"That's a good point, Phoenix… I… I don't know how I'm going to get back there. I… I'm supposed to be living where I was taken to now… My… My dad… I-In the earthquake… We…We were trapped in an elevator and the bailiff kinda went a little… Crazy… He… He wanted to shoot us but m-my dad he… He knocked the gun out of the bailiff's hand and…. And when they continued to fight I grabbed the gun and threw it at the b-bailiff. I don't know what happened after that, I was… There was no air and I heard a gunshot…W-when… When I… I woke up I found out that… T-that my dad d-d-died. F-from a gunshot w-wound." Miles managed out, stuttering miserably as tears streaked down his face, mixing with the rain.
Phoenix and Larry both immediately rushed over to the silver haired boy and hugged him tightly, making sure not to trap the other's arms in case Miles wanted to push them away. "It wasn't your fault, Miles! Your dad was trying to protect you from that crazy bailiff." Phoenix said firmly, a determined expression appearing on his face. "As for… For how you're getting back to your new family… My place is closest, next to yours Miles. I'll call one of my Moms and she can help you get back to where you need to go…Unless they gave you a number that you could call them at?"
"… I snuck out of where they live. I… Mr. Von Karma is there, and he has a daughter who is a lot younger than we are… So I guess I have a little sister now. Her name is Franziska." Miles explained quietly, leaning into the hug and so very grateful he had friends as stubborn and loyal as Phoenix and Larry. "They live in completely different area of town and I don't know if we'll be able to go to the same school anymore."
"…Oh… But we can call one another when we can and write letters everyday! It's not like you're moving to a new city or anything like that… Do you remember that play-park that we found when we were looking for the person who abandoned Aimi in the middle of town? We could meet there on weekends, if… If you want to." Phoenix offered, doing his best to come up with ways that they could remain friends. He wasn't going to give up being Husbands and Best Friends with Miles easily. He had promised Forever with Miles and he intended to keep that promise. Especially since the other had lost his dad. He had grown up in an orphanage and he knew what it was like to feel the awful emptiness that yawned inside of you as you wondered if the people that you loved (or at least…Phoenix was told that his parents had loved him before they had died. So he supposed that he was supposed to love his parents but… Phoenix didn't know them. Which made him feel really awful some days, but that had stopped mostly after he had been adopted by his Moms and started to love them) were happy and safe in wherever or whatever happened to a person after they died.
"That… That sounds really nice. I'm probably going to be in trouble for sneaking out, if I don't manage to make it back without help from adults…" Miles muttered, fidgeting a little in anxiety. "I don't know how well Mr. Von Karma will take me sneaking out like this…" He wouldn't have ever snuck out with his dad…But then again, his dad would have never thrown out his red samurai toy, as the other knew how much it had meant to him. The three of them stopped hugging one another as they tried to come up with some sort of plan to keep Miles from getting into trouble. Especially since Miles got really upset when adults were mad at him. Not that Phoenix or Larry took it particularly well, but they at least had a bit more practice than their more quiet friend.
"… Oh. There is that. Uhhm…" Phoenix couldn't really figure out what to do. Usually Miles came up with the best ideas or Larry would come up with something really ridiculous that would somehow still work out well in the end. "… Maybe one of my Moms can sneak you back to wherever you live all quiet-like? I'm pretty sure that we could talk mama Xenia into doing so. She likes doing sneaky stuff like that and wouldn't want you to get into trouble with your new family so soon. O-Or mom Roc could explain to your new parent that you really had to pick up your homework, which you knew that I was going to come over to bring to you, and you couldn't call me because I can't go into your old house and I don't have a cell phone that you could call me on! And you know that I'm stubborn enough to wait by your house all night to give you your homework because I've been waiting by your doorstep before when your dad and you have come back from the courthouse really late because a trial went long?"
"I… You… but… But wouldn't that be lying?" Miles asked softly, fidgeting a little.
"No, because the original reason why I came over here was to drop off the homework and school work that you missed today. The teachers all said that you were out sick, so I gathered up the work for you 'cause I didn't know that you were moving and probably changing schools and I know that you really don't like missing school." Phoenix responded honestly, pulling out the special folder that he kept in reserve for things that he wanted to give to Miles, or was saving for the silver haired boy, opening it and showing the dozen or so pieces of paper. "They didn't give us much to do today and were all quiet and gentle-voices at us, even when some of the others got noisy. Like they were worried that the earthquake had scared us or that if they shouted that the earthquake would come again or something." The teacher had also all gotten quiet and a little sad looking every time that Phoenix had asked for the school work or homework for that class to give to Miles. Maybe because they knew that his friend was moving to the other side of town and wouldn't be able to turn in the homework? But why wouldn't they have just told him that?
The silver haired boy's eyes widened a little in surprise before Miles hugged Phoenix tightly, another smile appearing on his face. "T-thank you Phoenix! I-it was really nice of you to go through all of this trouble for me. A-and you too, Larry! I… I want to thank you both for being such good friends! You two were the first friends I've had. Real friends, I mean. Not kids who wanted to cheat off my homework if I'd let them." A tiny sound, not unlike a sob escaped the silver haired boy as he buried his face into one of Phoenix's shoulders.
"You and Larry are my first friends too." Phoenix admitted quietly, returning the hug back just as tightly. Larry hugged the both of them after a couple of moments as the two of them looked at Larry expectantly, wanting the blond to hug them too, if he wanted to. Silent tears fell from the dark haired boy's eyes as he continued to cling to his husband. He could barely begin to think about how sad and worried Miles would be about losing his dad and then being adopted by a stranger and his daughter… On top of that, the other would be moving to a whole new school and Phoenix hoped that the other would be able to find new friends – even if the thought of being replaced hurt the last thing that he wanted was for Miles to be alone at school on top of being sad and missing his dad.
"… You guys are the first who've stuck by me for so long. Most people think that I get into all the trouble I do completely on accident and their parents call me a 'trouble-maker' or a 'delinquent' and stop them from being friends with me." Larry admitted quietly as he held tightly to his two best friends. He knew he messed up a lot, but his friendships with Miles and Phoenix were things that he hadn't messed up yet and it was really upsetting to know that he wouldn't see Miles as much anymore… And now he was crying too.
Phoenix's and Larry's parents found the three of them hiccupping and crying in the rain shortly after all three of them had begun to cry. There was also a very stern and scary looking old man who had accompanied Phoenix's moms.
Phoenix was glad that the rain had been able to hide their tears as the three of them did their best to stop quickly, as he looked the sort of person who said that real alphas don't cry or something mocking to that effect. Phoenix had more than one foster parent who'd said something like that. Also things like stop crying like a pathetic omega and alpha up, brat but he never stayed with those foster parents all that long. Not that he really understood what they were referencing. It seemed to be some sort of closely guarded adult secret… Although Phoenix was uncertain as to whether or not he really wanted to try to find out on his own.
"Why did you come back here, young man?" The scary old man asked voice stern but not as biting as Phoenix had thought it'd be.
Miles stiffened anxiously in his and Larry's grip, prompting the two of them to shift a little, trying to hide the silver haired boy. "I... I-I needed to... t-to..."
"We needed to meet up today to do more research on our end of year project. We were supposed to meet up at the Library at school today, but Miles wasn't at school. Which never happens, so we wanted to make sure that he was okay... because... because of the earthquake. We weren't allowed to come see how he was doing earlier 'cause our parents told us not to and watched to make sure we didn't go wandering off to find Miles. "Larry responded quickly, not quite lying, as those had been their plans before the earthquake.
"What's this end of year project of the three of yours? It must be quite extensive if you're researching it so soon." The old man remarked, raising an eye brow at the trio of boys.
"We have to do it in stages; the teacher broke it up into smaller parts to do as the year progresses. And we want to be active about it!" Phoenix interjected as Larry didn't want to admit that he found law stuff to be interesting, saying that he only wanted to know for the sake of the project. But as his friend usually only helped with group projects at the very last minute, Phoenix knew that wasn't true.
"And what is this project?" The old man pressed, undeterred, even as the rain started to pour harder on their heads and the wind started to pick up. He sent both Parry's and Phoenix's parents stern glares when one of the five other adults tried to "We were planning on holding a mock trial, with one of us being a Prosecutor, the second a Defense Attorney and he third person being either the Judge or the defendant. The judge if the teacher doesn't want to play the role, the defendant otherwise. Or the third person was going to be a witness that the prosecution was going to call to the stand, and that the defense attorney would then cross examine. We haven't quite figured out what the third role should be. Miles spoke up from between his two best friends. ".. Sir."
"That's quite a topic to pick. How much research have the trio of you done on that so far?" the old man responded, his eyes lighting up in curiosity.
Phoenix reluctantly let go of Miles, coming forwards a few steps as he opened one of the umbrellas, took off his backpack and dug through it one handed as he carefully pulled out several full notebooks labeled with Defense Attorney info, Prosecutor info and Judge info, and Police Investigators info written on them neatly. Each of the books were partially filled it with notes. And the defense attorney note book had the most info on it while the Prosecutor notebook was the most empty. He held the note books out to the old man if the other wanted to look through them, mindful to keep them under the umbrella.
The old man's eyebrow moved further up his face as he took his note books from Phoenix flipping through each of them. He seemed surprised as to how much was in a number of them. "You three haven't researched much about Prosecutes yet." he remarked quietly.
"Part of it is because we haven't talked to any Prosecutors yet. Part of the project is that we have to talk to an adult who does that job. My mom's are detectives, so I was able to talk to them about being a detective and they've a friend who's a forensic scientist and a crime scene analyst.
"And I have an uncle whose friend is the daughter of a judge, so we were able to talk to him, too." Larry piped up from behind Phoenix, still lending silent support to an anxious Miles.
"And... and my dad was a defense attorney, so I could ask him all about what he did." Miles spoke quietly, voice just barely heard over the sound of the rain. "But... but since y-your home is on the other side of town... w-we're supposed to have all of the information we're probably going to use the end of January." There had been an awful lot for them to research, but it'd well worth it to hold a true mock trial, rather than the stupid mockery of one that had been held in the summer. He just hoped that Mr. Von Karma would at least let him finish the rest of the school year.
"It's... rather impressive what the three of you have been able to gather. And you're in luck about being able to speak with a prosecutor, as I am one. It would be terribly unfair of me to scupper all of this hard work. Besides, it'd be easier to have Miles change schools between school years. Rather than during one." the old, still scary Prosecutor responded, looking reflective as he handed he notebooks back to Phoenix. "I wish that you'd told me about this Miles, but I do understand that these sorts of things can escape one's mind, particularly since you just lost your father. I am cuprous as to how you were able to find our way back here."
"Miles has a really good sense of direction!" Phoenix and Larry chimed in at the same time as the dark haired boy put the notebooks away and retreated to his best friend's side. "He almost never gets lost, no matter where ever we are in the city."
Mr. Prosecutor chuckled softly at their words, looking at Miles direct as he spoke "You've very loyal friends, Miles. Although I am somewhat surprised at how little you've spoken."
"Miles is usually pretty quiet, especially around adults." Larry informed the man." Unless he knows that they are wrong or being very unfair for no reason. But that doesn't happen often."
Mr. Prosecutor was... there was something about him that made Phoenix very, very nervous. Larry was shaking a little and Phoenix was pretty sure that the blonde boy could sense it too. He wanted to grab his two best friends and run away as far as his legs could carry him. Mr. Prosecutor was dangerous; for all that he seemed stern, but nice. There was something about him that reminded Phoenix of his last foster father... the one who'd locked him in a cage and hoisted him in the cage for hours on end if Phoenix did something against the many and ever shifting rules. He hugged Miles tightly and stared at Mr. Prosecutor's legs, trying to overcome the anxiety that'd risen so powerfully inside of him.
"It's quite late and you three should get out of those wet clothes before the three of you get terribly sick, as it would be unfortunate if the three of you spent the last few remaining days of school before your winter break miserably sick." Mr. Prosecutor responded "My car is not far from here, Miles please come with me, and do make sure to grab your dog."
"Yes sir." Miles responded quietly, shifting a little as he moved away from Phoenix and Larry, grabbing Aimi and holding her carefully as he left with the old man.
Phoenix wanted to cling all the tighter to his husband, but had the distinct feeling that being stubborn now would only get Miles into further trouble. The three boys nodded and with some reluctance, they split up. He walked over to his mothers, watching Miles leave until the other was out of sight completely. "He's scary Mom."
"… Prosecutor Von Karma can come off as very intimidating, Phoenix. Bt it was kind of him to adopt Miles." Roc offered quietly, not entirely surprised that her son had picked up on a few things. He was highly perceptive for a kid and Von Karma…. Had a perfect record and the rumors abounded of the man's ruthlessness and willingness to… Stretch the truth to suit the verdict he wanted. "Let's go home, hmm? You'll see Miles again in the morning."
He nodded, yawning a little as he walked home with his parents, one of his hands tracing the pattern of the bracelet he'd made, quietly hoping that Miles would be able to hide the token of their Marriage Ritual so that he could keep them.
Phoenix didn't much care for Mr. Von Karma. It wasn't that he was stern- his moms could be stern at times... But it was the way that the man watched Miles. The fact that the man never hugged or patted his friend on one shoulder. The way that the old man demanded perfection from Miles and scolded his friend when the other got anything less than A+ on everything. Including in art class, where Phoenix knew that the other struggled occasionally.
Mr. Von Karma also never smiled at Miles, or anyone. He occasionally smirked at other but he never seemed to be happy or satisfied. Phoenix had lived with more than one foster parent like that and they could be very cruel and demanding. He did his best to hug Miles as he could and had Miles over for studying and sleep overs as much as they could get away with. Larry helped with that the best he could, and the two of them did their best to help Miles do better in art class.
Their project was going really well. Larry was going to be the judge and was learning all about what they were supposed to do. Mostly because of Mr. Von Karma, Miles decided to be The Prosecutor in the case, while Phoenix was going to be The Defense attorney. The teacher would be the one to create the case that they'd be arguing over and evidence would be scattered throughout the school. Their project had generated a rather a lot of curiosity and several of their classmates had volunteered to be witnesses. They'd be doing all of the investigating themselves and in the time from that a true trial had. The prosecution starting to gather information as soon as the defendant was arrested and the defense when the accused agreed to be represented. Yes, Miles 'd have the advantage, but Phoenix was determined to find the truth. No one would be the defendant to avoid hurt feelings the person accused would be a fake student and only the teacher would know at first if the defendant was guilty or not.
The trial for the man who'd killed Mr. Edgeworth had concluded a couple of days ago and Miles was really wound up about it. He understood why, the defense attorney had been really sneaky about how he'd gotten the defendant off. Phoenix still wanted to be a defense attorney, but he'd never do something like that. Mr. Yogi was sane and the sneaky verdict was awful. He hugged Miles extra tight after they'd found out.
The slightly older boy walked over to where Phoenix had been patiently waiting for his husband to come to school. "Are you still going to be the defense attorney in the project Phoenix?" Miles asked, voice shaky and tight.
"...uhm.. Well... I... one of has to, right? F-for the trait to be be fair. Do... DO.. You want to be?" Phoenix responded uncertainly.
"...I suppose that's true." Mile frowned unhappily as he moved over and sat down next to Phoenix. Mr. Von Karma had to drive and drop Miles off at school a while hour and a half before it started, but Phoenix didn't mind keeping the other company. It meant that they had some time together since Mr. Von Karma had someone pick Miles up from school the minute the final bell rang most days. Larry usually made it to school to hang out early too, but sometimes the blonde slept through his alarms. Today seemed to be one of those days.
I would be looking from the truth of what happened. Not trying to save the person from any punishment they deserved. "That's what lawyers are supposed to do, right find the evidence and see what it says to the guilt or innocence of the person accused. 'Cause there are sometimes when the police find the wrong person the first time around." Phoenix pointed out timidly, Miles was starting to really dislike defense attorneys after DL-6 and Phoenix understood why.
But he'd been wrongfully accused of a crime and when he'd gently reminded Miles of that, the fair hared child calmed down a little. "... Thanks, Phoenix. IT's just... Mr. Von Karma really, really doesn't like defense attorneys and we might be moving all the way to Germany and Franciscka keeps hitting me with her whip every time I come home." he hugged Phoenix tightly and buried his face in the dark haired boy's shoulder and sobbed. "I-I m-miss m-my dad so m-much but Mr. V-Von K-karma yells at m-me when eh h-hears me crying and.. And the o-only way I could k-keep the blanket you gave me is.. Is to tell h-him that it's for A-aimi. I'm sorry I wanted to keep it s-so bad and I k-know how much it means to you. 'm a bad husband."
Phoenix held on tightly to his closest friend as two conflicting feelings bubbled up in his chest. The main feeling was worry over Miles and what Mr. Von Karma was planning on doing to his friend. The other was... Phoenix would call it anger but it burned hotter and darker than just anger towards Mr. Von Karma and whoever was responsible for killing Miles's Dad as that was why the awful and scary Mr. Von Karma had come into his friend's life. Miss Franciscka was.. Strange and clever, but occasionally very sweet. Phoenix made sure to make a couple of extra cookies for her on the few occasions that he and Larry had slept over at the castle that The Von Karmas lived in. He of course, had more cookies for Miles, but she wouldn't tell Mr. Von Karma if he gave her a couple. "You are an awesome husband, Miles. he is very strict and if that's the only way you can keep it, then that's okay. I like you a whole lot. More than anyone else in the whole world and I always will."
Miles continued to cry for a while and held onto Phoenix so tightly he could hardly breath. But he was happy to help the other cry out at least some of the pain that the other was feeling about losing his father and eventually having to move so far from home. Phoenix hugged the other tightly and let him cry as much as Miles needed to.
After a while, Miles let him go and wiped his face with his hands." T-thank you so much. Sorry for getting your shirt wet."
"You're welcome, and you've been through quite a lot and I don't mind. You can cry on me as much as you need to. For better or worse, as the saying goes." Phoenix responded, a shy smile appearing on his face. "As for... for Germany, I'll write and call everyday if you want me to."
A soft blush appeared on his friend's face at that, and Miles nodded in agreement. "For better or worse a-and I'll try to figure out what the address is so that you can write to me. I've heard that international calls can be expensive. B-but we might be able to email each other. I'll be able to keep my email when we move and I'll use that when I can."
Phoenix nodded, a determined expression appearing on his face. "That sounds like a good plan. And maybe Mr. Von karma will change his mind about Germany." They still had several months of school let yet, and Mr. Von Karma had said that he'd make Miles change schools between years. Mr. Von Karma was many things, but he seemed to keep his promises at least. Even if the grumpy old man was the person that Phoenix disliked most in the whole world.
"...Maybe. I hope so. Franciscka says that she has an older sister, but I haven't met her yet. She's in law school right now." Miles responded quietly.
"Ah. I see. Hopefully she's nice." Phoenix murmured hopefully, hugging his friend close. The two of them started to go over the court procedures again.
Phoenix knew that you shouldn't hate anyone, and that being angry at someone just meant that they could upset you earlier than if you weren't mad at them as soon as you heard their name... But the young boy couldn't help but /hate/ Mr. Von Karma. He pushed and bullied Miles- and Franciscka as well. And she was just three years old! She hadn't had a birthday before, so Miles and he (and Larry!) had decided to throw her a small surprise party. They'd baked the cake themselves and each gotten her a gift. Larry had given her a small brown bear with a little green police officer's uniform that she called Scruffy and cling onto tightly. Miles had gotten he a note book with golden scales on the cover and Phoenix had given her a joke book as she giggled a lot at the knock-knock jokes they'd told.
Mr. Von Karma had taken both the bear and the joke book from her, according to Miles. He'd said that the rotten old man said that she didn't need such trivial and childish things. Franciscka had nodded and waited until Mr. Von Karma couldn't hear her before she clung to her younger brother and cried until she fell asleep. The day of the mock trial was getting close, and soon after that the end of the school year. Miles was going to be forced to be a prosecutor... Maybe in Germany. But Phoenix was going to become the best defense attorney he could, so that he could afford to go to Germany and help Miles escape Mr. Von Karma. He wasn't sure how to pin down all of the details, but he'd figure it out as he got older.
He would have to, in order to save his husband and his little sister.
Miles had won the trial, but all of the evidence that both of them had found, pointed to the fake defendant being guilty. Phoenix pointed out that the defendant had been blackmailed into committing the crime, revealing the shadowy blackmailer and a list that made up person's crimes. This had gotten his client's sentence reduced, which is what he'd been aiming for the entire time.
Both of them were in full suits, and had been during all three days of the trial. Phoenix had been wearing a dark blue suit. While Miles wore the red suit that he'd always worn to school, this time with proper pants. The two of them were wearing bowties too. And Larry had gotten a Halloween costume of a Judge's outfit and gavel.
The whole class had been still and completely silent during the trial, their eyes wide. Larry banged the gavel as he spoke up seriously. "The court finds I. Guilty of robbing the bank, and S. Neaky will be arrested for blackmail. Bailiffs! Seize the witness!"
The three of them paused for a little bit before the three boys turned to the class and bowed, saying, "This is our final project, we hoped that you enjoyed it." They were the only ones who presented during the three days of their r trial. IT was wonderful to hear the applause.
"Well done, all three of you." The teacher praised, "Next group, please? Homura, Chara and Ib."
The three of them had gone to their seats, glad that they were done. It'd been a nerve wracking to show what they'd learned of the legal system, but they'd done it. Phoenix could barely hear the three of them talking about different occult and magical rituals and games that were played during different times of thee ears in various cultures. The last was a game called Sachi-something it involved a paper doll and a chant. Homura offered to play it with anyone who was interested, but none of the three of them wanted to play. If it was real, there was a gamble involved that none of them wanted to try to pay.
The days passed too fast for Phoenix's liking and the final day of school never seemed so awful. Mr. Von Karma had been pleased that Miles had one the mock trial and had agreed that the silver haired boy could have one last sleep over before the Von Karma family left for Germany. Miles had been learning German in preparation, but it was a tricky language to learn... The sleep over would be held at the castle-mansion thing and all of the people that Miles wanted to attend could come.
Only Phoenix and Larry had been invited, and both of them had brought everything they needed, as well as snacks to share. Franciscka had appeared in the room they'd been told to use, a blanket in one hand, a pillow in the other and big, wobbly blue eyes that none of the three boys could say no to when she demanded to be part of the sleep over "let me in... Please? I... I will miss you two. I haven't had friends before now... Now I have two and a little brother."
"..." Miles looked at her for a little bit, sighed and said, "If Phoenix and Larry don't mind... you can stay."
Both of his friends agreed to let her stay and the blond boy said quietly, "I've ma gift for you, Franny. I know that Scruffy was taken away by your Pops but..." He pulled out a small teddy bear that could be hidden in his hands easily. "Maybe he'll let you keep this one?"
She tackled Larry, hugging him tightly. Franciscka let go after a little while and all three boys pretended that the shoulder that the young girl had hidden her face wasn't damp. "T-thank you, Larry. I-I will try to k-keep him."
"You're welcome, Franny!" Larry responded with an easy grin, ruffling her hair a little. "Do you want to pick out which game you want to play first? Or we have some signal samurai DVDs to watch."
"Signal Samurai!" Miles and Franciscka said at the same time, both of them looking excited.
All four of them watched the show with rapt attention, gasping at the dramatic points, worrying on the cliff hangers and sniffling a little at the sad parts. They played Uno and Go Fish. The four of them were about to start another game when someone knocked on the door.
Phoenix got up first and opened the door asking cheerfully "Who is it?" He squeaked a little in surprise as Mr. Von Karma looked at him from the other side of the door. He was holding a box of delicious smelling pizza but Phoenix didn't trust the old man. The box said Pizza but Phoenix didn't trust him at all . "It... hello M-M-Mr. Von Karma! Were we b-b-being too noisy?"
"No, the four of you are being quiet. The pizza arrived. Here you are Phoenix the lot of you aren't up to mischief?" You only stutter when you're nervous." The Prosecutor responded, an amused expression appearing on his face.
"We are being good, Mister." Phoenix promised as he took the box that supposedly contained pizza with great care. "... Just surprised that you knew that Franciscka was here too."
"I saw her drag her blanket across the manor, shortly after you two arrived. OD try not to stay up too late. After you two leave, the three of us are leaving for Germany." Mr. Von Karma responded, turning away.
Phoenix ran inside the room shutting the door behind him with a kick. He set down the pizza box and clung to Miles tightly, trying and failing not to start crying.
"What's wrong?" the other three asked as Miles hugged Phoenix back tightly.
Larry and Franciscka hugged the dark haired boy tightly trying to help Miles calm Phoenix down. "H-He... He said that you were l-leaving t-tomorrow!"
Both Mils and Franciscka frowned in confusion and alarm. "Papa said we had a week to pack and say goodbye. He said that t-today." Franciscka hiccupped, starting to sniffle a little. Perfect little girls didn't cry. She'd already been imperfect when she'd gotten Baby Scruffy earlier. "H-he promised !"
"... Some adults are bad at keeping their word." Phoenix muttered unhappily, scowling a little, even as tears still fell from his face. "He already waited 'til the end of the school year to move." the jerk probably thought that they would be /grateful/ to be able to say good bye like this. Mean and smug old codger!
"...But Papa usually keeps his promises. Maybe something came up, that's the reason he tells us when he has to break a promise. Maybe there's a big case in Germany that they need him to prosecute." Franciscka murmured nervously, a worried expression appearing on her face. "... It's not fair!"
"No, but it's what he said. Do you know where you two are moving to? That way we can send you letters and talk that way." Phoenix responded, "IF you don't have the address, and if you want to, you could write to one or both of us and then we'd have your address that way."
"Yeah! Phoenix and me had done that before we were adopted by our parents. We lived in the same foster home for a while and kept in touch after I was moved." Larry added in cheerfully, a bright grin appearing on his face.
"Oh... that's a great idea! We will!" the adopted siblings responded, nodding excitedly. IT was awful that they were moving so soon, but the thought of being able to be able to talk to Phoenix and Larry at least in some way was cheering. Maybe their oldest sister would be able to help them send letters internationally, or one of the people who lived at the new place would help them.
After that, all four of them dug into the very yummy pizza and played games until they passed out in a pile. Miles was in the middle, with Larry and Phoenix on either side of him. Franciscka had climbed into the silver haired boy's lap and draped the blanket around everyone. This cozy warmth felt like home and the little girl wished with all her might that she wouldn't have to lose this so soon.
"Come on now, you four." A kindly, but unfamiliar voice startled them awake.
The four children blinked up at the maid, yawning and rubbing their eyes. "What time is it, miss?" Larry asked through a second yawn, leaning into Miles again. The stretch that he'd done had worn him out and he was entirely too warm and comfy to move.
"Seven in the morning. Come on, you and he both need to go home- your parents are here to pick you up. And Miss Von Karma and Mr. Edgeworth need to get up as well. You two have a very busy day ahead of you." She instructed primly but not unkindly, the maid left after she spoke.
Groans of complaint escaped the kids as they reluctantly got up.
Phoenix moved over to Miles, pressing a kiss to one of Miles' cheeks, promising fiercely "Bye hubby. This is not a forever goodbye. If I have to I... I'll save up enough money to go all the way to Germany if nothing else."
"I promise this isn't a forever goodbye too." Miles responded back, hugging his friend tightly and giving the darker haired boy a kiss on the cheek as well. "We might be away for a long time, but the letters will help."
None of the four of them knew how long it would be until they would meet again, but each was determined that this would not be their final goodbye. Franziska had questions as to why Phoenix and Miles had kissed on another, and why the dark haired boy called her younger brother Hubby but she would wait until they were in Germany and Papa was away, because this seemed like a thing that Papa might not like but Miles was smiling happily and Phoenix was really nice. And Larry was silly and nice and fun too. Friends was a strange word, but one that the little girl was finding that she liked. She hoped that her and her brother would be able to find friends in Germany. Not that they would replace Phoenix and Larry but… Maybe it would help ease the sadness and wanting-to-stay feeling that was already making her heart hurt and heavy.
They said their final goodbyes at the door, as one of Phoenix's moms and one of Larry's dads were waiting for them at the front door. Franziska had made doubly sure that Baby Scruffy was hidden in a pocket, determined not to lose this one... Even though Papa said they were silly... Franziska was pretty sure that just a little bit of silliness was a good thing.