The memories were still fresh, even though enough time had passed in order to wither them. However, its freshness did not mean the continuity of the same exact feelings, frozen over time. In fact, they had small differences that tainted the moment with oddity. Walking through the same streets, holding the same hand, looking at the same eyes. It resembled the past, but was mixed with new hopeful sentiments. The potentiality of all which had been left behind bloomed once again.

He could not help but feel confused since Iris was set free from prison.

A year had passed, and after some meetings, they finally agreed to take a new shot into their relationship; this time without Dahlia's shadows... or at least, that was what Phoenix thought.

He looked her profile as they were walking. An old emotion crossed his mind: a dim memory of Mia calling him a cry-baby. He smiled, nostalgic.

Both of them were going to the park, but this time without nothing to drink, to send by mail, or pending from his neck. This time was not autumn, and Iris had come from Hazakura Temple to visit him for a whole week in the City. They wanted to rebuild memories and deconstruct the past.

Resuming a relationship from the same point it was left off is a delicate task. It took hours of talking and discussions about past lies, masks and, of course, Dahlia. It was not going to be easy, but both of them had accepted the challenge. After all, there was no need to rush.

Having reached the bench, which was now older and its paint was almost gone, they sat still holding hands.

She caressed his cheek, remembering that silly student she had loved so much and appreciating the grown man she had never stopped to love. Phoenix turned his face to her and smiled. He was almost that silly boy again. Almost.

Of course some things had changed. Perhaps many. But she wanted to believe that all those continuous tries and all that waiting were part of the path in building what they could not before. She wanted to believe in what she saw into Phoenix's eyes, even if those eyes had turned a bit more withered and darker than before.

He surrounded her with an arm and looked away.

"Did you remember that moment?"

"Yes". She lowered her chin perceiving another small difference. Her Feenie used to be more affectionate. She still could remember how the young man used to seek shelter in her neck, rubbing his nose over her skin, playing with her hands to entangle their fingers. His scent, his warmth, that spiky hair. She blushed at the remembrance. Everything was the same, but at once, it was full of small hefty differences.

Phoenix looked at her for an instant and widened his smile. He could not help but feel slightly embarrassed as well. At some point, both of them were remembering those warm and naïve days.

"Have you ever painted the park?" she asked, tilting her head against Phoenix's shoulder.

"No, I couldn't. I was working so hard on my law studies..."

Observing those green trees at the distance, she touched her magatama. How many dark secrets may be hidden in those words?, She could not guess. After all, people were made of black locks.

She had no doubts that her Feenie had professed a deep and enthusiastic love to her when they were younger, but that was in the past. What about now?

She would seek it out.

Determined, she looked at him. Phoenix raised his eyebrows, trying to take a glimpse of what was flitting in Iris' mind when she leant over him, reducing the distance between their faces.

As a first reaction, Phoenix drew back a bit, though it was not enough to avoid the contact, and finally Iris reached his lips, biting them slow and fondly while caressing his cheeks. Her belly exploded into millions of butterflies that died in the same instant. The kiss had tensed him, and with such a simple gesture, the Truth had been found, for both of them.

Slowly, he broke the contact, ashamed. He needed a soft, tender word, something to thank her kindness while asking for forgiveness, and among the huge list that showed up in his mind, he found the brightest one: Dollie. His lips separated with the intent to say the word, but immediately restrained his tongue.

It had been clear enough for him that, after all, there was no way to return back in time.

"No, Iris, wait. This- this is no t...". Silenced, drawing an agonized smile, Iris just looked at him."I know I'm a terrible person for this... Iris.. but...Um...". He ran his fingers through his hair, not knowing what to do with the memory that a simple kiss had brought back.

"It's okay, Feenie. You'd already told me you were not totally sure about it anyway. I thank you for the chance, but it looks like it's not the same, as I thought"

"Did you already know?" Mysteriously, she chuckled and hugged him, now both of them more relaxed than before. "I'm really sorry, Iris. I shouldn't have listened to that stupid Edgeworth..."

"Mr. Edgeworth?" surprised, she drew back, resting a hand over her chest and barely touching her magatama with her fingers.

"Well, yes. He suggested me to... take back my relationship with you. I don't know why I trusted him. Just look at him, such a weirdo telling me that." both of them snickered.

"So, it looks like he's more of a caregiver than what he allows himself to show"

"Meh, I don't know. He already left the country without saying a word.". Phoenix crossed his arms over his chest and took a serious pose. He was a little upset. Well, maybe very upset. Once again, the prosecutor disappeared without an explanation, even when they had agreed to some kind of appointment.

"He did?"

"He'd promised to give me a call before leaving... but... you see."

Iris squeezed her hands resting over her lap. She had a slight suspicion about what had happened with him.

"You should call him..."

"What for? Nah, Edgeworth was always this way. There is nothing to do. He is what he is. I thought he had changed too... but it seems I was wrong."

Phoenix lifted his chin and put his arms over the back of the bench. He leant all his weight over it and felt some relief through his back and shoulders. Solving the problem with Iris was almost like breathing fresh air again.

"Thank you, Feenie."

"Uh?"

"For all you've done, before my trial, and after it. This chance, this new life." She smiled.

He smiled back at her slyly, lowering his look to his extended legs, "It was fair, there is nothing to thank me for, believe me."

"Do you still like udon?"

Phoenix blinked twice, "Of course..."

"Let's go to your apartment then, but first let's buy the ingredients!"

Iris stood up in a cheerful jump and offered her hand to Phoenix with a sudden enthusiasm that surprised him.

He was not the only one relieved.

As Iris suggested, they went to Phoenix's apartment after some shopping, and cooked the most delicious udon Phoenix could wish for: Iris' tempura udon. As usual, he was in charge of cutting and washing all the vegetables and noodles, while Iris put all her attention on cooking the meal itself: the exact amount of ingredients, the cooking time and the fried shrimps she always used to add in a special way, putting her own mark in the dish.

He had missed those dishes. Made by Dollie's hands.

Those meals that both of them used to enjoy time ago, at lazy Sundays, feeling the fresh autumn breeze coming through an open window.

Another memory showed up, but he forced it to disappear. The thought had brought many lost and bitter-sweet sensations along his skin.

"Feenie?"

Phoenix blinked several times, coming back into reality. Iris was by his side, preparing some tea while he was washing the dishes after dinner, so absent-minded that he even shut the tap and left his arms hanging on the sink's edge when he was done. His second reaction was smiling at her and then he scratched his head.

"What- what did you tell me?"

"Is something wrong, Feenie?"

"N-No. Not at all. I was... just... remembering. Don't worry, you know, silly things".

He helped her to carry a tray with teacups onto the small kotatsu, and they sat around it in the ground. The window, as usual, was wide open, and the night breeze was blowing, slowly moving the curtains and refreshing the living room.

Relaxed, they talked about senseless anecdotes from university and about the small apartment Phoenix used to have at that time. All that Dahlia did not touch; all those memories that were still old and warm for them.

"I can remember those letters you were always sending to Mr. Edgeworth." she said.

"Argh. It was... well. I'm sorry for that." he said scratching his nape. He almost could not remember a date without introducing an envelope into a nearby mailbox.

"It's okay, Feenie. It was funny. What do you think he did with those letters?"

"I don't know. I never asked him... but, I bet he threw them all into the trash."

"I don't think so."

"He was, after all, the Demon prosecutor... what other thing could he have done?" Phoenix sipped his tea, and after a long pause he continued, "It was so shocking to know what he had turned into. He had been so different as a kid."

"How so?" Iris leant her elbow to place it on the table and rested her chin on a fist.

"I don't know... wait."

He stood up and opened the closet nearby. Knelt before its doors, he messed up inside it, until he finally found a little box that he placed in the middle of the table.

It contained a bunch of photos: some of them showed a prideful, smiling Mia, that dampened Phoenix's eyes to the point of forcing him to clear his throat. Others were pictures with Maya, eating ramen in most of them. Many others were taken with Larry, as a young adult, with his current girlfriend at the time, a different one in every photo.

Finally, at the bottom of the box, Iris found several pictures of Edgeworth, Larry and Phoenix when they were in fourth grade. However, instead of observing them in detail; an unexpected figure caught her attention, focusing on a spiky haired lady drawing a smug smile on her face. That woman was wearing a sleeve-less shirt that let her sturdy body to be seen.

Phoenix chuckled when he saw Iris so surprised by that picture, and explained her immediately, "She is my Mom. Everyone makes that face when they see her for the first time."

Iris blushed instantly, blaming herself for being rude, and covered her mouth with both hands. "I really sorry, Feenie. I didn't mean..."

"It's okay. She is a surprising woman in many ways after all." he giggled.

"She seems strong."

"The hell she is. She is the smith of the town where I was born. Kind of. Actually, she is the only repair-all-stuff-person in the whole town. She is a technician, that's why there is nothing she can't repair. And if we ever need something metallic, she can do it with her hands, fire and a hammer." His eyes brightened as he was talking.

"I see. You never told me about your mother."

"Aww. It was just... we didn't have the chance, I guess."

"And what about your father?" Iris looked through the photos again, scattering them on the table in order to catch some man who could resemble Phoenix.

"I didn't know him. She was a single mother."

She stopped searching, and remained silent for a moment, studying Phoenix's gestures to understand beyond those simple words. Then, carefully, she asked, "Did you look for him?"

"No. All that I know is he just left Mom when he knew she was pregnant. Mom no longer knew about him after that. He left her without saying a word. He just did it." Phoenix swallowed bitterly, a slight frown went deeper over the talk. "I never really cared about him... I can't forgive him for abandoning my Mom without, at least, an explanation, or something. I don't know. That was unfair to her."

"I see. I'm sorry for asking..."

"It's okay..." he waved his hand in the air, like he was shooing the issue away.

"Does your mother still live in that town?"

"Yeah. From time to time I go visit her... but she is always so busy with the whole repairing issue there."

"I would be delighted to meet her. I'm sure she is a lovely person, considering her son."

Phoenix chuckled and rubbed his nape again, "Aww, don't say those things. But she really is amazing. We could probably go with Maya and Pearl and visit her for new year's eve. She would be really happy with so many girls around."

"Why?"

"You'd better not ask..." he said, shaking his head slowly, smiling almost in the same exact way of the lady in that photo.

Without knowing how to understand the answer, Iris turned back her attention to the scattered photos, and picked those that had the prosecutor in them.

"You haven't many photos of him."

"Yeah, after the incident I've told you about, you know, that time when his lunch money was stolen, we became friends. We spent so much time together... but only that year."

"Only that year? Why?"

"Yeah, Edgeworth..." He sipped the tea. "His father died, and he was... adopted by the infamous Von Karma. He went to Germany, but we didn't know about this at that time."

"Oh, that's terrible."

"Yeah... at first I was upset, Larry too. Edgeworth had just disappeared. When we went to his house, there was nobody there. We just found a guy crying, who used to work with Edgeworth's father. He told us he had moved out, but he didn't know where. He was really down, now I recall. Only when I defended Edgeworth, some years ago, I knew what had happened to him that time."

"You defended him?"

"Yes. Well... Long story short, Von Karma killed his father and wanted to frame him for that." Phoenix looked at his tea after a short sigh. "The person who raised him, forced him to be a prosecutor, instead of a defense attorney like his father, just to accomplish this... insane revenge. He turned into that evil prosecutor because of Von Karma. I had to defend him... No one would have done it."

"I see." Iris fixed her eyes on a picture, looking at the kid that Miles had been once.

"After defending me in school, I... He inspired me. I wanted to be like him, you know... or well, like what he wanted to be as an adult back when he was a kid. Things got pretty twisted, anyway." He chuckled, touching the border of the teacup. "But as you can see, he was different back then."

Iris looked at Phoenix with a puzzled face, and trying to give a second chance to his words, saw the pictures again, more focused this time. She could not see such difference which Phoenix was talking about. The kid in those pictures was serious, and the distance he took from both of his friends was small, but clear. What she could not overlook in almost all pictures was Phoenix's little eyes fixed in the boy wearing the bow tie. Phoenix never had his eyes far away from him, except in those pictures where he and Larry were fighting or playing. Maybe what Phoenix was talking about was, in fact, another thing, another small detail that photos were unable to capture. Probably it was something related to the past and memories, something too special and personal for her to perceive.

"What did you think when you knew he had turned into a prosecutor?. After all, he had inspired you. I remember you were so eager to take the bar exam."

"Well, not so eager. I hate studying. But when I'd read about him in the newspaper, I wanted to do something... he was not himself. I was sure of it. I was the only person who knew who he really was."

"It seems you did many things..." Iris said in her mysterious tone, touching with her free hand the magatama around her neck. Phoenix did not miss the gesture and raised his eyebrows. She smiled amused, then looked down to the photos.

"I would like to know how things would have been now, if his father were still alive..." he said.

"Probably you both would be working together..."

Phoenix chuckled "Working with Edgeworth..." his eyes fell over the few photos spread on the table. "That would be madness". He drank all the tea left in the teacup. "I bet you, he would be disappearing all the time..."

"Ow, Feenie. You said that was because his father had di-" She tried to make an excuse, but Phoenix interrupted her words.

"I do not know. He just disappears... Always." His eyes were tinged with bitterness, or maybe frustration.

"Does he? Has it happened many times?"

"Yeah... after our first trials..." he erased the smile on his face, and looked through the window. That feeling was always so disappointing. "he just vanished, and left a note... about his own death. I think I should be glad for that, it was the first time he left a word before disappearing". His lips twisted into a more bitter smile which lasted a couple of seconds. "It... It was a whole year believing he was... gone. After that time, he kept disappearing over and over. Well, this time we were supposed to talk before he went abroad. But apparently I will only see him after some years... like always."

Both of them remained silent. Phoenix was looking at the night sky through the window, while Iris put the photos back into the box.

"I still think you should call him."

"I don't know. Edgeworth is... Edgeworth".

He yawned, and stood up, collecting the teacups and putting them on the tray. It was time to sleep. Iris let Phoenix arrange the room while she returned the box into the closet and took her pyjamas from her bag.

As she went into the bathroom to change her clothes, Phoenix moved aside the table and leant it against a wall. He took the futon off the closet and arranged it in the middle of the room. Aside, he took some bedspreads he had for winter, covered them with a sheet and made a quasi-second-futon. It could not replace the comfort of a real one, but it would work for that night.

"Iris, use the futon yourself. We forgot to buy another one. I'm sorry." he said, laid over the blankets.

She looked at him surprised. "You don't want to share it with me?"

"Oh. It's not like that. I mean. I just don't want you to feel uncom-"

"Feenie, you never make me feel like that." She smiled, and got into the futon, lifting part of the blankets as an invitation. Phoenix rolled on the floor to her place, ending faced-down inside. "You see, there is a lot of space."

He turned around as Iris was still covering him. "Thank you. And... I'm sorry"

They were looking at each other from different pillows, enjoying the unique intimacy they had never experienced before. A true, deep and yet friendly intimacy. They could perceive their breathing while observing each other's face, lightened by the dim glow coming from the window. Iris bit her lower lip and her eyes got damp.

Phoenix knew it, so he looked at Iris' shoulder, averting her eyes, feeling a burning sensation in his own. There was nothing to do, just being there, and let the sadness cross through them both.

"Feenie. Do you think-" she said restraining her tears "I could... hug you?"

"Of course, come here". Dollie. He frowned imperceptibly, betrayed by his mind.

He extended his arms and surrounded her while he felt her hands pressing his back. Both of them shared a deep and fair hug. A hug filled with frustration but also, with a new meaning for them. A hug dampened with tears that slowly would clean their souls.

Without realizing how or when, both of them fell asleep, feeling each other's warmth.