Mia and Maya both made further attempts to talk to Iris during the training session, but Iris had firmly decided not to have anything to do with either of them. They were part of the bad, outside world that Iris had sworn never to enter again.

Iris' self-imposed isolation was intruded upon the next day, when an angry woman with large hair burst into Hazakura, leading a small child.

"You there," the woman ordered. "Where is Maya Fey?"

"She's doing the special training course right now," Iris said. "It's inside the temple on the other side of the bridge."

"She's too young to be taking a course like that!" the woman snapped. "She should be in the beginner's course!"

Iris gasped involuntarily as she recognized the Master of Kurain pendant hanging from the woman's neck.

"You're Morgan Fey..." Iris whispered.

"Yes, that's right, and I have better things to do than look after my idiotic nieces! When I see Mia, she's going to be—"

"Don't you remember me?"

Morgan cleared her throat and gave Iris an angry look—Morgan didn't like being interrupted. "How can I remember you when I just met you?" she snapped. "If Maya's on the other side of the bridge, I had best collect her. Come along, Pearl."

"I don't wanna," the little child said. "It's cold!"

"Don't argue," Morgan ordered.

"No!"

Morgan sighed. "Fine. Stay here for five minutes." She pointed directly at Iris. "You. Watch my daughter while I collect Maya."

"Daughter?"

"If anything bad happens to her, you will be sorry," Morgan promised. On that sinister note, she left the temple.

Iris blinked at the little girl. Daughter?

"Hi!" Pearl said.

"Hello," Iris said. "What's your name?"

"Pearl!" Pearl said proudly.

I have a little sister? Iris wondered.

Iris watched Pearl carefully. She seemed like a happy child, and she couldn't have been older than five. By the time Iris and Dahlia were that age, Morgan had long since abandoned them.

"You must have a lot of spiritual power..." Iris mused. "Your mother must love you very much..."

Unlike me. She doesn't even recognize me. Everyone hates me because I'm useless. The only person who ever liked me was Feenie, and that's because he thought I was somebody else.

"I wish I could be like you," Iris said wistfully. "Maybe then my life could be normal...but probably not."

"Candy?" Pearl asked hopefully.

Iris laughed. "We don't have any candy here, Pearl."

"Aw..." Pearl said. "Sing a song?"

"I'm not a good singer," Iris said.

"Sing!" Pearl commanded. "Mystic Ami Song!"

"I don't know that one," Iris said.

"Mystic Ami look for spirits..." Pearl sang.


Iris and Pearl's sing-along ended when a group of quarreling spirit mediums entered the temple.

"But Aunt Morgan, Maya's old enough to—"

"She's fourteen!" Morgan snapped. "You should know better than to subject her to an adult's training!"

"I'm not a little kid!" Maya protested. "I can handle it!"

"I am extremely disappointed in both of you," Morgan said. "Mia, if you ever try something dangerous like this again, I will revoke Maya's ability to meet with you."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me," Moran said. "Now come, Pearl. We're going back to Kurain, and Maya is coming with us."

"No!" Maya said.

"Yay, Maya!" Pearl said, running over to hug her cousin.

"I'm here, too, Pearl," Mia said.

"Not for long," Morgan said, taking her daughter's hand. "We're going."

"Bye!" Pearl said, waving to Mia and her new friend as Morgan led her and the still-complaining Maya outside.

Mia gave an intense stare to the retreating group. "That could have gone better," she said to herself.

"You didn't say I had a sister," Iris said quietly.

Mia jumped. "Iris! I...I didn't see you!"

"That's my mother, I take it."

Mia grimaced. That was not the mother/daughter reunion Mia had in mind for her aunt and cousin.

"Please don't judge her by what you just saw," Mia said. "She's...er...upset with me. She gets rather controlling sometimes."

"Pearl seems happy," Iris said. "Happier than...well, happy. How old is she?"

"She's four years old," Mia said.

"She's so delicate…" Iris said. "I always wondered what it'd be like if…never mind."

Iris bowed in Mia's general direction. "I have to go, I…I have to prepare the food for—"

"Would you like to get to know her?" Mia asked.

"!"

"I'm her cousin. I could take you to see her, you know," Mia said. "It's only fair that you get to know your little sister."

"I...I couldn't," Iris said. "I can't leave here, ever again."

"Why not?" Mia asked.

"It's complicated," Iris said.

"Look, I know you had a bad experience with Dahlia, but Pearl could be your new sister," Mia said. "Would you like that?"

Iris almost gagged at that suggestion. Sure, Dahlia was horrible, but Dahlia was Iris' twin. She couldn't just...replace her twin sister. That would be like cutting off a part of herself.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't," Iris said. "It...look, can't you just leave me alone here? Why do you care so much about what happens to me?"

"Because you're family now," Mia said. "Family is important. No one should ever run away and close themselves off from their family members."

"Like Mystic Misty did?" Iris asked.

Mia turned red. "My mother has nothing to do with—"

"I'm sorry!" Iris said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that! I just mean, it is normal for the Kurain Master to shut herself off from her family. So really, it's not that unusual that my mother pretends I don't exist."

"That still doesn't make it right," Mia said.

"That's just the way things are."


Mia was working in her office—okay, she was really playing Tetris on the computer, but she was supposed to be working—when the intercom buzzed to life.

"Miss Fey, your cousin is here to see you," the secretary said.

"Augh!" Mia said, falling out of her chair. "I—what—who? Great, you made me lose!"

"Miss Fey?"

Mia hit the intercom button. "What is it, Charlie?" she demanded.

"Your cousin is here to see you," Charlie said.

"Cousin? I don't have a cous—oh, right, Iris," Mia said. "Send her in."

Shortly afterwards, the door opened and Iris entered. She was dressed in full acolyte garb.

"Hello, Mystic Mia," Iris said.

"Hello, Iris," Mia said. "What brings you here?"

"I want to—I mean, I think it would be best if I went to see my sister after all," Iris said.

I knew it! Mia thought. She smiled. "That's a great idea! I'm sure Pearl and Aunt Morgan would be thrilled to meet—"

"Kurain is a three hour drive away, right?" Iris interrupted.

"Yeah, but it's only two hours away by train," Mia said. "Why?"

"I...need to go away for a while," Iris said. "If Kurain is that far away from Los Angeles, it'd be an ideal place to go to."

"Hold it!" Mia cried. "Why do you need to go away from LA?"

"I...I just need to go away for a while," Iris said. "It'd be better for everyone that way."

"Who is everyone?" Mia asked.

"Everyone," Iris said. "You, Sister Bikini, Dahlia—"

Mia slammed her desk. "You haven't been in contact with Dahlia, have you?"

"I...no...that's none of your business!" Iris said.

"She's evil!" Mia said.

"She's my sister!" Iris shot back. "I can't abandon her!"

Mia took a deep breath. Iris had a point, but Mia still didn't like the idea of anyone seeing Dahlia in prison. "I have to—" she began.

The intercom buzzed to life again. "Miss Fey? A Mr. Phoenix Wright here to see you."

"What the—?" Mia said. She fell out of her chair again.

"Feenie!" Iris said. Her eyes widened. "I can't—I don't—"

"This is perfect!" Mia said. "You need to explain to Mr. Wright about—"

"Feenie can't see me!" Iris said. "He'll hate me forever!"

"Send him in!" Mia said, pressing the intercom button.

"I hate you! I hate you!" Iris said. Her eyes flew around the room, looking for a place to hide. Her shaking hands grabbed her hair and started unbraiding it, in an attempt to look somewhat different.

The door opened shortly after that, as Phoenix stepped into the room. "Hello, Miss Fey, I—"

Phoenix's eyes immediately went to Iris, who was trembling with fear. "Dolly!" he said.

Iris gasped, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"Ack! I'm sorry!" Phoenix said. "Don't cry! I didn't mean—I—you just reminded me of someone I know, that's all."

"You—you startled me," Iris said, not looking at Phoenix.

"I'm sorry," Phoenix said. "I didn't want to—Dolly—never mind. Who are you?"

"I'm Iris Fey," Iris said. "Mia's cousin."

"Pleased to meet you, Iris," Phoenix said, shaking her hand. "I'm Phoenix Wright."

As Phoenix shook Iris' hand, he looked more closely at her. He was rather astounded at how much Iris reminded him of Dahlia—if she dyed her hair red, she could almost pass for Dahlia. How odd, he thought.

"Ni-nice to meet you," Iris said.

"Yes, good to see you again, Phoenix," Mia said. "How have you been doing?"

"Not well..." Phoenix said. "After the trial, I...well...it's been rough. But I guess that's to be expected when the love of your life disappears."

"She tried to kill you, and frame you for murder," Mia said harshly. Mia would always hate Dahlia, because of what Dahlia did to Diego. "You're better off without her."

"I can't stop thinking about her," Phoenix said. "I see her everywhere. Even when—well, even I entered the room just now, I thought she was here."

"That's understandable, but you need to move on," Mia said. "You can't let Dahlia control your life anymore. Right, Iris?"

"Me?" Iris asked. "Oh...um...I'm not sure I know enough about this situation to make any judgments."

"It's...complicated," Phoenix said. "...Really. You probably don't want to hear about it. Let's talk about you, instead. What brings you here?"

"Oh, I'm...um, I'm here to learn about being a lawyer," Iris said.

"Really?" Phoenix asked. "Me too! At least, I hope to be! That's why I came here, Miss Fey. I was hoping you could me figure out if I should give this lawyer thing a shot."

"Lawyer thing," Mia repeated. "Mr. Wright, the first thing you should know is that being a lawyer is serious business. You have to be very mature in order to handle it."

Phoenix nodded. "That's not a problem. My friends all agree I'm the most mature person they know."

This coming from the man who cried about ten times during Dahlia's trial... Mia thought sarcastically. She stood up and took a step towards the window. As she looked out at Los Angeles, a sneaky idea came to her.

Mia turned her head towards the two star-crossed lovers. "I have a busy schedule," she said. "The only way I could accommodate both of you as my apprentices is if you take my legal lessons together."

"That works for me!"Phoenix said.

"Uh..." Iris said.