Oh boy. Why am I doing this to myself.
Thanks a bunch for Eli for beta'ing and helping me with some idea for this fic. You da best.
This is dedicated to Chris who is a big nerd and has a birthday today. Happy birthday lil' dud.
08:02 PM
"Maya, I'm back!" Phoenix called from the entrance. He closed the door behind him with a kick, dropping the bags to the floor and locking it. He raised an eyebrow. His perky assistant wasn't usually this quiet.
Just as he was about to turn around, something covered his eyes.
Maya's petite hands, to be precise.
He laughed and tried to remove them. "What is it?"
"Guess what we're having."
"A movie night together before you take off to be Master?"
"These are things old people do, Nick. Guess again."
"Um. A big party?"
"We threw one yesterday! Tonight is all about the Justice Duo. Which are you and I, in case you were wondering."
"Justice Duo? I'm the lawyer here."
"But you're hopeless without me~" she giggled.
He huffed and smiled. "True. Now let me see!" He removed them and turned around.
Maya jumped back and spread her arms. "Ta~da!"
She was wearing her Pink Princess PJs.
"You're going to bed so early?" He tilted his head.
She puffed her cheeks. "No, silly! We're having a slumber party."
"How's that so different from our movie night?" He asked as he picked up the bags with the food and drinks he bought and walked to the kitchen.
Maya followed. "It just is!"
"Try and explain?" Each picked a bag and started placing the items inside it on the counter.
"It's like, more exciting, y'know? More intimate." She smiled, almost sadly. "It's our last night together like this. I want it to be special."
Phoenix stopped what he was doing to look at her. Her head was tilted down, concentrating on the task at hand, trying to conceal her feelings.
"I'm gonna go change." He said in defeat, but actually felt relief. Maya was right. They had to make it special.
She looked up at him with stars in her eyes. "Whoo!" She kicked his ass playfully. "Go quickly so we can start! No time to spare."
He laughed and rubbed his ass. "I'm going, I'm going"
09:48 PM
"You really need to stop knocking the popcorn bowls off the couch. This is the third one."
"BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND NICK. This is the Special! They literally brought so many actors, old and new, and they worked SO hard on this."
"And how many times have you watched it in the past?"
She looked away sheepishly. "C'mon. You'll have plenty of time to clean it up tomorrow."
He chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know. Want another?"
She stiffened a bit against his touch. "Nah, it's better if you stay here." She opened a bag of chips instead. "We have plenty of food."
"Unhealthy junk food." He rolled his eyes.
"Oh gimme a break! My stomach can handle it. Right, lil' one?" she patted her belly. "You can not eat, if you wanna. I know you're chubby."
He put his hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Me? Chubby? Maya Fey, how dare you."
She giggled and picked up a pillow, pushing it into his face. "Just like that."
He blinked as the pillow fell to his lap.
"Oh, you're SO on."
He picked up two pillows before she dived from the couch to the mat under, picking up the remote. "Wait! Lemme pause fir-" before she could complete her sentence, two pillows hit her in the stomach.
11:32 PM
"Maya~" Phoenix whispered softly to the girl whose head had fallen onto his shoulder for the second time in ten minutes, with her eyes half-closed, nearly asleep. "If you're tired, we should head to bed."
He only realized the 'We' after he said it and blushed a little.
She rubbed her eyes and looked up at him. "N-no. There's still two more episodes left for the special! Let's finish them."
"Want me to make you some coffee so you'll stay awake?"
She yawned, and then smiled at him gently. "That'd be great." She answered sleepily.
He nodded and stood, walking to the kitchen and boiling the water. Soon enough Maya caught up with him and leaned her head against his shoulder again.
He smiled softly, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and pulling her a bit closer. "Exhausted?"
She nodded, leaning to his half-embrace. It's been a while since they simply hugged like that, but both made an exception and didn't mention it, just acting like it was a normal thing.
"I've been packing all day. And saying goodbye to everyone. Hardest one so far was Charley, to be honest."
He laughed. "Pearls made sure that he was alive and well. He would've been long gone without her."
"I'll make sure to call everyday and remind you to water that poor thing." She smirked at him. "You barely take care of him, how will you take care of the office?"
"I dunno. The toilet's pretty fine."
"Because you scrub it literally ALL the time. It's your procrastination excuse."
The kettle made a "Ping!" sound, signing the water was hot and ready.
"Is not."
"Is too!"
"How many times did you scrub it this week?"
"...Just drink your damn coffee."
"Language, mister! Besides, you need to make it first."
He blinked, then pushed her away from her face as she laughed. "Don't ever mention that again."
She smirked as he drew another cup from the cupboard. He was going to need some coffee as well.
01:15 AM
Phoenix revealed his hand.
"Another full house?" Maya called with frustration. "That is SO unfair!"
He smirked and picked up her pair, shuffling the cards. "My dad taught me poker. He told me that every grown man needs to know how to play."
"Well I didn't really have a dad for that." She puffed her cheeks.
He poked at them, and blew the air. "Don't worry. That's why I'm here, no?"
She smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess so."
"This is me welcoming you into adulthood." He puffed his chest with pride.
She scratched her cheek, looking away. "Yeah, so. We might want to stop playing."
He stopped shuffling, and looked at her. "Hm?"
"I'm not ready for this, Nick." She admitted, pulling her knees to her chest. "I can't do it."
"Sure you can. You're Maya Fey."
"That's exactly the problem!" She snapped, then went back to hugging her own legs, pressing her back to the couch. She hid her head between her knees.
He immediately sat by her side, rubbing her back, comfortingly. He said nothing, just allowing the voice of the Special Finale fill the room, as Maya took deep breaths, trying to calm down.
"I don't see how's that a problem. The Maya I know is just great." He was in a loss for words. Just great? They both knew he thought so much more.
"The Maya part isn't the problem. The Fey part is." She sighed, lifting her head, but still not looking at him. She stared at the TV instead. "My family has so much bad blood in it. There's so much on my shoulders and I never even signed up for any of it."
He drew her closer, sighing. "I know. You could just stay here." he tried to suggest.
She shook her head then leaned it against his shoulder. "This isn't how it works. I want to be the Master and fix things. For my mom, for Sis, for myself and for Pearly and for the Feys to come, so they can be proud to be a Fey, and not feel shame in the title like I do right now."
"I know. You're Maya Fey. You're great like that."
She giggled. "Great isn't the only adjective I'd use to describe myself, to be honest" she grinned.
He grinned right back. "Then how else?"
"Boy I am glad you asked!"
03:27 AM
"I think the marshmallow eating competition was a bad idea," Phoenix groaned, and simply flopped down to the side, not even noticing his head was now in Maya's lap. He turned to lie on his back as she smiled down at him.
"Your stomach's got nothing on mine." She grinned smugly.
"Didn't you say you have like, four stomachs? Like a cow?"
"Are you trying to insult me, Phoenix Wright?"
"Nononono- not another pillow fight, my hair is messed enough as is-
"Seriously, you're still gonna tell me these spikes are natural?"
"As natural as natural gets."
"I call bullshit."
"Language, miss!" He smirked, and she flicked his forehead, giggling.
"Really?"
"You can touch if you want."
She touched the tips then ran her fingers through his hair. They had the shape, but somehow they were soft. She giggled. It made no sense.
To be fair, she could summon the spirits of the dead into her body, so compared to that everything seemed pretty normal.
"Say, Maya."
"Yeees?"
"You'll come to visit, right?"
"All the time, silly!"
"But it won't be the same. Right?"
She didn't want to answer that. She kept on stroking his hair. It felt nice, and it seemed to calm the man in her lap.
"I'm afraid, Nick. I'm afraid to fail." She decided to change the subject back to her again. "That's why I'm so exhausted."
"If anyone can do it, it's you." He smiled at her reassuringly.
"Yeah. But what if I don't succeed?"
"Then the Wright & Co Law Offices always have room for a spirit medium." He shrugged. "We could make it a Talent Agency or something of the sort."
She laughed. "You claim your lawyer skills are a talent?"
He frowned. "Why, aren't they?"
"'Just waiting for a miracle to happen' is the best way to describe your lawyer skills." She giggled, and he huffed.
"Well excuse me, princess."
"You mean Master."
"I'm sorry, Master Maya." He said in his best British accent, and they both laughed.
"Seriously, you'll be alright. I believe in you, and I got your back."
She looked like she could tear up any minute. "Really?"
"100 percent."
She hid her smile behind her hand, clasping her jaw.
"You know what. I have a perfect idea."
"Hmm?"
"Want me to tidy your hair? Like, brush it?"
04:53 AM
"You know, I like cuddling." Maya said to Phoenix, who had her simply resting in his arms, her head against his chest. Neither of them were paying attention to the old CSI episode playing on the TV.
"Hmm, yeah. There's something about it."
"We should've done it more."
"Mhm."
"We should've had nights like these more."
"Mhm."
"We could've-"
"And we will." He stopped her with a smile, moving up to lie on his side, as she flopped down beside him.
He leaned on his elbow. "We've got plenty of time."
She looked at him, surprised. "We do?"
He laughed. "Maya, this isn't a goodbye forever. Yes, it'll be hard." He looked away with a shy smile. "But we will meet. Not as often as now, seeing as we kind of live together, but we will. And we've got so much more coming." He smiled down at her, tugging a lock of her hair behind her ear.
She had tears in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Nick." She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down for a tight hug, which resulted both of them to flop down to the mat, laughing loudly.
Maya looked up at Phoenix and smiled widely. "Thank you."
He pressed their foreheads together lightly, elbows holding him above her. "Mhm. Sure."
She closed her eyes and giggled. "You're such a DORK."
06:21 AM
Maya celebrated her victory as she savored the taste of the last slice of pepperoni pizza she had managed to steal from Phoenix "Your hands may be big, but nothing beats the speed of the Hungry Maya."
"Indeed, a rare beast. We should take a photo and frame it." He smirked, pulling out his phone and taking a picture of her mid bite.
"Hey, lemme see!" She asked with her mouth full. It was a very flattering picture of her, somehow.
"Oooh, I like that."
"Me too." He smiled at her.
She finished the last slice quickly, and brushed her hands on her pajama pants, cleaning them. "Okay. So. We got one hour and something before I need to wake up and start my day. Wanna sleep?"
"Or we could cuddle and talk about how much trouble the office will be in without my assistant."
She grinned. "Or we could do that."
08:30 AM
"Do you have your suitcases?"
She lifted them both. "Here!"
"You here?"
"Here!"
"Cellphone?"
She patted her pocket. "Here!"
"Then we're ready to go."
She picked up her suitcases and walked out, Phoenix walking after her, locking the door behind him. "Lemme help you with that-" he lifted one suitcase, and took her hand in the other.
"Ready?"
She looked at him, a bit nervous. "Not. Not really."
He squeezed her hand. "Well, no coming back now."
"I know."
"We'll be alright." He smiled at her, the same smile he gave her when he first offered to defend her, in that cursed night Mia died. That was a smile with meaning behind it. She knew she could trust his words.
Trust him.
"Then let's go."
08:58 AM
Maya stared at the train that entered the station.
"This is it."
"It is."
She turned to him, looking down, fumbling with the tips of her jacket. "So."
"So?" he asked, half amused, half sad.
They both had large, dark bags under their eyes.
"I dunno. Do we say goodbye or…?"
"I mean, I want to, but I won't force you." He chuckled.
"What do you think, dummy?" she giggled, looking up and flicking his forehead.
"I think you do. But you know it isn't final."
"Yeah."
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then each leaped to the other's arms in a tight hug. Phoenix was afraid he'd crush Maya's small frame- but right now it seemed to be the opposite.
Not that he minded. He needed that hug. They both did.
"Make sure- make sure you text me all the time. And call. And send pictures. And take care of Charlie. And-"
"I will. I promise. And I'll come to visit."
"You better!"
The train honked. "Last passengers!" The steward called.
Phoenix pulled away and pecked her forehead lightly. "Go and give the elders hell, Maya."
She giggled and nodded, picking up her suitcases and hopping into the train.
The doors closed on her, and his heart clenched.
She waved from the window, and he waved back, his heart heavy.
And the train left the station leaving one man standing completely alone. He sighed heavily. Now what?
He felt a buzz from his pocket and he pulled out his phone.
A text from Maya.
"Daily reminder- Don't forget to water Charlie, dummy =P"
He chuckled and slid it back.
Now he'd go back to the office. It wouldn't be as lonely as he thought. After all- Maya was the Master. She could be with him in spirit, right?