Phoenix took a deep breath. He had left the courthouse and come straight here after signing the papers for Edgeworth's eventual release. He could think of no other place Franziska could have gone, other than the house he shared with her. He knocked on the door. No response.

He gingerly wrapped his fingers around the knob and pushed. Franziska sat on the couch in the center of the living room, legs up and feet tucked in. She had her arms wrapped loosely around her knees, and her face was sullen.

Phoenix gulped and loosened his tie. She never sat like this, as calculated as she was in her personal and private life. This was all hitting her worse than he had thought. Edgeworth's trial...his own hospitalization...and above all, the arrest of Manfred von Karma.

"Have you heard about my mother?" Franziska spoke up before he could, her voice low but piercing. All he could do was raise and drop his arms, and then stammer. "I...didn't."

Franziska huffed. "The news was all over it a bit ago." She pointed at the TV, which was switched off. "She couldn't be reached for comment at the Prosecutor's Office, or her home. It seems she has decided to...disappear for a while."

Phoenix began to move closer to the couch. To her surprise, Franziska swung her legs over the couch and forced herself up. She was standing straight now, but her face had not changed.

"All those lessons…"

"Franziska?"

"All those lessons," She shook her head. "All those times spent observing in court, taking notes on everything that happened. Going to school, going to college, passing the bar." Her voice had some steel in it now. "I did it all for him, I did it all for Father. And...and now he's…"

Phoenix walked closer. They were inches apart now. "I thought….despite everything, he was there for me." Franziska watched Phoenix grit his teeth, obviously hesitant about speaking. She shook her head again. "Whatever you have, out with it."

"I don't think…" Phoenix winced. "He was ever there for you. Or for anyone. I think what he wanted, and this is all that can really make sense to me, was for you to be there for him. For his purpose."

Franziska closed her eyes. "Him, and Mother. They were never really there for me." She opened her eyes just as Phoenix started to open his mouth. "I already know what you are going to say. You're going to say that you are really there for me, and always will, and you are going to do whatever you can to help me. There, I have already said it for you."

Phoenix's forehead creased. He spoke softly. "Can...I still say it anyway? With my own voice?" And, unconsciously, he felt his arm reach around, his hand touching her lower back.

"No…"

And then Franziska moved herself.

She reached out, one arm wrapping around Phoenix's waist and the other around his neck. Then, tipping herself forward on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. Phoenix's eyes widened, but he slowly closed them. Then he tightened his grip on her. Her skin was warm to the touch.

And Franziska lay against Phoenix, and let the thoughts fall from her mind and heart.

Miles Edgeworth stood in front of the cell. He had taken a shower, and he was wearing a fresh jacket, waistcoat, and pants. But he was not wearing a cravat. He had let it fall from his fingers the second he picked it up that morning. Memories had come to him then, memories of the countless lessons of etiquette he had gone through at the von Karma household.

Manfred von Karma sat across from Edgeworth, with only a set of iron bars separating them. He was dressed in a gray uniform, but ever the perfectionist, it was free of wrinkles or stains. He looked at his former student with a half-smirk, half-scowl.

"What, you've come to gloat? Come to mock me?"

Nothing from Edgeworth. The younger man's face was impassive.

"Or maybe you want an affidavit? You want me to run by my motive again?" He chuckled mirthlessly. There's nothing else to say. My perfect record was marred by your father, and so I killed him. And I took you in. I built you up so I could knock you down right back to what you were when you were a child." He hissed. "Worthless."

Still nothing from Edgeworth. Manfred sighed. "What do you want?"

Edgeworth coughed in his throat. "I was hoping to provide a message."

"A what?"

Edgeworth stood firm. "I want to thank you."

"...For what?"

"I want to thank you for helping me become what I am now. I am grateful for my education, and I appreciate the pressure you put on me to pass the bar exam with flying colors and become a renowned prosecutor not a year afterward. I thank you."

Edgeworth took a deep breath. "Now, rot in hell."

He turned around and walked out without another word or looking back.

Mia Fey had no way of knowing it, but she had been twitching in her bed all that day. First it was just her fingers, then her toes. Then she began shifting, turning her face from one side of the pillow to the other. It had all started two hours prior to her grunting in her throat, producing the first audible sound in a while.

And she let her eyes open.

Everything was blurry, of course. For a few fleeting seconds the only thing discernable was the flash of cyan above her. A nurse's cap. There were some muffled noises all around her. The nurse was talking. No...there was more than one voice.

And then two more faces came into view. They were both framed by shocks of black hair. They were murmuring, but with a certain intensity she would not expect.

And then everything came into focus.

One face was compact and round, with big eyes and a tiny nose. The other was leaner, with creased eyes and more wrinkles. But they were both crying, their mouths alternating between smiles and frantic, urgent, chattering.

And without even feeling them, Mia felt tears in her own eyes.

"Maya….Mom…"

-A multi-chapter story; Chapter 28; story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.