Bells and Rain

Misa stood out in the rain quietly, bright eyes looking up at the sky. She dropped the umbrella she had been holding to block the rain from drenching her. It splashed on the soaked ground, but she didn't notice as the freezing water jumped onto her legs. She couldn't even feel the chilled winds whipping through her hair and across her body.

Her skin was pale and her lips remained a blood red, from the lipstick so carefully applied. She was shivering, but she didn't notice. Her hair blew behind her like a stream of silk ribbons, brushing against the bare skin on her back. It was so cold, and she didn't even have a jacket. She could feel the wind blowing in between her legs, freezing her thighs and swaying her skirt...

She didn't care...

She just looked up at the sky, through her eyelashes, wet by small raindrops. Her make-up ran slightly, looking almost like darkened tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were dimly focused on the black clouds above her, hazy through the rainfall...

The Heavens were crying today...

Nothing could snap her out of her trance. She just stared at the sky, listening to the sound of raindrops. She could hear them hitting the hard concrete, the puddles of ice-cold water around her, which turned her feel blue... She could hear them hitting the metal roofs of the homes and buildings around them, the wood walkways and railings... She could hear them hitting the satellite dish near her and resounding with an echoic dripping.

But, as she listened, she could hear a new sound... One she had never heard before. She could hear them through the curtain of rain and the booming thunder...

She could hear bells.

A small tear fell, her not taking her eyes off the sky as she quietly sung, to the sound of the bells...

"...ki o tsukete..." she sung softly, eyes going to the ground as she slowly began walking.

"Kamisama wa miteru..." she sung, voice not getting any stronger. Her hope was so weak now...

"Kurai yomichi wa... Te o tsunaide kudasai..." she continued softly, looking back to the sky. A lightning strike whipped across the sky above her, hitting the lightning rod of a building near her.

"Hitori de tooku ni ite mo... Itsumo mitsukedashite kureru..." she continued, closing her eyes as she continued to walk dangerously close to the edge of the building.

"Shitteru koto wa zenbu oshiete kureru... Watashi ga oboete nakute mo... Nando demo ashiete kureru..." she sung, eyes opening slightly to peer down the edge of the building, at the brightly lit city below. The tears of the sky blurred her vision, the bright, colorful lights looking almost like stars in her sight. In those eyes of hers...

"Demo zenbu wakatte shimattara dou sureba ii no...?" she finished softly, a tear falling from her eyes and blending in with the rain as the wind blew it down the edge of the building. She tangled her blue fingers in the chain-link fence that blocked off the edge of the building from her steps.

She couldn't understand... She believed in her savior, in Kira, but nothing got better... It all got so much worse... There was fear everywhere and hate building. Obsession and blindness flowed through society now, and she just couldn't gather the strength to believe anymore...

She looked out at the horizon, not being able to distinguish it from the sky. She couldn't tell with the haze of rain blurring everything. The sky, the ground...

"Can you hear them?" a soft voice asked from behind Misa...

Misa blinked slowly, eyes turning to fall on the soaked form of L. His raven hair was drenched, falling over his eyes and face and sticking to his cheeks and neck. His worn-down clothes were wet, his thin shirt slightly transparent and his dark jeans hanging dangerously low on his boney hips.

Misa smiled slightly, eyes still sad and mourning the loss of all those people who died...

"The... bells?" she asked softly, L smiling slightly in return. His eyes held the same sadness. The sadness of one in mourning...

"Yes," he answered quietly, walking a bit closer so he could see what she was seeing. Misa blinked slowly once more, feeling the soaked material of L's shirt against her bare, pale blue arm. She could feel the cold skin of his chin rest on her shoulder, his wet hair sliding across her cheek and neck.

"Church bells..." she added in softly, blank eyes focused forward...

She could feel his arms wrapping around her thin waist. His piano-fingers held her hips lightly, his cold body pressed against her back. She could feel him nuzzle her neck lightly, barely feeling the water draining from her hair and onto their cold skin.

She then smiled slight. She could feel a slight warmth being created by their bodies pressed together so closely. It was starting to make everything feel better.

"...wedding bells..." she then decided softly, tilting her head and looking into L''s tired eyes.

He then smiled slightly, a bit of hope sparking up in his expression.

When their lips met, everything seemed to get warmer.

A step in the right direction... A step out of the rain...

A step towards the bells, which they both shared.