"Trucy, is this really necessary?" Apollo asked. He was stood beside her in the lobby of the Wright Anything Agency, just beside the door that separated them from her audience of one. "You can just tell him. He'll be fine."

"Hmm… Nope!" Trucy replaced the hat on her head. "If I have to tell Daddy, I have to do it my way."

"With magic."

"With magic!" Trucy wiggled her fingers in a vaguely mystical way.

"Why?"

"Because..." Trucy pouted at the boy. He could be far too stubborn when he put his mind to it. "Because if I have to do it normally, then I'll get nervous, and then it can go wrong, and who knows what'll happen? But I know magic. It's like how you can be a lawyer without yelling 'I'm Fine!'" She pumped her fists in front of her. "But you still do it."

"… I don't pump my fists," Apollo said. "But I see your point. Let's do this."

"Thanks, Polly!" Trucy grinned as she opened the door. Apollo entered the office first, where a small stage had been set up against the far wall. It consisted of a colorful sheet, an unrolled tatami mat, and the cut-out letters of a sign that read 'The Magnificent Trucy Wright'. Phoenix was sat in one of the dining chairs.

"You know, it's not much of a performance if I know there's a plant." Phoenix smirked as Apollo took a seat beside him.

"She's just using me for my Chords of Steel."

"Daddy! Hit the music!" Trucy yelled through the door.

"Ah, right." Phoenix pushed the button on the stereo beside him and an energetic tune filled the air.

"Gentleman and gentleman," Apollo bellowed. "Prepare to be amazed, prepare to be shocked, prepare your hearts for the most scintillating magician in the world - The Magnificent Ttrucy Wright!" Then he and Phoenix clapped with all the enthusiasm in the world, as Trucy strolled into the room with a swishing cape and a wand that twirled about her fingers.

"Thank you, thank you!" Trucy bowed. Her hat fell off, hit the floor, then bounced back to land right back on her head. "For the first trick of the night, I'm going to involve the audience. But first – an introduction!" She reached into one of her gloves and retrieved a length of cloth at least as big as her cape, which she tossed into the air. With two flicks of her wand, it pinned itself to the sheet that was serving as her backdrop.

"This here is my magical cloth, which is a cloth that's magical! It can divine answers to questions even I don't know! You, Sir! Give me a question!" Trucy pointed a finger at Apollo.

"Hmm..." Apollo touched his forehead "What's my job?"

"Ooh, that's a good one!" Trucy rolled her hat down her arm, then flipped it upside down and reached inside. She retrieved a series of letters, each of which she tossed at the magical cloth. Those that fell, she caught in her hat, but one by one they formed the phrase "lawyer".

"Amazing! Riveting!" Phoenix clapped and Apollo joined in.

"Next question! You, the spiky-haired gentleman!" Trucy pointed a finger at Phoenix.

"Well, that's unnecessary..." Phoenix muttered. "Uh. Let's see. Who's my best friend?"

Trucy plucked the letters from the cloth and plucked out another set, one-by-one, some that fell, others that stuck, until the words "Trucy Wright" remained.

"Oh, look at that! I guess I am your favorite person, right, Daddy?" Trucy grinned.

Phoenix laughed warmly and nodded. "Fair enough."

"These are all easy answers. Let's see something harder." Apollo said, when Trucy had cleared the cloth. "What's one of Trucy Wright's secrets?"

"You fiend! You felon!" Trucy gasped. "But I suppose the show must go on, so I'll let it slide, just this once!" Another set of letters were retrieved from the hat. Unseen to the audience, there was a little tremble in her fingers as she placed the miniature magnets on the right letters, in the right order, and tossed them until they said what she'd wanted them to: "I'm gay."

Rather than her usual showboating, the constant movements designed to distract and misdirect the audience, Trucy just stood there, hopefully gazing at her father with her hat clutched before her. Apollo watched the man out of the corner of his eye.

"Huh." Phoenix scratched his chin. He got to his feet and approached Trucy with a smile on his face, then brought her into a hug. All of the nerves that had been building inside her suddenly disappeared as she relaxed into Phoenix's embrace.

"D-Daddy?" Trucy asked. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Mad? What would I have to be mad about?" Phoenix asked, as he leaned back so he could meet Trucy's gaze. "Admittedly, the production value could use some work..."

"Daddy!"

Phoenix laughed. "Of course I'm not mad. You're my little girl, Trucy."

"Th-Thank you." Trucy sniffled, then squeezed Phoenix tighter. "You're the best Daddy ever."

"How can I argue with that?" Phoenix ruffled Trucy's hair and she beamed up at him. "I just hope you have better luck in love than I've had."

"Oh… I hope so, too." Trucy nodded. "I'd be so embarrassed if my first girlfriend was a murderer, too."

"It's not like I could tell..." Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck.

"I could tell it as soon as I saw the file!" Trucy said. "She had those evil eyes."

"Yeah, I have to agree," Apollo said. "Nobody looks that cute without being evil."

"I can't believe I'm being bullied at my own daughter's coming out." Phoenix sighed.

"It's okay. I already know who my first girlfriend is going to be." Trucy nodded confidently as she sat on one of the spare chairs. "Maya."

"… Trucy, she's twice your age." Phoenix said, his eyes wide. "And one of my oldest friends."

"But she's so cute!" Trucy pouted. "What about Pearl?"

"Little Pearls?" Phoenix held a hand to his heart. "She's too young to be dating."

"She's my age!"

"But… Pearls?" Phoenix glanced at one of the pictures on the stand, back from when he'd first started getting to know the girl. Then back at his daughter. "Alright, I'll think about it."

"Thanks, Daddy." Trucy beamed.

"Hang on," Phoenix turned his eyes upon Apollo. "You knew about this before me?"

"Yeah." Apollo shrugged. "I caught Trucy flirting with Vera Misham at the hospital."

"You snitch!" Trucy pointed an accusing finger at Apollo, then offered a nervous smile to Phoenix. "She's a big fan of Troupe Gramarye! And I'm a Gramarye, so..."

"She asked Vera if she wanted to be a Gramarye and made a kissy face."

"Alright, I can see this turning into an argument." Phoenix put his hands on his hips as Trucy's cheeks puffed up in frustration. "Apollo, thank you for keeping Trucy's secret for her. Trucy, you don't need to hide you flirting any more, so Apollo telling me now doesn't hurt anyone. Okay?"

"I… Okay." Trucy's cheeks deflated.

"I was happy to." Apollo nodded.

"Good." Phoenix smiled. "Now that we've established that, you should probably look into learning how to flirt properly. Because that sounded… Just, terrible."

Trucy stuck her tongue out at the pair of them.