Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, all rights belong to Capcom
A/N: My first fan fic... please review :)
Chapter One – One Pancake Too Many
June 17th 2021 Wright Anything Agency
8:00 AM
* Beep Beep Beep *
Maya groaned as she reached lethargically for the disrupter of her sleep. Her sleep-deprived eyes told her it was 8 o'clock. Immediately Maya flopped her head on her fluffy pillow. Ten minutes later the sound returned, this time louder and more persistent. Maya yawned and got up from the mattress. She reached towards her nightstand, where two wristbands and a shiny round token laid motionless. She slipped them all on naturally and headed out of the room quietly in order to not disturb the motionless body.
"It's too early to wake up," she thought to herself as she opened the door, "especially during the summer."
Maya trudged down the narrow hallway to the bathroom to wash up. She glanced into the mirror to reveal her morning look. Her raven black hair was in disarray and her vapid eyes indicated she needed more sleep. Her face bore no makeup and her pierced ears were vacant. Her acolyte clothing was wrinkled severely, and were in definite need of a laundry cycle. While starring in the mirror, her face suddenly went pale. Maya raced for the toilet, making it just in time. "There goes yesterday's hamburger," she said trying to make light of the situation. This had almost become routine for Maya nowadays.
She walked over to the window where Charlie was, carefully tiptoeing across the minefield of Trucy's magic equipment. She was proud that she was able to miraculously weave her way past these obstructions without making a single sound. Especially in the condition she was in. When she eventually reached the window, Maya opened the curtains to expose the blinding morning sun. Her dark raven hair glowed as the light illuminated the entire floor.
Maya gazed out the window upon a busy downtown Los Angeles. Cars, buses and taxis were the size of ants overpopulating the street below. She could hear the faint sounds of the concrete jungle as morning rush hour was at its peak. Her eyes wandered to the building across the street. "The Gatewater…" she sighed turning away from the window.
Maya finished off her routine by fixing up breakfast. She knew that Phoenix would be hungry when he eventually woke up.
"I think I'll try something knew," Maya said subconsciously. Maya rarely cooked unless there was a special occasion. And today was one of those special occasions she thought to herself. Today was Nick's 'big day' so she did feel obligated to at least prepare breakfast. "I think I'll make pancakes, how hard can that be?"
Maya was no longer tired; in fact, she bore a new face, one that gleamed with the utmost determination. She headed to the bookshelf behind Phoenix's desk and pulled out an old cookbook. After flipping to the page for homemade pancakes, Maya scampered to the fridge excited to begin her new experiment. She collected, what she thought, were all the necessary ingredients. With no intention of following directions, Maya threw everything in at once. This included a dozen eggs, a ¼ pound of sugar, and a gallon of milk.
After what seemed like forever to mix, Maya ignited the stove. Maya wanted to spell words with her pancakes like she remembered her sister Mia used to when she cooked. So she decided to spell out N I C K. When she was done pouring, she peered into the blue bowl. There was an abundance of pancake mix left over. But she didn't give it a second thought as she set it to the side, near the edge of the sink. It wobbled back and forth before finally settling.
Maya was in search for a spatula, when Phoenix walked in. He walked sleepily towards the counter and flopped onto a barstool. Phoenix's usual slick and spiky hair was frazzled and messed up. His attire consisted of a gray wrinkled shirt and dark navy blue sweatpants. His blue eyes were half open and contained a hint of a darkish discoloration encircled around them. Maya knew he had had another late night. This case was overworking him now.
"Morning sleepy-head," Maya joked when Phoenix finally looked up. Phoenix groaned, but suddenly he got a whiff of the aroma that filled the room.
"What are you cooking?" he said drowsily, "Smells pretty good."
"My super special pancakes, duh Nick," Maya smirked. As she said this, she simultaneously flipped the N in the air.
Phoenix watched the flight of the oddly shaped pancake and caught a glimpse of the clock hanging on the wall.
"9:00!" Phoenix jumped out of his stool and proceeded to the bathroom. The stool fell and hit the ground. The sound caused Maya to flinch, and she missed the N on its way down. It miraculously landed on a clean plate, and Maya let out a sigh of disbelief. From the bathroom, he yelled to Maya, "Why didn't our alarm go off?"
Maya laughed. "Honey, it did go off. Knowing you and how little sleep you get, you could probably sleep through a fire alarm too," she yelled back. She was too busy with her pancakes to notice what Phoenix had said back.
A couple of minutes later, Maya heard a knock at the door. "Coming," She said as she lowered the burners. With a spatula in hand, Maya proceeded towards the door. She opened it to find a man standing with horrible posture. He wore a bright red vest and a rolled up white shirt to expose an ancient looking bracelet on his left arm. His hair was almost entirely flat except for two obnoxious gelled pieces that stuck up, making the boy look like he bore horns. It gave the character standing before her quite a large forehead.
"Good Morning Polly," Maya smiled as she greeted Apollo Justice, "Nick will be a moment. He's still getting ready. Why don't you come in, I just made pancakes! You should have one!"
"Sorry Mrs. Wright, I just ate McDonalds on the way here."
"No, no, no, you are gunna have to try my pancakes." Maya demanded as her warm smile suddenly disappeared under a cold hard stare.
Apollo saw no reason to argue. Maya was ready to fight and it was one he just wouldn't win. Knowing Maya, she would pursue him all the way to the courtroom doors. Just so he would have one pancake. But that's Maya and you have to like a girl with such charisma and attitude. Anyway the aroma that suddenly came about as he entered the room gave him more of an incentive to stay.
Apollo found a barstool on its side and picked it up. Before relaxing, he noticed a bunch of chips and dents on the white wooden barstool as if it had been knocked over plenty of times before.
Apollo knew that they were already running late for the 10:00 trial start. He knew adding extra weight to his stomach would only slow him down when he would inevitably have to run to the courthouse. But what could he really do about it? "Now that I think of it, this is Mr. Wright's first case since that case 10 years ago," Apollo thought to himself. "I wonder how last night treated him?"
Right then and there, Phoenix came dashing into the kitchen. His dark hair was spiky again and the hint of the dark rings had faded. He looked spiffy in his old faded blue suit, white flannel shirt and narrow red tie; all of which still fit quite well. He picked up his leather briefcase and started for the door, when suddenly…
"Niiiiiiiick! You ARE NOT leaving without trying one of my super special pancakes," Maya scowled, "same to you Polly!"
Phoenix quickly glanced at the clock. It was 9:30. "If only during all this time off I learned how to finally drive dammit." He thought to himself. By walking it would take half an hour. By running maybe fifteen, twenty minutes.
"Maya, I'm sorry I have to go," he noticed her getting mad, "it's my first case in a decade." He suddenly smiled at the fact that his intended exaggeration was actually quite true.
Maya was angry. She was clenching her fists, which lay by her side. She glared at Phoenix.
"Nick! You WILL try my PANCAKES!" She was shouting now, and her face was as red as a shiny new corvette.
He couldn't resist, he too realized that Maya would follow him all the way to the courthouse until he finished at least one whole pancake. It was a no win situation for both Phoenix and Apollo. Defeated, Phoenix quietly went to grab two forks and a bottle of syrup from the fridge. Maya smirked at her victory over the Ace Attorney.
Phoenix poked out his head from the fridge and asked, "Maya, where's the milk?" She pointed towards the counter where an empty gallon of milk had occupied the space.
"I just bought that yesterday though," Phoenix exclaimed, "it shouldn't have run out that quickly. Pancakes don't need a whole gallon."
Maya choked on her coffee. Her contorted face resembled an image of a stunned Godot in court. "Wait… What?" she stammered.
Phoenix was rushing and ignored her as he looked for a bottle of grape juice. He found which seemed to be the very last bottle and poured a glass for himself and Apollo. "I really do drink waaaaaaay too many of these," he thought.
"Oh boy," Maya thought to herself. "Now that I think about it, my pancakes look nothing like my sister's" She did a double take of her work. They were certainly not the crispy light brown ones she once remembered. They were anything but. "Maybe they'll like these better," she said under her breath trying to console herself. She instantly had a glimmer of hope.
She served Phoenix the N and the I, and Apollo the C and the K. "If you put the plates together, they spell Nick," she said in her own childish way.
"Very creative, honey," Phoenix said sarcastically as he picked up his knife to cut a piece of the N. Apollo mimicked this motion with his C.
"There's just something about these pancakes that just doesn't seem right…" he thought but decided against pressing the issue.
They both opened their mouths to welcome their first bite.
They chewed for about a second before suddenly both Apollo and Phoenix turned towards each other. Without words, it seemed both screamed, "This is worse than Tres Bien!" Was it even possible to be worse than Tres Bien? Phoenix's once believed that everyone cooked better than Jean Armstrong but now… he wasn't so sure. Phoenix couldn't spit it out in front of his wife. He would never live to see another day. He swallowed, along with his pride, and instantly chugged all of his grape juice to down the after taste.
"Tell me, what'd you think?" she said with bewilderment.
"Maya…this…is…excellent…" he forced himself to say. His eyes were tearing while attempting to hold back the gagging.
Apollo noticed his bracelet shrunk at Wright's comment, and he quickly hid it. Maya had yet figured out what Apollo's power was. Apollo was proud to wear his family heirloom. Not only did it help Apollo during court, it also indicated that he was directly connected with the famed magician Magnifi Gramyre. He was proud to be of such a famous bloodline.
Apollo noticed that Maya eyed Nick intensely as he ate. He quickly took advantage of this moment and swept the rest of his pancakes into a napkin, folded it and set it in his pocket.
"Aw, I'm glad you liked it. Do you want anymore, I have a whole bunch left over?" She failed to notice Phoenix's discomfort. Apollo could make out Phoenix's lips move to say "Objection!" but only hot air left his mouth.
"Sorry, Mrs. Wright, but we really must go," Apollo said saving his boss' ass.
"Oh ok, bye honey, good luck," Maya said as she stepped towards her husband with a sweet smile.
"Goodbye honey," Phoenix said after they held a long kiss. His face conveyed a sense of increased confidence. Apollo went to grab his case files in order to avoid the awkward situation.
After realizing he was caught up in the moment, Phoenix picked up his briefcase and followed Apollo out the door.
"Hold it!"
Both Apollo and Phoenix turned toward each other, down the hall, and then down the stairs to find the person responsible of the sudden decree. Then they turned around to see Maya standing in the doorway, holding a glowing object that looked awfully a lot like a stone carving of a nine.
"Nick how could you forget to bring my gift?"
Phoenix went back and collected the Magatama. "Sorry honey, I have a feeling ill need this too," he said while giving her a quick peck on the cheek. He smiled then proceeded hastily out the door.
Maya watched both of them as they dashed down the two fleets of stairs and disappeared out the swinging doors of the apartment building. She was happy for her Phoenix who finally returned to the job he loves. She hated all the pain he suffered for those long seven years. "He wasn't the only one …" she thought to herself.
Maya returned to the kitchen to find that the pancake mix had fallen and splattered into the sink. She sighed, "I'll just go out with Trucy later." Maya grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. She kicked her feet on the coffee table as she relaxed on the sofa. Reruns of the Pink Princess were playing.
As she rested, Maya twiddled her 12-carrot diamond around her finger. She began to recollect all the memories of the journey and hardships both had faced until now. They both had finally found true happiness in their life which both thought would never happen. She smiled as she rubbed her round figure she had bore for 6 months now.
Maya was pregnant with their first child; in fact it was a girl. They already agreed to name it Mia, in memory of the passing of her older sister,
Where the couple first met…