A/N: And now we can truly say it's the end (and before anyone says anything about certain 'unanswered questions'... ;-D and that's all I have to say about that). Thank you's are in the previous chapters! Hope you guys enjoyed this story; I doubt I'll be making another one like it for a loooooong while. ^.^; Thanks for reading!

Title: Life Imitating Art

Epilogue: Concluding the Fall

Was it all really worth it in the end?

So many people have asked that question of me, each person asking knowing that I will not give them an answer.

Even A has asked me in his nonchalant manner whether or not I was satisfied with the outcome of my actions; whether or not I regretted anything I had done (or not done in some cases).

The immediate answer in anyone elses eyes (to anyone that could be considered normal or whatever that meant, anyway) would be no.

But you see, I am not, nor have I ever been normal in any sense of the word.

Even before the case and the so-called trauma, even before the blood-stained hands and aching giggles filled with nostalgia, even before the temper-tantrums and the pensive scowls, I knew I was different from all of my peers.

And it wasn't my intelligence that set me apart, either.

Amplified by the rush of knowledge that I was something a bit more than another genius working his way to the top, I knew I was motivated enough to do what I had to do and succeed where others had ultimately failed-

Yet all it would take was one chance encounter with a beautiful fallen angel which would inevitably change everything for me, and bring about my own downfall without me even realizing it.

Every second that I was with him, though, was one more second that I came to treasure immensely. Every moment that I made him bleed and scream and shout was one more moment where I knew that I would not be forgotten and a reminder that my mark would be forever etched onto his smooth, perfect expanse of skin. Each one of my actions and words were symbols of my eternal gratitude for him, and an unsettling comfort for me in knowing that I would be remembered by the one I cared for most.

At the time, I had not cared whether or not that memory would be one of anguish. I had only wanted him to see who I was, what I was, and not fool himself into believing that such a thing as a completely happy ending was ever possible especially for people like us. Because we were one in the same. I swear it.

I swear it!

And I succeeded. Not entirely, of course, as he has flown from my side and continued on his trek elsewhere in this world, but my memory shall remain within both him and the man whom I have always both abhorred and admired.

I never even thought I would have that much, let alone live the unbelievable dream that I did; that I would be able to hold and caress him as I did in those few short moments where he was only mine and mine only. All that I was able to do after and before that moment of pure ecstasy was just icing on the cake; things done in madness, of course, but a special kind of madness that only he would be able to appreciate many years from now.

So it is at my end that I now, inevitably, I believe, think back upon my beginning.

For Light was a large part of the beginning of my creation and it would only be apropos that I should relish in his memory now that I feel my seconds tick, tick, tick down until they ultimately mean nothing to me and where I am now going. That dank jail cell could only hold me for so long, after all, until that dastardly Shinigami with his ever-present grin and distorted body would once again appear in my presence. His crimson red eyes even now seem to glow with a macabre humor as I stifle another hysterical giggle and let my head fall back against the cot I was strapped upon, the sound muffled and slurred.

Today was the day, after all.

They may have sentenced me to death…

But Ryuuk had always said that he had had first dibs.

"Hey, B? You alright in there?" Ryuuk giggled as Beyond stared off at the wall, arms strapped down to the table he was laying upon as the man in front of him tapped the needle filled with poison against his gloved fingers.

Such is the life of one such as myself.

"You're so quiet…" Ryuuk pulled out something from beside him as his eyes seemed to glow a darkened scarlet, much like Beyond's own false eye-color. "Aren't you gonna say anything?"

There's nothing left within me to hate or fight; all I feel is the same sense of loneliness that I thought I had beaten back so long ago.

Beyond said nothing as the Shinigami gave a low, hoarse cackle just as the man in front of him dressed completely in white took a step closer to the shackled murderer.

A fit end for me after such a perfectly disastrous crime towards someone I was supposed to protect.

The scratching of a writing instrument on paper interrupted Beyond's train of thought as he turned his painfully distorted face towards the Shinigami now openly laughing out loud.

But I did protect him didn't I?

Glancing over to the side, the clear paneling separating the fire-scarred murderer from the other people watching his unavoidable demise shimmered violently under the man's crimson-eyed gaze, a tender blue-eyed stare cropped with very short golden blond hair blinking away tears of anger and sadness before they could fall.

In my own special way?

If there was anything to regret, it was that his friend (his only friend) had to see him this way.

I loved him just as much as L, maybe even more so!

Possibly.

But now, it was time-

"Any last words, Beyond?"

Counting down the seconds…

"Yeah… any last words B?"

Until they are finally-

Closing his eyes under the scrutiny of blinding lights, accusing eyes and maniacal grins, Beyond sighed as whispered his 'final words'.

'No regrets.'

(Oh so sweetly)

"No."

'None whatsoever.'

Gone.

Finis.