Alone in his apartment, Phoenix Wright sank into his sofa, eyes closed, wishing to think of nothing. Do nothing. The curtains were closed, the television was showing a daytime soap and Phoenix was in his pajamas. He had not been this low since he had lost his badge, not even close, he thought to himself. Yet he did not care. Lucky for him, Trucy was on vacation with Apollo, as it was their last chance to do so before school started again. This meant there was no reason for him to hide how much pain he was in; he embraced it. Phoenix groaned loudly as he heard a loud knock and slumped towards the door.

“Hmph. I heard you were being pathetic.” A familiar face greeted him.

“What are you doing here, Edgeworth?” Phoenix asked, half curious, half annoyed. Edgeworth pushed past him and into his apartment.

“So it really was the Fey girls who were keeping you in check... ever since they’ve left it seems your desire to wash, dress and clean,” he said looking around the room, disgusted, “...has disappeared.”

“Listen, I’m not really in the mood for a heart to heart right now, Edgeworth, especially with you.” Phoenix grumbled, sitting back down on the sofa.

Edgeworth couldn’t help but grin at Wright’s terrible mood. “You’re just being bitter but alas, I’ll forgive you. I’d hate to see you waste away alone.” He got out a bottle of whiskey from the paper bag he’d been carrying and poured the two of them a drink. “Now drink your whiskey.”

“He can’t stand me in my pyjamas but doesn’t seem to mind encouraging me to become a bitter drunk...” Phoenix thought to himself sardonically, still pissed off that Edgeworth had ruined his solitary moping.

“God, what a state this place is... Wright! Honestly.” Edgeworth exclaimed, clearing up some junk lying on the kitchen counter. “Maya left two months ago; don’t you think it’s time you pulled yourself together?” He said, proceeding to go through Phoenix’s mail.

“What is he, my mother?!” Phoenix just sat in silence drinking his whiskey, watching Edgeworth clean up his mess.

“You do know you’ve got at least three bills here, Wright.” Edgeworth stopped, “Speak of the devil, a letter stamped from Kurain Village...”

Phoenix immediately choked on his whiskey, much to Edgeworth’s disgust. The two sat there in silence for moment, Edgeworth waiting for Phoenix to stop coughing and make his next move. “More whiskey?” he offered. Phoenix stood up abruptly.

“No, er, yes, you what? Ahhhhh...” he took the letter from Edgeworth but instead of opening it, he just stared. Phoenix slowly sat down crossed legged on the floor, running a hand through his unkempt hair, as if the whole world had disappeared around him.

Though Edgeworth tried to appear amused at this melodrama, he couldn’t help but be curious. Why had Maya sent that letter? What exactly had happened between the two of them? Perhaps he and Phoenix were not close enough to discuss such personal issues, or perhaps he was still simply not ready to open up about it, however obvious it had been when Maya left. Edgeworth soon found himself leaning over Wright’s shoulder, staring at the letter himself.

“Do you two... correspond regularly?” he asked carefully.
“No,” Phoenix replied sharply, still hypnotised by the envelope.

It was clear Edgeworth was not going to get any answers from Phoenix today, so he stood up promptly, with a small sigh of defeat, and made his way to the front door.
“Well, Wright, I’m afraid I must be off. You had better be out of tracksuit bottoms by the end of the week,” he warned.

Phoenix gave a small grumble, “Yeah right...” before Edgeworth left. He let out a small sigh, staring at the envelope. He couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart, thinking about Maya. The last memory he had was of her in tears, slinking away from his embrace and closing the door behind her.

He wondered what she had to say to him, after two months of separation. He couldn’t believe she had forgiven him already, so why would she write? “I should have been the one to write first... what kind of man am I?” Phoenix decided he would go to bed but couldn’t physically let go of the letter or bring himself to open it. He spent the remainder of that night drinking whiskey and debating in his own mind what to do.

“JUST OPEN IT!” He screamed in his head.

Phoenix jumped as his home phone started to ring. He broke out of the foetal position and dragged his way across the living room floor to reach for the receiver. “Helloooou?” He said pathetically.

“Er, Mister Nick? Hello?”

“Pearls?! Is that you?” he jumped up, spilling the remaining contents of his whiskey glass.

“I’m so sorry to call you like this, but I was wondering if you received my letter?” Pearl asked, worried she had disturbed Nick in the middle of something important. Clearly she hadn’t.

“Your... letter? You... wrote that letter?” Phoenix nearly fell over; he couldn’t believe he had been angsting over a letter that was supposedly from Maya, when all along it was from Pearl. What an idiot! While Pearl expressed her worries about it getting lost, he ripped it open and quickly scanned the details.

“So are you coming? There’s a train ticket in there to make it more difficult for you to decline!” She said it almost too cutely. Phoenix couldn’t believe what was going on, however; Pearl’s plan was completely transparent. There was no way he was going to Kurain without Maya’s consent; it was bound to be a disaster. “So what do you say, Mister Nick? Are you coming? Okay! Wonderful! I’ll be at the station tomorrow, waiting for you to arrive!” With that she hung up.

“TOMORROW?!” He exclaimed out loud, although Pearls was gone. “This can’t be happening, there’s no way I’m going back, not after that night, that awful fight...”

~~~~~~

“Maya! Just listen to me! Stop!” He chased her down the stairs from his apartment. “I... I don’t have anything left... but you do!” Phoenix had almost caught up to her when she suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Talk to me when you’ve stopped feeling sorry for yourself, okay?” she said angrily before continuing to head for the door.

“Wait!” Phoenix managed to get ahead of her, blocking her way to the door.

“Nick...” She said, tears forming in her eyes, “We both know this isn't working the way we wanted it to, please move out of my way....” Phoenix just stood there, unsure of what he was doing. Maya looked up at him with an unwavering gaze, before grabbing the collar of his zip up jacket and kissing him on the lips, softly. There was a sense of finality to the kiss that Phoenix couldn’t deny, but he couldn’t resist holding her face just so he could look into her eyes, desperate to understand her. Though she leaned toward him, she reached through his embrace to open the door. He tried his hardest to keep his grip on her, but he felt her slinking away from his arms... and with that she closed the door behind her.

Later that night, Nick tossed and turned in bed, his mind refusing to let him rest. Finally, he reached the point where he decided it’d be better to just give up. The whiskey had not done its job tonight. He opened his eyes, looking first to the alarm clock on his bedside table. It was four in the morning. He sat up, sighing... and nearly hit the ceiling when he noticed Mia perched on the end of his bed. Her hand grasped the very envelope that was the source of all his woes.

“What are you going to do, Phoenix? Feel like taking a trip to Kurain?” she asked gently, with a warm smile.

Phoenix rubbed his head, confused, “I don’t think so... It’s all Pearl’s set up... I don’t think it’s one of the greatest ideas...”

“Hmm...” Mia thought for a moment, “But you know, if Pearl is reaching out to you again, maybe that’s a sign Maya will too?”

“And is you being here a ‘sign’?” Phoenix asked sarcastically. Mia just smiled and reached her own hand across the bed towards him.

“Well, it could be a sign, it could be a dream, or it could be your subconscious... or it could just be me, Mia, telling you how important it is that you go and see Maya.”

Phoenix gasped; waking up from what had seemed like reality. He looked at the clock again, completely baffled, before sighing and flopping back onto his pillow. “Do I really have a choice in the matter?” He supposed he could go... after all, he got the distinct feeling that he’d be haunted for the rest of his life if he didn’t.


Maya yawned and opened her eyes to find Pearl looming over her. “GAH!”

“Good morning Mystic Maya!” Pearl beamed out, all too cheery for Maya’s liking.

“Pearly? What are you doing?!”

“Wake up, sunshine!” Pearl said, putting a breakfast tray on Maya’s lap. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us!”

Maya sat up in confusion, “We have? What’s so big about today?” she questioned, wiping her fringe out of her eyes.

Pearl nearly froze, “Er, a big fun day with me!” she said with a silly grin.

“But it’s so early! Oh... maybe not, heh...” Maya said after looking at the clock, which showed nine thirty.

~~~~

“Ah! Nine thirty! I’m late!” Phoenix exclaimed, grabbing the alarm clock with both hands. He then made a poor attempt at getting dressed, putting his trousers on whilst trying to grab the envelope with the train ticket in, brushing his teeth and finding his keys all at the same time.

His journey from then on was no less rushed or ridiculous. Every time he came to a stop he would jog on the spot, persuading himself that if he was always moving, he was progressing. However, when he finally arrived at the railway station, Phoenix Wright had missed his train, and despite a heated argument with the ticket office, there were to be no more trains heading to Kurain for another four hours. What a mess he had made of this, he couldn’t even board a train on time. Phoenix was now determined to get there no matter what happened, and as a result of this desperation, he called the only person he could think of in a time of crisis.


Edgeworth raised an eyebrow as he looked at the display on his cell phone.

“Don’t mind me, little brother, answer it...” Franziska instructed, getting into the car. Edgeworth followed suit, before stopping to take the call.

“Wright? I dislike like making small talk on cell phones, you know that...” After a long pause, listening to Phoenix, he sighed, “I see. Hold on a minute, will you?”

Franziska crossed her arms, “I didn’t meet you to watch you talk to your boyfriend, Miles.”

“Very funny, Franziska. Listen, Wright’s in a bit of a state, an emotional breakdown if you will.”

“Yes, yes, got dumped by the Fey girl, old news!” she said, annoyed.

Edgeworth chuckled, “Fancy a trip into the mountains?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”


Edgeworth’s car parked in the pickup bay outside the station where Phoenix was waiting.

“Oh PLEASE, look at the state of that man, honestly, what kind of foolish fool goes out of the house dressed in jogging trousers, let alone unshaven!” Franziska exclaimed, genuinely shocked.

Edgeworth sighed and looked down at the steering wheel, “I told him about the pants...”

Phoenix climbed into the back of Edgeworth’s car, “Thanks Edgeworth, I really owe you.”

“Wright,” Edgeworth said, turning around to face Phoenix, “What did I tell you about the trousers?”

“You said I had until the end of the week!” Phoenix said grinning, amused by the face of disgust that Franziska was directing towards him.

“You gave him until the end of the week?!” she gasped. It was then Miles and Phoenix began laughing at the silliness of the situation. “Oh honestly, Miles! Just take me to work.” She glanced worriedly at Miles when she heard the sound of the car doors locking. “...Miles?”

Edgeworth tried not to grin and just began to drive, avoiding Franziska’s glare.

“Miles Edgeworth! I’m not going all the way into the depth of the Japanese mountains just so this loser can-“

Phoenix leaned forward, “I’m sitting right here in the back seat, Franziska...”

“Don’t talk to me, foolish fool!” she snapped at him. Phoenix and Miles once again couldn’t help but grin at each other at Franziska’s expense. “Aren’t you meant to be depressed!!???” She shouted out.

Phoenix chuckled, “Probably the first time I’ve laughed in ages...”

“That’s one of the advantages of being outside your apartment, Wright.” Edgeworth said, looking at him through the rear view mirror. Phoenix smiled and looked out of the window, now feeling a little optimistic about this trip.


Maya couldn’t stand watching Pearl fidget about anymore. The girl had been pacing and standing up then sitting down in Maya’s bedroom for nearly an hour now. “Pearly! What’s wrong with you today?”
Pearl immediately froze on the spot and gave her a cute frown, “Sorry, Mystic Maya,” she quickly glanced at her watch.

“Ah, I’m sorry Pearly; I didn’t mean to snap at you...” Maya apologized, feeling bad, “I’m so grouchy this week, it must be these crazy pregnancy hormones the doctor was talking about.” she said, stroking her little bump. Maya was now just under four months gone, and her bump was small but noticeable. She had discovered her pregnancy only a month ago; with all the stress of leading the Kurain clan, like a lot of women, she had only realised when she had experienced morning sickness. Most of the time, Maya had managed to avoid the subject of telling Nick, though it was getting hard explaining to the rest of her family about her current situation. All she did lately was hide in her own room, avoiding the awkward questions and judgemental comments.

Maya could often see the frustration and sadness in Pearl’s face. It made her feel as if she was acting selfish but there was no real way to make Pearl understand how she felt, every time Maya would awkwardly struggle through the same sentence, “Because... I know he’d come back to me in a heartbeat, Pearly... I just couldn’t make him feel... feel... as if he was obligated... when things between us aren’t... right. I couldn’t do that to him.”

Maya climbed out of bed and put on a silk dressing gown. She gazed at the sixteen year old They shared a very close friendship however, when it came to this, it felt like she had to protect Pearl, as if she was once again nine years old but now she was much older and much taller (taller than Maya!) Maya didn’t want to come off as selfish as she was perhaps acting.

Pearls got up off the bedroom floor and gripped Maya by the shoulders, “Well, I better be off, Mystic Maya, just please promise me that you’ll be dressed by the time I get back!”

“Why do I have to dress?” Maya asked, shockingly serious.

“Because! It’s nearly midday and that’s what people... do! Try to wear something comfortable... something baggy?” she suggested, not so subtly.

Maya stuck her face into her pillow, “Pearly! I get it, I’m the fat disgrace of the family...!” she said, half comically half in despair at the thought of herself right now.

Pearl leaned over and stroked Maya’s hair, “Sorry Mystic Maya, I didn’t mean it like that...”

“I know you didn’t Pearly,” she groaned, “I’ll see you later...”

As soon as Pearl left the room, she hurried over to the nearest phone to call Mister Nick. She was not a happy bunny when he explained his situation; however the fact that he was coming was good enough for Pearl. Nick would be there very, very soon and although she realised she had not thought this whole thing through properly, she just hoped in her heart that Maya would finally tell Mister Nick about the baby and they would make up. It was a long shot, but worth a try.


It had been a long drive; about halfway through Franziska had kicked her shoes off and put her feet up on the dashboard of Miles’ fancy car. Edgeworth looked into the rear view mirror at Phoenix, “So that letter, Maya requested you to come immediately?”

“Not exactly,” Phoenix replied sleepily. “I don’t know what I’m doing, so I don’t want to get into it.”

Franziska suddenly turned around to face Phoenix, “Phoenix Wright. Miles is not driving you hours across Japan for nothing. Not to mention I’m being held hostage in this car! So you better give your foolish explanation to us!”

“I thought you didn’t want me to speak?” Phoenix argued back, Franziska just glared.

“Miles, turn around and go back to Tokyo!”

“Okay, fine.” Phoenix hung his head in defeat.

Edgeworth continued to drive, despite the racket the two were causing, “Wright, what happened between you two? Why did Maya leave?”

“Because I pushed her to...” He thought sorrowfully. “Well, I guess we were always er... trying to....” he explained in the most awkward fashion. Franziska sighed, audibly. “Then we finally... then we wanted different things... and you know... I got the letter...” Phoenix suddenly burst into a yell, “Okay yeah, you’re looking at me like I’m a big screw up and you know what? I AM. I screwed up big time, I totally took things for granted and pushed her away. I was stupid, she left! Now-“

“And now you’re crawling back...” Franziska finished his sentence for him.

“And dragging us with him,” Edgeworth added.

Franziska rubbed her chin, thoughtfully, “As I suspected. You finally had a good thing going there with Maya, even after you lost your badge... but you lost her too it seems.”

“Franziska, go easy on him, no need to kick him when he’s already in the gutter...” Edgeworth said, defending Phoenix in the most unflattering way.

“Again, I’m sitting right here...” Phoenix reminded the two, who continued to bicker. “She’s right.” He admitted to himself, though he hated to think that Franziska was right. “I really did screw up what Maya and I had.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Phoenix spent another night unable to sleep. He often woke up and left Maya in bed, without her knowledge and wandered around the apartment, doing anything to settle his mind. Phoenix’s scanned the room. His eyes then fell on a large bookshelf full of his old law books, seemingly out of date and at least ten editions old. He had long been thinking about retaking the bar exam but never came to a conclusion. Of course everyone had encouraged him but something inside him questioned the idea. Was he ready to go back into that life again? If he did, would it be the same? He crouched in front of the bottom shelf of the bookcase, staring at the various titles. It was then he heard a voice behind him.

“Hey Nick,” Maya yawned, “It’s four in the morning...” She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him from behind.

“Just... thinking about... how everything is... not how I wanted it to be,” Phoenix said sighing, eyes still focused on the law books.

“You never know what’ll happen, Nick! All you have in front of you is the bar exam,” she said with a sleepy smile.

“Maybe I don’t want to take the bar exam, maybe I want to stack shelves for the rest of my life,” he said bitterly. “I have nothing now... nothing like we used to... what we used to be like,”

Maya sighed, “Geez Nick... come on, we’ve got each other still at least, who cares if you aren’t a lawyer anymore... we’ve-”

“Well, you care apparently, everyone cares! All anyone asks me is about that bar exam... you’re always pressuring me to go for it, maybe I don’t want to, Maya!” He said, suddenly filling up with anger. Maya blinked, blankly, taken aback.

“Listen, it’s not like that, Nick, I never meant to... I was going to say-”

Nick looked down at the floor, he rubbed his tired eyes, “I’ve been thinking, Maya, maybe this isn’t right, maybe you should go back to Kurain...”

Maya took a double take of Nick’s face, unable to process what he just said, “What... are you talking about? Pearl is looking after the Fey clan because I, no, because we, you wanted me down here so we could be together.”

“I know but we had it okay here, me and Trucy, we managed...”

“What are you saying?” Maya looked at Nick in the face, trying to read him.

“I thought it would but.... what can I do? I can’t provide for both of you...”

Maya stood up, becoming furious. “'Provide?!’ You don’t need to provide for me, Nick, you know that.”

“Yes I do! I’ve always provided for you, ever since we met, Maya.”

Maya held her hands over her face, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “Are you serious? So this whole time I thought we were friends and a couple, you’ve just seen me as a big free loader? Was the whole long distance thing was actually a great convenience for you. Seeing me when you want and leaving when you wanted?”

“Well, in a way... wait, NO! Maya I didn’t!” He said, also standing up, trying to catch her as she stormed at of the room. He followed her into their bedroom, where she was crouched on the floor, pulling a suitcase out from under the bed.

“I knew leaving Kurain for a man was a mistake. God, what my mother must think of me...” she cried out angrily, filling the suitcase with clothes.

“Well, I’m sorry but I don’t have a real job, if I don’t take the bar exam, I’ll have nothing to offer you, Maya!”he said trying to catch her glance, reasoning with her.

“Nick.” She stopped and looked up at him, “I don’t want anything, all I want is to be with you and Trucy.”

Phoenix looked down at her and held her face, “Maya. I see how much you want to be back in Kurain. I feel like I’m holding you back.”

Maya promptly threw his hands off of her. “I’m so sick of this, looking at me like, ‘this isn’t working’ for a really long time you’ve turned into this person I don’t even recognise,” she closed the lid of the suitcase. “You were fine until a couple of months ago, I thought solving Vera’s case would make things better... Nick. I never thought you’d give up on anything so easily...” Maya, struggling a bit, picked up the suitcase and walked through the bedroom.

“Of course I’ve changed, Maya! I lost who I was that day when I lost my badge but I thought you loved me despite that!” He said, chasing her through the lounge.

Tears suddenly sprung from her eyes, “Your badge, has nothing to do with how much I love you! Don’t you see that? Your badge didn’t make you who you were! I just hope losing me doesn’t hurt as much as losing that badge.”
Phoenix flew his arms into the air, “Maya, I don’t have anything left, you DO!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pearl’s jaw dropped when she saw Edgeworth and Franziska were in the car with Phoenix. She had no idea why they were there, by instinct she ran up to the car, a little miffed. Phoenix stepped out of the car and Pearls immediately grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to one side.

“Why are they here? It’s just supposed to be you and Mystic Maya!” she demanded. Phoenix couldn’t help but smile; Pearls was still as cute as ever, especially when she was angry.

“Well... I don’t know about that but it was sort of an emergency... I missed my train.”

Pearl sighed overdramatically. “I suppose that’s fine then. Would you all like something to eat?”

Edgeworth smiled. “That sounds lovely, Miss Fey.”

As the group started to walk towards the house, Franziska leaned over to Edgeworth, “A surprise set up between two exes- this isn’t going to be pleasant.”

When Pearl had gotten them all settled, she casually skipped past Maya’s room, before being pulled in.

“PEARLY!” Maya screeched at her, “What are they all doing here?!”

Pearls cowered in fear, protecting herself with her own hands, “Maya. Don’t hit me... but-“

Maya sighed heavily, “Pearly, since when have I ever hit you?”

“I kind of, invited him...”

“I know, I know you’re trying to fix this, out of the goodness in your heart but... Pearly,” She held onto Pearl’s hands, “I can’t see him, I don’t want to see him.... I should do the right thing but... Please just send him home!”

“Mystic Maya! I won’t let this happen to you!” she said passionately. “You won’t even try to talk to him?!”

Maya shook her head sadly, “Please, I’m begging you.” She squeezed Pearl’s hands tightly, “Please.”

Pearl could do nothing more but respect her wishes, she couldn’t bear to see Maya like this.

Franziska pointed her fork in Phoenix’s direction, “Wright, do you really believe things will work out this way? Forcing the poor girl to talk to you?”

Phoenix didn’t really know how to reply to that, all he could think about was Mia's appearance last night, how exactly could he explain that something told him to come here, he didn’t know why, it just did.

Pearl entered the room with a face full of regret, holding a hot plate with oven mitts. Franziska raised her eyebrows, obviously expecting Maya to join them. Edgeworth sighed.

Placing the plate on the table, Pearl sighed sadly, “She’s not feeling too well... perhaps you’ll be able to see her later, Mister Nick...”

“Very well,” Edgeworth said, unfolding his napkin.

“Why am I here, Mia?”

~ ~ ~

After a long, awkward dinner, Phoenix went for a wander around the village, not unconsciously walking in the direction of Fey Manor. He was fairly familiar with the village from all his previous visits, so he took his time and eventually ended up around the back of Maya’s home, where her bedroom was.

“Here I am...” he stared at the traditional screen door in front of him. "Screw it. I’m going in.” However, his feet wouldn’t take him any closer. “Damn! Why can’t I...”

He sat down on the step up to her porch, looking at the floor. He sighed heavily, not occurring to him that he was making noise directly outside Maya’s room. He jumped as an elderly lady emerged from the Manor.

“Young man,” the woman smiled, wearing near enough the same colour yukata as Pearl and Maya, “can I help you?”

Phoenix quickly stood up and removed his hat, “Uh, maybe, yes... no, yes!” he stuttered embarrassed, “May I speak with Mystic Maya?” he gulped; he never thought he would have to ask permission to speak to Maya.

“My apologies, she’s not feeling well, perhaps another time?” She said, trying to be as gentle as possible. Phoenix couldn’t believe this; he had travelled in Edgeworth’s car for hours he couldn’t wait for “another time.”

“Actually no, it’s very important I see her tonight, I drove from Tokyo to- well... I don’t know!” he felt completely hopeless.

Maya stood on the other side of the screen, behind her relative, feeling terrible for Phoenix. She felt compelled to go out and at least show her face.

“I’m very sorry,” the woman told Phoenix as she shut the door.

Maya whispered to her aunt, “I’ll see him but first I need to cover this up!” she said stroking her bump. Her aunt instructed Phoenix to wait outside, while Maya and Pearls tried to find the baggiest kimono with the widest obi to cover up her bump. Pearly and their aunt sighed, thinking how ridiculous this was but still assisted her. Before Maya let herself out to Phoenix, she also grabbed a huge wrap. She looked a bit silly in an over sized kimono, but her bump was disguised.

Phoenix stopped pacing up and down her porch when Maya finally appeared. She smiled sadly at the former attorney. “I’m sorry... if... Pearly made you feel like you... had to come all the way out here, Nick.”

“She didn’t make me... but I thought maybe you were in some trouble.” He jumped at the chance to speak to her. Maya smiled at the irony, at the ‘trouble’ she really was in, she fought the urge to stroke her bump. “Or perhaps, you were ready to talk because...” he groaned quietly, frustrated, “Maya, this is so hard...”

“I know... I’m sorry...” A short silence fell between them. “So, how is Trucy?” Maya asked smiling.

Phoenix smiled back eagerly, feeling some progress. “Trucy? Oh yeah, she’s doing great, just great... she’s growing up so fast...”

“She certainly is,” Maya replied, shutting the screen door fully behind her and walking out onto the porch towards Phoenix. “You didn’t leave her all alone, I hope?” she asked, gently.

Phoenix couldn’t quite concentrate on the stupid small talk the two were having. “Oh, she’s taking a summer trip with Apollo before school starts again... the beach,” he replied vaguely.

“How wonderful, she must be having a great time,” Maya commented, staring at the floor, unable to look at Phoenix.

“Actually, today has been weird,” he started, changing the subject back to why he was here. “It’s a funny story, Franziska and Edgeworth drove me up here today, they’ll be eager to go back tomorrow morning...”

“FranZISKA is here?! That must have been one hell of a drive!” she cried, mouth open.

Phoenix gave a small laugh, “It was certainly interesting...”

She looked up at Phoenix, giving a sad smile, “Well... it’s good seeing you, Nick.”

Phoenix placed his hands back into his pockets, “You too... you’re still as beautiful as ever. GAH! I mean... Good seeing you... Maya...”

It became terribly awkward and painful for the two of them, not knowing what to say, where to look or what to do. Phoenix stepped closer to the spirit medium and placed his arms gently onto top of her shoulders, trying to catch her glance.

“Good night, Nick,” Maya suddenly became very aware of Nick coming too close to her; she knew he was expecting something from her. A kiss? Or a hug? She hadn’t a clue but she wouldn’t allow herself to be so close. She placed her hands on top of his, squeezed them and took them off of her. It felt so unnatural trying to get away from him, she could feel his warmth, she wanted throw herself into his arms but she couldn’t let herself do that. They stood there for a moment, in pain. Phoenix finally stepped away, trying to drag himself away from Maya. As he began to walk off her porch and back to the guest room, he turned back.

“This feels so wrong,” he thought to himself, “You know why I’m here, Maya.” She replied with silence. “Why is this so hard?” he started again. “If you really don’t want me here, if you really don’t want me to walk away and not try and work this out between us, you’ll have to be the first one to walk away and close the door because... I won’t be able to.”

Maya gasped, her heart skipped a beat. He had just poured his heart out, right in front of her. Never taking her gaze off of Nick, she slowly opened the screen door to her bedroom and walked in, slowly closing it again, tears springing from her eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Apollo was bursting into the party