Truth and Justice

Warnings for this chapter: Angst, Death, Language, WIP.
SPOILERS: All manga, all anime, L's true name, Another Note, Law and Right.

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Truth and Justice

Chapter 17: Fatherhood

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Watari, also known as Quillish Wammy, had always been a thin rail of a man. Not much to him on first glance, but when Light and L stepped quietly into his room, he was even smaller. Leukemia had eaten away at what little fat and muscle he'd had, taken it down to the very bone so they felt as if they were looking at a skeleton.

L moved forward, took what was left of Watari's hand into his own. "Father," he whispered, and he could feel more of those strange tears, slipping down his face.

"Ah, L, you're here," Wammy smiled softly. "And Light, too?"

Moving forward, Light slid his arm gently around L's shoulders. "I'm here."

"Good, good," he patted L's hand with his other hand, "I have something I wanted to say to you both, before it's time. Sit me up, would you?"

Light reached out so that L could keep his hand in Wammy's, touched the bed controls, let the bed bend, pushing the frail man into a sitting position.

"There. That's fine, thank you," he reached for his glasses, managed to slide them on and get a good look at the pair before him. He smiled warmly beneath those bushy eyebrows that hadn't suffered at all from the disease. "Such a nice pair the two of you make. You're just the perfect ones for the task ahead."

Light's hand slid up and down L's arm when he felt a shiver go through him.

"As Watari, I have stood as a moral guidepost for the children here at the orphanage," Wammy began softly, patting his hand over L's again. "I've shown them, as best I could, just how to tell good from bad. Now, I need to pass that job off to someone else, and I could think of no one better than you," his gaze shifted to Light.

Both he and L blinked in surprise. "Me?" Light asked.

Wammy chuckled. "Yes, you. Who better to see the pitfalls that lay ahead of them, than one who fell into some himself? Who would know better how to steer them back to a higher path?" His gaze slid to L then, his smile soft and his eyes clear despite the disease that was gnawing at his body. "And L, the one they all look up to, who better could teach them that nothing can be done alone? The pair of you, I've decided, would make the perfect Watari for these children."

"We'll do it," L promised, squeezing Wammy's hand gently. He didn't need to look at Light to see the nod.

"We'd be honored," Light spoke softly, giving a small smile, "father."

The emotion that bloomed on Wammy's face was sweet and warm, like a fresh baked cookie on a cold winter morning. "Thank you, both of you, for making my last years such pleasant ones. I had no desire to die by heart attack," he chuckled gently.

"Thank you," Light replied, "for being so patient, and for helping me, helping both of us. We never would have made it without you," and he pulled away from L then, just enough to bow deeply.

"Speaking like I'm already dead," Wammy scolded with a soft smile. "I've still got a little time left, so let's save the eulogy for when it's needed, shall we?"

There was quiet, meaningless conversation for a little while before Roger called them out for dinner and Wammy was left to rest again. Near slipped into the room to sit with him while everyone else was eating.

The entire orphanage seemed to be hushed, as if they all knew, down to the smallest child, just what was happening. At the same time, they were all putting on their best brave faces, and it was all Light could do to keep from thinking of his own father.

Late that night, when L was asleep in a chair next to Wammy's bed, Light rose. He knew the old man was awake so he let his hand settle on the others, smiling weakly when Wammy's gaze fell to him.

"The other side... you'll like it," Light said softly. "It's like being enveloped in warmth and safety, like nothing at all is wrong. Like you could just lay back and rest forever and that would be okay. There's no fear or pain or worry, and when your mind drifts to the people you miss, it's not so much a sadness, but a happiness from the memories."

Wammy chuckled quietly. "I'm not afraid of passing on, Light-kun, but I appreciate the thought. I have faith that the world, and the places beyond it, are all inherently good. It is up to us in this world, to make it better," he patted Light's hand.

"And that's been your goal all along, hasn't it?" Light smiled sadly. "Well, you've certainly succeeded. I'm sure that will be a key consideration on the other side."

"So you did face judgment," Wammy's smile grew. "And yet, here you are, telling me I have nothing to fear. It must have gone quite well."

"I've repented," Light agreed. "I still don't think I could have possibly redeemed myself enough, but it seems that my final moments before death were what did it. I'm not going to let the momentum die, either. I'll do everything I can to continue your mission because it's mine, too."

"And that's exactly why I chose you and L," Wammy agreed. "You've got the brains and the heart that the children need on their side. I saw it in your eyes when you'd woken up after the execution. I knew he'd made the right choice."

"It didn't seem that way," L said softly, lifting his head slowly to look at them both. "But it makes me happy."

The days passed slowly. Often, they would spend the time just sitting there in silence as Wammy's grip on life slowly weakened. Hundreds of people must have come through the orphanage to see him in his last days, and every one of them he remembered, had kind words for.

Then, one day, Wammy had been stronger. Had less trouble getting up to use the bathroom, and Light knew it was going to be over soon. He and L stayed up that night. The living rooms were full of people sitting up, restlessly awaiting the news, comforting one another in Watari's final hours.

Light understood what it was, then, that made Watari so special to each and every one of them. Love. The love Watari had shown them, from the moment they'd met, and the love they had for him in return. He was a father to each and every one of them. To, Light thought, every orphan in the world.

When he checked Wammy's pulse at three that morning and felt nothing, he wept. Quiet, silent tears as he returned to L, shook his head. They left the room, went to the sitting area.

"He's gone," Light's voice broke when he said it, and gradually, the people in the room let their grief go, let the tears come, spill. He held L tightly as they both mourned the passing of a great inventor, a mentor. A father.

Quietly and with great respect, the doctor came, confirmed time of death, and the body was taken to the morgue.

The next day, the world mourned with them as the death of Quillish Wammy was announced. Roger took care of the funeral plans, and the orphanage settled into the quiet disarray of mourning. The funeral was a similar thing, full of weeping and mourning, and it was L who, voluntarily, gave the eulogy.

"Quillish Wammy," L said softly, crouching next to the grave like a child might. "Was the closest thing to a father many of us had. I was the first orphan he found, but I was not the last. His legacy is not the intelligence of his children, or the inventions he left behind. It's much more simple than that. He loved us, all of us, and that is what he leaves us with. If he could have, he would have been the father to every orphan of the world. The mission that he would leave for us is just as simple. Make the world a better place."

And that was what his headstone said.

Quillish Wammy
Father of Orphans
Whose Love Changed the World

Flowers, crosses, stuffed animals and tokens of gratitude, of love, began appearing at the gates to Wammy's House. People around the world who were, at one point or another, touched by Wammy's life left their condolences, donations to the orphanage.

Winter was setting in, the trees bare and the air brisk with cold. Light and L remained at the orphanage, doing what they could here and there to help with the transition. They wound up dealing with a lot of crying children, a lot of explaining why Wammy had died.

A month later, when the first blizzard set in, Roger felt it was about time to announce that L and Light were to be the new Watari. It had been a surprise, at first, for Light to learn that there was but one Watari for all the children, and that Near choosing his own was all but unheard of. Then again, most of the children were better able to grasp social norms. Near and L, it seemed, had been the exceptions, and since his time in prison Near had outgrown that need.

So they were announced as the new Watari to the children, to the grown orphans that had gathered. There was a quiet acceptance, a few who didn't like that idea so much, but the rest were warm and kind as they congratulated, left their contact information.

The days drew on slowly, L grew more comfortable around the children and they, in turn, brightened his spirits. They went to Watari's grave often enough, bundled in coats and boots, walking slowly through the sludge, the snow to get there. They stood in the falling flakes, gazed at the headstone and gave quiet thanks that they had been touched by such a wonderful man.

Christmas came and they were both amazed by the rituals that accompanied it. In Japan, it had been a celebration holiday, where New Years had been the religiously significant one. There in Europe, there was much talk about life after death and countless specials.

Light had never realized just how many television channels were active in other countries. Japan had only a handful in comparison and it amazed him. More, the mythology around Santa Clause, the different takes on the same story, the origins of it.

It was on Christmas morning that he finally understood the magic that was spoken of. There were presents scattered beneath a massive tree, several that were unwrapped and meant to be shared between all the children. Watching them tear at the wrapping paper, scattering the shiny, sparkly things all over the place, Light was happy. As if he were watching his own children which, he supposed, he was.

The next day, they flew back to Japan for New Years, attending a small shrine for the ceremony, where they were able to remain relatively anonymous.

They began, then, to split their time between the orphanage and cases. It was difficult for Light, and each case often brought with it the pain and memory of his past. Slowly, the number of panic attacks ebbed, the nervousness faded.

So did the scars, but still, when he gazed into the mirror after a shower, he felt like a zebra. It was always the zebra he thought of, leaping and braying, running in terror from the predator.

He was a victim, he realized, and his mind was back in that mindset again. He couldn't even speak of the rape without the terror bubbling in the back of his throat.

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A/N: Geeze, I almost cried, writing this chapter. I love Watari far too much for my own good.

Selim: D'awwwww, but I love the avid readers! =3 Then again, those ropes look awfully intimidating. XD