Pretty Little Poison

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with Ace Attorney or Capcom. This story is just for fun.

Rated M for: Lemon, strong language, very dark/potentially triggering themes [specifically violence/murder] and minor character death.

A/N: This is a rather graphic chapter. This, too, was super difficult to write.

Wednesday, April 10th – 9:55 a.m.

District Court - Courtroom #2

For hours, it seemed like, Ema was questioned by police. Once she was cleared of any wrongdoing, she worked with law enforcement to obtain a handwriting sample and the teapot figurine from Kristoph's cell for evidence in the case of her attack. It did not take long to confirm that he, indeed, was the perpetrator behind her poisoning. It was him who had made an attempt on her life, and not Klavier Gavin. Though these facts were clear, and though she knew that the elder brother's only intention was her demise, his death darkened her conscience. Her chest was heavy with guilt, though she knew that it would have been her lying in the morgue, had she not taken action.

When she left the court house's garage after parking her car, the first thing she saw was dozens of angry fans, gathered and protesting on the court house's steps in demand of Klavier's acquittal. Various signs, some written in English and others in German, were held in the air, proclaiming his innocence. They were exactly right. Klavier Gavin was, indeed, innocent. She passed the angry, chanting mob and allowed herself into the building.

Remaining inconspicuous, she entered the gallery and took a middle seat in the back row to blend in with the chatty fans in attendance to show their support. Ema reached into her pocket and munched on her smuggled snackoos. She truly did not want to be here, and she was not sure why she decided to attend Klavier's hearing to begin with; though she was certain Klavier hated her, she guessed she wanted to look at him one more time before silently bidding him farewell and returning into the nothingness, where she belonged. She was planning on transferring to another city for work, and would only travel to Los Angeles to visit Lana.

Klavier appeared in the room, along with Phoenix Wright, and the gallery erupted in supportive cheers. He did not seem to care to notice them. A lump swelled in Ema's throat; this was all her fault. Had she just rejected him from the beginning. Had she not fallen madly, deeply in love with him, this would have never happened. He would be a free man to be with whoever he wished, and his brother would remain rotting in prison. From the distance, she could tell that his cheeks were slightly sunken into his sullen face and his eyes were framed with darker circles. Damn her. Damn her for ruining his perfect beauty.

"All rise!" The bailiff called to the courtroom and the gallery stood obediently. When they had done so, Klavier skimmed over all the faces in the gallery and found Ema, who's painful gaze, too, remained fixated in his direction. A weak smile twitched across his face, with his piercing, blue eyes beginning to glimmer with hope. This had twisted the knife in Ema's heart. How was she going to live with herself?

"You may now be seated."

Ema was the last to sit down. Klavier's smile widened, taking her presence in. She was here. She was alive. He yearned to jump over the defense's table and climb into the gallery and take her into his arms.

"Initially, the court was planning to arraign Klavier Gavin on the charge of attempted murder," the judge began. "However, we have received new, decisive evidence that has dropped all suspicion on him as a suspect. The perpetrator, though, passed away unexpectedly before he could be brought into the court of law. Therefore, I feel that I have no choice but to close the case. Does the prosecution or the defense have any further words to say regarding this case?"

"No, your honor," the prosecutor, a tall, heavy, balding man that Ema did not recognize, shook his head.

"The defense has nothing, your honor," Phoenix, too, rejected the offer.

"Very well. The charge against Klavier Gavin is dismissed. Court is adjourned." He pounded his gavel and the court erupted into more cheers.

Klavier had smiled gratefully towards the judge; though, when he searched for Ema in the crowd, she was gone. Phoenix had shaken his hand and the prosecutor congratulated him on his acquittal, but he did not comprehend the first word said to him. Upon leaving the courthouse, more fans cheered and screamed loudly for his victory. He was a free man, yet he still felt as though he was in chains.

Wednesday, April 10th – 1:03 p.m.

Ema Skye's Residence

Rubbing her sore shoulders, Ema returned to her laptop in the search for job applications. She found a similar job in a neighboring city, though she did not have the experience that they seemed to require. She had a connection with Dick Gumshoe that could be useful; perhaps he could pull some strings at his department until she was able to take her forensics exam again. Regardless, her time in Los Angeles was over and it was time for her to move on. Wiping a tear from her eye, she took another drink of wine. At least he was free. And really, that was all that mattered to her. Soon, her bruises would fade and her scarred spirit would heal.

A knock on the door had pulled her out of her daze. Rubbing her stiff shoulder, she wrapped her black scarf around her neck to conceal her bruises and slowly made her way to the front door. Placing her hand on the doorknob, she twisted it and pulled the barrier toward her, revealing Klavier's soft, but sober gaze. "Hey."

"Hey," she murmured. The two had stared for such a long while into each other's eyes. Both were wounded and would be for some time. Ema eventually widened the space of the door and allowed him in. The corner of his mouth twitched and he walked inside. She closed her laptop and scooted it forward on the coffee table as he sat beside her on the leather couch.

"Nice place," he tried to make small talk.

"Thank you..." Her response was quiet. Almost inaudible.

Another silence. Not taking his eyes off of her, he held her hand. "You saved my life. I am free because of you. Thank you."

"Please don't say that."

Klavier blinked. "Why? It's true."

Ema closed her eyes and found herself shaking her head. "It's not. You were freed because you were innocent."

He curled her loose hair behind her ear and accidentally exposed some bruising. He studied her injuries closer. "… What in the hell did he do to you, Fraulein? No one told me he…"

His strained voice lured the powerful sobs from Ema's throat. With emotionless features, Klavier, for the first time, welcomed the dark thoughts and images of his brother's demise; he had truly hoped he suffered for all the pain he caused. Had Kristoph survived his own poisoning, he would have ensured his death. His body, shredded to a bloody pulp by his hands and teeth, left his eye twitching. Such an extreme death would have been worth every miserable second in prison. Perhaps he was no better than him, after all.

Cautiously, he started to unwind the scarf slowly from around her neck to expose more of the colorful injuries. "May I?" Ema winced with the knowledge of her exposure, but said nothing. His fingers grasped the hem of her shirt and cautiously eased it from her skin.

"You don't want to see this," She warned him.

"I do."

Releasing more sobs, she joined him and slowly removed the shirt with ease and revealed the black and purple bruising in the shape of fingerprints on her slender neck, along with splotches of similar colors on her collarbones and between her shoulder blades. Blinking away tears, Klavier's complexion paled. That bastard! How dare he touch her?

"You don't understand, Klavier. I killed him."

"He died by his own poison. You did no such thing."

"He served me poisoned tea and I switched the cups when he wasn't looking. I did not know he was going to die. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Klavier continued playing with her hair silently, listening to her sobs. He, too, released a couple of tears with the knowledge that her injuries were due to his brother's attempt on her life. A ring-clad finger traced over the bruises on her neck gently, gradually moving upward to cup her chin and nudging her to look at him. "If anyone should be sorry, it should be me, for not keeping you out of harm's way."

And she felt his lips brush against each and every mark his brother had left behind. Through her pain, both emotional and physical, the flame of her desire was reignited. It had been so long since she had felt his touch. Or, at least, that was what it had felt like. Her head slowly tilted back, allowing his heat to embrace her. What had she done to deserve him? "I love you, Fraulein," he whispered into her ear. "Nothing will change my feelings for you."

She opened her eyes to view his angelic face, full of admiration and awe at the sight of her. "I..." she trailed off. "I love you!" She closed the gap between their faces with a crushing kiss. "More than anything in the world!"

"Oh, Ema," Without hesitation, he took her into his arms. "Those sweet words… music to my ears."