Phoenix waited outside the bathroom for Maya to appear. "It's almost like you're a real girl, taking your time in there!" Maya promptly shouted back at him to shut up.
"It's nearly done!" Pearl called, who was currently running around Maya, trying to help her put her kimono on. Pearl took a step back and gazed up at the spirit medium, she gasped in awe. "Oooou! So pretty! Mister Nick is going to be so happy!"
Adjusting her hair, "I'm not getting pretty for him Pearly, anyways just because we're going together doesn't mean-"
"We better be going Maya, are you sure you're going to be okay, Pearls?"
"No, of course its fine! I really need to get back to Kurain"
"That's settled then, let's gets going"
So the three headed off in the luxury of a cab to the Precincts Winter Dinner, they dropped Pearl off at the station before. For the first time in Phoenix's career he had been invited to a Precinct special event, well it was no wonder since he was a defence attorney. It was a pretty big deal for everybody who worked for the police and prosecutors office.
Phoenix and Maya got out of the cab at a big, expensive looking hotel in central Tokyo, where the party was being held. It was a formal event therefore Phoenix had instead of his usual attire of a blue suit, wore a black, smarter looking dinner suit. The pair had a quick peek inside before entering and greeting anyone.
"Damn... I wish I had put on that bow tie now... all the guys are wearing tuxes"
"It's cool, Nick... you would have looked too much, besides, it's not like you have anyone to impress" she said, poking her tongue out.
Phoenix's face fell, "Thanks for reminding me..."
"Oh no! I just mean not like... a boss or anything; you work for yourself, right?"
"Sure..." he replied looking down at her suspiciously, "well you can talk, don't see any women in here wearing a big kimono like you"
Maya wore a light green traditional kimono, with a double layered obi, light blue with a red cherry blossom patterned on it. She decided to wear her hair completely down, her fringe swept to the side.
"But... Nick... I don't know, I figured it was a formal event"
"Yes formal but not formal a hundred years ago!" he teased.
Maya pouted as she looked at the party through the doors from the hotel lobby where she and Phoenix were standing. "The women look so sexy... Maybe I should go home, I feel silly now you've said that..."
Phoenix felt an immediate cloud of guilt fall over him. "No Maya, come on..." he looked down at her, putting his hand under her chin trying to steal her gaze from the party. "You're the most beautiful girl here..."
Maya sighed, "Whatever man, let's just go in."
Phoenix nearly fell over, "She certainly knows how to ruin a moment..." he thought, depressed though he could laugh at the blatant rejection. Shaking it off quickly, he continued, "okay, let's go in... after you, Madame"
The two outsiders entered the huge hall where the guests were being served drinks before dinner.
"Ah, Wright" Edgeworth appeared, wearing an expensive looking tuxedo, "Miss Fey, nice to see you here"
"Hello Edgeworth, this sure is a big event" Phoenix greeted him back.
"Indeed, how are you finding at? I suppose the champagne is all right, considering the precinct is paying for it..."
"We feel a little bit like outsiders..." Maya said quietly, eyeing the other women's dresses.
Edgeworth smiled at the obviously worried spirit medium, "I wouldn't fret too much about that Miss Fey"
Phoenix also gave a smile, looking at how embarrassed she seemed to be.
"Hey! Didn't think youse two would be here!" Gumshoe cried happily, approaching the group, cheery as ever.
Maya finally seemed to perk up, "Hey PAL!"
"Hey Maya, you look great tonight! Let me buy you a drink!" the scruffy detective offered.
Phoenix and Edgeworth both looked at Gumshoe, in despair. "It's a free bar, detective" Edgeworth said shaking his head in disbelief.
Gumshoe quickly gave a belly laugh, instead of his usual pouty sad face, "Well! Lets hit the bar then!"
"Good idea, pal!" Maya chimed in and the two made their way to the bar, chatting furiously.
Phoenix watched Maya walk away, thinking about how she stood out from all the other women, not only because of her beautiful kimono but because of the energy she gave out when she smiled.
"Wright, you're beginning to stare..." Edgeworth reminded him.
Phoenix cleared his throat in embarrassment, "I'm just glad to see her smile again, after that whole Godot ordeal."
"Hmm, yes... I can imagine it must have been for her... being there when her own mother was- never mind" Edgeworth took a long sip of his champagne.
"Well... Yes. She hasn't been quite the same since. She's been itching to get back to Kurain."
Edgeworth and Phoenix were both watching the twenty year old making conversation at the bar with Gumshoe, "Well what's stopping her? You wouldn't..."
"I'm not sure. Perhaps she's afraid. She'll have to become the master of the Kurain technique when she gets back... There's no real coming back from that"
"Do you want her to go, Wright?" he asked the defence attorney bluntly.
Phoenix sighed, thinking deeply about his answer. "All I know is... it definitely won't be the same when she's gone."
Edgeworth nodded understanding him, "well I better be off to mingle... just to warn you, Franziska's here"
Phoenix laughed along with Edgeworth and headed over to the bar to join Maya and Gumshoe.
"Hey Nick!" Maya greeted him, "champagnes for girls!"
Phoenix looked at his own champagne glass. Gumshoe laughed loudly and clinked beer bottles with Maya, "And you seemed so elegant when you walked in... I knew it was some time before that changed..." Phoenix teased.
"Yeah, says the lady boy drinking lady fizz!" she retaliated, with a wide grin on her little face.
"Lady fizz huh?" Phoenix grinned and poked the spirit medium in the side, tickling her.
"Niiiick! You'll mess up my kimono!" she said through giggles.
Beginning to feel a little uncomfortable and embarrassed watching the two, Gumshoe cleared his throat. "Gee... er... I think dinners starting!"
"Oh! Quick! I'm getting hungry!" she said slamming her now empty beer bottle down on the bar.
Phoenix shook his head, "I can't take you anywhere!" he said as Maya dragged him towards the dining hall. Gumshoe raised his eyebrows at the two. They had always been a little flirty, he supposed... but it was clear how close the two had become after the last case they had been through. He remembered how Phoenix tried to jump that burning bridge. "Geez..." he thought to himself, he thought Maggie's life was dramatic. Well the two girls had both been accused of murder, twice in fact.
"I was just thinking about you..." Gumshoe said to his date. Maggie chuckled, she too had dressed up for the event, and she was wearing a lilac floor length dress. Dick Gumshoe smiled and thought to himself how stunning she looked, though of course he didn't mind her usual waitress' uniform. He blushed at the sight of her.
Throughout dinner, Maya and Phoenix kept themselves busy by poking fun of the other guests and giggling at silly things in general, mostly about the fact that they were dressed so inappropriately and stood out from the rest of the guests. The drinks kept coming and so did the flirting and jokes.
"Hey come on, pal... it's not so bad..."
"Come on, Gumshoe, we're at the lame table... I can't even see Edgeworth or Franziska from here!" Phoenix argued.
"Gee youse always gotta look at the negative side a things" Gumshoe muttered sadly, looking at the bottom of his beer bottle before downing the remainder.
"Yeah Nick! I'd say we were... special guests" Maya said, throwing her beer in a solo cheers.
"Yeah right... I'm not ashamed of being the losers of the party...!" Phoenix cried, "I have no shame!"
"We need more beer..." Maggie noted, looking around for a waiter.
"Yeah man!" Maya agreed whole heartedly. Phoenix began to chuckle, "what's so funny, Nick?"
Phoenix poked her in the cheek, "you in that amazing and probably expensive kimono walking around with a bottle of beer... the upstanding master of Kurain"
Maya pouted in protest, "yeaaaah... so what, Mr Ace Attorney, always get drunk and fall asleep wherever you are with a tie wrapped around your head!" she pointed her bottle towards him, elbow on the table.
Before the two could continue trying to argue and embarrass each other Edgeworth and Franziska approached the table. Edgeworth offered a chair to Franziska before sitting down himself.
"No thank you," she declined coldly. "I think I'll go...else...where"
"Franziska, I'm fed up of talking to those boring old men, we'll have a better time here..." Edgeworth reasoned with her. She sighed and sat back down, as if someone was physically forcing her. Franziska's unpleasantness and hate for Phoenix had become a great source of amusement to him, especially when they were all out drinking.
Maya was the first to cut the awkward silence, "We were just talking about what a light weight Nick is" she offered to the table, turning to Edgeworth.
"Hmm... Indeed. Your face is flushed already" Edgeworth said, pouring him and Franziska some wine.
Maya giggled loudly and pinched Phoenix's cheeks; he retaliated by tickling her neck. "Nick!" she ducked her head and pushed his hands away playfully.
Franziska had never looked so disgusted at their display and she didn't hide it. Gumshoe leaned over to her, "We've had to watch it all evening," he said quietly.
Edgeworth looked on at the two being overly friendly with each other. In his own way, he was glad to see the two smiling and wondered whether this was the start of something new between them.
The party came to a close, most of the guests were red faced but of course it was too fancy to end in karaoke or silly dancing, much to Maya's and Phoenix's disappointment, weeks in advanced they had spent most of their time joking and hoping that Franziska or one of the other leading prosecutors would end up embarrassing themselves but alas no one did.
It was around midnight when Maya and Phoenix were making their way home, walking back from the subway station.
"I think we were the only ones who took the train home" Phoenix commented as he slide his hands into his pockets.
"Yeah geez Nick, you need to learn how to drive..." she groaned feeling a little uncomfortable walking around the streets in her nice kimono. She stopped suddenly, "I'm sick of holding this thing up!" she burst out.
Phoenix smiled, trying to comfort her, "so it wasn't worth wearing then?"
"No way, man!" Maya replied, "Especially considering how I was the only one wearing one! All the women's dresses were..." she traced her hands down her body, "sleek... elegant... flattering, you know? I was thinking, Mia would've never gone in a kimono. I feel like a silly little girl"
Phoenix stopped Maya, "What is it Nick?"
He smiled down at her, "Maya... you were the most beautiful girl there..." he said again, trying to drill it into her.
Maya furrowed her eyebrows and put on hand on her hip, "you already said that earlier"
Phoenix found her inability to take a compliment cute but very frustrating; he cupped her face with his hands sighing. "Well you weren't listening the first time, were you?"
She was taken aback by the forwardness; she stuttered and looked down at the ground. "Nick... you're looking at me funny"
"Too serious?" he asked laughing, his face turning red and took his hands away from her face.
"TOTALLY!" she giggled and they continued walking towards Phoenix's apartment.
He began to search through his pockets for his front door keys, "you seem surprisingly sober for someone who kept up with Gumshoe's pace"
She looked up at Phoenix and grinned, "Do I? I feel a bit... hehe..."
"Ooou! Mystic Maya's drunk! The master of Kurain is wasted!" Phoenix shook her around, the two bursting into laughter.
After the two had calmed down and settled, Phoenix retired to his bedroom. He lay in his bed sighing, feeling slightly embarrassed about the way home. He hoped he hadn't freaked Maya out... then again it was hard to freak her out.
He closed his eyes and continued to think about the spirit medium. He wondered if she had ever had a boyfriend, been kissed and... Well, just because she was from Kurain, didn't mean she was a nun. Definitely sheltered but not a nun. He had really grown attached to the girl in the little purple yukata. It was then Phoenix heard a quiet knock at the door, "come in" he chimed happily.
Maya came in, changed from her kimono into her usual night attire, which meant she had stolen one of Phoenix's jumpers and boxers which were oversized on her petite frame. She sat down on his bed and greeted him warmly.
"Feeling a little more comfortable" he smiled, leaning his head on his hands.
She hugged herself, "Mmm! Yes!" she answered sleepily, gathering her hair up on top of her head and tying it up in a messy bun. Maya then made herself comfortable, lying down and putting her head on the pillow next to Nick's. They both shifted their bodies round to face each other. "...Nick...?"
"Mmm" he mumbled as he closed his eyes.
"Um... will you miss me? When I go?"
His eyes sprung open "I thought you weren't leaving for a while yet?"
She put her hands under her cheek, bringing their faces a little closer together, "Actually, I was thinking about leaving a little sooner then I'd planned..."
Phoenix closed his eyes, "how come? There's no hurry right?"
"Well... I just feel a bit useless at the moment. I kinda think I'm just delaying my Kurain destiny. Maybe I should just get on with it." She sighed heavily as if demonstrating her point.
"Maya, I thought you wanted to be the master... Being the head of the Kurain way is important to you"
"I know, I am looking forward to it... it's just getting harder to leave my alternate life"
Phoenix chuckled, "alternate life?!"
Maya smiled and laughed a bit, "Yeah Nick, my crime fighting life!" she suddenly took in a big audible yawn and settled by closing her eyes.
"Guess you're sleeping here tonight" Phoenix said yawning himself, watching Maya fall asleep.
"Mm..." she attempted at a sleepy reply but she still managed to reach her feet down the bed and kick his foot playfully. He smiled, even though both had their eyes closed and as if almost completely naturally he entwined his feet with hers and fell into a deep sleep.
It was a freezing cold, Christmas Eve and Maya tried her best to stay warm by huddling underneath a throw while watching another Christmas special on TV. She could hear Phoenix outside the front door, jingling his keys about. She ran to the door and before he had a chance to turn the key she flew open the door dramatically.
"Whoa! Maya! Give me a chance to... nevermind..." he muttered as Maya snatched the takeout noodle boxes off of him and ran off.
She called back to him as she ran through to the living room, "Oh, sorry, Nick! Thank yooou!" Phoenix shook his head.
Maya made her way to the table and put her legs underneath the electric blanket which was covering the little Japanese table. "Mmm! It smells good!"
"It's pretty sad that we're eating take out on Christmas Eve" Phoenix commented as he threw his coat on the couch and sat down.
Maya picked up her chopsticks and broke them apart, "what do you mean?"
Phoenix pointed his own chopsticks towards the TV, "you've seen these American shows... big Turkey... family around..."
"I guess so... well... at least we're not alone aye? We've got each other! Now let's eat!" she cried out, bowing her head and clapping her hands together.
He smiled and dug into the noodles. Looking around the room he suddenly became aware of the amount of cardboard boxes there were around the room. "You've been packing already?"
Slurping her noodles she replied with her mouth full, "well I gotta send some stuff ahead of time, you know?"
"Yeah... I just can't... do you really want to leave so soon? Go back to Kurain? Maya?" Kicking his feet underneath the table, to get her attention.
"Niiiick... why do you keep asking me?"
Looking down into his own noodle box, he shrugged, "I don't know. It just seems like... I don't know" he smiled awkwardly, "All of a sudden, you know? I think I've gotten used to you sleeping in my bed..." he said with a cheeky grin, knowing it would embarrass her.
Maya blushed and frowned, "you promised not to mention that out LOUD!" She was completely embarrassed but alas it was true. She hadn't been back to Kurain in a long time, almost half a year. She just couldn't face her relatives or... anything that reminded her of her mother. Ever since the trail ended, Maya had the comfort of sleeping in Phoenix's bed with him. She remembered that first night after the trial was over; she had fallen asleep on the sofa early in the evening next to Phoenix but had woken up in the dark in the middle of the night alone. Phoenix like usual had gone back to his bedroom to sleep. At the time, everything was too much for her to bear and after a lot of hesitation she went into Phoenix's bedroom and climbed into Phoenix's arms. He must have been half asleep because he didn't react at all, with his eyes still shut he opened his arms and embraced her as if it were natural.
Phoenix had provided Maya with endless comfort after her mother died, however, after each week went by, she felt worse and worse about it, as if she was taking advantage of him. She had gotten tons of calls from her family in Kurain, trying to persuade her to come back, heck even Pearl who loved coming and visiting Tokyo to see Phoenix asked if she was ever coming back. It was a life she had avoided for years now even before her mother died and maybe it was her unavoidable fate.
She fell from a kneeling position onto her back on the floor, groaning in humiliation. Phoenix laughed softly and moved around the table to hover over the spirit medium.
Squinting and covering her eyes from the ceiling light, she looked up at Phoenix kneeling above her head. She reached her hand up and laid it on his cheek, he smiled, "Maya..."
He began to lean down, towards her face, sliding his fingers down her arm. She opened her pink lips slightly, her heart pounded as he got closer, her hand tousling through his hair. He watched her chest quickly rise up and down, seeing a little cleavage down her yukata.
Phoenix gulped slightly, it felt like the hundredth time he had been here, ready and willing to let go and ...
The pair suddenly jumped at the sound of the front door opening and people coming in. Maya gasped as she saw Gumshoe and Edgeworth standing there. Phoenix jumped up, leaving Maya's head to hit the floor, which was the brightest shade of red.