Risenfromash: This episode spans approximately one year in Edgeworth and Franziska's life. It occurs after they have been together for a couple years, probably two or three years into their romance. Because it is such a sizable story I could have posted it as a multiple chapter story by itself, but then I would have had to introduce new readers to Miles and Franziska's unique style of romance and partnership and really this story is meant to be a part of the Nature of Devotion stories. It deals with the themes the stories are supposed to be about…but you will definitely see after reading this why I wanted it to be proceeded by some fluff. Stuff is going to get very serious for a while. I don't know how many parts this episode will be in. I'm guessing 5 or 6, but it's hard to say at this point as my ideas for it keep expanding.
EPISODE 16
PART I-
Miles looked out the drawing room window for the umpteenth time. What on earth could be keeping Franziska? Her plane should have arrived two hours ago. He wondered if he should check the Internet to verify that her flight hadn't been delayed. It would figure that after her being gone for nearly four months that she wouldn't even manage to arrive on time. This assignment she had taken with Interpol had been intense or, at least, he assumed it must have been because he had barely heard from her during her absence.
It would have been unbearable had it not been that Miles had also kept himself extremely busy. With Ms. von Karma on special assignment all the most challenging cases had been given to Miles meaning that he was getting little rest or relaxation, but it didn't really matter to him now because at any moment Franziska would be home and he would make sure that nobody bothered them for at least three days. He had made it clear at work that both he and his sister would be requiring a little time to recover from the exertion of work. Miles had been amazed he could say that to their boss with a straight face when all he could think about was exerting himself all day and night with his sister upon her return.
Miles was antsy. How had he gone this long without sex before? Now it felt unnatural. He hoped she wouldn't mind too much that the inevitable lengthy discussions about her accomplishments and progress would have to wait till later in the day. All he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and start feeling the relief of once again being with his lover.
He saw the car pull up and one of the servants open the car door for her. Her long shapely legs came out first followed by the rest of her. Miles felt a little giddy. He was going to have to tone it down or she'd be laughing at him.
She grabbed her small suitcase and clutched it in her hand along with her whip. Her purse hung from her shoulder hitting her hip with each step as she marched speedily to the door.
"Miles!"
Miles smiled. "Franziska!" She seemed very relieved to be home.
She dropped everything on the floor including her whip and ran up to him putting her cheek next to his and deeply inhaling his scent. She had needed that to believe she was finally here.
"My dear sister, how are you?"
"Very, very glad to be back. I thought I might never make it home."
"It seems you were very busy." Miles had been annoyed that she had not been responding to his e-mails, but he wasn't going to mention it. She was home now. He figured there was no point in dredging up his irritation with her.
"Yes…well…" Franziska seemed uncertain. Miles noticed it immediately. Franziska was normally a pillar of strength spouting wishes and commands at her lover as soon as she saw him. But something was different this time. Miles felt it, but choose to ignore his instinct, thinking her reserve was a result of their extended absence from one another.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and embraced her gently brushing his face against hers so they could feel the warmth of one another. Then he placed his lips on hers intending to give her a simple chaste kiss, but as soon as his lips met hers they locked. It felt so good he immediately clamped onto her with his arms on her back pulling her body to him as his tongue invaded her. He was feeling as though he might not even make it to the bedroom. Franziska's hands gently teased his back and her kisses were gentle. For once he seemed to be the aggressor and he didn't mind. He wanted her.
"Come on," he said taking her by the hand a devilish grin on his face. Franziska didn't even fight to pick up her whip. She left it in the middle of the hallway as Miles led her through the house to her room.
"I've missed you so much. Wait till you see the surprise I have for you, dear sister!"
Franziska wanted to follow him and enjoy the day, but she knew that the surprise she had for Miles was one he was sure not to like. She wished she could simply ignore the truth, but that wasn't who she was or who Miles was either. She would have to face the consequences of her actions. She debated about letting him bed her at least once before telling him. She wanted to be with him so badly. She wanted their reunion to be the way it should be, but there was no denying what she had done and how upset he would be when she told him.
"Miles, there's something I have to tell you."
Miles' steps toward her room slowed and then came to a stop.
"Oh?" He didn't like the tone in her voice. It sounded frightened. He knew that tone. Something had happened. Something bad.
He turned to her and inquisitively prodded her, "Is something wrong?" But he already knew the answer. Something was terribly wrong. His sister was avoiding his eyes, she was hesitating about everything, she was…acting guilty. Was it possible? Franziska von Karma never acted ashamed of what she did. She defended her actions even when they were entirely self-centered. He knew this about her. What in the world could have her so upset?
"Brother, I…I was with someone else while I was gone."
Miles suddenly felt sick to his stomach and his neck and head began to twitch ever so slightly. His nostrils flared and the tight grip he had on her hand released and her hand dropped from his to fall at her side.
He wasn't sure exactly what she was telling him. The implications of her admittance were still hazy but he knew it wasn't good and that plan of his for a seventy-two hour lovemaking marathon was fast evaporating.
"Do you mean what I think you mean, FranZisKa?" He enunciated every syllable in her name, emphasizing who she was; she was Franziska von Karma and she was SUPPOSED to be his. He had sacrificed a lot for that. Surely she couldn't have forgotten all he had given up for her. How he had overcome his desire for a male lover in order to be with her. How he endured abuse by her whip and her words that could seemingly bite just as sharply. He gave her anything she wanted and indulged every whim she had. Could she possibly have forgotten that his entire existence revolved around her? How could she be with someone else while he suffered such terrible loneliness every moment of her absence?
Franziska looked directly at him her hands shaking wildly as she longed for the comfort of her whip. She wanted to feel its smooth leather so badly, but she couldn't very well go running back down the hallway for it. She would have to survive without it, if she could.
"Yes, brother, I cheated on you." She was going to say more. An apology was on her tongue, but Miles interrupted.
"How could you?" Franziska had expected this. She had been asking herself the same question ever since that night. The night she'd had sex with someone else. And that's all it had been, just sex. No feelings of love. She hadn't been mad at Miles. She hadn't been looking for someone else she just had sex with someone else for no apparent reason. It had been an extremely foolhardy one-night stand that confirmed to her that all those horrible things people thought about her were true. She was selfish, conceited, spoiled, and uncaring.
"I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I-"
Miles eyes were wide with anger. He suddenly seemed much taller than his sister and he towered over her as she confessed her transgression.
"Is it someone you're going to see again?" His voice was shaking, but he was trying to maintain his composure. It wasn't only von Karmas who worked to appear untouched by emotion.
"No!" Her reply was adamant. She had no desire to leave Miles. She had never wanted that. She had been so terribly lonely without him. Franziska reached out to touch him, but he pulled away. "Miles, I'm really sorry. So, so sor-"
"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" His voice thundered at her and she trembled before his anger. Franziska recognized the hatred that burned within his eyes and his gut. She had seen it in her father many times. It was the anger that grew out of obsession.
"We went out one night and I had some drinks-"
"He took advantage of you!" She knew Miles was trying to make it not her fault and she could lie. She knew if she did all his hatred would be directed at the man who had invited her to his hotel room, but it was Franziska who had gone with him. She had chosen to accompany him, though for the life of her she couldn't figure out why.
Franziska had come to believe in her brother's values of uncovering the truth at all costs regardless of the consequences and so she knew lying to him was not something she could do and continue to tell herself that she loved him.
"No. No, brother, he didn't. I drank, but I wasn't drunk I could have said no. I just didn't." Her voice was cracking. How could she be so selfish? How could she betray him? He wasn't like an average person; he was totally devoted. He treated her like a queen. He worshipped her. He gave her everything she wanted and she had completely ignored his feelings.
"You chose to…?" His voice was a whisper, as though speaking evil that couldn't be uttered. The anger was fading into hopelessness and he began to sob. His body was quaking with sadness and he began to reach for the wall to support himself. He remembered being in this same hallway and having his sister awake feelings in him that he believed were nonexistent. She had made him a sexual being. She had given him love, companionship, sex. She had become his everything, his entire world, and the thought of her forgetting him long enough for some other man to weasel his way into her…the image was more than he could bear. What had she been thinking? Obviously, not of me, he thought. Not of how he did anything she wished. It made him wince worse than when she whipped him till he bled.
His tears blurred his vision and his nose became so congested he could barely breathe. His mouth involuntarily opened to help him get air, but he found himself wishing it hadn't. He wanted to die. He would rather die than live in a world where his sister was so careless with his devotion to her.
Franziska remembered seeing her brother like this only one other time. It was when he recalled his father's murder and realized his mentor had merely adopted him for the purpose of revenge.
I'm so like my father, she thought. I may as well have killed someone. I've killed his belief that I'm perfect. Franziska felt her dream life slipping away. The magical enchantment that had seemed to take a hold on her life ever since that faithful day when she had first made love to him was shattered. Memories of candle light dinners, impassioned embraces between the shelves of antique books in the library, nights of pleasure after days of hard work, the relief of having someone to share her thoughts and secrets with all spun through her mind like the whirlpool that forms in the bathtub right before the last of the water disappears down the drain.
Franziska bowed her head. She had destroyed their magical life. She was soiled, their love now tainted by distrust. She would be worshiped no longer.
"It was one night. I made a mistake and I know it will be difficult for you to trust me for a while, but I hope you can forgive me. Please."
Miles felt like his world was crumbling. While she'd been away she had always been in his thoughts. He had dreamed of her and longed for her and tried his best to be patient as he waited for her return and here she was expecting him to forgive her right off the bat. As though it was to be expected that she couldn't control her own actions.
His silence was making her feel desperate. She started sobbing and reaching for him.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was lonely."
"Well, maybe you wouldn't be so lonely if you'd call home once in awhile." Miles shouted at her. "I know this trip was important and you were busy, but I'm sure you could have spared a few minutes to call or reply to my e-mails. I've been thinking about you the entire time you've been away, but obviously that doesn't matter. If I'm not handy you cheat because it's more convenient, is that it?"
"Miles, it isn't like that. I was just-"
"Buy yourself a goddamn vibrator, Franziska!"
Franziska recoiled from his insult as though she had been whipped.
"I have given up everything for you. Do you understand that? I have given you everything and this is what I get. You cheat on me as soon as you're away. You're my sister! How could you hurt me like this? Is this all a game to you?"
Franziska shook her head. "No, no, little brother!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT! NEVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!"
"Miles, please! Please, forgive me. I'm begging you. Let me show you how sorry I am." She placed her hand on his chest. He felt like throwing up. He felt like slicing his wrists. He felt as though the von Karma mansion was nothing but a torture chamber he had been sentenced to reside in after the untimely death of his father. He hated himself for trusting her. He hated himself for believing that she loved him.
He had believed Manfred loved him, too. He had forgiven him so many times for his cruelty, but in the end he hadn't loved him at all. But most of all Miles hated himself for believing that a von Karma could even know what love was.
His love for her had known no limit, no word in existence immense enough to express its vastness, but now he couldn't even stand the sight of her. He pulled her hand off of him and turned around to stumble down the hallway back to his wing of the estate vowing not to enter her half ever again.