Quietly, the woman ambled her way over to a table and sat down.
A waitress approached her, wearing an amicable smile as she handed her a menu.
"Are you here for the show, ma'am?"
She smiled back, politely nodding as she did so.
"I've heard that the Wonder Bar hosts the best magic show in town. Didn't want to pass up the opportunity."
"Well, you've come to the right place! Don't underestimate our young talent; she'll dazzle you for sure."
Again, the woman nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure I'm in for a treat."
She placed her order and handed the menu back to the cheery waitress, before focusing her eyes on the currently vacant stage.
It wasn't long before the lights dimmed, and a booming voice blared overhead from the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I'm proud to present tonight's one-of-a-kind entertainment! An absolute spectacle of supernatural delight; marvelous sorcery that can scarcely be rivaled anywhere else! Introducing our charming in-house magician: the one and only..."
He paused and pointed dramatically towards the stage, where all the previously roving lights suddenly converged.
"...Trucy Wright!"
Said magician delivered her entrance with a flourish, cape swirling with her movements. A wide smile was plastered onto her face, and she raised one gloved hand to wave at the audience.
Trucy received a few whistles and cheers in response, to which she laughed and took in stride.
Still grinning, she reached inside the folds of her cloak and began her first trick.
Situated at a table near the entrance of the Wonder Bar, the woman's expression was one of astonishment as she viewed the flamboyant display.
The feats ranged from extravagant, such as the mystical panties from which Trucy would pull an assortment of the most unexpected objects, including a car tire, a frozen chicken, and a lamp, to the nonsensical, as demonstrated when she fired Bullets the cat out of a gun, to the downright amusing, a trait displayed most prominently by Trucy's lovable yet eccentric Mr. Hat, the human-sized marionette.
Being so absorbed in the exhibition, the woman was taken aback when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.
She craned her neck to see the good-natured smile of a man with both hands stuffed nonchalantly in his sweater pockets.
Her eyes roved upwards, observing the stubble that dotted his chin, before coming to settle on the light blue beanie resting on his head.
"Excuse me, miss, but all the other tables are full, and the only seat available is the one across from you. I hope you won't find it too forward of me, but..."
He shrugged, inclining his head towards the empty seat.
For a moment, the woman's brown eyes locked with his, seemingly in search of something.
A small, nearly sad smile graced her visage.
She nodded, however, gesturing for him to sit down.
"Please, go ahead," she murmured.
"Thanks. I owe you one," came his cheerful reply.
Moments passed with the pair comfortably watching Trucy's performance.
"Great, isn't she?" he stated out of the blue. The woman grinned at the ill-concealed note of pride in his tone.
"Yes," she agreed. "I can tell that she's poured her heart into this show."
She paused, glancing at him once more.
"Do you come here often?"
He chuckled.
"I'd say so. I come here every night to pick her up, after all. A daddy can't be remiss in his duties."
"Ah," she continued to grin. "So you're Phoenix Wright, her father?"
Phoenix turned to stare, with a blank expression, at the woman. For some reason, he had the distinct feeling that she already knew this fact prior to him having told her.
"You've heard of me?"
"You can say that. You were quite the lawyer back in your day, right?"
He grinned to match her.
"Unfortunately, those days are behind me," he said as he took off his beanie to run a hand through the skewers of hair that remained throughout the years.
"I see," she said as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.
"Would you say that," she tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. "You miss those days?"
"Miss them?" he exhaled. "There are mornings that I can't even drag myself out of bed, because I want nothing more than for things to revert to how they used to be."
Her eyes glistened as she spoke.
"And yet you still find the strength to trudge forward with your life. I've heard rumors of your determination..."
She stopped and licked her lips, finding them suddenly dry.
"...Mr. Wright. It seems they weren't unfounded."
"Nah," he laughed. "Really, the only thing that keeps me going is Trucy. When it gets too dark, she's what keeps things lit. You might say that, right now, I live for her sake."
The woman smirked at the same time a tear slipped through the crevice of her eye.
"It wouldn't hurt to live for your own, too, you know," she replied.
Startled abruptly, Phoenix looked to her in concern.
"Are you alright, miss? I'm sorry if anything I've said has somehow offended you-"
She shook her head, her curtain of hair swaying from one side to the other.
"That's not the case at all," she insisted.
The waitress arrived.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting, ma'am. Here's your order: a deluxe triple decker burger with extra cheese."
The enormous dish in question was placed delicately in front of the woman, prompting Phoenix to stare intently at it.
A wave of nostalgia bloomed from within his chest as he swiftly glanced from the monstrosity of a burger to the woman and back.
Phoenix faltered as he examined her features more closely. The hair had changed, her clothes not nearly as bizarre, and her figure was evidently - he noted with a faint blush - not that of a girl anymore.
"M..." he cleared his throat. "Maya..?"
Wiping away the lone tearstreak, she attempted to snicker.
"Busted," she whispered.
For a few moments, Phoenix could only stare, his expression unreadable.
"Cat got your tongue, old man?" was Maya's attempt at banter.
Inside, she was trembling, apprehensive and anxious at the thought of what he would say.
"...It's been a while," Phoenix finally offered. "How have you been?"
Maya scrutinized him. It was still impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"I've been alright. Pearly, too."
"She still lets you call her that?" he tried to chuckle.
Maya was no longer smiling.
"It's all that reminds her of the old days."
The air hung solemnly over the pair. The magic show buzzed as background noise, forgotten.
"How's your injury?" Maya lightly inquired.
"Huh? Oh, the hospital patched me up fine."
Phoenix remembered the staggering stacks of Steel Samurai videos that he knew only one person could have sent to him.
Maya, unlike him, had been making every effort to maintain contact.
"That's good, that's good..." she distractedly muttered.
At last, Phoenix could take it no longer.
"I've missed you," he blurted.
Maya blinked, before grinning.
"Yeah, you've confessed as much, earlier. Sorta."
She bit her lip, before she looked him in the eye and quietly asked, "If that's true, then why? Nick," her expression softened. "Why haven't you tried reaching me? Pearly wants to see you, and...and I especially..." she trailed off.
Phoenix, upon hearing his old nickname, sighed. He clutched at the beanie in his hand, before responding.
"Because, Maya, I was ashamed. I wasn't anybody anymore. I couldn't help people like I had before losing my badge. Just a retired outcast whose name's been dragged through the muck. I wasn't worth your time. Not you, Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique. I just...couldn't allow you be dragged down with me."
A look of disbelief swept across Maya's face.
"Are you being serious, Nick?"
He winced, a little offended.
"Of course I am."
"Nick," she sucked in a deep breath. "You're a buffoon. You know that? Do you think that I cared at all what people were saying about you? I knew you, Nick. I knew you would never do something like that. Underneath that dorky exterior of yours is someone who truly wants to help people. You've saved me so many times I've lost count. You threw an anchor out to those people who had hit rock bottom, those who had nowhere else to go. When a person had no one on their side - when I had no one on my side - you were there. You were always there for them, and for me. Nick, I...I..."
Phoenix's fingers twitched involuntarily, but he continued to listen.
"I just wanted my best friend back. I just wanted you back."
"I don't deserve you, Maya."
Her eyes suddenly flashed in anger.
"I don't give a damn what you deserve, Nick. I don't care about your stupid disbarment, I don't care if you suck at piano - which you do, by the way, I've been to the Borscht Bowl Club - and I don't care if not a single soul wants to talk to me if they see me with you. I believed in you then, as I believe in you now. I've always known you were innocent. And now the whole world knows, since your name's been cleared."
She slowly got up from the table and silently made her way to the entrance of the restaurant, her burger untouched.
"But if that's still not enough, Nick, if you're still so adamant about not having anything to do with me, then there's nothing I can do. We've been together through so much, and our lives have already been so screwed up that I thought something as trivial as the forgery wouldn't be able to keep us apart. Evidently, I was wrong."
Phoenix turned towards her to look at her retreating back.
"Oh," Maya paused at the threshold of the doorway.
As if suddenly recalling an afterthought, she glanced back at Phoenix.
"By the way," she lethargically noted. "Just for the record, I love you. Tell your daughter I said hello."
Her departure from the restaurant, as abrupt as her parting words, left Phoenix stunned.
He sat in his chair, unmoving, his mind numbly and agonizingly processing what had occurred. Adding to the shock was the way in which Maya had said it. Monotonously, bluntly, as if it were being stated merely in passing.
"Daddy."
He looked up at the voice.
"Trucy..."
"Daddy, who was that that left just now? And why are you spacing out?"
"A-Are you done, Trucy? Should we go?"
"What?! Daddy, you weren't watching my show? Was your talk with whoever it was really that important?"
He grimly adjusted his headwear.
"I messed up, Truce. I...I thought I had lost everything all those years ago, but it wasn't true. I didn't lose her. I threw her away. For no good reason, just because I was a coward, I did something irreversible."
Trucy, bewildered, looked from her step-father to the door to the enormous burger in front of a vacant seat.
"...I'm not sure what's going on, Daddy," she began slowly. "But I do know that, if what happened with Kristoph is any indication, you aren't one to give up. When it looks like all hope is lost, you're the one who flips everything upside down. 'A lawyer is someone who smiles no matter how bad it gets,' right? You told me that your boss once said that to you. Well, you're not a lawyer anymore, Daddy, but I know that you're as stubborn as a mule."
Phoenix stood up, his posture uncharacteristically uncertain.
Trucy glanced once more towards the door.
"You'd better hurry, though, Daddy. It's already been a while since she left."
"...You're sure you'll be alright for a bit, then?"
"Oh, Daddy, please, I'm not a little girl anymore! Sooner you get going, sooner you can get back and we can go home."
Phoenix smiled. He got The Glint in his eyes, the one Trucy would recognize anywhere. It's that spark of steely, unyielding determination, that pure unadulterated force of will that none but Phoenix Wright could possess. The one that let him prove seeming impossibilities against all opposing odds, the one that let him hurl trials the opposite way and careen them towards the ground on their hindquarters.
"Wait here, Truce," he blithely requested. "Your old man's got one more loose end to take care of."
Maya grimaced.
She probably got a little carried away back in the restaurant.
"I just wanted to see you again, Nick..." she whispered into the night sky.
Suddenly, she felt arms encircle her from behind. Immediately, she started to scream.
"Whoa, whoa, Maya! It's just me."
Her eyes widened.
"N-Nick? Is that you? Oh my god, don't creep me out like that! I thought you were a rapist or something."
"Er...yeah, I probably could've worked on my entrance a little bit."
Maya chortled, before realizing just who it was that followed her. Briefly untangling herself from his arms, she turned to face him.
"What are you doing here?"
Phoenix took a deep breath.
"Trying to fix this before I screw it up even further."
Maya crossed her arms.
"...Well," she finally said. "Go on, then. I'm waiting."
He nodded.
"I'm sorry, Maya. I'm truly, deeply sorry. I should have realized that the one person who would have stuck with me through thick and thin would be you. I hated myself for seven years for cutting myself off from you. It's just that...how should I put this? I felt that unless everything was done, until it was all finally over, I couldn't be the person worthy enough to look you in the eyes. I had to know for myself that I had the conviction to see every matter through. Figuring out Kristoph and what he did and how my life has turned out the way it has; I had to immerse myself in the answers. Without closure...I wouldn't be the man you knew."
He exhaled a breath he did not realize he was holding.
"But it was wrong of me to exclude you so thoroughly, Maya. I was selfish. I can see that now. And I don't know if I deserve to ask for your forgiveness, but I want you to know that I really did miss you. I missed you so much, Maya."
Maya's lip trembled, but a smile tugged at her lips.
"You haven't changed at all, Nick. You're still such a cheeseball. Maybe...maybe I was pretty selfish, too. I can kind of see why it'd be hard to face your past until you've solved your future. But you've gotta understand, Nick. I wanted to see you so badly my chest hurt."
He nodded, before hanging his head.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Well," she started with a laugh. "Then everything's peachy, isn't it? You did catch the bad guy and now you do have closure. Are there any more reasons holding us back, Nick?"
She looked up at him expectantly.
"I dunno," he teased. "Before it was another story, but I'm not sure if my pianist-salary-fueled wallet can handle the dreadful bombardments of so many burger outings."
She swatted his arm, puffing up her cheeks indignantly.
"Well, I'm not sure I'll be comfortable with a man who prefers grilled chicken sandwiches over burgers!"
At that, Phoenix's eyes widened the slightest bit and he nervously scratched the back of his head.
Maya, realizing the implications of her words, flushed and bit her lip.
However, she shook her head and glared determinedly at him.
"At the risk of Pearl somehow telepathically listening in on us right this moment, I'll have you know, Nick, that what I said back at the Wonder Bar is the truth. It's not like you have to respond or anything, bu-mmph!"
Maya felt the stubble prick her skin as Phoenix gently pressed his lips to hers for the briefest of moments.
He moved away, leaving her slack-jawed.
"C'mon," he coaxed, as if nothing had transpired. "Let's head back. Trucy's waiting."
"Nick," she whispered, tugging at his sleeve. "Are things...really gonna be alright between us from now on? Can we really have a fresh start?"
"Maya," his eyes twinkled. "I know that I of all people shouldn't be the one to say this, but there doesn't have to be another start. You and I, we're still the same where it counts. It'll be as if I never left. Uh, aside from me having a daughter, of course."
"That reminds me," Maya touched one finger to her chin in thought. "I never did catch the end of Trucy's show. It was the whole reason I even came down here tonight. What, you think I came specifically for you?"
"I may not have a badge anymore, Maya, but I can still smell a contradiction from a mile away. Care to revise your testimony?"
"Not if you're gonna be a jerk about it," she pouted.
"Want a piggy-back ride?" he offered offhandedly.
She glanced briefly at him.
"Only if you keep that beanie on. I don't want my eyes gouged out by that hair of yours. That's one thing about you that sure hasn't changed."
She leapt up on his back, causing him to grunt as he shifted his weight.
"Hey, Nick," she asked as she wound her petite arms around his neck.
"Hmm?"
"When do I get to meet this rookie attorney of yours? Y'know, the one you played like a fiddle."
"Apollo? Come on now, Maya, no need to put it like that. He did this all on his own. I just prodded him along a bit."
"Uh huh," she raised an eyebrow. "And Pearly also tried prodding us along the same way all those years ago. Care to revise your testimony, ya old fart?"
He laughed.
"Trucy'll love you."
"And how do you know that?"
"Like father, like daughter, after all."
Her lips parted and she blushed, before breaking out into a warm smile.
"Yup, Nick," she giggled, swinging her torso back and letting her hair get carried by the evening breeze, taking Phoenix by surprise and lurching him slightly backwards.
"You're still the same old cheeseball."
Author's Note:
Erm, I really wanted to write something like this for Phoenix and Maya for a while now, not to mention the fact that I just had to write something after all this time so that I can get back in the swing of things. But, I don't know, I just feel like this was a bit rushed, and that posting fics so sparsely in the recent months has left me a bit green when it comes to writing. This doesn't feel like one of my better fics, at any rate. However, I guess you guys'll be the judge of that. Constructive critcism is much appreciated!
Random quotation of the day:
"When you lose your way, you can blame the fairies." ~Cirno
Yes, yes, I have been caught by the horrendous, terrible, monstrous Venus fly trap known as Touhou. I'm already beyond salvation, and I regret nothing.