Author's Note: What can I say? I'm a sucker for adoption AUs. If this looks familiar, you're probably right. I first published this on Archive of Our Own, and you can still find it there, but I decided to put it up here too. I've already got the second chapter up on AO3, and I'll keep posting (hopefully) soon.
The von Karma estate was picturesque and always immaculate. The gardens were well tended, symmetrical to the last bud. Flower color patterns were perfectly calculated and specifically designed to be aesthetically pleasing. The house itself was similarly beautiful. Four stories tall, the structure loomed over the rest of the sprawling property. Numerous balconies were strung around the house like Christmas lights. The windows were large, and their curtains served as a perpetual shadow lurking behind them.
Inside, it was well-furnished with only the richest of decor. A layman may even go so far as to call it tacky, but they would, of course, be wrong. Everything looked pristine: the chairs appeared to be never sat in, and there were no stains on anything. The only sign that people were living there at all was the absence of dust.
Built besides a lake, with a fully functioning servant crew, and well-maintained stables, the von Karma estate was easily one of the most lusted after properties in Germany.
This was not the von Karma estate.
Five-and-a-half year old Franziska glared at her surroundings with a ferocity admirable for a girl who had yet to reach four feet in height. The house in front of her was small, only two floors. It was painted a dull yellow and had glossy black shutters. Through one of the windows, a passerby could look in to see a cramped office space. It's yard was even less impressive; unadorned with anything other than shoddy brownish-yellow grass reaching just above knee height on the little girl. The house itself was obviously not a bad one, but its owner did not seem terribly interested in the art of curb appeal.
Franziska curled her lip and set forward, marching her way through the tall grass and up the brick steps to the house. The girl unceremoniously wrenched open the door and entered the main hallway. The hallway was sparsely decorated. There was an antique grandfather clock next to the stairs, and some yellow flowers were on a table to the right, besides a door that Franziska presumed led to the office she had seen from outside.
It was a quaint scene that Franziska had never expected, nor particularly wanted to find herself in. Very well. I am finished with this, the little von Karma thought, turning on her heel to exit the building, only to run into Gregory Edgeworth.
The man smiled wryly and ushered her back into the house. The little girl scowled. If only it was that easy, she thought. I'll have to find another way of escape.
"Please excuse me," Her captor said politely, and set down her suitcase. The attorney started to walk upstairs. "I'll be back in a moment." Franziska's eyes darted to the door. The man must have sensed it somehow, because he hesitated, and walked back down the stairs to lock the front door. "Stay here." Gregory turned to disappear into the upper level of the house.
Franziska huffed, I will do what I like. To prove her point, the child tried the door handle anyway. Displeased by her failure, she let out an annoyed growl and kicked the door with all of the strength she could muster. The door still did not budge. The blow hurt more than she expected, causing the young von Karma to bite her lip, although she refused to cry out. Don't show any weakness.
Franziska hobbled on her injured foot over to her suitcase and sat down. This whole thing is foolishness. What do they want with me? The Edgeworth and von Karma families were enemies in everything, first and foremost in the legal field. Something had transpired between them that Franziska didn't know much about, and it had resulted in her father being thrown in jail. She had been only two years old.
After that incident, Franziska had been sent to live with her elder sister, Sieghild von Karma. That was when the trouble started; Gregory Edgeworth wasn't finished ruining the von Karma family yet. He instigated a custody battle over Franziska, which was another case whose information the girl herself wasn't privy to. After three long years of this war, the bewildered girl found herself being shipped off to America with only the instruction of her sister to: "Mache ihnen das Leben zur Hölle"
A stair creaked and Franziska jumped. Foolishly foolish fool, she mentally berated her jumpiness. While she wasn't paying attention, Gregory Edgeworth had returned, and there was another man with him. But upon closer inspection, Gregory's companion turned out to be merely a boy wearing a bow tie. This is Miles Edgeworth then, Franziska realized. He was twelve, and he was due to become her older brother. Already she did not like him.
Miles looked in between his father and his new sister. When neither appeared to be doing anything, the boy cleared his throat awkwardly and stuck out his hand. "Hello. I'm Miles Edge-"
"I know," Franziska cut him off, sneering.
"Oh," was all the boy had to say. Fool.
Gregory - the girl refused to think of him as her father - rubbed his temple, "Franziska, be nice."
The child wrinkled her nose in response. That makes the hundred millionth time you have said that today. It has made zero difference.
"I understand this is going to be a difficult adjustment for everyone," the man began, adjusting his glasses, "but I'm hoping we can make this as painless as possible if we talk things through logically and don't allow old rivalries to take control." Gregory Edgeworth was apparently not a man for long lectures.
Her "brother" nodded respectfully, but Franziska felt anger bubble up inside of her. Painless? I'm not going to help you Edgeworths. Not even to make this easy on myself. The little girl crossed her arms, "No."
The younger Edgeworth looked at her with mild surprise, while the older one's glance was tinged with a small amount of exasperation. He had spent the entire day with her thus far, and between Franziska's many attempts at escape, and Gregory's indifference to the girl's aggressive behavior, they were quickly wearing on each others nerves.
"I'm not expecting there to be no problems at all," The attorney tried to explain. "I merely want all of us to give a little effort to get along-"
"No!" This time, the girl's protest was delivered in both higher pitch and volume. She jutted her chin out at the Edgeworths defiantly. I don't even want to be here, why should I try to be good?
There was a long pause. Miles looked like he wanted to say something, but he thought better of it. Gregory laid a hand on his son's shoulder. The man let out a soft sigh, "It's getting late. I'll begin getting dinner prepared, would you show Franziska her room, please, Miles?"
The bow-tie clad boy wrestled to restrain his frustration. After a moment, he nodded, "If she's finished having a tantrum, certainly." He picked up his adoptive sister's luggage and started up the stairs. Franziska followed smugly. I've already won one battle. The others should be easy.
Creak, creak, creak the stairs complained under the weight of the two children as they travelled up them. Franziska frowned. Even the stairs in this house are weak, she thought. Miles paused at the top of the stairs and waited for the younger girl to catch up.
"That's father's room," the boy spoke as soon as she had, inclining his to head to a door just to the right of the top of the stairs. "We're down this way." He turned to the left and Franziska had no choice but to follow. The hallway was short and undecorated. There were two doors to the right, one door to the left, and one more at the end of the corridor. Miles set her luggage outside of the closest door to the right. "This will be your room. The door next to it is where my room is."
"Obviously," sniffed Franziska. There was a picture on the boy's door. It was a drawing of Miles himself standing up and pointing. The caption read, in big, blocky letters; "MILES'S ROOM." While the grammar could be better, the drawing was surprisingly not that bad. It was certainly much better than the other image depicting what appeared to be Miles riding on top of a dinosaur, flocked by women in bikinis. That drawing had been shunted off to the bottom corners.
"Some friends did that for me," the older boy's voice held a slight defensive edge to it. He changed the subject: "The room at the end of the hall is something of a library, and the one to your left is a bathroom." He didn't look happy as he went on, "We'll be sharing it."
Franziska pressed her lips into a thin line. I don't share things. "...I see," she said. The girl turned away from him and picked up her suitcase. It was a clear dismissal, and the young Edgeworth thankfully saw it as such.
Miles started to back up towards the stairs. "Dinner should be ready shortly. I'm sure you'll be able to find your way to the dining room."
The new siblings turned their backs on each other. Franziska pushed the door open, free to explore her new room.
The girl barely had any time to unpack for less than an hour later, dinner was finished. It admittedly didn't look very different from the things she was used to eating back in Germany, if less fancy. It likely tasted fine, but the von Karma was still determined to make life difficult as possible for the Edgeworths. The other two had finished their meals, but the girl had yet to touch hers. Franziska stared unflinchingly across the table. Silence reigned.
Miles was the first to break. The boy stood and picked up his dishes. He cleared his throat, "Yes, well, as pleasant as this has been, I've got homework to do. Goodnight." Pushing in his chair, the young Edgeworth left the room. This left just Franziska and Gregory.
Franziska allowed a brief pause. After she had deemed it long enough, she sniffed haughtily, "Well, Gregory Edgeworth, what are you waiting for?"
The look on the man's face as he responded could only be described as unimpressed, "I'm waiting for you to eat."
"Keep waiting. I don't eat trash."
"If you don't eat now, you're going to be hungry later." Gregory responded as though resigned.
"Lovely. I will deal with it then. I'm going now." Franziska stood abruptly and left the table, deliberately knocking over her drink in her exit.
Still her adoptive father didn't rise to the bait, instead saying in his usual, measured way, "Goodnight, Franziska." His sharp brown eyes followed her all the way up the stairs.
Franziska flopped onto her bed with a groan. The digital clock at her bedside only read 7:00, but the girl was exhausted. The sun must be nearly up in Germany, she realized blearily. After a few minutes, she mustered the energy to stand up and change into her nightgown. This accomplished, the little von Karma retreated under the covers.
Even this bed is worse than the one at home. Suddenly, she found herself wishing very much that she was in her comfortable bed back at the lavish von Karma estate. Now, she was all alone in an unfamiliar country with unfamiliar people, and it was more than the little girl could bear. Franziska fought off a few treacherous tears. Don't think of home. The girl made a mental note to herself. It would be the first of many rules she created for herself while in America.
Despite the abysmal quality of sleeping furniture, Franziska was already falling asleep. My sister will come for me, she comforted herself on the way to sleep.
I'll be with my real family soon.
Author's Note: Mache ihnen das Leben zur Hölle-Give them Hell. Major, major thanks to Ryszard for giving me the translation on that!
Comments are appreciated, but mostly thanks for reading!