CHAPTER 20

A bead of sweat dropped down Miles Edgeworth's forehead as he shined his flashlight up and down the hallways of his apartment building. He felt bad for what had happened; he loved her enough to marry her, he just didn't think they had been in a relationship long enough in order to take that step; Was I wrong for thinking that? Feelings of uneasiness continued creeping over him, and he let out a shudder as he thought of how shaky her voice was during her proposal.

He decided to give the parking garage another look; he had checked everywhere but the elevators by this point. He wasn't sure if he was prepared to check the apartment's elevators, but he knew it was a possibility, so he began preparing himself in case the time were to come.

He walked into the parking garage once more, surveying the vast, dark area with his flashlight; since it was still early in the morning, his neighbor's cars have yet to leave from their designated parking space. He jumped at the sound of a sob in the corner farthest from where he was searching, and immediately went over to examine what he had heard.

He shined his flashlight into the dark corner as he approached it; he found Franziska with her head buried into her knees, crying. As he shined to light towards her direction, she looked up, blocking the light with her hand and revealing a pair of bloodshot, teary eyes along with her revelation. She was still in her nightgown, barefoot, and her whip lay beside her. As he approached to take a seat beside her, she moved her whip in front of her so he could sit where it lay at her side. He sat down and put his hand on her shoulder as she cried; her sobbing had gone silent now, but he could still see the pain in her eyes as she looked towards the ground in front of her.

"Franziska...I love you." He said in his softest voice possible. She didn't look his way. "I-I know...I l-love you, too, Miles E-Edgeworth."

He was trying to think of what to say when she spoke up; "M-Miles E-Edgeworth...we have known e-each other almost a-all of our lives..."

He hushed her; "Ssshhhh. One day, I think it will happen, Franziska. I honestly do."

She looked at him with teary eyes, the blue-hue of them brought out by the redness surrounding them; the sun was coming up, and it was no longer near-pitch black in the parking garage; it had settled for a dusty gray darkness that early morning time often brought the world. "If y-you think that...than why w-won't you marry me?" To someone who didn't know her better, it would appear as if she was a small, spoiled child crying because she didn't get what she felt like she deserved, but Miles knew her better; she had always leaned on him, she needed him there with her at all times to feel safe with everything around her; and who could blame her? Manfred von Karma was extremely apathetic towards the two of them, and she hardly conversed with the servants, due to the fact her father always had them working; he knew she liked Alfred and the old gardening lady, but they were both dead now. She had never had any friends, and it wasn't even her fault; she hardly ever got to leave the premises of von Karma manor as a child, and although she had recently made a new friend in Maya Fey, she probably wasn't close enough to her yet in order to add her to the list; a list that now only had one name: Miles Edgeworth. He was all she had left in the world, and she was scared he'd be gone, too.

He reached over with his dominant right hand in order to wipe a tear out of her eye; "Franziska...I don't..." He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing; his rationality, logic, and common sense all were telling him not to walk into a marriage with someone he had only been in a intimate relationship with for a little under a week; but something inside of him shot down his rational thinking when he saw her tear rolling down his right index finger. She's...hurt. She doesn't show her feelings around anyone, she is always professional; she never... before he could finish his thought, a stunning realization came over him; since they were little, she had always shown her true feelings around him; something she never did for anyone else, and since they entered a relationship with one another, he had done the same around her; he let his guard down.

He clinched his side, but at the same time spoke with the utmost confidence and belief in his words; "Franziska von Karma...I'll marry you, if your offer is still on the table..." She sniffled; "...y-you're telling the t-truth, right? a-and y-your marrying me b-because y-you love me...r-right?"

He smiled back at her; it seemed to be a cocky, snide smirk, but in reality, is was a warm, honest, confident smile, and she picked this up. "Yes. Yes I am."

With that, her tears went away over time, and she rested her head on his shoulder; after that, they sat in that same position, in that same place, with only their sleeping clothes on, and they watched the apartment's residents get in their cars and drive out of the garage to go to work one by one, in a silence that could only be described as perfect. It was as if, although neither of them wanted to say this to break the silence, their thoughts were entwined for the hours they sat in that garage together without speaking, watching their neighbors leave to start their day, as the sun came up, revealing a blue sky, granting them with full visibility of their surroundings; it was as if they told each other everything they wanted to talk about without speaking; and, for the first time in a long while, both of them felt completely at ease, as if nothing bad had ever happened in the cold, dark world around them; it was a moment that neither of them would ever forget.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you see why I felt I had lost touch with some of the characters, as I think I might have portrayed them OOC a bit too much more than I had hoped for; Franziska, not so much, as I have been trying to create a deeper backstory for her than Capcom left us with; I feel they could've done a much better job with her story when I look at it, probably about the same as they did with Edgeworth. Not Godot, though. That was too badass for anyone to be able to create over and over again. Back on topic: I think I've done a good job with her part, but I felt I was losing touch with some of the other characters, namely Edgeworth, but others, notably Phoenix as well; so I took yesterday off writing and tried to reacquaint myself with them; I can say for certain that I'm ready to write the 2nd trial; but don't expect it in the next chapter. Also, it's going to be a full 3 day trial due to the circumstances that surround it, so I can drag out this story even longer, because, let's face it, I don't want to end this work anytime soon. So, I hope you have a greater understanding as to why I'm portraying the characters this way. Oh, and please review! It's irritating putting this much work into to something without knowing what other people are thinking, and if you think I can improve on something, don't hesitate to tell me, I'll appreciate the feedback. Alright, thanks a ton!

-ghostfacekiller39