iii. Mystic Elise

"Oh, Mystic Maya, I can't wait!"

Pearl bounced happily beside her, clutching her brand new copy of 'The Creaky Old Bridge' in one hand and Maya's hand in her other. "Miss Deauxnim writes such wonderful books! I can't believe I'm going to meet her!"

Maya smiled down at her little cousin. Pearl could barely stand still with excitement. Maya felt restless too, but for a very different reason.

She leaned to the side, gazing beyond the people in the queue in front of them to the dark-haired woman seated at the table up ahead. The woman smiled at the parents and took a moment to say a few words to each child before signing their books. Maya swallowed.

Mom?

"I wish Mystic Mia could have come too," Pearl said. She looked up at Maya with a huffy expression. "If Mr. Nick was a real gentleman, he'd have offered to do all the cleaning for her!"

"Well, you know how Sis likes to do stuff for herself," Maya replied. It had taken her a while, and a couple of arguments, to learn that lesson. In the end Maya had promised not to baby her, and Mia had promised to always ask when she did need help. Like asking Nick to come over and help her out with spring-cleaning.

He was such a good guy. They were lucky to have him.

The queue began to move again, and they shuffled forward. Only two parent-and-kid pairs were left in front of them. Maya briefly let go of Pearl's hand and rubbed her sweaty palms on her robes. She wished Mia was here. She wished Mia hadn't worn that carefully neutral expression when Maya had told her about taking Pearl to the book-signing; the same one that she'd seen on Mia's face when Mr. Edgeworth had told them where to find Misty Fey. She and Mia hadn't discussed trying to contact their mother at all until today, and even then it wasn't a discussion. I'm taking Pearly, wanna come? Sorry, I'm busy. Maya didn't like it. They always talked about everything.

"Mystic Maya, Mystic Maya, it's our turn!"

Pearl's excited cry snapped Maya out of her thoughts. Her cousin was bouncing again, barely able to contain herself. Maya looked up ahead. The father and son who had been standing in front of them were at the table having their book signed. Which meant that she and Pearl were next.

The father and son (or uncle and nephew, or big brother and little brother – really, there was no reason to assume they were a dad and his son. And she scolded Nick for judging things based on narrow-minded cultural assumptions!) thanked Elise Deauxnim and moved on. Before Maya could think about it, Pearl was leading her over to the table.

"Miss Elise!" Pearl called out, then stopped dead in front of the table. She blushed and buried her face in Maya's robes. "I'm too shy, Mystic Maya! You do it."

Maya gulped. Elise Deauxnim was looking at Pearl with a kind, gentle smile. Her dark hair was sculped into a beehive, with two long bangs hanging down either side of her face. She didn't look anything like her old photograph.

"Hi," Maya managed at last. She put her hand on Pearl's head. "This is Pearl Fey. And my name's Maya." She wet her lips. "Maya Fey."

"Nice to meet you," Elise Deauxnim replied. She looked at Pearl, and her smile widened. "And you, young lady."

Maya found herself breathing fast and shallow. That's it? 'Nice to meet you'? Don't you recognise my name?

"Ms. Elise!" Pearl let go of Maya and gazed up at her idol. She cupped her cheek in her free hand. "I'm your biggest fan! I love your books!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Ms. Deauxnim chuckled. She accepted Pearl's copy of 'The Creaky Old Bridge' and flipped to the inside cover.

Maya stared at her. I told you who I am, and nothing? You don't even bat an eyelash?

"It's too bad my big sister Mia couldn't come too," she said haltingly. "Mia Fey. My big sister…"

"Mmm." Ms. Deauxnim finished writing and flashed a smile at her. "Well, maybe next time." She handed Pearl the book back, and the young girl eagerly clutched it to her chest. "Thank you both for coming out."

Maya barely heard Pearl's squeals of delight as she skipped over to her. That couldn't be it. That couldn't be the end of their meeting, after seventeen years. For a moment she wanted to storm over and scream I'm your daughter in Elise Deauxnim's face. But there was a woman with a girl and a boy waiting their turn, and they were in a book store in front of people, and Pearl had grabbed her hand and was leading her to the exit, jabbering excitedly about how she couldn't wait to read the book and the creaky old bridge looked so sad on the cover that it just had to have a happy ending.

Pearl slowed down when they got out of the book store and opened the cover. "She wrote me a message! Please read it for me, Mystic Maya!" Pearl begged. She bit her thumb. "I can't read loopy writing yet."

Maya quashed the urge to snatch the book out of Pearl's hands. Maybe her mom had left a secret message for her. She skimmed the elegant writing.

" 'To Pearl, my biggest fan'," Maya read aloud. " 'I hope you enjoy 'The Creaky Old Bridge' as much as you enjoyed my other books. Maybe I'll see you again when I finish my next book, 'The Shy Princess.' Take care, Elise Deauxnim.'"

She handed the book back to Pearl. No secret message. No pointed mention of "your cousin". No phone number cleverly hidden among the words. Maya barely felt Pearl's hand slipping into hers. She nodded silently when Pearl asked if they could go straight home so that she could read her new book.

They rode the bus back to Mia's neighbourhood and walked the few blocks from their stop to her apartment. Maya made the journey on autopilot. Luckily Pearl was too excited to notice.

"Maya! Pearls!"

Nick answered the door, wearing one of Mia's kerchiefs to save his spikes from dust and cobwebs. It was hot pink, and in spite of everything Maya giggled. He was so silly. He stepped back from the door and waved them through to the living area.

Mia was dusting down the TV, with a baby blue kerchief tied around her head. She stopped when Maya and Pearl entered the room, and smiled. "You're back early."

"I couldn't wait," Pearl explained, bouncing happily in place. "I wanted to read my book so badly, and Mystic Maya said it would be all right if we didn't stop for burgers and just came home instead."

Mia cast a concerned look at Maya, and she offered her a nervous smile. No big thing, really, Sis. I just didn't have much of an appetite after our long-lost mother blanked me.

Nick must've read her body language, because he stepped forward quickly and swept Pearl up in his arms.

"Pearls, why don't you and I go to your room and we'll read your new book together, huh?"

He gave Maya a sympathetic look as Pearl threw her arms around his neck and thanked him. Maya smiled back at him gratefully as he left the room and shut the door behind them.

Mia pulled off her kerchief, picked up her cane and levered herself onto her feet. "Tea?"

Maya nodded. "Yeah."

She followed Mia into the kitchen, and sat at the table while Mia busied herself with the kettle and tea set. Mia poured the tea and carefully brought it to the table, one cup at a time. She added a pack of triple chocolate chip cookies, which Maya wasted no time in opening, and lowered herself into the chair next to her.

For a while they didn't say anything. The chocolate chips helped a little, and Maya went back for a second cookie. She took her time with the third, dunking it in her tea to melt the chocolate.

"So?" Mia asked softly.

Maya shrugged. "So." She looked up at Mia. "I told her my name…and she didn't react. No shock or surprise, no Psyche-locks… nothing." She stared down at her cup, stirring her tea with half a cookie. "I don't get it, Sis." She looked up at Mia, tears stinging her eyes. "We're her kids."

Mia reached across the table, her fingers brushing against Maya's hand. "Maya –"

Maya pulled back, blinking furiously.

"No," she said quickly. She knew what Mia was going to say, and she didn't want to hear it. "No, it's my fault. It was the wrong time." She crammed the rest of her cookie into her mouth and chewed it furiously. "Of course she wasn't going to say anything at a book signing in front of a bunch of strangers. And now we know who she is, I can just, just look her up on her website, and call her…" Maya trailed off, wrapping her hands around her cup. "She… she didn't even blink…"

"Maya, she walked away from us a long time ago."

Mia's tone was gentle, but her words stung. Especially since Maya couldn't just deny them anymore.

"She – she had to," Maya tried. "For Kurain, and… honour. She thought she was doing the right thing."

Mia shook her head.

"Maya, I spent most of my life trying to understand why she did it, and trying to excuse what she did," she murmured softly. "But she wasn't some scared teenager. She was older than I am now. She could've taken us with her. Or at least taken you." She scowled, clenching her fist on the table. "She should have taken you. I was twelve – you were a baby."

"Well I'm glad she didn't take me with her," Maya fired back, her face growing hot. "Cos then I wouldn't have had you for my big sister."

Mia smiled at her, her eyes shining.

"And I wouldn't have had you as my little sister," she murmured. She covered Maya's hand with her own. "You're so strong, Maya. You've had to grow up so fast, and it's not fair." She brushed at her eyes with her free hand. "I'm so mad at her. Where the hell was she when you were on trial for murder? And attempted murder? Hell, what if I had died? What, she can't go back to Kurain, so that means she can't contact us either?"

Maya gazed into her cup. She hated to admit it, but everything Mia had said was true. She just hadn't wanted to face it.

And yet, she still couldn't believe that their mother really wanted nothing to do with them.

"Why's our family so messed up?" she murmured with a weak smile.

"It's not," Mia replied firmly. She squeezed Maya's hand. "You, me, Pearl and Phoenix, that's our family." She shook her head. "We don't need her."

"I know," Maya admitted. "I just –" Her voice wobbled and she broke off, struggling to control herself. "I want her. I want a mom."

Mia put her arms around her as she began to cry.

"I know," she murmured, rubbing Maya's back. "I know."

"And – and Pearly needs a mom," Maya sobbed. "Especially now."

"There's a pretty good mom reading her a story right now."

Maya looked up at Mia through her tears. Mia smiled down at her.

"Think we could make him wear a frilly apron and some heels?" Mia asked softly.

Despite herself, Maya couldn't help but giggle at that particular mental image.

"Hey, you did convince him to wear the pink kerchief," she teased.

"No, he picked that one out himself," Mia replied. Maya found herself smiling wider at that, and Mia smiled back. "That's better." She fished some tissues out of her pocket and handed them to Maya. Maya moved out of Mia's embrace and began to dry her eyes.

"Oh, man," she moaned. She blew her nose and scrunched up the tissue. "I didn't mean to lose it like that. I don't want Pearly to know I was crying."

"Well, how about we go down to the grocery and pick up some ground beef and buns and make some Fey family burgers?" Mia suggested. "By the time we get back, your eyes won't be puffy any more. And if they are, you can blame it on the onions. How does that sound?"

Maya smiled. "Burgers always sound good! Especially the homemade kind." She rubbed her hands together. "We can make those bad boys as big as we want."

Mia nodded and got up. "You make a list of what we need, I'll tell Phoenix and Pearl where we're going. And remember, there's four of us."

Maya nodded and went to get a pen and paper. "Maybe one day, we'll be making them for five."

It slipped out before she could stop it. Mia paused on her way to the door and hobbled back over to her.

"Maya, listen."

Maya looked at her. Mia frowned at the floor before continuing.

"My therapist told me… that I needed to grieve the loss of the person I was, before the attack," she said quietly. "Just like a death. I think that's what we need to do with Mom." She squeezed Maya's shoulder. "Maybe she'll want to be part of our lives one day, but it's been seventeen years. I'm a defense attorney – I'm all about hope in the face of impossible odds. But I think this time, hoping will just get our hearts broken."

Maya nodded.

"Then I'll just have to hope for both of us," she replied softly.

Mia smiled gently, and gave her one more hug before she left the room.