This is entirely different from how this was supposed to turn out...I intended humour, not fluff XD Anyway, enjoy~

A Little Alcohol Goes a Long Way

The main point of the situation was that Miles Edgeworth was totally and completely smashed. Phoenix knew this, the barmaid knew this; heck, every man, woman and child in the state probably knew by this point.

It had started out as a fairly normal night. Miles had met him for dinner in order to discuss Phoenix's plans for the new system. Phoenix had called and asked for his help, and Miles had complied.

It was the first time they had been face to face in years. They'd been in contact, of course; letters, phone calls, e-mail, etc. Not surprisingly, Phoenix found himself generally being the one to initiate these conversations. It was hard to get used to Miles actually responding, of course, but Phoenix was getting there.

Miles had suggested some French restaurant, offering to foot the bill upon hearing nothing but silence on the other end of the phone. It didn't take long for Phoenix to relent; the Borscht Bowl Club was the only other place he could think of and eating there wasn't top on his list of priorities, despite the employee discount.

It had been mildly awkward as they met at the restaurant. Miles had changed a bit, wearing glasses, longer hair and other small things which the ex-defence attorney found himself noticing without trying. When he pointed these out, though, Miles' lips tightened. The prosecutor was obviously trying to refrain from replying, and Phoenix was pretty sure he knew why.

After dinner, Miles had been going to leave straight away, but Phoenix had held him back. "Come and have a drink with me," he'd said.

Miles had protested, of course, almost automatically. "Don't be ridiculous, Wright. I have things to do. Besides, don't you have a daughter to be getting back to?"

Phoenix, however, was insistent. "Trucy's kidnapped Apollo for the night – something about a sleepover with her and her friends - so I'm not welcome anyway. Come on, Miles, just one drink."

He'd kept it up for ages until the other man relented, simply to shut him up.

'Just one drink', predictably, wasn't quite how it turned out. Finding out that Miles was a total lightweight happened a little too late, however, for Phoenix to do anything about it.

"I'll have another beer." Miles said, his words slurring as he spoke to the blushing, giggling barmaid who'd just asked if she could get him anything.

"No, you won't." Phoenix cut in quickly, shooing the woman away as she tried to hand it over. "How much have you had?"

"I haven't had anything yet." Miles objected, banging on the wooden bar and gaining a glare from the man on the other side of him.

"Yes, you have." Phoenix replied impatiently. "You're drunk."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. Come on, I'm taking you home."

"I don't want to go home, Wright. I want another drink."

Phoenix sighed, frustrated. He himself had drunk quite a bit, but unlike his friend, he was still almost sober. "Miles, please just move."

"No."

"Come on, sweetheart," the barmaid said, leaning towards them in a way which Phoenix was not exactly comfortable with. "Your handsome friend here just wants to have some fun. Don't you, Mr. Miles?" The suggestiveness of her tone was not missed.

Before Miles could answer, Phoenix burst into laughter. "Sorry," he said. "I don't think he'd be interested."

He pulled his inebriated friend towards the door by the arm, leaving the affronted woman staring after them.

Miles stumbled along beside Phoenix, one arm swung round the other man's shoulders for support.

"Where're we going?" he demanded stupidly as they headed past his car.

"Home," Phoenix replied.

"But we need my car!" Miles protested. "I need to drive."

"I'm not an attorney anymore, Miles." Phoenix replied with a hint of a smirk as they turned the corner. "I can't defend you if you're arrested for drink-driving. We're taking you to my place, and we'll get you in a cab from there."

Miles fell silent, a thoughtful look appearing on his otherwise-dazed face.

Unlocking the door was a bigger feat than it should have been. Trying to balance a drunken prosecutor on your shoulder while looking for a key in your pocket isn't, Phoenix found, very easy to do. Putting the key in the lock and turning it, then opening the door is nigh on impossible.

Somehow, however, Phoenix managed it and dragged Miles over to the couch. The living room was empty; Trucy must have taken her friends and invaded Apollo's small apartment. Sure enough, a note sat propped on the coffee table, detailing what he'd just thought. Poor Apollo. He wondered how long it would take Trucy to have him move in with them.

He sat Miles down on the sofa, telling him he'd be back in a minute and heading to look for the phone. Just as he got to the door, however, Miles' voice stopped him.

"Hold it, Wright,"

Phoenix spun around to face him. "What?"

Miles looked confused. "You…you're not an attorney anymore."

"No."

"That doesn't make sense. Why not?"

Phoenix blinked. Surely the man wasn't that drunk. "You know why, Miles."

"Objection!"

"Miles, you aren't in a courtr-"

"You can't have forged evidence! You're Phoenix Wright!"

Phoenix stared. "Well, actually, only one of those statements is tr-"

"You're a lawyer."

"I'm a pianist, actually. Just not a very good one…"

"No! You're a lawyer!" Phoenix watched as Miles got to his feet, looking frustrated and swaying where he stood. "You…Wright…lawyer…"

Apparently finished making his point, Miles fell back onto the sofa with a thump.

Phoenix hesitated, then approached and sat down beside him.

"You ruined my life," Miles muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"No, that's wrong," Miles frowned. He obviously couldn't find the words he was looking for. "You did something."

"Miles, are you alright?" Phoenix asked. The prosecutor looked like he was upsetting himself.

"Changed!" Miles shouted triumphantly. "That's what you did, you changed my life!"

"Well, I…" Phoenix began, embarrassed.

"No, no! Be quiet, Wright. I'm speaking." Miles interrupted, frowning as he glared at the other man. "You…I remember you."

"I'd certainly hope you do."

"You annoyed me. No, you annoy me. I mean…" Miles trailed off. Phoenix wondered if there was an end to that sentence or if Miles had simply finished it in his head.

A moment later, Miles spoke again. "You…you ruined the record I had. Franziska was furious with me. My other sister…she was happy. She likes you, you know. She's a clever woman, my sister. Didn't like her father. Loves you. But she's married, so you can't."

Phoenix did his best not to laugh at the smugness on Miles' face at the last statement. "That's okay," he said. "I wasn't interested."

"No, neither is she." Miles replied thoughtfully. "You got her father arrested. Saved my life."

"I…"

"Then I did that stupid thing. Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth Chooses Death."

Phoenix flinched involuntarily. That wasn't a memory he cared to think of.

"Klara was mad at me for that, but she didn't say so. But you…you hated me."

Phoenix said nothing. It was true, then, that he'd felt something close to hatred. It was the second time in his life he'd felt that way towards the man beside him. The first was when he was a ten year old boy, waiting for a letter that would never come.

Perhaps being drunk gave Miles mind-reading powers, because his next words were in direct correlation with that thought. "I vanished before and came back worse. But then. You saved me from Manfred von Karma and I…I vanished again and I was better. Because of you."

Phoenix felt himself going red, feeling glad that Trucy was out. "I didn't…"

"And now. Now! I come back to this country and you…"

"I?"

"You look like you live on the streets!"

Aside from mind-reading powers, alcohol apparently also gave Miles the power to completely ruin a moment. "Thanks for the confidence booster." Phoenix replied dryly.

"You infuriate me, Phoenix Wright." Miles continued. "I…you…I don't know."

"What don't you know?"

"I don't know who you are."

Phoenix stared, unable to comprehend what had just been said. "You don't know…who I am?"

"You. You've changed. You act different, and you look different, and you-"

"Hey," Phoenix objected. "I'm still me. I haven't changed that much."

"Yes you have! The obsession with revenge…"

"Who's obsessed with revenge? All I want is the truth." Phoenix cut in.

Miles ignored him. "The inability to say anything straight-out…"

"Now that's just hypocritical."

"That stupid hat of yours, too!"

"Hey, Trucy made me this hat." Phoenix replied, annoyed. "There's nothing strange about wearing something my daughter gave to me, is there?"

"I doubt my Phoenix Wright would have," Miles said sulkily.

"Your…?" Phoenix started, before deciding it was best not to press the point. "Look, if...oh, I dunno, Pearls or someone had given me something back then, I would have worn it, right?"

"Like Iris' hood?" Miles asked suspiciously.

Phoenix sighed. "Yes, like Iris' hood. But different."

"…because you were in love with Iris." Miles' voice was different now, although Phoenix couldn't quite understand what the seriousness behind the slight slurring meant. "Yes. No. I mean…I was…no, I wasn't really, was I…? I…that was twelve years ago." Why were they talking about Iris? He didn't want to talk about Iris – who, by the way, he was still on perfectly friendly terms with. Talking about her wasn't right. Not now.

Phoenix frowned as the last parts of that thought entered his head. Not now?

"I thought I was the drunken one, Wright." Miles interrupted.

"Oh, believe me, you are." Phoenix said wryly.

Miles seemed to be thinking. "I was worried," he said, with the air of one confessing something after the longest time. "Seven years ago. During that trial."

"Worried…?"

"I thought you might fall for her again."

Phoenix said nothing.

"That was another reason that you irritated me so much, Wright," Miles continued. "My life...wasn't perfect, but made sense. Then you. No sense. Headache."

Miles was the one not making any sense, in Phoenix's opinion. And the ex-defence attorney was the one developing a headache. However, he kept quiet, allowing the other man to continue.

"You…you came back into my life. After so long. It wasn't fair. And then…then I…after that trial…"

"Miles, calm down," Phoenix said quietly. He was sure that whatever the prosecutor was about to say would be regretted in the morning.

"Then I went home. Klara was angry. I said that already," Miles was ignoring him again, continuing his point whether Phoenix liked it or not. "I didn't understand…couldn't…"

"What…?"

"And then. After everything. Lost your badge. I didn't know why I was so angry. No, not angry. Sad. I was sad. And then I realised…and it aggravated me. So much," Miles was staring into Phoenix's face, and Phoenix found himself fighting with himself. One part of him was desperate to look away, to look at anything else except the man beside him. The other, more insistent part, refused to let him turn away.

"You," Miles pointed at him, looking accusing. "Had to go and prove my stupid brother-in-law right."

"What?"

"I, the Demon Prosecutor, had been reduced to living with a…with a…crush on a male defence attorney and everyone already knew except me! It wasn't fair."

"…what?"

"But that word! It didn't work!"

"What word? Miles, what are you talking about?"

"'Crush'. Such a…an inadequate word. I haven't seen you face to face in seven years. And I'm still…still…"

"Miles…"

"I…I loveyou, Wr-Phoenix. Even after I left, even after seven whole years. And I was so sure I could get over it!" Miles didn't sound like one confessing. He sounded more like someone admitting a fact that annoyed him.

Phoenix couldn't say anything. His ability for speech seemed to have vanished.

Miles didn't say anything either. He didn't seem to think it necessary.

"You're drunk, Miles," Phoenix said, much sharper than necessary. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous. Really, Wright, I'm not that drunk. I'm well aware of what I'm saying. Just drunk enough to say it."

"I…" Phoenix started, deciding to take the words as they were, the embarrassment winning over as he was finally able to look away. "I'm glad you didn't. Get over it, I mean. Ever since I met you again…no, ever since I was nine years old…"

He couldn't believe he was saying this. But, even more, he couldn't believe he hadn't done so already.

"I…when I met Iris, it was different. I did love her, I'm sure of it, but…it was never the same. Trucy…she worries about me, I think," Phoenix continued, staring down at his hands. "She goes on and on about me getting her 'a new mommy'…she thinks I'm lonely. I am, I suppose. She's tried setting me up on dates a few times, too, but they all end the same. I can barely even see the people in front of me. I'm too busy thinking of…"

"Told you that you couldn't say anything straight out," Miles muttered.

"What I'm trying to say, Miles," Phoenix said, still not looking up, after a few more minutes of silence. "Is that…that I l-"

He jumped as he felt something lean against him. Turning his head, he saw that Miles seemed to have finally passed out.

"That I love you, too," Phoenix finished quietly.

When Miles woke up the next morning, Phoenix just coming through from the kitchen. He carried a glass of water and two painkillers, both of which he handed to the confused looking prosecutor without a word.

For the next few hours, the two made pathetic small talk, something which Miles was still as bad at as ever, while Phoenix made more tea than he'd drank in his entire life. Neither mentioned the previous night.

It was around twelve when the phone rang. Miles winced, apparently still suffering from his hangover. Phoenix answered on the third ring. He listened, nodded, and then hung up with an 'okay, bye'.

"Trucy," he said in answer to the prosecutor's questioning look. "She's coming home in half an hour."

"I should leave," Miles muttered.

"Yeah, okay…are you alright to drive?"

"Yes, of course." Miles replied, heading to the door. Before he left, he hesitated and then turned around. "Wright?"

"Yeah?"

"About last night…what I said…"

Phoenix found himself going red again. So Miles remembered. "It's okay. We'd both had a bit to drink…you didn't mean it, I get it. I won't bring it up again."

Miles sighed, and then said something before leaving the house and shutting the door behind him.

It took Phoenix a few minutes, but the words finally reached him. 'I never said that, Wright.'

Getting to his feet, Phoenix went to the door, opening it with a little difficulty, just in time to see the bright red car turn the corner out of the street.

Leaving him to decipher Miles' last comment on his own. Because surely not. Surely he'd heard it wrong.

It would be far too easy for it all to have worked out now.

"And Apollo kept yelling at us all to shut up, and it was really funny, Daddy. We were playing Truth or Dare, and three of my friends demanded a kiss from him, and he was so embarrassed," Trucy was telling him about her night with her usual enthusiasm. "And we ate lots of sugar, not that that affected anything at all, but Apollo seemed to think I was hyperactive this morning before we all left."

"You're horrible to him, you know."

"So are you!" Trucy replied, laughing.

Phoenix didn't attempt to deny it. "Maybe you should leave him alone for a while."

It was at that moment that his cellphone went off.

"That's the Steel Samurai, isn't it? Didn't your friend Maya set it? Why haven't you changed it yet? It's been like seven years. Apollo has a funny ringtone too, you know…"

Phoenix let her babble on, picking up his phone and glancing at it. A text message.

'We need to talk, despite the clichéd phrasing of this. I believe you know where I live. Following people seems to be a skill of yours.'

Phoenix blinked. No way. "Er, Trucy?"

"Hm?"

"How about you go visit Apollo again?"

"But you just said-"

"It's for my secret mission," Phoenix added quickly. Not entirely true, but…

"Liar," Trucy said confidently. "Are you going to get me a new mommy?"

Phoenix couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, guess you could say it's something like that," he replied.

"Yay!" Trucy beamed. "Okay, I'll go back to Apollo's, then. Tell them I said hi, okay? And not to worry, I'm sure they'll be a great mommy."

Phoenix tried his best not to laugh again. "I'm sure he'll appreciate that," he said quietly. He didn't know whether or not she heard him as she hurried out of the door.

His phone went again. 'An answer sometime today would be nice'.

Phoenix paused, and then replied. 'Trucy thinks I'm coming to meet a new mother for her.'

It took a while. Phoenix was already outside and walking for at least ten minutes when the phone went again.

'I suppose that is one way to put it.'

Phoenix grinned to himself. Apparently, a little bit of alcohol went a long way.

Reviews are loved~