(Phoenix reflects on the aftermath of the Phantom case. Recent chaos is taking its toll on Apollo, even though he refuses to show it. Apollo's actions remind Phoenix of Edgeworth, who has gone through his fair share of trauma.)
—
My name's Phoenix Wright, and I know what's it like to be on the verge of losing everything.
I know how you felt holding everything back.
I know how you still feel, keeping everything inside.
I know now, because everything's slapping me in the face.
I didn't understand then, because you were so calm, so cool, so collected. I thought you had everything together. But you didn't.
And now I understand.
He's not 'fine'. He keeps saying he is, but deep down inside, I know everything's broken. He's not as lively as he used to be. He's lost, confused, stuck on an island without any hope of getting off. And no matter how hard we try to reach him, no matter how high our fires grow-
He can't hear us.
Only one matter has been cleared. He and Athena are right back to where they were. If he even thinks of mentioning what happened between them, she'll have him running laps around the Agency at the speed of light. Ten at the least. I'm glad those clouds have been cleared, but-
There are still plenty of clouds lurking in the skies above us.
It's Christmas time. I know you're on your way to see us. You're just as worried about him as I am. As we all are.
He smiles. He helps with the Christmas decorations. Trucy can't stop beaming over how her big brother helped with baking cookies. He helps Athena out with programming Widget to sing Christmas carols. He's visiting old clients today, taking batches of Trucy's Christmas cookies with him. He waters Charley, even though he mopes about it sometimes. But guess what? Yesterday I caught him tying a red ribbon around Charley.
He seems fine, but he isn't. We all know that.
You know that too.
Athena tells us about Apollo in secret. She tells us his heart's bleeding. He's withering away on the inside, like a flower in the desert. We don't want to make anything worse, but we also don't want him to wither away, so we try to bring him out of his shell. We ask him about Clay, the Space Center, and what's going on inside that head of his.
Whenever we mention Clay, Apollo shrugs it off. We don't get more than two words out of him. Three if we're lucky.
Considering how driven he was to find Clay's killer, his behavior is strange. He acts as if they were passing acquaintances, just someone he happened to run into at a coffee shop or something. Trucy even tried asking him about 's coat, but ended up empty-handed.
Apollo didn't attend Clay's funeral. 'I'll keep Charley company', he told us with one of his smiles, and that was all he said.
Athena's words ring in my ears, with every breath I take.
Is this how it was for you?
Is this how it still is for you, Miles?