Disclaimer: Ace Attorney and all characters are copyright by CAPCOM; I'm just a fan imitating. The stories presented are influenced by the multiple games as well as the comic (Manga written by Kenji Kuroda).

This story is in response to a challenge posted by AceFangirl.

Part One

Daddy's New Shoes

"Trucy!" He called when he entered the cluttered office of the Wright Anything Agency, "Trucy, I'm home."

"Daddy!" She said coming out of her room and meeting him at the door, "Daddy, you're beaming. What—?"

"I'm a lawyer, Trucy," he said grinning broadly, "I passed!"

She stared.

He held up a letter and shook it in the air, "I've been re-instated!"

"Oh Daddy!" She ran and threw her arms about his neck, her cape a swirl of blue, she slammed into him so hard Phoenix almost fell into the door behind him.

As it was, the door had been pulled open at that same moment, revealing a very perplexed Apollo Justice, who was promptly buried under Phoenix and his daughter.

"Eh…?" Apollo said.

"Ow…" Phoenix said.

"Daddy, I'm so proud of you," Trucy stared down at her adoptive father and shook her head wistfully, like a proud parent.

It took the three of them several awkward minutes to untangle themselves. Trucy skipped into the kitchen gleefully.

"This calls for a celebration! Daddy, I'm going to bake you a cake—"

Phoenix and Apollo—who were still recovering from their crash—ran into the kitchen immediately, and shouted "NO!" simultaneously.

Trucy looked crestfallen—but only for a moment—she cocked her head slightly and smiled, "But Daddy, I want to celebrate—"

"Of course we will Trucy, but it's just that… It takes so long to bake a cake, and then you have to let it cool so you can decorate it and then the icing has to har—"

"Okay, I get it," Trucy crossed her arms, "You don't like my cake—"

"I love your cakes Trucy!" Phoenix grinned, "But I got to watch what I eat—I'm going to be wearing suits in court and I can't—"

"Hey! Mister Wright," Apollo said just catching on, "What's the occasion?"

"I just passed the bar," Phoenix said turning to the younger man. Apollo brightened and grinned.

"Congratulations, Mister Wright," he held out a hand, "It's going to be good to have you back."

Phoenix put a hand on Apollo's shoulder, "Thanks. And thanks for everything… This is as much a victory for you as it is for me."

Apollo stared at him, touched. Phoenix was still smiling. In spite of his less than tidy appearance—sweatshirt, beanie, and several days of stubble—he seemed to stand a little straighter.

"Oi!" Trucy banged on the beam that framed the opening into the kitchen with a wooden spoon, "How about cookies?"

Two men stiffened where they stood.

"Trucy, sweetheart," Phoenix said, "I thought we could go out. Somewhere nice—well—not too nice…"

Trucy beamed, "Oh okay! Polly, do you want to come?"

Apollo grimaced at the nickname, but he said, "Sure. I just came by to grab some paperwork—I have to stop by the police station, but I can meet you guys there."

Trucy glanced at Phoenix, "Take your time. Daddy's going to need some time to get ready."

Phoenix's eyes went wide, "What?"

Apollo and Phoenix chatted for a few minutes in the office while Trucy went into her daddy's room.

Aside from a few empty grape-juice bottles, it was uncluttered—almost bare. He still had that framed picture of them from when she was eight with a smaller picture of two girls in some far away village in the mountains tucked into one edge of it. The bed was sloppily made, but everything seemed in order.

Trucy frowned and opened the closet—there was a winter coat and a few empty hangers, but nothing else. Wait… She pulled the coat out of the corner and found his suit in a dry-cleaning bag. She slid her fingers along the thin plastic lost in thought—he was wearing this the first time she'd ever seen him—he was the defense attorney for that trial after all.

"Trucy?"

She gasped a little in surprise and turned to look at him. He smiled at her with his crooked smile, and she was glad to note that his eyes seemed a little less cynical and tired, but rather harder and more determined. It all clashed a little with his unshaven face and the hat covering his hair.

"Daddy," she said still clutching the thin plastic covering his old suit, "I thought that maybe… Since you've got your badge back and everything…"

"One step at a time, Trucy," Phoenix said.

He came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders. Her eyes fell to the floor and landed on the saddest pair of loafers she'd ever seen. They were scuffed and starting to peel from time and neglect. He must've noticed what she was looking at because he knelt to pick them up and chuckled sheepishly.

"I don't think these are street worthy," he said.

They both startled and looked up when Apollo called out before exiting the apartment. Trucy glared at him with a sudden flash of resolve.

"Come on, Daddy," she said and gave him a shove toward the tiny bathroom, "You can shave at least. Then we have to go to the mall."

"Trucy I—"

She sat on his bed and thumbed through a magazine about professional musicians—it was at least six months old—and waited for him to get done.

He came out of the bathroom still dabbing a hand towel against his chin. She looked up at him expectantly and he hesitated before pulling the towel away from his face.

Trucy beamed at him, "You're a pretty handsome guy, Daddy."

He raised a concerned eyebrow at her.

"Come on," she said and took his hand and pulled him out the door.

"Trucy, I think we can wait on all of this. I don't have to jump into it today. The ink isn't even dry on all of the paperwork."

"Don't worry Daddy," she said marching him along toward the bus stop at a determined clip, "We have plenty of time to find you some new shoes before we have to meet Polly."

It was a weekday, so the mall was blissfully deserted. Trucy hadn't lost any of the grit or the bounce in her step as she grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the shoe store.

Phoenix looked around in dismay. He never shopped here even when he was a lawyer. He stooped to glare at the price tag on a pair of saddle shoes displayed in the window—for good reason too.

"Trucy, I think this place is kinda out of our um… budget…" He whispered at her to avoid alerting the staff.

"You deserve the best, Daddy," she said and made a beeline for the leather dress shoes.

"I don't need dress shoes for the courtroom," he protested, "Just a pair of sensible loafers."

He sat down heavily in one of the low poufy chairs placed there for customers to try things on.

"Is that—Phoenix Wright?"

He nearly jumped out of the chair at the mention of his name and looked up to see a lovely petite blonde smiling shyly at him from behind a pair of designer glasses.

"Adrian?" He stood and motioned for her to sit in the chair beside his, "It's been forever!"

"A lifetime, almost," she said and they sat down together. Phoenix caught a glimpse of a pair of garish platform stilettos in an animal print. He pointed.

"Special occasion?"

They shared a laugh and she hid them on the floor behind her seat, "Ah… So, how have you been?"

"Good."

"That's nice."

Phoenix turned to look at Trucy. To his dismay she'd already pulled several boxes from the shelves and had them stacked precariously in her arms.

"So, um," he scratched at the back of his head, "Are you still over at Lordly Tailor?"

"I manage the entire store now. They've been good to me. I've started promoting for a small local band… It keeps me busy."

"Yeah," Phoenix said.

"You look great," she said, "it's been what eight nine years?"

"Something like that…thanks," he cleared his throat, "You haven't changed a bit."

She chuckled, "You flatter me. What are doing now-a-days? I haven't seen you in court in a very long time."

Phoenix felt the heat rise in his face, "Oh, well… You see…"

Trucy rescued him in a flurry of shoeboxes plopped on the floor in front of him.

"Try these on Daddy," she said. She hadn't noticed Adrian sitting there.

Phoenix saw a strange look cross Adrian's face as she glanced from Trucy back to him and then repeated the look.

"Uh… Trucy, this is Adrian Andrews, we worked together on a couple of cases a while back. Adrian, my daughter Trucy."

Adrian flipped him a quizzical look before greeting Trucy with a shy smile.

"Hello," Trucy said, "Pleased to meet you. I thought I knew of all of Daddy's friends, but I guess he's more popular than I thought."

"Oh," Adrian giggled, "Well… How old are you Trucy?"

Trucy gave her a startled look before proudly proclaiming, "I'm sixteen."

Phoenix frowned and opened the first box of shoes and dug the socks Trucy made him bring out of his pocket.

"Sixteen?" Adrian not even bothering to hide the note of shock in her voice.

"Oh, yeah," Trucy said, "Daddy adopted me when I was eight…"

"It's a long story," Phoenix said. He was surprised to hear Adrian's small sigh of relief. He almost blushed.

"Daddy passed the bar exam today. So I wanted to get him new shoes to celebrate, if he's going to be an Ace defense attorney, he has to look the part, don't you agree, Ms. Andrews?"

Phoenix dropped his head into hand and grimaced. Adrian looked shocked.

"What happened? I thought you were a lawyer."

"I was disbarred, Adrian," Phoenix said with no small amount of dismay, "Almost eight years ago. I'm finally getting re-instated."

Adrian looked horrified, "Oh, I'm so sorry—I… but congratulations… Sorry…"

Phoenix smiled at her, "Things are on the up and up."

He stood up and looked down at the shoes. Black patent leather, he'd never worn patent leather before. Phoenix took a few steps in front of Adrian and Trucy.

"How do they feel?" Trucy asked.

"Right," Phoenix said and then reached down to pick up the box. He grimaced at the price tag and then sat down to take off the shoe and put them back into the box.

"But I'm sure, I can find something less… formal…"

He didn't see Adrian following his hand as he set the box down before retrieving a different one. Nor did he see Trucy biting her lip at the realization that she and Daddy didn't have a lot of options.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I never realized how much I loved Phoenix and Trucy, they're such an adorable pair. (as father and daughter)

This story is based on a challenge from AceFangirl (posted in Flame Soldier's Challenge forum). She asked for a story about Trucy's inability to bake and Phoenix and Apollo's inability to tell her. I thought it might be interesting to explore Phoenix's return to the courtroom as well. (I can't wait for AA5!) I just wanted to work on something on the side that was less heavy than TURNABOUT HONEYMOON (but I'm not dropping that one).

The chapter is a little long, but it's only outlined for four chapters—I'm expecting them to stay about this length. Let's see how close I can hit the mark on this challenge…