The hallway outside Soichiro's hospital room was deathly silent as Jubilee waited on a nearby bench, the other members of the Task Force alongside her. Light wasn't among them. Given the limited size of Soichiro's room he'd been given priority to visit the former chief first along with the rest of his family, who had arrived moments before him. The doctor who greeted the Task Force had informed them solemnly that Soichiro was hanging in there for now, but likely wouldn't make it past tomorrow.

The Yagamis had been in the room for over thirty minutes now. L sat in a crouch next to Jubilee, gnawing violently on his thumb. Aizawa, Matsuda and Mogi leaned against the wall beside them, shifting uneasily as the minutes ticked by. Jubilee anxiously bit her fingernails as she waited. In front of her Hellenos' warmth had gradually come back into her awareness, but just barely, and she couldn't hear him.

"What do you plan on saying to him?" L's low voice interrupted her tumultuous thoughts.

She turned to him. "I suppose—we can simply tell him...what we've seen," she answered haltingly. She hadn't thought much about it on their way there. It had been all she could do to not be completely beside herself with worry the whole time.

L's eyes seemed to grow larger just a fraction. "We?" he repeated softly, before turning away so that his hair fell forward and shielded his eyes. "Yes, I suppose we can," he murmured.

"Oh man," moaned Matsuda, breaking his silence at last and gripping his head in his hands. "I can't believe this is happening. The Chief—he's always been there since day one! We can't lose him now. It just—it just can't be, for him to actually...surely there's some way for him to..." He petered off, turning to L and Jubilee. "I mean, you two ended up okay. If there was a miracle for both of you, then why not for the Chief too?"

Jubilee stared up at the younger officer, her heart thudding with guilt. She didn't know what to say.

"Nothing is impossible," said L at last, quietly. "But...we can't stake all of our hope on such things."

The look of despair on Matsuda's face was heartbreaking. At that moment, the Yagamis finally filed out of the room. Mrs. Yagami and the young girl beside her had tear-streaked faces and red eyes. Light looked more downcast than Jubilee had ever seen him, but if the cloud of black and orange churning about him were any indication, it was for more reasons than just his father's condition.

"You can go see him now," he told them, not meeting any of their eyes. "Just...don't expect him to be responsive."

The men along the wall straightened and Jubilee rose from the bench as L hopped to his feet. They slowly filed into the room, none of them exchanging any words.

On the hospital bed in the center of the tiny, windowless room lay Soichiro, looking frail and somehow small underneath the sheets despite being a tall man. His eyes were slightly open and rolled upwards, unseeing. Several tubes hooked him up to a machine and IV beside the bed, and his breathing came out in quiet, sputtering wheezes.

"Chief," whispered Aizawa, looking pained. Soichiro didn't answer, and there was no sign to indicate that he was even aware of their presence.

"Do you—do you think he's..." Matsuda stammered dumbly, stunned to see his former employer in such a state.

Jubilee realized then that she had been holding her breath since entering, her nerves strewn taut at the sight of their colleague and friend hovering on the brink of death. She exhaled slowly now, and as she did, a whisper of awareness returned to her senses and she detected a small, weak flicker of light over Soichiro's head.

"I think that he knows there are people with him," she breathed softly, almost afraid to raise her voice.

"He looks so...so tired," said Mogi helplessly. "He was always so strong, and he never backed down in anything—but now..." He trailed off, then said firmly, "He was strong until the very end."

"Don't talk like he's dead already," admonished Aizawa, but didn't seem to have the heart to put much bite behind the rebuke.

"Yeah," agreed Matsuda, his voice louder than the rest of them in his attempt to hold back tears. "This isn't the end yet. Fight, Chief!"

L alone remained silent from where he stood beside Jubilee. She, not taking her eyes off the man before them, took a tentative step forward.

"Mr. Yagami," she whispered. "Can you hear me?"

The glow over Soichiro's head flickered again, but only ever so slightly.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "It's—it's Julie. L's here too and—and the rest of the task force. Aizawa, Matsuda and Mogi...we're all here with you right now." She paused. The light hanging over Soichiro didn't change or react, but it remained weakly steady. "Listen," she went on, "I know you must be frightened right now. About...about not having control over what's happening, or over what could happen next. I know how that feels. I've been there." She stopped again, glancing back at L briefly. "L has too. And we...we want you to know that...that you're not alone." She reached out a hand and laid it gently over Soichiro's cold one above the sheets. "Let me tell you about what it was like for me."

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Slowly, awkwardly, she began to describe the day of her fatal car crash. It was a story that everyone in the room had heard before, but this time she shared what she had not included the first time she told it. She talked about the feeling of powerlessness at not being able to stop her own impending death. About what if felt like to die, and to slip from this world into the next. She described the crushing darkness of the void, and the unfathomable terror which it drove into her. Then she did her best to tell of the light in the other realm which she went to next; how it was so much more than just the opposite of the void she had so narrowly escaped. She tried to depict the colors that were beyond earthly imagination, of the comforting warmth that far surpassed human comprehension, of the sounds that were more beautiful than any ear had ever heard. She spoke of the face that looked upon her with a love that was worth living and dying for.

She stammered through the whole thing and, at the end of it all, felt like all her words had fallen flat in their attempt to do the real account any justice. It was an utter surprise to her, then, when L stepped up beside her and began to add his story to her own. He spoke slowly but smoothly, and didn't halt nor stumble once in his speech. Jubilee saw the colors of heaven—colors she hadn't seen since that fateful day years ago, when she had left earth but then been sent back—gently unfurling around L like the petals of a flower bud, as though watered by every word he spoke. She stared at him, stunned and in awe. He didn't speak like a man who was still coming to terms with the whole thing and wrapping his head around it. He didn't speak like someone adjusting to the shock of having a near-death experience less than two weeks ago, who had seen things that no human brain could fathom. He spoke like one who knew exactly what he was talking about. He spoke with authority.

You're not so different when the time calls for it, you know, said Hellenos' voice from somewhere above her, drifting into her head faintly.

The other three in the room had remained unexpectedly silent, listening intently and without interruption to every word as though hearing them for the first time. When L finally finished speaking and fell silent, they still said nothing. Jubilee glanced back at Soichiro. The light over his head gave a weak, almost imperceptible flicker, then went still again. There was no other response. Her heart sank a little, but she tried to put a smile in her voice. He could hear them even if he couldn't respond to them, she was sure of it.

"You see, Mr. Yagami?" she said softly. "This isn't the end."

The hand beneath hers stirred slightly—just a tensing of the fingers, like they were trying to move—but it was enough to startle her. She gasped, then gripped his hand.

"Mr. Yagami?" she said, leaning forward and staring intently at him. His eyes were still open, as they had been this whole time, and the light over his head was still weak. No sudden breath of life ghosted over him, no surge of healing power. But, ever so slowly, his eyes became focused. He looked straight back at her.

"I...believe you," said Soichiro, in a weak voice that was barely above a whisper. But it was enough.

The flicker of light over his head blossomed into a flower of soft but vibrant color. Soichiro closed his eyes then, as though speaking had drained him of strength. Taking a shaky breath, he managed a final sentence. "That means that...someday...I might see my family again."

He continued to breathe but spoke no more. Jubilee tightened her fingers over his hand. Somehow, in that moment, she knew that he would be gone from this earth before tomorrow was up, just as the doctor had predicted. But she was more at peace with the fact now than she had been before...because she could see that he was.

And then her heart ached as she heard one last, final plea come from the man's mind: God, let me see my family again someday, in the place where I'm going. Let me see my beloved wife there...and Sayu...and...

Let me see Light there.

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They left Soichiro soon after that. The Yagamis went back in the room as soon as they exited, including Light.

"I'll be staying with my father for now," he told the rest of the task force, halting at the doorway.

"Of course," said Aizawa, and Light disappeared into the room.

They made their way to the elevator in silence. Once inside, Aizawa hit the button for the parking garage. L, however, reached out a slim finger and pressed the button for the third floor.

"The rest of you head back without me," he said. "There is something I'd like to check on. Matsuda, may I borrow your car to get back?"

Jubilee looked up sharply. Was he leaving her behind?

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure," said Matsuda, fishing out his car keys and handing them to L.

"What are you planning now, Ryuzaki?" said Aizawa tiredly, but it was more of a statement than a question. He didn't look like he had it in him to rebuke the detective anymore.

"Nothing yet, technically," answered L, stuffing his hands in his pockets and glancing up casually at the ceiling. The line over his head didn't break.

Aizawa, for once, didn't even argue.

In the unexpected silence, L finally turned to Jubilee. "You come along with me as well, J."

Relief flooded her but all she did was nod. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, and the two of them stepped out.

"See you guys back at headquarters," Mogi told them before the doors closed.

Jubilee faced L. "For a second there I thought you were about to go off on your own."

"Of course I wasn't," he said dismissively, turning to lead her down the hall. "I'd be a fool to leave you behind."

Jubilee had only a second to wonder if that was a compliment, before they turned a corner and suddenly ran into Aiber.

"There you are," said the blond man to L. "I was starting to wonder if you'd gotten my text." He nodded towards Jubilee. "Surprised you brought her along though. I didn't think you were going to let her out."

L raised an eyebrow. "That makes me sound like her jailer."

Jubilee waved a hand flippantly. "Oh no, we've moved past that phase."

Hellenos, who was more visible than earlier, tapped her gently on the head. Now now, play nice.

L sighed heavily. "I'm never going to live that down am I? I suppose I deserve that." He turned to Aiber. "How is he?"

"Not great, but a lot better than Mr. Yagami at least," answered Aiber. "You can see for yourself. This way." He turned and led them towards a room.

"Who are you guys talking about?" asked Jubilee in confusion as she hurried to follow, Hellenos trailing after her. "What are we doing here anywa—"

Her words fell short as Aiber opened the door and she saw who was inside.

"I've checked the room for security threats already, so you guys are good," said Aiber quietly. "I'll be right outside to keep an eye out." He ushered them in and closed the door.

On the hospital bed before them a boy sat up, half his face dressed in bandages. He watched Jubilee warily as she approached him, her eyes wide.

"Mello?" Jubilee whispered.

Surprise, chirped Hellenos, not sounding at all surprised.