CHAPTER 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I put Scarlet Begonias on hiatus for a while, at least until I finish Trees of Green, Red Roses too; I was losing the fire for it, and I really wanted to write the MayaXPhoenix sequel to The Road Paved by Blood and Tears.
For those of you who don't know, The Road Paved by Blood and Tears is my 2,500 viewed opus; I'd suggest reading it beforehand, but the only information that's absolutely vital to know before reading this story is that Franziska and Edgeworth got married in the end.

Expect 30,000 to 45,000 words, and Happy reading, dudes!

-ghostfacekiller39

Maya Fey was walking down the hall of the 29th floor of the most Luxurious apartments in town; they had some French name that she couldn't pronounce, so she just knew them as the apartments where Franzy lived. She and Mr. Edgeworth had just returned from their honeymoon in Germany very late the last night; so late you could technically call it this morning. She dragged her beloved younger cousin's hand down the hallway; it had a luxury hotel like feel to it, rather than just your average apartment complex. There were exotic plants placed on tables between each door and it's neighbor, and every few doors down there was a chandilier hanging overhead, bringing light into the equation.

She finally came to the apartment that belonged to the two of her closest friends; she had always tried to view Nick as just her friend and colleague, but she had trouble doing so; and knocked on the door.

A small, light, refined voice spoke up beside her in a whiny tone. "Mystic Maya...do we have to go see her? She tried getting put in jail for murder! She's mean!"

Maya just sighed as the door in front of them slowly cracked open, bound by the chain they had, for some reason, they had put up (Maya had a good thought as to why.) and Franziska von Karma peeked her head into the crack, looked over the two of them with sleepy, half closed eyes, and then shut the door.

"See!" Pearl said in an upset voice, throwing her free hand up into the air and then back down on her hip. "She's mean!" The door opened, no longer bound by the chain, and Franziska stood inside the ravish apartment in a light blue night gown with blue polka dots, her whip in her right hand, holding the door open with her left.

"Hey, Maya..." *YYAAAWWWNNN* "...Pearl." She looked as if she had just woken up; a surprising thing from the 19-year old, as she was always up and ready first thing in the morning, and it was nearly noon-time right now. "...did Phoenix Wright come with you?"

Maya just smiled politely at her drowsy friend. "Nope. He's cleaning up the apartment/office. While you were gone, we converted it into a half and half so he could cut down on the rent and me and Pearl didn't have to take the train back to Kurain every night. Isn't that fun?"

Franziska wore an expressionless look on her face, more out of sleepiness than a lack of interest; after a bit, she let a playful smirk spread across her face. "...sounds like something the foolish fool would do..."

Pearl, in a fit of rage, smacked Franziska in the arm as hard as she could. "OW!"

She looked determined now; "DON'T CALL MR. NICK A FOOL!...FOOL!" She stuck her tongue out at Franziska in a mocking manner.

The whip-wielding woman of the apartment was awake after Pearl's slap on the forearm, as she was rubbing the bright-red handprint on her pale skin with completely open eyes now. "Yes...well, please, come inside..."

Maya and Pearl followed her into the apartment; they looked around to see the kitchen and living room were one room, and they took a seat on the couch in the living room. Mr. Edgeworth and Franziska had an extremely large tv; Maya felt Pearl tug at her sleeve. "Mystic Maya? Why doesn't Mr. Nick have a tv that big?"

Maya put her finger on her chin in thought as Franziska walked into the kitchen to get them all 3 something to drink; "Ummm..." She didn't want to say it was because Nick wasn't as rich as Mr. Edgeworth (he wasn't), so she pulled the first thing that popped into her mind to reply as she so often did: "Ummm...Nick spends all of his money on hamburgers for us. Would you rather have hamburgers or a huge tv?"

Pearl looked up at her with a genuine, sincere smile; "A huge tv."

"WHAT!?" How...how dare she say such a thing!...the nerve!

Franziska walked into the living room (the dining table was too small) carrying a cup of tea and two cups of milk, along with her whip clasped between a cup and her palm. A large sheep dog ran up and jumped on the couch beside Pearl as she gave the two spirit mediums their milk. Pearl and Pesu, Edgeworth's dog, got along very well, and she was petting him as his tongue hung out of his mouth. When Franziska sat down to Maya's right (she and Pearl had been seated on the two cushions in the middle, and there were room for 4 on the couch.) Pesu jumped up and ran towards Franziska and placed his head on her lap, and began drooling on her already slobber-stained nightgown. "Uggh! Pesu! Go!" The dog walked happily back to his spot by a giggling Pearl, and she rewarded him with a scratch behind the ears.

Maya picked up her glass of milk and held it in her hand. "So...how was the honeymoon?"

Franziska smiled as she picked up her glass of tea and took of small sip of it. "It was...great. He's so romantic..."

Mr. Edgeworth? Romantic?

Aparrantly, Pearl had been thinking the exact same thing. "Mr. Ed-ji-worth? Romantic?"

Maya intervened before Franziska could answer. "Pearly!"

Franziska started to speak, but Miles Edgeworth came out of the bedroom with wearing a white t-shirt and red-striped pajama pants, he walked up to Franziska and placed his arms around her, kissing her on the cheek. "Good morning, Franziska."

She smiled as she scooted over towards Maya to make room for him to sit beside her, and Pesu left Pearl's side and jumped into his recliner; "Good Morning, Miles."

"Hey, Mr. Edgeworth!"

"Mr. Ed-ji-worth!"

He looked over at the two of them with a smile. "Hello, Maya. Hello, Pearl." He picked up the remote and handed it to Pearl. "Here, Pearl, you can find us something to watch."

She blushed and held her hands up to her face; "Thanks, Mr. Ed-ji-worth..."

Pearl put it on the Pink Princess, and the other 3 just sat together and talked about the honeymoon. As Maya listened to them, she couldn't help but imagine what her and Nick's honeymoon would be like if they had one; they definetly wouldn't go to Germany, that was for sure.

After a while, Maya's phone rang, and the Steel Samurai's ringtone began to play; she saw Mr. Edgeworth reach into his pocket, only to find it wasn't his phone.

She picked it up to find Nick on the other line; "Hey, Maya?"

"Hey Nick!" He's calling me! He never does that!

"Can you and Pearl come back to the apartment now? I cooked us all lunch, and it should be ready by the time you get back from Edgeworth's apartment."

She beamed. And he cooked lunch! What a man!

"Ok, we'll be right over!" She hung up and grabbed Pearl's hand; "Sorry, Franzy, we got to be going now. Lunch is ready back at the apartment/office. Bye!" She smiled and waved.

They said bye and she left the apartment in a hurry; she couldn't wait to see what Nick had cooked for them.

As they were walking down the hall, Pearl spoke up. "That Mr. Ed-ji-worth...what a hunk."

"PEARLY!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There was something I wanted people to know, but I couldn't fit it into this chapter, and that's that Franziska kept the von Karma name instead of taking Edgeworth's. I kept it that way so I wouldn't have to change anyone's name. Alright, later dudes! I'll try and post chapter 2 later today!

-ghostfacekiller39