Well, well, well...more of Maria and Dom, eh? Glad to see it!
After reading 'Dream Within a Dream', stakes were obviously set high for a second story, but you didn't disappoint. The 'pretty scars thing' had me a bit confused, since at the beginning of that paragraph I thought it was Dom, but that quickly changed--Dom ain't that creepy.
I thought the ending was a little...cut off, I guess? It just seemed to be missing something...continuing it until Maria's, well, you know what I mean, would be extremely challenging, but I would suggest giving it a shot--you brought up the emotion and climax a ton in that ending area, and then seemed to just drop it again without utilizing it to its full extent.
That being said, awesome job once again! I look forward to future Gears-related excellence!

Wow, very wonderful blend of words that deeply describes the meaning behind what might have happened. Very well done.

WG

I remember this part in the game. Made me actually cry. But it was nice to see a different element in the game that wasn't based on the "just shoot em up" mentality. Nice background story. I feel like playing that chapter again ;)