A/N: This was one of the 5 fics that I wrote for Phoenix/Maya Day, which was September 5th. This one was my absolute favourite, so I decided to post it here. If you guys want to read the other 4, I'd be happy to post them. I don't own Phoenix Wright or any of its characters. Well, enjoy!

---

February 16th, 2019

Wright & Co Law Offices

10: 37 pm

"And we're finally back." I announce, opening the door for Maya. She leaps inside, rushing to get out of the cold.

"S-S-S-See, now wasn't that fun?" she asks, her teeth chattering. She's shivering, and her face is blue from being outside for so long. That's what you get when you wear nothing but an acolyte uniform in the middle of February, I suppose.

"Hmm…well, it was interesting to see how much Kurain Village has changed since I last visited, but I don't really think the 4 hours on a train was worth it." I take my jacket off and wrap it around Maya, warming her up. "Next time you drop Pearl off in Kurain, leave me out of it. For all we know, I might have gotten a call from a possible client while we were gone, and by now they chose another lawyer."

"Clients, clients, clients. Is that all you think about? Lame! Besides, you saw how glad Pearly was to see you come with us."

"I think she was just glad to see me with you. You know how Pearls can be." I remark.

"Yeah, but in an annoying way, it's kind of cute. I'm going to miss her." Maya sighs.

I guess that Pearl is the only relative Maya's got left now. They've been especially close lately; they've even slept in the same room ever since that incident at Hazakura. Although it makes sense, since Pearl probably doesn't want to be alone after that. Maya and her were both pretty sad about Pearls leaving. I guess that now it's only a mater of time before Maya leaves too…

"Hello? You're doing that thing again!" Maya says, pouting.

"Huh? What thing?" Maya snaps me out of my thoughts.

"You know, that thing where you completely zone everybody else out. It's very rude, you know!" Maya turns her head away. I chuckle.

"Ok, I'm sorry, honest. Now what were you saying?"

"Can I sleep with you?"
Huh?

"Huh? What do you mean, 'sleep with me?'"

"Well, what do you think I mean? It's kind of obvious, Nick."

Oh…My…

"Wait a minute…don't tell me that you've never…Nick, you've never had a sleepover before?" Maya says, shocked.

…………Oh. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, yeah, but that was like, 16 years ago!"

Maya pouts again. "Oh come on, it'll be fun!" she whines. "Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"

"But, well, maybe it's not such a good idea…"

She gives me what is quite possibly the most intense puppy dog face I have ever seen. It looks like tears are even starting to well in her eyes. I wonder if she practices that look in the mirror.

I sigh in defeat. "Fine, we can have a 'sleepover'."

"Cool! Thanks Nick, you're the best! Ok, I'll be over in about 10 minutes." And with that, Maya ran off to her room.

How is it I always get roped into her crazy ideas? It's like I can't say no to that girl. Oh well, better head to bed.

I brush my teeth and slip into a T-shirt and some Children's Masterpiece PJ pants that Pearl gave me for my birthday. I hop in bed and pull the blanket over myself, hoping to fall asleep before Maya gets here. Sure enough, as soon as my eyes close, Maya walks in.

"Don't tell me you're sleeping already! We have to stay up and gossip!"

Within a second, Maya's jumped onto my bed, telling me to wake up. The first thing I notice is her hair. She's taken her beads out, probably because they make it difficult to sleep. I have to admit, it looks rather nice. The next thing I notice is her eyes. I've seen Maya's eyes a bunch of times before, but there was something different this time. The moonlight from my window shone at them at the perfect angle, making them look beautiful and alluring. And the final thing I notice are her pajamas. Pink Princess pajamas, to be exact.

"Pink princess PJs? Seriously?"

"Oh, be quiet." Maya says, and for a minute I swear she actually look embarrassed.

"I'm just kidding." I say quickly. "You look…pretty." Maya looks away, but even in the dark room, I can tell she's blushing. "Well," she says, "you don't look too bad yourself."

I don't have time to blush, as the next thing I know Maya tucks herself under the blanket and squishes next to me. I have to tell myself that she's strictly my friend, and yet, I can't help but feel a bit awkward about having a girl lying in my bed right next to me, even if they are wearing pajamas designed for 8-year olds.

"Mmm…this feels nice…" Maya says, resting her head on my chest.

"Umm…I guess?" I reply, and even though it's a statement, it seems to come out as a question.

"So, what should we do now?"

"Well, since it's a sleepover, shouldn't we sleep?"

"Booooring. When I had sleepovers with Pearly, we'd always make fun of you behind your back."

"Hey!"

"Well, at least I would. Pearly would say 'You should talk about Mr. Nick that way, Mystic Maya, he's your special someone!"

"What are we going to do with that girl?" I chuckle.

Maya looks up at me. "Hmm…Maybe if we went on a fake date, we could get her to stop bugging us?"

"Nah, that plan might backfire. She'd probably hunt us down, or make us kiss afterwards."

"Oh yeah, I guess you're right. I wouldn't want to kiss you or anything…" Maya trails off. Am I hearing things, or did that kind of sound like she was lying?

"Maybe we could tell her the truth?"

"Pfft. I've tried to tell her that a million times, she always thinks I'm testing her faith in us or something."

"Well, maybe we'll come up with an idea after we get some sleep."

"Sounds like a plan!"

Maya shuts her eyes and places her head on my chest again, and to my surprise, she wraps her arms around me as if she's trying to hug me. Not really sure what to do, I wrap my arms around her waist.

Wow…this actually feels really nice. Maybe I should go along with Maya's plans more often…

After a while, Maya's breathing slows, and I feel myself drift off to sleep…

---

"Nick, wake up! Nick!"

"Hmm? What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just going back to Kurain."

"WHAT!!?? But…why?"

"Well, there's no point in being here. After all, you're just so boring."

"What? But we're friends, aren't we?"

"Well, I guess, but I can still call you once in a while in Kurain, can't I? Once a month is pretty good, isn't it? O r maybe once a year…"

"But…but I crossed a burning bridge for you!"

"Correction: You tried to cross a burning bridge for me. But you wiped out and fell, and ended up in a hospital bed for a day. Face it Nick, you're kind of pathetic. You can't even admit that you're in love with me, can you?"

I'm shocked. "Y-yes I can! I…I love…I love…" I chicken out. I can't bear to look into her eyes, or to risk the chance of being rejected.

"Ha! I knew it. Look Nick, you're a nice guy and all, but we both knew I couldn't wait for you forever. Maybe if you would have told me when you had the chance, things would have been different! Oh well, bye!"

This can't be happening!

I hop out of bed. "Wait! Do you want me to walk you to the station?"

"Oh no, you don't have to, Larry's dropping me off. He's got a car, you know. Oh, did I mention we're dating?"

"You...you and Larry are…dating?"

"Well, to be honest, I used to have a crush on you, but after all those times you had a chance to tell me how you felt, and that you always chickened out on, I figured I could do much better. So I moved on to Larry."

I don't have the heart to make a sarcastic comment about what Maya just said. My heart's been shattered, and my soul's been crushed. This all feels so surreal…

The door rings.

"Don't worry, I'll get it Nick."

Maya opens up the door to reveal Larry.

"Hey sweetie!" she says.

"Hey baby." He responds. Maya kisses him on the lips. And not just a sweet, light, half-a-second kiss. It's a very long kiss. My stomach churns. I'm going to be sick. Larry finally seems to notice me.

"Oh, hey Nick! What's up buddy?"

"Oh, don't worry about him honey. He's a loser." Maya says, and pulls him in for another kiss. Larry is all too happy to oblige.

He's a loser. He's a loser. He's a loser. He's a loser……

---

I wake up from the terrible nightmare. Oh, thank God that's over! Oh my…I think that dream was a bit too graphic for my liking. I have to make sure it doesn't come true.

I check my clock. 2:13. I'm going back to bed. And then Maya lets out a sigh. Why's she still up? I turn around to look at her. She's facing away from me, looking at something. Tears streak her face. I wrap my arms around her from behind, and rest my head next to hers. She lets out a quick gasp, not realizing I'm awake. She tries to hide what she's holding, but I catch a quick glance of what it is. It's a picture of Maya and Mia when they were young, the picture Misty Fey kept in her Master's Talisman. I instantly realize why she's been crying.

"Your mom…" I begin. Maya chokes out a sob. I grip her a bit tighter, and whisper that it's okay. She calms down quickly.

"Do you really think it's possible that she thought about me every day?"

"I know if I had a daughter as amazing as you, it would be hard not to. Heck, I think about you every day as it is."

I can feel the heat radiating from Maya's cheeks. I'm not really sure why I admitted that to her, but it seemed to earn me some brownie points, so it's fine by me.

"Liar." Maya mumbles, half-jokingly.

"Nope, it's true. I think about you everyday, even if you're in Kurain."

Maya rolls around to face me. She looks me straight in the eyes, trying to see if I'm messing with her. I give her the sincerest look I can.

"Thanks Nick." She says. "I'm sorry for being such a downer at our sleepover, but I never knew much about my mother, and now that she's gone, Pearl is really all I have left."

"Well, you have me too. I'll always be here for you."

"I know. After all, you are my hero."

I don't know what it is, but at the moment, I know that I have to show her how I feel. I lean in closer and kiss her. It only lasts about 5 seconds, but they're the greatest 5 seconds I've had in years. When I pull away, Maya's face is a cross between shock and awe.

"Wow…What was that for?"

"I don't know…I just thought I should."

"Well…maybe you should do it again."

She doesn't have to ask me twice. I move in again and kiss her, this time with much more passion. I stop caring how tired I am, I stop caring about how wrong this seems, all that matters is her, or to be more specific, me being with her. Her lips taste like mint chocolate ice cream. Looks like somebody went for a midnight snack.

Maya breaks away for air. "I love you." She blurts out. The look on her face after she says it is hilarious, but I'm far too in love with her right now to tease her.

"I love you too."

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming."

In response, I kiss her again. I feel her melt into my arms, and it feels incredible. Take that, Larry! I wouldn't mind if this night never ended.

"Does this mean you're my boyfriend?" Maya asks when we break apart again.

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend?" I ask. I already know the answer; I just want to hear her say it.

"Well duh! I mean, totally."

"Are you going to be my girlfriend?"

"Most *yawn* definitely."

"You know, you seem pretty tired; maybe you should get some rest."

"What? There's no way I can get to sleep now! I'm way too excited. Besides, I want to stay up with you and…you know…make out or something."

"We can do that tomorrow. Right now you should get some sleep."

"Fine. But now you owe me burgers."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I tease.

"W-what? No, I was just…Oh, never mind."

Maya gives me one quick kiss, and then turns away. "Good night Nick."

"Goodnight, Maya."

"Hey Nick?"

"Hmm?"

"This sleepover was pretty, um, fun. I was wondering maybe…maybe you wanted to do it again sometime?"

I smile, and turn Maya to face me. "Any time Maya. Any time."