He walked silently through the death room, ignoring the crooked crosses. The warm air radiated from the sands below him, soft breeze pushing gently across the empty pavilion. He was grateful for the solitude, as he would not have come had anyone been present.

When he had reached a distance far enough from the guillotine hall that anyone who entered would not see him, anyway, he lay down. The sand was warm against his back, the sun-less sky bright above him.

He had had this habit ever since the book. Laying there, so long as he did not think to much, he could pretend he was no longer 'fragment,' but simply another small section of his father's soul. It subdued the feeling of...displacement, that he had felt steadily growing ever since he had left the book. The feeling of his soul growing to realize that it was, indeed, a fragment.

And he knew what this meant. The end was approaching. The more the feeling grew, the closer it was, and the steady fear grew inside him at the indicator that his father would die.

Perhaps it was childish, then to do this. But, when the 'displaced' sensation subsided when he lay here, he could not help but feel as if it lengthened the limited time Lord Death had.

And so he laid, eyes closed, still, and silent; and pretended that he had never been split from his father at all. He did not know how long had passed before he heard foot steps approaching.

"What are you doing?" Liz's voice was roughness masking gentleness, a tone common to the weapon. He stood, brushing excess sand off his lapels.

"Nothing important. How did you find me?" He asked curiously. He could not even see the pavilion from where they were.

"I asked Lord Death." She said, beginning the trek back out of the room. Kid fought the wave of embarrassment that flooded him. He ought to be more conscientious of Liz and Patti in the future.

"I'm sorry. Were you looking for me?"

"No." She said. "Just wondering where you disappeared to." She gave him a sidelong glance, signifying that she was still curious.

"I was just...well, nothing really. Just lying." He made the decision to stop indulging his own childish behavior. If he would soon be the new Lord Death, searching for latent paternal comfort would do nothing to change the fact.

"Weird place to relax." She said skeptically, but did not press further, for which he was grateful.

Together they exited the Death room, and Shibusen seemed oddly quiet around them, for once.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A/N: so yeah. It's been awhile since I wrote anything, so hope this doesn't suck too bad.