CHAPTER 4

Stateside...

When Miles Edgeworth went home that night, he took off his red overcoat almost immediately, leaving the black vest he wore over his long white sleeved undershirt on. He then took off his shoes at the door after he had hung the red garment he wore in public on the coat stand by his door, leaving on a pair of black socks on his feet; he pondered loosening his cravat, but he decided against it. After he had changed into a more comfortable attire to lounge around his home in, he made his way towards the living room where his friend Pesu lay in the floor and his large TV sat, gathering dust.

He had missed the evening news by hours, and he didn't particularly enjoy the nightly news. To make matters worse, a Steel Samurai marathon started that night at 1 a.m, lasting until he usually checked into his office the next morning; he didn't have set hours at the offices, so checking in 30 minutes late wouldn't have bothered anyone.

He pondered turning on the TV, but decided against it. He had an urge to write a poem for some reason; he pulled a small journal out from underneath his vest and a pen with it, and did something he hadn't done in a long while; he wrote what he felt.

My Place on the Hill

You may not know it,

But sometimes I go to a hill that overlooks the landscape's mask of city lights;

For a sip of fleeting grace.

I'm on the edge of everything that I know;

And I feel as if I can gain an eyeful of the lost Atlantis that lies within a human soul;

but the feeling escapes me as my lungs fill with a breath of the air between the stars and the moon.

If you were only able to catch this elation in the framework of your mind;

Or if you can find transcendence through these words;

You would still know nothing of the beauty your existence throws to me.

Because my love is a love that absolutely nothing can degrade into reality by virtue of degree.

Edgeworth smirked; Hmmm...it's one of my better works, if I do say so myself.

He had taken up poetry in secret during his days at the von Karma manor; it had allowed him to escape from the cruel, cold world he had been thrust into at such a young age, at least for a few moments.

With that, he shut his small journal and put it back into his pocket; it was around 10 o'clock now, meaning it was nearing noon in Germany; maybe a quick look into Lester Wimhodge's e-mail account could give him another outlet to save him from his boredom until the marathon started. It had only been 3 hours since Lester's last e-mail to Franziska, and maybe, just maybe, she had replied; he doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to check and see.

He got up to go to his home computer, intentionally, yet subconsciously numbing his mind in the event of any negative thoughts or self-doubts. Once he had seated himself before the desk on which a blank computer monitor stared back at him, he pulled up the forsaken e-mail account that had been the root of his problems as of late; he loved communicating with Franziska, but by no means did he feel this was an appropriate way of doing so.

"You've got mail!"

What is this? She HAD replied; half of him instantly began hoping for it being just a simple farewell, but the other half began hoping otherwise; a true conflict of interest. He clicked on the message, pulling up the body of a rather short, yet striking response.

If you need further council, I suggest Miles Edgeworth; he's a fairly capable prosecutor in his own right.

He was at a loss for words, but yet this loss made him feel...happy, joyous, jovial, chipper...oh, not enough words could begin to describe the joy he was masking behind those gray eyes at her response.

Should he respond? Should he not? The war inside of him had started, temporarily pushing those thoughts of happiness aside for a reality check. He held his fingers over the keyboard, grasping for the words to say.

All of a sudden, he realized that if there were to be someone watching him do this, they wouldn't be able to tell about this war raging on inside of him; they would just see Miles Edgeworth seated at a computer. He was a logical, rational human being on all fronts, especially when there was at least one other person present. All he had to do was channel that logical outward appearance to his emotional persona.

He began typing;

I will keep that in mind, Ms. von Karma; I've heard of him, and I'm sure he'll be willing to give me advice.

He mulled over whether he should continue the e-mail; she was called the prodigy for a reason, but her advice was not what he had set up this account for, but Franziska was a woman you had to work for; you couldn't just come out and start trying to be romantic towards her; he needed her trust, and that was something he questioned even Miles Edgeworth had, let alone Lester Wimhodge.

Also, I hear studying the legal systems of other contries may be of some help; would it be troubling for you to discuss the legal system in Germany with me?

With that, he hit send, checking the clock on his monitor after he had done so; oh, how time had flown during the time he spent composing the few sentences that made up Lester Wimhodge's response. He needed to go get ready for the Steel Samurai marathon starting shortly.

In Germany, midway through the Steel Samurai marathon...

As soon as Franziska had returned from the Berlin Prosecutor's office, she dropped down tiredly on the most comfortable chair in the von Karma manor; the one that had used to belong to her father, Manfred von Karma. She had, in secret, gotten rid of most of his belongings, but ever since she was a small child, she had wanted to sit in that chair, and when she did for the first time, she knew she wasn't about to just store it away in the unit that contained the rest of his things.

She was so tired, however, because the manor was located in the German countryside, 5 or 6 miles out of the Berlin city limits, and she had gotten caught in horrible traffic on her drive back to her house; especially when she got cut off by some fool and honked her horn at him, and he had gotten out of his car yelling; a few cracks of the whip, and he ran back to his abnormally large automobile with his tail between his legs. She checked the time; 6 o'clock. It had been a long day.

She set her whip on the floor beside her and pulled out her small journal; she had a few of these stored up in her room, filled with sketches and drawings; it was just something she enjoyed to do.

She instantly began drawing a picture of the first thing that had popped into her mind, and began furiously putting all sorts of shades and hues onto the formerly white sheet of paper, immersing herself into her work until a deep, throaty voice broke her concentration.

"Frau von Karma? Abendessen wird serviert werden." It was the large, sweaty butler who had been working for her family for as long as she could remember.

CRACK! "RUHE! Ich werde nich gestört werden; Abendessen wird aufgeschoben werden, bis auf meine und ich erwarten, dass es frisch serviert. Bin ich klar!?"

With that he quickly nodded, and whimpered as he walked away. Franziska began mumbling under her breath. "Dummer Butler, dachte er könnte töricht stört mich, wie der Narr will..." With that, she continued her drawing.

20 minutes passed, and after she had left a cloud of eraser shavings around her, her work was complete; she held up her journal to where only she could see it. The result of her work was a black and white picture of her and Miles Edgeworth embracing each other; one she was going to keep secret, but she was proud of it nonetheless.

TRANSLATIONS:

Ms. von Karma? Dinner is ready.

Quiet! I am not to be bothered; dinner will be put off until my notice, and still expect it to be served fresh. Am I clear?

Foolish butler, thinking he could foolishly bother me as the fool pleases...

A/N: The next chapter will pick up with Franziska's part coming first :P

I'm going to try to stop leaving so many Author's notes, I don't want to distract the readers very much. I'm just going to leave short ones at the bottom like this if there's a point I need to get across or something of the sort.

AA's Serene Place, more details about it on my profile, and Happy Reading Dudes!

-ghostfacekiller39