Well, here we go: my first fanfic of 2010! I think my writing's getting a lot better, but it seems to also be getting shorter... On that note, this one's another MiaxDiego, my OTP, so I really enjoyed writing it. It's a bit darker, but the relationship seems a lot more tragic, and as a result, much more romantic. Hooray for sucker stories. This kind of romance really makes me feel like a loser, you know what I'm saying? No, I suppose you don't. Anyway, enjoy!

It was certainly ironic, facing death from a simple rope. Well, the government had to at least appear humane, so I suppose this was the best alternative. After all, hanging left a much cleaner feeling on the hands as opposed to, say, a guillotine.

The wooden steps creaked as I ascended them slowly. You'd think with all the taxes they get they'd at least be able to afford slightly better upholstery. Perhaps it was just the heavy, leaden weight that my feet were feeling, increased pressure placed with each step closer to the gallows. After all, who ever heard of a sprightly death-row convict?

Dozens of people were shouting in the stands and pumping their fists out of the corner of my eye. Apparently, "Elise Deauxnim" had a lot of fans, and, despite their disdain of her twenty years ago, they had since "learned the truth", repenting for their crimes and calling for justice as to her murderer.

Peons. Hypocrites.

Someone yelled "Mr. Armando!" from my left. Turning my head, I saw a few familiar figures. Maya was there, of course, still wearing those spirit medium clothes. In front of her was a slightly more grown up… Pearls, her name was…? Both were tearing up and sniffing. To their side was Wright. Or, someone who looked more-or-less like Wright, as this man was wearing clothes akin to a hobo and was growing much stubble. Though his eyes remained the same, albeit slightly more vacant: blazing with justice, and pathetically heroic and heroically pathetic.

One of the guards forced me up, prodding my back, pushing me onto the main platform. The crowds roared with anticipation, only protesting louder for my demise, ignoring the yells of the policemen to settle down. Another guard, one who I presumed to be the chief executor, slipped a knot over my neck, motioning for an underling to the same with my hands behind my back, much to the amusement of the throng.

I exhaled, looking up at the sky. Most of it I couldn't see very well, meaning that it was most likely sunset, though ominously dark clouds cluttered the air above. In fact, a few members of the audience were suddenly blinking in annoyance and looking up, so the dripping had most likely begun already.

I closed my eyes, exhaling again. It was cold, I was shivering. The dark seemed comforting, the only thing that had seemed so for the last nine years. Perhaps that was why I still insisted on drinking so much coffee.

"Diego…"

My eyes snapped open. She stood there in front of me, smiling, looking exactly as I remembered her, her dirty yellow scarf, her silky chocolate hair, her beautiful grey eyes. She stepped closer, her semi-transparent form wavering in the light. "M- Mia…" I managed to croak.

The guard looked sideways at me, raising one confused eyebrow. "Mr. Armando…?" he asked. "Would… Would you like some time alone?"

"Y- Yeah…" I said, nodding, not bothering to look at him as he stepped away respectively. "Mia… Where… How…?"

She smiled, tilting her head to the side and caressing my cheek. "I came to see you, Diego. Oh, you look so different, so hollow…"

I laughed a hollow, empty laugh, throwing my head back as far as I could, which, admittedly, with the rope and all, wasn't very far. "You wouldn't believe prison. The coffee tastes horrible, there's barely any of it, and chances are come other idiot who's already finished his with no appreciation will tackle you for it. It's a veritable living hell, it is."

She laughed, wiping away a stray tear from her ear, wrapping her arms around me and resting her arms on my right shoulder, whispering in my ear. "Oh, Diego, you haven't changed a bit, have you…?"

I smirked, attempting to stroke her hair, though the ropes bound me tight, holding me back from the woman I loved, torturing me. "Ha…! I don't change quickly, Kitten. You won't get rid of me that easily."

She embraced me even tighter, laying a hand on my chest. It felt cold, as a spirit's should be, yet warm and comforting, like I had been waiting years for the touch. "I love you, I love you, I love you…" she whispered.

Smiling, I looked down at her. "I know you do," I replied.

She stood up, locking her lips with mine. The kiss was brief, but it felt as if all my pains, fears, stresses, and cares throughout these last, lonely years were alleviated all at once. She caressed my cheek for the last time. "So, then…I guess I'll see you soon."

I tried to nod, though my neck was so sore I barely managed the slightest inclination. "Yeah… Bye, Kitten…" I said, hoarse from carrying on a conversation for the first time in such a long time in prison. She planted another soft kiss on my lips, then took a step back, her form melting away in a gust of wind.

I sighed, craning my neck to look at the sky despite the pain. The clouds had moved on, making way for the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen in my life, nature painting a rainbow of reds and yellows throughout the canvas of the skies. I blinked. I couldn't see red. I looked back up. No, it was certainly red. I allowed myself a small smile. Sight, at the last moments of my life.

I nodded at the guard, who came forward forcefully, as if annoyed, fed up with waiting. He motioned to another man, clad in black, who grinned a toothless grin as he tested out the noose resting around my neck. "Don't struggle," he said, trying to suppress a guffaw. "It makes it all the more painful."

I stared at him, not exactly glaring, simply unwavering, and he gulped, quickly busying himself with checking the beams of the support. I exhaled, grinning. The physical world, the world of the living: it didn't hold much for me. Only memories, thoughts of happy times past. I wasn't scared of death. Death was relaxation, a release of all human pains. Death was where I could reunite with her forever.

Mia… I'm coming.

The noose tightened, and my body hung limp.

It was said that the scent of coffee hung in the air for a few moments afterward.