More Than You Know
This was written when I was halfway through playing case 4 of Justice for All for the second time, so I couldn't really remember the details of how things worked out among all the characters. As such, it doesn't really follow on very well from the end of the game, though I've done my best.
I'd tried to join in socialising with the others, I really had, but it still didn't come easily to me, especially right now. Despite my earlier conversation with Wright, there was still…something between us. Something awkward. I just couldn't figure out what exactly it was. I glanced over my shoulder and was almost surprised to see a drink there. I didn't think I'd bought a drink… Then I remembered that Gumshoe had insisted on buying me one. Though considering that everyone seemed to have decided that Wright was footing the bill (I really felt sorry for the man) I supposed that in actuality the drink was from him. A sudden voice from beside me cut through my contemplations.
"Have you even spoken to him yet?" I tore my gaze from the rest of the group to find the source of the interruption. Leaning against the bar next to me with what looked like a leg of chicken in hand was Maya, glaring at me in a determined way. "Well? Have you?" I glanced back at the others, one spiky head standing out from the rest.
"I assume that by 'him', you in fact mean Wright?" She gave me a look which clearly said 'duh!'. "I thought so. Of course I've spoken to him. How could I not have? After all, we've just spent the last few days in court." I knew that wasn't what she meant, and although I had already spoken to Wright about the issue, I was curious about what she wanted to say. She frowned.
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" She responded sharply, and then in a slightly softer voice: "Have you apologised to him yet?" I frowned. Spoken to, yes. But apologised to?
"Apologise? Why on Earth would I need to apologise to Wright? I've explained everything to him; surely that will suffice". I saw her fists clench at her sides.
"You hurt him! When you left… You hurt him."
"So did you." I replied in not much more than a whisper, the slight slump of her shoulders the only sign that she'd heard. "Anyway, I presume that by 'hurt', you are referring to this foolish idea he had that my… departure was due to the loss of my perfect win record. I have already tried to clear the matter up with him on many occasions, but he was to begin with he was too pig-headed to accept what I told him. Fortunately he's listened to me now." Maya slowly shook her head.
"That's not what I meant. I don't think you understand the effects your actions had." I frowned again.
"What on Earth are you talk-"
"You were dead!" She burst out. "I… He… That note you left. Did it occur to you that it could easily be interpreted to mean…that?" I looked away. I couldn't lie, I'd known exactly what Wright would think when he saw that note. Perhaps if he'd thought about it more logically then he might have reached the truth, but if he didn't… Well, it was just one more excuse to prolong my stay in Europe. I hadn't thought he would be too concerned about my disappearance. Confused perhaps, and maybe irritated. At most disappointed. I had only realised how betrayed he felt once I'd arrived back. Maya started talking again. "I only found out about your 'death' very recently. When I saw Nick again, he refused to tell me what had happened to you. He made me promise to never bring you up again. Mr. Edgeworth, he couldn't even bear to hear your name!"
"I…" I stopped. I didn't have anything to say to that. Maybe… Maybe I'd been wrong to assume that the man would have cared so little. But then again, maybe I hadn't. "That could just be due to his complete and utter hatred of me." I argued. I allowed myself to glance back up at Maya. From the expression on her face, I knew she didn't believe that.
"You didn't see him, Edgeworth. You just…" She paused and sighed deeply. "You didn't see him."
"Neither did you." I countered. She looked at me in confusion. "When you left. As I said before, you hurt him too. Of course, he never mentioned anything to me, but I could tell." Maya paused, a slightly hurt look on her face, but it was soon gone and she was shaking her head.
"No. Nick knows why I left. H-He understands. I know he does. But it was different when you left" She paused again, seemingly to come up with a better way of explaining the situation while I'd been away. "He wasn't suffering in silence. If I mentioned you, he'd shout at me. Mr. Edgeworth, Nick never shouts at me. Then he'd apologise and go really quiet for ages. But he'd have this look in his eyes… He looked so sad… yet so angry at the same time." She wasn't looking at me, apparently caught in some memory. She shook her head. "So yes, maybe he did hate you. But that wasn't why he couldn't stand to talk about you. Trust me."
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"He cares about you, more than you know", we both said at the same time, her as an end to her speech, me as a beginning. Maya smiled faintly at it. I decided to carry on.
"When you were with de Killer… You should have seen him. He was at the end of his tether. I've never seen him so desperate, practically begging the judge to continue the trial on the first day. It was quite pitiful really." I looked away, a small smile gracing my lips as I remembered his then inexplicable behaviour in court that day. I looked up at her, a frown back in place. "He would have got that man acquitted for you, I'm sure of it. Even if it meant the guilty went free, and even if it meant you never forgave him, he would have done it to keep you safe if there wasn't any other way. That goes against everything that he believes in and stands for, both personally and professionally. In my eyes, that means a lot. You should keep it in mind." Maya looked away, a faint smile and a faint blush touching her face.
We lapsed back into silence, my thoughts still on what Maya had told me. The longer I knew him, the more I had to admit that I trusted and respected Wright more than anyone else I knew, and I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps part of my animosity towards him had been that he'd become the man that I'd always wanted to be when I was a child. I'd been amazed by the lengths he was willing to go both for myself that time last year, and for Maya, if an alternative solution hadn't presented itself. I could see the turmoil in him, even from my position across the courtroom. Regardless of what I'd told Maya, I wasn't convinced he'd ever made his mind up about which way to plead for his client. I was yet to decide if that was a good or bad thing, but regardless it showed how passionate he was about everything in his life.
I went back to watching the man in question, his goofy smile firmly in place as he said something to the others that I couldn't make out. Some dumb joke, most likely. Having had this conversation with Maya, I couldn't help but wonder if there was hope for our childhood friendship yet.