Author's Note: Bet you all thought I was dead! I am alive and I am back! Life is just a thing ya know? Anyway this story is hopefully my rise from the ashes (cliché) story. The title has many many meanings for me. Please read and review. Thank you!

Everything was white. Just white. Where the hell was he?

"You're in Mu." The words seemed to surround him.

"Mu?" The man asked as he looked around to find the source.

"Mhmm. Mu." Suddenly a young girl around ten years old appeared in front of him. "Hello Mello." She giggled. "Oh, that rhymes!"

"Who are you?" Mello asked.

"I am Tatana, king of the Shinigami's" She spoke just a bit arrogantly.

"King? You are only a child…and a girl at that." He remarked.

"Oh, Mello…or should I say…Mihael."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Come now, you're already dead. What harm is your real name now?" She gave a sly smirk.

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the point. I like that about you, Mihael. You see I have an offer to make you."

He looked the girl over. She looked like an average ten year old if having blue hair in pony tails nearly the length of her entire body was normal. He watched her rock back and forth on her heels, grinning playfully as she waited for him to speak.

Mello was frowning as he recalled how he had arrived in Mu. The last memory he had was the agonizing pain in his chest. He looked down at his clothing. The usual black leather pants hugged his frame and the vest hid the rosary that he kept against his chest. Everything seemed to be the same. He certainly felt the same.

"You are exactly as you were at the time of your death." Tatana broke his concentration.

He gave an irritated glance at her while he finished processing his thoughts. Before he had made it to the church he had watched Matt be gunned down by a mob of insane Kira supporters. The live footage was too much to take in. He vividly remembered the bullet holes that riddled his lover and the vintage Chevelle Matt adored so much.

"Listen to my offer. I think you'll like it." She turned herself so she could look up into his eyes.

"Fine. What?"

"I know you know just a bit too much about the Death Notes, Shinigmais and all that so I will skip it. What you don't know is that Ryuk has started a chain reaction that MUST be halted." Her grinning changed to a more serious expression.

"A chain reaction of what? Who is Ryuk?"

"Ryuk is the Shinigami who owns the Death Note Light Yagami was using to be a vigilante with. The chain reaction is that the other bored Shinigamis are now doing what he did to stir up some fun. The problem is at this rate EVERYONE in the human realm will fall victim to the Notes and guess what…No more humans. Not good, am I right?" She was back to being a tad too cheery.

"I suppose, but if I am already dead…" He started, only to be cut off.

"That is where the offer comes in. You see I have a little something." She reached into the pocket of her overalls and pulled out a small white eraser. "This will undo the actions of the note if it is used to erase the writing."

"Okay, how does it work? You just erase wherever my name was written and I come back to life?" Mello crossed his arms impatiently.

"Well not exactly…"

"Then get to the damn point!" He spat.

"Oh calm yourself. You don't come back because you will never have died to start with. I undo the death. Completely." Her giggle made Mello growl. "It's really easy. I can even bring back your friend."

"Matt?" He seemed interested for the first time.

"Mail, yes." She gave a smirk with the true name of his beloved.

"Mail? His real name is Mail?"

"Wait, you didn't know? Aren't the two of you lovers?" Tatana folded her arms, giving him a quizzical look.

Mello actually blushed slightly, "That is none of your business and we kept our true names a secret because it isn't safe to reveal them to ANYONE."

Tatana rolled her eyes, "And it was a safe idea to remove your helmet in front of Takada?"

Mello glared down at the child, but before he could speak she raised her hand to silence him. "I'm sorry that was a low blow. Seriously though…not your smartest idea. Besides you have too much sympathy for human decency. Letting her keep her bra…"

"I get it! I fucked up." Mello paused, "Damn it…she had a page of the death note in her bra…"

"Yup! Anyway…here's the thing. It wasn't her page of the note that did you in." Tatana stuck her tongue out to the blonde.

She was enjoying this little game of hers just a bit too much for Mello's taste.

"Light? No…he didn't know my face." Mello thought quietly. "Who could it have been?"

"Well Light played a role in your body's disposal. You see he killed Takada by setting that church on fire. He wrote that she would commit suicide by fire and took you and everything else with her. Destroyed it all."

"So then who killed me?"

"Well I did of course. Your friend too." She nearly hopped with excitement.

Mello clenched his fists and stared daggers at her. "What?!"

"Relax. If I didn't then there would have been no way to bring either you or Matt back since the fire destroyed the Note page Takada had and Matt wouldn't have been killed by the Note. Anyway, I wrote that Matt would die the way you saw so that I could bring him back with you. It was really easy to predict how that was going to play out after watching this whole game. Honestly I have no idea who Near didn't predict you would kidnap her in the first place. I simply wrote your deaths down before anything else could kill you. Now I can erase it!" Her blue eyes glistened with the pride in her voice.

"So what is the deal? You bring us back and then what?" Mello seemed to relax despite not trusting the child looking death god.

"You and Matt.." She seemed to think the fake name was silly. "Will find the death notes and bring them to me. All of the ones currently in mortal hands."

"How many are we talking?" He raised his brow.

"Four for now. I have managed to quell any further shinagami shinanigans, but the ones that are already out…well I can't get to those myself." Tatana frowned.

"So we find them and bring them to you before they can be used to destroy all of humanity?"

"Exactly."

Mello thought in silence about the deal. The idea of having Matt back and getting to be alive again certainly was a temptation, but did he want to work as an agent for the shinigami king? He cared less about the task that would be expected of him than he did about the prospect of getting to apologize to Matt. He actually felt incredibly guilty for dragging Matt into this and whether it was God induced or not, leading the redhead to his ultimate demise.

He started to laugh, "Fuck, I have gone soft."

"Love isn't a weakness, Mello."

He raised his eyes to her, opening his mouth to protest.

"No, I can't read your mind. I just know you well enough from observation. You are thinking about Matt. You love him and it is genuine. Nothing wrong with that at all"

"You realize that is creepy and I don't like the idea of you spying on me."

She only shrugged.

"If it means I have another chance to be with him again I will do what you ask. Will either of us remember?"

"Remember death? Oh yes. The two of you will but the circumstances surrounding Matt's death will be different. The news will show that he escaped by turning in the opposite direction than he did when he died."

"Wait…you said he was going to die anyway!" Mello instantly went to rage.

"I lied…I needed to have him as leverage in case you said no." She winked at the pissed blond.

Mello went to swing at the girl and as his fist came forward he found himself jolting straight up in his bed. His eyes darted around the familiar room. It was exactly as he had recalled it. Then his eyes found Matt, asleep in the sheets. He struggled to stop the tears from falling, but failed.

Matt stirred when Mello pressed his face against the red head's bare back. The hot tears running down his side. "Mels?"

"Oh, Matty. I am so sorry."

Matt sat up, hair a tossed mess from sleep, "Wait...what…how…Didn't I?"

"Yes Matty. We both died." He clung to Matt tightly as the tears finally stopped flowing.

"Then how are we in bed and very alive? Is this heaven? If it is I think it was over sold by the churches. At least let me wake up in a king sized bed that isn't older than both of us combined with…"

"Matt…shut up."

Before Mello could explain a now teenaged version of Tatana appeared at the foot of their bed. "You are alive because I have work for the two of you."

Matt instantly pulled the sheet over his naked lower half, blushing, "Who the hell are you?"

Mello sighed, "Matt this is the king of the Shinnigamis, Tatana. Apparently one of the perks of being the King is changing appearances on a whim. "

"King?" Matt raised his brow.

Mello brought his hand up, "Don't start. I made a deal with him...uh...her...whatever and we have a mission to do in exchange for our lives."

Matt looked at the teenager who was fighting back a giggle at Matt's embarrassment.

"I decided to pay you two a little visit because watching Matt squirm is funny and it is the day Light meets with Near. They are meeting in the Yellow Box warehouse in about two hours. Get yourselves dressed and watch the game unfold. It will finally end and then you can get to work. Well…if what the little pipsqueak did actually works. Light might still get the best of him." She seemed almost disgusted as she mentioned the albino L wannabe.

"Pipsqueak?" Mello chuckled as he stood, obviously undisturbed with his own nakedness. "Maybe I will actually grow to like you after all."

"Oh come on! He doesn't creep you the hell out? He's like a super smart little toddler or something. Creepy as shit. Like if a cheap dollar store plush baby doll started talking."

Mello let out a genuine laugh, "See Matt I told you I wasn't the only one."

"Could you maybe let us get dressed in private? I really don't…" Matt started before the girl vanished. "Thank God."

The two dressed and went out to Matt's intact and unblemished car.

"Oh sweet Zelda she's alive!" He hugged the car and nuzzled his cheek against the hood. "Daddy is here baby. I won't let anything happen to you ever again."

"Matt, what have I said about how you talk to your car?" Mello's face showed just how much he hated it.

He continued whispering to the car, "It's okay baby, Mello is just jealous because he knows I love you more than him."

"I will remember that tonight when you are sleeping in the car."

Matt looked at Mello and pouted, "I'm kidding Mels."

"Well I'm not. Get in the damn car and let's go already." He settled himself in the seat with folded arms.

The drive was silent aside from the crackling sound of Matt smoking on his cigarette. Mello despised the dirty habit, but at least it made the redhead happy. He had his chocolate after all.

They found a place to park where they wouldn't be spotted. Quickly they snuck to a neighboring building's rooftop where they could clearly see Teru Mikami frantically writing on a Death Note. Matt tapped Mello's shoulder and handed him a pair of binoculars he had brought from the car.

The blond peered through the lenses and was able to clearly see the names being written. He whispered them out loud.

"Nate River?" Matt responded quietly, "Do you think…that is Near's real name?"

"Probably. I'll have to remember that. I'm sure it will come in handy someday."

Unable to hear what was happening inside the warehouse Mello watched as Mikami suddenly went through the door shouting something about God.

"What's happening?" Matt asked.

"I have no idea…"

Minutes later a gunshot rattled from the building and it wasn't long after things fell quiet. The pair continued to watch as the SPK brought Mikami out who was shouting about fake gods and deception. Then they dragged a bloody corpse out.

"Holy shit. Light is dead." Mello told Matt without pulling the binoculars away.

The pair hid behind the wall on the roof and waited for everyone to leave before going back to the car.

"So now what Mels?" Matt asked as he lit another cigarette.

Mello grinned, "Now we pay back our debt and live a little."

"Whatever you say Mels. You know I'll follow you wherever you go."

"I know, Matty. I know."