Mentor

(Spoiler for T&T Case 4)

Pairing: Mia Fey& Diego Armando

DISCLAIMER- I do not in any way own Phoenix Wright or its characters!

Rating: PG-13: Some mild language and slightly suggestive content…plus some fluff :3 (Just as a reminder, I am fully aware that this fanfic is pretty awful, and that the characters are OOC, but please bear with me.

The night was thriving as Mia Fey stretched her arms over her head while she exited the courthouse library with her lawer mentor, Diego Armando.

"Nnggh! Glad that's over!" Mia exclaimed as she finished her stretching.

"Well, we were in the library for four hours, researching past cases of Mr. Grossberg's," Diego added, yawning.

The two had been asked by their boss, Marvin Grossberg, to look up his most recent cases, print them out, and place them in his box back at the office. They willingly obliged, but it turns out that they needed a password to access the case files. That's what took them four hours.

"God, that password was so tough to figure out. Why the hell did he make it 'pansy'?!" Mia groaned irritably.

"I TOLD you he was gay!" Diego said with that familiar grin stretching across his face.

At sight of Diego's grin, Mia's heart skipped a beat.

Ah! Wh- what just happened?!

Clearing her throat, Mia argued playfully," Well, maybe he is gay, maybe he's not. Perhaps he just likes gardening."

Diego chuckled in that way of his, obviously humoring her. "Dream on, Kitten. Those perfume bottles of his don't lie."

Oh, yeah, Mia remembered, We DID find those bottles of Chanel No. 15 perfume… she shuddered.

"Cold?" Diego asked, eyebrow raised.

Mia bristled.

There it is again…that skip of a beat!

"N-no…just freaked out by Grossman's…interesting habits." Mia stuttered.

"You sure? Those goose bumps are contradictive…" Diego perused teasingly, unlocking his car. Mia rolled her eyes. Diego, hot shot defense attorney he was, took every chance he could to use court-speak.

As Diego started up the car, Mia stole a glance at his profile. The attorney's face was perfectly proportioned, his eyes just the right size. His tan skin reminded her of the coffee he was obsessed with. Before long, Mia was staring at him, almost intensely. Sensing her gaze, he turned his head. One look was all he needed before he was struggling not to laugh. Diego's eyes shone with amusement as Mia, blushing furiously, pretended to be having trouble with her seatbelt. Grinning wildly, Diego drove the car out of the courthouse parking lot.

"What was that about, Kitten? Were you attempting to have a staring contest with my ear, or something?" Diego questioned jokingly.

"Shut up. Your self-obsessed imagination is kicking in because of your caffeine intake!" Mia countered.

What was that about?

Diego laughed as they pulled onto the interstate freeway alongside a forest. Still recovering, Mia turned her face to the car door window, watching the trees whiz by. Trees….in a forest… The thought of a forest reminded Mia of…her. Dahlia Hawthorne. The trees made Mia think of her very first trial, in which the murder occurred on a certain bridge on a mountain she knew all too well. The trial she would've won, if it wasn't for a demoness in disguise, as some liked to call her. Mia's first trial, with Diego by her side, had ended with the suicide of Terry Fawles, Dahlia's from-five-years-previously boyfriend. He-

"Mia? What are you doing?"

Mia sat up straight in her seat, realizing that she had been gripping and twisting her seatbelt while lost in thought. Sighing, Mia released the seat belt. As her seatbelt slowly unfurled itself, Diego watched her. Feeling his stare, Mia rolled down her window, and felt the cool night breeze blow through her hair.

"What's wrong?" Diego inquired, while keeping his eyes on the road.

Mia sighed. Fingering her Magatama, she replied solemnly, "…Thinking about four months ago."

"Ah. The Dahlia thing," Diego said as they pulled into the Grossberg office parking lot. He stopped the car.

"So. You want to talk about it?"

Mia unbuckled and slumped in her seat. The memory of that trial replayed in her mind.

FLASHBACK

"…" "Dahlia and me…we made a promise. That if we ever betrayed each other, we would drink the bottle."

"What?! But Mr. Fawles!"

"!! Cough"

"Mr. Fawles!"

"I don't trust myself. I may betray Dahlia again…Mr. Armando…thanks for the…coffee…!!"

*slump*

"MR. FAWWWWWWWWWLLLES!"

"No! It's all my fault!"

It took Mia a second to realize that she was crying.

"Damn it…how could I have let that happen?" Mia asked herself, dropping her head in her hands.

Silence. A sudden warmth closed around her. She was locked in his embrace.

"Mia. That wasn't your fault, and you know it."

Mia lifted her head from her hands and looked at Diego. The 27-year-old's face was serious. So serious, it was almost scary. TOO scary. Mia turned away.

"Let me go."

" Come on, Mia. You have to talk about it sometime. You can't bottle up your feelings like this. It's not…healthy."

Silence. Mia's shoulders suddenly stiffened.

Tch…Like he should talk…Who's the one that drowns himself daily in coffee?!

Diego faltered. "Mia…?"

"…I said, LET ME GO!" Mia attempted to tear away from Diego, but he tightened his grip.

"Mia, I can't stand to see you like this! You haven't been yourself since that day. I know, I really do, what a scar that case left on you. No matter how hard you try to cover it up, you can't fool me."

Diego turned her around so she was facing him. Tears marred her moonlit face. It was enough to make him cry.

"Look at me."

Mia looked down.

"Mia, LOOK AT ME."

She reluctantly obeyed. What she saw was nothing short of startling. Diego's eyebrows were furrowed in worry. His mouth formed a thin line, his jaw set, but nothing was more startling than his eyes. The dark chocolate orbs contained what could be described as a mixture of concern, worry, and sadness. Mia held his gaze for what seemed like hours.

She sighed, wiping the tears away. "I can only describe it as a feeling of deep regret. I am regretting it because an innocent man died because of that… cretin. Maybe it's remorse, also. Remorse because I became slightly attached to Terry Fawles in the short time I knew him. I knew he was innocent, but I still couldn't save him. That alone is what left a scar. How can Dahlia mess up so many lives and still call herself a human?!"

Sighing, Mia sank into Diego's arms. He loosened his hold.

"I'm tired, SO tired, of remembering that horrible trial."

Diego just looked at Mia. The clock on the car's dashboard read 9:42 P.M.

"Mia, I…" He began.

"…?" Mia looked at him, inquisitively, obviously wondering why he didn't finish his sentence.

At the sight of his face, she couldn't help but smile. The defense attorney was blushing tomato red.

"Why, Mr. Armando, I never." Mia uttered, an impish smirk slowly creeping across her now dry face, all sadness forgotten.

"I-uh, we better get inside," Diego stammered, pushing away from Mia and fumbling with the car door.

Once the door was open, Diego climbed outside and slammed the door shut, suddenly serious. Mia followed suit, curiously trying to read his expression, but he turned away from her view. She walked over to the front of the car where he was standing, silent.

She started, reaching out for him.

"Diego, I was just jok-"

Diego whirled around and suddenly grabbed Mia. Without a word, he pulled her into another embrace. He then met his lips with hers, gently, but surely. Mia was at first stunned, but she slowly faded into Diego's kiss. His lips were soft and warm.

After what seemed like hours, their lips parted, and Diego tightened his embrace. Mia let him, not resisting this time. She could taste coffee on her lips. Blend No. 57.

Diego took a deep breath, and whispered, "Mia…I…care for you. You, should know that by now. Because of that, I can't stand to see you unhappy. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here. I'm here…because.. I…love you. I love you, Kitten."

Mia gasped quietly, and looked down while twiddling her thumbs.

"I….I see…." She mumbled, unsure of what to do next.

Diego, mistaking Mia's shock for dislike, hurriedly turned away from Mia, and uttered, "S-sorry….I really shouldn't have-It was stupid….I….let's go." Then he began to walk towards the Grossberg building.

"W-wait! Diego, please wait…" Mia cried, grabbing hold of his hand, just as he started to turn to face her.

She pulled him towards her before he could say anything in response. When his lips were just inches away, though, she faltered.

"It- it wasn't stupid, not at all!" Mia

"M-Mia…" Diego whispered as she fit her lips with his, like a puzzle.

Then, as suddenly as it happened, it ended. The two released each other's lips, short of breath; Mia dizzy, Diego amazed.

"D-Diego, I…love you, too." Mia whispered.

Diego leaned in for another kiss, eyes afire. Mia leaned in as well, rose petal lips prepared. Their lips met in another kiss, this one more heated. Fingers intertwined, and hearts responded to each other in rapid thumps. Their kissing grew more passionate by the second as both lawyers soon grew into the interaction. Mia's back pressed against the wall at the bottom of the steps that led to the office as Diego held her captive in his gentle grip. Running her fingers through Diego's dark hair, Mia pulled him towards her, inviting him for more kisses.

"Diego…." Whispered Mia as she wrapped her arms around his neck, softly kissing his cheek.

To which he responded with a hungry growl, trailing kisses down her long, white neck-

"Ah-HEEEEEEEEMM!" Rang the all-too familiar throat clearing of Marvin Grossberg from the top of the stairs to his office. "And what do we have here?"

………..Busted.