A/N: A bit of a respite from the lessons theme this chapter, though it's not another interlude. Think of this as an oasis of fluff in an ocean of Manfred-hate.
3rd paragraph: Holy parentheses overdose, Batman!
*is a nerd*
Chapter Four
So Could You Very Sweetly?
Oktober 2002
From the day Liesl left onward, there was another, unspoken rule in the Von Karma manor. You were never to say her name. The staff caught on quickly when two of their own—a particularly gossipy manservant and a maid whose job it was to give Von Karma his mail—were fired on the spot for doing so. The latter hadn't even technically broken the rule, since news of the former's prompt dismissal had spread like wildfire through the staff, but she did have the misfortune of delivering a letter from Liesl, one which promptly made it into the fire which burned once more in the dining room fireplace thanks to the lingering chill in this mountainous region. For a moment, Miles had contemplated grabbing it for the sake of Franziska's peace of mind, but there hadn't been time, and Liesl hadn't written since.
A few months after Liesl's abrupt departure, Franziska had her fourth birthday. Miles knew that she would probably be encouraged/forced to take Liesl's place in training as a prosecutor as soon as possible, not that she wouldn't have been raised as one anyway, but he did think that a legal encyclopaedia was probably not the best gift her father could have given her. That she could even read fluently was a testament to her intelligence and the diligence of her governess. She certainly wasn't going to be doing legal research anytime soon!
Miles had given her his gift in secret—it didn't take a genius (even if he was one) to figure out that Von Karma wouldn't approve of it. Using the 'meagre' (by Manfred's standards) allowance he'd been allotted, he'd determined to find Franziska a gift that, while age-appropriate, wouldn't make her feel as if he thought her stupid or childish. In pursuit of this goal, he'd convinced Von Karma to allow him to head to the nearest city the weekend before(local geography, bizarrely, was something he'd never even been informally instructed in) with Artur as escort.
Artur was the suited man from the airport. He was also, apparently, Miles's valet. Miles had been greatly taken aback to learn this.
His pretext—that he was searching for a few foreign-language novels for study purposes—naturally led him to a bookstore: exactly where he wanted to be. It took nearly an hour and a half, but at last he had what he was looking for: the most accurate German translation of The World of Pooh that he could find.
Since Franziska had far more freedom to move about the manor than did Miles, he enlisted the aid of Franziska's governess to pass a message to her, instructing her to meet him in his room after lights-out. Adeline Kirsch was the sort of governess you usually only got in movies—the kind who would secretly abet her charge while presenting a stern, dutiful face to her overly-strict employer—and so of course she was happy to help, even locating and providing wrapping paper and curling ribbon to lend a festive, cheerful note that the celebration proper had…lacked.
Franziska took the colourful, spangled package with a wide-eyed look of awe approaching reverence. "For me?" she whispered, looking up at her new brother.
"Well, it's certainly not my birthday," Miles pointed out dryly. "Go on, open it."
Franziska's hands went eagerly to the ribbon, sliding it off. Then she paused, her hands poised above the gift, a look of conflicted sorrow on her face.
"I'll ruin it," she said sadly.
"It's okay—the paper's just the wrapping, not the gift," Miles explained, feeling a little silly for having to. Von Karma didn't seem to believe in wrapping paper. It was both pointless and wasteful…which was technically true, but gifts just weren't gifts without it.
Franziska hesitated a moment more. "I do really want to open it…"
Miles watched, faintly bemused, as Franziska carefully un-taped the paper, meticulously unfolding each and every crease. The last time he'd seen anyone open a gift was last Christmas, when he and his father, along with Larry, had joined the Wright family to celebrate. There, Larry had proudly displayed his 'present-opening talons', having left off trimming his nails for the entire last month, and torn into his gifts like a rampaging Tyrannosaurus Rex. Miles and Mr Wright had been appalled. His father, Phoenix, and Mrs Wright had found it hysterically funny, the latter nudging her husband and ordering him to "Lighten up, Asher!"
Asher's retort had been that she wasn't the one who was going to have to clean up the floor later, and he'd winced as Larry made the error of slashing open a homemade wrapping-paper goodie-bag, scattering jelly beans all over the wooden floor with a rushing clatter.
He still wondered a little why Larry hadn't been with his family. More than that, though, he wondered what Franziska would think of Larry's technique, as at last she simply swept the whole sheet from atop her present, unmarred save for a few little places where the tape had scarred the gleaming finish.
Gently, his sister lifted the slender volume, curiously examining the picture on the front.
"Is that bear walking on two legs?" she asked sceptically.
"Erm, yes."
"…Why?"
Miles wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. "Because he's Winnie-the-Pooh," he replied, because it explained it to him. "It's a story, Ziska. It doesn't have to be realistic. It's got its own rules. In this story, bears can walk on two legs, and talk to tigers and kangaroos and rabbits."
Franziska's eyes went wide. "Tigers!" Eagerly, she opened the book, but her look quickly turned to one of confusion.
"Where are the headers? The footnotes?"
Miles froze.
(No…she can't mean…)
"Ziska," the boy began carefully, examining her face closely in the dim lamplight. "Have you ever read a storybook before? Or a novel?"
She shook her head slowly, staring at him with expectant blue eyes.
"Have you ever read anything that wasn't a textbook?" Miles asked softly, really hoping he didn't know the answer.
Another headshake.
(…I read textbooks a lot when I was little, too, but I chose to…)
After another moment of hesitation, Miles came to a decision.
"Here, Ziska. I'll read it to you."
A look of fascinated anticipation came into her eyes and she nodded eagerly, handing it to her brother, who took it solemnly and propped himself up against the headboard. He opened the volume and smiled slightly at the familiar image which greeted him, of a little boy tugging a toy bear down the stairs by its arm.
The scene in Miles's bedroom as he began to read would have made a good illustration, too: the dim light of the lamp barely illuminated a boy in pyjamas with his feet just under the edge of the sheets and a book open on his drawn-up knees and a little girl in a frilly nightgown, one leg dangling over the edge of the bed, braided hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned forward attentively as if hanging onto the boy's every word.
With a silent, desperate prayer to he-didn't-know-who that he wouldn't stumble over the barely-familiar language, tainting the beloved story with his own clumsiness, Miles read the words which he'd once known so well, in another time, another land, another tongue.
And slowly but surely, the gleam in Franziska's eyes changed from one of expectancy to one of utmost enchantment.
"'What about a story?' said Christopher Robin.
"'What about a story?' I said.
"'Could you very sweetly tell Winnie-the-Pooh one?'
"'I suppose I could,' I said. 'What sort of stories does he like?'
"'About himself. Because he's that sort of Bear.'
"'Oh, I see.'
"'So could you very sweetly?'
"'I'll try', I said.
"So I tried."
Lesson One: Kindness inspires loyalty.
Lesson Two: A Von Karma is perfection.
Lesson Three: Don't cross Von Karma.
Lesson Four: You can't trust others.
Additional Disclaimer: The World of Pooh was written by A.A. Milne like waaaaaay before I was born, so I while I own the book, or rather a copy thereof, I don't own the IP contained therein, including the dialogue at the end of this chapter. Please not to sue, textbooks are pricy. Kthnxbai.
A/N: Yes! Reviews! *does happy dance*
What? Ego? Me? Maybe. Mostly I just like knowing people are enjoying this. Thanks so much, guys!
Red-the-Mudkip: Yes; that, and a little research. Capcom wasn't originally intending to make Justice For All, so they didn't pay too much attention to little details like 'how many relatives Von Karma has', and threw in the granddaughter line. Then they made it and wanted Von Karma 2.0 to be a teenaged prodigy, making a throwaway comment in one of those Japanese-only fan handbooks about Manfred having a second, nameless older daughter to explain the granddaughter line.
Anonymous: I wouldn't bid adieu to Liesl just yet…after all, that interlude was With Liesl #1…heehee. I'm glad you like this so much!