Disclaimer: The "Ace Attorney" franchise is property of Capcom. I, the writer of this fanfic, do not own the characters of this series or am associated with the company in any way, shape, or form in regards to this non-profit, non-canon fanfic.
A/N: I have been playing through "Turnabout Revolution" as of recently and I noticed that Inga and Rayfa had an off-screen father/daughter relationship that rivals even the likes of Phoenix and Trucy's in terms of cuteness. That's why, in celebration of the recent release of "Spirit of Justice" in the West, I'm going to write a series of short one-off stories depicting various fluffy moments between Rayfa and Inga at various points in time throughout Rayfa's life.
It was around midnight and all was silent in the opulent living quarters of the country's glorious, strong-willed ruler, Queen Ga'ran- except, of course, for the numerous members of her fiercely loyal Ga'ran Royal Guard that roam the palace's corridors without a single hint of subtly, yelling at the top of their lungs for all to hear as they patrol their posts. Sure, they could be a pain at times, but no one could doubt the extreme lengths that they'd go in order to protect their queen.
However, despite their vigilant watch over the dimly lit marble corridors of the palace, the guards were unable to detect little Rayfa, dressed in her "Plumed Punisher" jammies, as she snuck through the halls on her tiptoes like a ninja, taking cover behind a large potted plant or a stone statue whenever she was close to be discovered by a guard; lest tell her mother, who would not hesitate to punish her for sneaking out of her personal chambers past her bedtime.
After sneaking through the palace's maze-like hallways, the 10 year-old princess finally reached her destination: her mother's personal kitchen; and while Rayfa may have had a perfectly functional kitchen in her own living quarters, it lacked the delicious lemon-flavored Plumed Punisher cookies that her mother would keep in her own kitchen and give as a reward to the little princess whenever she did something right, such as properly performing a Divination Séance or having proper manners around important foreign nobles; but her mother would only give her a single cookie during those times. Her, Rayfa Padma Khura'in, royal priestess and future ruler of her nation; so if Rayfa wanted to indulge herself with at least three cookies, then that was just what she was going to do.
So, without any hesitation, Rayfa proudly and regally entered the kitchen, like a model strutting down the runway, only to stop in her tracks and let out a shocked gasp as she saw her father, dressed in his usual gold-colored satin pajamas, standing over one of the kitchen's many sinks, his back turned to her as he was scarfing something down as if it was the only food source for miles around.
"Father…!" Rayfa shrieked, putting a hand to her mouth as Inga quickly turned to face his daughter, his posture becoming as straight and stiff as an arrow.
"R-Rayfa, it's not what it looks like! I-" Inga regained his composure, reverting back to the strong, collected man that Rayfa saw when he was doing important business as the Minister of Justice. "Wait, why am I being defensive when you should be in bed? So run back to your room, daughter, before I inform your mother of this."
"But Father, I…" Rayfa paused, her face changing into a death glare, as she noticed her father holding a yellow bag of cookies with the Plumed Punisher's face on it. "See that you have been eating MY cookies!" Rayfa yelled at Inga, her face reddening as she held her stiffened hands in front of her, as if she was ready to strangle the life out her father, causing him to put his hands in front of his body as he pressed his back against the sink.
"N-Now Rayfa, it's not what it looks like… I- I was merely…" Inga rubbed his chin as he thought of a plausible answer that wouldn't earn him one of Rayfa's infamous temper tantrums. "Making sure that there were no loose crumbs in the bag. Yes, that's it! You know how much your mother hates loose crumbies getting on the floor." Inga said with a big grin on his face, proud of his quick-thinking.
"Don't try to deceive me, Father! I can see the evidence of your deed most foul by the crumbs on your face!" Rayfa snarled, pointing an accusing finger at the yellow crumbs around Inga's mouth and in his beard, which the Minister of Justice couldn't wipe off fast enough.
"That? Well…" Inga tried to think of another excuse, but found it rather hard to do so with his daughter growling at him, seething with rage as her left eye started to twitch, but realized that at this point he might as well just tell the truth.
Inga got down on one knee and softly put his hand on Rayfa's shoulder before letting out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, you got me, Rayfa. I was enjoying some of your Plumed Punisher cookies."
"Bu-But why my cookies?" Rayfa whimpered as a lone tear of betrayal trailed down her cheek.
"Look Rayfa, if you want to blame someone, blame your mother. If she would just let me have junk food in my own private kitchen, then I wouldn't have to sneak around here like a thief and scrounge up what little I can find."
"But you're the biggest, strongest, smartest, nicest man in the whole, wide world AND the Minister of Justice. Why would mother restrict your diet so?" Rayfa asked with a look of confusion, unable to grasp how any being, save the Holy Mother herself, could control her mighty father.
Inga blushed at his daughter's compliments and let out a hearty chuckle. "That may be, Rayfa, but that doesn't stop your mother from exerting her queenly authority over me by constantly saying that I'll get love handles and will look unfit to be her husband. But it doesn't hurt to partake in a little treat once in a while, and what your mother doesn't know won't hurt us, right?"
"Right!" Rayfa chirps with a nod.
Inga patted his daughter's head. "That's my girl! Now what do you say we enjoy some cookies?" Inga asked, extending the bag of cookies over to Rayfa, which she answered by taking one out; but before she could eat it, Inga grabbed her arm.
"Before we start eating, let's move over to the sink. I don't want your mother sending us to the Twilight Realm over loose crumbies getting on the floor." Inga suggested, prompting him and Rayfa to move over the sink before devouring each and every cookie in the bag in no time flat.
With their deed done, Inga and Rayfa quickly threw away the empty cookie bag in a nearby trashcan before turning off the kitchen lights and quietly sneaking back into the hallway so as to return to their private quarters undetected. However, they do not get far before they hear a series of soft, yet forceful, footsteps from the other side of a nearby corner that are slowly growing louder.
"Oh Husband, oh Daughter, we had better not find either of you pilfering food from our kitchen and leaving crumbies on the floor; for you know what will happen if we do…" Ga'ran coldly yelled out, almost as if she had some internal radar that told her what her family was doing and where they were doing it, as she loudly whacked the large paddle that she used during her time as a prosecutor against her hand.
Upon hearing this, both Inga and Rayfa's faces paled as they knew full-well that Ga'ran's paddle was not merely for show and actually packed quite a wallop if it hit bare flesh; causing them to abandon all aspects of stealth as they ran out of the palace as fast as humanly possible and back to their private quarters, lightly whimpering as they rushed past several Ga'ran Royal Guards who yelled "Hellooo, Minister Inga! Hellooo, Your Benevolence!" as if this was an everyday occurrence.
A/N: For this fanfic, in order to avoid confusion regarding Inga's cognitive disorder, Rayfa's hair is always in its normal style so that he can easily recognize her. In regards to this first chapter, I hope that I did well and that you guys enjoyed it considering I don't write that many family fluff fanfics.