Part II—Great Revival

Chapter 1—Looking Forward

March 28, 2017

A little under a month had passed since Lana's sentence. Due to mitigating circumstances, she was to serve a mere six months in prison. Since she was blackmailed, it was decided that her role was minimal, resulting in a smaller sentence. Shortly before formally being moved to prison, she contacted a friend, Alice Charleston, and asked her to look after Ema for the time being. Alice wasn't exactly Lana's idea of a good role model, considering her occasional shopping problems, but she knew Ema would be pleased with the choice. After all, Alice was a coroner, a job Ema was certain to be interested in, not to mention she lived in England, a place Ema had always wanted to visit.

Like Mia, Lana met Alice through college. In fact, her first boyfriend was Alice's brother: Tom Charleston, a good man, but one who had the misfortune of getting a false negative on an STI screening. Lana didn't hold a grudge over it, considering that it wasn't his fault, and she respected him for telling her the truth the instant he learned he had herpes. Fortunately for Lana, she did not contract the illness. They remained a couple for a few months afterwards, but they refrained from anything that posed the risk of infecting Lana. Ultimately, both agreed it was best that they break up. According to Alice, Tom was now happily married to someone who also had his disease.

"Thinking about 'him' again?" one of Lana's cellmates asked, referring to her silence.

"Not this time," Lana replied.

Lana's cellmates were all relatively decent people, though one of them did not think the same of her. The one who had spoken was Teresa Lowe, a college student who had been given six months and fined ten thousand dollars for distributing pirated music. She was to be released in another month. She was a bit of a gossip-lover, especially when it came to romance. Needless to say, she felt drawn to Lana because of her past relationships. In particular, she felt sorry for her because of Miles's "death," though Lana knew Miles had his reasons for wording his parting message in that way. Perhaps it was to get the media off his tail while he went off to find himself. Miles was a strong man, but the mere mention of his difficult past made him tremble on the inside.

"Well, how about you think about the people here in your cell and play a card?" another cellmate demanded of Lana. That was Angel Starr, still holding a grudge and serving two years for perjury against a government officer. Angel was more of a Devil whenever she spoke with Lana. Even so, she was willing to put their conflicts aside from time to time when the ladies felt like playing a friendly game of hearts. Besides, neither of them had anything to gain from getting into a fight.

Lana played the two of hearts.

"You're supposed to follow suit," Angel scolded.

"If I had a diamond, I would have played it," Lana replied. "If you want proof that I don't have any diamonds, I give you permission to record every card I play and call for this hand to be disqualified if I've been cheating."

Angel sighed and waited for the last cellmate to play her card. That last cellmate was Katie Peterson, a college dropout who was spending three-and-a-half years in prison for carjacking. She was extremely ambitious and wanted to become an actress. After her bout with the law, that ambition was unlikely to be fulfilled. Still, she was determined. From what Katie said about her intents, it seemed more as though she wanted to act so she would be famous, not because she enjoyed it.

Katie played a heart, too. Angel took the trick.

So, only four hearts remain, and then there's the Queen. And Angel has every heart so far.

Angel led with the king of clubs. Teresa played the ace.

Perfect.

Lana played the queen of spades.

"Again!?" Angel snapped. "That's it! Show me your hand!"

Lana turned her hand around. There wasn't a single club in it. Nothing but hearts and spades.

"Angel, it's just a game," Lana said calmly. Angel just appeared to get angrier.

"You're getting nothing but good hands! You've got to be cheating!"

Lana chuckled and stood up, spreading her arms out as if expecting a full body search. "If you claim I'm cheating…"

Angel gritted her teeth. That's right, Angel. You need proof.

"Exactly," Lana answered to what Angel's was no doubt guessing in her thoughts. "Don't accuse me unless you have proof. By all means, do whatever you must to find proof. I'll submit myself to a search if you really think I cheated."

Angel, not willing to look the fool by going back on her argument, walked behind Lana and reached into the pockets of her jacket. Nothing.

"Take off your jacket," Angel ordered. Lana did so. She was wearing a simple white shirt underneath without a single pocket on it. Angel checked the inside pockets of Lana's jacket. She apparently felt something. "Aha!"

Damn… I forgot I put Miles's letter in that pocket…

Angel took out the letter and checked for cards. She then noticed the signature.

"You're kidding me…" she sighed.

"If you're satisfied, I'd like my jacket back," Lana said. "And the letter."

With an annoyed grunt, Angel returned the jacket and the letter. Lana promptly put her jacket back on and placed the letter back in her pocket.

"Why did you have a letter in your pocket?" Teresa asked.

"It's my evidence," Lana replied.

"Evidence of…?"

"It's my proof that Miles is still alive. The letter's from him."

Teresa gasped.

"I was hoping no one would find it. I think he had his reasons for letting people think he's dead."

"You know," Angel commented, "that's only proof that he was alive when he wrote the letter."

"He's alive," Lana said. "He's too proud to kill himself over what happened. Besides, he said in his letter that he was going to return. I believe him. One day, he'll return an even better man than he was when he first proposed to me." She paused. "Sorry I kept that from all of you. I'd prefer if this stayed a secret, though."

"Sure, sure," Angel said. "Not as if I want to add Edgeworth to my list."

Lana rolled her eyes. Not as if Miles would ever allow himself to be added to your list in the first place…

"So, shall we resume our game?" Lana asked, sitting back down. Katie played the five of clubs. Teresa took the trick.

"Did you hear about Manfred von Karma?" Katie asked after a pause.

Almost everyone's heard; the man was a legend.

"He died recently from that flu strain that we all had about two weeks ago, right?" Lana confirmed.

"THAT'S what did him in!?"

"Children and the elderly are much more vulnerable to most forms of the flu. I guess von Karma's immune system just couldn't handle it. Besides, you all saw what horrible shape some of the other prisoners were in, not to mention diseases like the flu spread in densely-occupied areas such as a prison like a fire in a grassland."

"Wow… All I knew was that he was dead. I didn't know it was the flu that got him."

Teresa played the six of hearts. Lana followed suit with the five.

"Gant survived, though," Lana said. "In his shape, he'll probably live to be at least eighty."

"And I hope he's hurting all the way there," Angel said as Katie played the king of hearts.

"There's something I agree with you on."

"Hmph. He's not the only one."

Say what you want, Angel. I doubt you'll ever understand my trip through Hell, considering your outlook on life.

"What I went through obeying Gant's orders is something you will have a lot of trouble ever mimicking. Think what you want of me; it won't change a thing. I still have a great life to look forward to. Even if I never get allowed back into law enforcement, I still have a wonderful life to look forward to. I'll always have to deal with the guilt of what I did, so don't think I'm getting off easy."

"Hah! 'The guilt of what I did!' I'm gonna be in here way longer than you, and I don't feel an ounce of guilt for lying on the stand!"

"That's because you believed what you did was right. I knew from the start that what I was doing was horrible. Even if it meant protecting Ema from that monster, I still regretted all those lies I told. I regretted it back then, and I do now." Lana paused. Angel played the ten of hearts. Katie took the trick. "But let's not dwell on this topic. I'd rather look forward to the future than regret the past, and I'm sure Miles thinks the same thing. It's one reason why he left—to make a better future for himself."

Katie snatched a look at the score card and put down her new score. Angel then took the card and wrote down her score, followed by Teresa. Lana wrote down her score and compared the results.

"Well, Angel broke one hundred in that last hand, so the game's over," Lana said. "Looks like I won for once."

"I would have won if you hadn't given me the Royal Pain," Teresa commented.

"Which is exactly why I sent her your way. I believe this is the… second time I've actually won?"

"That sounds right," Katie said. "Still the worst out of all of us."

"It's only a game. Still, it's nice to win for a change."

Angel got up and walked over to her bunk, lying down with no intent to go to sleep.

"So, Lana…" Teresa started, "what are you gonna do if they don't let you prosecute?"

"That's a good question. Maybe I'll become a judge."

"A judge?"

If they let people like Noah Clous judge cases, I'm sure I'm qualified for the job. "Judges have no role in handling evidence, so any suspicion that I'd tamper with evidence would be meaningless."

Teresa chuckled. "A prosecutor and a judge. How fitting."

"If I am going to become a judge, I probably won't be allowed to oversee cases that Miles will prosecute."

"Assuming you're still going to be together after what you did," Angel cut in.

Lana rolled her eyes. "Obviously, you only read the signature at the bottom of the letter," she replied. "I'm sure he'll make the right choice. When he sees things clearly, he always does."

"Hah."

"The fact that I was acquitted proves that he's not the same man he was when he first proposed. He's a much better person now, and I believe in him."

"Where's your proof?"

"The letter is my proof." Lana took out the letter.

"'Know that this is not the end for either of us,'" she read. "'I still love you, but I am unfit to be by your side until I am more sure of myself. You can consider yourself forgiven for the lies you have told me. Though your actions were criminal, your motives were understandable.

"'I will return one day, and when that day comes, the ring you returned to me will again decorate your finger.'

"I'd say that's sufficient proof," Lana said, putting the letter back in her jacket pocket. "And if that's not decisive enough, I'll visit you in prison someday once we're married and show you the ring. The future holds nothing but happiness for me—it's a fact."