A/N: I do not own either Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth; CAPCOM does. The plot, of course, is mine. :) On a side note, "nomen" is Latin for "name."
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This was originally written as a Christmas gift fic for ShadowSuzaku in 2007; as with "The Christmas Gift," I decided that the time had come for a rewrite so I have and I'm posting it as the second of my Christmas stories. :) Hope you like the rewrite! :)

I like the playful banter between Phoenix & Miles. :) *Any and all other oddness is courtesy of The Irish Rovers' "Wasn't That A Party?" which I have been listening to while rewriting and I have a cold. :D* This is a mix of romance and drama, with some humour splashed in with the addition of a supernatural twist and some Christmas magic since, after all, Christmas is a time for miracles. :) It's rather eclectic, really. Just like life. :)

Thank you to all my readers: those who have commented, read, reviewed, favourited/story alerted my stories and thanks also to those who have author alerted/favourite authored, as well! I appreciate it very much! I am glad that you are enjoying my stories and I hope that you will continue to enjoy them in the future! :)

Thank you to my betas, Lyrical Rawr (past, who beta read the first half) and Midnight-hunter (present, who read it now), for all your comments and insights! I really appreciate it! :)

Special thanks to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his encouragement, love, concern and for reigniting the fire within me to write! Love you, honey, and thanks!

I hope that you will enjoy the first chapter of this three part story and, as always, comments and suggestions are definitely appreciated and welcomed! :)

Rated Teen, Romance/Drama, male/male relationships, Phoenix & Edgeworth
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December 24th
7 A.M.

I yawned as I woke from a very deep yet satisfying sleep Christmas Eve morning, turning over to see Miles lying next to me, his eyes closed, his dark grey hair spread out over the pillow with one arm draped across his chest and the other at rest by his side, his eyelashes lying still on his pale cheeks.

I propped myself up on one elbow, the left side of my face cradled in my hand, watching him as he slept and marveling anew at how beautiful and angelic he looked with the soft rays of dawn slowly filtering through the open window, gently falling on his face. I resisted the urge to reach out and touch that pale, fair skin and settled for simply watching him, his chest gently rising and falling. I smiled as I looked down on him, my breath catching in wonder at his ethereal beauty and thinking again of just how lucky I was to have him.

I watched him in silence for some time, my eyes looking over him appreciatively until his eyelids fluttered and slowly cracked open, looking at the world through bleary eyes. I chuckled softly to myself as I saw his eyes darting from one end of the room to the other until they lit on my grinning face, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," I teased, leaning over and planting a gentle kiss on his lips and nuzzling the tip of his nose. "Happy Christmas Eve morning."

He smiled against my mouth and kissed me back, his half-opened eyes regarding me sleepily.

"Happy Christmas Eve morning, Wright." He stretched and then snuggled closer to me as I took him in my arms, cuddling his head close to my heart, my chin resting lightly on the top of his head, curling a lock of his hair lazily around my finger.

"Mmmmmm..." Miles purred contently and I pressed him closer to me, my face wreathed in a happy grin. This was definitely the best part of my day and I loved waking up next to him in the morning and seeing his beautiful, his grey hair tousled from sleep.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yes, thankfully. No bad dreams."

I couldn't help but agree. He hadn't slept well in months due to a catastrophic combination of an increasingly crushing workload and plagues of nightmares, so I was glad that he had finally managed to get a good night's sleep without waking in the pre-dawn hours covered in sweat from a bad dream or finding himself hunched over a mountain of files that seemed to have no end. Thankfully, the nightmares of scenes from his past seemed to have come less often than they usually did and, for that, I could only be grateful.

My poor, haunted love, I thought, holding him close, nuzzling him gently with the tip of my nose, what I wouldn't give to take this from you. To see you finally at peace after all you've been through is what I aim to help you achieve. I sighed a little, pressing him closer to me. If that is at all possible.

I swiftly cut short that particular train of thought-going over events in the recent past was a very depressing exercise in futility, I found-and moved on to much happier thoughts. I'd had a ghost of an idea while I was watching Miles as he slept and I had determined to broach the subject to him once he was awake.

"So... do we have any plans for tonight?"

Miles yawned against my neck and I giggled as I felt his breath tickling my skin.

"Nothing set in stone," he remarked after a moment of silence. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," I drawled, "I thought that we might go into the city tonight to do some Christmas shopping, go out to dinner and maybe take in a movie or a play. We haven't had a decent night out for some time so I thought that this might be the perfect opportunity to do so when we have some free time."

Miles remained silent for a moment or two and then said brightly, "That's a wonderful idea, Phoenix!" He snuggled closer. "It's the perfect time to go to the city; we haven't had a Date Night for some time and I agree that this would be the perfect time to do so." He smiled at me. "Consider it a plan."

"Excellent," I replied and then snuggled down under the covers, pulling Miles along with me while he happily acquiesced. "Consider it a date."

I kissed the corners of Miles' mouth tenderly before we both burrowed back under the covers and, in a few moments, were soon fast asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

5:00 P.M.

I stood in front of the full length mirror in the corner beside the closet, holding up the midnight blue dress suit which I only wore on special occasions, turning my head this way and that, thinking about which white shirt to wear with it. I had two lying on the bed and I was having a very hard time choosing between the two and kept looking at the closet at the row of crisp, white dress shirts that hung there.

Miles and I had decided, that morning, to go to the city for a dinner date later on that evening and I was choosing my suit very carefully for that reason. Normally, I really didn't care all that much about what I wore but Date Nights were different and I wanted to look my best.

Business at Wright & Co. Law Office had slowed down considerably for the Christmas season-and the Prosecutor's office had, as well-so we had decided to have that long overdue Date Night tonight which I was very much looking forward to since we hadn't had a date for a few months due to both of our work schedules. I put the shirt back in the closet, turned back to the bed and picked up the shirt that was lying on my pillows. I held it up to my chest and turned this way and that, looking at my reflection with chagrin; I sighed as I put that one back in the closet and took out another one.

Gah, there's so many to choose from . . . and yet they all look the same to me!

I had to admit that my fashion sense had improved considerably as far as formal dress went since Miles and I became a couple and I did admire his exquisite taste in clothing though I still wore my usual blue suits in court, much to his chagrin.

I chuckled as I thought of it, shaking my head with amusement.

He can really be a bug about some things, I reflected as I held the suit under my chin with one hand and the shirt in the other, chewing my bottom lip thoughtfully as I compared the two to see if it fit, but I love him with all my heart and I want nothing more than to make him happy, even if he is occasionally annoying about what I choose to wear. I put the suit down on the bed and held the up the dress shirt. Now, how would this look...?

I was so deep in thought that I had no idea that Miles had just entered the bedroom and, seeing as how I was twisting this way and that in front of the mirror trying to get a good angle so I could see how it would look on me with the suit, he grinned and stood in the doorway, leaning against the door jamb. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had a smirk on his face as he watched me.

"I didn't know that you were the vain type, Wright," he drawled mischievously and I nearly jumped a foot with an indignant squawk of surprise when I realized he was standing there in the doorway behind me. "In fact, I would have said that you weren't the type to really care about their appearance . . . if the cheap suits you wear to court are any indication."

My faced turned crimson and I could feel my ears getting hot.

Miles must be in a good mood this morning, I thought wryly, a wolfish grin slowly spreading across my face as I turned to face him even though my cheeks were pink from embarrassment. He cracked a joke. I'll have to call Ripley's Believe It Or Not and report it though I am sure that no one, outside of those who know him well, like myself, would believe that the Demon Prosecutor was even remotely capable of laughing.

Sometimes that nomen did his reputation more harm than good, in my opinion, although I had to admit that it was a mark on the pro side when it came to his court cases since no one, with the usual exception of up-and-coming hotshot defense attorneys, both rookie and veteran, really wanted to go up against the 'Demon Prosecutor.' Miles rolled his eyes as he saw the expression on my face, knowing in an instant in what direction my thoughts were going. That unerring ability of his to do that really unnerved me sometimes but, to my relief, I did see the corner of his mouth twitch in amusement, his grey eyes sparkling with undisguised mischief.

"I don't know what I see in you," he continued blithely, pushing himself off from the jamb and walking into the bedroom. "You obviously have no fashion sense to speak of; those cheap, off the rack blue suits are a disgrace to the legal world and your hair . . . well, let's just say you're in no danger of anyone from GQ banging on our door, desperately wanting you to model for the front page layout."

I snickered at the semi-sour look on Miles' face and shook my head in mock disparagement, biting down on my lower lip to smother the laughter I could feel building up within me.

"Jealous, Miles?" I teased, my mouth twitching in amusement while he looked at me in mock surprise as he made his way over toward me. "Who knows? Maybe spiky hair will be the in thing this year." I made a face at him.

An elegant eyebrow lifted. "I hardly think so, Wright," he replied loftily, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, his chin resting lightly on my shoulder. "Your tastes leave a lot to be desired, whereas mine air a certain... class... not to mention that spiky hair could cause a rise in 'Death-by-spikes'."

I sighed, rolling my eyes as I settled back into his embrace, his lips brushing the back of my neck and shivering a little as he did so.

"You've survived in the most awkward of positions," I remarked, laying the shirt beside the suit on the bed and turning around to face him, my arms wrapping around his neck as he wound this around my waist. "But I'm willing to bet that it really doesn't matter all that much to you: you just like to tease me." I gently rubbed the tip of my nose against his, a playful expression on my face. "After all, as long as we're together, nothing else matters."

"Objection!" he said with feeling, his arms tightening around me. Miles always hated not to get the last word in.

"Overruled!" I retorted, laughing, and leaning quickly forward, captured his mouth in a passionate kiss, pulling him tightly against me. He leaned into the embrace with relish, opening his mouth underneath mine and giving me a good, hard kiss with a soft moan before he suddenly pulled away, a grimace on his face and his nose twitching in distaste.

"You're not wearing that lethally smelly aftershave again, are you?"

I gave him a blank look, my mouth twisting a little and sighing inwardly.

He just had to go and ruin the mood.

"Miles, I'm all for improving my tastes, but seriously, there is such a thing as taking the 'gay' stereotype too far," I scolded, resisting the urge to shut him up in a more un-holy way as I reached over and picked up the suit again. He smirked and leaned in toward me once more, his warm breath again tickling my skin.

"Enjoy this mood while it lasts, Wright," he whispered against my sensitive skin while I shivered with pleasure. "I'm just on a high from finally being alone with you."

I smiled, letting the words sink in slowly. It was those kinds of words that made me ignore the snobbish side of my love.

"…Besides, I'm sure they use incredibly strong solvents in that scent of yours."

This is going to be a long night, I can tell.

Chuckling and shaking my head, I gave up on making pleasantries; Miles was in a playful mood tonight and I could only be thankful for that rather than having him miserable and depressed as he had been in the past at this time of year which tended to put a damper on the festivities.

"Don't tempt me so early in the morning, Miles dear," I quipped after we had parted, snickering inwardly at his raised eyebrow and nuzzling his neck playfully. "You're all together just too delicious for me to resist!"

He made a face at me as he rolled his eyes. I could picture that look so clearly in my mind's eye that I started giggling. He gave me a disgusted look, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tried very hard not to laugh as I turned and picked up the midnight blue suit that was lying on the bed once more.

"You can be so childish sometimes, you know that, don't you?" he said tiredly, shaking his head but not relinquishing himself from our embrace while I breathed an inward sigh of relief. There had been times in our relationship when I had to tell him I was only joking since he took things so seriously most of the time; he was getting much better at it now and didn't take offense to my silly ramblings, puns and jokes. "I sometimes wonder what it ever was that I saw in you in the first place."

"It must be my irrepressible good looks," I quipped, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes, grinning from ear to ear as I fluttered my eyelashes at him or, more truthfully, tried to. I could never get it right and the attempt to do so always gave me a headache. "I knew it must have been my spiky hair that first attracted you!" He didn't look at all impressed with my attempts at fluttering so I tossed my head slightly, earning another raised eyebrow from Miles and a hastily smothered chuckle from him. "Either that or my irrepressible zest for life or, as you say, my 'childishness.' "

I smiled sweetly at him; he gave me another look but I knew that he was fighting a losing battle and it wouldn't be long before he broke down and laughed. The accuracy of this was proved a few minutes later when he did.

"Oh, Wright," Miles said, chuckling as he ran his fingers through my hair and caught his breath, "you really are the best." He kissed the top of my head tenderly, pulled back a little and smiled at me, his eyes shining with love. I was dazzled by the intensity of that look as I looked back at him before I smiled happily and, leaning forward, nuzzled his neck playfully.

"So are you, Edgeworth," I replied, my fingers gently caressing his face, his breath catching at my tender touch. "So are you."

He rubbed the tip of his nose against mine, his smile so bright that I gasped at the intensity of it. The love I felt for Miles encompassed all of me, to the very core of my being and my heart had nearly burst with joy when we had come together as a couple in what seemed to both of us a lifetime ago. I loved Miles more than I could ever possibly hope to express in words and I sincerely hoped that it came through in the day-to-day things that I did for him in our life together: breakfast in bed one day, coffee in another and other little things like that, hoping that each one would show him just how much I loved him.

It seemed to be working thus far and we were very happy together which, as far as I was concerned, was all to the good. I could only hope that time would erase the terrible memories of his early life or even the knowledge of what his former mentor, Manfred von Karma, had planned to do to his former protege.

"But," he whispered once again, taking the suit from me and, laying it on the back of the chair next to the vanity, started pulling me toward the bed. "You really need to get rid of that awful stuff."

I followed slowly and opened my mouth to make a snappy reply but his mouth possessed mine before I had a chance to say a word and, within a very short time, he had distracted me from practically everything else as we shared a passionate kiss, falling back onto the bed with a soft whumping sound.

Shut up, Edgeworth, was my second to last thought before everything else was swept away in a sea of burning passion and overwhelming pleasure.

Then...

Miles . . .

Then nothing at all.