-1A/N: Goddess, I love this song. It's called Victoriam Speramus and I have no clue what it means. But it sounds gorgeous. The cool part is that I have this song and the Death Note amv. You gotta love downloading. I was reading Once is Once on AFF.N and got this idea. (btw, if you get the chance, read Once is Once, because it is the best.) Read and review or zombies will attack. Also, the beginning is slightly similar to OIO, but that's all. So please don't think I have the intention of copying it, because I definitely don't. And I'm not sure how, but I'm pretty sure I'm butchering the time line. I warn you; this has spoilers for names and fates.

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be, thanks for reminding me. All music belongs to it's respective artists, all right reserved. Don't sue me.

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When all the lights go down
And when the final curtain falls
When there is nothing left to say

Eternity eventually will linger
Through abandoned halls
And leave us dark in disarray

One man's piece of mind
Might be another man's despair
In these so enigmatic times

When some pray for redemptions
I hope they redeem themselves through prayer
To each his own, this is your life

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Today was the day L had died. Or at least, it was the anniversary of the great event, which had taken place two years ago.

Age twenty-two, Light twirled a pen in his hand just as he had those four years ago when he had been eighteen, staring at the TV in his office. Being the Chief of Police, he had quite the office, with a lovely view. The fact that he was still secretly Kira, and better yet, accepted by the world, was a bonus. The four were all dead; L, Mello, Near, and Matt, and the small police force that had been resisting Kira had been disbanded. He had no clue, nor did he give a damn, where the rest of the task force had gone. He was Kira. He had won

"I'm hungry."

Light turned his head to stare at the shinigami Ryuk, who he could have sworn had just finished off a bundle of apples. "Really? For something that's dead, you sure eat a lot."

"I told you," Ryuk let his abnormally long arms hang down, cocking his head to the side like an owl, "it's an addiction."

Light glanced at the TV again, then at the clock. Well, it was 5:32 already. He stood and opened the door. "Aiko-san? I'm heading home for the day." He said as he brushed past her, not even bothering to look at the woman.

"Good day, Yagami-san!" she called, but he was already gone.

"Are you going to buy me some apples?" Ryuk asked, floating along behind him, staring hopefully at Light's head.

"Yes, of course." Light muttered. The shinigami's stare was eerily like that of a certain dead detective's. Ironic that L would - and had - stared at him for hours on end like the death god, when it had been Light playing the role. As quickly as possible, he ducked inside a small grocery store and snatched a few apples - all red, as they were Ryuk's favorite - and placed the money on the counter. The sales woman, around twenty-seven, gave him a fast once over - then did a double take while placing the money inside the cash register. Light threw her a pleasant smile when leaving, not for one moment feeling the warmth the look should have conveyed.

He held the three apples, cradled against his chest. He licked his lips as he walked through the park - green grass, cool damp air, it was probably going to rain - and threw one carelessly over his shoulder. He heard Ryuk attack it, the loud crunching, and then the demand for another.

Just as he raised the apple, he paused, and held it five inches from his face, thoughtful. Then Light took a bite, and tossed the last one behind him for Ryuk.

Tart, tangy, sweet flavors flooded over his tongue, his mouth watered, and he took another bite as he walked. He actually hadn't eaten an apple for a while, because they always went to Ryuk.

Something tiny hit the red skin, he looked up. They hit his cheeks, his lips. He had been right; it was raining. He took a few more large, hasty bites, and relinquished the half eaten apple to Ryuk.

He shot across the lawn, water seeping into the bottom of his slacks, and down the sidewalk. The citizens of Tokyo were fleeing from the rain like it would drown them, holding newspapers and hands over heads. Vague, then sharp flashes of memories long forgotten -

- the rain soaking there clothes -

- hands at his feet -

- his fingers drying black hair -

Light came to an abrupt halt, squeezed his eyes shut, and rubbed his temples. He leaned back against a brick building, watching as a car flew by, way over the speed limit. His head hurt, and he was going to catch cold out here, as the rain was coming down harder than ever.

Home. I was going home. Down the streets, through the door, and maybe to sleep.

Taking a deep breath, he straitened, squared his shoulders, and took a forceful, quick step forward. Something moved out from around the corner of the red wall.

Before he had a chance to think, he collided with it, momentarily shocked, then managed to save himself from hitting wet concrete, scraping his palm in the process. He lifted his head, speaking through surprise, "I'm so sor-" and the oops-my-fault-I'm-so-clumsy smile faded, "-ry…"

The young man shrugged, hands replaced in his pockets. "It's fine." He replied. His black, unruly, uncombed hair was dripping wet, just like that day, baggy blue jeans damp, white shirt see through and sticking and clinging to his frame, and where the hell were his shoes?

That apple had to have lodged itself in his esophagus, and Light had only noticed it until this very second.

"L!" He snapped, verbally lashing out without thought once he could speak.

The other, who had looked bored to death - what a stupid saying - suddenly snapped to attention with way more interest. "Do you know me?"

The correct question would have been 'do I know you?' not 'do you know me?'. And it should not have been asked with such curiosity. Instead of his mind running through a list of possibilities and outcomes, it seemed to have shut down. "I-I…Ryuzaki!" he burst out finally.

He looked surprised, and slightly confused. Rain drops rolled down and followed the curve of lips as he said, "no, my name is L. I know that for sure - it's L Lawliet."

Light's mouth opened without command, as he had obviously lost control of his facial muscles. He snapped it shut, glaring, grabbed L's thin wrist, and pulled his down the street. "That's your name! You can't just tell me your name!" Exasperation and a need for something - normal - something real - no, not real-

But he's dead.

Had he not been in complete shock, he would have been horrified (and perhaps a little amused) to know that the great L's name was really that. L Lawliet.

Light wrenched open the door after fumbling with the keys, flung the once dead now alive L inside, and slammed it shut.

"What is that?"

Light froze in the middle of his mad rampage, looking at L, who was pointing at…Light?

No. He was pointing past Light, at Ryuk.

And L had a curious, wide eyed look, as if he'd just seen a friendly ghost. Which technically wasn't far off the mark. If Light's terrific memory served correctly, L already knew what Ryuk was. Ignoring the question, however, he began an interrogation, because he needed to know what was going on.

"What's his name?" Referring to Ryuk.

"I don't know."

He held up his hand. "How many fingers?"

"Three."

"Who wrote the Inferno, and in what language originally?"

"Dante, Italian."

"What's your name?"

"L Lawliet."

Fate is sick and twisted. "What's my name?"

"I don't know."

Light tapped something into his phone, sitting across from L, who had taken that weird fetal type position, toes tapping the edge of the couch. "What's this?"

"…the word Kira."

A pause. "Anything else?"

"…are you asking for a font?"

Light snapped his phone shut, sighing. "And do you know who Kira is?"

L tipped his head back, staring intently at the ceiling. Abruptly, his gaze snapped back to Light. "Is Kira you?"

"…my name," he replied, because everything seemed…off, somehow, and lying directly to L seemed, for lack of a better word, wrong. Not the moralistic, it-is-not-right-to-lie wrong, but the there's-something-strange-going-on sort of wrong. "Is Yagami Light."

Something flashed behind the eyes, like L had caught something, and he peered at Light. "You avoided the question…Light-kun?"

Light nodded acceptance at the honorific. Ah. L was still L, it seemed. Extraordinarily intelligent, and able to spot a lie or even half lie a mile away. He didn't remember anything except his name, but he was still…well, annoying would be an excellent description. L was sitting with his legs curled up, nibbling on his nail in that absent, yet totally paying attention way of his. Still. And he was still his I-look-nineteen-but-don't-be-fooled…wait a minute.

Expression carefully neutral, Light needed to ask one more question, because he really couldn't help himself. "And how old are you?"

"What year is it?" L replied instead.

"…two thousand eight."

"Huh…well, that would make me twenty-seven, but I could have sworn I was twenty-five…"
Light halted in his act of instinctively leaning forward, every emotion he had been showing gone. He felt every ounce of blood drain from his face. "…what?" he fairly choked out. "You're what?" He was feeling an out of place sense of dread/horror, along with shock, and an insane inclination towards laughter. It really shouldn't have affected him this much, but it was just…so… he was three freaking years older than him! Ah, that felt better. Immediately every reaction was gone, save for the freakish blush that was covering his skin. Why in the hell was he blushing? Perhaps he was simply embarrassed. It just seemed odd, that L was older than him. Had always been older than him. Of course, Light had always assumed, but everyone had always spoken of them as though they were equals, and that had automatically diffused the age issue in his mind. Or maybe it was that he felt thrown off by it; not that it made a difference, he had won, after all. Excluding the fact that L was not, in fact, dead. He was just wandering around Tokyo without shoes. And without memory, it seemed.

Or maybe, now that he was really thinking about it, it was that he had been handcuffed to an older man for months on end.

Dread/horror/shock/laughter was slowly being replaced by another emotion; Light was feeling slightly disturbed.

Now he was really blushing, gods dammit all. "Oh." he said lamely, to fill the silence in which L watched him, probably silently laughing his ass off. If he had his memory and was faking amnesia.

Well, now what the fuck was he supposed to do? Kill L again? How? The Death Note was obvious, but if it didn't kill L before, there was really no reason why it should now. He could easily (well, maybe not easily, if L's kicks were anything to go by) kill L with his bare hands…or shoot him and say he had been a robber. Pictures began to form of him doing such a thing, and Light backed away from there immediately, the phantom sickness from when he had killed that biker outside the convenience store returning from all those years ago. Ryuk might now what had gone wrong, but he seriously doubted the shinigami would tell him if he did. He could always threaten him by cutting off his apple supply, but then Ryuk might kill him. Tricking the shinigami seemed much safer, although Light couldn't think of how at the moment.

First things first; he needed to establish a hypothesis as to what had happened.

The Death Note had not worked, and L had never died, and had simply disappeared/gone undercover…for two years. Next.

He had been knocked into another plane of existence instead of dying, which had wiped his memory clean, except for his name, age, and aversion to shoes. Which Light immediately dismissed.

Or, he had died and come back to life. He was solid, however, so that left out ghosts. Light peeked at L. He didn't look like a zombie…

Okay, now he was just being stupid.

"So, we're friends."

"Huh?" Light answered, quite stupidly.

"You let me call you '-kun'. That means you know me, and that also establishes a close bond…friends?" L asked, smiling slightly in that horridly child like way Light remembered.

"You always called me your friend." He admitted carefully. Running his fingers through his damp hair, he stood. "Tea?" he offered over his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen.

The once late raven haired twenty-five year old blinked at him. "Bring the sugar bowl?"

Feeling a reluctant smile tug at the corners of his mouth, Light answered. "Of course."

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A/N: Hahahahaha and so begins yet a second great story of DN slash by D.A.K. ::Ducks rocks:: Yeah, no worries; I am working on Heal Me and the Fire and Ice pieces as well. I finished the last book today (which I also started today) I had left of Amelia Atwater Rhodes; Shattered Mirror. I hope she writes another one…

Anyhow :yawn: it's 8:39 PM here. Must…keep…writing…I already know what lyrics to use! Now review and click that chapter two button!