Thank you very much for reading the prologue of this story.
This chapter is actually the beginning of the real story. Enjoy.
I'd love reviews, any kind of reviews. I am an author, seeking to learn and grow after all. xD
-drops of jelly
*Note that some places mentioned below are fictional, for disclaimer purposes
Standard Disclaimer Applies
ONE
"I understand what is happening, Mr. Edgeworth, but I simply cannot accept this resignation letter." Ms. Lana Skye his superior, once again in many years had to refuse the second resignation letter he turned in.
"She needs me, Ms. Skye." He said, in a pleading tone.
". . . . . ." Lana looked into his eyes. He was serious about all this.
Resigning his position as High Prosecutor, just to go around London looking for a dead body? Not what Lana Skye thinks what Miles Edgeworth would normally have in mind.
"Four months. If you still do not want to return, then we'll talk about your resignation." She slid his envelope across towards him.
"Ms. Skye?" Miles was awestruck. He was never given a four-month period to think about a resignation... Heck, no one normally does get one.
"You heard what I said." She icily looked into his eyes.
"The work, the cases, the paperwork, isn't the Police Department and Prosecutors' Office extremely busy? These months are in peak season."
"I do not plan to lose an asset to work like you, and nor do I plan to let you screw up by not letting you go. Now leave." She sighed into a gentle smile. She knew the fear of losing a loved one after all.
"Yes... 'maam." He bowed slightly, then left the room. (Japanese reference)
When he entered his office, he found Kay sitting on the couch.
"Mr. Edgeworth... I heard about what happened to Ms. von Karma." She stood up, looking worried as ever.
"Long time no see, Kay." He greeted her while preparing some tea.
"I... don't believe she's dead you know." She turned to him, his back facing her.
"Neither do I."
"See? I knew it. She alive out there somewhere. She should be!" there was a gleam of hope in her eyes.
Miles smiled sadly as he set the teacups on the table.
"You're going to go after her, aren't you Mr. Edgeworth?" she smiled at him.
He looked at her gently.
"Then, this will be of use for you."
"Nusumi-chan?... It's your tool for crime scene analysis... Are you sure you're going to let me use this? How about your job?" he accepted the gadget.
"I go about my job often not using Nusumi-chan. I'll be okay. You have to find her. I don't want to think that a minor plane crash took her life." She looked serious this time.
"Thank you. This will be a lot of help in looking for her." He smiled.
"You'll have to pull a few strings again to investigate the scene, huh?"
"Yes, I think I will have to." He placed the gadget inside his briefcase.
"I'll wait for your return. Contact me if you need anything." She stood up and took her leave.
"Thank you, Kay." He said as she closed the door.
*vibrate*
"My phone... oh a text message from Wright." He picked up his silver phone and opened the mail.
I called up an old client who lives in London. She knew about the incident and did her own investigations. She found an old couple who just came from Hampshire. The old couple saw a woman around Franziska's age, with the same hair color, hair length and body built. Drop by the office, she's going to fax in the address with the pictures.
"I have a day left before the flight. I guess I'll drop by." He turned off the lights then exited his office.
-Wright and Co. Law Offices-
March 25 5:30 PM
"My friend lives in Derbyshire, but she met with the old couple who came from Hampshire. They found out about her search of Franziska and gave her some useful information. She just couldn't go to Hampshire since she was tied up with her work." Phoenix waited for the fax machine to finish printing.
"The two places are much too far for her own good anyway, and I'd prefer to find Franziska myself." Edgeworth was skimming through some old Steel Samurai manga.
"Here it is, the place where they spotted her." Phoenix handed him the bond paper with directions and a contact number.
"Thank you Wright." Edgeworth took one last sip of his tea and stood up.
"Best of luck in finding her. Life is sad without Franziska." Phoenix laughed.
"Rare to hear that from one of her frequent whip victims." He chuckled.
-Los Angeles International Airport-
March 26 6:30 PM
"Ten hours... It wouldn't be so bad..." Miles Edgeworth was a nervous wreck. He didn't get a wink of sleep from the past two days thinking of what could have happened to Franziska.
Of course, he hid those nervous feelings.
O-o-o-O
First and foremost, he wanted to confirm if she was still alive. He went to the crash site, not too far from where he was.
The commotion was mostly gone. There were no press on sight, and the police were not too many. Miles presented his identification, then the security personnel let him in.
The airplane was not crushed into smithereens but the damage on it was something one couldn't simply overlook.
There, he switched on Nusumi-san.
From his investigation and survey of the scene, nobody had really died, two were just missing. He believed Franziska to be alive since the scene gave the possibility.
He went on to immediately search for her, following his only lead.
A personal driver met up with him and drove him over to Hampshire for about more than an hour.
-Stockbridge, Hampshire-
March 26 1:00 PM
He settled his things in a local guesthouse, then put on his coat and began his search.
He went to the address indicated on the faxed message. He found nobody at the sight; it seemed to be an abandoned theatre. Although a janitor still went there to clean up.
"Excuse me, sir. May I ask you a few questions?" Miles spoke as politely as ever to the janitor in his sixties.
"Yes. How can I help you, my good man?" the janitor spoke to him with a smile.
"Have you seen a lady with short light blue hair around here?" he showed the janitor a picture of Franziska.
"Hmm, I think I saw her once, although she had quite a different expression on her face. I saw her just yesterday." The janitor replied.
Edgeworth's face lit up.
"Do you know where she could be right now?" he asked.
"I'm not quite sure, but I saw her biking around the village today."
Biking around? Village? Is this really Franziska? He thought.
"Thank you very much, sir." Edgeworth bowed.
"Oh, pleasure's all mine." The man smiled.
Miles Edgeworth dashed towards the village where Franziska might be staying at.
In that sea of people he found her shadow, and her blue hair. He began to chase it, desperately.
He couldn't afford to let her get away this time.
"WAIT!" he screamed, some people have stopped to look, but he didn't care.
The blue haired woman stopped her bike and turned to face him.
Not only was she riding a bike. She was wearing a white turtleneck blouse with khaki pants that fit her legs perfectly, and sported on some pure white sneakers. She had a red cap and red apron on her and her bike had a basket of daffodils in it.
She lifted her cap a little and brushed away her fringe to see the man more clearly.
Miles, in turn saw the woman's features more clearly.
It was indeed her, or someone to looks too much like her.
"Franziska... Wait..." Miles huffed, as he walked towards her.
". . . . ." she remained speechless as she looked at him approach her.
It must be her. She has bandages on her face and neck after all.
He held her tight on that village square they were standing on.
"I... I thought I lost you! I'm... so sorry." He sighed. He didn't understand how and why he could express these kinds of feelings, especially towards her.
He must have been scared to lose another one he treasured so much. He felt utter despair when he lost his family, he wouldn't want to lose someone who was nearly family to him for so many years.
The woman in his arms shivered, and her breathing alternated. He felt the cold of her breath on his ear as he still hadn't let go. He felt her heart beat to a slow, calm yet heavy rhythm.
"Sir... May I know who you are?" she inquired, hesitantly.
He was too glad to hear her fluid, melodic voice yet, he was puzzled to hear those words from her at the same time.
"Franziska? Don't you remember me?" he pulled away and held her shoulders.
The people around them continued to watch. After all this sight of a handsome young man and a pretty young woman embracing so emotionally on the village square was quite rare.
"Fran... Franziska?... My name is Alyssa..." her face was confused.
"I... don't understand..." Miles was surprised.
"I don't remember... I don't remember. I'm sorry..." she appeared to be suffering a pain only she knew. Her head and eyes were hurting.
"Listen, I don't want to play charades, or other mind games with you, so..."
"Alyssa! Are you alright, dear?" an old woman ran over to her side.
"Alyssa, did this man do any harm to you?" a man around three years elder than her, fairly good-looking in his blonde, English glory, with his posh, English accent asked Franziska... or Alyssa.
"No. But I think he knows about me." She looked at Miles with inquiring eyes; such lost eyes.
"Son, how about we talk inside the house?" the kind old lady asked Edgeworth.
Edgeworth simply nodded, still confused.
O-o-O-o-O
It was a house with a lovely flower shop on the first floor, and a flower farm at the back.
The kind old lady led Miles to their cozy living room.
"Joy, I'll prepare afternoon tea and snacks!" Alyssa cheerfully told the old lady.
"Thank you, dear!" she smiled brightly, then motioned to Edgeworth to take a seat on the white, rosal-patterned sofa.
"Where is the other..." Edgeworth looked at the old lady.
"Oh, Eduard? He's off delivering those daffodils for Alyssa. He tends to get overprotective of her ever since he found her two days ago.
"Two days ago?" Miles was curious.
"Anyway, my name is Joy Redwood. You are?"
"Miles Edgeworth, Madame." He stood, knelt and kissed her hand politely.
"My, my, what a gentleman." She smiled warmly.
"Here's your tea, Joy,... Sir." Alyssa placed down the cups in ease, then began serving the boiling tea.
She was nervous, strangely around Miles. She had difficulty in pouring the tea directly into the glass, until she felt Miles' hand on hers.
"Please let me do it." He smiled, gently and politely.
"Thank you." She handed him the teapot.
Joy watched the two look into each other's eyes. She knew there was more to Alyssa and this man than meets the eye.
"I'll tend to the garden outside in a while." She said, shyly as she opened the back door.
"Come back inside when it gets too chilly, okay?" Joy said.
"Yes, I will Joy." She smiled.
"So... Do you know who Alyssa is?" Joy looked at Miles.
"I think she is the one I am searching for." His eyes looked sad.
"Eduard said he found her in a hospital, and she had no relatives to go to. No one was able to identify who she is. They found her critically injured, with no belongings, and when she came to; she couldn't remember who she was." Joy said.
"I am sure she is the one I am looking for. Please allow me to take her back with me." Miles was convinced he had found Franziska.
"I can't just hand over the child to anyone you know. I can't immediately trust you." Joy sipped her tea and picked up one of the butter biscuits.
Edgeworth sighed.
"Eduard... Such a reckless child, and yet with a heart of gold. He couldn't leave Alyssa alone. He convinced the physicians to let him take care of her. The physicians had to send her somewhere after all.
"I see. I have him to thank then." Edgeworth looked through the window to see Alyssa plucking the roses in full bloom.
"Well, you are better than nothing, and Alyssa needs to find herself." Joy explained to Miles about Alyssa's condition of amnesia.
"I'm... going to bring her back... I swear..." he had a painful expression on his face, as if he was dealing with DL-6 once again.
"Thank you, Miles. What Alyssa needs most is comfort and love." Joy looked at Alyssa through the window as well.
Miles listened to her.
"Although Eduard showers her with so much kindness everyday, Alyssa is still suffering inside... That hollow space in her heart, a kind of loneliness none of us could understand... The poor child wishes to regain every lost memory, but she's also afraid of finding it all out as well."
"She thought, 'maybe fate had a reason for erasing everything and making her start anew'. She also thought that maybe she had left many people she loved and have hurt them. She can't bear all of that pain by herself, Miles." Joy had a tender look in her eyes.
"... Joy. Franziska... I mean Alyssa... does not have a reason to be afraid of who she really is. I will show her that." Miles had a very concerned look in his eyes.
"By first glance... I knew you are a good man. Please, save her. And when her heart is ready, you can take her back." Joy smiled.
"Thank you... Joy." Miles smiled back, then stood up.
He opened the back door, to find her sitting among the flowers.
She got her face a little dirty, yet the rose blush on her white cheeks remained. Her hair was wet from a little sweat and stuck to her cheeks, down to her upper neck.
She was smiling so cheerfully, basking in the mild English afternoon sunlight.
Watching her there, Miles began to miss her.
As he slowly approached her, he learned then and there one important thing.
What is worse than losing someone you love is being forgotten by that person.
To be continued...
O-o-O-o-O
And this story does not include evil old ladies anymore. LOL
I hope that my efforts were good enough to satisfy you.
I'd love it if you'd drop a review! Thank you very much.
-drops of jelly