I felt really happy thinking about this chapter's plot. It's just full of sweetness!
My vacation's almost up. I hope I'll be able to finish this story before my next term starts.
-drops of jelly
Standard Disclaimer Applies
*Applies to all GyakuSai references, and all song titles and lyrics and artist names mentioned below.
TWO
"Aren't you supposed to be studying?" ten year-old Franziska entered seventeen-year old Miles Edgeworth's room as if it was her own.
"I'm... resting my head Franziska." He leaned his head on the head rest of his desk chair and closed his eyes. He had been studying all day.
Normally, he would be mind-boggled over Advanced Calculus or Physics as a high-school student, but he was no ordinary high-school student.
He was a high-school student whose guardian was Manfred von Karma, which implies that he would be cramming all kinds of law books in his head.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
"I can't study in my room." She answered.
"Why not? There's enough lighting, the temperature's right..."
"I... don't feel like studying!" she closed her eyes and quickly said it as if it was a crime and did want to be caught saying it.
Miles simply smiled to himself.
Then he heard the sound of a song playing.
"Is that my radio?" he asked.
"You don't mind... do you? You are still resting." She was lying on her stomach on his well-made bed, resting her chin on the end table where the radio was placed.
"...No. It's okay." He said.
"Isn't this song kind of old? Why do they still play this?" Franziska chuckled upon hearing Ronan Keating's All Over Again.
"It was just made three years ago. It's not that old." He said.
"Well, you're saying that because you're old too!" she giggled.
"Oh c'mon. I'm not that old. At least I'm more mature than you are." He smiled.
She stuck out her tongue childishly at him.
"Anyway... I like the girl's voice. I wish I could sing like her." She smiled.
"Do you even understand the song? It's all in English. Your vocabulary still isn't that completely wide." He swiveled his chair, facing her.
"... I understand enough, thank you very much!" she pouted.
"Then tell me what the song's about." He smirked.
"It's... a love song." She blushed.
"What kind of love song? What is it about?"
"It's... about falling in love all over again." She tried to put together as much sensible words as she understood.
"All over again, huh..." he slowly fluttered his eyes open.
"I know you like this song too. It's on your Most Played list on your mp3 player, fool." She laughed.
"Teenagers..." he shook his head.
"You are a teenager too, Miles Edgeworth!" Franziska pointed her index finger at him.
"No. I am an adolescent, according to my psychology book." He corrected her.
"Not according to MY book." She smiled, as if she won over him in that argument.
They both laughed and listened to the song together in a comfortable silence.
O-o-O-o-O
Miles sat among the flowers just right beside Franziska, or Alyssa.
"Hey." He greeted her, while looking at the blooming sweat pea flowers.
"Hello..." her German-American accent was still there.
"You seem to like taking care of the flowers..."
"Ever since I came here, I loved to take care of them." She reached out to touch a pink rose's petals.
"You didn't really take this much pleasure with flowers before." He teasingly chuckled.
"How could I not have? I must have been such a miserable person missing out on all this beauty!" she smiled, and tried to pick the pink rose.
"You.... had your troubles, but you weren't miserable." He smiled gently.
"I guess so. I had a lot of people around me, did I?"
"Yes... Yes you did."
"I had no reason to be miserable if the people around me were somehow like you."
"Thank you." That was all he could say.
"No... I should be the one thanking you... for coming all the way here to look for me."
"I... had to. I couldn't go back without finding you." He looked deeply into her pearl blue eyes.
And she looked deeply into his softened gray eyes.
She felt as if she was going to melt, looking into his soul like that.
She didn't understand it, but she knew, that he was one of the warmest people she had come to know.
She thought about her loss of memories again.
Maybe she lost them so that she could start over, and make things right... Maybe she was given another chance, another shot with the people of her past.
"Are you getting cold?" he placed his coat on her.
"Thank you..." she huffed, and shyly looked at him.
"Would you like to go back inside?" he asked.
"Not yet... I have to pick some flowers for your room." She reached out to pick some white calla lily, some lavender stems, peach rose buds and peach roses in full bloom.
"My room?" the expression on his face had a mixture of happiness and uncertainty.
"Joy asked me to prepare a room for you. You did come a long way right? And besides, it's better to stick to people you know rather than staying in a lonely house." She tried to pluck another peach rose.
"Ouch..." she placed her bloodied index finger in her little mouth.
"Are you alright?"
"Oh, it's nothing..." she blushed.
"Here, let me see that." He held out his hand.
It was a little red spot on her white finger.
"We should go back inside now." He laughed.
"I can wash this here." She smiled, and opened the faucet.
She let the water run through her finger for a while, then she grinned and covered part of the faucet, causing the flowing water to squirt at Miles.
"H-hey!" he cried. He was about to get mad, but looking at her adorable, innocent expression, he sighed, smiled and took the nearest water spray and began to spray at her as well.
She laughed as she grabbed the hose and began to soak him.
He continued to run from where Franziska was aiming at. He hid behind a wall, and when she passed by, he held her by the waist and took the hose away from her and decided to get back at her by wetting her too.
They continued to laugh and play until 5:30
They sat on the porch.
"Let's go back inside, Franzi-, Alyssa." He shook his head rapidly, trying to rid the water droplets on them.
Franziska laughed.
"You look just like Pess." She blurted.
"...." he smiled, then took her in his warm, wet arms.
"Pess... You remember her?" he was happy.
"I saw a dog in my dream last night. She was adorable, and I named her Pess... I don't know why." She closed her eyes.
"It's going to be alright... We'll take this little by little. I'll bring you back for sure." He shyly pulled away.
He realized that he had become much more affectionate... as if trying to make up for all those years he wasn't... His friends loved him, and he was taught to love. He was just afraid.
But now when he was about to lose someone, he had to overcome his fears and love like he was loved.
"Pess..." she smiled, staring into space. Her eyes sure looked distant.
"We're going to catch a cold like this." He pulled her up. They went back inside.
"Alyssa, what happened? You're all wet!" Eduard opened a cupboard and handed them both towels.
She smiled, as if she knew nothing of what happened.
"You were playing with the hose again? And you even got our guest wet!" he laughed, looking at Miles.
"Sorry about the confusion earlier, sir. I was quite impolite. My name's Eduard Redwood." He held out his hand, and Edgeworth shook it.
"Miles Edgeworth, pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Redwood."
"Please, call me Eduard." He smiled.
"Ed, is dinner ready?" Franziska asked, wiping her wet blue hair.
"Oh in a while, Poppy. It'll be roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and apple-banana pie tonight, with mashed potatoes." he winked at her.
"Mmm. Good! I'll go get changed then." She ran upstairs.
Poppy? Wow. Miles thought.
O-o-O-o-O
"How was the delivery, Eduard?" Joy asked her son while she sliced up her roast beef.
"Oh, Mrs. Nottingfield loved the daffodils. Alyssa did pick the right color combination!" he smiled, then took a bite of his Yorkshire pudding.
"It's only been a day then, and you recovered so quickly! How are your injuries now anyway, dear?" Joy turned to Franziska.
"The wounds are healing, thanks to your medicine Joy." She replied.
"It's been the toughest two days of your life indeed. You just came from the hospital two days ago, and you even lost your memories. How could you easily get up and work? I didn't really expect you to help around this much." Joy was very pleased with Franziska.
"I didn't want to be a burden to both of you, and I wanted to help around 'cause you both make me feel so much at home." Franziska drank some water.
"We're glad to hear that. You can stay here as long as you want, don't forget that." Eduard looked at her kindly.
"Thank you very much." Franziska smiled back at him.
Miles kept silent.
"You too, Miles. You can stay with us as long as you want. Don't be shy alright, son?" Joy was delighted to have him over.
"Thank you, Joy, Eduard." He smiled politely.
"Oh, bother! Don't be such a stiff old lad! I'm glad that I finally have a drinking buddy." Eduard laughed, talking to Miles.
"It'll be my pleasure, Eduard."
"Well, Miles, I'm sure you have a lot of stories to tell. Pray, tell us what you do for a living." Joy passed him a glass of white wine.
"I work at the Los Angeles Prosecutors' Office." He replied.
"Oh! So, you sir, are a lawyer?" Eduard chimed.
"Yes, I'm a state prosecutor."
"Amazing! I myself am still studying Psychology. I'm trying to get a PhD in Clinical." Eduard was glad to talk about school.
"That's a good choice. You could help a lot of people." Miles complimented him.
"Yes, and it makes dealing with Alyssa easier. Since I study a lot about people, I can understand, even just a little about how she feels." He directed his eyes towards Franziska.
Miles couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. Thank God no one saw that.
"Alright, who's up for pie?" Joy sang, bringing in the fresh out from the oven dish.
Everyone fell silent, smiled and raised their pie forks.
"Oh you kids are just so adorable." Joy blushed as she sliced and served for each of them.
"So, you're a lawyer, Mr. Edgeworth? How's it like?" Franziska asked.
"I get to study and investigate some cases then I help the police put criminals in jail through court procedures." He felt as ridiculous as if he was teaching Manfred von Karma Prosecution 101.
"Sounds fun, but seems like a tiring, boring job." Franziska gulped down some of her fresh milk.
Oh boy... Miles thought, and he turned a little pale.
"What kind of crimes do you often deal with, Miles?" Eduard asked.
"Murder, or theft, or both." He replied.
"So you visit crime scenes?!" he shuddered at the thought.
"Yes, a lot. I got used to it though. My job does cover a lot of ground." He ate a forkful of pie.
"Oh, will you stop talking about gruesome things at the dinner table, boys?" Joy poured more fresh milk into Franziska's empty glass.
"Silly! We weren't talking about anything gruesome, right Miles?" Eduard laughed.
"No, we weren't." He chuckled.
"But you were getting there......... Mr. Edgeworth." Franziska pointed her pie fork at him, laughing.
Miles was expecting 'fool' or 'little brother'. But I guess this was Alyssa he was talking to.
"Alright, guilty." Eduard laughed.
Franziska and Miles laughed as well.
O-o-O-o-O
"Oh, c'mon, the night won't certainly be complete without you giving us a special number!" Joy pulled Miles Edgeworth down the stairs.
"But Joy, I told you... I can't sing!" Miles was blushing.
"Oh, we'll see about that! We'll soon be hearing you sing some British rock!" Eduard laughed.
"I do not know any of those songs..." Miles kept shaking his head.
"Oh, don't be such a geek, I know you can sing!" Franziska handed him the microphone.
"I. WILL. NOT. SING." He gave her one of his traditional spine-chilling glares, forgetting her state of memory-loss.
Franziska fell silent, but the next minute, she began to grin and equally glare as fierce as he did.
Oh, I see you still have the 'glare-factor'. He thought.
"Oh...... I feel a duet coming on!" Joy laughed and then handed Franziska the extra microphone.
"I get to pick the song!!!" Franziska scanned the thick, huge karaoke book that seemed to have all the songs invented in the world.
"Oh boy... I bet she's going to pick Mamma Mia, or Dancing Queen or Thank You for the Music or something!" Eduard laughed until his sides hurt.
"No, I bet it's a Celine Dion song." Joy giggled.
"Oh please, NO!" Edgeworth had 'unpleasant' memories about that stuff, nothing much but a series of lost bets against Larry and Phoenix.
A familiar tune began to play. Joy smiled as Eduard sat next to her.
"This song..." Miles looked at Franziska who flashed a little smile.
Turn Down the light, Turn up the radio.
There's a fire in your eyes, and its keeping me warm
Miles began to sing... nervously, with reservation... But inside he was a little happy. This song...
Hold on to me like it was yesterday,
When we both felt our spirits collide
Franziska sang when her cue came.
Her gentle voice began to make each word so true... Miles had this weird feeling. It disturbed him, so much. He was shaken, in the depths of his soul.
I remember the moment, being struck down by lightning
Since the first time I saw your face, and you smiled
God he felt so disturbed, and every fiber in him is itching to hold her close. He really, really missed her, and wished that he could reach out to her.
His Franziska... the same Franziska who grew up with him, got scolded with him, studied with him, cried on his shoulder, whose shoulder he cried on rarely...
The same Franziska who yells at him, who tries to surpass him, who admires him with her entire soul...
He was being selfish all this time, and even until now.
What I'm trying to say,
Is that you are so beautiful
Let me say it, all over again.
Coz this time can be like the first time,
Close your eyes, pretty soon we'll be there
No man could ever guess what he's feeling,
Turn a spark to a flame,
Make a wish, close your eyes, won't you start all over again.
They continued to sing this song... This special song that they heard once on the radio... Together.
O-o-O
Soon Eduard brought Joy to her room and sent her to bed. He left Miles to take care of Franziska.
They were seated on the same rosal-patterned sofa, with a fair distance from each other.
It was another comfortable silence.
At the same time, it was the same kind of silence that made each person in it seem so distant. It was lonely, yet at the same time, paradoxically consoling.
Miles Edgeworth was suddenly startled and turned his head to look at her.
She apparently had began to shed tears, and no matter how much she tried to wipe them away, and no matter how normal the expression on her face remained,
The tears simply wouldn't stop...
And she didn't know why.
...And Miles couldn't do anything for her.
Never once in his life had he feel any more helpless. It was an unreasonable type of loneliness and despair...
Living in this darkness is truly painful after all.
He read her lips, as she tried to speak to him, but found no voice.
Please save me...
To be continued...
O-o-O-o-O
I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and I wish I could update soon!
I'd love it if you'd drop a review! Thank you very much!
-drops of jelly