Yay~ ^^

I'm so glad the story continues!

 
  Jacks: Haha, thanks and you'll see. Thanks for reading.

kitty_sneeze: Same for you. Though I'm not 100% sure it makes sense cannon wise. Thank youu!

Lida_Rose: Haha, nice guess but someone's just actually dead. Thank you for reading.

Nacholover23: I know- how dare he insult the ultimate power of Mia's magatama!? XD Thanks for the review.

ToasterFaceGodot: Thank you so much for the lovely comment and I'm very gald oyu're enjoying it so much!! I love it when I convert people. Miego has got to be one of the best parings in the game.
Also, I'd like to thank you for the awesome wallpaper. It's so nice to know something I wrote inspired someone creatively.

Ilygodot: There must be about 3-- spelling and grammar mistakes in this fic so far. I suck at grammar especially lol. And thanks for the compliment – hope you like the next chapter too.

ann_frangipani: Don't worry about lurking- I do it all the time (and have had to what with the logging on problem D:) And of course the story will go on :D . . . however slowly. Thanks for reading.


 I have to admit I'm quite nervous about this chapter. For one I'm not sure it makes sense cannon wise and I don't mean just in the game- I mean in the the whole of this story. Hopefully everyone can conveniently overlook anything that may technically make no sense and enjoy the chapter :D. Of course, there's a chance I'm being too picky and it makes perfectly good sense- either way, thanks to everyone who read this and has read this fic so far.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter forty one

 
Mia lay awake restlessly that wondering about what exactly had just happened between then. Why had Diego acted so strangely? She’d spoken to him about his family before. His mother had upped and left when he was little, his dad had stuck by him and she’d never seen any particular evidence of this traumatizing him.

She knew the darkness of a psyche lock was what determined how strong it was and how difficult it would be to break but frankly Mia was very concerned to be seeing five very dark red locks spring in front of her boyfriends chest when asked about family mortality. What on earth could he be hiding?

Not that she asked or thought of mentioning this. She sniffed now feeling rather sorry for herself. What was her boyfriend going through that was so bad he could ever tell her? After all she’d told Diego just about every secret she’d ever kept. She’d told him about her mother, Robert Hammond. Not to mention he’d been the only person she could even talk about the Fawles incident with. A tear slid out of her eye and down onto the pillow. Suddenly she felt pity for Diego instead of herself. Mia knew how it felt to keep a secret to herself and lock it away from anyone else. She hated the though of a secret that was so important to him that it was being retained by almost black psyche locks. Suddenly Mia had a very strong urge to grab Diego and hug him tightly and beg him to tell her what was wrong.

She didn’t though. Instead she lay there trying not to cry, or at least to cry so quietly that Diego wouldn’t hear her.

Unfortunately she was unable to- Diego spoke for the first time since he’d snapped about her Magatama.

“Mia . . . are you crying?” he asked, sounding concerned but slightly disbelieving.

“No.” she sniffed, trying to give the air of someone who was neutral in their mood.

The light flashed on and he turned over. “Oh god, look Mia, I really didn’t mean to upset you!” he put his arm abound her and pulled her into a tight hug. She buried her face in his shoulders.

Eventually she managed to stutter something quietly. “What’s wrong Diego? Why did you snap at me?”

He sighed. “It was nothing, really . . . If it was something though- I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Please, don’t lie to me. I saw all the locks- they were practically black. You’re keeping one heck of a secret from me and-“ - her voice broke down again.

“Shhhh,” he said patting her back comfortingly. “Maybe your Magatama just made a mistake?”

“Have you lost anyone in your family?” she asked him bluntly hoping to catch him off guard. “No mistake, they sprang up again,
Diego. Now I know you’re lying to me.”

“Mia . . . you don’t get it . . . I don’t want to talk about it . . . because I can’t.” he said. Mia could now see a tear rolling down his face.

“Okay, Diego, you’re really starting to scare me now. What do you mean you can’t talk about it?” Her tone was high pitched and demanding. She hated this. She wanted to be comforting but her prerogative was to get him to tell her what the matter was.
He was silent and his head hung off his shoulders staring at the duvet. Teardrops fell onto it forming small damp drops. Mia touched his shoulder and squeezed it. “You know everything about me. What makes me happy, what makes me sad, “
Mia paused, “and especially – what makes me frightened. Tell me.”

. . .

“I had a little sister who died.”

. . .

“What? You’ve never mentioned that before.” She said. Her brow was furrowed.

He sniffed, “Way to state the obvious. I haven’t talked about her in twelve years. That’s hardly surprising is it?”

“What happened?” Mia asked, feeling a great sadness in her heart. Poor Diego…

“She died of pneumonia at the age of six.” Tears were now falling thickly down his face as it was now his turn to cry into Mia’s shoulder.

Mia really didn’t know what to say. How were you supposed to console someone about something like that, something that would leave such a huge hole in a person’s heart?

“Diego . . . I don’t know what to say.” She whispered, truthfully. “I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t say anything; he just sat there staring down at the duvet. “I’ve never told anyone about it before.” He said after a long while.

“Well, that’s understandable.” She said soothingly, “Some things are really hard, even impossible to talk about if they hurt you that much.”

“I know. That’s why my mother left, y’know? She couldn’t take being around us anymore. Dad once said it was because she looked like me. I didn’t even reply – I just ignored him. As if I wanted to listen to his stupid excuses for why my mother did what
she did- “

She still didn’t know what to say, a knot was forming in the back of her throat. She’d never known Diego’s childhood had been so tragic.

“I hated her for leaving us for so long but it was probably for the best. I have no idea why he married her in the first place.”

“What was she called?” Mia asked, hoping to calm him down. She could tell his anger was rising.

“My mother or my sister?”

“Your sister.”

“Anna.”

Mia half smiled, “That’s a beautiful name, one of my favorites.”

Diego looked at her, deep down into her heart. He looked so intense it made her feel a little uncomfortable. She blinked and swallowed and asked him: “What are you thinking about?”

He just smiled a little as if reminiscing, “Anna, she was a funny kid. Really well behaved most of the time but when she got annoyed she’d argue for ages…well, as much a six year old could.”

“Maybe she would’ve been a defense attorney too?”

Diego sniffed, “Maybe. We’ll never know.” He’d been staring down at the duvet while talking for a while now but he now resumed in staring at Mia. Neither for them said anything for a while until he suddenly spoke.

“I’d really love to see her again.” He looked down again, he seemed embarrassed.

Mia felt her cheeks turning red; she really should have seen this coming. “Diego – “ she began, but he cut across her.

“I know, I know – you’re probably thinking it’d be weird since it’s my sister and your body but-“

“Diego-“ It was her turn to cut across him now. “I’m not sure. . . “

He looked a little angry now. “Why not? I can’t see any reason why you can’t. Mia, you don’t know how much seeing her in the flesh would mean to me.”

“Or, it’ll just make you miss her more-“ she said, biting her lip. She didn’t want to upset Diego further. Bringing all this up had already stirred up feelings he’d clearly long repressed.

““Miss her more?""he asked incredulously. "“Miss her more!?" If you’d ever lost someone who’d meant half as much to you as she did to me you’d know that’s not possible.” Tears streamed down his face and he looked away. Mia rapped her arm around him in an attempt to pull his body close to hers.

“Diego if it really means that much to you. If you’re sure that this is really what-“

“It is- I’d give anything to see her again.”

Mia pressed her lips together nervously. “Okay- I’ll do it.” She could see how much this meant to him. How could she deny him something that she’d given to so many people? The chance to see a person they’d lost and never thought they’d see again. She wanted to make him happy and even though she knew how risky this was she’d made her choice.

Diego gave her a watery smile. “Mia, you really have no idea how much this means to me-“

But she shook her head and smiled back. “Stop Diego, I really think I do.” She crossed her legs and he did the same and so they sat opposite each gazing into each others eyes. “Give me your hands.” He reached out and she held them tight and closed her
eyes.

“Uh, Diego, I just thought, do you have a photo. It’s so much easier to channel someone when I know what they look like.”

“Oh, sure.” He reached onto the night stand and fished around in his wallet for a minute. “There. She’s like four in it though- that’s her, that’s my mum, and my dad . . . and finally me.” The picture seemed to have been taken on a field while they’d been having a family picnic. The little girl (who she assumed was Anna) was very pretty, tanned and small. She sat with her legs crossed on the blanket smiling with a woman (also very pretty with tanned skin and dark hair) who had her arm around her and was smiling back at her. Next to the woman was a man who Mia could tell was Diego’s father. He had black sticky uppey hair and a cheeky grin. He had his arm around Diego who looked very similar to him only a lot younger. The whole family looked so happy. Mia supposed it was taken before Anna had gotten ill and Diego’s mother had left. It was the perfect family picture so it wasn’t surprising Diego carried it with him all the time.

“This is a beautiful picture Diego. Your mum and sister are really pretty and don’t’ get me started on your dad.” She paused, “I’m sorry, that last part seems really inappropriate now I’ve said it.”

He laughed, “Nah, it’s okay. I don’t think you’d find him as attractive if you saw him now. He’s gained a lot of weight since then.”

Mia smiled. “We’d better be getting on then. It’s getting really late.” She reached for his hands and closed her eyes and pictured Anna’s face and mentally called to her. Mia was happy to find she didn’t take much calling- clearly Anna was very eager to see Diego too and before long everything went dark and she could see no more.
 

When she came to she was sitting in the same position as before and facing Diego who was holding her hands.

He smiled weakly at her. His eyes were very red and it was clear he’d been crying but the smile seemed genuine, however watery it was. She smiled a little back. It was difficult to think of anything to say. Tonight she’d seen this delicate side of him she’d never seen before. He’d really opened to her and told her something serous about his past.

“Are you okay?” She knew this was really stupid question. Of course he wasn’t okay. Still, she knew it was the right thing to ask him.

He paused. “I- I think so. It was so weird to see her. I didn't expect her to be all grown up.”

“People never do. Everyone assumes that because we die we stop ageing.” Usually this didn't matter. She found the people she
used channel were recently deceased so didn't look any different.

He didn't say anything for a moment. He seemed to be thinking.

“I think that made it more painful. Seeing her all grown up – the way she should have been.”

Mia just shook her head, “I'm so sorry, Diego.” She reached and and hugged him. He returned it and she cuddled up to him feeling closer to him than she ever had in all their time together.

As they lay down she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

“Thank you.” he spoke softly as Mia felt a tear fall onto the stop of her head.

“It was no problem-”

But she shook his head. “I don't just mean for channelling her. I mean for- I don't know . . . just being there.”

“Just promise you'll always be there for me.” she whispered as he switched the light off.

. . .

“I promise.”




Aaaaaaand there we are. I know what I want to happen in the next chapter but as my regular readers will know I'll probably take aaaages to write and post that.

Fingers crossed I won't though ;)

Oh, and the end is sadly ironic- or it's mean to be anyway.

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Last edited by Missile. x on Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

:D

This is great~~~!
Diego has a younger sister? It's a really good idea~

Interesting idea but the execution does it no justice.
My main issue is with Mia's lighthearted responses to Diego's deepest darkest secret. This is osmething so painful that Diego hasn't talked about it for twelve years, yet five minutes after he's poured his heart out, Mia starts making blarze comments about his Dad. Not only does this seem out of character, but it also seems like a desperate attempt to inject some humour into a scene which functions much better with the characters focusing on the issue at hand! Either that or the author has made a ajor slip up in the characterization of Mia, who not only appears as crass but also considerably younger than she throughout this fanfiction.

Despite this unusually poor segment, it's nice to be able to continue reading this fanfiction and I hope tht the "sad/ironic" ending can salvage these slipups.

P.S. Isn't it unusual for normally healthy young grls to die of pneumonia? Is this accurate and if so wh did she die of it? What were the causes?

P.P.S. Check some of the grammer

Maybe you should check your spelling...?
It's grammar.

ann_frangipani: Thanks for commenting and as for Flying Totodile's "grammer" this isn't the first time he's critisised my spelling and "grammer" when his own is less than perfect. Sorry FT, it's just the truth xD, i assure you it doesn't discredit your critique.

FlyingTotodile: Well first of all i must thank you for your comment. I'm always open to critisism as I try to improve on my writing style/plot which apparently I haven't done with this chapter. However, I disagree with some of the things you've brought me up on here while in other places you've hit the bullseye (spelling? :S).

Funnily enough, the comments on Diego's father were not exactly put in for humour but i'll confess they did not seem as insensitive when i wrote them. Also, Mia commented on how pretty Diego's mother and sister were, not to mention how she commented on the innapropriateness of the comment after she had said it. In a way this is just a way of showing how people say things they do not necessarily think about before saying- it's realistic.

Also, i disagree with your pulling me up on the fact that Diego's sister could not have died of pneumonia because i did not mention how she caught it. You're making it sound as if just because Diego did not specify exactly how she caught it I'm implying that perhaps they happened to find her dead because one day she woke up and randomly had caught it after being otherwise healthy. Diego merely failed to mention how she caught it, he didn't say if she was healthy before. If anything this is a slip up on my part for not developing the story enough, rather than it being a case of me not researching properly. Also, as you said, he hadn't spoken about her in 12 years, he probably wouldn't want to go into the ins and outs of the illness.

Anyway, your critisisms have been taken on board and it's a shame you didn't enjoy the chapter. Hopefully, the next one will be more pleasing.

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XD Well, I guess some of our 'grammer' or spelling is sometimes not perfect...

I am so sorry that I never reviewed! I didn't notice that you updated. Probably because I started using a new internet browser around the end of February, and my favorites weren't in a sidebar anymore.

Awesome job! Poor Diego. Evil parents are...evil. *Mentally slaps self* That was clever... Anyway, awesome job again! I <3 Diego and Mia! Update soon! For me forgetting about the story, you get ten smiley faces.

:) :D

OMG this is so hppd. you have really made the characters seem like they are in the game and the plot is so interesting. I especially like the Miego parts and maya is exactly like she is now only a lot more immature!
I cant wait for the next chapter and you should get it turned into a real book
IT WOULD BE AMAZING!!!

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A nice little chappie!:) Aww bless Diego....

Eww. Nice, tell ur bf his dad is fitt.... no, just.... no. XD hahhah lmao.:)
I'm not going to make any comments on proofreading for fear of being dragged into the "grammer" "grammar" thing.

update soons?...

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We all have issues with "grammer & pelling" It's grammar & spelling I know. Nice seeing this story still updated cause I still think its a great story. Interesting to read about Diego having a sister.

ooooooookay...
there hasn't been an update for about 9 months
Do you think it would be alrught for me to carry on with the story from where it left off or is that against the rules or something.
If anyone has any problems with me doing this can you raise an objection on this thread. I will look over the rules and such to see if i can do this but i don't like seeing unfinished stories and hate been kept in suspense and i'm sure many people feel the same!

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My objection is simply this: do you know where she was going to take this story? While I hate seeing unfinished projects as much as the next person, and hate being kept in suspense, wouldn't it be just as bad to continue writing without doing the rest of the story justice? I don't mean to criticize, I am just asking if you're sure you can execute the rest of the story well, if you do plan on continuing it.

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i don't know really! i don't know how the story was going to be finished or anything but i would try to keep it up to the standard it has already been written at. if anyone could give me any suggestions i'd try my best tofinish it off like it was written

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