It had been three years since Phoenix had spoken to Maya. He knew that she had tried desperately to contact him after the Gramarye trial for months. He hated ignoring her, his closest friend in the world. However, he was a disbarred former attorney and he knew that any continued contact between him and Maya would be dishonorable for her village. He also had suspicions about one Kristoph Gavin.
Because Kristoph Gavin was a dangerous man.
He had no compunctions about killing people if they weren't beneficial to him. He was trying his best to befriend Phoenix because he knew that Phoenix was investigating his disbarment. Phoenix allowed him to feel like he was succeeding. This was the reason he never talked to Maya. As they said,
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
One good thing had come out of his disbarment, though. Trucy. His little Trucy, his daughter. She was the driving light for him these past three years, keeping him from succumbing to the darkness. She worked at the Wonder Bar, performing for all the people who went there. She also made sure to keep him happy. Sometimes, Phoenix really wondered who was taking care of who.
For three years, Phoenix attempted to convince himself that what he was doing was for Maya's sake. That keeping her at arm's length would be good for her, but eventually, it started getting harder and harder for him. Sometimes, Phoenix would pick up the phone absentmindedly and dial her number, stopping short of pressing the call button, or he would take a sheet of paper and put pen down onto it, write to his heart's content, then crumple it up and throw it away.
Eventually, the frequency of Maya's calls dropped and after some more time, nearly ten months in, she stopped entirely. The guilt Phoenix felt for not responding to her was tantamount to his regret for presenting the evidence. He thought about it every day. Every single day.
Finally, Phoenix made his choice.
Damn Kristoph and damn those elders, I am going to speak to Maya, no matter what. She's my best friend and I won't abandon her. Phoenix waited until Trucy was gone to school for the day to call Maya. She didn't need to hear Maya; he already had one girl pushing them together. He didn't need another.
He looked around his bedroom for anything remotely representing a wiretap. Once he was assured there wasn't, Phoenix took his first breath of relief in almost three years. He sat down on his bed. Phoenix had learned to be much more paranoid over these past three years, what with Kristoph being the way he was. He knew he was prying into anything related to the forgery case. If he got one inkling of Maya, the next he would hear of her would be in the obituary.
Phoenix was still reluctant, but once he punched in those fateful numbers, he knew he was making the right choice. Phoenix finally pushed the button he had been putting off for three years at this point. He heard the dial tone, the beeps making their way into his ear. He was already apprehensive about how she would react to hearing his voice—to seeing his name—again.
Finally, the dial tone stopped along with Phoenix's breath.
"…N-Nick?" She sounded slightly confused, seemingly wondering why he would be calling her after ignoring her for so long.
"It's me, Maya," said Phoenix.
"What do you want?" asked Maya, her tone suddenly shifting into one of righteous anger. She had every right to be angry at him. After all he did to her, he would have been shocked if she hadn't been angry.
"I-I wanted to say sorry," said Phoenix, looking down.
"Oh. You want to say sorry, huh? It's been three years—three years, Nick—since I had any indication you were alive and you want to say sorry now?!" shouted Maya. He swore felt the tears running down her cheeks on the other side. How much he wanted to hug her—to comfort her—was intolerable.
"Yeah, I am. I wish I hadn't done it, but it's happened," said Phoenix, truthfully.
"Why did you do it, Nick? You know I don't believe the trash they post on the newspaper, right?" asked Maya, pleadingly.
"Maya, I knew you believed in me from day one," Phoenix said, remembering her desperately banging on the front door to his office, shouting his name.
"Then why?" asked Maya, "Why did my best friend, who promised he would never abandon me, do it?"
That stung Phoenix like nothing before. He remembered his promise to her, after Engarde's trial, that he would never desert her. He replied, "Maya… since my disbarment, I haven't told you a lot of things."
Maya snorts on the other line.
"Listen now. You can tell me off all you want after you listen to me, alright?"
Maya remained silent, curious as to why he did what he did.
"Look, after I was disbarred, there were two things which kept me from being in contact with you. Reason one is your reputation. Associating with the Forgin' Attorney isn't good for the reputation of you and your village. I also know that the elders would make your life tough if you kept on trying to contact me."
"You know I don't care about them either, right, Nick? They couldn't have done anything to stop me from talking to you," said Maya.
"Yes, I know, but that isn't the biggest reason for my lack of contact, Maya, there is another. The biggest reason of them all," said Phoenix.
He took a deep breath, finally ready to divulge to her the reason for his lack of contact. Maya remained silent.
"One name. Kristoph Gavin. You've heard of him, the fancy German defense attorney. Brother to the prosecutor of the trial that cost me my job."
Maya finally broke her silence, "Yeah, but what does Kristoph Gavin have to do with you not talking to me?"
"Everything. You see, I've managed to make some headway into my investigation on his case. I've managed to track down the person who did the forgery, Drew Misham, and his daughter Vera. It turns out that Vera was the one who actually did the forgery and Kristoph was the one who ordered it," said Phoenix, finally divulging some of the results of his investigation.
"Then can't you—" began Maya, before Phoenix cut her off.
"No, I can't. No one would believe me and if Kristoph found out, then I would lose all of this. You're probably wondering how this relates to you," said Phoenix.
"Yes," replied Maya.
"Well, Kristoph Gavin is a very,very dangerous man. If he found out about you, then he would try to use you to get to me. He would kill you. I wouldn't be able to handle myself if any harm came to you," said Phoenix, finally divulging his long-held secret.
"…so everything you did was to try and help me?" asked Maya, sounding hopeful.
"Yes, yes it was. I won't let you get hurt," said Phoenix.
"…Thank you, Nick," said Maya, "Thank you for telling me the truth."
"You know… if you want, we can remain in touch with letters," suggested Phoenix.
"I'd like that, Nick. I'd like it very much," said Maya sounding relieved.
"You know, one good thing did come out of my disbarment," said Phoenix.
"What?"
"Trucy, my adopted daughter. I adopted her after her father disappeared from the stand," said Phoenix, finally smiling.
"You, being a dad? I have to see that one day. Please promise me you'll come to visit me in Kurain one day, Nick," said Maya. He could envision her smiling now.
"I will. I will definitely come to visit you one day. I wish that this didn't need to happen," said Phoenix.
"Me too," said Maya, sadly.
The rest of the conversation went on with Phoenix agreeing to send Maya letters every once in a while.
That made Maya extremely happy and her being happy made him happy.
For now, letters would have to do.