At the Heart of Justice

Chapter 18: Eve

It was a cold December afternoon in New York City, and it had just begun to snow. Naomi stood watching the soft flakes twirl downward lazily, as if they were in no hurry to meet their final resting place. She gazed contentedly outside the frosty window, cupping her hot mug of coffee in both hands, just the very tips of her fingers peeking out from the long sleeves of her sweater.

It was Christmas Eve and the lobby of the grand hotel they were staying in was adorned festively with lights and garland and ornaments.

Naomi loved Christmas. The suite they were staying in was on the top floor, and the view of the city was spectacular. She couldn't help but think of the carol "Silver Bells" as she took in the bustling scene before her.

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas

The lyrics fit the snowy, metropolitan panorama just perfectly.

Naomi's gaze shifted to Central Park and the ice skaters going round and round Wollman Rink, looking tiny as ants from her lofty perspective. It had been a long time since she had ice skated, though at one time she had actually been quite good at it. As she watched, she remembered fondly the scrape of the blades against the ice and the feeling of the cold winter air on her cheeks.

"Oh, wouldn't it be fun to go..."

A wave of spontaneity suddenly caused Naomi to spin around and exclaim, "We should go ice skating!"

L, who was busy with nothing more than a plate of cake, looked up.

"Umm, no," he responded flatly.

Naomi put a hand on her hip. "Come on! Please?" Then she added hopefully, "...it's Christmas!"

L shook his head, his mouth full of cake. "No." He swallowed and added, "You can go."

Naomi brought her hand back up to hold her mug with both hands again and sighed. "Okay, well nevermind. Sorry, I just got excited." She turned back to staring out the window.

L hadn't missed the look of obvious disappointment in her face, but ice skating?

Not really his thing.

Watari cleared his throat loudly and L turned his head to look at him. The old man was staring intently at the detective.

L lifted his bony shoulders in an innocent shrug.

Without breaking eye contact, Watari tipped his head toward Naomi and raised his white eyebrows.

L looked at Naomi, whose back was turned to him, and then back at Watari. He read clearly the message that was being relayed to him. Naomi was more than deserving of a fun day out. And the holiday did seem to be important to her...

But... ice skating??

With an audible sigh, L stood to his feet. "Alright."

Naomi turned to look at him questioningly.

He stood with his hands in his pockets and cracked his toes into the carpet. "We can go ice skating," he said. He turned to Watari. "Are you coming?"

The old man chuckled. "No, no. But I'd be more than happy to give you two a ride."

Naomi was grinning. "Wait, really? You're going to ice skate?"

L lifted an index finger to scratch the side of his head. "Looks like it," he answered uneasily.

"Oh, yay!" Naomi set her mug down and moved with excited steps toward her room. She pointed at L as she did so and told him to find something warm to wear before disappearing into her little wing of the large suite.