Endings and Beginnings

"You'll be turning twenty-two in twenty-two days," Matt mused. Beside him, his girlfriend smiled and rolled her eyes, not wanting to be reminded about her age. "And I'll be twenty-four in thirty-two. Jesus. We're getting older, but I still feel the same."

"Isn't it always that way?" he looked at her. She was busy gazing out the window, eyes lost in thought. "The only thing that changes with age is the number itself. The whole year is what changes you, whether good or bad. You feel different in the middle of the year, sometimes not at all. The whole birthday thing is to make you feel good about surviving another three hundred and sixty-five days."

Matt couldn't help but laugh.

"That's a rather different point of view."

"I like to keep my viewpoints rather realistic," she turned her eyes on him and smiled, "I don't like having my head up in the clouds if I know what I'm imagining isn't going to happen. It helps a lot."

"Helps in battling disappointment?" she nodded. "But don't you like the whole what if twist to it? I mean, I used to imagine what would happen if I..." he trailed off. "Never mind." 

"What if what, exactly?"

"I mean, what if I died in that shoot out thing a few years ago?" he saw her cringe and sighed, "The whole Kira thing. We were able to make it through, Mells and I. Others...well. Others weren't." A was silent throughout all of this. She had turned away momentarily to grab a bottle of wine as well as a wine glass, and he watched her quietly as she poured in a reasonable amount. 

It had been some time since he had last seen her drink. 

"You could have stayed in Wammy's."

"I know. But I had to help Mells, he was my friend. We may have lost touch, but I couldn't just leave him there by himself in the States."

"I know," she replied quietly. "Sometimes I forget about the old life...Wammy life. The Kira case. Even though I wasn't an active participant."

"Life seems to revolve around work more, yeah?" 

"Yeah." she took a long drink. "This is my life. Life in Tokyo. Being part of the police force. I've moved on."

"It can't revolve all around work, though." Matt wrapped an arm around her, sighing softly at how she felt in his arms. "You've got me. And Peters. And Touta. And J, Olsen, Dee, Matsumoto..." he trailed off, listing the people she knew. "Have you ever tried searching for Linda?"

"God knows where Linda is." she set the glass down and looked up at him, "All I know is that she's out there, travelling the world with her watercolors, poster paint...she's was a great artist back at Wammy's. I bet she's greater now."

"But have you tried..."

She shook her head.

"Never occurred to me, honestly. But I owe her a lot."

At that, he chuckled. His blue eyes moved to the stars, watching as they twinkled. "In a couple of months, we're going to celebrate our anniversary. How long has it been?" 

The reminder made her blush. "Well, if we've been dating since I was eighteen, then..." she pursed her lips, "Going to be four years. Four years."

"Not necessarily dating, though. More like kissing the hell out of each other and making blanket forts in the winter." he winked at her and she finally laughed, the nervous tension about the earlier topic disappearing. 

"Don't forget the extravagant gifts and the fact that both of us have life-endangering jobs," she teased. He made a face. "Calm down, love. I haven't been to the hospital in a while. We're okay."

"We better be," he said, mostly to himself. She put the glass away and was back in his arms, both of them watching the night sky. "People releasing fireworks this early..."

"Do you want to turn on the telly and watch for a bit?" 

"I love it when you go all British on me," he muttered, and kissed her. The action made her laugh into his lips and she kissed back eagerly, the couple pulling away much after so he could spin her around. "Ah, Christ...happy New Years', darling." 

"Happy New Years' indeed," A agreed, her face glowing as he led them both into a slow dance in the middle of their living room.