Ema attempts to sort out her jumbled thoughts by writing them down, but just ends up more confused than before.



1) His confident, glimmerous, foppish attitude.
He’s too confident for his own good. He goes around thinking he’s the king of the world because he has a group of girls who swoon and scream every time they see him.
Which brings me to my next reason…

2) His trailing fangirls.
As if feeding his ego isn’t enough, those stupid girls usually end up trampling all over my crime scenes. And he doesn’t do anything to stop them.

3) He seems to find amusement in my irritation.
He purposely annoys me, I just know it. He agitates me just to see my reaction. I can see it…his face is always composed and innocent looking, but his eyes dance wickedly when he sees me throw a fit.
Those blue eyes…like the colour of the ocean…
Ack! What am I doing describing his eyes?!
But that reminds me…

4) He stole my sunglasses the other day. And he makes fun of them every time he sees them.
So the other day, he just snatched them from my desk. When I tried to grab them back, he chuckled and said, “I just want to see what everything looks like in your bubblegum world, Fraulein.” And then he put them on.
And he looked so stupid that I burst out laughing.
(But now I’m wondering how bad I look when I wear them…)

5) He made me dance with him.
The prosecutor’s office and police department decided to a hold a dinner and dance last week. And they got (who else?) the Gavinners to play the music. I was about to sit down when I heard a slow dance come on, but Klavier grabbed the microphone and said from his spotlight on the stage, “Fraulein Skye, may I have this dance?”

6) He seemingly has no concept of personal space.
Considering, that while we were dancing, I could feel the pendant of his necklace thumping against my chest and his head was practically resting on mine.
Clearly, he was holding me closer than necessary. I resisted the urge to stomp on his foot and shove him away because of the numerous pairs of eyes on us.

7) Everyone from the prosecutor’s office and police department now thinks that I have “something going on” with him.
“So, Ema…how long have you and Klavier been going out?”
“Has he proposed yet?”
“Invite me to the wedding, pal. I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford a gift, though…”

8) He’s a lazy, hypocritical control freak.
It’s always “Fraulein detective do this, Fraulein detective do that.”
Why don’t I ever see him do anything himself?
And what does Fraulein mean anyways?

9) I looked up the word “Fraulein.”
It means “Miss.”
Not sweetheart, not darling or any endearing term like that.
“Miss.”
Just “Miss.”

9) He kissed me.
I was working overtime last night and he leaned over my shoulder, scaring the lights out of me and said, “What’s my Fraulein doing here so late?”
I snappily responded, “Go away,” wondering if I should just snackoo him.
He looked at me for a moment, and then said, “You’re so cute when you’re irritated.”
Then he kissed me.

10) I liked it.
What is wrong with me?

Author's Notes:
I first need to thank demonprosecutor on fanfiction.net for the idea
I'm sorry if this kind of sucks...it's hard for me to narrate from a guy's perspective. And it was easier to imagine Ema complaining and ranting about Klavier
If you haven't, please read "10 Reasons Why I Hate Klavier Gavin" first.
If you have.......
Achtung, baby, let's rock!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Klavier starts to wonder what it is that he finds attractive about Ema.



1) She hardly pays any attention to me, dismissing me as a “glimmerous fop.” Nein…maybe that’s a bad thing…
But it’s a nice change from the shrieking girls who touch my sleeve and scream to their friends, “I touched his arm!”

2) She’s very good at getting rid of my fans for me.
Especially when they end up at a crime scene we’re investigating. I think she just doesn’t like the competition for my attention.
“Stop bringing your fangirls to my crime scenes!”
“I realize you’re jealous of all the attention I give them, Fraulein, but you don’t need to scream at me so.”
“I’M NOT JEALOUS!!!” she yelled indignantly. She then proceeded to throw one of her snacks at me and stormed off in the opposite direction, destroying the crime scene in the process.

3) She’s terrified of motorcycles.
She had no choice but to ride home with me one night and I could feel her arms tightening around my waist the faster I drove.
Needless to say, I went 30 miles over the speed limit the entire way.

4) She’s so cute when she blushes.
That wasn’t why I asked her to dance, though. But I was surprised she accepted.
Even from my spot on the stage, I could see her cheeks turn pink. And when I told her she looked beautiful while we were dancing, I could feel the heat radiate off of her face as she stuttered, “W-What?”

5) She secretly loves my music.
But she wouldn’t be caught dead admitting it, especially to me.
I did catch her singing to “Guilty Love” one morning, though, when no one else was in the office yet.
“You have a beautiful voice, Fraulein. Did you ever consider joining our band? We could use a female vocalist.”
She managed to knock down a bottle of fingerprinting powder in surprise, littering the floor with its contents.
“Ack! When did you get here?!”
“In time to hear you singing. But I thought you didn’t like our band, Fraulein.”
“I wasn’t singing! I was…uh…clearing my throat…”

6) She’s quite adorable when she’s flustered.
When we were leaving the dinner and dance, I grabbed her arm to keep her from tripping over a cord. She twitched and I saw her blush. But a moment later, she slapped my arm away.
When I asked her if she was okay, she stammered a yes and hurried away.
She’s so shy…

7) She’s quite feisty if she’s agitated, which is for some reason, charismatic in my eyes.
One of the officers had slacked off on the job and as a result, the crime scene had not been left untouched. I don’t think I need to mention Ema’s reaction.
But someone whispered (not quietly enough) to the person next to them, “I think she’s PMSing.
Ema whirled around and yelled loud enough for the entire department to hear, “I AM NOT PMSING!!!”

8) She likes to play hard to get.
And she stubbornly refuses to admit that she is secretly attracted to me. She nearly slapped me once when I said, “Admit it, Fraulein. You like things better when I’m around.”

9) Her brilliant scientific investigator skills.
Ah…who do I think I’m fooling?
I just like the time I get to spend with her as I watch her face light up when she discovers another clue at a crime scene. But she has a tendency to forget my presence in her excitement.
“Ah! Where did you come from?”
“Fraulein…I drove you here.”

10) I know she likes me.
Because I kissed her, and she didn’t slap me.

Author's Notes:

Okay, I know what you guys are thinking: Philomena's got more reasons???

Well, yes, yes I do. But while I wrote this, I realized something awful - I am terribly unfunny. So I wrote this on a whim, but it is really quite random, and it turned out a tad longer than the others, so please, bear with me.

As for those just joining us, you must have absolutely no clue what I'm talking about. Well, here's the jist of it: You have clicked on the third installment of my Klavier x Ema series (it sounds fancier when I put it that way :D) It would be best for you to first read: 10 Reasons Why I Hate Klavier Gavin followed by 10 Reasons Why I Love Ema Skye prior to reading this.

I also have to thank one very important person: Prosecutor Manella. He suggested this idea ages ago, but I never had the inspiration to write it until now. But anyways, thanks a bundle! :)

Ah, one more thing. This story was supposed to be called 10 Reason Why I Know Miss Ema and Mr. Gavin Are Going Out, Pal but the title bar wouldn't allow so many characters. So I had to chop it...very badly. xD

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After so many years of working in the police force, Detective Dick Gumshoe is one professional investigator. And so he gathers evidence for his most recent case…



1) They were acting quite, eh…cozy at the dinner and dance.

Mr. Gavin very boldly asked Miss Ema to dance with him in front of everyone…he must have known she would say yes. And all the other girls in the room were glaring at Miss Ema for the way she was cuddled against Mr. Gavin.

2) I’ve been hearing rumors about them everywhere.

And when I told Miss Ema to invite me to their wedding, she blushed a deep scarlet. Or maybe her face turned red from anger because I said I might not be able to buy them a wedding gift…

3) I don’t have to push through crowds of girls anymore when I go to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Maybe it has something to do with what Mr. Gavin announced to them several days ago…

“I’m sorry, all my dear Frauleins. I know you are all wonderful girls, but my heart belongs to another.”

Then the one nearest to me started crying all over my overcoat that I just washed last week! And I can only afford my water bills for two laundry loads a month…

4) Miss Ema has been acting strangely for the past week.

A bouquet of roses was delivered to Miss Ema the day before yesterday. Since I am the head of the department after all, the delivery had to go through me. I went to her later to ask who had sent them, using my polished skills of subtlety, of course.

“Hey, pal. Umm…so did anyone send you anything for, eh, working so hard?”

“…No…”

“Hoho! You can’t hide anything from me! I saw your ears turn pink! So who sent you those flowers?”

“I…uh…um...what flowers?”

“The ones that you stuck under your desk and into your garbage bin when you saw me coming.”

“…”

5) Prosecutor Gavin has been asking weird favours from me.

He brought me a coffee and a doughnut (my first one in three months!) one early morning. He slung an arm around my shoulders and said,

“So, Herr Gumshoe, I was wondering if you could do me a little favour. Could you let Fraulein Skye off a little earlier this Friday?”

Hair…Gumshoe? Was this drill-haired prosecutor calling me hairy or something?

“Hey pal, don’t you go calling me hairy! You ain’t getting any favours from me if you do.”

He started to laugh. “Oh, no Detective Gumshoe. Herr means Mister in German. I wasn’t calling you hairy.”

“Oh…never mind, then.”

6) The two of them obviously have something they’re trying to hide. Well, at least something that Miss Ema wants to hide.

Mr. Gavin came to the office one day, snuck up behind her and slipped a necklace around her neck. She jumped and then yanked him to the floor beside her.

“Why are we hiding underneath your desk, Fraulein?”

“Shh…now everyone’s going to know something’s going on between us!”

“Oh…I see, Fraulein. You’re too shy to give me a thank you kiss in front of everyone, ja? You may kiss me now if you like.”

“Argh!!”

7) Miss Ema asked me for advice on what to get a “male friend.” We were having a dinner of instant noodles together at the office one night when we had to work overtime (again), and she suddenly asked,

“Uh…Detective Gumshoe? What kind of gift do you think would be appropriate to give a guy?”

“Well, Miss Ema…if you’re asking my opinion, I think a pair of socks would be nice. If it were me receiving them, I’d be very happy – I’ve only got two pairs that don’t have holes in them. And socks always make good presents, especially if they have a nice pattern.”

8) That “male friend” turned out to be Mr. Gavin!

I overheard them talking in the hallway a day later, not that I was eavesdropping…

“Thank you for the gift, Fraulein! How did you know I wanted a pair of socks?”

“I…uh…I don’t know…”

“And they’ve even got the Blue Badger printed all over them! How adorable! Maybe I should get you Pink Badger socks, Fraulein!”

Blue Badger socks? I’ll have to save up for those!

9) I saw two highly suspicious people walk out of a fancy restaurant one night holding hands.

One had a bright blue wig and sunglasses, and the other had a huge top hat and a pair of plastic glasses with a fake nose. My finely tuned detective skills immediately told me there was something weird with them, so I decided to follow after them, eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Do you think there’s anyone still around?”

“I think we’re safe…but I still don’t understand. Why are you in disguise too? I can understand why I have to cover my face – I’m a wanted man.”

“It’s just to be safe…what if someone from the police department recognizes me?”

There was obviously something weird about them. Maybe they were fugitives? Drug dealers? I wasn’t going to let them get away.

“Halt! This is Detective Dick Gumshoe! You are going to be put under questioning for suspicious behaviour! Don’t even try to run, we have you surrounded!”

Those two scoundrels did the exact opposite of what I asked! The lady gave a startled shriek and they both ran off the other way. I couldn’t catch them, but the man’s blue wig fell off and I recognized his hair immediately.

Prosecutor Gavin???

10) I…er…saw them…uh, having a bit of an intimate moment.

I had gone back to the office one night to pick up a file, and I walked in on them…eh, kissing.

I ran out of there as fast as I could before they saw me.

After all, my paycheck wouldn’t be able to handle another cut.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

End Notes:

First off, timeline-wise, this happens right after (and partly during) the other two stories. During this one, Klavier and Ema have already started dating. But Ema, being our dear stubborn Ema, is too embarassed to publicly admit it. So she's vainly trying to hide the fact that she and Klavier are in a relationship XD

Next, good ol' Gumshoe. I hope he's at least been promoted to head of the department, but I have a feeling his salary hasn't changed much... But if he does exist in Apollo Justice-era, I'm guessing that Ema would be his understudy, and "Miss Ema" is his affectionate name for her (in my head :D)

As for Gumshoe mishearing Klavier calling him hairy, I'm not saying that Herr is pronounced just like hair. But with Klavier's German accent (of sorts), and (I would assume) Gumshoe's lack of knowledge about foreign languages, I wouldn't be surprised if Gumshoe misheard someone like that :)

And now do you see what I mean about not being funny? Well, I hope you at least got a laugh from reading my failed attempt :P

Oh, yeah...my spellcheck was acting up for some reason, and it would not work AT ALL. So if you spot any typos or errors, please let me know, and I'll go fix them!

Anyways, as always, reviews are absolutely loved! So please leave me one! And if you have more reasons you want me to write about, fire those ideas at me! :)

Author's Notes:
Aha! PrincessPhilomena is back! (At least for the summer)

I have returned from the depths of piles of homework to come and...and....write fanfiction for you?

Or something like that...

Anyways, I know I probably should be working on my other stories...but I felt like writing this! (Ah yes, my rebellious self)

But, a couple of things before we begin:

Ema and Klavier may be OOC. I can't really tell. I finished writing this at 11 last night.

This is not funny. NOT. FUNNY. (Just warning you.) It's not completely my fault - no one's tickled my funny bone lately

Oh, and did I mention the very lame title? Can someone come up with something better, please? I'll owe you forever and ever :)

And lastly, for the fun of it, I'll dedicate this to my little sis madscientists, one of the newest newbies on FF.net who just finished AJ (Now she'll be mad that I dedicated such a lame story to her...)

I'll stop ranting. For anything else, check my End Notes (where else?) at the end of this story

~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Ema Skye was not someone you often bumped into at the movies. She dismissed them as pointless and noisy, and with her almost-Gumshoe-level salary, she really couldn’t afford to go very often.

But this movie was one she had to see.

The Adventures of Cyan and Tiff K. N’Vestigatur, Ultimate Forensic Scientists

In 3D, no less.

And so, Ema found herself at the movie theatre, excitedly lining up to buy her ticket. When she headed towards the theatre area, she was stopped by the man checking people’s tickets.

“Sorry, miss, no outside snacks are allowed.”

Ema was, of course, already devouring her mega-sized bag of Snackoos, bought especially for this occasion.

“Would you like a faceful of deoxyribonucleic acid?” Ema glared menacingly.

The guy took a step back. “Oh, umm...no, sorry!” he stammered. “Outside snacks are just fine!”

“That’s good to hear,” Ema strode past him and into the theatre hall.

Deoxyri-whatever? Somehow, that sounds familiar...

“Hey!” he called out to her. “You forgot your 3D glasses!” But she had already disappeared out of sight.

Ema glanced down at her ticket. Theatre Four. She quickly found it and walked inside...only to find it empty.

Huh? That can’t be right. I was sure that this place would be jam-packed. I thought I’d have to stand at the back. They must have made a mistake on my ticket. I bet it’s the one across the hall.

She crossed the hall to Theatre Three, not even bothering to look at the poster outside of it. The theatre was quite full.

Aha! That’s more like it!

Luckily for her, Ema quickly spotted a seat in the middle of a row and made herself comfortable. Glancing around, she noted that the rest of the audience was made up of adults.

Excellent. No screaming kids.

----------

In the row behind Ema sat a man clothed in black with an abnormally large hat pulled down to cover his face and hair. He glanced around furtively to see if anyone recognized him, but with his intimidating demeanour, no one dared approach him.

Ach...this hat is making it difficult to see. But I don’t want anyone to recognize me.

When he spotted the familiar hair of the girl who sat in front of him, he nearly chuckled aloud.

Hmm...I didn’t expect to see her here, but I guess this means I’ll have some fun.

----------

When the trailers began to play, Ema realized that she had forgotten to get her 3D glasses.

What a scam! I bet that guy sidetracked me on purpose! This theatre’s probably too cheap to give out glasses.

She turned to dash outside to grab a pair, when she realized that she was completely trapped between a rather large man who was saying something about “the scent of fresh lemon” and another (or was it a woman?) who was trying to convince Ema that “zis lavender scent” was “zee perfect one” for her.

Yep, she was definitely not going anywhere for the next hour and a half.

Ema sighed as she leaned back, trying to ignore the pink-clad...person beside her.

At last, the lights dimmed completely and the title credits began to roll.

Ema suddenly tensed. The Night of the Undying Zombies? That wasn’t the movie she came to watch! She stiffened in her seat, petrified. She hadn’t seen a horror movie in years! And the last time, Lana was there to shield her eyes every time something jumped out.

B-but, I’m stuck here! I have to watch it!

Wait! Put on your sunglasses and close your eyes! No one will notice!

Oh, that’s genius! Did I ever mention what a smarty-pants you are?

So Ema spent the first thirty minutes with her eyes squeezed shut, gripping both of her armrests tightly. The sound effects were already creeping her out. She tried to calm herself down by analyzing the sounds.

Well, that anguished scream sounded like me staring into my Snackoo-less kitchen cabinet.

Or maybe it was me hearing the fop’s music.

And that creaking sound was that new guy – Meek Mikeins, was it? – trying to sneak unnoticed into the briefing room fifteen minutes late. Unsuccessfully, of course.

And that wind on the back of my neck was...wait a second.

Ema’s eyes sprang open in terror, and she was met face-first with a terrifying zombie on-screen. She could swear there was a breeze in the room and a weird chill on the back of her neck. She glanced around, paranoid.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders from behind.

“AUGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Someone save me!!!”

Everyone in the theatre jumped, startled. Even the hands on her shoulders let go in surprise.

“A bit of an overreaction, ja?” whispered the owner of the hands.

Ema whirled around. “Fop! Y-you!!!” She was going to add: “What’s with the atrocious hat?”, but-

“Shh!” he hushed her instantly, as did numerous other people in the theatre. She flushed a deep red and glared at him with the best you’ll-pay-for-this-later look she could muster in her embarrassment. With a huff, she turned back around in her seat.

Thirty seconds barely passed before he leaned forward again to whisper teasingly, “I didn’t realize you were so easily scared, Fraulein. I thought that being on the police force would have cured you of that.”

Another death glare. He assumed she would have snackoo’d him if she hadn’t already polished off the whole bag by the time the trailers were done. Maybe he ought to back off for now. He could tease her afterwards, when he wasn’t at risk of being exposed and mobbed by fangirls.

After another agonizing hour and something minutes (for Ema, anyways), the movie finally ended. Klavier, surprisingly, had behaved, though he had been struggling – it was hard to resist poking Ema when she twitched or flinched every few minutes.

Ema got up as soon as possible and tried to push through the narrow row, but not before Klavier grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“Fraulein Ema, are you going to leave without saying bye to me? You aren’t still mad at me, are you?”

“Mad is an understatement, fop.” She made that almost childish fed-up pout, and refusing to look at him, continued out into the aisle.

He followed her. “Ach...I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d have such a reaction.”

No response.

“Why don’t you let me make it up to you?”

Still no response.

“I’ll buy you two bags of your snacks...Three? Fine, four.”

Don’t fall for it, Ema!

But four bags! FOUR!

“I’ll buy you a science kit too.”

“Deal!” she cried, making Klavier jump. “Wait...” she narrowed her eyes. “We’re talking about mega-sized bags of Snackoos, right?”

Klavier chuckled, surprised. He had heard that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, but who knew it applied to Ema too?

“Jumbo packs,” he assured her. “As long as you’re not still mad.”

This time, she gave no reply as they had arrived at the exit of the theatre and were met with a huge downpour of rain.

Klavier groaned. “I am in quite the pickle. Quite. The. Pickle.”

Ema snickered. “What? You’re going to get your glimmer-hair wet?”

“You see, Fraulein, I took the bus here to avoid attracting fans with my motorbike. But the closest bus stop is a kilometre away, and I don’t think I can walk in this rain. I can barely see through it.”

“You’re not very subtle. You just want me to give you a ride, don’t you?”

“Ah...astute, as always. That’s my Fraulein Detektiv,” he smiled and slung an arm around her shoulder. She shoved his arm off.

“Please keep your foppy germs to yourself. Contamination may cause diseases.”

She brushed off her shoulder where his hand had been a moment ago. Klavier looked amused.

“Fraulein, you can’t deny that you need to dash from here to your car without an umbrella. And I’m sure that not all the scientific contents of your bag are waterproof.”

“What’s your point?” she asked slowly, suspicious.

“I’ll cover us with my jacket, you give me a lift home.”

“Well...” Ema mulled this over. She did need to get to her car, and her equipment would get wet otherwise. Besides, she could think of a way to get back at him for that little prank in the theatre.

Klavier had taken Ema’s hesitation as a yes and had flung his jacket over the two of them.

“Your car is the green one, ja? I think I see it.”

Ema squirmed a little at her sudden proximity with Klavier’s face.

“Uh...fop, I need my personal radius.”

“My apologies, Fraulein. That’s something I can’t give you.” He winked playfully. “This jacket’s only so large.”

She must have imagined it, but she could swear he pulled her closer.

“On three. One, two, let’s rock!”

The word is “run.” Get your vocab right, fop.

But before Ema would voice this particular opinion, she was pushed forward and found herself dashing like a mad woman (or mad scientist) across the wet parking lot.

This is crazy! We must look like idiots!

When they reached the car, Ema unlocked the doors with surprising speed, and the two of them leaped inside and slammed their doors shut. They sat there for a fraction of a moment, catching their breath, and then burst out laughing simultaneously. What was so funny, Ema didn’t know (maybe it was the drenched mess they both were), but it felt nice to be a little hysterical for no reason.

At last, she calmed down enough to turn the key in the ignition and back out of the parking space.

As they hit the main road, Klavier leaned over to turn on the car radio, when a sudden bump caused his seat (along with him) to bounce up and whack his head on the car roof.

Ema was hysterical again as Klavier rubbed his head. Snickering, Ema explained that her old, faulty car had springs underneath the passenger seat. Really loose springs, by the looks of it.

Ema couldn’t resist turning into an urban neighbourhood street, rather than take the main road. In a moment, Klavier saw exactly why.

Speed bumps. A whole street of speed bumps.

Suddenly, Klavier felt himself being bounced up and down, and the car rattled him so much that he could barely talk. Ema took a sideways glance at him (as she pressed down on the gas as hard as she could) and to her delight, saw his jaws clacking together repeatedly like those of Trucy’s Mr. Hat.

The sight cracked her up. She was laughing so hard that she had to stop the car at the end of the street.

Klavier (who had finally stopped flailing like a ragdoll) managed to regain his composure with a smile.

“I take it that my offer to buy you your snacks didn’t quite cut it.”

“That was golden. I wish I recorded it.”

“I guess we’re even now.” Klavier managed to look surprisingly unshaken, and a ghost of a smirk could be seen on his face.

Ema was laughing too hard to pay attention.

When they arrived at Klavier’s place, he turned to her and smiled. “I don’t suppose you’ll agree to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

Ema snorted. “Not a chance.”

“We’ll see about that,” he smiled, almost to himself. “But nonetheless, thank you for the ride, Fraulein.” Before he ducked outside, he winked and added, “I’ll see you in your dreams tonight.”

Ema sat there with her mouth open, his last comment having caused her to forget to remind him of what he owed her.

----------

When Ema arrived at work the next day, she found her promised bags of Snackoos and a science kit on her desk. She tore open a bag and had begun munching when she saw the note.

Fraulein Ema,

I do hope you will join me for dinner tonight. After all, since you gave me that rather jostling car ride as payback for the incident at the theatre, you now owe me for four bags of Snackoos and a science kit. Of course, you have the option to refuse, but I am sure that you are already well through your first bag of snacks. I will come and pick you up at 7, then.

Klavier

P.S. I’m sure you will have realized by now that we will be taking my motorbike. With your experiences with rather...feisty vehicles, you should have no problem with that, ja?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

End Notes:

Ohhh....I can just imagine what all the AA characters have to say to my story...

"The court finds this story....TOTALLY NOT FUNNY."

"I object to the lameness of this story."

"Gotcha! Miss Philomena, I perceive that you were rather delusional when you wrote this."

" ' Writer M.I.A. for Three Months, Returns with Massive Fail of a Story' end quote."

-sigh- Oh well. In my original idea, Ema was going to be a little meaner to Klavier. But I just kept writing, and it came out like this. So you might find the story a little inconsistent -.-

For those of you who didn't know/pick up on it, deoxyribonucleic acid is the long way of saying DNA. I suppose that if you're Ema and say it really fast, it'll sound like something lethal :P

And I suppose it'd be more logical if Klavier took a taxi. But the taxi would probably cost more than the movie ticket. Whoever heard of the ride costing more than the movie? That's so lame!

Anyways, all reviewers get a big hug from me. And all readers get...a big hug too :)

I'm just feeling huggy today :P (But reviews of any kind are much loved. Make a girl's day, won't you?)

Author's Notes:

First off, I would like to point out that this is my first try at a Diego x Mia fanfiction. Any comments would be greatly appreciated :)

I know there's a lot of speculation about Mia's plant, Charley. A lot of people like to believe that Diego gave it to her (myself included). So I threw in my own interpretation of that. Do you guys also remember that at some point, Phoenix examines the poster in his office, saying that it was the first movie that ever made Mia cry? Well, I've got my explanation for that too ;)

I will warn you now: this story has a bunch of contrasting moods. After all, that's exactly what Mia and Diego's relationship was like. Terribly tragic, but it had its high points too. And what better word to describe it than bittersweet? :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~



The first thing she noticed was the scent of coffee.

It hung in the air, and despite the fact that the aroma was unfamiliar, it seemed to welcome her, to beckon at her to come inside.

She stepped timidly onto the doorstep, her trained eyes automatically taking in her surroundings. It was a modest home, not very large, but looked comfortable nonetheless. She was most surprised at the amount of greenery – she hadn’t expected him to be a plant kind of person. One thing piqued her curiosity especially – a stout plant with a large pot reading “Charley.” Even her damp mood couldn’t stop her from turning around and giving him a quizzical look.

“My favourite plant,” he smiled, answering her questioning expression. He prodded her towards it. “He’s a good listener. You can tell him anything that’s on your mind.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head. “There’s too much…I don’t think he would want to hear all of it,” she said quietly.

He regarded her silently for a moment. “Kitten…you have to let that go. You know it’s not your fault.”

He received no response. The broken expression seemed like it had become permanently etched into her face since two weeks ago.

“Kitten, listen to me. None of this is your fault. You did everything in your power to help Mr. Fawles. There was nothing else you could have done.”

She looked back up at him, her eyes glistening with bitter tears.

“If I hadn’t forced him…if I had talked about it with him beforehand…if I hadn’t provoked Dahlia… If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have died,” she managed to choke out.

“I’m so weak…I’m useless…I don’t deserve to be a lawyer. I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought I was saving him…when in truth, I was the one who killed him.” She was sobbing, shaking uncontrollably, and she felt so embarrassed to be crying like this in front of him, but she just couldn’t stop the tears.

He reached out to take her hands in his and pulled her closer.

“Mia,” he said gently. “You’re not weak. I knew that from the day I met you. If you were, how could you have brought up your sister to who she is today? How could you have possibly been able to take a case like Mr. Fawles’ as your first?”

He let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her tightly.

“But if you ever don’t feel strong enough, you have me. I promise, Kitten, I’ll always be here for you. Now and forever.”

He felt her shaking slow at his words, and he held her protectively against him, as if letting her go would make her cry again.

He leaned down to brush a tear from her face.

“See, Kitten, I’m not as bad as you once thought I was,” he chuckled gently.

This brought forth a hint of a smile from her, as she recalled how she had called him a “caffeine-addicted shameless flirt who seemingly had never heard of personal space” by the end of the first day she had met him.

And here she was now, crying her eyes out in his arms. She would have never imagined herself like this, leaning on someone else for support for the first time in as long as she could remember. She felt her years of frustration and anxiety leave her, surrendering herself to someone else finally, ever since her mother had disappeared.

He felt her relax against his chest and he pressed his lips to her forehead.

“You know, Kitten, I’ve got something to give you.”

She looked up at him questioningly.

“Just something that can act as a stand-in for me, so that I’ll always, always be with you.”

“What is it?”

“Charley.”


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She sat there, staring silently at the man who lay in front of her. Even so many months later, it somehow still shocked her every time she saw him like this. It made no sense – she couldn’t connect this man to the vivid one in her memories.

The tears in her eyes had long dried out and she had no pleading words left to whisper in his ear. Defeated, she could only clasp his hand tightly in hers and hold it to her cheek.

There were so many words in the world, but none that could explain how desperately she wanted his eyes to open, how much she needed for him to return to her. And none could explain the brokenness and emptiness she felt inside as she stared at the still body that encased the heart of the man she loved.

So many words that couldn’t explain how she felt, and only one could surface to her lips.

“Diego.”


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Neither of them were romance-movie types, so he was surprised at her choice of movie after dinner.

“Someone told me it was good…but if you don’t want to watch it, we could pick something else.”

He slid an arm around her waist. “No, no, Kitten. Anything that you want. I’m willing to give it a chance.”

The movie wasn’t half bad, and luckily not as mushy as he had expected. He thought it was a little overdramatic, though. After all, what were the chances that a man would fly abroad for treatment for his life-threatening disease, and just as he returned home recovered, he found that his girlfriend had died in a car accident just a week ago?

When the lights came back on, he glanced over at her and was shocked to see her face red and trails of tears running down her cheeks.

“Mia! What’s wrong?” he asked, instantly alarmed. He slid out of his seat and in front of her to pull her into a protective hug.

“Oh…I’m being silly,” she said between sniffles against his shoulder. “This is so embarrassing…I’ve never cried watching a movie before,” she hiccupped.

“Why don’t we go outside?” he suggested. He knew that she would be flustered by the weird looks that people might give her.

It was dark outside, the only light coming from the full moon. They sat down on a park bench, enjoying the gentle spring breeze.

“Kitten,” he prodded her gently, taking her hands. “Tell me why you were crying before. I didn’t think that movie was that touching.”

She pouted. “Don’t make me say it… I told you I was just being silly. It’s nothing, really.”

“If it’s nothing, then why the secrecy? I need to know what made my Kitten cry.”

She sighed, surrendering. “Well…I was trying to get myself interested in the movie. So I imagined that I was the girl in there. But imagining something like that happening to us upset me. And before I knew it, I was crying so hard I couldn’t stop.”

He pulled her closer into his embrace.

“Mia, you silly girl. I won’t ever leave you like that. I promise…I’ll even outlive you.”

She glanced up at him strangely.

“That’s a weird thing to say. Even for you.”

“Well, Kitten, if I died before you, who would take care of you? And you would be so sad and lonely and missing me everyday. So I’d rather that I be the one to suffer.”

She gave him a reproachful look but couldn’t help smiling a bit. “You say that as if we’re going to die soon.”

“We will one day. But I’d rather imagine that we can even die together, like that married couple in that Greek myth.”

She rolled her eyes. “What about your promise to be here for me forever?” she teased.

“I’m still keeping that promise,” he said, smiling. “I will never, ever leave you.”


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He knelt at her grave, a bouquet of beautiful lilies in his hand. He placed them down, and brushing his fingers over her name on the stone, felt the memories flooding back to him.

Why must life be so ironic?

All the apologies for broken promises and the unsaid “I miss you”s and “I love you”s seemed inadequate for the moment. The words of regret, despair, guilt and bitterness were stuck in his throat as he whispered the only name that seemed to express all the meaning there was to his life.

“Mia.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

End Notes:

I know that the whole Diego-comforts-Mia-after-Terry-Fawles-case may be a little overdone, but I just felt compelled to write it. In an attempt to redeem that, I didn't make it the only scene.

I would also like to apologize if I made Mia seem like a weak dependant, easy crier. She's not. It just happens that I captured her in moments where she may seem so. I really hope neither of them were too out of character.

Oh yes...as for the Greek myth that Diego mentions, have you guys ever read that? It was basically a myth of this married couple (named Baucis and Philemon) who were very hospitable to Zeus when he came to earth. As a reward, Zeus granted them one wish, and they asked that they could die together. He granted their wish, and after they died, he turned them into beautiful trees (or something like that) that were joined at the trunk, so that they would never have to be separated. (Thanks to OneMorePerson on fanfiction.net for helping me identify the myth! :D)