Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Ace attorney or Professor Layton. Each franchise belongs to their respective owners (Capcom and Level 5) and I own nothing!
Trust of a friend.
A knocking on the door, that's what made Professor Hershel Layton look up from the news paper he was looking at.
Being an archeologist in London as well as a famous man of deduction, logic, a tea lover and a puzzle enthusiast had its great perks. It also gave him some time to occupy himself since, with his apprentice gone as he had moved to France, he really didn't have much to keep him on his toes like he was used to when Luke and himself would have a puzzle match.
He was only sitting on the sofa while catching up on some reading of the earlier morning news paper that he decided to read a second time after reading it hours prior when he was instantly caught off guard by this sudden knocking on the door. At first, the noise thudded and pounded through his skull and it startled him into making him fall forwards just a bit so his eyes could be momentarily covered by his trademark top hat.
After rectifying the position of his hat, Professor Layton looked towards the door for a brief few moments.
'Hmmm...Strange that I haven't had any warnings of any visitors,'
He thought to himself before getting to his feet and walking towards the door with a look of caution fixed on his face.
He folded the news paper he was reading in half and put it down on the coffee table he was sat in front of before he went to answer the door and whoever decided to come so late at night.
When he stood in front of the door to his office, he reached for the knob and twisted it before slowly pulling the door open and beholding his late night visitor.
Standing in the doorway was a man looking to be in his early twenties. He had a rather scruffy look about him as stubble dotted his chin and jawline and he seemed to have quite the unruly set of hair that was mostly disguised by a bright blue beanie with some pink writing on it, actually saying "papa" after getting a close glance. He also wore a baggy grey hoodie with blue streaks lining the elbows underneath each sleeve and he some jeans with slight holes in the legs.
The Professor didn't say much at first but he had to say that this man looked really familiar to him. He tipped his hat politely at the scruffy man and smiled politely. "Greetings, sir, how can I help you?"
The man in turn simply smirked and raised a wiry brow at the gentleman, confusing him a bit. The hobo man folded his arms and looked at the top hatted archeologist with a wry grin and he glared at him with a wiry brow raised. This scruffy-looking man seemed pretty smug and seemed to have been perfectly content with being in this state.
"Seriously, Professor?" The man spoke, revealing an American accent mixing in his smooth yet strong voice "You don't recognise me?"
The Professor blinked. Had he met this man before? Now that he thought back to it, that face looked somewhat familiar to him and the voice was starting to spark a memory inside his head but the question was which memory? Just when did he meet this "gentleman" with the jet black...spiky...hair...
Professor Layton's black beady eyes went wide for several moments as he stared at the man's face in silence. Realisation hit him like a punch to the face whilst he connected the pieces of the puzzle together as he slowly started to speak although his chest was tight "...M-Mr. Phoenix Wright, is that actually you!?"
The man, Phoenix, gave a wry chuckle and sent the gentleman a thumbs up. This confirmed and answered that question. It was as if he knew that the Professor would figure out his true identity quickly, something that kind of made the professor feel a tad sheepish for not recognising him at first glimpse.
"Glad to see you catch on, Professor!" He said, walking into the room when the Professor stepped aside and allowed the lawyer into his humble abode.
But the Professor noticed two things that were out of place here: his old friend looked as though he had gone bankrupt even though not so long ago he wore a posh blue suit that suggested quite the opposite and then he noticed someone small and clothed in pink dragging their feet behind him.
After closing the door, Professor Layton carefully observed as the hobo-dressed attorney walked across to one side of the room as he leaned a bit on one of the many wardrobes in the room which was beside an operating fireplace. The fire crackled and clicked against the air and soothed the atmosphere just a tad more.
Phoenix folded his arms lazily across his chest and the Professor simply smiled warmly "So, what can I do for you? How has your occupation as an attorney been going as of late?"
The Professor immediately regretted asking as for a split second, he noticed Phoenix wince as if expecting that question to arise. That and the pain shimmering in his deep blue irises didn't really make things much better as Phoenix cast his gaze towards the floor and away from the gaze of the archeologist.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and he frowned sullenly before he replied "...I'm afraid that I don't have an occupation anymore, Professor..."
It was then that the Professor finally noticed it.
Phoenix didn't have his attorney's badge anymore! He should he noticed this sooner, he would always wear a little golden button badge that would sit proudly against his lapel and it would explain why he looked like he was dragged through multiple rubbish bins. He was normally good at observing so he knew that he must have been getting old.
Professor Layton frowned in concern, plopping himself down on the sofa so he could sit and he looked worried "Oh, Mr. Wright...I'm sincerely sorry to hear that."
Phoenix just didn't reply to that, letting himself grieve for just a couple of moments. But then he snapped himself out of it as he shook his head and he smiled nervously at the top-hat-wearing-gentleman who was in front of him. He fumbled around with his fingers, twiddling his thumbs, as he looked up.
The Professor somehow dreaded the next words that were going to leave the ex attorney's lips.
"Um, actually I also came to you for another reason other then to tell you that."
Professor Layton's brow furrowed inquisitively when he heard the former attorney say those words, it was obvious to him that Wright must have had a good reason to stop by in London other than to inform him of his recent disbarment. He frowned and tilted his head to one side in order to visually emphasise his confusion.
"Oh?"
To answer the Professor's muted question, Phoenix took a few steps aside to reveal the little pink spectre which had been hiding timidly behind him all this while.
Upon closely examining the pink clad bundle, Professor Layton came to realise that it was actually a little girl who looked to be no less than eight years of age. She was dressed in a pink top hat that looked similar to his own and she wore a matching cape. Underneath she wore a dark blue/black body outfit. Her big indigo blue eyes shone like sparkling diamonds in the sunlight and her shortly-cut brown hair was tidy despite her hat tilting off to the left whilst it was perched on her head. Judging by the attire this small girl wore, she was probably a magician or something like that.
Smiling kindly at the girl, the Professor decided to introduce himself as he carefully approached her. He slowly got down on his knee so he could meet her on eye-level. The girl quickly hid herself further behind Phoenix's leg, clutching on to his leg for security while she stared at the top hatted gentleman with her face etched with both fear and curiosity.
"Why hello there! My name is Professor Hershel Layton," He said in a kind, soft tone as he held his hand out warmly for her to shake "and what is your name?"
The girl shyly shuffled her feet, quickly starting to warm up to the professor thanks to his kind-hearted nature; his personality seemed so polite and his aura was quite calm and composed. She smiled too and reluctantly took the Professor's hand into hers as she gently shook it up and down in a polite manner.
"My names Trucy, Trucy Wright."
The Professor's dot-like eyes widened in shock. So Phoenix had a daughter!? He never knew this! It almost made his head spin with amazement. He somehow shoved his shock aside, though, as he managed to look at her with such a warm smile and his soul practically screamed how invitingly kind he was.
He had a bit of a soft spot towards children.
"What a lovely name, my dear." The Professor's demeanour was softer then a teddy bear and warmer then a fire on a wintry night; he took notice of her unique-looking cape and beamed. "What a nice cape, would you happen to be a magician by chance?"
Little Trucy nodded in response while her head bobbed up and down so much that it was naught but a blur of pink and brown. She was giggling sweetly as she twirled around to show off her cute magicians outfit. Her deep indigo eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and she was beaming with pride while she showed off her nice little cape that swished around her while she whirled on her feet to show her outfit off to the gentleman archeologist.
"Yep! Would you like to see a magic trick?"
The Professor was most intrigued about this. A sweet little girl wanted to do a magic trick for him? Well, he just couldn't deny her the chance for her to reveal how good she is and satisfy his own mind. He didn't want to admit it aloud but he had privately wanted to be a magician too but then his friend, Randal Ascot, fell into that ravine and went missing and his dreams faded into time and obscurity.
He smiled and dipped his hat politely at the little girl. "Yes, please, little lady."
Trucy reached for under her pink cape, keeping it discreet and secret as to why she was reaching for something beneath the long piece of fabric. She rummaged through her cape and then her hand slipped out of her cape and something very startling occurred.
A tall figure popped up from beneath her cape and peered over her shoulder. This thing had managed to pluck Trucy's top hat from her head and put it on its own, it's face was rectangular and wooden and it had small cartoonish beady eyes: it looked eerily similar to the good Professor himself!
Professor Layton jerked backwards and tumbled to the ground. He scuttled a fair distance from Trucy and her figure and he even grabbed at his heart to try and stop it from jumping right out of his chest, he was heaving and gasping for oxygen while he tried to get over the shock of what had just happened.
Trucy, bless her heart, was oblivious to the gentleman's worry and exclaimed with her arms stretched out in a proud gesture. "Professor, meet the amazing Mr. Hat!"
The puppet added an exclamation of his own. "Glad to be here in jolly ol' London!"
Phoenix couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. It seemed that even the calm and composed Professor Layton was able to be caught off-guard by the amazing Mr. Hat, yet he decided to interrupt this touching moment right then. Trucy couldn't go off giving people heart attacks, after all.
He knelt down in order to meet his young adopted girl at eye level and he scolded her gently "Now, Trucy, you have to be careful because people aren't used to seeing Mr. Hat yet...he can be a bit intimidating when he pops out like that, ok?"
Trucy seemed to absorb what her father was telling her and hung on his each and every word. Her eyes were focused and she stood straight and tall, even Mr. Hat looked at him with his non-blinking eyes full of focused attention; it seemed that Trucy hadn't meant to frighten the poor Professor half to death...
She smiled sadly and nodded. "Alright daddy, I'm sorry..."
Phoenix smirked and ruffled her hair playfully "That's my girl! Now, you go an' look around because daddy's gotta talk to the Professor for a minute. Just don't touch anything."
Trucy nodded dutifully as though she were a solider following the command of a general. The little magician and her...puppet both walked off to investigate the room of the Professor's office and they both seemed to try and occupy themselves as much as they possibly could.
It was kind of endearing, actually.
The former lawyer stood up on to his feet and walked over and went to help the downed Professor, whom was still trying to catch his breath after that cathartic introduction of that magic trick. The poor gentleman was no longer huffing and puffing to get his next breath into his lungs and he even let go of his chest which was no longer thumping like mad. He gladly accepted the assistance of getting to his feet.
The two men were on their feet and stood face-to-face with one another before long.
Phoenix sighed.
Now was the time he got to the point.
He looked up to the Professor with his eyes big and pleading for understanding, he didn't know why but saying this would be tricky and he had been hoping that his old friend would be able to see why he needed him to do this.
"Look, Professor..." The spiky-haired ex lawyer said, his voice hushed to avoid his daughter from over-hearing "...I kinda need your help. I have to do some research up on the laws of Europe for awhile and don't have anybody who can take care of Trucy for me,"
The Professor's mind clicked when he heard those words. He was now beginning to see the true purpose behind the former attorney's late-night trip to his office although he couldn't understand why Mr. Wright would have to do some law-related stuff even though he was disbarred for some stupid reason.
Phoenix looked pleadingly at the Professor of archeology.
"Can you look after her for awhile? I'll come back and take her when I'm able to but Edgeworth can't because he's busy and-and-and I everyone else I know is avoiding me right now because they're wondering if they shouldn't kick me to the curb!"
Professor Layton could tell that Phoenix was becoming stressed over this. He seemed jumpy and he also appeared to have been suffering very much, clearly he was also going through a lot of grief because his wounds are still fresh and he was still trying to cope with being jobless; he knew the feeling and his heart went out to the former attorney-at-law.
The gentleman held up his hand to silence Phoenix from his rambling, which he had. Everything had become quiet for several moments before the gentleman wearing the top-hat offered a sincere and heartfelt grin to him.
"Don't worry. I shall take care of little Trucy for you until you finish with your studies,"
Phoenix's face melted with pure relief. His tense posture deflated like a balloon and his frown broke into a grin, his messed-up spiked hair seemed to shimmer more healthily too instead of being the oily mess it was when he first came in; this was even with the beanie hat he was wearing.
"Th-Thank you Professor..."
Once again a long silence took over.
It didn't take long before the Professor decided to voice his question.
"But, if you don't mind me asking, why are you doing this if you don't have a badge?"
The very faint hint of a smirk had become apparent on Phoenix's face and a mischievous glint had sparked in his deep blue eyes that were once ignited with the flames of determination even though that flame had recently been heartbreakingly smothered and burnt out. The former attorney put a finger to his lips in a secretive shushing motion and just let Professor Layton's expression of perplexity turn into confused frustration.
Despite the slight irritation he felt, Professor Layton watched patiently as the scruffy man seemed to compose himself before he dropped down on one of his legs in order to already meet the sweet little girl on eye level, but it was as plain as blank paper that having to do this was ripping him on the inside even though he probably had to do this.
The top hat-wearing archeologist knew not of the reasons for his friend having to leave his daughter right now but he could definitely sense that he had a great reason behind it.
He silently observed as the poor man cleared his throat and called for the little magician's attention, something he had obtained within moments. Trucy wandered up to Phoenix quietly. It seemed that the Amazing Mr. Hat had been put away for the moment, but there was a sullen look in her pretty big eyes, it was as though she knew what was happening. Phoenix smiled whilst he gripped Trucy's shoulders with his hands and explained gently. It was very clear that he didn't wish to leave Trucy like this.
"Listen, sweetie, D-Daddy's gonna go on a special trip for a few days and Mr. Layton's gonna take care of you,"
Trucy was clearly sad about this but she somehow managed to smile.
"It's a-alright, daddy...but..." Her eyes flashed with instant anxiety and terror "...you won't vanish...will you?"
Phoenix's eyes instantly overflowed with hurt when that question was asked. It didn't matter if one were an expert psychologist or not, the actual pain on the former lawyer's face was so obviously visible that even a visually challenged person would be able to detect it! He seemed to swallow a huge lump that had formed inside his throat and he shook his head quick. He gently placed a hand over Trucy's cheek, gently cradling her head in his palm, and he assured with a tightened tone.
"No, I won't. I promise you that I'll come back and get you in a couple of days. I swear."
The Professor watched as Phoenix reluctantly pulled his adopted daughter into a tight embrace, making certain that she soaked in that warm and soothing snuggle. It was a sight that almost made him break into tears but he kept his own emotions reined in to avoid making this farewell even harder, he may have been rather disappointed that he didn't get his answers but he wasn't going to pry further and he had to stay strong for now.
Father and daughter shared a hug for what felt like hours before Phoenix was forced to pull his daughter away and place a soft kiss on her forehead; the scruffy hobo rose to his feet steadily and gave one final glance to the Professor before he headed out the door without another word.
After Phoenix had left, the Professor turned to face the small eight-year-old that stood beside him with a saddened expression worn on her sweet little face. The girl dressed in pink looked up at the gentleman archeologist with both intrigue and confusion as if to silently ask what they were going to do now that her father had left the scene.
It was very fortunate that the English Gentleman of archeology was great with children, though.
The top-hatted gent smiled softly down at the little magician and asked her with a light conversational tone. "So, my dear? Seeing how late it is shall we get you dressed into your pyjamas and see about having some tea and doing a puzzle or two before bed?"
Trucy smiled up at the Professor and nodded in agreement. She tipped her top hat at him and gently bounced on her feet with her sweet little cape flapping softly in the air; she seemed to have sprung back surprisingly quickly after her father had left the scene!
"Alright, Mr. Professor!"
But then the Professor realised. Phoenix seemed to have forgotten to bring Trucy's belongings with him when he dropped her off with him! That wouldn't do, especially because a young lady deserved special treatment; such was the way of every true gentlemen! She shouldn't have to just sleep on a sofa or even be dressed in an overgrown jumper to make it into a makeshift nightgown. Certainly that would be if there weren't any options remaining, but that just would not do!
Thankfully, Trucy seemed to quickly pick up on the Professor's worries and blinked reassuringly up at him.
"Don't worry, I've got my things all packed! In my magic panties!"
Within instants she produced a pair of frilly lace heart-embroidered pants out of nowhere. They practically sparkled with usefulness and while the notion of her items being stuffed inside them seemed rather silly to begin with, the Professor was quickly proved wrong when the eight-year-old pulled a pink nightgown from the special underwear.
The Professor was momentarily astounded. How had she-!? Yet then he recalled that it was not his job to question "why" and stuff, considering that Trucy was a magician. He just decided to suck it up for the moment and just chuckled softly at the child's antics. He nodded his head and tipped his own hat back at her.
"Of course," He took her hand and started to lead her into a separate room in his office where she could get ready for bedtime. "Come, little lady! Let us get ready for bed..."
A/N: Hi, guys! Here's a Crossover one-shot for Phoenix and Professor Layton. It also includes little Trucy. Awhile ago I had this thought as to who it was who looked after our favourite attorney's little daughter while he went away on those trips to Europes he went on to research the European legal system. Could it have been our fave Gentleman of puzzles?
Well, this is what I think happened.
I hope that this story was up to your standards because I've kept this in storage for almost a full year but I've only just decided to finish it.
If you can review, that would be awesome.
Thanks guys! :)
-Chloemcg