Notes – Done for pw_contest, under the prompt "Minor Character". Set a while after Phoenix had adopted Trucy and contains spoilers for both Turnabout Big Top and some of the back-stories in Apollo Justice. The minor characters featured in this are the cast of the Big Berry Circus. Originally this was going to be from Phoenix's POV, but I was worried it wouldn't count since he's one of the main characters, so I switch it to Regina.

There are those girls out there who you see walking down the street and think 'she must have spent a lot of time in front of the mirror to look that good'.

Regina Berry was one of those girls.

At least, in a sense she was. She didn't spend hours every day in front of a mirror trying to look beautiful out of vanity; she did it because it had been what she was required to do since as far back as she could remember. To her, a Regina without the make-up and glitter just didn't exist because how could a Regina like that ever perform on stage in front of hundreds of people?

The Big Berry Circus had been her entire life. She rarely ventured outside of it, so looking like she did was just normal to her - as was treating a wooden puppet controlled by a man as a separate individual to that man or keeping a large tiger as a pet. She had been a very sheltered individual and would probably always remain so.

But today there was an extra special reason for the make-up.

A few years ago her father had been murdered. It was quite a chilling affair. Especially when it turned out his death had been an accident and the killer had been trying to go after her instead, blaming her for what happened to his own brother…

If it wasn't for that man, Phoenix Wright, the case would probably never have been resolved. Honestly, she still didn't understand everything that had happened, but since then she'd tried hard to fill in her father's boots.

And above all she didn't blame Acro for what he'd done.

That was why, when she'd got that phone call, she was happy to oblige and let Phoenix visit the circus. Free of charge even, she'd said, because it would be cruel to make someone who had helped them so much pay money.

Somehow he had seemed relieved when she'd said that. Apparently he'd hit a hard time with money, which was hard to imagine since he'd been such a brilliant lawyer back in the day. Having said that she didn't keep up with the affairs of the outside world much, a lot could have changed in that time.

As Phoenix arrived at the circus he was the embodiment of a lot changing over time. His whole appearance had altered so much since the last time she'd seen him – blue suit replaced by casual clothing and rough stubble to match.

With him came his daughter, a young girl in a pink magician's outfit, and the whole reason he had wanted to come here in the first place.

He probably dreaded meeting people who used to know him, knowing they'd bring up the inevitable 'you've changed' topic that he tried to avoid talking about so much, but Regina didn't say a thing about it. Her mind simply put it down to Phoenix getting a new costume, as if it was for a show, and she never even stopped to think about how he had acquired a daughter Trucy's age. To her Phoenix had just said this was his daughter, therefore she just was his daughter and nothing more.

The two of them really hit it off very well too, which was what Phoenix had been hoping for given Trucy's interest in magic. Regina showed her around the whole circus, introducing her to the animals, showing her the performers and even making her sit through the jokes of Moe the clown.

Unfortunately for Moe, Trucy was a lot more interested in the magical side of things and took a shine to Maximillion Galactica, the magician Phoenix had defended back in that case. He taught her several new tricks, as apparently it didn't count as ruining the secrets of the art if it was told between one magician and another.

By the end of the day Trucy had been so busy enjoying the sights at the circus that she hadn't even noticed how late it was getting, falling asleep against her daddy. He didn't mind that, as the whole reason he'd brought her there was because he wanted her to have as much fun as any child her age should be able to.

Thanking Regina, Phoenix picked up Trucy, ready to go. The blonde performer eagerly said goodbye to them both, waving ecstatically at Trucy in a way that made Phoenix wonder if she understood that people can't see you when they've gone to sleep.

Watching them go, Regina did hope that they'd come back. It was nice when people you knew came to see you and when they bring children who like the same things you like.

She paused thoughtfully and wondered about Maya, the girl who had helped Phoenix out on that case. Maybe she'd grown up and had a daughter who was a magician too.

That had settled it; she really had to find out.

So for the first time, Regina, a girl who never really bothered with the world outside of her father's circus, asked Moe if it would be possible to use a phone.

As soon as she'd grasped the concept of needing Maya's number she'd be set to go.

Hopefully.