The memories Phoenix had of Miles Edgeworth from when they were mere grade scholars, were all very fond memories.
Back then, Miles Edgeworth had seemed like the coolest person ever!
He was smart, he was strong, he stood up to bullies just to let fellow students know they weren't alone, it didn't matter to him that he got beat up on the way, the only thing that mattered was that the person he defended knew they wouldn't have to stand alone, ever.
He was so sure about himself and his own future, which sounded so cool when he talked about it.
His dead seemed basically like a superhero to Phoenix, probably because of the way Miles talked about him, and the way his eyes shined from sheer admiration when Miles talked about his dad, which he did a lot!
And considering that Miles already looked like a true hero in Phoenix's eyes, someone to cool to be just normal, that he had such burning admiration for someone else had to mean that someone else had to be a super human by the very least!
That's what it all felt like to Phoenix back when he was those mere eight years old.
He didn't even dare to hope he could ever be half as cool and awesome as the Edgeworth's, he only relished that he were able to be friend with such an incredible person!
Miles were destined to do big things, Phoenix just knew it!
Which just made their sudden separation seem all that much more strange to the little now nine year old Phoenix.
Because what happened was.. from one day to the next, Miles Edgeworth.. Was gone!
As if had never even been there at all!
One day, Miles very simply, did not meet up to school, which was very strange because Miles was kind of a teachers pet and never ever ill.
Obviously he had to be ill now, why else wouldn't he come to school? The class teacher was a bit strange about it, telling Miles had been excused for the day.
Worried Phoenix had taken Larry to Miles's house, hoping to wish him well, how-ever.. the house, had looked like a ghost house!
It was dark and locked, no one in there at all!
Next day Miles wasn't in school either, and his house was still as dark and empty as ever!
Day after day, it was more of the same before suddenly.. Miles's house were surrounded by moving men, taking all of the stuff out of the house.
Phoenix gaped. "What are you doing?!" he confused asked one of the men. "Don't the Edgeworths need their stuff?" he asked.
The man holding a big box blinked and looked at the little boy. "Ah.. well yes, but you see, we are just moving it for them."
"Moving?!" Phoenix exclaimed. "they are moving! But.. Why?" he asked. "Is Miles here?!" he asked.
"Miles?" The man asked. "Ah, the kid." He then realised. "Friends of yours?"
"YES!" Phoenix exclaimed. "He's my best friend, he can't just move! That's really not very nice! I mean… at least he could tell me he was moving." He pouted looking down. Perhaps it wasn't to surprising, Miles had already told he was used to move a lot because of his dads work, in fact, he had first moved to this address a bit over a year ago all the way from England.
Still, that they would just leave like this without even a notion or a goodbye.. that kind of hurt, Phoenix honestly felt like crying! "Where's Miles?" he asked as his eyes started to turn wet. "Where is he?" being just left behind like that, really really hurt.
It sure made the movers very uncomfortable to have a little kid almost crying like that in front of them, and yet they were weirdly quiet about Miles.
Everybody was! No matter who Phoenix asked, even his own mom and dad, they would all turn so weirdly quiet and turn away, as if it was something you just weren't supposed to talk about.
Still Phoenix came to the empty house nearly every day, but as times went on, days became weeks, weeks became months.. the trips to the house became more and more rare, and Phoenix's questions that were never really answered seized.
The only thing that remained was the memory, a few pictures and… the greatest mystery in the entire world!
What.. Had happened to Miles?
Some day Phoenix had to find that out, he just had to! When he was grown he would find out what happened to Miles, it was all way to weird!
The silence was way to weird, the way the adults turned quiet and whispered when the word 'Edgeworth' was brought up… way to strange.. Way to strange.
It was though, not before many years after that Phoenix could do anything at all, when he tried to search as a teenager Miles Edgeworth seemed to have sunken into the ground, and so had his dad, they were just… gone.
What on earth could have happened, it was indeed a worrisome mystery.
All though Miles Edgeworth would never voice it, his personal memories of knowing Phoenix in grade school, were also very fond memories that he treasured greatly.
The truth was that, when Miles came to America after having moved from England with his father, he didn't have any friends.
He had never really stayed at one place long enough to make any real friends and well… he would never admit it in a million years, but as a child.. he had been a little lonely.
His mother was gone, and his father was a super cool defence attorney, of course he was a busy man, that only figured!
And yet, he still took time out to be with Miles! And when he did, they got to really be together, it was Mile's most happy joyful memories when his father would pick him up and carrie him around on his back while laughing, taking Miles to the cinema and bringing him to the Edgeworth Defence attorney office where Miles had his own corner filled with books and games he could make time pass with while his father worked.
And then there was Ray, Gregorys new young assistant, whom was soon to be a defence attorney himself, and even he took time out to ask Miles what he was doing and play a bit around, Ray was a lot of fun.
Their first meeting as well, had been rather funny as Miles for the first time had come to his fathers brand new office, wideeyed looking around at this place of wonders from where his fathers hero job took place, and people in need would come to search help.
In came a young ten with a striped blouse under a open waist coat, as well as a funny hat over his brown curly hair, he had stopped at the sight of Miles, blinking a bit confused. "Huh?" he blinked. "And who's this?"
"Ah, Ray." Gregory Edgeworth smiled lightly as he hung his own trench coat by the door. "I would like you to meet my son, Miles, our need for a late night came so sudden I couldn't find some-one to look after him so." Defeated he shrugged. "Don't be alarmed though. Miles is very good at these things."
Ray blinked stunned. "Your… Son?" he asked. "Oh." He glanced at Miles. "Hey there Kiddo!" he grinned.
Miles huffed annoyed. "I'm not a kiddo!" he hissed.
"Of course you are." Ray grinned. "You're a kid aren't you?" he asked.
"You're not old enough to call me kiddo!" Miles exclaimed deeply offended over the way to fast familiar approach, having mostly been raised in England, Miles were used to a much different way than Rays laid back attitude.
"Sure I am." Ray told amused putting his hands into his pockets. "I got a drivers license and permission to drink, also I work here, I pay my own bills, that makes me officially an adult!" he grinned.
Realising he was defeated and there was no way to rebute that claim Miles glared at Ray. "How would you like it if I called you uncle?" he asked.
"I would like that a lot." Ray grinned. "Call me uncle Ray! Sounds great in my ear!"
Miles blinked confused looking up at Ray. "Really?" he asked in a very doubtful tone.
"Sure!" Ray grinned and Miles lightly rolled his eyes.
"Fine, uncle Ray." Miles commented in a almost challenging tone, as if he challenged Ray to regret it and ask for another nick name.
It did not have the wished effect though as Ray chuckled amused, ruffling up Mile's hair in a way Miles did not approve of at all. "Nice to meet you kiddo!" he grinned. "Your dad is a great man, I'm lucky to have him as a mentor!"
That made Miles look up at Ray in a new way. "Yeah.." he told a slightly bit stunned.
"Then we agree on at least one thing, that's a start." Ray grinned. "So kiddo, what do you like to do while being here?" he asked.
"Reading." Miles to quietly, and strangely innocent.
"Really?" Ray asked. "Huh, when I was your age I couldn't sit still long enough to read anything." He commented thoughtfully with crossed arms. "What do you like reading then?" he then tried to ask.
"The Samurai of the forgotten realm!" Miles grinned, suddenly in a broad smile. "He's so cool! You know about Samurais, right uncle Ray?" he asked.
"Well I… heard of them, certainly." Ray frowned scratching his neck.
"Samurais are people who devoted their life to defend others!" Miles exclaimed. "It's just their way of life, to remind people that they are not alone, that there is always someone there to help! LIKE DAD!" he grinned pointing at Gregory whom looked pretty amused as he observed them from the corner. "If we lived in japan a thousand years ago, he would have been a samurai for sure!"
And Gregory laughed loudly. "HAHAHA, I doubt it son, but thank you." He laughed fondly ruffling up his sons hair while Miles beamed happily, this time delighted over the affection. "Miles has a certain affection for any-thing samurai related." He told Ray with a certain glint in his eye.
"Ah." Ray nodded. "I guess that explains that poster." He commented turning his eyes to the corner of the office where a samurai poster were hanging on the wall, right above a little couch and cupboard, what he didn't know was that that corner was supposed to be Miles's corner, for occasions exactly like this.
"Oah dad! You got the Samurai Elder Poster!" Miles beamed. "It's just right! THANK YOU!" he grinned grabbing his fathers legs.
"Why don't you go check out the new Samurai Elder book as well?" Gregory asked amused.
Miles gaped. "You don't mean.. the new issue?" he asked. "But.. it's not supposed to come out in this country for another week!"
"It came out yesterday in England." Gregory reminded his son. "And I know how much you like to be in front." He told amused.
Miles looked like he was almost spilling over from sheer happiness as he gave his dad another hug. "Thank you so much!" he told, and then darted to the table, eagerly picking up the book shining like a little sun as he carefully opened it to look at the first page.
"Ah, I see." Ray commented crossing his arms. "He'll be quiet for the rest of the evening now.." he commented.
"He would have been quiet as a mouse regardless." Gregory smirked taking off his hat placing it on the table. "I can't remember a single time I had to tell him to quiet down while I worked."
"Wauw, the world sure would be a much easier place to be in if all kids were like that." Ray commented amused then shook his head, that kid was all right after all, it should prove fun to hang out with him some time.
And it did, that was Miles's and Rays first meeting, and after it they had stayed good friends, Ray being almost a kid himself only eighteen, plus having a laid back attitude finding it pretty fun to accompany Miles to different places when Gregory was busy, keeping a watch over the kid was just another jon for a trusted assistant! But not one Ray minded, it was fun for both of them.
But it was often more likely that Gregory would need his assistant in the office, not fooling around outside, so Miles had to keep to his books at those late nights.
Still fact remained though, the two men were very busy and quite often, Miles was left all alone, Phoenix had been his first real friend his own age.
Best of all, Phoenix were always ready to hang out, and then they suddenly found out, when Gregory and Ray were busy at night, Pheonix's parents didn't mind having Miles sleeping over at all! He could spend his evening at the Wright residence where he could play around with Phoenix! And he enjoyed that, he enjoyed it very much.
It was a blessed year for Miles Edgeworth, where he never had to be actually alone, there was always some one he could call and meet up with.
As it happened though, if the end of that era had seem certain and abrupt for Phoenix, it was nothing.. Nothing in comparison to the sudden for Miles Edgeworth.
In one single afternoon, every thing changed.
The world as Miles Edgeworth had known it, vanished, grumbled into piece, broke into a thousand, a million of tiny pieces that could never ever be mended, ever again.
From the moment that that earthquake hit, and that gunshot sounded… nothing was the same.
One gunshot.. one single bullet.. that was all it took.
And it would all be gone, every good thing that Miles had… vanished, as if it had never even been there at all.
"Samurais are people who devoted their life to defend others!" Miles exclaimed. "It's just their way of life, to remind people that they are not alone, that there is always someone there to help! LIKE DAD!" he had grinned pointing at his father.. The Defence attorney, Defence Attorneys were heroes, modern day samurais.
Only a foolish child would ever think like that! There was NO justice in this world! Every-thing that happened after that gunshot only went to prove it! It was all a lie, IT WAS ALL A BIG LIE!