CHAPTER 11

After they were done, Franziska and Adrian put their clothes back on; Adrian dressed herself in the silky blue pajamas Franziska had lent her, while Franziska slipped back into her work clothes.

Adrian looked puzzled. "Don't you have something more casual you wear around the house?"

Franziska had never thought of this; I never wear anything that's not formal...why is that? She decided that there were more important things to be considering at the moment, such as how she was going to answer the question. "No. I only wear formal attires. You never know when you're going to be brought a case, so I need to be prepared and professional at all times."

Adrian simply nodded. "Makes sense. So what's the rest of the house look like?" She put a playful grin on her face; "Is it all this blue?"

Franziska blushed. "N-no! Here, I will show you." She grabbed Adrian's hand and rushed her into the hallway.

"First, my younger brother's room." She showed her a room that had basically the same design as hers, but with more than just one color. Adrian looked shocked. "You have a younger brother?"

"Yes. I believe you know him as Miles Edgeworth."

Adrian looked shocked. "No way! You two don't look alike at all! A-and his last name isn'e von Karma; It's Edgeworth."

Franziska understood the misconception; It had happened before, except she usually just hit them with her riding crop to get them back on subject, since that was her substitute to her whip during the time she and Edgeworth lived together. "He was adopted by my father, Manfred von Karma, to be shown the von Karma way..." She let out a sigh, and picked up a picture of 3 young boys sitting by his bedside. "...he had known other things in his life, though...he was able to find out the error of our ways more quickly than I was able to..." A tear began falling from her eye. "...that's what happened in court today. I realized everything he had been telling me had been true. I was wrong..." Immediately after saying this, Franziska realized she had never used that last sentence in her entire life.

Adrian put her hand on Franziska's shoulder and saw the picture she was looking at.

"Is...is that Mr. Wright?"

"Y-yes, it is..." Franziska was actually grateful for the subject change; the more she talked about what had happened today, the weaker she felt, and Franziska didn't like the feeling of weakness. "And that useless fool of a man with them is Larry Butz..." Franziska immediately got a headache at the mere mention of his name and began tugging her whip furiously. "I question why and how the two of them ever became friends with a foolish fool of a foolish man of the likes of that fool."

Adrian chuckled at her irritation. Franziska felt her headache go away.

Normally, Franziska thought, if someone laughed at my anger, they would feel the full extent of the wrath of Franziska von Karma... Franziska smiled. ...But it's sort of cute when she does it.

Franziska continued with the tour, showing Adrian her private office, the trophy room, and the billiards room/minibar, where they made their stop.

Franziska had decided to stop the tour there to share a glass of wine. (Or at least, Adrian was drinking wine. Franziska just drank cranberry juice, since she was underaged and wouldn't think to do something as foolish as break the law, but she didn't want to look bad in front of Adrian, so she thought this was the best choice.) She had stopped the tour at that point because they were getting into her papa's section of the house, and she couldn't handle all the bad memories and personal demons that would bring out of her...

She had Grunhilda make her way up to that part of the house to pour them their drinks. Franziska looked at her pocket watch; 5:30. It's hard to believe everything that has transpired today, and it's not even time for dinner yet...

Franziska had an idea as she picked up her wine glass filled withcranberry juice. "I was thinking I could take you out to one of my favorite restuarants here in America for dinner tonight...it's rather high end, but I think you'll enjoy it."

Adrian smiled. "Yes, that'd be great."

"Of course, you'll have to wear a dress. Considering we're roughly the same size, I'm sure I can accomodate you, if you want."

"That'll be fine." Adrian wondered if all of Franziska's dresses would be blue.

After Franziska used her power to get them reservations for that night, she went to ready herself. She did this rather quickly, considering her jewelry had already been on because of her court appearance, and the face that her makeup didn't run, as she only wore the most luxurious brand, which never seemed to run. Her dress and her eyeshadow matched her hair, and she wore a pair of silver heels to match her earrings. She patiently seated herself on her bed as she waited for Adrian to finish up her preperation.

She began drumming her fingers against the bedspread as she grew more and more impatient. What's taking her so long? With each passing second she tapped the bedspread faster and faster.

She got up and was about to knock on the door, but Adrian came out as soon as she stood up. She was wearing a red sequined dress that Franziska had for some reason purchased and then never wore, along with a pair of elbow length leather gloves and black heels, with red lipstick on to complete the look.

Franziska was so overwhelmed she couldn't help but speak her native tongue. "Achtung...Mein Herz kann die Schoneit, die Sie, Adrian ausstrahlen, nicht behandeln."

Adrian just smiled. "...Thank you." They held each other for a moment and shared a kiss before Franziska walked Adrian out to the BMW.

When they arrived, they walked to the door holding hands (With Franziska holding her trusty whip in her opposite hand) but had let go when they entered the restuarant. The host seated them in the back, away from the other patrons. Franziska deduced that the host had seen that they were together, so he didn't want them with the other customers in order to avoid a dilemma. I better not get angry or Adrian will catch on, because this is a very sensitive subject with her.

After they had ordered and received their meals, they just ate in silence. It was by no means an awkward silence; a pianist had been playing a soft, slow tune that had gone perfectly with the candlelight and red table cloths, and the atmosphere was just so relaxing. You had warm towels brought to your table and the silverware was gilded in gold.

Franziska had always found the lobster thermidor here quite exquisite; she often came here for dinner alone on the day of a trial. While the service was high class, it wasn't friendly like Mr. Koffi's coffee shop. The waiters and waitresses never seemed to remember their customers or had a conversation with them, they just checked in and conceded to their every request.

She noticed Adrian had ordered the tri-tip steak. The price was of no concern, of course, but she had never really pictured her as the type to eat a steak; she had figured her to be more of a grilled salmon type.

After their meal, they decided to take a walk around a nearby pond. The moonlight reflected off of the water, which made it feel special to both women.

They held each others hands tightly as they were making their way around the pond. They were just talking about trivial things; about things like how Adrian needed a new hair straightener, Franziska's flowers, Adrian's rough experience with contact lenses, the like.

After they had made a full circle, Adrian stopped and turned in front of Franziska.

"Friska, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you..."

Franziska had been too worried about what would come out of Adrian's mouth to notice the new pet name. "...Yes?"

Adrian looked down at their feet; "...I'm in love with you, Franziska von Karma."

Under normal circumstances, Franziska would'nt have reacted well; they had been dating for only 3 or 4 days now...but this was different. Franziska knew that if Adrian only felt for her a tenth of what she felt for Adrian, they'd be together for the rest of their lives.

"I love you too, Adrian Andrews."