20th May, 8.15 am
Wright Apartment
She had been waiting on a new magic trick being delivered, and had gone down to check the mail before school, while her father was having breakfast. There was a disappointing lack of any packages for her, but there was a cream coloured envelope made of thick, expensive paper that so respectable it could own its own flat, and probably one in a nicer area of town than the address it had been delivered to.
"Dad!" she yelled, when she let herself back into the apartment, "We got a letter!"
"If it's bills then put it on the pile." The girl, whose name was Trucy, looked at the precarious stack on the hall table, and then went to join her father in the kitchen.
"There's going to be an avalanche pretty soon, daddy," she told him, "and it's not a bill. It's for both of us, look."
"Let me see,"
Trucy handed him the envelope with some pride, because she liked the way her name looked in the fancy, curling typeface.
Mr Phoenix Wright and Miss Trucy Wright.
Phoenix, who didn't look old enough to have an eleven-year-old daughter and – at 29 – really wasn't, frowned at the envelope and opened it, finding an equally respectable and expensive looking card. Trucy stood at her father's elbow so she could read it too.
To Mr Phoenix Wight and Miss Trucy Wright
You are cordially invited to the wedding of Prosecutor Franziska von Karma and Miss Adrian Andrewson 21st June 2022 at 11am at the Gatewater International Hotel.
"Franziska von Karma…" Trucy read the name out loud, "Oh! She's Uncle Miles' sister, right?"
Her father didn't answer because he'd turned the invitation over and was reading the handwritten message on the back,
Mr Phoenix Wright. I hope you understand this invitation is a formality. You will be attending my wedding even if I have to drag you there myself – FvK.
The tinny sounds of the Steel Samurai theme started playing through Phoenix's ancient cell phone and he quickly answered it.
The person ringing spoke before he even got a chance to say 'hello', "Nick? Did you -?"
"An invitation? Yeah."
"Threatening message on yours, too?"
"Guess she's really desperate for us to be there, Maya."
"Is that Aunt Maya?" Trucy cut in, "HI AUNT MAYA!"
"Ohhh! HEY TRUCY. HOW'S MY FAVOURITE MAGICAL GIRL DOING?"
"Would you please stop yelling in my ears, both of you."
"Aww, I got dad voice'd," Maya said, while Trucy's 'sorry' was accompanied by a kiss on the cheek.
"So, speaking of Trucy," Maya continued, "was it just you who got invited?"
"Both of us."
"Mine was for Pearly, too. Guess this means we don't have to waste our plus ones, huh? Of course, you're the only person I'd ask to plus one me and you're already going so I guess it doesn't really matter."
"Could you hold on a moment, Maya?" he put the phone down on the table, "Trucy, go make sure you have everything ready for school."
He waited until Trucy had left the room before continuing,
"Uh, so –" The words, 'I'm too broke to buy my daughter a dress, do you have anything she could use?' didn't seem to want to make themselves be said.
"Hey, Nick. Bet you're still totally clueless about girls, right? Well, not to fear – Maya Fey has your back. I'll bring along some dresses I know Trucy will love, straight from the Fey Family Wardrobe."
"Oh. Thanks, Maya."
"No problem. We'll see you soon."
19th June, 11.45am
Wright Apartment
The doorbell rang, and Trucy – who had been waiting for at least fifteen minutes – flung it open. "Aunt Maya! Pearl!" She enveloped them both in a hug before they were even through the door.
"I got a present for my favourite magician," Maya told her, pushing a suitcase towards Trucy while Pearl ran off to give an enthusiastic greeting to Phoenix, "ta-da! Some of mine and sis' old dresses."
"Thank you! Pearl, come on. Let's go try these on!"
"Okay, see you later, Mr Nick!"
They ran off, Trucy's dragging the suitcase, the door slamming behind them.
"So, you doing okay?" Maya asked, once she and Phoenix were alone. She perched herself on the armrest of the couch, her feet on the seat cushion. Her friend seemed to have remembered what a razor was used for, and what a clean shirt was; both of which she took as positive signs. But the only reply was a shrug.
"Weird to think Franziska's getting married. I mean, we're the same age and I don't even have a girlfriend yet."
A familiar shape sitting next to the couch caught Maya's eye.
"What's Charley doing here? You renting out the office?" The plant had stood in the law office when it had still been Fey and Co, and before that it had graced Mia's dorm room. Now it sat in the Wright apartment.
"Closed it. No heat, no getting watered. Probably not good for him."
"You just closed it? But that's prime real estate, Nick!"
"It was Mia's," he replied, like that settled the matter. "Her stuff's there."
"Seriously? Bunch of old law books and the furniture she got on discount 'cause the store was going bust? You know sis would say the same I do – rent it out. If you want to hear it from her, I could summon –"
"No," It wasn't often that Phoenix Wright sounded angry, not outside the courtroom, but his response was a little too quick and a little too harsh, "Look, no offence, but Mia is the last person I want to talk to right now."
"Yeah. I get that."
Any further conversation was put on hold when Trucy and Pearl re-entered the room, Trucy now wearing a blue kimono. It was the same shade as her top hat, still on her head.
"Aunt Maya, I love it! Thank you!"
"And you look great. Like a real member of the Fey family."
Trucy laughed, "You hear that, dad? I look like a real Fey."
"Wouldn't you rather look like a Wright?" Phoenix asked, feigning offence.
"Pffft. I look like a Wright every day, daddy."
"Trucy, we should let Mystic Maya and Mr Nick have some more time alone," Pearl said, dragging her friend out of the room while giving a meaningful look to the adults. "Weddings are so romantic, aren't they?"
"That was nice," Maya said, when they were alone again.
"Huh?"
"You looked so happy, it was nice to see that again."
"I always look happy."
"No, you're always smiling. There's a difference. Believe me, I know. But when Trucy said she looked like a Wright 'everyday' you actually looked happy. Like the old Nick." She punched him in the arm, in an affectionate way.
Her friend looked thoughtful for a moment, "Trucy's actually got some ideas about what to do with the office."
"Oh?"
"She thought maybe we could start a talent agency."
They talked for a while about the future, and tried not to think about the past.
21st June 3pm
Gatewater International Hotel
The wedding was mostly lawyers. Of course it was mostly lawyers. Franziska had apparently invited the whole prosecutor's office, and even some defence attorneys. And ex-defence attorneys. He'd known most of the prosecutors present, argued with them in court (and never lost, his bruised pride added). With the exception of a brief conversation with Kristoph Gavin it felt like most of the guests from the legal world were avoiding him. Pearl and Trucy had run off somewhere together (and it was good for both of them to have a friend their own age, he felt), Maya had got cornered by someone who recognised her and was making small talk with some occult obsessed relations of Adrian's, and Miles was having a serious conversation in German with a woman who looked like an older Franziska.
Phoenix had resigned himself to spending the afternoon with his new best friend, the buffet table, when an elbow jabbed into his side and he found himself being offered a glass of champagne by Franziska Andrews herself.
"What was that for?" Her elbow was pointy.
"I needed your attention. Adrian insisted I not bring my whip," she shrugged, "Are you going to take this or make me hold it all day?"
"Oh, uh…" he took the offered glass, and chanced a smile at the bride. Even dressed for a wedding Franziska looked terrifying. Possibly because she'd opted for a suit, rather than a dress like her new wife. Being a von Karma it had more frills and ruffles than Adrian's elegant and minimalist dress. He got a glare in return.
"So, uh, congratulations…?"
"I'm disappointed, Mr Phoenix Wright."
"But you just got married, didn't you? To the woman you love?"
"I don't mean that. Today is the happiest day of my life." Snapped out in German accented English it sounded more like a threat than anything else. "I mean you. I thought when I finally returned to the US I would be able to defeat you, and you have robbed me of that chance."
"You're still welcome to try, if you want a game of poker."
"I heard. And that's beneath me."
Not an unsurprising thing for her to say, but she wasn't finished. "And you as well."
That, however, was.
"So, you're not going to claim the moral victory now you've found out I'm an evidence forging fraud?"
Franziska scoffed. "You are many things, Phoenix Wright," she began to count on her fingers, "A fool, a pathetic excuse for a man, a coward who relies on bluffs and tricks. But corrupt? I don't believe those foolish rumours even for a second. No, mark my words, Phoenix Wright. We will meet each other again in court, and I will take great delight in crushing you utterly." She downed the rest of her glass of champagne and slammed it down on the table. "Also, thank you for coming. It means a great deal to both myself and Adrian that you and your daughter were here today."
And with that she left, leaving behind a very confused former lawyer.