Follow the Fool (Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Fanfic)

Chapter 9

It was Friday night in Hamburg, and Franziska von Karma found herself oddly engaged in preparing for an event she'd only been convinced into attending little more than a day before. The young prodigy applied the last touches of makeup to her face gently and sparingly, tucked a few blue-gray strands of blow-dried hair back into their proper place, and... she was done.

From the living room, she heard Adrian call out to her, "Franziska, what time did you say we should be there, again?" The prodigy looked slightly annoyed, because the other woman's voice carried subtle hints of "Hurry up already!" While it was true that Adrian had been ready before her, it wasn't exactly fair—Franziska had only returned home barely half an hour ago. Meanwhile, Adrian had had all day to prepare, including a trip to the hairdressers (an appointment Franziska had obtained via whip-style-persuasion) that she'd returned from while the German woman had been in the shower.

All in all, not completely fair. Still, Adrianhad been prepared before her. Though Franziska still thought of the mid-summer Policeman's Ball as a foolish, extravagant event, it was clear that the shy American woman was rather looking forward to it. As much as she hated to admit it, Franziska wasn't nearly as opposed to the idea as she had been a day ago.

Slipping her stocking-clad feet into the high-heeled black shoes she had selected, Franziska checked herself one final time in the mirror before turning the bathroom light off, and crossing her bedroom to the living room where Adrian was waiting for her.

While Franziska had seen Adrian in her dress yesterday afternoon, it hadn't fit quite right—and she hadn't spent a few hours getting the rest of her ready then, either. As Franziska had been in the shower since Adrian had come back from her appointment, neither of them had seen each other fully prepared for the event. Even so, it wasn't very likely that either of them expected such a stunned silence to fall upon the pair.

The two of them were opposites—while Adrian's snow-white dress cascaded fluidly down her body, gently clinging to the curves of her upper body before loosely flowing to the floor, Franziska had chosen a sleek black gown that hugged the contours of her body tightly and precisely, plunging to the floor with almost a tangible sense of purpose or intent. Adrian's long blonde hair was pinned up elegantly (though she still wore her glasses, not having replaced them for contacts), while the prodigy of the courtroom hadn't done anything particularly special with her blue-gray locks.

Though they were opposites, they were almost complementary in nature, a sort of individual yin and yang, both giving and receiving in return. More tangibly, they both suddenly found themselves wearing matching blushes, quickly averting their eyes from the other.

Adrian was the first to break the thundering silence, looking up and smiling coyly at the other woman, reflexively adjusting her glasses as she spoke. "Franziska... wow. You're... you're absolutely stunning."

Franziska swallowed, fighting the urge to stare at the floor, overwhelming though it might be. "Thank... thank you, Adrian," she managed at last. "You look... wonderful tonight, yourself." The young prosecutor knew she looked sharp, but was acutely aware that she was a dimly glimmering star compared to Adrian's brilliant supernova—and somehow it didn't really bother her.

The blonde American laughed, shaking her head. "This is so silly. I feel like I'm back in high school, going to my senior prom again."

"I... never went to any sort of prom," Franziska said in a soft reminder. "Being a prosecutor doesn't leave much time for frivolous things like that."

Adrian laughed good-naturedly again, smiling a friendly, reassuring smile at her host. "Oh, don't worry, you didn't miss much." She paused, closing her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again. "I think that every senior secretly hopes that it'll be a perfect night, one final storybook ending. That something magical will happen. But... something always goes wrong, you know? It's just a silly student fantasy."