Just Like Heaven
unbetaed, version 1.2
Love conquers all but opposite sides of the courtroom. [ Two-shot, T&T-verse ]
Warning: More cheese than found in your calcium-filled breakfast. Major Trials & Tribulations spoilers and gap-filling.
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Mia Fey struggled awake in clothes rather too tight for her liking. The pale lights did not feel comforting on her skin; the unnatural coldness seeping into the room crawled along her spine, making her shiver.
That Maya, she chided only half-heartedly, hoping that her sister's body would retain that thought somehow –always in trouble. How many times would she be able to save her? She needed a self-defense lesson from Phoenix, and quick. Though, on second thought, would Phoenix really be of help?
Her defense attorney eyes caught onto a sheet of paper flat against the top of a drawer. Maya's words were hasty, edgy. Instinct tinged. They did not have much time. Mia began to think, caught between going out to assess the situation at the risk of being seen and staying in here, at the risk of making the wrong move. Consequences could be grave.
The door scraped almost silently open, though still noisy enough to make Mia jump – she would have, if not for the practice she'd had in trials upon trials holding her back. She let out a soft yelp, then quickly held her tongue, trying to recede into the shadows.
She was too late. The man had seen her. From where she was, it looked like three strips of crimson neon lights glowing in the dark. Her mind raced. He must be the murderer. Who was he? What grudge did he hold against the Kurain master, no, Dahlia Hawthorne? It could have been one of her many victims to whatever other cruel act she had committed . . .
The man had emerged from the shadows. Hair like snow, the visor-like object obstructing his eyes still blinking dangerously red. It was as if he had been stumped at the sight of her – really, men these days! Was she truly so visually unappealing, then? He almost seemed taken aback. When she blinked to hold back anger, it was gone.
'Ha,' the man said with a smug smile and let out a breath, shakily. 'It's never as hot outside as it is in here.'
Mia shuddered and steeled herself. 'I – I'm not letting you get away with this!' Funny how she was reverting back to her rookie self before this man, and his more than familiar voice. 'Flirting isn't going to work on me!'
He shook his head, hair settling back into place like falling snowflakes. 'The aroma of dark coffee . . . Even in the farthest corners, you can't run from it.'
Something in the heart she was borrowing shattered.
She stood up straight, her full 168cm towering over no one. 'No,' she said, to herself more than to anyone. 'You can't, can you, Mr Armando?'
The smile fell from his face.
'Kitten . . .' His voice, so soft –faded into fissures in the well-worn walls.
'Why?'
He gazed at her through scarlet lights.
'Why did you do this, Diego?' She asked, her words more biting and forceful than the gnawing heartache.
He looked away. 'The truth is never as we know it, Kitten. Between Maya and Misty Fey . . .' She kept the silence.
'I thought I'd never see you again.' Really, whoever pulled the strings could've been a little more merciful on her. Meeting him again like this was the worst they could have ever done. Mia was torn between thousands of emotions and questions and outbursts, but she would hold out, for her sister and for him. She understood why he had to do this. He had no choice, but neither did she; she was trying to accept that.
She inched closer, fingers reaching for the visor shielding his eyes from her. In her grey-specked memory, they were always shining.
They were shut tight as she lifted the visor off; blood trickled down his nose from an angry red slash. 'You're hurt.' She said accusingly, keeping the unsteadiness out from her voice, grabbing a towel from the top drawer to stop the bleeding.
'I don't remember them pronouncing Kittens as doctors.' He could still tease, she fumed, deliberately pressing a little harder on his wound and biting back a laugh as he winced. Her attorney instincts buzzed frenzied and dangerous at the back of her head. She knew this was no time to be playing childish games. But she'd never get another chance, not again. Diego would be gone. . . One more. Just one more.
'Didn't you know, Mr Armando? Kittens kiss it better.' She pressed her lips - her sister's lips - against the man she never lived to cherish. He smiled against her mouth, knowing well as she did this stolen time would not last. Still they stayed that way, like they used to when the alarm shrieked and Mia would've rather been shrouded in coffee mist than face another trial.
'I can't stay here,' they said. Him wistful and bitter, her determined and on a fresh mission. As he readjusted the visor to conceal the gaping scar, she scribbled below Maya's pleas the best solution she could come up with. She looked up, satisfied with her answer, and he was leaving. A sudden panic gripped her.
'Remember, you can't cry until it's all over!' She called to his retreating back. He stopped in his step and turned to face her, the stained towel in his fist untainted in his eyes.
'Don't stay mad at me, Kitten, or I'll be drinking salted coffee tonight.' He was smiling smugly again as he left, leaving behind her and a forgotten lifetime.
When Maya Fey once again found herself on the straw-covered ground of the inner temple, her face was damp, her heart painfully tight.
Post-warning: I told you so.