Chapter 4
"Next picture!!!" Maya tried to change the topic and flipped the page of the album.
There were a lot of cute pictures of them in this one.
"Oh hey, look Diego! The pictures we took at the beach with the underwater camera when the department had an outing!" Mia's eyes lit up.
"Remember what happened when we thought we found that 'coral reef'?" He laughed.
~*~*~
"Diego, look, I think I found something!" Mia said as she put the snorkel on top of Diego's eyes.
"Okay, lemme see." He laughed as they dove underwater.
Mia pointed to a large coral that was even bigger than Diego. They swam closer to it to take a picture. After the camera flashed, the "coral" twitched.
"Kitten… Since when did coral…move?" Diego asked through his mouthpiece.
"I… don't know…" She swam back to Diego.
The "coral" then made a 180 degree turn and faced them. It's large, black eyes staring at them with anger.
"Diego… I don't think… that's a coral…" Mia's eyes grew.
"Gee, you think so?" He asked sarcastically.
The creature then brought out 8 tentacles from under it. That wasn't a coral, it was an octopus!
"Swim away!!!" Diego grabbed Mia by the wrist and swam as far and as fast as possible. But the octopus was obviously annoyed by the flash and so it followed them.
"We're sorry!!!" Mia said. Mr. Octopus didn't care though.
They finally made it back to shore, and they stood there, panting and gasping for breath.
"Hey pals! What's wrong?" Gumshoe waved to them from under his umbrella where he tried to build a sandcastle to impress Maggie.
He got his answer when the octopus decided to crawl up to shore.
"Oh no, it's back! Run!!!" Mia yelled.
Gumshoe abandoned his work and made a run for it.
The octopus continued to terrorize them. While trying to catch its prey, it knocked over Gumshoe's castle, trampled on Mia's and Maggie's things, and smashed Diego's supply of coffee.
"My clothes!" The girls screamed.
"My masterpiece!" Gumshoe sobbed.
"MY COFFEE!!!!" Diego furiously yelled. As if he had suddenly gained super strength, he grabbed the octopus by one tentacle, swung it around and threw it back into the ocean.
"…Wow Diego… I didn't know you were so strong…" Mia stood there absolutely stunned.
"No one messes with my coffee." He cracked his knuckles.
~*~*~
"How did that happen?" Maya asked while Phoenix tried to stop himself from laughing.
"Like I said, no one messes with my coffee." Diego grinned.
"You didn't know that?" Mia asked Maya, who was just giggling.
"Anyway, what else do we have here?" Mia looked for another picture to talk about.
"Diego, do you remember this?" Mia showed him a picture of the two of them at night, wearing costumes. Diego was a vampire and Mia was a black cat.
"Hey, that was at the Halloween party at the office, right?" Diego smirked.
~*~*~
"Hey pals! Glad you could make it!" Gumshoe, wearing a black mask that made him look like Batman, greeted the couple.
"Hi Detective!" Mia smiled.
"So, what's gonna happen tonight?" Diego asked.
"Well, there's going to be a few games, dinner, a few more games and a fireworks display out on the roof." Gumshoe grinned cheekily.
"Okay then, thanks for the info." Mia bowed slightly.
"C'mon Kitten, let's sit down." Diego said.
There were a lot of fun games, like a beer drinking contest (which Diego won thanks to his awesome chugging skills), a couple's dance-off where they came in second to Lana and Jake, a piñata game, where Gumshoe miraculously was able to win, and many more.
Then came the fireworks display. All the couples were together, and for those who were single, they stayed with their pals. The sky was lit by many beautiful and bright colors. Mia and Diego were sitting on the ledge of the roof, with the black cat Mia cuddling up to her coffee-loving vampire.
When the fireworks were over, they went back to the party room, and Mia and Diego were declared cutest couple of the evening. They went up on the stage and they got their picture taken.
( [here's a little something i made with paint. it's a photobucket link] i206 DOT photobucket .com/albums/bb316/BlackJack_HM_PBB_?t=1243258775)
~*~*~
"Aw, how cute!" Maya swooned at how romantic she thought they were.
Phoenix tried not to react, so that he wouldn't get coffee-bombed. Again.
"We had a lot of fun that night." Mia smiled.
"Hey, isn't that Charley?" Phoenix asked, pointing to another picture.
"Yeah! That was when he gave Charley to me… The day before he was…" Mia remembered.
"Oh…" Maya looked down. "B…But at least you know that he wasn't dead after all!" Maya tried to cheer them up.
Diego muttered something inaudible to the others.
"What?" Mia asked.
"…It's nothing." Diego smiled and tried to reassure her.
"Anyway, let's get on with the story." Diego said.
~*~*~
"When I heard Mia got her own company, I payed her a little visit." Diego explained.
"This is a nice office you have here, kitten." Diego smiled and looked around.
"Yeah, but it's still new, so it's under-decorated." Mia brought out some decorations she had.
"I can fix that." Diego smirked.
"I'll come back tomorrow, okay?" Diego kissed Mia on the forehead and headed for the door.
"Alright, see you!" She smiled.
~The next day~
"Kitten? Are you there?" Diego said as he knocked on the door.
"Coming!" Mia replied.
She opened the door and saw Diego there, holding a potted plant.
"What's that, Diego?" She asked.
"It's for your office." He explained.
"Oh! Thank you Diego! It's great!" She hugged him.
"Alright then, where should I put this?" Diego asked.
"How about over there, by my desk?" She pointed to the corner in the room.
"Alright then." He put it down.
"I'm going to call you Charley." Mia bent over and smiled at the plant.
"Okay kitten, do whatever you want." He chuckled at how cute she was acting.
He sat down on the couch and remembered something.
"Hey kitten, you remember that evil woman from your first trial?" Diego asked.
"Of course. She deserves to go to jail." She looked at him seriously.
"Well, I've got her cornered. I'm meeting her tomorrow at the cafeteria in the courthouse. That way, if she does anything, a guard could catch her immediately." He explained.
"Are you sure about this Diego?" Mia worried.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself." Diego reassured her.
"If you say so…" She went over and sat next to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him.
"I won't let her get away with making you cry." He smiled.
"Diego… You're such an idiot." Mia laughed and settled her head on his shoulder.
"Well, this idiot loves you and wouldn't let anything hurt you." He said as he used his free hand to bring her face closer to his. She closed her eyes and he pulled her closer to kiss her.
~*~*~
"The next day, he went on to the meeting, and well, you all know what happened next…" Mia sighed.
"I'm sorry I acted like such an idiot." Diego told Mia.
"No, it's not your fault. I'm just glad that she's gone for good now." Mia wiped a tear from her eye.
"So am I." Phoenix whispered to Maya, who nodded in agreement.
"Hey sis, what's this? A picture of a journal?" Maya looked at the next picture.
"I wrote in that journal everyday when Diego was in the hospital." Mia said.
"But… During my case, I thought you said he was dead!" Phoenix exclaimed.
"Only I knew that he wasn't dead. And I didn't want anyone else to know. Especially not her. I always visited him everyday… That is, until I… well…died…" Mia said.
Diego then brought out something that made Mia gasp. It was the journal she wrote in whenever she visited him. But since there were so many pages, they only looked at a few selected entries.
August 28
Diego… I told you not to go… But there's nothing we can do now, huh? I promise… I won't let Dahlia get away with this. Until then, I'll keep studying so I can become as good a lawyer as you someday. I hope you can be there when that happens. Charley isn't as bright as he usually is, because somehow, he knows something happened to you. Just get better, so we won't be so lonely anymore, okay?
Love, Mia.
September 15
You sure are sleeping peacefully. Hopefully not too peaceful. I don't want you to leave me. Diego, you're appearance may have changed, but you're still you. You know, you still do look cute even with white hair. You're still the Diego I love. Please wake up soon. I'm afraid of losing you.
Love always, Mia.
October 31
Hey, it's been a year since we won the Halloween contest! That was a fun party. Who knew Lana and Jake could dance so well, right? They're throwing another party this year, but I'm not going. I don't want to go without you. These past months have been really lonely for me you know. I miss the smell of your coffee brewing every day. I miss the silly jokes you always make. I miss the way you call me Kitten. Most especially, I miss you're smile. Please, let me see it again.
Here to love you forever, Mia.
November 5
Diego, how much longer are you going to sleep? I really don't know how much longer I can take this. I can't stand seeing you so frail with needles inserted in your wrists. You're face is so emotionless. It's almost as if you're… No, I'm not going to say it. Because you WILL wake up, I know it! I'll wait forever, just please, wake up… Don't leave me, okay? I love you Diego.
Mia.
December 25
Merry Christmas Diego! I brought some food for us, just in case you'd wake up. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen, so I guess I can just give the extra to someone else. And here I was, hoping you'd give me a Christmas present. Oh well. I'll wait, like I always say. I wonder if you're dreaming about anything right now…Tell me when you wake up, okay?
Love, Mia.
P.S. I kissed you on the cheek, okay? ;)
January 1
Happy New Year! I spent the night here last night, coz I wanted to be with you when the clock struck midnight. I hope you are having good dreams right now. You know, I'm really glad that the poison didn't kill you, or else I'd be a total mess! So don't die before I do okay?!
Love, Mia.
February 14
Happy Valentine's Day Diego. I brought you some chocolates in case you woke up. I'm really starting to miss going out with you. We would always have so much fun, wouldn't we? Just the two of us together. We were so happy. And I know we still can be happy, once you wake up. So hurry up already, okay?
Love you! Mia.
March 8
Please wake up Diego, I really miss you. I don't know if I can take much more of this. Please Diego, I can't live without you. I really want to see your smile. Please Diego, I'm getting so lonely without you. I don't want to live like this. Please…
Mia.
April 11
Diego, I did it! I won against Dahlia! She's behind bars now. I made sure she would pay for what she did. I finally went back to the courthouse after 'that' incident, but I was really hoping you would be there to guide me. We won, as I said, and Dahlia was exposed for the lying little bitch she is. Sorry, there were no other words to describe her. Anyway, I hope you wake up soon, coz I really miss you. I love you!
Love, Mia.
Diego then closed the journal and put it away. He looked at Phoenix and smirked.
"You know Trite, in a way, it's coz of you that Mia finally caught Dahlia. Well actually, it's because of your idiocy, but it's still you anyway." He grinned.
"Hey, why'dya call me an idiot?!" Phoenix objected.
"You fell for that sniveling little witch." Diego pointed out.
Phoenix responded with silence.
"Guilty as charged." Diego said as he took a sip of his coffee.
"I fell for Iris, not Dahlia." Phoenix sighed.
"You still thought it was Dahlia." Mia said.
"Chief, you're on his side?!" Phoenix asked, surprised.
"2-on-2." Mia smiled.
"Fine." Phoenix smirked.
"Well, technically, he thought it was Dahlia, but it was really Iris he was dating, so he didn't fall for Dahlia!" Maya said.
"Oh? So why'd he accept the bottle from her when they first met." Mia asked.
"…Okay, I lose." Phoenix sighed.
"Now, for a completely different question. Who do you love more, Iris, or Maya?" Diego chuckled.
"Wh…What?! Th…That's… Oh, not again!" Phoenix slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand.
~To be Continued~