"Things were better then,
Once but never again.
We've all left the den,
Let me tell you all 'bout it."

This place of all places in Los Angeles was the last one that she expectedto find Miles Edgeworth in. He hadn't changed at all, and she couldn't immediately identify his purpose for being at a convenience store. Still, Maya Fey was none the less thrilled to see a remnant from her past. After what happened with her and Nick three years ago, she had been longing to find someone or something that recognized her from five years ago. Pearl was the only companion she had, and now that she was thirteen she was training to become the head of the Fey family after Maya refused the position.

She wondered, with slight amusement, if he'd recognize her. Even she had to admit that more than one or two things changed since adolescence. The last time she had ran into Nick, he had told her that she looked a lot more like her sister. Although she didn't know whether she should interpret this as a positive or negative thing, Mia had always been the more attractive of the sisters.

"Looks like you haven't changed much, Edgeworth," she said lightly, tapping him on the shoulder. "Do you know who I am?"

He looked at her out of the corners of his eyes, shooting her the trademark condescending 'do I know you?' look. She smiled at her apparent success; he had no clue who Maya was. This seemed to give it away, though.

"Maya?" he questioned in utter disbelief, turning around. It seemed as though only vague traces of the teenage girl he once knew remained. Still reeling from the transformation of the girl in front of him, she nodded gently.

"I actually thought you were in Europe. Did familiarity call to you? Or it wasn't as you expected it to be?" she asked, both playfully and seriously. "Tell me all about it, if you can afford to give someone the time of day now."

Maya. Maya Fey. He couldn't believe that the teasing, subtly sardonic woman in front of him was actually the spirited girl from the trial of Misty Fey those years ago. Her features much more defined, her body evenly proportioned, the way she carried herself...Miles Edgeworth didn't think it was physically possible for a person to grow so much in five years.

He was actually glad that he only had to answer her questions and listen to whatever input she had. He really wasn't in a talking mood, but he figured that he owed her at least this much. She seemed to be swamped down with something; light circles were forming under her eyes, and she sighed a lot more than any other person did.

As though she had been reading his mind--he wouldn't have been surprised if she actually did--Maya frowned slightly and explained her situation. "Our final exams are in a couple of weeks, and I'm way behind. Between studying for exams, looking for a decent, somewhat cheap medical school, and work, I'm pretty depressed. It's been a while since I've talked to anybody for anything other than school."

Medical school. He had not been expecting that. Maya Fey, head surgeon, suddenly popped into his head and Edgeworth couldn't get the image of her wearing a white doctor's coat out of his head. What exactly inspired her to pursue a career in the medical field?

"But," she continued, recovering quickly. "If I ace my finals and get into a nice med school, it'll be smooth sailing from there. Lawyers have it easy, they don't need to go to school as long as cardiac surgeons." She hadn't lost her optimistic and bright attitude from her youth, as far as Edgeworth could see. But then again, she had mellowed out quite a bit; she seemed calmer, more contained and cryptic.

The magnitude of how little of the original Maya Fey was left in the female standing here disconcerted him for a brief moment. Dare he even ask what was on his mind? Not knowing the best way to say it, he began awkwardly, "You...how, why did you--"

She held up a hand to stop him, her expression suddenly taking a turn for a more grave one. Maya did not want him to ask whatever he was going to ask, or rather, she didn't want to be accused of changing her character for other people. Frowning slightly, she answered him. "Things...happen, Edgeworth. I thought that you of all people would understand that." Her eyes avoided his own. "I was never the same after that trial. After I found out that I'd never see or know my mother. I guess I changed not of my own free will, but more out of self-defense. Sort of a reincarnation to forget about my old life."

Just as quickly as her expression had changed seriously, it went right back into her normal self. "But enough of that, I can deal with that on my own. What's been going on with you? Why did you stay in America?"

He leaned against a countertop, trying to regain his composure after that weighty admission by Maya, no less. Why did he come back to America? What exactly had been in it for him? "I...don't know, really. I suppose you were right when you said that I wanted the familiarity."

She blinked, clearly surprised by this uncharacteristic answer. Shuffling her feet uncomfortably, Maya closed her eyes in silent contemplation, dwelling on his answer. "Still...I'm glad you're back. Really." She opened her eyes, but her face was unreadable. "I'm kind of backed into a corner with Nick, since he got disbarred." Her hand flew to her mouth; she had said something she did not intend to say and knew that she was going to pay dearly for it.

"Wright? Disbarred?" It was impossible to keep the contempt from his voice, although he knew somebody like Phoenix would crash and burn someday. Edgeworth just hadn't expected it to be so sudden. He had just begun his career as a defense attorney, and he went and ruined it.

"If you're not allowed to divulge the details..."

Her head snapped up and she looked almost glad that he asked. "He forged evidence," Maya said with all the emotion of a brick. She glanced at him, her eyes speaking what she couldn't say. Reminds me of someone else I know.

He mentally noted that he admired her delicate audacity, a major difference from the painfully obvious form she made a point of exhibiting when he first met her. You seem to be forgetting something; it was that 'painfully obvious' audacity that saved your life, his subconscious argued.

Her eyes slowly traveled towards the clock somewhere in there. "Well, I guess food can wait until I plow through cardiac electrophysiology and congenital heart diseases. This is going to be a pain in the ass, I can feel it..." At this point Maya was talking more to herself than Edgeworth. She briefly glanced at him and her face reddened. "Eh, I'm sorry. I'm pretty stressed. Oh well, I'll get by." She waved her hand and said, "Well, it was nice seeing you again. But you really need to talk more. I felt like I was dominating the whole conversation...then again, what can I do? I don't remember you as much of a talker anyway."

She stalked away, but before leaving called out, "You know, you really do look a lot better in a black suit."

Maya Fey left behind a flattered and very confused Miles Edgeworth.

She felt oddly satisfied after that little encounter with Edgeworth, even if he had just been listening to her go on and on. She had to admit that she felt a small sense of superiority when she described the bare basics of cardiology to him; nobody thought Maya capable of such an intense field of study. She had reasoned that even though death wasn't the end of everything, life was just as good. It was what people made of it.

Maya had problems believing herself sometimes. Moping on this depressing thought, she nearly dragged her feet up the stairs to her apartment, which could very well pass for the remains of a tornado-torn trailer. Papers, pens, and textbooks littered the floor and the small coffee table she worked at so often these past four years. She had sold off her TV and armchair to pay the rent when she had been transferring jobs, so the living room was relatively bare, much to her displeasure.

She eyed the digital clock on said coffee chair accusingly, as if it was the clock's fault that her life was going nowhere and getting there very fast. 7:50 PM. Great, she had to cram cardiac electrophysiology and all that it implied within four hours if she had any hope of waking up on time for work. Maya suddenly regretted not buying any food.

Knowing that caffeine would be necessary if she wanted to be able to haul ass until midnight, Maya dragged herself into the sorry excuse for a kitchen and boiled some water. It suddenly dawned on her, as she was pouring unhealthy amounts of sugar into a mug, that if she had enjoyed Edgeworth's pathetic company then she needed to get out more. While college students were out drinking and having the times of their lives, Maya was burying herself in her studies because she tended to daydream during lectures. She frowned and poured the water into the cup and gulped it, allowing the scalding beverage to kill her tastebuds. The ramen she was living on tasted like cardboard anyway.

Another wave of depression attacked and the very real possibility that she would fail her finals and would not only have to go to summer school, her chances of getting into UCLA would be wiped out. Faced with this sudden threat, Maya felt like she was walking on a very thin, very weak tightrope.

"Well, then." She tossed her hair out of her eyes. "Let's get started..."

Pissed was the only accurate word that could describe Edgeworth when his cell phone started ringing very loudly at four in the morning.

Fumbling around, he didn't recognize the caller ID but picked it up anyway. "What?" he asked bitterly, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice. The quiet, intimidated voice on the other end made him do a double take.

"Uh...um...I'm really, really sorry for waking you up. This is Maya. I kind of need your help."

What I want to know is how you got my phone number, he thought absently, feeling his anger dissolve and pity set in. He wondered what had her up so late, or rather, so early. "Oh. What do you want?"

"My car broke down, and I'm supposed to be at work in an hour. It takes forty-five minutes to get there..." Edgeworth knew that she wasn't consciously making her voice sound panicked and sad, but it sounded just so. She continued weakly before he decline or accept. "I tried calling Nick, but he wasn't there and I remembered that he doesn't own a car anyway."

So he had finally achieved bum status and she couldn't turn to him. During her monologue, she implied that she wasn't talking to him anyway...

As irrefutably weird this all was, Edgeworth felt sorry for her. "Where do you live?" he asked.

"Um...oh, crap!"

There was the sound of breaking glass on the other end.

"I live on Nest Street, the brick apartment that has some Mexican restaurant by it. I'll be outside by the time you come, though, so I'll be able to find you," she said, her voice significantly brighter than before.

"...Okay then."

You really haven't changed, Miss Fey.

He supposed that it was his turn to ask the questions, but truth be told he'd much rather keep them to himself. It wasn't particularly because he thought that once he got her going she wouldn't stop; rather, he knew that the questions he had would more than likely emotionally distress her. She seemed to be occupied with looking out the window, anyway. There was, however, a something pressing he wanted to ask Maya...

"Maya..."

Her head jerked away from the window, looking like a deer in the headlights, so the saying went. Had he scared her?

"Are you really okay?" Alright, that really wasn't what he had wanted to ask her, but instinct kicked in and sensed that she was hiding something. Her shoulders sagged and she avoided his eyes. She assumed that her body language said it all, but his eyes pressed for a further explanation.

She looked at Edgeworth like he was consciously attempting to make her feel more depressed than she already was. "I knew you liked to angst, but jeez, don't try to pull me down with you. I've just got stupid temporary problems anyway, it's nothing to be concerned about. I'm sure your problems are a lot worse, considering you're a tortured soul and all that."

Oh God. He was actually amused by this rather than irritated. What was wrong with him?

She crossed her right leg over her left and folded her arms, looking out the window yet again. Edgeworth had to admit that she looked nice in formal clothes. What exactly did she do, anyway? The only thing that prevented him from asking was the sourceless tension that had decided to situate itself between them. Nevertheless, Maya managed to rip her eyes away from the window and stared at him for more than just a minute, almost inviting him to interrogate her.

"So..." Great, Edgeworth. You're so smooth in court and yet you can't even summon the right words to talk to a girl you've known for years. That's just wonderful. "What do you do?"

She pretended like she hadn't coerced him at all. "I'm a secretary for a pediatrician. I figured it was pretty easy, and the guy didn't seem to ask for much, so I went ahead with it," she told him, fiddling with an earring. If her body language was any indication, she was mortally terrified of him. He couldn't really blame her, since she knew him only by association with Wright and from what she saw he was a cold, unfeeling prick. Unsurprisingly, he found himself agreeing with her, if those indeed were her thoughts.

"I see," he said, not knowing what else to say. Things stayed like that until he dropped her off. Although she said thanked him, her face didn't, and his heart dropped more than it should have.