AUTHORS NOTE: It's finally happening....say your farewells to Joshua, I know you guys will miss him sooo much! Anyways, there's a surprise down at the bottom for you guys who have read Friends First. And if you haven't, what are you doing? Go read that too!
MIA:
I ran down the hall and started banging on my father's door. His
girlfriend of the moment answered with a sheet wrapped around her
body. "What is it?"
"Where's my father? I need him, DAD!"
"What is it darling?"
"J-Joshua..."

The last moments with him replayed in my mind. He and I were
talking about my future, the topic I dreaded the most because it
didn't include him.
"Mia, Michael would be the right match for you, trust me."
"I don't want to talk about me being with someone else..."
"That's my job, darling," he said with a smile. "I'm supposed to
be the one hating the idea of you with someone else, not you."
"I refuse to discuss Michael."
"I never said anything about Michael," he said with a grin
I rolled my eyes.
"Mia, you are allowed to fall in love again ya know. I'm even
giving you my blessing. Why do you think I've been bothering to get to
know him? I didn't want you to end up with a moron, and he's not a
moron. He'd be perfect for you. I wouldn't want you with him if I
didn't like him at all..."
I started to cry, so I crawled up into his bed next to him. "I
wouldn't be perfect for him."
"Yeah you would be. You are his first love, darling. Trust me.
It'll work-"
"He wants to be a rock star. He can't really do that while he'd
be married to me. He'd have to give it all up and stay by my side. And
he never loved me before...how could I be his first love?"
"He'd give it all up for you Baby. Just keep in mind that I like
him for you, okay?"
"Okay, I'll try to keep that in mind. Your parents are coming
tomorrow," I reminded him, changing the subject.
Suddenly his eyes shot open.
"Shocked?" I asked through a giggle.
"Mia, I love you more than anything in the entire world." His
once weak right arm shot to his left part of the chest.
"What is it, Joshua?"
"My, my, my heart...." He struggled. He looked at me, "I love you
darling..."
With that his eyes closed and I knew he was gone.

His parents, or rather his mother, demanded that he be buried in
the family plot in London. He would be joined later by his mother and
father. It was located in a spot that I never visit and therefore
would never see him I hated his mother.
He had wanted to be buried in Genovia because, in his words not
mine, that was where his heart was. He had once said that he'd been
born in the wrong place, that he was truly Genovian. Maybe he was just
trying to impress Grandmere, I don't know.
I had never gotten so many sympathy cards in my entire life. My
mother and stepfather flew in the day after he died to spend time with
me. Rocky was staying with the Moscovitz's. He sent a card though, the
cover had a crown on it, and on the inside he glued a picture of
Joshua, me and Rocky when Rocky came to visit over the past summer.
We had a mass for Joshua in the church that he and I attended
mass in every week. Since I came here what, six years ago, I have
become pretty religious. He had converted to Catholicism the in the
past year so he could marry me. His mother refused to accept that he
was no longer Anglican and that he wanted to be buried in Genovia in a
Catholic cemetery. I wasn't going to fight her over it though. I knew
in my heart where he belonged.
Michael came with me to the burial and kept his arm around me
the whole time. I wondered what Joshua would have thought of it. I saw
the paparazzi shooting pictures at the burial site. Joshua's mother
played the role of the grieving mother very well. The public didn't
really know how much Joshua didn't like his mother.
"You could act a little classier," she snapped at me.
"I beg your pardon?" I asked coolly. "I am not the one posing
for the damn cameras!"
"I mean, gallivanting with that man. That American!" She said
the word, AMERICAN like it was poison.
"I am not gallivanting with anyone, Mrs. Bloom. I am here, in
England the very place he said he did NOT want to be buried, watching
him be put into the ground. So do NOT go off trying to say I am
gallivanting with ANYONE. Show a little bit of respect to the dead,
would you?"
Mr. Bloom pulled her away. Lilly hooked her arm and mine, like
we did when we were in junior high. "You'll get through this," she
promised. I looked at her new shiny diamond ring. She was going to get
married the following summer in Boston, where Tony was from.
I pretended to be happy for her, even agreed to be her maid of
honor. This was a role that Grandmere despised a great deal. Not one
of my many titles should ever be MAID of anything.
I returned to Genovia. His room had been cleared out by his
mother's people. All that I was going to get of his was in his will
that he had written up shortly before his trip to Africa. We hadn't
read it yet, but I didn't really care. I knew I would keep Duke no
matter what. I just wanted the memories of him to stay fresh in my
brain.
I sat at the foot of his bed and started to cry. He was really
gone. The windows of his room were covered with black tapestry's.
That was the traditional sign of death in Genovia. I always wondered
what you do if the dead person was homeless. Does one put black
curtains on the card board boxes? I laughed, the first time in days I
had laughed.
Michael came in, "Mind if I join you?"
I shook my head, "Not at all."
He sat on the other side of the room. He didn't want to disturb
my little bubble of Joshua. "It was a beautiful service."
"Yes," I said simply. "It was quite beautiful. He would have
loved it."
"I wouldn't go that far," he said with a little laugh.
"That's true. He hated all the formalities of funerals. We went
to one last year for the King of Cabonia and he told me that when he
died he didn't want all the flowers and crap that this guy had
gotten."
"Well, you can't stop his mother, can you?" Michael said,
reading my own thoughts.
"Right."
Minutes of awkward silence follow.
"So did I tell you that we're going to go on tour?" he said.
"Beg pardon?" I said.
"Yeah. The label set us up with the band Beast. The guys heard
our demo and loved it."
"Congratulations," I said without energy. I was going to be
really alone now. Lilly was going back to work now since she had
enough information for the special that would be airing about me on
her network. Tony and Michael would be leaving me and going on tour. I
would be alone for the first time in my entire life.
I had friends, sure, but none like those guys. I had already
lost the love of my life, Joshua, and now I was losing three people
who have been living with me for three months basically.
"Don't sound so thrilled," he said with a slight smile.
"I'm not. I'm going to be alone," I replied honestly.
He came over and kissed the top of my head, "You'll be fine,
Mia. You have Lars and your father and Grandmere..."
"Yeah, people who have at least twenty five years on me. Great
company. Have fun on tour," I said, standing up and walking out of the
room.

I watched as the servants filled the cars with Michael's and
Tony's luggage. Lilly had left earlier that day. I saw Tony outside,
talking to the driver for awhile, but Michael never appeared.
"Hey you," he said softly. I looked at my doorway and there he
was standing with his guitar.
"Hi, Michael. Why aren't you down there with Tony?"
"I have something for you," he said, stepping closer and closer
to me.
"Yes?" I asked nervously.
"Sit down and I'll show you."
I obeyed and sat on my couch. He sat on the coffee table in
front of me. I decided not to let him know that the table was
centuries old and once belonged to Josephine, Napoleon's wife.
He started playing a song for me. It wasn't the song he had
played all those years ago, but it was very similar. He still spoke of
a tall drink of water, but this time it was about how the drink had
spilled. Then he said how it can bring itself together again, be just
as refreshing as before.
By the time he finished it I was smiling for the first time in
over a week. "That was wonderful," I said softly. "Thank you."
"Mia, you are that tall drink of water-"
"Beg pardon?" I asked, standing up straight as an arrow.
"Back in high school I was completely in love with you, and I
wrote that song about you. Now this is kind of a sequel to it. But it
has nothing to do with me anymore, it is just about you getting to be
yourself again after you lose someone special."
I was still stuck on that first part of the sentence. "I see.
Very well then. Thank you," I said, very business like. I had thanked
him for saying he had loved me, just like Grandmere had taught me to
do.
"If you ever want to join us on the road," he said, standing up.
He handed me a card with his cell phone. "Let me know. It would be
good to have you with us. A fresh breath of air, if you will."
He gave me a tight hug, and I didn't want him to let go. It
wasn't that I had feelings for him; I just knew that it would be the
last hug for such a long time. I would miss him.
He left and I watched as the cars drove off down the drive.

MICHAEL:
I looked out the back window as we drove off from the palace. I
could see her standing in her window. I can't even begin to describe
my feelings at this moment. A huge wind of sadness came over me and I
had never felt so terrible. Not even that night we slept together and
then parted ways. Not even when Victoria left me.

I still thought about her when we went on the road. It was good
to see the other guys after such a long time. We practiced some new
songs and went over how our sets would go. I wanted them to be
perfect, to have people say "Yeah, I'm going to see Beast...I hear the
opening act is awesome!".
We played in Germany for a week straight. I knew a little bit of
German because my grandparents came from there and thought we should
know our native language (okay, so my native language is English but
don't tell THEM that!), so I was able to speak to the crowds a little
bit.
We then continued onto Spain a few weeks later where no one knew
about the language or culture. We went to clubs and met tons of girls.
"I am an exchange student," one of them yelled into my ear at a
club. "My name is Amy!"
I nodded. She was pretty. Black hair, piercing green eyes,
killer body. I pulled her into a quieter part of the club where we
could talk. "So what does an American girl like you do in Spain?"
"I do a lot of exercising. Tae bo." That explains the nice booty
(sorry, couldn't resist). "And read magazines. I have all of them sent
here. Sure I'm a little behind on the current events, but so what?"

MIA:
I acted like a robot in the palace for the next few weeks. Dad
pulled me aside after my third week of despair. "Mia, I was
thinking...maybe you should go away for a little while. Collect yourself
again. Go out and have some fun. I can take care of things around
here."
"No, I'll be fine-"I said, saying the same thing I had said a
thousand times.
"No," he interrupted. "Go to New York. See Lilly...."
I thought for a few minutes and started crying. My father pulled
me close to him "Its okay sweetheart. I just think if you got out of
here for a little while it'd help you get past all of these memories."
A few minutes later I nodded in response. I would call Lilly.

Now, usually I don't do this, but I'm gonna break off a little piece of the sequel:

MIA: It was nice waking up next to him. Not so nice that I had to wake up at nine AM for princess lessons. "Hey, Michael, can you move your arm?" I asked softly.
He mumbled a response. "Skip lessons. Stay."
I laughed. "I can't . How am I supposed to be the leader of Genovia if I can't even peel myself away from you for an afternoon?"
He made a face. "You'll be back later on?"
"Yes. Lilly and I are going to see you at the club tonight, remember?"
"Oh yeah. I'll see you before though, right?"
"Of course. Bye Michael."

"Shoulders BACK," Grandmere ordered. "Now, here is your schedule for Genovia. Which little friend are you bringing for the summer?" she asked.
"Well, Lilly is coming, but...I'm not going to be there for the entire summer am I?"
"Your father decided that just July will be acceptable. But what friend are you bringing? Only one, mind you."
"That was all I was planning on," I replied. "I'm bringing Lilly."
Grandmere grimaced. "Must you? What about that Tina? She is very cultured-"
"Grandmere, Lilly is my best friend. You won't let me bring Michael so at least let me bring her!"
"It is not I who says you cannot bring your little friend. It was your father. I suggested Michael because you will be needing an escort to many functions and you refuse to see anyone else."
I smiled. I hadn't imagined that Grandmere would be rooting for me and Michael.
"Really? Then let me bring him! You have pull over my mom and dad!"
"I shall see what I can do. Now, about your ball-"
My eyes widened, "My what?"
"Amelia!"
"Sorry Grandmere, my ball?"
"Every princess gets a ball for her sixteenth birthday."
"Since when?"
"Since your great, great, great grandmother. Since then."
"Okay," I replied simply.
"I have had a band booked-"
"What? What kind of band?" I asked.
"Classical, of course." She said this as if I asked what color was the sky.
"Very well."
"And now we shall go for your dress fitting."