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Alice sat on the couch, still deep in thought. Why would her parents do this to her… and why would her friends act like they didn’t know her? It made her mad just thinking about it.

“Ali! Did you hear me?” Mello asked, poking her arm, bringing Alice out of her thoughts.

“Hmm? What did you say, Mello?” she asked, smiling.

“Well, other than your ice cream is melting, big brother L is on the phone for you.” Alice quickly looked at her hand and saw her ice cream cone dripping onto her shoes. She wiped it up and headed towards the phone.

“Hello?”

“I see Mello finally got you to come to the phone.”

“Sorry for the wait, L. I had been doing some thinking about some things that’s been happening.”

“Ah. I was calling to let you know that Watari and I will be back soon. In fact, tomorrow.”

“That’s wonderful, L. Should I tell the others?”

“If you want, Alice. I’ll see you guys soon.”

When Alice heard a click, she turned to the others with a smile. “So, what did big brother want?” Mello asked, eating a bar of chocolate.

“He called to say he’ll be back tomorrow,” Alice answered as Mello looked up at her.

“Really? He’s coming back?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Yea! L’s coming home!” Near sighed as Mello looked over at him.

“What’s wrong with you, Near?” Mello asked as Near finished a puzzle he was working on.

“When L comes home, that means Ali will have to leave… we may not see her ever again…” Near said softly as the reality of what he said hit Mello. He had grown used to having Alice around and now couldn’t think about Wammy’s without her. Without thinking, Mello ran over to Alice and hugged her. The woman looked down and hugged Mello back.

“Don’t worry, Mello… I’ll come by here everyday and play with you guys. That’s a promise.”

“You better, Ali… if you don’t, I’ll find you and drag you here myself,” Mello joked, laughing a bit. As Alice stood back up, she saw Matt sitting next to Near, watching him work on a 1,000,000- pieced picture puzzle. The young woman walked over to Near and smiled.

“What are you working on, Near?” Alice asked as Mello walked over to them, “What’s the picture?” Near looked up for a moment then looked back at his puzzle with a small smile on his face.

“It’s a picture Watari took of all of us when we first became candidates to become L’s successor. That was 2 years ago. He had this puzzle made for me but just recently gave it to me.” Alice kneeled down and smiled; Near had most of the puzzle finished. In the puzzle, Near was sitting on the floor playing with a rubber duck in pajamas that were too big for him; Mello stood next to him, eating a bar of chocolate while Matt sat next to him, playing a Game Boy Pocket. Behind all three of them was L, trying to get them to look at the camera.

“Aw, you guys were so cute back then,” Alice said, smiling at them as Mello started to blush a bit. “What do you mean, “were”? I’m still cute,” he said as Alice rubbed his head.

“I know that. I have an idea. Why don’t we run to the market and pick up some sweets for big brother?”

“Yea! We got to get everything ready for big brother!” Mello said as Near sighed again.

After shopping, Alice placed the four brown bags on the table and smiled. “Okay. Let’s see what we got for L,” she said as the children sat in the chairs around the table. As she pulled the items from the bag, she named them as Near crossed them off a list: “Sweet strawberries… dipping chocolate… don’t touch it, Mello… let’s see… hard candies… shortcake mix… and tons of sugar cubes.”

“That’s everything, Ali. Should we start baking the cake?” Near asked as Alice put the bags away and grabbed a mixing bowl.

“We will. Mello, Matt. Get the rest of the ingredients and Near, clear the table.” Near nodded as Matt and Mello began to get the butter, milk, flour and eggs. “What kind of cake do L like most?” Alice asked, pouring in the mix as well as the butter, milk, flour and eggs. Mello looked at Matt who looked Near. “Strawberry shortcake is his favorite,” Near said, “It’s really the only kind of cake he’ll eat.” Alice nodded and began mixing the batter.

“…You know, I really don’t want L to come back home,” Mello said as Matt turned to him.

“What are you talking about, Mello? Why don’t you want L home?” Matt asked as Mello sighed.

“Alice is a lot better than L when it comes to playing with us, since L is always busy with his cases.”

“Yea, I know what you mean… but still, I rather have both of them here with us. I love Alice as much as I love L.”

“…Okay…” Mello scoffed, eating a bar of chocolate. Alice poured the batter into two baking pans and slid them into the oven. She looked up at the clock and sighed, “Bedtime, you guys.”

“Awww! Do we have to, Ali?” Matt asked as she nodded.

“The sooner you guys go to sleep, the sooner L will be here,” Alice smiled as they each hugged her, “I’ll each of you in the morning.” As the three children walked up the stairs, Alice sat down at the table and sighed. After tomorrow, I’ll have to face my father alone… Alice thought, shuttering a little. Her father’s temper wasn’t like a normal person’s temper; the slightest thing could set him off, and after the other day, he most likely beat the living daylights out of her. She placed her head on the table and sighed again.

“Come on, you slowpoke! L’s on his way home!” Mello yelled the next morning, running down the stairs, in his usual clothes as Matt followed behind him with Near at his heels. They ran into the kitchen to see Alice putting the last strawberry on top of the two layered cake. “Morning you guys,” she said with a smile, “Breakfast is over on the counter.” As each of them grab their bowls, the front door opened.

“Is anyone here?” a voice asked as Mello dropped his bowl and ran for the door.

“L! You’re back!!” he said, arms opened to hug L. L simply stepped to the left and let Mello run into Watari.

“I missed you too, Mello,” L said as Matt latched himself to L’s leg.

“Big brother! I’ve missed you!” Matt said, smiling as L patted his head.

“I missed you as well, Matt. Could you please let my leg go?” Matt lets go as Near walk up to L.

“Welcome back, L,” Near said, quietly as L nodded and noticed Alice walking up to him as well. His eyes fell on the cake she was carrying.

“Welcome home, L. We baked a cake for you,” Alice smiled. L walked over to her and smiled as well.

“Thank you. It’s good to be back.”