Notes - Written for foxysquidalso for the November 2010 round at gyaku_flash. Set a while post-AAI.

"Here's today's mail for you, Mr. Edgeworth," Gumshoe called, waving a pile of letters in the air before dropping them down on the desk.

"Thank you detective," Edgeworth said, nodding his head in acknowledgement. He'd known Gumshoe long enough to know that the man would hang around the office for a short while after dropping off the letters to see if there was anything Edgeworth needed doing. He had a suspicion that Gumshoe only brought the letters for this reason. But he'd also known Gumshoe long enough to know that if he ignored him that he would eventually shuffle off to get on with other work.

Call him harsh, but Edgeworth was a man who liked to see to his paperwork and some days he just couldn't deal with making small talk.

After Gumshoe had taken the hint and left, Edgeworth moved to examine what had been left for him.

There were the usual documents concerning cases he'd been involved with and potential cases he might take up, along with a notice about his tea imports and…

…there it was.

It was always there, at first weekly but now it was starting to become every other day.

A letter marked with the Cohdopian seal, Edgeworth's address written in a style that was fancy yet readable in a very expensive type of ink along the front.

It was from the Cohdopian Ambassador, Colias Palaeno. Not many people had an ambassador that they could consider a pen pal as such, but Edgeworth had helped Palaeno out on a rather tricky case that could have resulted in the demise of a few countrys' well beings had it gone wrong. The man was very grateful to Edgeworth for this and had let him know that in writing many times.

But Edgeworth had assumed that after a few months the letters would stop.

They had not.

Somehow the ambassador always found time to write to Edgeworth in his undoubtedly busy schedule, mostly just telling him how life was going in Cohdopia and enquiring upon how Edgeworth himself, along with Gumshoe and Kay, were doing.

Edgeworth replied to him, because he found it in his nature to be polite, but he definitely didn't write as many letters to Palaeno as he received in return.

Reading through the latest letter, he caught sight of a few generous coupons in the package. You couldn't get a letter from this man without also getting coupons. He must have had almost enough of them to buy a house now if he wanted.

The letter also made several indirect hints that if Edgeworth ever had some free time in his schedule that he should come and visit. Combined with the coupons, that had got him thinking.

The next day rolled in, and along with it came Gumshoe with the morning's mail. No letter from Palaeno today, they hadn't quite reached the daily rate yet. But what Gumshoe found this morning was Edgeworth packing his suitcase.

"Are you taking another case abroad, sir?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not exactly, detective," Edgeworth said, closing it up, "I'm going to be leaving for a short while on vacation."

"Vacation?"

Edgeworth taking cases in other countries wasn't unheard of, but him leaving purely to relax pretty much was. Whenever Edgeworth left it was always for business of some sort.

"That's correct," confirmed Edgeworth, "I'm up-to-date with my cases and feel that I owe myself some time to reflect before taking any new ones on. Is there a problem with that?"

"No problem at all, sir!" Gumshoe assured, waving his arms dramatically.

"Good, then be sure to keep my office in a presentable condition while I'm away," he said, walking past Gumshoe, suitcase in tow.

"Oh… um, yeah, sure pal," Gumshoe responded, watching Edgeworth disappear down the corridor, still as lost as he had been to start with.

The less anyone knew about the vacation the better, Edgeworth told himself. He didn't want any difficult questions after all.

He travelled by iFly Airlines again, they had recently opened a route to Cohdopia and Edgeworth approved of their services. He noted that a certain Ms. Teneiro was attending this flight, though for some reason the lady was too shy to come over and talk to him despite their familiarity. She seemed happy to see Edgeworth was still using the suitcase she'd designed at any rate.

A similar joy was found in the suitcase as he departed from the plane and met up with the man who had come to meet him there.

Colias Palaeno rushed over and greeted him like an old friend. He was flanked by bodyguards and was possibly the most important man in the whole country but still managed to make small talk about a suitcase as if he was just an ordinary guy. Which was probably why he was so popular with his voters.

"I've seen those suitcases for sale online before, they always look so charming," he said, "I'd like to speak to the designer sometime if I had the chance."

He wasn't to know that the designer was currently bidding people farewell from their flight, and certainly seemed quite embarrassed at the compliment.

Edgeworth replied, "I'm sure they'd be very glad to hear that, ambassador."

Admittedly he wasn't fond of the suitcase himself, but he kept it for sentimental value.

"Though I'm sure you're time is much pressed from coming all the way out here to greet me. I appreciate it but should let you get back to your duties as I check into a hotel," Edgeworth went on.

"A hotel? I'll hear nothing of the sort," Palaeno replied, "You are here as my guest, so you will be staying in my home."

"Wh-what?"

Even Edgeworth was surprised by that, Palaeno could be quite unpredictable sometimes.

"That… um, that is very kind of you, ambassador," Edgeworth said, not wanting to refuse him in front of all of his bodyguards. He had to admit that the hotel had mostly been paid for using the coupons he'd been sent anyway, so it wasn't as if he was losing out too much by not staying there.

"Think nothing of it; now let's get you settled in then. You must be bored after such a long flight," Palaeno said, walking towards the exit.

The distance Edgeworth had travelled to get there hadn't been too long, if he was honest with himself. It certainly took a lot less time to get to Cohdopia than it did some of the other countries Edgeworth visited frequently for work. But regardless the flight had left him without much to occupy his mind, so he was glad to be on the move again. Even if it was alongside a flank of bodyguards.

Thankfully, that didn't last for long. Once they had reached Palaeno's home, a grand estate that rivaled even the von Karma household Edgeworth had lived in for many years, the guards took to their various posts and left the two of them alone.

When they headed through to one of the many living rooms, Edgeworth noted that Palaeno seemed as glad about their disappearance as he did.

"They get troublesome sometimes," he said, offering Edgeworth a seat, "I appreciate their efforts and understand that they are here for my own safety, but I would like some privacy all the same."

"I think I understand what you mean, ambassador," Edgeworth said, as an image of Gumshoe's smiling face flashed through his mind.

"Please, call me Colias, or Palaeno if you feel more comfortable. It seems odd to use titles among friends," Palaeno cut in.

"Colias will be fine," Edgeworth agreed, trying to ignore the thought that he was now on first-name terms with the most heavily guarded man in Cohdopia, "Though if it's all the same with you I do prefer Edgeworth. I don't mean that as a disrespect to you, but I doubt that even my own mother, should she be around, would call me Miles."

Palaeno laughed, "Edgeworth it is then. You're such a formal person; you come across that way in your letters as well."

"Now that you've brought it up I should thank you for all the letters you've sent," Edgeworth said, though there were a fair few more of them than he would have liked, "I'm just sorry that I cannot reply to them so frequently."

"Nonsense, you're a busy man, you do a lot for everyone," Palaeno assured him, "You took the time to come visit me and that means a lot."

Edgeworth suddenly felt a bit awkward, so he tried to quell that by asking, "Do you send as many letters to the other people who were involved in that case."

"I certainly do," Palaeno admitted, smiling, "Although Agent Lang doesn't really keep up with them much, I can imagine that his Interpol work forces him to be a very private person. Miss Faraday seems very cheerful and upbeat in her letters as well, and the good detective I talk to through you."

There was a pang of guilt as Edgeworth realized how little of the letters he showed to Gumshoe.

"But I must admit you are my favourite person to write to," confessed Palaeno, snapping him out of that thought.

"Me, amb- …Colias? Why would that be?" Edgeworth questioned. He thought himself that he'd always written in a dull and formal tone.

"You sound as if you come from a similar background to me," Palaeno replied, "Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I feel that I can relate to you on a different level to the others."

That seemed to make a bit of sense when put into perspective.

"You could well be correct in that assumption," Edgeworth told him, "While I'm not of any sort of high ranking beyond that of a prosecutor I once lived in a similar sort of mansion to this one under the care of Manfred von Karma. Perhaps that's why I have grown up the way I am and why you can relate to me."

Though he had to admit, beyond them both being formal there weren't really a lot of similarities between the two – Palaeno was very open about his emotions and all around cheerful, while Edgeworth himself was quiet and withdrawn.

"Manfred von Karma? I've heard of him before. It was so unfortunate what happened…" Palaeno said sympathetically.

Edgeworth actually laughed a little.

"I could tell you plenty of truth about von Karma," he said. Somehow the subject didn't feel painful to him anymore, he could talk about it more openly now.

"Well I'm not one to gossip," Palaeno mumbled, looking away. Though from that expression Edgeworth seemed to get that he would be quite interested to hear more.

"I'll try not to veer too much in that direction then," Edgeworth said, smiling a little.

The two talked long into the day, and indeed for the whole of the two weeks Edgeworth was there they spent a lot of time talking together. He mused that it must have been difficult for Palaeno to make so much time for him, but the ambassador kept assuring him that it was no trouble and that he would catch up.

At the end of the visit Edgeworth felt more like he had a friend in the man now than he had done before.

As he waited to board his flight, he said to Palaeno, "I look forward to hearing from you again, though for the moment my work needs me as much as yours probably does."

"Oh yes, always so much to do," Palaeno agreed, "If Manny was still here he'd be so annoyed at me for leaving it all for such a long time…"

Edgeworth caught the look in his eyes when he said the name 'Manny'.

So that was it. The poor man was lonely. He'd always relied on a corrupt individual to run his life for him, and now that man was gone he was floundering without someone to keep him company.

"Perhaps I can make more time to see you in future, however," Edgeworth replied, not knowing why he felt the need to make up for Manny's absence.

"I would like that," said Palaeno, smiling honestly.

"Well… I'd better be going now," Edgeworth muttered, embarrassed.

"Have a good flight," Palaeno called, waving at him as he disappeared through the terminal.

It was a few days later before the next wave of letters began. Gumshoe brought them up to the office as always, curious as to why Edgeworth seemed to be checking them a lot more now but not really knowing what had happened during the visit. He didn't like to pry into Mr. Edgeworth's personal business unless asked.

As he walked away from the office he considered that maybe he should take up letter writing himself. It seemed like a good way to keep in contact with people.

But right now Maggey was calling him from outside the office, and he didn't need to write a letter to speak to her.

Watching the detective leave from his window, Edgeworth thought Gumshoe was lucky to be able to talk to Ms. Byrde so frequently. But that just went to show how good letters were in practise.

They remove the distance of companionship.