Chapter 9 - Nightmares and Memories

Not five minutes had passed when Sparky returned to the living room to announce (in the space of a single breath) that he was hungry, and his brothers and sister probably were too, but he hadn't actually asked them. But he thought they probably were.

"Yes, I'd think you would be," Franziska replied slowly. "After all, you hardly gave anyone a chance to eat before you started that fight at lunch..."

"Sissy," Sparky whined. "Aren't you going to fix dinner?"

"I don't know if I should!" Franziska snapped. "Are you going to behave and eat?"

"Yes," Sparky replied defiantly, pouting.

Then Franziska surprised everyone by saying, "Good boy!" and patting him on the head. In the doorway of the kitchen she turned back and said, "And you'll eat whatever I fix, without complaining. Then the four of you are getting your baths and going to bed!" With that, she stalked off to cook dinner.

Edgeworth and Gumshoe played with the kids while Franziska fixed dinner. The children were surprisingly well-behaved throughout dinner, and went along quietly for their baths afterward. Bedtime was a bit more of a challenge, and by the time all the kids were asleep Detective Gumshoe was pretty sure he could recite "The Three Little Kittens" from memory, seeing as how that was the only story the Asib children ever wanted to hear...

"It's late. We should get going," Edgeworth said. He was already heading toward the door.

"Why don't you just stay the night?" Franziska asked from where she sitting on the couch. I'll sleep out here and you two can take my bed." Because she certainly wasn't going to suggest that either one of them sleep in the bed with her.

"Wait, we can't do that," the detective protested. He only meant that he was uncormfortable with the idea of them taking the bed and making Franziska sleep on the couch, but apparently she thought he meant something else...

"Well, if you're that uncomfortable with Miles being gay, you can sleep on the floor," she snapped.

"That's not what I meant-" The detective cut himself off as the meaning of what Franziska had just said sank in. "Wait, Mr. Edgeworth is gay?"

"I am NOT gay," Edgeworth hissed, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the children.

"Oh, you are so, and you know it," Franziska replied, busting out the gesture she uses when presenting evidence in court. "You wear a pink suit, your hobby is drinking tea, and you enjoyed playing with my dolls just a bit too much when we were little."

Edgeworth started to respond, but Detective Gumshoe interrupted him. "I was only trying to say that you don't have to give up your bed. We could sleep somewhere else, or, you know, just leave..."

But Franziska insisted that they were to stay the night. And since any alternate sleeping arrangement would leave someone on the floor, the conversation ended with the detective giving in.

It was about 5 a.m. when the detective wandered into the kitchen. He was surprised to see that Franziska was already there. She was standing barefoot at the kitchen counter, drinking a cup of coffee. A pair of chocobo-patterned pajama bottoms peeked out from beneath the hem of her bathrobe.

She saw him staring and said, "Don't laugh. It was a present from my sister." From the way she was frowning, it was obvious that her sister had no sense of what Franziska's tastes were. "What are you doing up so early, anyway?"

The detective's features slid into his patented sad-depressed expression. "I couldn't sleep. I don't mean to be rude or anything but..." Here his expression changed to one of mild anger. "Mr. Edgeworth is a total bed hog!" Franziska somehow managed to hold back her laughter as Gumshoe rattled on about Edgeworth rolling over on him, kicking him in his sleep, and just generally not staying on his own side of the bed. "So, what about you?" Desptie the fact that his question was tacked on to the end of a lengthy account of dysfunctional bed-sharing, she knew exactly what he meant.

Franziska pointed to the corner of the kitchen, where Mushroom was sitting quietly. Two silky-eared pink stuffed rabbits were sitting on the little girl's lap. Another rabbit of the same style, but green, lay beside her on the floor. "She had a nightmare and refuses to go back to sleep. I've been up with her since four."

"Hi, Scruffy," Mushroom said, looking up at him.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that in fron of the kids. They think it's my name now," the detective said to Franziska in an undertone.

"I know you hate it when I call you that," Franziska whispered back, taking a sip of her coffee. "But just look at her. It's cute when she does it." (If this were a manga, that sentence would be punctuated with a musical note.)

The detective knew better than to try and argue the point. He knelt next to Mushrrom and asked, "What do you have there?"

"I got bunny-rabbits." The little girl proceeded to introduce them by name. "This is Reiji and Ryuichi, and that one-" She pointed to the one on the floor. "-is Oscar." The tip of Ryuichi's left ear was wet and it was obvious that Mushroom had a habit of sucking on it. "Oscar's Ravey's and Reiji is Cat's." The little girl looked so sad, sitting there like that. There was no way she really understood what had happened to her borther and sister, but somehow she knew that she would never see them again. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Detective Gumshoe scooped up the little girl (and all the bunny-rabbits) into his arms. "Come on, let's go watch TV," he said, somehow managing to sound cheerful even though he felt like his heart was breaking with the weight of the child's sorrow. Franziska followed them into the living room and sat next to the detective on the couch.

When 6 a.m. rolled around, the rest of the kids and a very tired-looking Edgeworth wandered into the living room to find the pair asleep on the couch with Mushroom laying across both their laps and Franziska's head resting on the detective's shoulder.

A/N: The bunnies' names Reji and Ryuichi are NOT references to Edgeworth and Phoenix's Japanese names. They are a reference to Gravitation. (Ryuchi Sakuma, the singer from Bad Luck's rival band, and his American manager Reiji/Rage.)