Amaya, although she drove down with her friends, was staying with her team. The only reason for that being that her schedule was much different than that of her friends' due to the fact that she is competing, otherwise she would gladly stay with them and avoid Nate at all costs. Courtney did bring a friend at the last minute, but not without Amaya's prompting. Six people in one room was going to be a bit of a squeeze, especially when two of those six people are avoiding each other, but they would have to make it work.

"Amaya," It was the voice of her coach that snapped her from her thoughts and prompted her to look where he stood by the door. "Someone's here to see you."

She furrowed her brow, who would be here looking for her? She had only left her friends fifteen minutes ago, what could have possibly happened in that time that would bring one of them down here? Besides, she was fairly certain most of them would simply walk right into the hotel room without knocking. She watched curiously as Henry opened the door, as did the others, all waiting to see who was standing on the other side.

Time stopped.

There was a woman standing in the doorway, one only known to Amaya and Henry and a stranger to the others. She was tall, dressed in a long orange skirt and matching top with her dark hair pulled back into a low bun.

"Mom?" Amaya asked in complete and utter disbelief. The woman was smiling brightly at her, and soon a matching smile was adorning Amaya's own face as she ran towards the woman and wrapped her in a hug so forceful that the two of them nearly toppled backwards.

Ms. Jiwe laughed as she held her daughter, her arms locked around the teenager's back as fat tears of joy spilled out of her eyes. Amaya was crying too, her face buried in her mother's shoulder as they stood in the doorway and refused to let go of each other.

Finally they stepped inside, still locked in their embrace, and only after she had kicked the door closed behind them did Ms. Jiwe peel her daughter away from her just enough so that she could get her hands on her face and wipe away some of the tears.

"You look so beautiful," she cried and Amaya laughed through her own tears.

"How? How are you here?" She asked, as unspeakably happy as she was to see her mother here she was also worried about exactly how this had come to be. Zembesi is a small village, and not a wealthy one. Finances were part of the reason she started in jujitsu to begin with; it was something that could potentially provide her with a half decent future.

"Your friend Mick," Her mother answered, "He and his family brought me here for the competition."

The smile left Amaya's face.

She wasn't unhappy, not by any means, she was just… shocked. Complete and utter shock would be the only way to describe what she was feeling when her mother said that Mick Rory was the one responsible for this.

Shock didn't even begin to cover how the others in the room felt.

Courtney and her friend, Kara, were more confused than anything, as they hardly know Mick. Courtney could at least understand that he wasn't someone who would be expected to be behind something like this, as she often heard Nate ranting about how awful the kid is. Speaking of Nate, he looked as though he were about to pass out. His face had gone pale and his jaw slack while Ray stood next to him with his eyes wide and all but popping out of his head. Even Mr. Heywood was at a loss for words.

"What?" Ms. Jiwe finally asked, not oblivious to how the tension in the room had grown unbearably heavy when she revealed who it was that brought her here.

"Nothing," Amaya assured her mother, a small but still bright smile returning to her face. "It's nothing."

Upstairs the rest of the kids were getting ready to head out to the Star City natural history museum, as Mrs. Stein had to promise the principal that this field trip would be just as educational as it would be purposeful for the club in order to get it okayed. None of the teens were exactly thrilled about it, especially Sara who had been on plenty of field trips to this exact museum growing up in Star City and was very much over it, but they figured it couldn't be the worst trip they could take. Amaya wasn't supposed to be going with them; as she had practice for the competition. So when she showed up in their hallway Caitlin, who was on her way back to the girls' room, arched an eyebrow, and her confusion only grew when she saw Amaya stop outside of the boys' room and knock.

"What are you doing down here?" She asked and when Amaya turned her head she had a bright smile on her face, not to mention she was out of breath.

"I… It's uh… Mick… Long story." She spluttered, seemingly too happy to form a cohesive thought.

Before Caitlin could question her friend further the door the boys' room opened and she rushed inside. Curiosity peaked; Caitlin walked over to the door and peered inside at a scene that if it weren't right in front of her she may not have been able to believe.

Amaya hadn't gone too far from the door; in fact she had barely gone all the way into the room. But she was standing there, just in front of the first bed, actually hugging Mick. It was at that moment that Leonard appeared in front of Caitlin, an amused grin on his face and Victor trailing right behind him.

"Stein wants us all outside her room in ten minutes, Mick." He called over his shoulder before nudging Caitlin to move aside and let him and Victor into the hall.

"What is that about?" Caitlin asked once the door to the room was safely closed and the two boys began leading her towards her own room.

"Longish story, I'll explain it to everyone all at once." Len replied and Caitlin needed no further prompting to let the two of them into the girls' room.

Mick heard the knock at the door, and he glanced over but Len was already there so he returned to shoving around the items in his bag. He wasn't looking for anything really, just sort of giving his hands a task while he thought about the conversation he'd just had.

They arrived at the hotel barely five minutes ago and already Mick's plan was going to hell. Ok, maybe going to hell would be a little bit extreme, but still, Vic knowing about it wasn't exactly part of the plan. It didn't matter though, so long as it remained a secret from Amaya for the next few minutes.

Speaking of his little plan, he had arrived at the room his foster dad had instructed him to find, not that Stein knew he was even gone of course. He knocked twice on the door and was about to knock a third when it opened.

"Hey man," his foster dad greeted him.

"Hey," he returned, "Amaya and her team are in their room." He said and John smiled as he opened the door a little wider, revealing the woman in the room behind him.

She looked over at Mick, a bright smile lighting up her face the moment that she saw him and she hurried over to the doorway.

"Hello, you must be Mick!" She beamed and he nodded, his face still set in an unreadable expression.

"Yeah," He said plainly, "You ready?"
"Of course!" The woman exclaimed excitedly and so again Mick nodded before he turned on his heel and led the way.

The three of them walked down the hall and the next one before stopping at the corner where Mick pointed down the next hallway.

"Halfway down, room 218." He instructed and the woman practically squealed in anticipation.

"Thank you!" She said excitedly before she started to go but then turned back. "Aren't you coming?" She asked but Mick shook his head, while John just looked between the two but eventually sided with Mick.

Ms. Jiwe smiled gratefully at the two of them, although a little remorsefully because she had thought they would be going with her. In all honesty she looked like she might be about to cry, before she continued off down the hall.

Mick and John stayed where they were hidden behind the corner, watching as Amaya ran out of the room and hugged her mother. Mick smiled at the scene, not daring to tear his eyes away until both Amaya and her mother were inside the hotel room and he could no longer see them.

"You did good buddy," John praised with a squeeze to his foster son's shoulder. Mick, now snapped out of the moment, looked up at him.

"Thank you, for helping me." He said and John smiled down at him.

"No problem man." He said, the pride still glimmering in his eyes. "Now, have fun on your field trip, I've got to get going. It's a long way back to Central City." He said as he began to walk away.

"Wait," Mick called, effectively halting him. "You're going back now?"

"I've got a meeting in the morning." John replied.
"You came all the way out here? For ten minutes? Why?" He questioned and John smirked.

"That's what parents do man."

Mick was snapped out of his memory by the sight of someone approaching him out of the corner of his eye. He barely looked up in time to see Amaya as she threw her arms around his neck and looking over her shoulder he saw the room door closing behind Victor. So there he stood, frozen with Amaya's arms around him until she finally pulled away and he was able to see the exuberant smile on her face.

"Thank you," she breathed out but still he stared at her as though he were a deer caught in the headlights.

"Uh…" He trailed dumbly, completely at a loss for words.

Amaya, finally, seemed to realize how uncomfortable this was for him and so she stepped out of his personal space and crossed her arms awkwardly over her middle as she schooled her features back down to their normal appearance.

"I have to get to practice," she half lied, as she didn't need to start getting ready for another twenty minutes. "But I wanted to thank you for bringing my mom here, it…" she trailed off, a few tears she hadn't expected springing to her eyes and so she took a moment to blink them away. "It means a lot to me."

Mick nodded, face still displaying shock but just a tad more at ease now that she was off him. "You're welcome." He said in a voice that was practically a whisper and she smiled again, this time down at her feet.

When she was certain that he wasn't going to say anything more, and neither was she, she turned and made her way for the door.

"I have to go to a reception ceremony after the competition," she decided to say just as she stopped before the door, turning back hesitantly. "You should come with me."

Mick stared at her, panic starting in his system at her suggestion. A reception is usually something formal, or at least close to formal, and formal is not a place where he belongs.

But he nodded in agreement anyway.