News quickly got out of Wright's disbarment. A month after the trial, Edgeworth was reading the report in his hands.
Forged evidence, the report said. A smooth murder case overthrown by some forged evidence.
Edgeworth seethed. He couldn't believe it. He hasn't see Wright in years and apparently he's using forged evidence now? He slammed the paper down on his table, not wanting to believe it. He immediately got back to work. He tried to rid all thoughts of Wright once and for all.
Whether it was because of the forged evidence of his own heart, he didn't know. He just wanted to forget everything about him.
As if on cue, his phone rang.
He grabbed the phone quickly. "Hello?"
"Hey, long time no see."
A familiar, albeit slightly-raspy voice, filled the phone. Edgeworth's hand gripped the neck of the phone. He was considering just hanging up on him now.
"Hello, Mr. Wright," he replied. He tried to retain his composure, but his voice had just a twinge of intensity in it. Anyone who saw him would notice his pale face growing into a faint blush. "Have you been well?"
"Yeah, yeah, you've read the news, right? Forged evidence?"
Wright, for once, didn't dodge the elephant in the room. Edgeworth was surprised at the sudden bluntness in his voice. It was almost...unrecognizable. But still, he kept his voice at monotone while talking to him.
"Yes, I've been given a full report on the case at hand," he tried not to sound disappointed in him.
But from the other line, he could hear him sigh. "Yeah, I kinda wanted to talk to you about that. Care to swing by my office tonight?"
Edgeworth blinked. He didn't want to look him in the eye after all this. But there were many questions he needed to be answered. What did Wright want? Why did he forge evidence? And why did he sound so...stoic about being disbarred?
Placing a hand to his forehead, Edgeworth mumbled curses to himself. He couldn't believe he was agreeing to this.
"Fine, Mr. Wright. I'll meet you there tonight."
He heard Wright chuckle over the line.
"Great," he said. "And also - I'm not a lawyer anymore. You don't have to call me 'Mr. Wright' anymore."
Edgeworth was surprised. Did names really matter at the moment? He sighed impatiently.
"Okay, fine," he replied sternly. "What do you want me to call you then?"
He could only imagine how wide Phoenix was smiling now. "Call me Phoenix. You know, like old times."
Phoenix. He wanted him to call him Phoenix. On the other line, Edgeworth blushed a bit harder. He tried to remain serious.
"A first-name basis? That a bit too casual, wouldn't you think?"
Phoenix chuckled again. Edgeworth had to admit, he had a nice laugh.
"C'mon, Miles. We're friends," Phoenix insisted. "I became a defense attorney for you! I'd say we're close enough to go that extra mile."
Was...Was that a pun? At least he was the same old Wright.
Edgeworth shook his head...yet he was smiling. He couldn't help but agree. Maybe it was because 'Phoenix' just had a nice charm to him. Maybe it was for nostalgia's sake.
"Fine, Phoenix," Edgeworth said, giving in. "But please don't call me Miles. Unlike you, I still have a reputation to uphold."
"Okay, Mr. Edgeworth," Phoenix replied with a teasing tone. "See you at eight."
With that, he hung up. Edgeworth placed the phone down and continued his work.
In Edgeworth's mind, every trial was a chess game. There's always a definite path, a way to win. No matter what, a solution will become inevitable. And to him, he was the chess-master.
He drove over to the office at 8:00. He knocked on the door to the Wright Anything Agency and waited for Phoenix to respond. However, the man who opened the door didn't look like the man that once stood in court.
"What's up?" Phoenix asked. He sounded the same, but his regular blue suit was half-open, a sleeve falling off of his shoulder. There was a slight stubble starting to form around his chin, which the man had no intention of shaving anytime soon. His ever confident smile was more relaxed now.
Was this even the same man?
"H-Hello, Wri-Phoenix," Edgeworth greeted. "You said you wanted to talk with me about your final trial?"
Phoenix nodded, opening the door to let him in. "I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a game while we talked."
Edgeworth looked around the office. It was still in shape...mostly. There was some empty ramen cups on the his desk, and papers were unsorted all over the room, but it was still recognizable.
"A game?" Edgeworth asked. Phoenix led him to his couch, nodding. He grabbed a chair and sat across from him, with the table separating the two.
Edgeworth has heard of Phoenix being good at poker, which made him surprised when he saw a chessboard laid out on his table.
"I've been told that you liked playing chess, so I decided to try it out," Phoenix said. Edgeworth was a bit shocked, yet somewhat touched that he though of him.
"I'll start." Edgeworth instinctively moved a pawn. Phoenix followed. They exchanged a few turns, until Edgeworth brought up the topic at hand.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Edgeworth asked.
Phoenix moved a pawn. "Well, you know how I lost, right?"
Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "Of course I know. Everyone knows," he moved a pawn. "The question is, why did you forge evidence?"
Phoenix looked at him sharply. Edgeworth's never seen him glare before, so it felt almost new. Almost scary.
"I didn't," Phoenix insisted, taking a move. "I was given the evidence by the defendant's daughter. I was told that it was forged after presenting it, but for some reason, I have a feeling someone planted it on me."
Edgeworth tipped his head in confusion, examining the chessboard. The explanation seemed simple enough, but who did Phoenix have in mind?
"Who do you think planted forged evidence in your court record?" He asked, moving a pawn.
Phoenix hesitated for a second. At first, it looked like he was stumped with the chessboard, but as he took a move, the name flew off his tongue.
"Kristoph Gavin."
Edgeworth pressed his lips together. He'd never heard that name before. Phoenix must've noticed his expression, as he added on a small description.
"He's another defense attorney with apparently an amazing record. People have called him 'the coolest defense in the west'."
Still didn't ring any bells. Edgeworth went along with the theory anyway.
"Why do you have reason to believe he planted it on you?"
Phoenix looked him in the eye. "I talked to a few people after being disbarred. Someone told me that Kristoph was seen talking to the apparent forger."
Hmm. Solid reasoning.
"'Someone?'" Edgeworth inquired. Vagueness wouldn't settle in the courtroom.
"The bailiff," Phoenix replied swiftly.
Edgeworth nodded. At least he was still paying attention.
He continued with his questions. "Does he have a motive for forging evidence?"
Phoenix shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he's attached to the murder somehow?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Edgeworth instinctively wagged his finger. "'Maybes' won't do well in court. You need a clear, firm case if you want to be taken seriously."
Phoenix rolled his eyes at the finger, but a small smile was noticeable on his face.
"Does he have a motive for framing you?"
This time, Phoenix was silent. He scratched his chin in thought, but it seemed to be more about the question at hand rather than the game.
"I don't know what Kristoph would've wanted," Phoenix spoke sternly. "But he may want more..."
Edgeworth shrugged. "What else would he want? He stripped you of your badge, he robbed you of a job, and he tarnished your name."
"Thanks for reminding me," he replied with a snicker. On the other side of the chessboard, Phoenix was struggling to find a move.
Edgeworth sighed with guilt, watching him trying to find the right move. What could he say? He never met Kristoph in person, he's just heard about him in a few newspapers. He didn't know this guy, and yet he was talking about him with his partner over a chess game.
"Maybe..." He tried clawing for an answer. "Maybe he wanted to best you when it came to his record."
Phoenix raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe he wanted to have a better win record than you," Edgeworth explained further. "Winning used to be everything to me. I've always wanted the pleasure of adding another victory to my record," He started remembering things that would be better forgotten. "And of course, I always had to please him."
Phoenix nodded as he listened to him, while also trying to decide on a move. He huffed at the slight mention of you-know-who and decided to get back on the subject.
"But Kristoph and I were on the same team, though," Phoenix continued. "We were both defense attorneys. Why would he want to sabotage me?"
There was a brief silence after that. Edgeworth watched Phoenix scowl as he tried to think of his next move. When he finally moved a pawn, the scowl remained. Neither of them knew the answer to his question.
Edgeworth moved another pawn. "Maybe he was jealous of you." It was a bit of an outlandish theory, but he wanted Phoenix to feel better, for whatever reason.
Phoenix froze for a moment, before moving again.
"Jealous?" He asked, not looking up from the board. He sounded skeptical.
"W-Well, who wouldn't be?" Edgeworth stumbled a bit on his turn. He didn't know where he was going with that. "You always got the right verdict, you have a nearly flawless record-"
"-Had a nearly flawless record."
"-and furthermore, you believed in all of your defendants," there was a hint of admiration in his voice. "Even me," he whispered, smiling ever-so slightly.
Phoenix looked up at him for a second. He smiled back at him. "Well, you have to admit," he moved another pawn. "You helped me a lot."
Edgeworth looked up at him, almost confused. He examined the remaining figures on the board. "When?"
"Well, there was that objection in Samurai trial, the time you sent out that rescue team for Maya, that time you wore my own badge," Phoenix continued. Edgeworth blushed slightly, trying to decide on the right move. "And, of course, the classroom trial."
He always brought that up when they were alone. The man quickly moved a figure, turning his attention back on Phoenix. "I can't believe you still remember that."
"Hey, what can I say? That's mostly why I became a defense attorney in the first place," Phoenix said. "I practically owe my career to you and Mia."
Edgeworth tried to focus on the board. But he couldn't help but fall into Phoenix's words. He couldn't help but listen to the man he once called his partner talk about his glory days...
"Checkmate," The game was settled once Edgeworth moved his queen into place. Phoenix looked up at him and smiled warmly. For once, Edgeworth smiled back, openly. He couldn't help but feel satisfied looking at his opponent across from him. He couldn't help but feel happy that they were still friends.
"Good game, Miles," Phoenix said. Edgeworth almost objected to his name, and yet something inside him told him to let it be.
"So," Miles continued, clasping his hands seriously. "What are you going to do about Kristoph? Do you have any evidence that he planted it on you?"
Phoenix shook his head. "I have nothing at the moment. All I can really do at the moment is just wait."
Miles tipped his head slightly. This raised a question: if Phoenix didn't have any tells, why would he want to see him?
He didn't pay much attention to it, however. Phoenix packed the game up and tried to create some small talk. He had standard questions like "how's life" or "how's the job", but he didn't seem to talk about Kristoph after that. Was the entire 'meeting' useless? Once everything was cleaned up, Edgeworth got up and got ready to leave.
"Thanks for the game," Phoenix said once again. It was then the pieces fit into Miles' head. He faced Phoenix, stone-faced.
"Phoenix, did you only call me because you wanted my company?"
Surprisingly, Phoenix didn't dodge the question. Instead, he looked Miles in the eye and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, you got me. I just wanted to talk to you again after all that's happened," Phoenix confessed. Miles said nothing for a moment. He just crossed his arms and sighed. Phoenix held up his hands in defense. "Look, I know you have court and trials and all, but you're always working. You never take a break. Are you even sleeping?"
"It's nice to know that you care about my health, but just so you know, I do take breaks. I just don't have time to go down to your office at night to talk about the weather."
"But you liked it, didn't you?" Phoenix asked, placing a hand on Miles' shoulder. He didn't respond. Phoenix just playfully shook his shoulder with a smile.
Eventually, Miles gave in. "Yes. I will admit I had fun playing against you," he admitted with a small smile.
"That's the Edgeworth I know and love!"
Miles rolled his eyes and proceeded to put on his jacket. Phoenix watched as he turned around the exit the room, but something called out to him before he could open the door.
"Hey, Miles," Phoenix began. Miles turned around, impatience plastered on his face. "Can I ask you something?"
Miles asked himself if this was really worth his time before nodding in silence.
"Will you remember me?"
He was taken aback at the question. Of course he'd remember him, he was his partner. What type of question was that?
"What do you mean?" Miles asked.
"Well, I don't have anything now, really. I got no badge, no office, and not much money," Phoenix began. "You can't call me Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney anymore. Now, I'm just Phoenix Wright: Ordinary Guy," he sighed softly. "I know you think you're better at me and more talented and stuff, but please remember when we fought together. When we stood side-by-side, determined to find the real killer," there was an ounce of desire in his eyes. "Please?"
Miles studied him for a few moments. He looked at the image of a fallen man, a man who was slowly falling apart at the seams. A man whose career and life was ruined by someone else. He looked at a man who he knew far too well. The man that he loved.
"Of course I'll remember you, Phoenix. You don't have to blush," Miles responded, just as serious as always. "And just so you know, I do not fancy myself above you. I hope you know that you were a worthy adversary, and I will be more than happy once you regain your badge." A smirk bestowed upon his face.
Phoenix looked at him, taking in his words, then smiled once more. Miles always loved that charming grin. "Thanks."
Miles nodded. "Thank you, Phoenix Wright," he turned around. "For a wonderful experience."
Phoenix waved goodbye as he continued to walk out of his office. He opened the door and soon walked out the room. But from behind him, he could hear footsteps approaching him. He sighed internally. It's like he would never escape this man.
"What else do you want Phoe-" he was cut off when Phoenix grabbed his cravat and pulled his head into his, making their lips met. The kiss was brief, but passionate, and when Phoenix pulled away, Miles was obviously smitten. His face was almost as red as his jacket and he immediately smoothed out his cravat.
"D-Don't do that..." Miles said, embarrassed. A shadow of a smile plagued his face.
"You liked it though," Phoenix teased.
Miles laughed softly. "I meant pulling on my cravat. It's an heirloom."
Phoenix started laughing as well, and soon the two men were laughing together. It was then they remembered why they loved each other. It wasn't just the court, the trials, or the arguments. It was the fact that they could depend on each other when they needed it most.
As Miles turned to leave the office (for real this time) he stopped as Phoenix said one last thing.
"I love you."
Miles stopped in the door, holding onto the doorframe. He looked at Phoenix from over his shoulder.
"I love you, too. And I always will."