My first PW fic! So far it shouldn't get too R rated, but if It does I'll link it somewhere.

Title: Understanding Imperfection (Yes, I just changed it. ><)
Author: Yours Truly
Rating: So far, PG-13
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Romance
Status: No where near...
Pairing: Phoenix/Edgy (might as well share that one off the bat), ??/?? (will be revealed eventually)
Summary: When a reality TV star is murdered, our favorite defense lawyer sets off to find out who really loved who in both this mystery and his own life. I suck at summaries. It's better than it sounds. Basically I tried to create my own case. We'll see how it goes.

((EDIT = I just realised Can'tFaketheFunk wrote a story called Perfection some time ago, while looking at his Follow the Fool thread. This is in no way shape or form taken from that story - I haven't even read it. I just noticed that and I apologize to you, Can'tFaketheFunk. If you'd like, I'll change the title.))

March 4th, 10:32 AM

International Airport


Prologue

Miles’ meticulously tied dress shoes were dripping with mud onto the generic speckled carpeting. He was a wet towel, a sopping mess, a full sponge that was being wrung out slowly over a row of plastic maroon seats. Normally he would never be seen in a public place so distraught and unprofessional, but driving in heavy torrents of rain could loosen up even the most put-together human beings.

Him being “loose” was an understatement. Miles Edgeworth was sprawled out over a span of five chairs in a half-empty airport gate. There weren’t many other actions the prosecutor could think of that would prove he was more exhausted than he could possibly imagine. People were staring, he was sure. At least he had decided beforehand it was a stupid idea to wear his typical pink jacket and ascot to the airport. All anyone would be able make of him was a typical weary man in a pair of very wet jeans. He had no evidence that he was a rather prestigious attorney at law anywhere on him. It was a relief to be able to forget about his image for a few minutes, really. The peace was refreshing, at least for a while…

Miles jumped to a voice that blared over a broken loudspeaker. Embarrassed, he found himself on the ground, hard against the muddy carpet. He only caught the last few lines of the announcement made by a scratchy female voice.

“…is delayed, once again, ladies and gentlemen, flight SIA26 from Frankfurt is delayed due to the weather. We expect an arrival in roughly half an hour to forty-five minutes. Flight SIA26 should be arriving at gate 12, ladies and gentlemen, gate 12…have a nice day.”

Click. His ears were filled again with the bustle of the busy terminals once the voice went away. Never had bustle sounded so blissful compared to the itchy voice that had just harassed his well-being. Not to mention his peaceful rest had been violently interrupted…

The man’s soaked jacket had puddled into the cheap seats, making them extremely wet. A young family of four had approached the now empty spaces and had prepared to settle into them before noticing their damp nature. The two parents had glared at him before dragging a whining toddler and a sleeping infant away to another section. Miles glared right back. Most people couldn’t stare him down, and especially not a touristy pair of just-marrieds lagging around a handful of “mistakes”. He was too hardened to even be remotely bothered by the likes of them. He had too much to worry about.

Worry…in a way, the attorney supposed he was worried. Fransizka had no idea that he would be waiting for her at her flight gate. Miles even doubted that she knew he knew she was coming back to the states. It had been a rumor he had confirmed through the police, who had owed him a favor anyway. They had found her flight number for him. Fransizka probably couldn’t imagine that she was being waited for at that very moment. She probably wouldn’t have even gotten on the plane if she even suspected it for a minute.

And why was Edgeworth there, anyway? Fransizka was a big girl. She could fly in and find her place in the states on her own – Hell knew she was strong enough. Within days she could get herself work, with her legendary status. That was, of course, if she was still prosecuting, and even so! Fransizka von Karma was as famous as her father, and for better reasons as well. She was known solely for her expertise as a prodigy, not for a vengeful murder. She would not be a nobody here. Miles didn’t need to watch out for her.

No, that wasn’t why he had endured the hellish conditions on the way to the airport. That wasn’t why he had worked so hard to find out her flight number. That wasn’t why Miles had thought about her every single day for the past year, her among other reoccurring considerations…

Perhaps it was just because he needed to see her. Edgeworth needed to make sure his sister was alright. She claimed to hate him, but he could have sword they were closer than that! Had they not been friends as children? Rivals, of course! Fransizka had always been his rival in everything they had done ever since Miles had been a part of her family. They had always competed against everything, from getting better grades to reading more books to simply shouting louder in a petty argument. But hadn’t there been times, before Herr Von Karma’s strict upbringing had hardened them both, where they had been something resembling friends, something resembling siblings? She had called him “little brother”, always with a teasing tone in her voice. Had Miles hallucinated her kindness?

He hoped not.

Stiffly the prosecutor leaned back down in the wet seats, feeling the warm water seep back into his jacket. Edgeworth had just begun to dry off, too, but he wasn’t too concerned. He was wiped from the trip all the way to the busy airport. Silently, he began to doze off again, his grey hair swimming in the shallow pool beneath his head. His whole face was damp against the seat, but he could care less…

A voice startled him, again, but this time the man managed not to slide off the seats. This time, he managed to catch the beginning of the scratchy intercom’s message.
“Flight SIA26 from Frankfurt has landed at gate 12, gate 12…once again, Flight SIA26 from Frankfurt has landed. Passengers will be departing shortly. Have a nice day.”

Had it really been that long? He must have dozed off for a bit, Edgeworth thought, still laying on the seats. He hadn’t even heard the plane pulling up to the gate. Would it really be this soon before he saw her again? He closed his eyes and waited, wondering if she’d even see him sprawled out on the seats.

Footsteps and moving. People were coming out of the gate and greeting those around them, from what he could hear. There was much more noise than there had been beforehand. Footsteps…someone was approaching him. Was it her?

“You fool.”

Yes, it was definitely her. Edgeworth opened his eyes and caught her frosty blue glare, looking down at him with mild disgust. He offered a sarcastic grin as he sat up, water dripping from his bangs into his eyes. “Good to see you again, Fransizka.” Glad you missed me…

Fransizka crossed her arms and eyed him unhappily, looking uncomfortable. She had no bags, and Miles assumed she had brooded the entire twelve hours home. They were both typical of such actions, such deep thinking. The woman barked. “Why are you here?”

Truthfully Miles didn’t know how to answer. He wiped his wet brow and removed his soaked coat, noticing the girl smirk at his disheveled state. She would never, ever, ask how his trip went, or if he was cold. He didn’t expect it of her in the slightest.
The only thing he could do was look at her, trying to notice if she had changed over the past year. She still looked just as angry as she had always been.

“I could ask you the same thing, Fransizka.” He was still sitting, keeping eye contact with the girl. Miles patted his hand on a seat next to him, indicating that Fransizka ought to sit. She gave him a look and shook her head. The seat was much too wet for her to sit, Miles settled with, trying not to think about the real reason she’d never sit with him. She really hated him, then? He toyed with her stare.

The young woman sighed and started to walk away, heading in the direction of the luggage retrieval. “Personal reasons. I’ve been interested in a case that was on the news last night, Edgeworth. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.” Her stiletto heels still managed to pound against the carpet, at least in Miles’ mind. Fransizka’s hair was perfectly done, trimmed well around her ears. Everything about her appearance was about as perfect as the attorney could manage. Fransizka was always perfect. Except for what she just said, anyways.

“You bought the tickets a week ago. Long before any case you’re going to attend to even happened.” He didn’t know what news story she was referencing yet – he hadn’t watched the news the night before, and he hadn’t thought of getting a paper that morning – but he did know it wasn’t the only reason. At least, it was enough to make her stop walking away from him.

A pause. “I have personal reasons, Miles Edgeworth. And you are not one of them.” Her voice was strong and unhappy. “I did not come back for you to baby-sit me.”

“I have no intentions of it.” Finally Edgeworth stood, walking over to her slowly. “I don’t want to watch your back every minute, Fransizka. You assume that I have nothing better to do.” He paused, and touched her shoulder. The girl pulled away.

“Will you tell me in time?” Edgeworth retained no reply. She did not resist his question, nor did she pay him any thought. “Fransizka…why are you moving so fast? What is your hurry?”

Not missing a beat, the girl turned to him and stared him down with stony eyes. After a moment, she answered coolly.

“They made me put my whip in my suitcase. I want it back.”

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Last edited by MercuryKitten on Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Okay I haven't actually read it yet, I just wanted to say I glanced at the beginning and only saw "MILES IS LOOSE" and thought, omg oh no you din't!!

I'm not a slut!!!

Anyway, I'll come back and actually read it later~

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Edgeworth is going to get hurt. A lot. Sorry is this post sucks. It's my first post. Hmm... This has a lot of potential. Can't wait for the next chapter.

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Haha. No worries at all. Dealing with the Von Karma siblings, I'd imagine this would come up a lot as a title :P

One thing I do have a teeeeeny issue with is you got my gender wrong, but that's it. :P I'll take a look at this later!

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HAHA OMG NO. LOOSE IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TERM. I MEANT LOOSE AS IN LIKE, NOT TENSE. D: D: I'M SORRY EDGY!!!!!


And to Funk: OH. *embarassed* How come I manage to make a fool out myself all the time...*goes back and edits* My bad...

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OKAY I am back!

It sounds like an interesting set up so far! It's nice to see Edgeworth and Franziska really acting like brother and sister. Something about the writing seems...a little jumbled, though. I can't quite put my finger on it, but in a few places I had to read back because I wasn't quite sure what you were trying to say.

But I'd be interested to see you post more~

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YES. I know exactly what you mean...when I was rereading it, I couldn't figure out what it was that I didn't like about it. There's just something that I don't like...you're right, it is jumbled. I'm going to go back and edit it a bit, I'll let you know when I replace the above version with the edited.

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I hope to see more!

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Why bump this?