[L wasn't just a faceless finish line for Mello - he only met the other man as himself once, but it was more than most were given, a glimpse of L as a flesh and blood person. And like then, being given this tiny scrap of who L-the-person is feels to Mello like a rare gift, despite the discomfort this revelation carries with it. He nods to L in acknowledgment of what he's said.]

We can't change the past. All we can do is learn from it.

[But what is there to be learned from something like this? That human beings are capable of exceptional cruelty? Mello already knew that.]

I won't say anything, of course - not even to Near. You can trust me.

[Mello isn't a trustworthy person, mainly by nurture, if you can classify the training he received at Wammy's House as such. But L is an exception - he's important. And so is keeping his secrets.]