A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 48

It was past nine o' clock when Jubilee slipped into the main room downstairs, a tin-foiled baking pan in her hands. Hellenos glided in alongside her and took up position in a corner of the room. She approached L, who was sitting at his desk and busily typing away.

"Evening, J," he said without turning around. "I see you got my message."

"'Coast is clear?'" quoted Jubilee, reaching his side. "Yeah, you sure know how to be concise." She set the baking pan down next to him and removed the aluminum foil, revealing a cake topped with chocolate frosting and strawberry slices. "Here."

L glanced down at the dessert and became instantly still, his fingers freezing over the keyboard and his eyes growing owlishly large. "What is that," he stated evenly, bright colors dancing around him.

"It's a cake, obviously," she replied, arching a brow at him. "A strawberry chocolate cake, to be precise. I heard you like strawberries, and everybody likes chocolate...so."

"Where did you get it from?" he asked, still staring at the cake.

"What do you mean, where did I get it from?" she said, annoyed. "I made it, obviously. How else would it be here?" She dropped into her seat with a huff. "Honestly, for being the greatest detective in the world, you're acting a little dense. What's the deal?"

L didn't answer her, but instead reached out and scooped a dollop of icing—along with a strawberry slice—onto one finger, and popped it into his mouth. Slowly a smile formed on his lips. He gazed appreciatively at the cake again, and the briefest flash of a rosy pink hue colored the air around him for a second. Jubilee barely refrained from a sharp intake of breath before he looked up at her, and the color instantly disappeared—along with any momentary hope she had felt.

Great, she thought to herself, restraining the urge to roll her eyes.. The closest he's ever come to falling in love so far is with a dessert.

"Like it?" she asked dryly.

"It's excellent," stated L. "I insist that you split it with me so that you can enjoy it as well. Well, only if you can eat half." He thought about it for a second, then amended quickly, "Just have a slice or two for now, then, and I'll finish what you can't. Or have as much as you like, we'll work it out as we go. Would you be so kind as to get plates and utensils from the kitchen, please? Or just utensils—we can eat straight out of the pan...I really am not particular."

Jubilee stared at him as he finished this rapid fire speech. Lights and colors were dancing excitedly all around him. She started to laugh.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so enthusiastic," she commented.

"It's been a very long three days," returned L. "Besides...this will be the first cake I've had since my return to life."

"Ah." She smiled at him. "So, in a way, it's kind of like birthday cake."

He gazed back at her. The colors around him brightened a touch. "Yes," he said softly. "I suppose it is."

A warm finger pressed her temple then and an image filled her mind. It was of a young L, seated at a dining table in front of a tray of cake with four candles stuck in it, smoke drifting from the wicks to indicate that they had just been blown out. In front of L a younger looking Watari stood, smiling broadly as he cut a slice and slid it onto the plate in front of his charge. L gazed down at the slice, his eyes round. It was the first cake he had ever had...and it was a strawberry chocolate cake.

The little boy looked up at the older man and, for the first time in his life, beamed.

The image faded and Jubilee glanced up to meet the warm gaze of L's guardian angel, who withdrew her hand and gave Jubilee a grin and a thumb's up, before gliding back over to L's side and dissolving from view.