Bridge to the Turnabout (part 2)
Author's Note: I must make a warning, despite the episode that I am dealing with, this chapter will be light hearted. Once again, it's not so much about the game event, but Edgeworth thinking about his actions, and it also involves his relationship with the OC quite a bit.
Throughout the years, Edgeworth had worked on numerous cases, and even though he would never completely forget a case, there were many cases that he would never think of again. However, there were a few cases that were symbolic due to various reasons.
The case where he was accused of being the murderer; the case that he first lost; the case he won against Wright, and the case where he used forged evidence.
There was also the case where Gabrielle's father was involved. Ironically, it was one of the most pleasant cases he ever had, although he would never ever let Gabrielle discover that. However, unlike some of his other cases, he never needed to worry about whether he had condemned an innocent man, because the other's guilt was clear. Later on, Pierre Revien even confessed it.
It was a very straightforward case of the criminal being punished for his crime.
Not so with his first case.
Mia described it as receiving a wound that cut very deeply into her soul, and the same could be said of Edgeworth as well. However, it was a wound that he did not notice until much later. When Dahlia was convicted, he began to wonder whether he ought to have realised that she was the true murderer all along, only to ignore the clues due to wanting to win.
The result was the death of an innocent man.
Iris…was the other's twin sister. Their appearance was almost identical. Upon seeing Iris, he could not help but to feel a deep chill, as he could see that woman in front of him.
Perhaps she was the worst type of criminal that he has ever met…
He knew that there was no proof that the twin sister would be the same, but he could not help but to have doubt. After all, the wound that Dahlia left was too deep.
He was already a man who had difficulty in trusting, so could he trust this woman he was meant to defend?
"…I don't know if I can do this." He finally confessed to his wife, who was naturally waiting for him outside the police station so that they could go to the court together.
"Miles, this is not the time for nerves." She said bluntly. "But it is as you said, you are doing the same thing: finding out contradictions."
"It is not that." He then told her about what happened. He almost never talked about his cases with her as this could lead to that case where her father was involved, which was not a good subject.
"So…she is the twin sister of a murderess." Gabrielle finally said.
"Not just a murderess, Gabby. But one of the worst I have ever seen." He pointed out. "I am not blaming Iris of anything but I cannot help but to wonder whether she has any involvement. I don't want to think that because I don't have any evidence, but I cannot help but to think that."
"Wait here, Miles." Gabrielle said and her actions then completely surprised him. He was sure that she was doing this for a reason, but he could not understand why she went to buy a bottle of water for him.
"Here, drink this." She said simply. "Don't argue with me, just do it."
However, her purpose did not seem to be for him to drink it, as she took the bottle away from him after only a few sips.
"That is enough. Tell me, Miles, why did you drink it?"
"Because you told me to."
"And so you will do it?"
"Due to the circumstances- " knowing that he was probably going to begin some long speech, she quickly interrupted him.
"And you are not worried in anyway?" upon his shook of head, she delivered the most important sentence. "Miles, I am the daughter of a murderer, the daughter of someone who carefully planned his wife's murder in cold blood. You are a rich man and if you die, all of your wealth would become mine. Wouldn't the logical thing be to suspect me?"
"That is the most stupid thing I have ever heard!" he said angrily. "Whatever your father did have nothing to do with you at all. In addition, your father's motive was due to jealousy and despite it being planned, it was irrational because it was built on emotion."
"Perhaps you can say the same of Iris: you have no proof that she was involved with her twin's actions." She said simply. "Despite all that has happened to you, I think there is a part of you that actually still clung onto that ideal that people are not guilty until they are proven so. In fact, the only time that you do not follow this belief is when you are at court."
Now that he thought about it, Gabrielle did ask him why he wanted to go out with a woman whose father he just proved guilty of murder. It was true that they knew each other as children, but that was all, and it was not even for a long period of time.
"I must confess something…one of the reasons that I finally agreed to go on a date with you was because you were actually willing to go out with me despite all the things that had happened. I have to admit that I was a bit flattered at al that you did." She said with a slight smile. "And that is also why I know you will be fine."
"…thanks." The volume he said this was very small, but she knew what he truly felt.
"I am a bit curious though," she suddenly said, "I actually still wonder about it. Leaving aside the fact that daddy's actions has nothing to do with me, why did you want to go out with me so much? I might have represented a happy aspect of your childhood but I don't think that would matter that much. Nor was I very friendly in the beginning."
A good question.
However, this was not the time to think about it.
"You will do a good job, I know this." She promised him.
During the past year, Edgeworth had visited Franziska in Germany with his wife and a friendly dinner would often result in the 'siblings' ending up in a heated discussion that would develop into a debate. This debate would then end up being like a scene from court.
After all, Edgeworth would bang on the table while Franziska would whip the nearby immobile objects. However, they do have the grace to look a little embarrassed when Gabrielle pointed out about the chaotic dinner table that was due to them.
However, what Gabrielle saw today was very different. She was very impressed at the way that the two of them argued with one another, and even though Wright was her friend, Gabrielle had to admit why these two would be so frustrated with the way that Wright operated.
Wright tended to bluster and throw whatever he had, unlike the two who planned everything so carefully. Almost every word was calculated. She could also understand Franziska's obsessive desire of scoring a win against Edgeworth.
Franziska's disappointment manifested into her madly whipping both Larry and Edgeworth. However, Edgeworth was a bit lucky as she only moved onto him when her first target passed out, and Larry actually possessed an unusual amount of stamina.
"It's really your own fault, Miles." Gabrielle said as she dabbed the alcohol soaked cotton onto his skin.
Despite how eager he was to go and meet with Wright, he knew that he needed to get his wounds tended. Even though he merely said a: 'I would not be affected so easily', his wife could tell that the wounds hurt a lot. However, his pride prevented him from asking for help, and that was why they were in his office with a make do kit she managed to find.
"If you weren't smirking then she probably wouldn't have got so angry as to whip you as well."
"I was not – " his protest was to give way due to a mutter of pain.
"Well, since Mr Genius Prosecutor is all about evidence, then I will give him some. Quote: 'A shame that your chance seems to have slipped by you', unquote." This was followed by a roll of the eyes as well. "Why do men always have to gloat?"
"I was not gloating!" However, his wife was completely unsympathetic.
"Well, that seems the best that I can do. You should count yourself lucky that you don't need to get a real doctor to take a look." She said when she put away the kit. "So, Nick is going to take the case now. What do you plan to do?"
"I am going to meet up with him first, then I am going to collect some information from the police as well as the crime scene. I still intend to help Wright no matter what. After all, he was the one who helped me when I was in that…state."
"Then let us go." She said, yet he did not move. "Is there somewhere else that hurt?"
"No, it isn't that. I was thinking about you said, about trusting the defendant…about trusting people. Today…I thought that since I am in Wright's position, I must think like him. And…it was difficult, because I had to absolutely trust someone. I keep on reminding myself that I must not give up because the defendant is innocent, so there is something there. I don't think I can be a defense attorney because I still lack that ability of trusting, what I trust is the truth, not the defendant. This then…this then made me realise the answer to your question."
"Of why you go out with me?"
He nodded and she realised that he look a bit embarrassed.
"I think I first asked you out because I saw you as a possible escape. I guess I wanted someone to distract me from all that was happening, because I know that I won't think about any of these things when I am with you, as you are not involved with my work, as well as representing a happy part of my childhood that was not tainted with that case. I think I was so persistent because I felt that you could do that, so I want to have that opportunity. It was selfish, because I never really thought about what you felt. But," he said very quickly, "That is the past. I would not have wanted to marry you for that reason alone."
"I am not angry," she quickly assured him, "Because I did a similar thing. I better confess my crime as well: I decided to continue dating you during the first month for the sake of taking you to my high school reunion. One of my friend told me that my ex-boyfriend in high school was saying how happy that we did not date long because 'who knows whether she would have stabbed me a few times', and some of my other classmates were agreeing. I thought that I'd get the final laugh by bringing a very distinguished and famous prosecutor as my new boyfriend. The fact that you are good looking and rich was a really good bonus. Obviously, I changed as well so – "
"Wait, Gabrielle." Edgeworth said very slowly and he was clearly angry and the use of her full name might be a sign. "Are you saying that you tricked me during that first whole month? That you didn't want to go out with me, but only do so in order to have someone to show you off in your high school reunion?"
Clearly, being a genius prosecutor did not mean that he was very talented in his social life. It was not why she did it, but the fact that he was tricked and did not realise it until now.
"We have to meet up with Nick, let us go." Saying so, she picked up his car key and headed for the door. "We really have to hurry. Nick would be so worried about everything."
"Gabrielle, wait, we are not done with this conversation yet!"
"Don't make me sound as if I was using you, Miles! It was only one of the reasons." She called out. "I was really quite touched at all that you did for me. However, you have to admit that your attitude during the first month was not that endearing."
Despite it all, she could not help but to laugh. After all, even the demon prosecutor was a human. She was sure that things would be okay, because surely the world could not be that cruel.
Author's Note: Warning- this will be an extremely long author's note.
Obviously, a lot of creative liberty has been taken with this chapter. One of it being that Edgeworth discovered about Dahlia now. Initially, this chapter was going to be more serious, but I feel that in the end, the overall mood got lighter. I always thought that what Mia said in the very end of the first case: "I ended up with a wound that cut so deep into my soul that I thought it'd never heal. I'm sure that it was the same for the young prosecutor as well." And this really made me think. Sure, he won, and at that time Edgeworth was being the demon prosecutor who only care about winning. However, he would later describe the case as a nightmare and I don't really think that this was just when he was thinking back in the third game. In Addition, we saw that he was really upset upon discovering about how he presented forged evidence. This then made me feel that even when he was the demon prosecutor who was obsessed the idea of winning (due to Von Karma) he actually still held onto this idea of the truth being all important. Therefore, I think even then, he would not have been fully satisfied with what happened in the case, as it was not really a proper win. And I feel that even though he has tricks that he would use, he would always use things that are there already, he actually does not use tampered evidence, or does what Franziska do.
I actually feel that it would be better for him to be a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney, because it seems that there is that issue of trusting for your client (which is still dominant) and I feel that he is not able to do that, because what he is concerned with is the truth.
Much to my surprise, I ended up exploring a lot of his relationship with Gabrielle, but then that is what an OC writer do, we explore characters via OC. First of all, Gabrielle's past. The reason of her past is really due to plot. I wanted to work with the idea of how her father got put into jail by Edgeworth (as that was the initial barrier in their relationship) However, her father then had to be guilty because otherwise, there was no way she could accept him. Initially, my impression of her father's action was that it was a crime done in an impulsive moment but as I write, I suddenly feel that this would be the opposite. And so upon thinking about it. Granted that people would not automatically condemn her for it, it would be impossible to not be affected in anyway. So I begin to think: given that Edgeworth hates criminal so much, how could he manage to go out (and even marry) someone who is related to a criminal? But then, as I saw how he interacted with Ema in the beginning, I felt that he actually does not feel the idea of guilty by association. It is those who are caught in the act that he will not forgive.
When I wrote this story, I began with the two of them being engagement and only mentioned about what happened briefly, but then this then made me think? Why would he be so persistent in asking her to go out with him? Given that this guy is so detached, wouldn't this be a bit out of character? However, this chapter showed my view. Initially, his reason for going out with her was a bit selfish, it seems that it was to see whether she could distract him and because he felt at ease with her company, he continued. Obviously, love did end up happening but I think that initially, it was almost as an experiment. Given that he is someone who has difficulty with expression and acknowledging his emotion I think he would need quite time first.
This chapter made me realise that their relationship (in the beginning) was certainly not romantic, but then this seemed more real. Gabrielle herself had her own agenda of going out with him too, although love did happen. But her father was convicted and obviously, this has an effect around her. However, this guy then appeared and is so insistent on dating her. I think if he was not involved in her father's conviction, then she would have dated him without any hesitation. If you think about it, this guy who has a very prestigious job and is very rich, who is also good looking, knocks on your door and ask you to go out with him. If you are unattached why wouldn't you agree to go on a date with him? However, there was the issue of her father. Even though her father was guilty, he would be the reminder of what had happened. In addition, as I mentioned, Edgeworth is not good at showing his emotions so the first few months she had with him would not be easy. Therefore, I feel that there would have been a slight mercenary reason in her continuing.
I think with them, I am working with the idea of love would have developed, but they needed an additional push/factor in the beginning to make sure that it would happen.
I want to write about the events in Edgeworth's own game, but it might take a while before I get some ideas. But I am glad that I managed to update this story once more.