Follow the Fool (Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Fanfic)

Epilogue (Final chapter)

Six months had passed since Franziska von Karma had last seen Adrian Andrews, in the middle of a crowded airplane terminal at the HamburgInternationalAirport. An awkward goodbye and embrace followed by a sudden, passionate if brief kiss, and then the blonde woman had been swept up in the unrelenting march of the crowd boarding the trans-Atlantic flight.

It had been five months since they had last talked, a brief conversation with a slightly-panicked Adrian relating the troubles she was facing regarding the art exhibit she'd lined up a job managing, and the theft of one of the pieces. As she didn't appear to be in any real danger, and Phoenix Wright was getting involved, Franziska had tried not to concern herself further with the matter. Miles trusted the spiky-haired defense attorney, and while that trust didn't completely extend through the family tree to his older sister, Franziska did admit that Wright was competent enough to handle any sort of mishaps that might occur. Still, she discreetly tapped into some of her contacts down in Los Angeles to keep an eye on the situation and ensure Adrian's safety.

Other than that, the pair hadn't been in contact since the middle of September, and it was now a week and a half into January. Of course, Franziska von Karma rarely did anything unintentionally, and this long silence was no different. The day she had driven Adrian to the airport to catch her flight after three weeks in one of Europe's largest cities, the two had talked—or rather, Franziska had talked, and Adrian had listened.

Her time in America, the breaking of her perfect win record, and her brief conversations with Miles Edgeworth had made one thing crystal clear to the young prodigy: ultimately, the path she was setting herself on would become dangerous and consuming, quite possibly destroying her as it had done her father. That nagging doubt had plagued Franziska ever since her plane had soared into the smog-covered skies of L.A, and she kept the assassin's calling card to remind her of that.

She had thought Miles to be weak, lost, in need of help when he had vanished, feigning his own suicide. She had realized, in the end, that Miles had actually been correct—that she, and her perfection-obsessed father, had been wrong. Franziskahad realized that she had quite a bit of thinking ahead of her. Unlike her little brother, though, Franziska would not need to fake her death to ensure precious time to contemplate the true meaning of being a prosecutor. No, she would continue with her everyday life of putting the scum of the world behind bars... she could deal with minor distractions, after all.

"...but not you, Adrian," Franziska had sighed softly. Why was this so damn hard to do? She rarely put this much effort into preparing her opening statements for a trial, but even with all her preparation, every word was a labor to get out. "You distract me, Adrian Andrews. I notice things about you that I rarely notice on anyone. I... cannot stop thinking about you. I cannot stop thinking about how I feel about you, and that is even more frustrating than the rest of it. But what's worse...? I enjoy being distracted by you."

Something hurt. Not the way that the bullet had hurt as it pierced her shoulder, no, but a far more insidious, subtle hurt like someone was sliding a semi-solid stiletto right between her ribs. Franziska shook her head—foolish thoughts of a foolish woman—willing each and every word out of her lips. "And that is something I cannot afford right now, Adrian. Since the trial where... where we met, I have learned much. But I have not learned enough," she said, purposefully not looking over at where the blonde American sat on her couch.

"There are still things I must do, things I must learn—and I must do them alone. I cannot afford to be so... distracted by having a... relationship, Adrian."

Though she was outwardly composed, Adrian's voice carried a soft tremor beneath it that was not hard to imagine easily collapsing into a sob. "So... you're saying, we...?"