staring at him, wondering if I should wake him, when his eyes opened. He looked at me and blinked, then gasped. He sat up and asked me who I was. I told him I was Lawliett Jeevas, and I was his son. He got very red for a second, but then went pale again and I was sure I had imagined it. He asked me if you were my mother and I said yes. He seemed very shocked to find he had a son." Lewis laughed. "He had such a funny face. I sat under the tree beside him and we talked a little. He asked me about you, and if Kira had been caught yet. I answered his questions and asked some of my own. He said we were at Hiron, but didn't specify where that was. I couldn't get much more out of him. He's weird… but I liked him. He gave me some advice for when I became his successor. I began asking him something else, but suddenly he jumped up and told me to look at my hands. They looked solid, not ghostly any more. He grabbed me by the hand and ran with me back to the field. He gave me some directions and told me to go, or I would never be able to get back to you. As I was leaving, he gave me a message for you, Mother… he said you should hurry, that your time is almost up, and that he's waiting for you." Lewis finished.
"What did that mean?" Matt asked, puzzled.
"Nothing. No offence, Lewis, but I think you might have imagined that." I stroked his hair, hoping he wasn't mad because I didn't believe him. However, it was too fantastic…
"Father thought you'd probably say that, so he gave me this." Lewis reached into his pocket and took something out. Lavender flowers. "He said you'd understand, because that is where I came from. What did that mean?"
I was shocked the moment I saw them. I loved Lavender… in fact, the night before L died and I gave him the massage, the candles, the oil, everything, was lavender-scented… and, in a way, Lewis had certainly come from there… I just sat there, looking at Lewis in shock, the colour rising to my face. Gods…
It was real. It had to be real. The lavender was a very small detail, but one Ryuuzaki would have certainly noticed. I wondered about it.
"Mother, I'm tired… do you mind if I sleep some more?" Lewis asked, yawning. I shook my head no, and kissed him as he got inside the covers. In a second he was asleep. Matt and I went out of the room.
"What was that?" Matt asked, puzzled, rubbing his temples. He looked exhausted.
"I don't know… It is too much to digest… However, I didn't know… I'd never imagined… that Lewis would have Sozoumeshi powers… It feels so…" I yawned. "Matt, let's also get some sleep. We can think about this tomorrow."