Author's Notes: I own nothing. This was for a prompt on the LiveJournal Kink Meme, part 20. I'm actually really satisfied with this piece, but then I did just finish the first game right before I started to write this. Either way! I hope you enjoy it enough to review it! :D
Logically, I Still Like You
by LilyChan
Ema Skye waited in the train. The scientific brunette with a top knot glanced at the picture she found in the back of the Science book Lana had given her. She gave it a soft smile as she felt the familiar stinging of tears going down her face - yet she couldn't help but feel nothing but soft memories of the past well up, the anxiety of the Joe Darke murders finally gone, the sadness for her sister's previous cold demeanor vanquished, and the weight of pushing Neil Marshall to his death relieved.
The anxiety, however, for going to Europe built up as she waited for the train to stop by the Los Angeles airport. She knew she had to leave America. She knew there was nothing there for her since Lana wouldn't be able to take care of her - and she's merely a high school student. Plus, Lana had explained to her in further detail before she left that Ema's intelligence would have been hindered by the mediocrity of the American public systems.
Lana wouldn't knowingly put me in a bad situation, Ema thought to herself as she subconsciously grabbed her notepad and wrote quickly on it. Her short-handed words on it appeared quickly as well as the doodles of her, Phoenix - the man who saved her sister from the death penalty - and Mister Edgeworth. Her token of admiration. It's just not logical.
As soon as her blue eyes scanned over the doodle of Mister Edgeworth, she frowned and turned to look outside the window.
No where were they even close to the LAX, the infamous international airport.
She slumped in her seat as she slowly dozed off. After all the emotions, after the trial, after the fainting, and after revealing the truth about SL-9, Ema hadn't gotten a decent sleep. It was surreal, the whole thing was. Mister Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright - either knowing or unknowing (chances are, Phoenix was probably unaware that Mister Edgeworth was helping him unveil the true criminal) - joined forces in the court room to bring down that monster, Damon Gant. Ema remembered that at times, she would see Mister Edgeworth glancing at the two in the defense council. But she was sure he was looking at Phoenix. There was no way he could have noticed Ema.
When she finally arrived at the airport, she woke up. She couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour and yet she felt rested. She adjusted her pink colored glasses and gathered her things (including her lab coat she must've taken off while she was asleep) and soon stepped out of the train.
She followed the people who wore business suits and carried briefcases onto a bus, which had a sign that said clearly:
LAX AIPORT TRANSIT
Exact Fare Only
Ema checked her lab coat to make sure she had enough change for the fare but as she glanced up, she saw something familiar. Pink coat, pink slacks, and a cravat?
There was only one person who would wear such a thing.
"Mister Edgeworth!" she called out. As soon as the man turned to her, and gave her a glare, she ran towards him. The man seemed confused but as he got a closer look at the lab coat covered brunette, his features seemed to soften a bit. "Mister Edgeworth! I didn't know you were going on a trip!" she said excitably. She stopped at a comfortable distance from him.
According to her notes, Mister Edgeworth did not like too much contact. Or much contact at all.
"Yes, Miss Skye," Miles said, "I'm..." he paused for a moment then he saw the bright look in her eyes. The bright look of admiration shined in her eyes. "I'm going to the airport to pick up a friend." He softened up a bit more and Ema's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
"Oh? Where are they from, Mister Edgeworth? According to science, you're supposed to come about an hour till the plane supposed to arrive!" Ema whipped out her notebook and started to write down notes for future reference.
"Ahh, it's a secret." Miles responded.
The young teenager, disappointed, dejectedly put away her notebook back on her messenger bag. "Oh."
Noticing this, Miles let out an apprehensive sigh and finally said, "Would you care to join me? I see you're on your way to the airport as well."
Ema couldn't help but blush as she gripped her suitcase tighter. It was the kind of suitcase you could drag behind with the wheels turning loudly against the ground - making note of everything little thing it stood in its way.
"U-um, I have to get to the airport though..." She said. She got out her note pad again and started to flip through it - Ema knew she wrote it somewhere! "My flight leaves at 4pm!"
Miles glanced at his watch. He glared at the watch, unnerved by something.
"What's wrong, Mister Edgeworth?" Ema asked, obliviously.
His permanent glare on his face seemed to soften once more as he turned to her, "Um, Miss Skye... I believe you are quite early for your arrival at the airport."
With quick precision, she glanced at her pink watch. "Oh, it's noon." As if on cue, she heard the familiar growl of her stomach. She started giggling incessantly. Suddenly she stopped. "Oh, I guess the train didn't take as long as I thought it would..." She started to write literally nonsense on her notebook - just to have anything to distract her from Miles's gaze. His judgmental gaze that carried with him as a prosecutor. A look that maybe he never meant to have but carried with him everywhere.
But instead of a cold, harsh statement about her incompetence, Miles said something that truly surprised her.
"Would you... would you like to have lunch with me?"
Ema couldn't help but notice the shy tone in his voice, much like the previous students back at her private school she used to attend. It was a school for elite students who were gifted - in the arts, sciences, maths, and athletics. For the most part, Ema enjoyed school as much as an eleventh grader did. She made extremely high grades for her level. Although, she didn't have much time to interact with the other students, they would always seem to have a holier-than-thou attitude, as the saying went, but they were still teenagers. With being a teenager, one was prone to having hormonal urges. And as such, relationships would often blossom or end in the cold hallways of her school.
The tone seemed to match the boys who were often afraid to ask the prettier girl out on a date Friday night. Ema couldn't help but jump at this opportunity! After all, when was the next time she was going to see him? Lana never mentioned how long she was going to stay in jail nor did she mention how long Ema was to stay in Europe.
Until I became a scientific investigator! Ema deducted.
The brunette scientist smiled brightly and nodded. "O-of course, Mister Edgeworth!"
"My treat, of course," the man in the pink suit offered. Ema couldn't help feel excited.
So excited that she threw herself onto the surprised prosecutor. Once she realized her fatal mistake, she got off of him.
"I-I'm so sorry, Mister Edgeworth! Please forgive me! I don't know what came over me! Logically speaking, though, I believe my hormones are to blame for this!" She tried to look inquisitive but more so she was just trying to avoid eye contact with her idol.
Miles wiped the dirt and dust off of his suit and picked himself up. "It's quite alright. I understand that you are young." Plus Miles couldn't help but cringe at the usual tackle-hugs he would often get from a certain detective. He shuddered. "It-it's fine. Let's go."
Just as they headed towards Miles's car, something hit Ema.
"Um, Mister Edgeworth?" Miles turned to her as they started to walk. "If the police department keeps evidence for two or so years after a case closes... What about your car?"
Miles's face scrunched up in obvious irritation. "Yes, about that," he started. Soon they had reached a black car that seemed quite weathered from its probable previous owners. "Because of the State vs. Skye," Miles paused momentarily, "I was forced to give up my car and because of the Board of Inquiries, they punished me for the SL-9 Incident by quite a salary cut. For now, I'm just renting cars."
And he seems none too happy about it, Ema hypothesized.
When the two had lunch, Miles had apologized for putting Ema through an ordeal of a lifetime.
"Nonsense, Mister Edgeworth!" Ema exclaimed. "It... was good for me. Therapeutic, if you will. According to my calculations, the truth would have been out one way or another. I just wish," she paused as she looked downcast, "I just wish Lana didn't have had to forge evidence. Maybe if she didn't do that, she wouldn't be in jail right now. Maybe she can continue to work in the Prosecutor's Office and maybe I could have worked for her one day."
Ema realized the awkward silence her comment brought on. She laughed it off. "Ah! Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to start talking about that again! It's fine, Mister Edgeworth! No real damage done! Theoretically, I'm normal as normal can be!"
Miles glanced at her from his seat and seemed like he wanted to say something but he held back. He then shook his head. "It's fine. I'm not over my own demons myself even though it's been resolved almost three months ago. I suppose I have to commend you for your strength, Miss Skye."
The details of DL-6 Incident were never fully released to the public after State vs. Edgeworth. Although, the fact that Manfred von Karma killed Miles's father out of pure rage and desperation always picked Ema Skye. She never knew she would have gotten a chance to see Miles up close or a chance to get to know him. But if there was a time, now was it. However, even though Miles is so much older than Ema, Ema knew that they were the same. They both lost their parents and they both were put through an amazing ordeal that almost hindered their lives.
Their entire lives.
Ema couldn't help but also pick out the differences between her and him. While they both had their parents lose their lives, Ema was never put on trial for it. As far as Lana told her, they were killed by a drunk driver. Miles, on the other hand, had falsely confessed to patricide - something he couldn't have calculated at nine years old; instead it was something that haunted him for years.
But if Manfred von Karma had killed his father, if he had hated him so much, why did Manfred raise Edgeworth? The question plagued her since Phoenix revealed it to her. She remembered during the course of State vs. Skye, she had asked Miles the question but he changed the subject. The next time she did that, Mike Meekins came in to interrupt.
Then she came to the conclusion that possibly, just possibly, the murderous prosecutor felt the tiny twinge of guilt. Surely, he couldn't have been that cold.
After the change in subject once more, Ema noticed that Miles had dark eyes. His eyes seemed to pine for an outlet. Someone to hold him, to tell him it's okay.
But Ema knew her distance. She knew that it was never fully okay. She knew it will never be fully okay.
Perhaps she wasn't meant to be more than acquaintances with her idol. She knew, just from looking in his eyes, he needed someone with patience, love, and an open ear. Ema was merely a high school student. She had to get her life together, her future, before she could ever settle down with anyone. And Miles Edgeworth, the alleged "Demon Prosecutor", possibly had more emotional baggage than she bargained for.
After they shared their lunch, and a bit of time talking about lighter things, Miles dropped her off at the airport as promised. Even after she gripped and came to terms about her compatibility with Miles or anyone who might have similar emotional baggage, she couldn't help but still admire him. She still had feelings for Miles.
And she knew she would always like him.
"Oh," Miles said before he departed. He opened his coat and brought out a bag, a bag which looked like potato chips of some sort. "Here you go. I thought you might like this."
She fumbled with it and almost dropped it. Once she grabbed it, she looked at the package.
"Snackaroos?" she asked quizzically to herself. They seemed to be fried dough cakes.
"Have a safe trip, Miss Skye. Perhaps one day we'll bump into each other." Miles said, finally.
Ema couldn't help but have tears in her eyes again. "Perhaps we will! The next time you'll see me, Mister Edgeworth, I'll be a scientific investigator!" She held on to the package against her chest as she felt the warmth of ...something well up in her chest. There wasn't any doubt in her mind, at all, that she would indeed see him again one day.
