Hey there, true believers - Hanna here, coming at you with chapter 10 of "Three Wrights and an Edgeworth"!

Just wanted to let all of you know that, in case you haven't noticed, This story is not only getting longer chapters, but it's also getting darker. I've been told that I have to warn my readers about certain elements, such as drug use, self harm, and stuff like that.

Well, consider this a warning - this chapter contains evidence of tobacco use, drug abuse, and cutting (self-mutilation).

But it also has a really awesome flashback scene, so it all evens out in the end of the chapter.

And I actually do own all of the characters in this chapter. Wait... No I don't. Phoenix Wright is Capcom's, and Seren is owned and written (with incredible talent) by XstormyX.

Also, I don't speak any language other than English (unless Pig-Latin counts) so all of the "Foreign Endearments" Natalie's boyfriend spouts off were found by using Google translate. So, if I got anything wrong, PLEASE TELL ME!

And I hope Natalie's pet-names don't offend anyone of Spanish/French descent, as they aren't meant to be offensive in any way, shape, or form.

Enjoy it, my beloved fans!

"There's my eldest daughter!" Dad cried, standing up and enveloping me in a hug. I rubbed my nose in his blazer - my father's unique smell of pipe tobacco, ink, peppermint, and books flooded my nostrils.

"Dad...!" Mara and I laughed. Dad has always called us both his eldest daughters - we were delivered via C-section, so we were literally born at the exact same time. "Do you want something to drink...? I think we have some iced tea..."

"Is it made with that flavoured, powdered mix that you girls drank all through high school?" I nodded with a smirk. Mum sighed and shook her head. "Ice water is fine, Natalie." She drawled as she got up and walked around the room, stopping in front of the book shelves lining the wall. "Well now - What is this?" She asked, lifting a crystal rose from its stand on the shelf.

"I wouldn't touch that..." I warned her, but it was too late - Mara ran in and snatched it out of our mother's hands.

"I would appreciate it immensely if you would ask before you touch anything, Mother." Mara said as she stroked the intricate glass flower. "To answer your question, it's a Venetian glass rose. Seren sent it to me from Italy when they were on tour there last year." She lifted it to her nose, as if smelling it. I lowered my glasses and looked at her wryly, catching her eye. She realized she was about to smell a glass rose, smiled at it fondly, and put it back on the shelf.

"Ahhh, yes - the illustrious Seren." Mother said, rolling her eyes. "When do your father and I get to meet this obsession of yours, Maralie?" I sucked in a quick breath and walked into the kitchen, only to find my father walking out of it with four glasses of water. I took them from him and set them on the table.

"Soo... Why are you and Mum here?" I asked as I pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and motioned for him to take a seat. He sat and turned to me, a sly grin on his face.

"What - your mother and I can't stop in every once in a while to see you two?" He asked, a twinkle in his eye. I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Dad... You aren't here just to visit." His smile faded. He sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily.

"Always the detective." He said wearily. I nodded and tapped my fingertips together. "I don't quite know how to tell you this..."

"Someone accessed my file." I murmured. He looked up at me, shock mixed with sorrow.

"Yes... May I...?" He inquired quietly, taking my right hand. He turned it, evaluating the scars on my wrist. I looked away. He dropped it and motioned for my left wrist. I showed it to him.

"I stopped doing that, you know." I whispered. "I'm working on quitting my other 'destructive behaviours', too." I added as he pulled my sleeves up to look at the insides of my elbows. "Do you want me to take off my socks, too?"

"Should you?" He replied, equally quiet. He reached over and brushed a lock of hair from my cheek. I brought my arms open and crossed them in front of my chest, suddenly feeling cold. "Natalie?" I shivered. It was cold then, too... On that night, four years ago... The night my heart was broken forever.

"Hey, check it out, Naytay!" I turned to watch as my boyfriend threw a snowball in the air, followed by another and another - three snowballs. I clapped as he began to juggle them - round and round they went, spinning through his hands like magic. "Pretty good, si?" He asked, grinning. WHOMP! I laughed as I bent to make another snow-missile. "Oh, now you're in for it!" He teased, wiping snow crystals from his face. "Didn't they teach you anything about attacking an un-armed civilian at the police academy?"

"If they did, I was far too busy daydreaming about you to have noticed!" I called, ducking under a low-hanging tree branch. "You missed, Zaney!" I jeered, sticking my tongue out and quickly lobbing a pair of snowballs at him - both of which connected with their intended target, knocking him over. I ran over to him and plopped down on his chest.

"Mercy! Mercy! Ooomph! La belle dame sans merci!" He protested laughingly as I began to tickle his neck. "You know, if you don't get a job as a detective, I'm sure you could become a human torture device for the government." He remarked as I punched him playfully in the chest. "Seriously, though - what will you do if you don't get the position?" I rolled off his chest and began to make a one-winged snow-angel on the ground next to him.

"I dunno... Maybe I'll marry a French-Spaniard cop with a penchant for juggling..." I replied with a laugh. I felt him go stiff next to me. "Zane?" I asked, sitting up. "Zane." He sat up suddenly and our lips met. We kissed for a few moments before I pulled back. "That was nice." I murmured, my heart pounding in my ears.

"Yeah..." He replied, brushing snowflakes from my hair. We kissed again. "Bueno." He smiled lazily.

"My butt's all wet from sitting in this snow." I told him, standing up slowly. He laughed as I swatted his hand away from my backside. "That wasn't an invitation to grope my ass, you pervert." I informed him with a grin as I took his gloved hand in mine. We walked out of the park and to his car. "Let me just grab my bag outta the back... I have a change of clothes in it."

"You brought a change of clothes...?" He asked, lifting his eyebrow slightly.

"Don't be a pervert. You told me that we were taking a walk in the park. Since it's wintertime, that generally means a snowball fight... It was just a process of deduction - Purely elementary, my dear Alekzander. Now, don't peek."

"You're going to change in the backseat of my car, and you expect me not to look? I dunno about that, mi amor..." I swatted him again.

"Be good." I warned him as I ducked into the back of his car. I pulled my boots off, slipped my skirt over my wet jeans and shimmied out of them. I heard a disappointed sigh coming from outside the car - I shook my head, exasperated with the antics of my older boyfriend.

"Me vuelves loca..." He complained as I got out of the car. He reached for my hand.

"I drive you crazy, do I?" I grinned, sticking my hands in my jacket pockets. He shrugged and laced his arm through mine.

"This works just as well, ma chérie." He commented with that annoyingly lazy smile that made my heart flip-flop. I leaned my head against his shoulder and grinned.

"I still haven't found anything for Phoenix." I told him later, while we were sitting in a little cafe drinking cocoa and sharing a piece of cheesecake. "I got Mara a jacket, Mum a gift card, Dad a collection of Poe's short stories... But nothing for my brother." We had been Christmas shopping for a few hours.

"Get him a tie." He crossed his arms behind his head. "What did you get me, mon amour?" I shook my head as I took a sip of cocoa.

"Augh! That's hot." I said, putting the mug down on the table with a clink. "He doesn't need anymore ties - he's got more ties than he needs. And I'm not telling you what I got you, Zander - It'd ruin the surprise." I picked up the mug again, carefully blowing on the drink before taking a cautious sip.

"I can act surprised. I'm a really good actor." He replied, striking a dramatic pose. "Alas, Poor Yorick... I knew him, Horatio! A fellow of infinite jest-"

"Alright, alright already! You can stop acting like a nerdling anytime now. You know, I think that's the first time I've heard Hamlet being played by the Spanch." He grinned and offered me a forkful of cheesecake. I opened my mouth - only to have him pop the fork into his own mouth. "Hey!" I protested. "I thought that bite was for me."

"A bon chat, bon rat. The 'Spanch', eh? You've called me that forever... What does it mean, anyway?" He asked, frowning at his mug of cocoa. "I think you got more bombon than I did, chica."

"You're Spanch. Half Spaniard, half French. Spanch." I informed him with a grin. I looked into his mug, and then looked into my own. "I'm pretty sure you and I had the same number of marshmallows, Z. It only looks like I have more because you ate some of yours already." I finished my drink and offered the cup of gooey half-melted marshmallows to him. "You can have mine, though." He smiled, looking for all the world like a kid on Christmas morning. "Sheesh, Zane - if I had known that a half a cup of marshmallow gunk would make you this happy, I'd given you one months ago!"

"You know what would make me really happy, mi bella?" He asked, scooting closer to me.

"What, my Zaney Conquistador?"

"You, me, and that mistletoe hanging above the door over there." He chuckled as he pointed to a little boutique across the street. I glanced over to where he was pointing and laughed.

"...Zane... That's not mistletoe. That's an evergreen swag." I laughed again. "You are so clueless - sometimes I wonder how you became a police officer." He smirked.

"I knew that. About the evergreen, I mean. Tanya has decorated the house with that stuff since before I was born. I just wanted to mess with you." He winked and draped his arm over my shoulder. "But we can still kiss under evergreen boughs, right?" I looked up into his iced mocha eyes and delicious smile.

"We can kiss anywhere you want to, my love." I snuggled deeper into his embrace, smelling his unique mix of cinnamon, aftershave, and musk. I shivered.

"Are you cold? Do you want mi la chaqueta?" He asked, concerned.

"Hmm? Mi la... Oh, no - I don't need your jacket. Let's get outta here - I have to be home in two hours, remember?" I reminded him, running my finger along his scruffy jaw. "I thought your mother hated it when you don't shave."

"But I'm not dating my Mama, am I?" He whispered in my ear, sending more shivers down my spine. "So her opinion doesn't matter to me as much as yours does, chica."

"I'm flattered. Truly flattered." I stood up, offering my hand to him. "Come on, Alek. Let's paint the town rojo." He laughed as I threw a bit of Spanish back at him.

"After you." He said, opening the shop door. We walked out into the chilly evening, marveling at the sparkling lights in the snow covered trees. "I can't believe you got your brother an MP3 player." He shook his head, grinning. I took his hand in mine.

"Why is that so hard to believe, Zane?" I asked him, squeezing his hand tightly in mine. "Phoenix likes music, and it was a great deal." He nodded, tilting his head back to catch a snowflake on his tongue. "Ahhh... Zane. You are such a mystery to me. One minute, you're this calm, cool police officer, and the next minute you act as if you're high." He stopped in front of a bench, brushed the snow from it, and sat down.

"I am high - High on youuu-" He crooned, his Latino accent becoming thicker. "Amorcito... Corazoncito..." He drew me into his lap. "My love... My heart..." He kissed my ear, his tongue tracing its curves. "Te necesito...Te adoro..." He whispered, his breath warm against my face. "I need you...I adore you..."

"Zane... You are such a man whore." I informed him, kissing his cheek. "You're going to get yourself in trouble with my parents one of these days."

"Why is that?" He asked, a slight dash of French vanilla joining his smooth Spanish coffee accent. I shrugged.

"You've been laying it on pretty thick lately, that's all. Mum and Dad already think that our age difference is pushing it..."

"It's not that bad, is it?" He looked down and counted the years on his fingers. "Four years isn't that far apart." I tapped his fingers.

"Five years, Love. 22 minus 17 is five." He smiled sheepishly before changing the subject.

"Do you want to open your present now?" He asked, fishing a package out of his coat pocket. "I have to leave for Spain in two days, and I won't be back until after the New Year." I nodded, twirling his jacket pull strings around my finger. "Look at me." He said, lifting my chin with his knuckle. "It's not that long, Cariño. Just a few weeks- just like when I went to that training in Maine."

"A few weeks in Europe is different from a few weeks in Maine, Alek. Maine was a two hour drive from my house. Spain is, like... forever away."

"We can still call each other, Natalie." I nodded slowly. "Are you going to open this?" He asked, tapping the gift box in my lap.

"I dunno... Should I? I mean... I want to open it now, but I don't want to..." I muttered, pulling the ribbon off in spite of my indecision. Zane wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed the back of my neck. I hummed faintly as I pulled the wrapping paper off of the box. "Is it a bracelet?" I shook the box, and, hearing nothing, frowned. "Not a bracelet..." I lifted the lid of the box and found an airline ticket. I shot up off his lap, and jumped up and down on the sidewalk. "Seriously? Zane - My parents -"

"I already talked to them. You'll be going along with us as a temporary nanny for Rene, Filipe and Marcos, because my parents gave Tanya the time off for Christmas." I laughed aloud as he swooped me up into his arms and spun me around. "You're coming to Spain with us for Christmas, Mi Querida!" We stood in the snow, a couple in love - oblivious to everything happening around us.

That is, until the sound of a gun filled the silent, snow-covered streets.

Translations:

Si - yes

La belle dame sans merci - the beautiful lady without mercy

Bueno - good

Mi amor - my love

Me vuelves loca - you drive me crazy

Ma chérie - my dear

Bombons - marshmallows

Mon amour - my love

A bon chat, bon rat - to a good cat, a good rat (in retaliation)

Chica - girl

Mi bella - my beauty

Mi la chaqueta - my jacket

Rojo - red

Mi Querida - my dear