CHAPTER 25

Franziska awoke to find herself in bed alone. She looked over at the clock to find that it was only 2:45 in the morning; they must've gotten to bed around midnight last night. Why I am alone right now? She wondered as she got out bed to try and see if Miles was anywhere to be found.

She checked to kitchen to see if he was up making himself some tea, but to no avail. Upon exiting, she saw a blue light eminating from the living room. She walked in to find Miles drinking tea with Pesu sitting in his lap, watching old re-runs of the original Steel Samurai. She spoke up, drowsily yet nervously; "Miles...?" He didn't look away from the tv screen; "Good morning, Franziska." She knew he was troubled. He didn't act it, and that, strangly, was how she knew, due to the circumstances surrounding him. However, she also knew he wasn't worried for himself; he was worried for the safety of the little girl and the foolish police officer.

She sat beside him; she saw a cup of tea he had prepared for her, but it had gone cold. "Miles...are you ok?" He was lifting up his cup of tea to his lips, but stopped, and just looked down into it as he answered. "Yes...I'm fine." He was lying through his teeth, and she knew it. "Miles, don't lie to me." he looked over at her; stress lines on his forehead became visible from the light of the tv. "Franziska...you don't understand." She was puzzled, and the look on her face must've shown it; "What don't I understand?"

He turned his attention back to the tv and took a sip of his tea. "Franziska...I have people's lives in my hands, and I have to work against them. Do you know what that's like?" His tone of voice embodied stress; the bags under his eyes and the scowl on his face complimented this. Franziska was hurt by the icy bite of his voice, but she loved him, and it was obvious to her that he needed someone to be there for him right now. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he shut his eyes and looked down for a second. After a moment, he looked back up and they watched the Steel Samurai together in silence for the rest of the night.

He fell asleep around 3:15, after absent mindedly laying his head down in Franziska's lap; she knew he wasn't the type to succumb to doing such things as this; the roles were usually in reverse in this situation. However, she also knew that he had always put his problems aside to be with her during her times of need, like earlier with the thunderstorm. Now, she had to be there for him. She stroked her hand through his hair; his jet black hair was very soft to her touch. She began making comparisons of what it felt like. Velvet?...No, that's too coarse...Wool?...no, now I'm just thinking of different types of fabrics...she gave up and decided it was a texture that was unique to his hair.

After a little bit, she laid her head back against the couch and fell asleep. She dreamed, but she woke herself up mid-dream to try and cook her and Miles' breakfast before the trial later that morning. She tried to remember what she had dreamed about as she made her way to the refrigerator. She didn't realize she had forgotten it until she pulled the eggs out of the refrigerator. *YYYAAAWWWNN* She rubbed her eye with her right hand. I must be sleepier than I thought...

She tried finding something she could cook in; she remembered her last attempt at cooking, and she hoped it would turn out better this time. She turned the stove top on and prepared to crack the eggs into the pan. She hit the egg against the pan to crack it, but it didn't work like it did when she saw other people do it. She dug her thumbs into the small crack she had created in the eggshell; she started to pull the eggshell apart over the frying pan, but she pulled to hard and the egg exploded all over her and the kitchen around her. She slung the egg yolk off of her hands as she looked down on her nightgown; Ughh...I'll never be able to get these stains out!

She looked into her pan and saw that she had gotten more shell than egg into the cook-ware. She frustratedly grabbed another egg and went through the same process over again. She slammed the residue egg-yolk onto the floor and crossed her arms. She wasn't used to this sort of failure; especially in such a simple aspect of life such as cooking. Her forehead crinkled in irritation as she reached over for a spatula to cook her half-egg half-shell breakfast for her and Miles.

She poked and prodded at the food inside of the frying pan as she looked around the room at the mess she had made; only around half of an egg total made it into the pan. The rest found it's way onto the cabinets or onto her, either one. Once she was done with her failed attempt at cooking, she put it on a plate and put some water into the teapot and set it onto the stovetop.

She walked outside the door covered in egg yolk to pick up the morning newspaper. Two of their neighbors, an older, confused couple walked by and gave her strange looks. As she was shutting the door, she heard the man say in a weak, strained voice; "Marge, was that young blue-haired girl who always has the whip covered in egg yolk?"

"WHAT!?" Marge yelled in a smoked-out voice. She hadn't heard what he had said.

"I SAID, WAS THAT..." She slammed the door shut in embarrassment; they probably had awaken the entire floor up by yelling about her being covered in egg yolk. She didn't think things through, and after she slammed the door, she accidentally awoke Miles from his slumber.

He sat up quickly, staring at the door with a face as white as a ghost with a pair bugged out coal grey eyes to match; She turned red with embarrassment.

Then, he smiled warmly at her, and got up off the couch to make his way towards her. When he got over there, he took ihis index finger and wiped some egg yolk off of her nose. He smirked; "I can see you tried cooking again."

She looked at the ground, her face as red as ever; Why do I always humiliate myself in front of him?

She didn't see the look on his face when he spoke up once more, but she assumed it was a genuine one. "Thank you. The thought means a lot to me." She was still too embarrassed to look up at him, but he picked her chin up like he always did; she had grown to love it when he did this, as it gave her goosebumps everytime he did it.

"Miles?"

"Yes, Franziska?"

She had a half-embarrassed half-playful grin on her face. "Let's stop and get breakfast on the way to the courthouse, ok?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't been putting off the trial, lol. I've just been trying to figure out what I want to happen in it. Next Chapter, for sure, dudes. Alright, Review! Later.

-ghostfacekiller39