"Gee!"

"Open your eyes, Gee!"

The shouts kept coming, keeping me from fading. My chest still burned. Why couldn't they just let me die in peace? Wasn't taking a bullet enough on my part? Someone then shook me roughly. If I'd had the energy, I would have frowned. I was dying here - you'd think they'd be a bit more gentle with me.

But even as the thought passed through my mind, I realised that I was thinking past the pain. Actually, the more I thought about it, it didn't seem quite as painful as when the bullet had first hit. Was that normal? I didn't exactly get shot on a regular basis, so I wasn't sure. With my mind feeling miraculously clearer, I did what I was told and managed to open my eyes.

One of the ceiling lights was directly above me - it hurt my eyes and forced me to squint. Thankfully, most of it was blocked out by somebody's head. As I peered through half closed lids, I could make out dark eyes and even darker hair. Did that mean the arms currently holding me were L's? I definitely must have died. That would at least explain why the pain was lifting.

The words even made it out of my mouth. "I died," I said lamely.

"You didn't die," L corrected me.

"Then I'm dying."

"No. You're not dying."

I heard a laugh somewhere in the distance and frowned. "But I got shot..." Though even as I said it, I could feel the pain subsiding even more. It still hurt every time I took a breath, but it didn't feel like it was life threatening now. What was going on?

"Yes. By a rubber bullet."

Now that certainly brought me to my senses. "Say what?"

"The bullet was made of rubber. You're going to be fine."

"Rubber? Oh, son of a..."

There was more laughter at my response. I blinked several times and succeeded in opening my eyes properly without squinting. I struggled to raise myself up out of L's arms - god, how embarrassing - and craned my head to see Kenichi and Chad standing towards a corner of the room, the latter not even bothering to conceal his amusement. Confusion at their presence was quickly quashed, as the movement sent pain searing through my chest again. Rubber bullet or not, it still friggin' hurt. I'd better have one hell of a bruise to show for it.

"You guys suck," I groaned, rubbing my chest gingerly. "What are you even doing here?"

"Duh. We're the cavalry," said Chad, like it was obvious. It wasn't. I was so lost.

"But I don't get... How did you..." My mind was so sluggish, it was difficult to choose which question to go with. Then one hit me that was much more important than any of the others, suddenly sharpening every one of my senses. "Saya! What happened to Saya?"

"We got her," said L, almost softly for him. I was still finding it a little embarrassing to look at him properly after how I'd woken up, but the answer filled me with relief. Finally. What we'd came here to do was finally done. Even if it didn't quite explain everything else.

I started trying to find my feet and L allowed me to help myself up, seeing I didn't want the assistance. Point to him. "How? How did you guys even know... well, any of this?"

Thankfully, Kenichi was prepared to be more helpful. "Ryuzaki spoke to Gibson earlier today and told him everything that the two of you had found out. He thought that back-up would be needed. We came here immediately."

"Here as in here, here?" My brain was still kinda fuzzy. It was harder than usual to put two and two together. I couldn't figure out how they'd found their way to the warehouse. Even I'd only managed it with inside information.

"Here as in Osaka," Kenichi explained. "Ryuzaki explained about Saya's temporary job at the Nisa store, so we headed there first. We found the personnel file, which had been left out. When we rang up her name, we discovered records of a new building she'd recently purchased. The address brought us here."

The file that I'd carelessly dropped onto the desk after taking off after Taiji. The same file that had been left so obviously for me to find too. I couldn't see Saya having left it for me to find, not after she'd already had L by that point, so of course, that just left L himself.

Finally, the pieces of the jigsaw inside my head were starting to fit together. L must have called Gibson after we'd had our fight and I'd committed myself to sulking in my room. In any other case, I'd be willing to bet that he would have then waited for the police to arrive and take matters into their hands. But as I'd already suspected from his daring move, I'd hurt his pride. I'd pushed him into taking action and trying to solve the case himself. He'd found the file that we'd needed to identify Saya and left it out for the police to find, knowing that they were on their way. He'd probably never expected me to follow to. Nor to be taken hostage by Saya.

"When did Saya get to you?" This question I directed at L.

"At the store. She approached me with the gun," said L in his usual toneless manner, as calmly as if he'd been discussing the weather. "That, I hadn't planned for, but I still managed to leave the personnel file in an obvious position without her noticing before she forced me to leave. Once we arrived here, I'd deduced that her gun was a fake, so it was only a matter of stalling until Mr. Gibson and his team joined us."

"Were you so sure that we'd find our way to the next location too?" Now Chad was curious too. And probably also bothered by L's blasé tone. Or maybe that was just me that it always bothered.

"She told me that she'd purchased the building previously, so she knew that we wouldn't be interrupted by anybody else," L enlightened us. "I could tell that she was vain. The name she'd used for her employment at the Nisa store was likely the same one that she'd used with Carter Burnham, as she'd signed her notes with the letter 'S'. I figured she would have used the same name when purchasing this warehouse, meaning the police would be able to track it down easily."

"Wow. For an identity thief, she really isn't that smart," I commented. Such a big plan foiled by one little thing.

"She isn't. She believed she was and that was her downfall." Cryptic, but true.

"Like the gun," I added. "She couldn't have known that you'd guessed it wasn't real. By shooting it, and proving that it didn't contain real bullets, she gave up her only edge."

"Yeah, I'm still not sure why she would have done that," said Chad. "That really is stupid."

But I felt I had the answer to that one. I looked back to L. "You hurt her pride. Your goading forced her into using it. Either you made her so mad that she simply wasn't thinking straight or she used it as her last resort to try and save face." Pride really was a funny thing. It had gotten all of us into trouble tonight - both good and bad guys.

L gave me a brief nod. "By that point, she'd given us her entire plan and had no method of really hurting us in order to keep us silent. She didn't know the police had already arrived, so my guess is that she was planning to shoot and then run."

So stupid. All of that planning, all of that time, all of those deaths... Just wasted on one moment of pride and panic. Well, at least it had been a good thing for us. I might have been just a teeny bit more satisfied about the whole ordeal if my chest hadn't hurt so much. It was a little bit distracting. Just thinking about it made me feel the need to cough, which then promptly turned into a coughing fit. Okay, maybe it was a lot distracting.

"Maybe we should get you to a hospital," Kenichi suggested when I managed to compose myself. I didn't usually witness concern from him. Maybe I should have relished in it.

"It's already been pointed out that the bullet that hit me was made of rubber and therefore not harmful," I grumbled, clearing my throat, which sent another painful pang through my chest.

"I didn't say not harmful," Chad pointed out. Great, now he sounded concerned too. If L joined in, then I was going to rethink my having died theory. "Rubber or not, you were still hit at close range and in the chest too. It can't hurt to get it checked out."

"It can if they start poking at me," I complained, rubbing my chest.

"Now you're just being a baby."

"Erm, excuse me, I seem to remember somebody practically weeping when they were rushed to the hospital after getting shot," I reminded him.

"I got shot in the ass. You tell me you'd prefer that."

"Okay, point..."

In the end, I agreed to go to the hospital after being assured that Saya had been safely contained and that Gibson was outside, helping some of Osaka's own police officers to put her into a cruiser and send her off to the police station. It all felt a bit anti-climactic really. In the end, the criminal mastermind behind everything hadn't even been man enough (or rather woman enough) to use a real gun. But then I guess you could never really predict what was going to happen when there were crazy people involved. I still had more answers I needed to put the complete puzzle together, but I apparently wasn't going to get those right now.

The doctor took scans of my chest and tested some reflexes, blood pressure, the usual kind of stuff. Nothing had shown up on the scans. I was told I was going to get the hell of a bruise that I'd wanted, but most likely, nothing more than that. The doctor still insisted I stay in overnight and that he hooked me up to a heart monitor for my stay. Just in case. As the bullet had hit so close to my heart, and at such close range, he wanted to be sure that there weren't going to be any lasting effects from that. I got that the heart is a pretty important part of the body and I liked my body to be working, so for once, I wasn't a baby about it and I agreed to the whole thing with no complaints. Okay, maybe I complained a little, but we know how I like to be difficult about these things.

The cops flitted in and out to see how I was to start with, until one of the nurses kicked them out with a firm reminder that visiting hours were long over. It looked like I'd have to wait until morning to get those answers I wanted. I didn't know what had happened to L - I hadn't seen him since leaving the warehouse. My body was threatening to freak out, due to the possibility looming that now that the case was over, he might just disappear. Thanks to the meds the doc gave me to help with the pain, I never quite got to that point. They were clearly designed to help me sleep too, because without even realising it, I was suddenly out like a log. I didn't dream or even move until I woke up the following morning.

I felt groggy still from the after-effects of the pills and they'd left a horrible taste in my mouth. I had no drink on hand and had to use the little call button next to my bed to summon a nurse. It was a different nurse to the one I'd had last night. She was a lot older, deep creases in her skin giving her a Grandmother Willow type look - yes, I like Disney as well as everything else - but much more friendly. I'd only been expecting water, but she brought me a fancy lemon iced tea from one of the vending machines. I'd actually never had iced tea before. It was so delicious that I guzzled the entire thing within seconds. She happily brought me another. Maybe hospitals weren't as bad as I remembered.

The need for answers was back on my mind. My chest was starting to ache again, with the meds from last night having worn off, so the nurse convinced me to chow down on a couple of pieces of toast - dry, just how I liked it - so that I could take some more pills. I did so without any complaint this time, knowing that cooperating would be more likely to get me what I wanted. What I wanted now was to speak to Gibson and see if he'd learnt any more from Saya that I hadn't been able to affirm last night. I'd been intending to ask the nurse if I'd be allowed to make a phone call - or if someone could make it for me; I wasn't too fussed which - but she beat me to the punch when she came to collect my empty plate, by announcing that I had my first visitor of the morning. I just didn't expect it to be L.

As much as I hated to admit it, all thoughts about the case instantly left my mind. Instead, what jumped to the front of it was the main worry I'd been developing last night: the case was over. L had no reason to stick around anymore. He'd came back once before when I thought he'd left for real, but that was with plenty of loose ends still left lying around. Now, the case was over for good. I knew it wouldn't be the same this time.

I'd been so expectant of my first visitor being Gibson that I almost said, "What are you doing here?" Of course, that would have been stupid. However, what did come out of my mouth was still a very unintelligent sounding, "Um, hi." Come on, brain; I thought we were past this. We're supposed to be on the same side here.

He had his usual blank face on, but he did ask, "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," I admitted truthfully. "But I've been worse too."

"Mr. Gibson said that the doctors are hoping to dismiss you later today," he said.

I nodded. "That's the plan."

"That was a very stupid thing you did last night."

I winced. I knew this had been coming. "The diving in front of you part or the following you to the warehouse part?"

"Both."

"In my defence, I had no idea what you were planning for either of those things," I pointed out stubbornly. "Otherwise I would have let you take that rubber bullet for yourself."

I'd been expecting another retort, so I was even more surprised when he said, "Thank you." When I did nothing more than blink at him in surprise like a total idiot, he added, "I never intended for you to get hurt. I'd noticed Mr. Gibson and his team pass by the doors, so I'd goaded her to prompt her into confessing, as well as giving up her last edge by showing that her gun was fake. I never expected you to jump in the way. At the time, you even thought the gun was real and yet you still made that sacrifice for me."

To my horror, I could feel myself getting flustered and my face going hot. I hastily mumbled, "It was nothing. Cop instincts." In order to change the subject, I quickly asked, "So what else did you find out from Saya?" I knew that they would have questioned her after taking her to the police station last night.

"As Mr. Gibson was the one who questioned her personally, I'll allow him to tell you the finer details," said L. "He should actually be by very shortly. I just wanted to see how you were doing and tell you that it has been somewhat unusual, but still a pleasure working with you."

My stomach turned. This was it. This was his goodbye. And it wasn't going to be heartfelt in the slightest - it was going to be exactly like the last time I'd thought he was leaving. Only it was for real this time. If I didn't say something, then it'd be just another case over for him and he'd leave without a trace.

So I did something that was simultaneously very brave and very foolish. Or maybe it was just the last one. "Stay with me," I blurted out.

L stared at me, taken aback. "I'm sorry?"

Dammit, I couldn't back out now. This was probably going to be my only chance to stop him from walking out of my life forever. "Stay here. In Kyoto," I insisted, throwing caution to the wind. "Come on, we've worked so well together... Think of what we could do as a team!"

For the second time since I'd known him, L looked completely stunned. I knew he wasn't exactly the best judge of human emotion, but had he really not expected me to not want him to leave? It felt like the longest moment of my life as I waited for him to answer. And, unsurprisingly, I still didn't get the one I wanted.

"I'm sorry, Gee," he said slowly, almost carefully. "I don't think that would be the best idea."

"Why not?" I protested. I knew that I sounded needy, but hey, I was an invalid here. Plus I had a horrible feeling that if I let him walk out that door, then I'd never see him again.

"Because I always work alone."

Great, now he was getting all Lone Ranger on me. "Come on, I know you're way better than me, but that doesn't mean you can't use help every now and then. Even Sherlock Holmes had Watson."

I knew that Sherlock wasn't really the best example to use on L, but it was the most situation-appropriate one I could think of right now. Plus he should just be grateful that I was putting myself in Watson's shoes. I'd never have thought I'd see the day.

He didn't look like he thought much of the reference either. "You're not sidekick material, Gee."

"Oh, thanks," I huffed. I wasn't that bad, was I? I couldn't even be the annoying sidekick that generally provided more comic relief than actual help?

"You misunderstand me," said L. "When I say I always work alone, I mean just that. This case has been the first time that I've done things differently."

I didn't get it. I'd read about plenty of cases that L had solved in the past before I'd even met him. He'd worked with other people before. On multiple occasions even. "But you have worked with other people before now," I said, voicing my thoughts aloud. "On the Los Angeles BB murder case, you even had a special forces unit working with you."

"No, they were working under me," L corrected. "Not beside me, like you have."

"And Gibson and the others," I pointed out.

"Again, no. It still wasn't the same with them." When I gave him a questioning look, he continued, "You were the one who was right beside me the entire time. You forced me to be more hands on with the case, as well as a lot of other things I would never have dreamt of doing before. It's been quite the experience for me."

"Then I don't get it," I confessed, confused. If he saw me doing all of that as a good thing, then wouldn't that just be more reason for him to accept my offer? Or was I really just kidding myself?

L just gave me a ghost of a smile in response. "You don't have to get it. Just know that, if anything, you would be Sherlock and not Watson. Watson is far too dull of a character. And you are definitely no sidekick."

I wasn't sure I could quite process what I'd just heard. Even if I bypassed the fact that he'd just happily worked with my reference - something that did not happen often, even with anyone other than L - I didn't think I'd ever been so flattered in my entire life. "Wait, does that mean that you... Are you telling me you see me as an equal?"

"This case has been somewhat... difficult for me," L admitted. "It's very different to how I usually operate. I still prefer to work alone. I'm not sure that will ever change. But the experience may still open up other doors for me... And I'm sure that we'll find ourselves working together again in the future."

I found myself at a loss for words. He'd managed to avoid answering my question, which wasn't exactly new, but that only gave me more confirmation that he really did see me as an equal. The infamous L, the greatest detective in the world. He thought I was Sherlock. Could I get any higher praise than that? Maybe Eraldo Coil and Deneuve could suck it after all.

And, miraculously even better than that compliment, he'd pretty much guaranteed that we'd see each other again. This wasn't a goodbye. There was still hope. I had the distinct feeling that I was suddenly floating.

"I'd like that," I smiled genuinely. Truer words had never been said.

L nodded. He suddenly had that mildly shifty quality that suggested he was uncomfortable. "I just have one more thing that I have to go and do..."

"Alright," I agreed, far more cooperative than I'd felt about letting him leave only a few minutes ago. "I'll be here."

He nodded again and then he was gone. I was more than happy to just sit in my bed and wait for him to come back. I tried not to let my mind wander through ideas of what he might have gone to do, though a thrillingly hopeful feeling that he might have gone to get me some flowers or maybe chocolates kept popping back up. Eventually, I gave up on trying to quash the idea and just let myself be happy and daydream for once. This had gone a lot differently to how I'd thought - it wasn't going to be goodbye forever, like I'd expected.

Gibson came by before L returned. "Hey, soldier," he greeted with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Not so bad actually," I responded truthfully. "I hear you questioned Saya last night. Anything new you can tell me?"

Gibson sank into the chair next to my bed, which L had avoided. "We overheard a small chunk of you breaking it down for her last night, but she confirmed all of that again. She also told us she'd been expecting someone to follow her to Osaka after she'd used Sunae Michishio's card there. She'd wanted to test how far we'd go into chasing her down. She needed an idea of the leeway she'd have to be able to escape permanently with the two identities she'd stolen. Both her and Taiji had been keeping a close eye on the store for anyone suspicious who could be there to investigate. Saya had been staying hidden in Taiji's apartment. Turns out he lives in one of the apartments just above the Tsumi deli."

I knew the Tsumi deli well. It was right next door to the coffee shop that L and I had been investigating from. Saya would have been able to watch the Nisa store at all times, no problem. She'd been right there the whole time. So close and we'd had no idea.

"She admitted to buying the warehouse as a back-up plan," Gibson continued. "In case she needed a place to lure anyone in order to kill them. Or to temporarily hide any bodies Taiji might have helped her to accumulate. The building had been marked as unsafe, due to incomplete renovations, so it was illegal to sell it. Because of that, Saya didn't think her name would appear on any documents, so she used her real one. Probably partly out of vanity, like Ryuzaki said last night. Clearly a bad move. We still have reports to monitors things like that and one of them came right back to us."

That really was how they'd managed to find us at the warehouse last night. Because she'd been stupid enough to use her real name. It still all seemed so ridiculous. The whole thing had been such a grand master plan, involving murder, identity theft, arson, kidnap... Yet she'd ruined everything for herself with just a few small mistakes. I could definitely have taught her a thing or two about detail.

"So that's that," I concluded.

"That's that," Gibson agreed.

It was always an oddly mixed feeling when you closed a case. Obviously, there was a great deal of satisfaction involved. Satisfaction to tie up all of those loose ends, to have every piece of the jigsaw fall together and finally show that whole picture, and of course, that satisfaction of serving justice to everyone involved. But it also left a rather empty feeling too. I loved my job more than anything. I was happiest when I was working. This technically meant that I was currently out of work again. Hopefully, I wouldn't have such a dry patch this time. And at least I now had a promise for the future to look forward to as well. I was really hoping that it would be sooner rather than later. And that L would still keep in touch in the meantime.

"I don't suppose you've seen L, have you?" I asked, trying to sound casual about it.

Gibson frowned. "What do you mean? He and Watari have left. I saw him on his way out when I came by - he said he'd already said goodbye to you."

I felt like the bottom had just dropped out of my stomach. It was suddenly so painfully obvious, I could have kicked myself. L had lied to me. He was gone. He'd never meant to come back at all. He'd clearly just wanted to avoid the whole awkward goodbye scene and had made his excuse to escape.

Was that curt nod really all I was going to get? I guessed I shouldn't have been surprised - it certainly wasn't the first time he'd lied. I was willing to bet he'd lied about working together again too. He'd gone for good and I'd been sat here like a fool without even realising.

Yeah. I shouldn't have been surprised at all. That was just typical L. Yet I still couldn't stop myself from gaping at Gibson in pain and shock. It was hard not to when it felt like my world had just crumbled around me in one moment of realisation.

He could see it too. "He didn't tell you goodbye at all, did he?" he said gently. I managed to shake my head, feeling too numb to speak. He gave me a sympathetic look and clasped my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Gee."

He didn't ask me anything about my real feelings for L. He clearly didn't need to. He didn't seem surprised either. Maybe he'd known all along... I didn't really care.

He wasn't the only one. My mom came by before I was discharged. She was not happy. She'd been concerned when I'd disappeared last night and hadn't returned, but I wasn't sure who had told her where I actually was. Probably L. He'd been doing a lot of things behind my back. Because most nights don't usually wind up with you being in the hospital, I had to tell her everything. She was angry and upset that I'd lied to her about L and my reason for visiting, even though it was my job and I often had to lie because of it - unlike L, who had lied just to get out of doing something uncomfortable.

I only managed to mollify her by explaining that the lie had been purely to protect her and the rest of my family. When it was put into perspective for you, the 'less you know' motive always made sense, even if you didn't necessarily like it. I think it helped my case that I was still clearly really upset about L. When she'd asked what had happened to him, I told her that he'd already left. I think she knew that was what was bugging me and that I hadn't necessarily lied to her about everything. I promised to make a real visit much sooner, but that I needed to go home first because I had some things to take care of.

She waited until I was discharged. She took me home so that I could collect my car and my other things and say goodbye to the others, as well as apologise once again to everyone for lying. She'd wasted no time in telling them what had really happened, meaning I was reprimanded twice more. It had surprised me coming from Auntie Maggie. She hadn't exactly been a saint when she was my age. Actually, she still wasn't a saint now.

After going through the motions with everyone, I drove straight back to Kyoto. I didn't want to spend any more time in Osaka right now. I messaged Gibson to let him know that I was out of the hospital and coming back, who informed me that he and the others had already headed back to the station in Kyoto. Saya was being kept at the police station in Osaka for now, whilst they decided whether it was worth moving her or leaving her where she was.

Part of me just wanted to go home and curl up in bed, whereas another part of me wanted to do anything but go back to an empty apartment. The latter part of me won out, mostly because there were still some loose ends I wanted to tie up before I put this case to rest for good.

The first thing I did was visit Melissa Burnham and tell her everything that had happened with the case. She cried. I cried. She ended up being the one to make the tea. I wasn't normally so empathetic - it clearly didn't help that I'd already been feeling sorry for myself. I left feeling worse than when I'd got there, but hopefully, she'd finally be able to get the closure she needed.

After that, I went to the police station to talk to Jin, under the supervision of Chad, who was now on duty again. Since I was back to being a civvie, I couldn't just go in and out of the prison block as I pleased anymore. I didn't have any real reason for wanting to talk to Jin, other than needing somebody to take my frustration out on. Which I did. Chad allowed me five minutes of screaming at Jin for all of the innocent lives he'd taken - particularly the ones who had been done for no comprehensible reason, other than to cover his tracks - before having to drag me back outside. He still found time to add to Jin that he was a fucking psychopath on the way out. Apparently he got a warning from Gibson over that for not being professional, but I couldn't see anyone really taking it seriously.

By this point, it was starting to get dark. I would have liked to have visited Johnny to try and drag my time out even longer, but I knew he'd soon be starting one of his bartending shifts. I had no choice now, but to go home. I parked up out front and let myself in through the still boarded up door. I really needed to get that fixed if I wanted to forget all of the ramifications from this case.

Normally, when I finished a case, I'd type up all of the remaining facts to conclude it and then keep the entire file on record. No way was I doing that tonight. I went upstairs, grabbed an energy drink, put a Psych DVD on in my room and snuggled up in bed amongst all my wolves. I wasn't taking any chances. Full comfort mode was on. I wasn't giving myself the chance to be left alone with my thoughts.

I'd barely finished an episode when I heard the doorbell ring downstairs. A tiny part of me perked up, before I hastily quashed it. This wouldn't be like last time. Plus it certainly wouldn't be L if I'd heard the doorbell. I climbed out of bed and went back downstairs, somewhat curious. Who would be visiting at this hour?

All naive hopes that I'd still be wrong and that it would be L vanished when I saw Sophia's cheerful face. "Kalispera, Miss Georgia. I saw your car outside - I've been waiting for you to get back."

It was only then that I noticed she was carrying a rather raggedy looking cardboard box. Crude holes had been punched through the sides of it. "What is that?"

"A present for you," she said, looking oddly smug.

"A present?" I repeated, feeling bewildered. She handed the box to me and it gave a sudden shake. I shot her an alarmed look. "What is it?"

Sophia laughed at me. "Why don't you just open it? But be careful. Maybe put it down first."

Now thoroughly lost, I obligingly let Sophia inside and set the box down on the desk in my office. I unfolded the top and half gasped when I saw a tiny, ruffled-looking grey kitten huddled up inside, peering up at me through unbelievably green eyes. "Oh my god, Sophia! You got me a new cat?"

"Not me," said Sophia, still with that smug look on her face. "Though I did agree to play cat-sitter whenever you're too busy with work." When I just looked at her questioningly, she added, "Your boyfriend asked me to give him to you."

"Boyfriend?" I repeated sharply, feeling my heart lurch. Sophia referred to pretty much every man I knew as my boyfriend, but those hopeful feelings were suddenly starting to surge again.

"That scruffy one we had cake with," Sophia replied offhandedly.

It was a good thing I'd put the box down. I probably would have dropped the poor kitten on the floor. "Ryuzaki? Sophia, when was this?" I asked quickly.

"Oh, a few hours ago."

A few hours. That likely meant he was long gone by now. Yet he'd still taken the time to do this first. But why? He couldn't say goodbye, but he could still find the time to get me a cat? I found myself speechless for the second time that day. I just didn't know what to think. Was this his real goodbye? Getting me a new furry friend to fill the void that Kyo had left behind was actually amazingly thoughtful and sweet for L, but it still wasn't the same as having him.

"I almost forgot. He left this too." Sophia pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. It was slightly torn at one corner. "I promise I didn't read it, but I had to take it out before the little monster could kill it."

The kitten clawed at the side of the box at confirmation. I barely even noticed. I was too busy staring at the letter. She held it out to me and I took it with trembling hands. I was wrong. This was going to be the goodbye. I felt almost too terrified to read it.

It must have been clear on my face, because Sophia read my mood in an instant. "Anyway, I'm going back to my soap opera. Let me know if I'm needed for babysitting duties. And watch yourself; that terror has a set of claws on him."

"Thanks, Sophia," I managed to get out before she left.

Once she'd gone, I sank into the chair at my desk and finally forced myself to unfold the piece of paper. The note inside was only short.

'Can you love a being without a name? Luckily, this one is called Tama, so you can reserve judgement on that for now. I know that you know this isn't the last time we'll be seeing each other, but I'm still sorry.'

I stared at the paper for a long time, still shaking. I really didn't know what to think about the first, cryptic part of the message, but now I knew that the little kitty had a name and, more importantly, that I would still see L again. Though I didn't know when it would be fulfilled, he was still keeping his promise. Even if the sneaky bastard had managed to get out of saying goodbye. At least I knew now that it wouldn't be for good.

I looked down at the note again and found myself laughing. 'I know that you know...' He'd almost managed to unintentionally nail a Psych reference too. Trust L to go and mess that up. One word less and he would have got it perfect. But then maybe I didn't actually want perfect. L certainly wasn't perfect and neither was I. Maybe that was what love really was. Not caring that somebody wasn't perfect and loving them all the same.

I reached into the box and fondly scratched the tiny kitten behind the ears. He purred for all of two seconds before deciding to repay me by biting my finger. I yelped and hastily withdrew my hand. His teeth were as sharp as his claws supposedly were. Whatever the hell love was - even after all of this - it was still something I really didn't understand.

XXX

Author's Note!

Hey guys, did you miss me? I should probably start this with my usual apology for the long delay between updates, particularly as this one was much longer than all of the others. But in my defence, I've been very busy during that time - I've travelled a lot and I even wrote my first entire, original novel (hopefully to be published later this year!) Yet I think an even bigger part of my absence has purely been because part of me just didn't want to write this chapter.

It feels so weird to tie the story up now, especially after it's going for a few years. This is the first time I've completed a full-length fanfiction (not included the god awful stuff I wrote as a teenie) and this has certainly been my most liked one by far, so I really hope I don't let you guys down. I started this story purely for me, like I do with any of my stories, yet I got the most endlessly flattering response from all of you readers for it. I can honestly never put into words how much that support has meant to me. You guys are what has kept me writing all this time and also what has made me feel confident enough to finally pursue writing as an actual career (will have to let you know how that one turns out!)

Because that's where the priority of my writing now lies, it means my fanfiction updates will always be hazy and inconsistent, but I still intend to continue all of my stories until the moment I say otherwise, no matter how slow-going it might be. And I'm certainly not finished with Gee and L by a long shot. I have many plans for the sequel, even if I can't promise how soon I can get round to starting it, but I can tell you this much: it'll be called "Clueless" and I really hope you'll all be watching out for it.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through all of this. This story may have been simply the love child of my favourite hobby, but you guys have made it into an even more enjoyable journey for me. You rock my world.