Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note~

but I kinda sometimes wish I did. ^_^

A/N: For convenience's sake, we're going to jump ahead to episode 23, where L and Light are chasing Higuchi - the Yotsuba Kira - in the helicopter.

Simply think of this chapter as a sort of catcher-upper. I don't like having to write this part, because it seems like I'm just writing down everything that's going on in the anime. It's so... confining. Almost impossible to put in any kind of original thoughts, but I think I may have managed it. After all, it's not as if I could go without putting this part in the story at all.

"It's Over"

"I didn't realize you could pilot a helicopter... that's incredible," Light commented with a little laugh in his voice. It was almost comical for some reason, to sit next to Ryuzaki and watch him do all these things that he himself couldn't do. To watch that same guy, the one he'd scuffled with and worked with, the same guy he saw every day, the guy who wore those pink strawberry pajamas and took bubble baths in the evenings... well, it was just a little hard for Light to convince himself that this was that same guy. Comical yes, certainly a little amusing, but somehow also... it sent shivers up his spine. To see that guy so... serious. Sure, L was risking his life every day that he was on the Kira case, simply because he was finally showing his face to just that little piece of the world, but really, Light had never seen him actually in the action like this. In fact, he hadn't been sure before if Ryuzaki could handle it. And that's why, seeing him so much a natural at it, it made Light feel... strong. A sudden urge of hope was there. They were really doing this. They were about to catch Kira.

Maybe, it was true, that he had been right and this Higuchi character was not the original Kira. No, there was no other explanation for it. This Kira was not the same one that the task force had been chasing before. But... they could always ask Higuchi how he had inherited his power. Then that should give them enough of an idea on how to go after the real, original Kira, shouldn't it? And without a doubt, Light would be proven innocent. Then, to Ryuzaki, he could just be Light Yagami, and no longer the suspected Kira. And it would also be a great relief to himself as well. In truth, as much as he didn't want to think about it, to even consider it, Light had had his fair share of doubt ever since being set free from that prison cell. No, even then, while in containment. Maybe even before...? But that was why he had asked to be locked up in the first place wasn't it? What if... what if he was the original Kira?

Oh, there was no time for all this now. They were in the action. The excitement. The adrenaline. They were chasing Kira now. Would this all be over so soon? He was happy, and yet somehow regretful that he would have to be parting from his new sort of family and his new sort of home so soon. Still....

When the news came that Light's father had been shot, the chills spread throughout his entire body. Fright, and then anger. At least, his father was alright. First a heart attack, and now this, all because of Kira. He just couldn't be Kira, he just couldn't be! Not putting his own father in danger... for the chance to be seen as a "god." That, truly, was immature, as Ryuzaki said.

It was a little funny, again, when Ryuzaki handed Light the gun. Just by the way he held it... you could tell that L was not used to holding a gun. Briefly Light wondered how amusing it would be to see L aim and fire it. More than anything, L seemed like the kind of person who would just play with it, spinning it around in his hands or something rather than using it as an actual weapon. Anyway, Light refused the gun. There was no need for him to have a thing like that, and it was against the law. Yes, it did sound like something his father would say, didn't it? Because that was the way his father had raised him. There would be no need to kill.... Light would never kill anybody. Would he?

Aizawa was there. He had had a road block set up, cutting off this Kira's escape. He was the only one who would do such a thing, after all. Light and L had told the police not to get involved, but there they were. Watari shot one of the wheels of Higuchi's car, and it slammed into a guardrail, shattering the front seat window. Cop cars closed in around him.

Higuchi had nowhere left to run.

"It's over," Light said in amazement. Really, had it all come to this? Was the Kira case finally coming to a close? How long had it been again, since Kira had appeared in this world? Was this really it, here and now?

"Yes," L agreed firmly. "It's over."

WHAT IT MEANS... TO REMEMBER

"Notebook?"

"You probably won't believe me, but I've got a special notebook. If I write someone's name it in while thinking of their face, that person dies."

"Mr. Yagami?"

"Yeah, I found it," Light's father's voice sounded through the headset. "It was in one of the compartments of Higuchi's bag. He has written a lot of names in it, but there doesn't seem to be anything else unusual about it." A strange thing happened then. Higuchi's car wasn't far off from the helicopter in which Light Yagami and L were sitting, but Light wasn't really paying attention. He and L were listening closely to what Soichiro was saying, but neither of them looked up until Light's father started screaming. What in the world was wrong with him? "What is it, Mr. Yagami?"

"It's... a monster!" he cried, sprawled out on the pavement and pointing.

Light watched as L told Soichiro to calm down, evenly reminding the man that he wasn't armed to defend himself. It was a lucky thing. If he had in fact been armed, it could have been bad. What if he'd accidentally shot someone? Obviously he was hallucinating. Did it have something to do with the fact that he had been shot? Light had never found out where he had been shot at, as a matter of fact. Was he in any pain? He was saying that he could see a monster... and L was somehow convinced that a shinigami of all things was involved. Hadn't it been L who had fallen out of his chair screaming when the second Kira mentioned a shinigami in one of the tapes sent to Sakura TV? Why was he suddenly so bent on believing that all this was the work of something like a shinigami - a god of death?

Then, Light and L watched in amazement as Mogi picked up the notebook, and turned to look in the direction in which Light's father had been pointing. Then, he too began to scream. "Mogi, what's wrong?" Light demanded through the headset. He refused to believe that this was the work of a god of death. It was just impossible, wasn't it? Everybody knew - gods of death, shinigami, didn't exist.

"It seems," Soichiro stuttered, "only people who have touched the notebook can see... this monster."

It was quiet for just a moment. Then.... "Please bring the notebook over to the helicopter."

"O-okay."

Light watched closely as Ryuzaki lifted the notebook by its corners, and cautiously turned to look in the direction of Higuchi's car. L's eyes grew wide, but at least he didn't scream. "It really is... a shinigami," he said in quiet wonder. "They really do... exist...." He trailed off, staring wide eyed out at whatever it was he seemed to be seeing. He looked like he was having a moment, but Light wanted to see it too. Always the critic, Light wanted to see such a thing, this so-called shinigami, with his own eyes. He had to, if he were to believe it.

Ryuzaki wasn't talking, or even moving. He seemed to be struggling with some harsh form of internal conflict. His eyes focused and unfocused, still staring. "Ryuzaki, come on, let me see it." Light couldn't help it if he were a bit aggravated, just a hair impatient. He wanted to know what was going on, and Ryuzaki didn't seem to be aware of anything that was happening around him at the time.

Light took the notebook from Ryuzaki. He didn't think the guy even noticed.

...

...

...

...

...

...

The silence was so loud, Light felt as if he were screaming. But was he really? Was that his voice inside his head? His eyes were burning as his memory came back to him in a flood. There was so much, so much, so much that he had forgotten. It all came back as if a dam in his mind had broken somewhere, rushing in and filling empty space he hadn't been aware of. It was all too much to take in at once, Light felt like his brain was frying behind his eyelids. So much, so much, so much he had forgotten....

And now

he remembered.