*reads the next chapter*
OMG! The plot thickens. XD
I can't wait to read the next chapter!

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The embarrassed couple instantly sprung apart as Mia stumbled back out of the room. Why didn’t you knock, Mia? Why? Why? Why? Why? She ran down the stairs, hearing the hurried footsteps of Diego as he burst out of his office after her.

“Kitten, wait!” Mia heard him call after her. She screeched to a halt halfway down the steps and turned around. Diego, who wasn't far behind, ran a few more steps and stopped in front of Mia, panting slightly.

Mia's face was livid with anger and embarrassment. “I’mSoSorry,IShouldHaveKnockedIMean,ReallyHowEmbarrassingForYouAndMeAndPenny. ThoughIWishYouHadPutUpA”Please knock”SignOrSomethingLikeThatForUnsuspectingPassersByBecause, I’mNotGoingToLieIDidn’tExactlyNeedOrWantToSeeThat. ...IDidn’tKnowYouWereSeeingPenny. HowLongHa-“ Mia ranted without once drawing breath.

Diego decided to cut across her tirade before she asphyxiated herself. “Listen, it’s fine. I can see you weren’t expecting to see that when you came in. I hope it didn't embarrass you too much,” he said reassuringly.

Suddenly very uncomfortable, Mia gulped and straightened her suit. “W-well yes, actually, it did. Sorry I didn’t knock. I’d really better be going now. Thanks…”
Thanks for what? She wondered as she began to walk off down the rest of the stairs.

Relieved that Mia wasn't too angry, Diego recovered some of his cocky attitude. “Kitten, was there anything you wanted? After all, I figure you came to my office for a reason.”

“Nope… no reason at all, though I should mention how happy I am to see you and Penny have... err… found each other.” Mia blushed realizing how strange everything she’d just said sounded.

Diego’s foot shuffled. “We haven’t found each other. We’re not even dating...”

“Oh… well, what are you doing then?” she asked confusedly.

“Well… um… making out... and... other... things…” he replied, sounding slightly embarrassed of himself now.

“Yes, but after… that… you’re going to start dating her, right? …I probably shouldn’t say this but… well, she really likes you.”

He coughed. “I guess you win some, you lose some. She’ll be okay.”

Mia raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Let me get this straight. You don’t want to date her, even though she likes you. You’ve made out with her, implying you like her too, but you’re still not going to date her. So why make out with her in the first place?”

Diego paused, apparently thinking. He came up with an explanation, but said it very fast as if he didn’t want Mia to understand him. “Uh,IMadeOutWithHerBecauseIFeltLikeMakingOutWithSomeone, AndShe’sAttractiveAndKindOfSeemedToWantToSoI…”

Mia, who had no trouble keeping up, sighed. “Well that’s incredibly… shallow,” Mia stated bluntly. “So are you going to tell her this now or leave her to wait for you in your office?”

Diego took a minute, clearly playing out what he thought that scene would look like in his head before he finally reacted. “No… no, no, no, no, no! That’s really not a good idea…” he said, though somewhat hesitantly.

Diego is acting really strangely Mia thought, trying to figure out why. “Okay, so you’ll go and apologize to her for not respecting her feelings at all and explain how you completely slipped up?”

He nodded. “Yeah… okay…” he added unnecessarily, and began to walk back up the stairs to his office. As he left, Mia swore she heard him mutter “Or something like that…” under his breath.

She decided that this escapade was a good distraction from the disastrous trial. She also found that the more she busied herself as the day went on, the less time she had to dwell on anything that would upset her. Despite this, however, she was close to breaking down again by lunchtime. She decided to head to the staff room to make some hot chocolate for herself, and she found Penny already there. Mia blushed realizing it was definitely too late to back out of the room unnoticed. Mia had her own troubles, after all; she didn’t exactly feel like being Penny’s shoulder to cry on at the moment. Penny turned round and smiled; this was very much a surprise for Mia as she had expected Penny to either have mascara halfway down her face or to look exceedingly angry.

“Mia!” Penny exclaimed cheerfully. “Hi! Can I get you anything?”

Mia shook her head in answer to the question. To say the least this behavior confused Mia, after all, practically as soon as Mia had first met Penny (which had been very recently) it was quite clear that she had been very interested in Diego Armando who, incidentally, had just made out with her despite not having feelings that matched the girl’s own. The only way that Penny could not be angry or upset at this moment was if…
“So has Diego spoken to you yet?” Mia asked casually, picking up a mug and turning on the water kettle as she spoke.

Penny’s reaction was an instant deep red blush as she clapped one of her hands to her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I completely forgot about how you walked in on us earlier, how embarrassing!”

“Uh, yeah…that was a bit of a shock, but I’ve forgotten about it already, I think…” This was lie. All morning, Mia had found herself thinking of how poor Penny would react when she found out that Diego had used her for no good reason. Perhaps Mia would have been harsher towards Diego if it weren’t for what had happened yesterday. She assumed that Diego had just needed someone to be close to after the trial, and Penny had been the first person he’d seen. “So you’ve spoken since then?” Mia inquired.

“Of course… though he did seem a little distant… he said that it was because of something that happened yesterday.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before tuning to look at Mia who was pointedly looking at nothing but the kettle; waiting for it to boil. “Actually… he said that you had something to do with it. You and some guy named Terry...”
She winced at Terry's name and felt the beginning of tears start up. She breathed in and tried to think of something, anything else.

“Mia, are you okay?” Penny asked, sounding concerned.

She sniffed. “I’m fine…” she replied unconvincingly, stirring her hot chocolate. “I should go, I have so much work to do, bye!” she said quickly as she picked up her mug and practically ran out the room. Who could blame her, after how Diego had acted? He could have at least told Mia how he had been too gutless to tell Penny the truth. Mia he clonked up the stairs to his office feeling pretty furious as she burst through the door half expecting to see him with another girl he'd felt the need to kiss for no reason.

He looked up; he was clearly surprised to be burst in on again, and by the same person, no less. Mia was amazed to see he was actually doing some work, but that wouldn't stop her from reprimanding him.

She marched right up to his desk. “Why haven’t you told Penny?” she asked loudly, but not so loudly that Penny might hear her in the staff room.

“Uh…” he mumbled breaking her eye contact. “I changed my mind about the dating. Penny’s a nice girl. A guy could do a lot worse.” Diego started to busy himself looking through his papers and re-arranging them.

Mia raised her eyebrows and began to speak sarcastically. “Really? Because I thought it was because you’re too gutless to tell her why you did what you did. But forgive me. I was clearly wrong!”

This caused him to look back at her again. “Is that right? That’s what you thought? Go on then, use your amazing psychological skills to analyze why I did what I did then…” he shouted, now fuming.

“Fine, I will! Because I think the incident from the other day affected you much more than you’re letting on. You say you actually do care about Penny and yet you don’t even tell her what happened! Terry Fawles killed himself right in front of all of us because of that bitch; Dahlia Hawthorne. No matter how much you try to be tough and not be bothered by this, you are bothered! Stop trying to bottle it inside, and stop using other people to distract yourself! I’m not expecting you to cry… just tell me how you feel.”

“Tell you how I feel?” Diego repeated skeptically. “You mean the way that you did when you shut yourself in the bathroom, locked yourself in your room? Kitten, believe it or not I actually do understand human emotions. I know why you did those things and I respected that by leaving you alone and going to work. I know you needed to be left alone to come to terms with the terrible thing that happened! I’m here for you, Mia, because I know you care. You’re not the kind of person who leaves all of their grief in the courtroom, forgetting who was guilty but found innocent; forgetting who was innocent but found guilty. I respect that and I respect you... but don’t go criticizing my way of dealing with everything life throws at me!”

Mia’s face softened. “I’m glad you respect me, but I can’t respect your way of dealing with things when your method shows how little you care for Penny’s feelings…” she stated simply.

“Or perhaps I know I messed up and it’s because I care about her feelings that I haven’t told her… though I am scared as well…” he admitted.

“Diego… everyone makes mistakes and messes up… I’m sure she’ll understand if you tell her what happened and how sorry you are for hurting her.” Mia reassured, trying to sound convincing.

Diego began to grumble under his breath. “Thing is… would it really be the worst thing if I don’t? Maybe I could go out with Penny for a while, that would help her get over me, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t follow you…” Mia said confusedly, trying to see what he was driving at.

“Well if we go out on a few dates, she’ll see how annoying I am to be in a relationship with...”

Mia widened her eyes in disbelief before she said, “You know what? Do what you like, Diego, but don’t expect me to not interfere, okay? Tell her what you did…” she paused for dramatic affect, “or I will…”.




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There it is finally. I don't know how long it'll be till i post the next one as i haven't evn started it yet but I'll try to within the next few days. As It's Christmas in two days I'll be quite busy. Thank you to everyone who's commented so far. Please review! I'm speaking to any lurkers here. I'd love your critisizm or praise!

Happy Holidays!

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Wow! Poor Penny. Hee, hee...I'll bet Diego's idea will blow up in his face.

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I am going to agree with Lida_Rose about Diego.
To me, Penny seems like to type of person who would be deeply affected by Diego's behavior. I hope she isn't hurt too bad........

Again, please continue writing!

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I hope i didn't make Diego seem like too much of a monster there. I just thought that people have different ways of acting when bad things happen to them and his is going to hurt Penny unfortunately. Clearly Diego isn't going to want to tell her what he's done which is pretty cowardly really. Hope no one thinks i went out of charecter on either Mia or Diego (especially Diego here). Though what he did here was stupid it did it with no deliberate bad intentions. I sound like his spokeperson right?

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Hmmmmm......

I don't think that you went OOC for either Mia or Diego here. Diego seems like he is in a tight spot, and when that happens, people behave differently than they normally do. Besides, we really didn't see that much of Diego. Anyways, I think that, like all the other chapters, you did a fantastic job!

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Yeah. I didn't think you made Diego a monster. He's just hurting, and people handle that sort of thing differently. Like GDM just said. XD

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Chapter Ten

Mia had a rare moment of clarity as she walked off down the stairs. After all there’s nothing like a traumatizing experience to make you see clearly she thought as she headed in the direction of Grossberg’s office with two names clearly etched into her mind; “Redd White” and “Marvin Grossberg”.

She took swallowed and knocked on the door, waited a moment and walked in. Marvin was sitting at his desk and was now looking at Mia confusedly.

“I believe when you knock you are meant to wait for someone to confirm they don’t mind you coming in?” he said.
She blushed “Err, so sorry. I momentarily forgot…” Mia nodded feeling slightly flustered now and looking at the floor.

“Ah well. No harm done. What was it you wanted?”

Geez Mia you’d think you’d have learned to knock from the last instance she thought to herself as a picture arose in Mia’s mind or Mr. Grossberg in a similar position to Diego’s from earlier. Resisting a shudder she looked Marvin straight in the eye and said;

“Well Sir…I was wondering what the name Misty Fey means to you?” Mia asked him assertively.

Grossberg now looked slightly uncomfortable as he shuffled in his seat “I know you’d come here and ask that sometim; I just wasn’t expecting you so soon. Especially after the incident yesterday…I was sorry to hear about that. Truly tragic…” he trailed off into his own thoughts for a moment as Mia stood waiting for him to say something else. Noticing she was still stood up he gestured towards a chair for her to sit in.

“Well sir…what does her name mean to you?” she asked blocking out the comment about ther Terry Fawles case and trying to pressurize him into answering.

“Misty Fey…is the name of the spirit medium from the DL-6 case. The police were so stumped, they brought her in to summon Gregory Edgeworth who-“

“Edgeworth?” She cut across him “Edgeworth as in the famous prodigy prosecutor? The one with Manfred Vonthingy as his mentor?”.
Grossberg nodded gravely “Yes, only he was his father. He was shot in an incident a long time ago. It was very tragic, especially for his son Miles Edgeworth; who saw the whole thing happen”.

“Wow, no wonder Prosecutor Edgeworth turned out that way…He saw his own father being murdered?” she said shocked trying to imagine how upsetting that must have been for him.

“Yes; it may also surprise you to learn that Gregory Edgeworth was a defense attorney.” He said raising his eyebrows a little.

Mia; suddenly remembering why she’d come here in the first place answered “Really? But Miles Edgeworth is a prosecutor.”

“Can you not see why he would consider a change of carrier; for the future? After all, the man who was accused of murdering his father was never found guilty. Would you be able to defend criminals after that?”

Mia shook her head “Anyway. What’s all this got to do with Misty?” she asked.

“Well…the police: they were stumped and so they called in a spirit medium to channel his spirit. Gregory instantly accused Yanni Yogi. A man named Robert Hammond who was Yanni’s defense attorney convinced him to plead temporary insanity due to lack of oxygen. He got an acquittal and was set free…”

Realizing where all this was headed she continued for him “…Misty Fey’s reputation as a spirit medium was ruined because her testimony didn’t stand up in court…She left Kurain Village because she was ashamed…”

Grossberg nodded “I’m very sorry Mia.”

“…Are you? Because that’s where you come into the story, what part did you play?” Mia asked sniffing “I have another question for you…What does the name Redd White mean to you?”

The change was immediate as locks and chains sprang across Grossberg and two locks appeared. Mia flinched in shock as she had forgotten the power held in a charged Magatama. I knew it. I knew he was hiding something…but what? She decided to gather together what she knew so far. When I left Kurain I had those two names; Redd White and Marvin Grossberg. I know they’re the reason that my mother’s reputation was ruined and I know that Redd White’s profession is to find imformation to give to the press…and I know Robert Hammond works here and Mr. Grossberg seems to have a huge knowledge of the case. He’d be the perfect person to go to for information… Suddenly it clicked in her mind as she realized that Grossberg had played a pretty large part in ruining Misty Fey’s life.

“Mr. Grossberg, I know Redd Whites profession is to collect information and who better than the audience to the whole affair to ask for information?” Mia said piling on the pressure.

“Does he?” Grossberg asked nonchalantly, playing it dumb.

“Oh give it up Sir!” she exclaimed; annoyed by his uncooperativeness “What did he offer you then?” He looked confused and yet Mia could tell he was acting as his eyes were darting around the room worriedly. She calmed down a little and tried a different approach “Please…Mr. Grossberg, don’t I have a right to know why my she’s been absent for more than half of my life. Doesn’t my sister have a right? She was two when she left, two.

“So I’m right in assuming that Misty Fey was your mother?” he asked; with a guilty look upon his face.

Although slightly annoyed but the use of “was”; as in past tense, she ignored it and nodded.

He sniffed and looked at her sadly “I just want you to know…If I had known she had children…I would never have sold that information…But when Redd White came to the office that day he asked for me to summarize the case I agreed. I even tried to skirt over your mother’s part in the tale but he was interested. It’s like he was focusing on it…When I was trying to decide whether to tell him or not I was blinded by the glint of gold. He paid me; and quite handsomely too…I think part of me knew that…err he was going to sell it all the press for more than he paid me but I still told him.” He now looked straight into her eyes “I’m so sorry. Words cannot describe how much I regret what I did. Especially now I’ve met you and I realized what I did not only had a large negative impact onto Misty’s life but also yours and your sisters”.

Mia was quiet now and had been since his story had begun. It was difficult to remember that had Marvin Grossberg not leaked the information to Redd White he would only have gotten it from someone else.

Clearly worried by Mia’s silence began “Listen, Mia…If I could turn back the clock…”

“But you can’t!” she yelled out suddenly “Can you? I can’t believe you’d trade persons life; because channeling spirits was her life, for riches and material possessions…that makes me sick!” Mia was so angry. She felt as though she’d stored all of her feelings on this inside for so long. Being strong for herself, for Maya and now finally faced by the man who’d helped to take her mother from her when she’d been only twelve she was feeling upset and betrayed.

“I’m so sorry...I-I was tricked. You don’t understand!” Grossberg stuttered.

“And neither do you!” She shouted standing up “You must have had some inkling the information was for the press?!” Mia asked half shouting and half asking.

“I…was weak and gave in…But please, had I known the trouble and hurt I would ‘cause…I’m sorry…” he begged.

Something in his sad eyes triggered off pity in Mia’s heart as he seemed to feel genuine regret for what he’d done. She swallowed still not truly subdued after her angry outburst and yet just about managed to say “I accept your apology…” and she did. Mia could see the torment and suffering that he had clearly had, dreading the day that he would have to admit what he’d done. Despite all this she knew she could not be around him until she’d completely come to terms with it. And so she left the conversation at that, and left.



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There it is...Hope people enjoy and review!

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YAY! *Reads the next chapter*
Aww...Poor Marvin and Mia. I always wondered how Mia would eact if Grossberg told her what part he played in Misty's disappearance...And I think you captured it perfectly. XD

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Like always, I agree with Lida_Rose.
I just wish I could get here and post first.........

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LOL Manfred Vonthingy.

I wuv it!

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Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated in a while (about a week) but i've been busy, what with going back to school. As you can maybe see I got a banner made (By the amazing Vicki ). I thought it seemed like a good time as I've writen around 10 chapters now.

Lida_Rose: Thank you! I really enjoyed writing that chapter as I love all the drama. It's my favourite thing to write (that and romance scenes) I really can't wait to start on the Meigo writing!

GDM: Thank you aswell! Reveiws (especially positive ones really mean alot to me in my writing. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Amy: Hahaa, "Manfred Vonthing"? Well i just figured he had a kind of funny name and if you didn't know him, it's be easy to forget. Glad I made you laugh! Thanks for reviewing!

I should be updating anytime soon when i finally manage to end my current chapter. It's difficult because I'm totally stuck in dialogue at the moment and am trying to get out of it, Easier said than done! Please continue reveiwing!

Special thanks to Vickinator!

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Last edited by Missile. x on Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've just read the first ten chapters and tohught I'd add my thoughts.

Overall, this is very good. I think that Mia's character is very well represented and it reminds me very much so of the Mia at the beginning of T&T. Diego's character is also very good but i don't think he would've stayed over at Mia's after the Terry Fawles trial. Other than that he very good, I thought the bit with Penny was pure genius actually!

All in all, I look forward to reading more of it!

I can understand the going back to school thing.

Oh, and your sig is awesome. XD

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Hi everyone and thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment!

Flying Tododile: Hmm...your name sounds somehow familiar...I wonder why...Anyway, firstly thank you for reviewing, reading all 10 chapters in one must have been pretty heavy going. Glad you thought Penny was a good idea. The pretty-receptionist idea just popped into my head. As for Diego staying over at Mia's after the Terry Fawles thing he was just being a good friend. It sounds like that trail...err i mean trial was pretty traumatising for her. What if she'd gone mad in her own company? Ok that's not likely but whatever...Still thanks for commenting!


Lida_Rose: Thanks for understanding and if it's any Consolation (possibly spelt wrong or wrong word for this) I'm posting the next chapter later tonight I think. Thank you! By the way by Sig don't mean banner? Either way thank you and we have the Vickinator to thank for that.

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...
That was awesome o_o
I can't wait for the next chapter

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Chapter Eleven
Mia sighed loudly as she entered her small bungalow. Not that anyone could blame her for this after the first few days of work she’d gone through. She felt almost close to tears; from stress; from sadness, and she couldn’t help but think about poor Penny. Obviously this was hardly Mia’s hugest regret of things that had come to pass recently and as she changed into her sweats and put her fluffy, brown slippers on she pondered how different she’d be feeling had she not taken State vs. Fawles, or even just stayed at Kurain and trained to become master. This was a fate that instead now belonged to Maya who she knew would be easily capable of achieving it. It seemed very unlikely that her mother would be returning after her reputation had been ruined. Before, Mia had been able to believe that she would someday return but now that tiny ray of hope had been diminished. She missed her mother which was understandable as she’d not seen her in six years.

All this work to find out what happened to my mum…Somehow it doesn’t seem worth it. I miss my family; especially Maya…I bet she’d know exactly what to do to cheer me up. This thought triggered off a sudden wanting to ring her sister. She stood up and walked to the kitchen grabbing her phone and a huge slab of chocolate on the way back to the couch. Maya was on speed dial despite how Mia had not had the phone long. Mia broke of a chunk of chocolate as the phone began to ring and she popped it into her mouth, unfortunately this limited her movement of her mouth.

“Hello?” She heard from the other end of the phone “Who is this?” the voice said somewhat abruptly.

Recognizing the voice she replied “Oh, hi Aunt Morgan”

“Ah Mystic Mia, why I haven’t heard from you since you visited to tell us you passed the bar test.” Her aunt sounded friendly but Mia could almost sense a slight bitterness in the sweetness of her tone.

“I’m so sorry, I’ve had a lot to do recently…Like I have a job now!” Mia added happily.
“Good to hear, how’s that going for you?” Morgan asked.

Mia was slightly unsure of whether to tell the truth now; was it really necessary that she told her Aunt all the misfortunes that had taken place since she got the said job? Deciding it wasn’t, she went with the answer “Fine, fine. I’m quite busy actually. Can I have a quick word with Maya?”
“Maya is in training at the moment. I can tell her to ring back you’d like?” she said accommodatingly.
“What? Err no, no it’s ok. It was nothing important anyway. Besides I have a lot of paperwork I should be doing now. I’d better go, bye.”
“Very well, I’ll still tell her you called. Goodbye Mystic Mia.”
That was when Mia hung up. *Great so my little sister doesn’t even have time for me anymore. How did I get here? She thought chewing her Cadbury’s which was, for the first time ever, failing to cheer her up. Living on her own was proving to be harder than she’d expected. She felt sad and alone and more than anything she felt she needed to keep busy to stop her self thinking about Terry Fawles, Dahlia Hawthorne and even Diego Armando; who she was finding was like a constant reminder. After all he was there through the whole ordeal with her. For some reason thinking of him made her feel angry. Here she was alone eating comfort food (which still wasn’t working) and right now he was out with Penny. Albeit he was breaking up with her, which she found was a small comfort. Why should he be so unaffected while she’d been potentially traumatized?

“Well done Mia, by thinking that you feel selfish…” she said out loud. “Just because I’m miserable I want everyone else to be…” she continued, trailing off. Mia groaned. Great! Now I’m talking to myself… she thought as she pressed down the remote to see if there was anything good on TV. She jumped as the phone rang, accepting a little too quickly to be considered cool.

“Hello?” she answered jumpy now for some reason.

“Whoa…err hi?” the voice replied clearly surprised by the speed she had picked up. “Mia?” it asked.

“Yes…Who is this?” Mia asked trying to relax.

There was a pause before “Hi Mia, its Diego Armando; from work.”

It was her turn to pause. “How did you get my number?” This wasn’t helping her relax. Especially as she’d wondered how he’d got her address as well.

“Oh well, you know, Penny’s a sectary and I’m technically “dating” her…” he replied exasperatedly as if he had something else he wanted to discuss.

This did a god job of distracting her “What?” she asked starting to feel borderline angry “I thought you were going to break up with her and not string her along?”

“I’m sorry…It just wasn’t happening…I sat her down with a nice meal, hoping to soften the blow and well…It just made it worse. She kept saying how great I was and how much trouble I went to I was about to say...well y’know…let her down gently something like “I’m sorry but I don’t want to be in a relationship right now” or “I’m still not over my ex…” I’m sure you’ve heard the kind of thing before right?”

“Oh, you mean lies?” What is he trying to imply? she thought indignantly.
Realizing how bad he sounding saying that he suddenly paused “No, no I didn’t mean “I bet people have said that kind of thing to you. I mean, why would they? You’re great; beautiful, clever. I just meant…”

“Get on with the story will you?” she said feeling herself blush a little but maintaining her angry act.

“Well, anyway. In the end I…couldn’t do it.” he replied hurrying the last part of the sentence “I gotta go now, bye!”

“DON’T YOU DARE HANG UP THE PHONE DIEGO ARMANDO!” she shouted hoping to stun him into doing so by shouting.

After not hearing the beep she continued “So you mean to tell me that instead of doing the right thing; and breaking up with her…you did the opposite and decided you’d string her along a little longer?” Mia replied feeling both irritated and sad; for Penny being used to comfort Diego in this way.

“Kitten, listen. I’m sorry but I can’t be such and upstanding moral figure as you are” Diego answered down the phone with a hint of sarcasm “I didn’t do the right thing ok? I slipped up…again…”

“Yes, yes you did. So I’m going to tell Penny you kissed her when you knew she liked you. But you didn’t care and did it anyway… ” Mia paused “Well not exactly like that because that’s too harsh…”

“Why can’t you just stay out of this? Why do you even care anyway? What are you jealous or something?” he asked heatedly.

“Jealous?! I don’t think so, more like outraged at how little respect you seem to have for women!” Mia exclaimed shrilly.

She could hear Diego breathing down the phone, clearly thinking of something to say back “You know what I’m outraged at? That anyone could actually be as bigger busybody as you are! Keep your nose out of my business!” he yelled.

She gulped, this actually had stung her. So she liked helping people, was that such a bad thing? Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Why couldn’t he understand that? Mia knew she had shortcomings, same as anyone else but she had always learnt to work at them herself until they had gone. She knew she’d never be perfect because no one is and yet what Diego had said had hit a raw nerve. She gulped back tears and replied “Fine, if that’s what you really want.” She flinched realizing that her voice had croaked giving away she was close to crying. Mia hung up ignoring the voice traveling out of the receiver.

“Wait Kitten, I’m sorry, I didn’t-” It said as she pressed the red button shutting him out. Clearly he knew he’d hurt her feelings, clearly he expected her to be stronger than this. Perhaps he’d meant it as a small throw-away bitchy comment and he’d not meant it at all. Mia could try and convince herself he’d said it because he was angry but she knew it was true. She’d always had a habit of sticking her nose in where it was not wanted but she didn’t need this pointed out to her at such a trying time in her life. Was it perhaps possible that Diego was blaming her for getting him involved with that case? And yet how could Mia not stand up for everything she believed a lawyer should be?

She got up and turned the TV off at the switch and yet found she felt slightly reluctant to go upstairs. Perhaps she did have a habit of attempting to sort out other peoples problems but should she really be criticized for that? And she’d been criticized by, of all people *Diego Armando?*. He’s hardly angelic she thought. If he has any decency at all, he’ll ring up and apologize in a moment.

As time went on, Mia sat there, perhaps half hoping he wouldn’t call; so she could scald him for that tomorrow. As the phone finally sounded she let it ring for a moment not wanting to seem as though she was near. Eventually she answered it.

“Hello?” she said biting her lip slightly.

“Hi, it’s Maya” the voice replied.

She shook off the slight disappointment that he hadn’t called to apologize and answered “Hey Maya, I thought you were channeling?”

“I was…and hour ago…”

And hour ago? Wow, surely it’s not been that long since I rang her. I must have been talking to Diego for ages “Oh…right” she agreed, frowning a little.

“So anyway sis, what did you want to talk to me about?” Maya asked her innocently.

“Oh…that? Oh it was nothing really…just stuff…” she lied. She wasn’t exactly in the mood for talking now. It bothered how annoyed she felt that he hadn’t ringed to apologize.

Clearly not believing her Maya continued “Aw, no fair! Tell me, err…about your day? How was it?”

Mia gulped “It was fine…Listen, Maya I have something I thing you ought to know…”
“Ah, see! I knew you rang earlier for a reason. There’s no tricking me Mia Fey! I know you much too well!”

“This is very difficult for me to say…” Mia said truthfully. How was she meant to tell Maya what terrible events had befallen their mother? How do you tell someone something like that?“I…” she felt the words catch in her throat as she chickened out. She just couldn’t bring herself to say the words. “I…” she started again “…I’d like…for you to come and stay with me for a few days. I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Wow sis! I’d love to, why did you find that hard to ask though? You know I’d be completely happy to come and see you!”

Mia felt disgusted with herself, she felt like a coward as she knew it wasn’t fair to keep something as important as this from Maya; even if she knew Maya would be more hurt than she was. “I know…I just felt nervous incase you were too busy, that’s all!”

“No! I can make it in about two weeks, I’ll see you then?”

“Of course, it’s fine! No problem, Bye then!” She said hastily, beginning to sweat from the dull feeling in her stomach, she knew she had from lying.

“Bye! Love you!” Maya answered sounding overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Mia again.

I wonder if she’d still want to come if she I was hiding something as big as this from her. It’s so lucky Magatamas don’t work down phones… she thought guiltily as she hung up, feeling incredibly hypocritical as she realized that perhaps, deep down she was really no different from Diego Armando.



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So there it is finally done and it's pretty long too. I got out of my circular dialogue by deleting alot of it and taking out an event. I hope it's ok and everyone enjoys it.

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Yay, I saw it first for once!
*reads*
Awesome!
By the way, is my PM box broken? Because if you sent me anything after chapter 10... well, I didn't get it.
A magatama that worked over the phone would be awesome and scary at the same time...

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wow this fanfic is te best one I've read so far
Can't wait for the next chapter



A Magatama that works over the phone would be cool, not scary. Imagine a picture of a phone with some locks around it but what if they hung up????

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It's scary if you're the one trying to keep the secrets... *gulp*
The question is, how do you present evidence over the phone?
...
Phoenix: Take that!
Random Victim #1: What? Take WHAT? I don't see nothing!
Phoenix: *sigh...*

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Yet another great chapter! Please don't even THINK about quitting this fanfic until you are done, it is too good to leave hanging!

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Yay, another great chapter :D
and you're really good at writing in characters!

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*Sob* Oh you guys, you're so nice! Thank you so much for reviewing!

Thibaroo Flufflefox: Thanks so much! Oh and I knew I'd forgotten something . I'll PM it you in a moment. I used creative license for Magatams-don't-work-on-phones and yes it's pretty lucky (and convenient) for Mia.

Jasmine.815: Omg!! Thank you! The best one you've read so far? you're too kind! I'm very glad you liked it and continue liking it until i finish (which, let's face it, will probably be a while).

GDM: Heehee, I don't intend to leave it unfinished. Especially as i enjoy writing so much and this is turning out as a very enjoyable little project for me! So glad you're liking my work!

.•°٭blinq٭°•.: Thank you, and glad I come off that way. I always worry I'm making Mia seem too angry, too quickly and Diego stupid or womanizing. It means alot that you think that.

Thank you for all the praise. Why I think you've all just inspired me to begin the next chapter!
Happy reading!

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Last edited by Missile. x on Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That is SO good to hear! I can't wait for the next chapter!

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GDM: Thanks, posting next chapter later! Unless I don't have time as I haven't actually finished it quite.

I'll probably edit and post it here so as not to double post.
Stay tuned

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OKAY! I finally had time to read the chapter! YAY!!!

Sorry. Been looking forward to reading it for a long time and was EXTREMELY busy.

This is still an awesome fanfic. And, once again, you wrote an awesome chapter and didn't disappoint! I can't wait to read the next chapter. XD

Poor hypocritical Mia...

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Lida_rose: thanks so much for the comment and hehe, I'm sure diego will forgive her.




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Chapter twelve

Over the next two weeks Mia’s meetings with Diego were very scarce, largely because they were both stubbornly avoiding each other and the few times they were forced to talk, conversation was kept professional and delicately civil as if one of them was scared if it wasn’t kept this way, they’d saying something they’d regret.

As she wasn’t currently talking to Diego who had been the only person she’d have even slightly considered as a friend she found herself eating her lunch alone in her office. Penny would have been good company but it seemed that she now ate up in Diego’s room where Mia doubted very much eating took place.

Maya's visit was like a small glimmer of hope for her and found herself really looking forward until she remembered why she was coming and what Mia was forced to tell her. On the other hand t least Mia could discuss it with someone as she’d been pretty much completely solitary in the last week except for her brief occasional conversations with Penny about how “Everything’s going so well with Mr. Arm-Diego! Isn’t he just perfect?” She sat pondering this for a moment. Was it possible in all his cowardice and lies that Diego was finding himself falling for Penny or was he just a great actor from being so used to playing that part?

She was disturbed from her daydream by a slow knock at the door, causing her to jump and say “Come in!”

She straightened herself up as Marvin Grossberg waddled through the door with a stack of paperwork.

“Ah, Mia” He said his cheeks slightly pink as if someone had pinched them “I have some cases I need you to look through for Mr. Armando. When you’re done summarizing them, just drop them off at his office…Thank you”

Things had become decidedly awkward between them since she had found out about her mother. Though she had calmed down a lot since then she was still finding it rather difficult to forgive him for his past actions, not matter how long ago they were.

“Oh…Thank you…sir” she said almost trying to seem remorseful for shouting at him, after all, he was her boss.

He lingered for a moment and then turned towards the door, apparently changing his mind at the last minute as he walked around in a circle; back facing Mia’s desk where Mia sat with her stack of paper work and lunch messily splayed out in front of her.

“Listen…Mia, you didn’t purely become a lawyer to come and confront me did you?” he asked inquisitively raising one eye brow.

“No sir, If I’d wanted to do that I’d have just come here and asked you, though I know being a Lawyer has potential to help me to find my mother” she replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh, good because…Well I wasn’t at your trial the other day and I know you lost and everything…” he stopped realizing what he had just said sounded slightly tactless in the circumstances but then continued “…But your friend Mr. Armando…”

Friends? Do friends shout at each other down the phone and make each other cry? she thought before quickly coming to the conclusion that Diego had probably not been left weeping at the end of their argument.

“…Great lawyer, apparently you’re strong willed, determined, resolute…” Grossberg continued obviously not knowing that Mia’s mind had been lead astray by his description of her and Diego’s relationship. She was brought back down to earth as Grossberg coughed loudly and continued.
“Wait, sorry what did you just say? Sorry I didn’t catch any of that.” she said quickly.

“I said that Mr. Armando speaks very highly of you and thinks you have potential to become a great lawyer in that you’re strong-willed, determined and resolute.”

Don’t all those words mean the same thing? she pondered before what he’d actually just said hit her. “Wait…when did he say those things? In like the past tense?” she asked very much doubting that he’d said these thing recently. I bet he hates me for being such a “busy body” she thought bitterly.

“Only the other day” he praised her knowingly “I happen to agree with him, not about the bad stuff but I really think you could go-“

“What bad stuff?” Mia exclaimed shrilly cutting across Grossberg and clearly catching him off guard.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with…” he trailed off unenthusiastically, looking away.

“No…please, tell me” There was a subtle hinting in her voice as she looked at him as though to say he really owed her this.

He grumbled slightly before giving in “It’s nothing that bad…”

“…Yes? Go on…” she prompted.

“Well…he just said that before you could over reach your true potential as a great defense attorney, you have a lot of growing up to do…”

Mia gulped, a little surprised. She had been expecting something a lot worse than that but still, none the less. “Oh. Well maybe he’s right. Thank you for telling me” Mia finally answered graciously, surprising herself.

Grossbergs relief that Mia’s voice had not turned high pitched and rant-like was evident in his expression “Quite all right. Anyway, must be going now. Work to do and all that…Goodbye.” He turned and actually left the room this time. He seemed somewhat more settled than he had when he had entered.

Mia however was left alone again with a bigger pile of paper work than she had on her first day (If that was even possible). She sighed and got to work.

As she approached the very bottom of the stack it suddenly occurred to her why she’d taken nearly all day to finish. After all, once this was done she’d be forced to bring it all up to Diego which posed two problems. The first was that she really wasn’t keen on seeing him after such a hard and incredibly boring day. The second that she was unsure of how exactly, she was meant to carry all the papers up to his office alone. Opening the door in preparation before waddling out the door with the work, she headed towards Diego’s office.

Knocking proved quite difficult and found she was forced to put them down after several attempts turning around and thumping the door with her back failed. Eventually, when she was successful there was the normal answer of “Come in.”

She entered finding she just had to lean against the door and it feel open. The unfortunate side of this was that she lost her balance and fell over dropping all of her papers. Mia got up embarrassedly and Diego walked around his desk to come and help her up.

“I’ll manage fine on my own thanks.” She said sounding a little haughty as she lent forward and began to gather her papers. Much to her disappointment she found they were now all in disarray and she’d have to start sorting them out ago. Instead of getting up she stubbornly sat cross-legged and began.

“That’s not necessary. I’ll do it later.” He said a little grumpily still standing over her.
Ignoring him, she continued to stack them hoping this organizational job would not take too much of her time up. Especially if it meant sitting on his floor for so long and *especially* is it meant him standing over her like he was doing.

“Excuse me, did you not hear me? I said I’ll do it. You must have better things to do.” He said now ordering her, making it sound less and less like the kind gesture it was originally meant as.

“I heard you. But it’s my job. So I’ll do it.” She replied shortly.

“And I heard you but said I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Then you’re wrong.” She snapped “Because I don’t, but if you’re so obsessed with me leaving then fine. You are my superior after all.” She climbed to her feet and saw he was still staring at her, even if it was with a rather irritated look. Mia felt her face soften a little remembering what he’d said. Surely it was only polite to thank him.

“I never said that” he said simply.

“Right, you implied it. Anyway…I just wanted to thank you-“

“For what?” he said quickly.

“For- If you’ll let my finish, saying that stuff about me having potential. It was nice of you.”

“Nice?” Diego raised and eyebrow “Thank you for thanking me.”

“That’s ok-”

He shuffled, now breaking eye contact with her “And while we’re being civil-“

“Civil? I’m not finished yet. Mr. Grossberg also told me the other thing you said…”
Now Diego looked uncomfortable and seemed to be amusing himself with the papers on the floor.

“I’d also like to thank you for insulting me.”

“Wait…what?” Diego said clearly surprised and checking her face for signs of sarcasm.

“I mean it. You said I should grow up. That was not fair; my childhood consisted of a lot of taking care of my little sister. I wouldn’t expect you to know this but my mother disappeared when I was twelve and other than my aunt, I had to be like a mother to Maya-“

“In that case you’re not really thanking me-“

“-Stop butting in” she said quickly before continuing “However, I feel that growing up and becoming mature are different things. I often act grown up but the way I proceed in arguments and situations is often not mature at all, which is why I apologize for not listening to your apology for what you said.” She nodded as if this reinforced her argument and waited for Diego to answer.

He nodded back “Don’t you think that the fact you’ve come here and said this shows a good level of maturity in itself? I also apologize for the way I spoke to you the other night. I shouldn’t have called you a busy-body when you were just trying to help…I’m sure.”

“I was. Thanks for apologizing.” Mia said. This conversation is so formal we’re starting to sound like robots. she thought but also very feeling glad that they’d made up.
Beginning to feel awkward she started gathering up the papers again. This time Diego joined her and they finally slammed the heavy mass of mismatched files onto his already rather untidy desk.

The two of them made very light and slightly awkward conversation as Diego offered her a drink she was finding it progressively more, and more difficult not to speak of the reason they’d fallen out in the first place.

“So I hear things are now going pretty well for you and Penny?” she said matter-of-factly and also rather randomly.

Diego looked quickly from her to his desk and answered “Yeah, things are working out better than I’d expected. She’s a nice girl.”

Mia agreed. Penny was a very nice person and had been nothing but welcoming and kind to her since she’d stepped into the office two weeks ago, so why did she have a nagging feeling that this was wrong? “Yes, she is…So do you see things getting serious with her?” She gulped “Is it possible you’re falling in love with her.”

Diego shot her a shocked expression “Whoa there! Let’s not get carried away. I’ve only been going out with her for…well under two weeks.”

“Yes…err true.” She granted him. What did it matter to her anyway? “I really am a busy body aren’t I?” she thought aloud and unexpectedly.

“What? No of course you’re not.” He Argued “You just like helping people that’s all!”

“No…that’s not true. I’m so nosey, it’s a wonder you can stand being around me at all…” this triggered something off in her mind “Terry Fawles certainly couldn’t…” she said sadly.

Diego looked suddenly up at her intensely.

“Maybe if I had just not asked him all those questions…well, who knows?”

“Don’t” he said simply “Please don’t blame yourself Kitten.”

There was something in the sadness in his eyes now which urged her to change the subject. In past situations she had got the feeling he wasn’t particularly hurt by what had happened. Suddenly she saw another side to him.

“Kitten, where did that nickname even come from anyway?” she suddenly thought to ask. Diego had just suddenly begun calling her it when he’d been helping her prepare for the trial last week.

“Ha…!” he laughed “When you were shuffling the papers on your desk I couldn’t help but notice how long your nails are and yet you move your hands so gracefully…”

Graceful? Me? Well that’s the first time anyone’s every said that to me She thought. Often she had been renowned for clumsiness by many.

“…And yet I see how fired up you get in situations. You’ve got such a fiery temper, so easily embarrassed too…and cute…like a kitten.”

“What an…interesting description of me…thank you…I think?” she said pausing a lot. “It’s funny…I used to have a cat when I was little. He was exactly like the one you just described.”
He sat staring as if he wanted to hear more.

So she went on “I loved him…He…wasn’t exactly mine, he kind of roamed the village.” She laughed “I remember my sister was terrified of him. Of course now she loves cats…”

Diego smiled “What happened to him?”

Now Mia looked down sadly “Well…he used to sit around in our meditating room, I’d always put food out for him. When I called for him he never came. I wish I knew what happened to him…but he just disappeared. I never saw him again. Then again…so do most things in my life…”

“I’m sorry to hear about you mother…and your cat” he added as and after thought

“Thanks” she smiled weakly at him. “What about your parents?”

“Humph…My mum left when I was ten.” He said bitterly.

“Oh I’m sorry” Mia said not really knowing what to say now.

“I’m not. I hated her, what she did to my family, she cheated, lied to my dad. Every problem I had whilst growing up was down to her.”

“Every problem?” she asked.

Diego seemed to think better of the comment and shook his head a little “Well…I don’t know, I-I just…I never really understood how she could do that to dad. She completely broke his heart and then just left.”

Mia looked at him surprised he was opening up to her “So you’re not in touch anymore then?”
He snorted “Would you be? I think she tried to get in touch a few times but my dad barred the letters. I’m glad he did.”

“You don’t even wonder what happened to her a little.” Mia found it difficult not to think of her parents, her dad had died a little before her mother had left. She always regretted not making much of an effort to get to know him better. The Fey men tended to stay outside Kurain and as a result of this Mia hadn’t seen him as much as she would have liked to. In the time she had spent with him she knew he was a nice man who’d treated her mother well. Clearly my mother loved him or Maya wouldn’t be here today right? she thought drifting off into her thoughts.

Resuming the conversation Diego now added “I guess if I’m completely honest…then yes, I do wonder…a bit…” he stopped for moment “Mainly about whether she had another family and if she managed to commit to them or not? I think it would be amazing if there was a bunch of brothers and sisters I’d never met out there…Still, who knows?” They both drifted off into the silence pondering their families. It seemed to them that there truly was no such thing as an ordinary family and if there was neither of them had ever met anyone who had one.




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Finally done. Gahh, it's ridiculously long, sorry about that. Hope the ending doesn't sound too rushed but I was getting stuck in circular dialogue again, which incase you have't noticed happens to me ALOT.
The area about Mia and Maya having the same father, for me is a grey area so I just decided to give them the same father as Maya only mentions their father once and that's
"He died when I was very young"
And so i was forced to use creative license. I just wrote how she hadn't known him that well but he was a nice man so the Maya situaton would make sence.

Thank you so much to Vicki again for my awesome Signiture and Avatar to go with the story. They're so great!

Hope people like it, please review. I'm talking to any lurkers here!

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Last edited by Missile. x on Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.

wow that's amazing
You continue to make amazing work
You're a really talented writer
Yes Mia and Maya's father is grey area, there's a topic about it, I like what you've come up with, and what you came up with for Armando's parents.
Keep it up

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A really long chapter xD
but well written..
and I guess Mia & Maya do have the same father
We're waiting for the next awesome chapter! :D

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Once again, an awesome chapter! Come to think of it, we don't learn about Diego's family. It's very cool that you created that! Wow!

*Waits for the next chapter*

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Well done! I enjoyed this chapter as it allowed Diego and Mia to characterize their situations more and also relate. Can't wait to see more!

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I like how things are progressing! Can't wait for the next chapter!!!

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Purple Angel:*bushes* Thank you so much! I wasn't reall sure what to do with the parents but but with Diego i thought that a slightly traumatic childhood could make up for the lying to Penny. You're so sweet, I hope you continue to enjoy my work!

.•°٭blinq٭°•. : Gahh, tell me about it. It took me ages to finally finish because once I get started on a conversation it tends to go on, and on, and on, and on, and on...(etc.). Thanks for reviewing and kind of supporting my Mia and Maya's father thing. I didn't know what to do, I had a few choices-

1.)Mia's father died when she was young.
2.)Mia's father was still alive but was estranged.
3.)Mia had the same father as Maya and therefor he died when she was twelve but come up with some excuse why she never talks about him in the game.

Clearly I picked number 3 because I thought It would be easier for me to write and less confusaing for me than if she'd had a different one.

Lida_Rose: Yes, I found it fun thinking up an emidiate family for Diego. I used my very basic knowledge of psychology to decide why he's a little sexist in parts. Thank you so much for commenting!

Caelestis: Thank you! I decide it would be an interesting conversation because we never learn about diego's family and Mia's are very intersting what with them being so big and how they have such a central part in the games.

GDM: Aww, thanks! I should start the next chapter in the next few days meaning it will have been posted at least bye this time next week. Hopefully I can stick to this deadline, though that's easier said than done!

Stay tuned for the next installement!

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An interesting couple of chapters, although the circular dialogue is becoming a bit much. Maybe make a start on getting her involved with Redd soon or something else with a bit more action.

I'm glad Diago and Mia finally made up, reading about fall out's always makes me uncomfortable, but that proves it was well written!

I like how all these little bits of their past are coming into the light and slotting together.

Keep it up!

I just read through 12 chapters of story and I must say that it's really good. I love your characterizations. Is Robert Hammond going to make an appearance? Because I remember that Maya recognized him in 1-4....

Anyway, can't wait for the next chapter.

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I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to give this a read. I swear that I've been meaning to do so. Anyway, it's cute. Your characterizations are pretty good and the plot is intriguing. Nice work. :)

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Hello there.
Your fanfic has inspired me! So I thought I'd thank you by posting my own idea for the plotline of yours! I think it would make an interesting twist!

Hope you're amused!

QFT

FlyingTotodile: Firstly thank you for the review, obvoiusly any critisism is fine and will be accepted graciously. I'll try to stop my circular dialogue-
Lmaooo about the picture, how did you know my future plot?!

Mia_Fey: Thank you, it means alot that yuo took the time to read all 12 chapters.

FirexxxSaber: Yes, Robert Hammond IS going to make an appearence, quite probably in this chapter. I just need to know how to introduce him exactly + I kind of hit writer block, the next chapter could or could not be while, it all depends on how long it takes me to come up with a new plt line. Perhaps it will be Flying Totodiles? Thanks so much for commenting!

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I just read everything you've got written and it's excellent! Characterizations are awesome and the dialouge is great, too. Can't wait for the next chapter!

I've finally caught up and read all your updates. You're a great writer! Everything is so realistic and in-character, I could imagine Mia or Diego being exactly like that.. and I'm so glad they didn't jump into a romantic relationship right away.. it really makes me anticipate the next installment. Keep up the good work!

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