Author's Note: This pairing is TRAGIC. And yes, I am now obsessed with Ace Attorney. I still haven't played any of the games, so please forgive me if anything's wrong in this story.
Memento
There is a girl sitting on the other side of the glass from him. He knows it's only glass but the barrier feels like a brick wall, as if he were confined to his jail cell by steel chains or an electric fence.
His temples are throbbing, the chair he's sitting in is too rigid and uncomfortable, and his back feels stiff from being in one position for too long. For just a moment he dares to glance up at Maya, who appears simultaneously too close and too far away. Her eyes are glimmering with emotion, with tears that are about to fall, and once again Diego is struck with how much Maya Fey looks like her dead sister.
They share the same chocolate brown eyes, the ones that light up whenever they get excited or babble on about something they love, and the long glossy hair, although Maya's is a shade darker, the color of a raven's feather. While Mia was stunningly gorgeous, her younger sister has not yet matured as much, being more on the cute side. Her features are not as sophisticated and there is an impish, immature air about her, but besides that he can see the ghost of the woman he loved.
Against his will, his heart throbs, twisting inside his chest.
"Maya..." Diego manages to choke out. "You came."
"Of course I came!" She sounds indignant. "I wanted to see you again."
He doesn't know what to say to that. Why would she want to visit him, of all people? He's a criminal, dangerous, not to be trusted. If she is a kitten, then he would be a wolf. And yet the girl across from him is still looking at him as if he were worthy of her attention.
"Are you okay?" Maya asks with concern. She looks just like Mia the time he nearly died of poisoning and woke up lying on the hospital bed, seeing his girlfriend leaning above him with the same desperation etched onto her features. God, even her voice sounds the same.
She isn't supposed to ask him that. He doesn't deserve this.
"Yeah." He prays that his voice won't break, that he won't all of a sudden start crying. Though they are separated by only a few feet, the glass wall between them still makes him feel as if she's impossibly far away. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure?" Maya just gazes at him worriedly. Then, before he can react, she scoots her chair closer to the table and touches her fingertips lightly to the glass. It's all Diego can do not to break down, because when he hesitantly raises his hand to the glass as well, he closes his eyes and suddenly catches a whiff of her sweet fragrance. It lasts just for a second and he might have imagined it, but he almost fools himself into thinking that the girl sitting across from him is Mia. The sensation is agonizing and yet soothing at the same time.
Maya beams at him, and somehow he manages to return the smile. It's still not the same, and no one will ever be able to replace Mia, but for now, Diego is glad for her comforting presence.