A/N: I've tweaked the part where Franziska starts talking in this chapter so that it's more clear what age she is at that time (someone thought she was still two when they read that part in Sympathy for the Devil!) and Maria's motives have been expanded on as well.

Chapter Three - Memory: The Silent Child

At about the time that Franziska von Karma was dozing off in the middle of Lady Knight, Miles Edgeworth was sitting at his desk at the prosecutor's office, trying to finish the last bit of paperwork before he called it a night. He had been distracted all day. He doubted anyone else could even tell the difference, but he had noticed a disturbing change in Franziska's behavior lately. If it had just been a drop in her tendency to lash out at people with her whip, he might not have been so worried. However, coupled with that odd occurence, she had hardly spoken a word to anyone in the past few days. It reminded Edgeworth of the time during his childhood when he was first introduced into the von Karma household...

The nine-year old Edgeworth followed Manfred von Karma through the house, paying close attention to the stated function of each room. They stopped at a closed door. Edgeworth thought he heard someone inside. Von Karma seemed to be debating whether or not to show him this room, but after a moment's hesitation he flung open the door.

"This is the nursery," von Karma said to the young Edgeworth.

The first thing Edgeworth noticed was how well-kept the room was. He assumed that, belonging to a small child, the nursery would be in a permanent state of mess. Rather than being scattered about, an army of stuffed animals seemed to have been placed in strategic locations all around the room.

There were three people in the room besides Manfred von Karma and Edgeworth himself. There were two young women who seemed to be in their late 20's, both dressed in the sort of fancy, ruffled clothes that von Karma seemed to favor. One of them had short dark hair and a strained smile on her face. The other was a redhead and had been smiling sweetly the entire time. The third person was the nursery's inhabitant, a young child approximately two years of age, holding a fluffy stuffed goldfish in her arms and, Edgeworth noticed, dressed rather plainly. Once von Karma saw that Edgeworth's attention had turned to the other people in the room, he saw fit to make introductions.

"Those two are the nannies." He nodded toward the two women.

"I'm Maria," the redheaded nanny cheerfully introduced herself.

"Jean," the other nanny stated tersely.

"This is my daughter, Franziska." There was a distinct tinge of distaste in his tone as he said this, and Jean looked at him sharply.

Edgeworth caught the tone but missed the look, beacuse he had been watching Franziska. She was staring at her father with a blank expression.

"Hello, Franziska." Upon hearing him speak her name, she turned her blank stare on the young Edgeworth and hugged her goldfish a little tighter. After a moment it became obvious that the child did not intend to reply. Edgeworth turned to von Karma. "She didn't say anything."

"She doesn't speak," Maria said, with a sad expression that seemed rather forced. Edgeworth noticed a hint of French accent in her speech. He would have liked to find out more about the silent child, but von Karma had already turned to leave and Edgeworth had no choice but to follow. Von Karma closed the door behind them and resumed the journey down the long and winding hallway.

The young Edgeworth felt compelled to say something to von Karma about his daughter, even though he didn't know why or what to say. "She is... a cute little girl..." he spoke up hesitantly.

Von Karma didn't look at the boy as he replied, "In the future, if we are unable to find anyone more suitable for you, then you may marry her when she is of age." This comment was totally unexpected, and Edgeworth was too surprised by far to react.

After the grand tour of the von Karma mansion, Edgeworth was given the rest of the day to unpack his things and get settled. He was still curious about the von Karma girl and once he had his room set up, he made his way back to the nursery.

"Hello," he called out timidly, peeking around the edge of the now-open door. Jean was sitting on the floor with Franziska on her lap, a storybook open of the floor in front of them. The fluffly goldfish was now sitting on top of a low dresser and a brown stuffed puppy had taken its place in the little girl's arms. Maria was nowhere in sight.

"Hello, Miles," Jean replied pleasantly. "I was just reading Miss Franziska a story. Would you like to come in?"

Edgeworth entered the nursery and knelt so that he was on the same level as Franziska. "Hello, Franziska," he said to the little girl. "Do you remember me?" He was surprised when she nodded in answer, and when he looked again he saw that her eyes were wide and bright and she was smiling happily, without a trace of the blank stare from earlier. "You like stuffed animals, dont you?" Again the little girl nodded. "The goldfish is your favorite, isn't it?" At this, her smile faded and she slid from the nanny's lap, dropped her puppy and went over to the window where she pulled down a small green stuffed frog from the sill and sat, pouting, on the edge of her bed.

"The unicorn is her favorite," Jean told him, with a touch of anger in her voice. "The goldfish is 'Maria'."

The young Edgeworth was confused by this. "What do you mean it's Maria?"

Jean considered for a moment before deciding to reply. "It's the one she uses to tell me when Maria has done something to her."

Now Edgeworth was concerned. "What? What do you mean, Maria's done something to her?"

Jean sighed. "I feel like I shouldn't be telling you this. You are still a child as well, after all..."

"No, please tell me," the young Edgeworth begged. His worry for the younger child must have shown in his face, becuase Jean relented and explained the situation to him.

"Maria... Maria hits her." Edgeworth's eyes went wide, but he didn't interrupt. "I've tried telling her father, but he just says that the disciplinary actions are up to our own discretion and I shouldn't criticize my co-worker's methods. Then he won't listen when I try to tell him-" She cut herself off and took a deep breath. Edgeworth thought she looked like she was about to cry. "She does it for no reason." Edgeworth looked over at the little girl and noticed that she had put the frog away again and was laying in her bed, cuddling a pink unicorn.

Jean saw where he was looking and smiled sadly. "If her father would just pay attention to her, he would see that she really is a very bright child... she may not talk, but she still has found a way to tell me anything she wants."

The young Edgeworth was fascinated. "Really, how?"

"The animals. Franziska," she called to the little girl. "Show me which one is nanny Jean."

Franziska went immediately to the corner cupboard and pulled out a floppy brown rabbit. She smiled as she held it in her arms.

"Show me which one is tired." A blue whale from the dresser. "And hungry." A bright red lobster from the bookshelf. Edgeworth had to admit that it was pretty impressive for a two-year-old to be able to communicate her every need and desire through which stuffed animal she was holding.

Jean stood up and walked to one of the toyboxes. She opened the lid, revealing a whole pile of brand-new stuffed animals. "Now, we'll need one for 'Miles'," she said. Franziska reached into the toybox and pulled out a large black-and-blue stuffed snake. She coiled it on top of the toybox. "So, this one is Miles," said Jean, but the little girl shook her head and pointed toward her bed, then picked up the goldfish from the nearby dresser.

"What?" the young Edgeworth asked, looking from the little girl to the nanny and back again in confusion.

Jean smiled tersely. "She says you can be the unicorn because she doesn't want Maria to know which one is you." Maria would assume the new animal represented the new person, and not look anymore into it.

After that day, Edgeworth often came to the nursery to play with Franziska during his free time. Von Karma did not discourage this association, and Edgeworth soon grew tired of hearing the words "If we are unable to find anyone more suitable for you, then you may marry her when she is of age."

Two years passed in this manner until one day when Edgeworth was eleven years old, he overheard part of angument between Jean and von Karma. Jean was yelling, "She is your daughter! Don't you care about her at all?" Edgeworth did not linger to hear the answer but after that day, Jean was never seen in the von Karma household again. For weeks afterward, the floppy brown bunny never left Franziska's arms. Her message was clear: "I want nanny Jean."

After two months, the bunny disappeared back into the cupboard and things started to turn up broken. Every time, Maria would bring the girl to von Karma and tell him the same thing with a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry to bother you, but it seems Miss Franziska has broken the vase is the library." Or the west wing. Or the garden path. The location and (sometimes) the type of object varied. Franziska would stand beside the nanny with the vacant expression she always wore in her father's presence, holding a large red stuffed dragon.

Von Karma would always answer, in a bored tone, "Yes, thank you for telling me, Maria. Have one of the maids clean it up."

Things continued on in this manner for almost an entire year, until one day when Franziska (now five years old) showed up at her father's door alone. Edgeworth saw that Maria was nowhere in sight and Franziska's arms were empty of animals.

When von Karma noticed his daughter hovering in the doorway of the office, he barely glanced at her as he said, "I'm busy, Franziska. I don't care what you've broken this time. Just have one of the maids clean it up."

"I haven't broken anything," the little girl spoke out in a strong, clear voice. It was the first time Edgeworth had ever heard her speak, and from the look on von Karma's face, it was apparent that this came as a shock to him as well. Franziska went on to explain that Maria had been breaking things and blaming it on her. The first time, it had been an accident, but the nanny hadn't wanted to get in trouble herself and thought she could get away with it because she thought the girl had no way to tell her father the truth. She didn't know that Franziska had secretly learned to talk. Franziska had been willing to let the incident pass, but Maria soon became addicted to the thrill and Franziska quickly grew tired of being made to look like a clumsy fool when she had done nothing to deserve such scorn. The little girl had known that her father would not believe her without proof. She had spent the past year gathering evidence and now she made her case against Maria.

With a nasty smile on his face, von Karma called Maria into his office. She was fired immediately. "Your services are no longer needed. My daughter is old enough to take care of herself." Maria was almost out the door when he said, "By the way, I will be pressing charges..."

Once Franziska had proven herself a worthy successor to the von Karma name in her own right, there was no more talk of Edgeworth marrying her.

Edgeworth woke up, realizing he had actually fallen asleep at his desk. He sighed and decided to just go home without trying to finish the last of the day's workload. He was just about to get up when Lana Skye came barging into his office.

"Good, you're still here," the chief prosecutor said. "There's been a murder. It's rather... sensitive... and I'd like you to handle the case, but I think the police department may already have contacted her."