No words needed [L x Reader] • Death Note

Chapter 57 | newly motivated

"Wow... I totally forgot about this" L muttered, holding the letter to himself.

"It's been a bit longer than 10 years but hey, adult you is reading it as child you intended" you replied.

Sitting on the end of his bed, the box you'd found last night between the two of you and L looked though it as you'd done the night before.

"How'd you even find this?" L asked.

"I promise I wasn't snooping or anything, I just got another blanket and almost knocked it over" you replied.

"Eh, not like I care if you're the one snooping. You already know everything about me"

Finishing the letter, he folded it back up and put it in the box, his face lighting up when he noticed the bunny mentioned in said letter in the box too.

"Buns!" He gasped.

Such a sweetheart he was. He grabbed the toy and looked it over, all the memories coming back.

"I completely forgot he was in here. I thought I'd just lost him forever" he smiled.

"Child you had big dreams with the whole time capsule idea" you replied.

"I sure did. I was even talking about marriage... little me was rather optimistic"

L was a bit of a pessimistic person nowadays, but hey most kids are optimistic. The real world hadn't hit them yet. Even after everything L went though as a kid he still managed to stay optimistic at a young age. Watari raised him well.

"But hey a lot of what ten year old you said came true. You have me, and you're the worlds greatest detective. And hey look at you talking to me with absolutely no problems" you said.

"That's true, maybe little me was onto something"

L looked down at the bunny toy, thinking about what he'd written in that letter all those years ago. Just like you, the first thought he had reading about passing the toy onto his future kids was Rosie. She may not be HIS kid but he was definitely her father figure, if anyone deserved it, it was her.

It made him wonder, just what was the relationship with him and Rosie? He'd taught her sign language, helped her make friends, comforted her after nightmares, related to her struggles at that age... and you were the one that rescued her and bought her to wammys. She'd grown to trust you and L so quickly after such a hard set of events for her to go through. And she was making amazing healing progress.

He was her mentor, a father figure. And you were the counterpart to that. Kind of a mix of a father and mother figure. A parent figure. The two of you had come in to stand in as her parents after the deaths of her biological ones.

And while no one could ever replace her biological parents and the love and relationship they had with Rosie, you and L could at least be like a second set of parents. You may not have been there when she was born and had those critical and bond forming emotional moments holding the newborn Rosie for the first time. But you were the one she ran into the arms of when she was rescued.

You'd never be her biological parents, but you could be her second parents. Her foster parents.

"(Y/n)... what is Rosie to you?" L spoke up.

"Oh... well uh, she's one hell of a fighter. She's managed to get through everything so well so far. She's incredibly smart, doesn't let her mutism stop her and is a bundle of joy even after experiencing such horrible things. She's an amazing kid" you explained.

"Hm... you heard that the other day right?"

You knew exactly what he was referring to, the day you and L found all the kids being quiet as the kitten slept.

"She almost called you dad? Yeah, I heard that" you affirmed.

"If she sees me that way, I don't want to burst that bubble for her. She clearly needs it after what she went through. But I've never been a dad, I have no idea what I'm doing here"

You gave him a smile, finding his unneeded worry a little endearing. He'd been a great dad this whole time, and hadn't even realised it.

"L, you've already been a good dad. This whole time you've been teaching her, comforting her, helping her. She sees you that way because you've already proven you're a good dad. Sure you're young for a parent but that doesn't mean you can't be one" you assured.

He looked down at the bunny toy again, the one he loved to bits at Rosie's age. The one he begged Watari to get him while out shopping one day, the one he dragged around everywhere with him. And the one that his foster dad used to cheer him up as a scared child.

If Rosie needed a dad... then he'd be a dad.

"What about you?" He asked.

Again you caught his drift, understanding his worried and thought process.

"I mean we're the same age so we're both young for parents. But if you wanna parent Rosie and have me be the second parent I'm all for that. She's a great kid, if I had to pick any kid to be my daughter I'd pick her. Plus, my dads would coddle her like crazy, she'd have two cool grandpas on my side" you replied.

L saw himself in Rosie. A young child version of himself. They were both mute from a horrible traumatic experience, attended the same orphanage, both had trouble communicating, both latched onto an adult for a parental figure. So many of his experiences, Rosie also had. He just didn't want her to have to go through the bad parts of that. Call it empathetic instinct or parental instinct, but he wanted to protect Rosie and make sure she was never ever hurt again.

He loved all his successors of course, but Rosie had made a particular impact on him.

"When we catch the monster that planned all this, now we know who it is it should be a straight forward case... but when we catch her, let's take her with us to see your parents. She didn't even want us to leave for a hour the other week so clearly she can't be away from us for too long when she's still freshly traumatised. Maybe over those few months we can... I dunno. Trail being proper parents?" L suggested.

That man had such a soft side sometimes, you could tell he much he truly cared for those he loved. And the fact he was asking YOU to be the second parent told you that he saw you in his life for years and years to come. He saw you as a life partner, and someone to raise a child with.

"That sounds like a plan. I mean they say it takes a village to raise a child so the extra help from the orphanage and my dads will definitely be something we need going into it. But hey, she's worth the effort" you said.

L gave you a smile, glad you were willing to take such a big step with him.

"And I did say over ten years ago I'd pass this bunny on, so I think she's going to be the new owner of buns" he added.

"I had a feeling you give it to her" you replied.

You couldn't sit around and chat all day, you had a sketchy teacher to arrest. So as you packed the box back up again, and out buns aside to give to Rosie later, you had to get one more thing out before you went off for work.

"L" you began.

"Hm?"

You pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek gently.

"I'm proud of you" you said.

He happily wrapped his arms around you in return and rested his head on your shoulder.

"Thank you, I love you (y/n)" he smiled.

"I love you too sweetheart"