You would never have thought that the broken man in the holding cell was once a legendary attorney. But he was there, his hair bleached by a poison so lethal he was lucky to survive for so long. With his love long gone, he would rather have died. And, worst of all, he was completely alone. Even the man in the mirror turned away at his unfocused gaze.
They took my mask away. I can't see without my mask. I'm alone in here. Defenceless.
He could feel himself slipping into a dark abyss. It would have been so easy just to end it when he first woke up. But he had felt that he had to hold on, for Mia. Still, at least the end would be peaceful. Kind of. He smoothed down his pillow and went to sleep, a single thought running through his brain as it shut down.
I'm scared. I want my mommy.
"It's OK, darling. Mommy's here for you."
Diego had to admit, the bare white room he had woken up in was a little bit more interesting than the endless state of nonexistence he had come to expect. Snazzy suit, too. It set off his hair, now blacker than the raven's wing as it had been in the old days.
It was lonely in here, though. He felt the need for a little companionship.
As if on cue, a vaguely familiar young woman walked in through the single archway.
"I, uh... do I know you?"
She didn't properly reply. Instead, she just gave him a warm embrace, telling him that "Mommy's here. Mommy's got you."
When she stepped away, Diego stared at her. Her eyes were a rich chocolate brown and looked exactly like a Cadbury Flake, just like his mother's eyes.
"Mom?"
She nodded.
"Madre de Dios."
The woman he now knew as Mommy emitted a soft laugh. "Getting delusions of grandeur again son?"
"You died. Years ago. Where am I? When am I?"
"You're in Heaven, kid." A man in a white suit strode confidently through the arch. He looked scarily like the one he was talking to, although his moustache was much thicker. "Not sure how I managed to make it up here, but then again..."
"Papa?"
Another hug was exchanged, this time between Diego and the man he had watched deteriorating into oblivion after Mom's death. "Papa... I thought I'd never see you again. Certainly never like this."
"It feels so good to be out of that chair. But it feels even better seeing my son again. I'm so proud of you."
Diego was distraught. That had to have been some kind of cruel joke. He had done too much for his parents to ever be proud of him. He weakly protested. "But... I..."
Papa held up a finger, the classic subtle symbol for "I am going to interrupt and there is nothing you can do about it so shush." He finished the sentence: "Made a success of yourself. Attempted to tackle a killer singlehandedly. Protected a young lady when she needed it most." He walked out of the room as if he'd heard the doorbell ring. "Whilst we're on the subject of young ladies, your girlfriend's out here."
No she wasn't. Diego was going to wake up now, he was sure of it.
Then, a young lady in a white dress, with slightly mismatched brown eyes and a mole on her chin, walked in.
"Mia."
"Diego."
"Oh, Mia." Diego wrapped his arms gently around Mia as they shared the longest, sweetest kiss of their lives (or perhaps after-lives). "My precious Kitten. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Diego."
In that moment, they both made a silent promise to themselves and each other that Diego eventually found the words for: "Let's never be apart again."
And as they walked through the archway into the dream Diego now knew he would never wake up from, each of them somehow knew they would keep that promise.