Chapter 4

Miles Edgeworth sat at his desk in his small apartment in France, having an unusual bit of free time from any cases, something that he rather despised, being one to be continuously immerse himself in work, not wanting there to be even a second where he would be forced to evaluate his life, and the mistakes he might have made in his past.

In moments like this, every feeling he kept bottled up and hidden away within himself erupted forth, making him question every decision he made up to this point in his life and the plans he had for his future. And much to his dismay, these moments brought thoughts of those he would rather leave in his past, most specifically thoughts of Phoenix Wright.

You left that place, your past, for a reason! He told himself, repeating this line to himself every time those thoughts began to eat at him mercilessly, leaving him with feelings of sorrow and guilt.

And then the little nagging voice inside him piped up the way it usually did when he thought of Phoenix, "Was it really right of you to leave Wright the way you did? Was it right to abandon him when he supported you and trusted in you even when you couldn't trust yourself?"

To these questions, he could never come up with a satisfactory answer. He shook his head and let out a small sigh of disgust at himself. Even with the feeble reasons he kept telling himself to rationalize his sudden leave with no warning, deep down he knew that it was a mistake.

He quickly realized that coming to France didn't take his problems away, nor did it wipe away the feelings he finally grudgingly admitted to himself that he harbored for Phoenix. And yet, he stayed, much too stubborn and afraid to go back and face the people he had left behind to ask for their forgiveness, more than anything to ask Phoenix for forgiveness for the betrayal he was sure he felt as a result.

After everything, I can't go back…Wright, can you forgive me? Miles thought as he put his head in his hands, his emotions abruptly bubbling up and making his eyes burn with tears.

He suddenly and violently pushed himself away from the desk and began to pace around the room in an attempt to push the feelings back yet again.

I can't be weak, I can't let this get to me. What's done is done. The only thing I can do is remain strong, and put my past behind me. Miles thought resolutely, trying his best to push thoughts of Phoenix out of his mind.

He glanced at the digital clock in his office at home and decided to just get to sleep, hoping that would clear all of these thoughts away.

Miles suddenly found himself standing in front of a white reception hall. He examined his surroundings further and found that it seemed to be well decorated, but for some reason, the decorations were unusually somber for a happy occasion.

What's going on here? Miles thought as he slowly approached the hall.

When he walked into the entrance, he saw that quite a few people were gathered here for some sort of ceremony. When he got closer to them, he could see that many of these people were crying, or at least had a sad expression on their faces.

This must be a funeral. Miles thought, his eyes falling on a white casket in the front of the room.

As he kept walking forward, he looked again around the room, and he suddenly realized he knew a lot of these people. He picked out many of the defendants in trials he had worked on before he left the United States and closer to the front he spotted Detective Gumshoe. In the first row, he found Maya Fey sobbing and a noticeably subdued Larry Butz trying to comfort her.

When Miles was almost standing next to Maya and Larry, he finally caught the things she was saying in between her sobs.

"Why, Nick? Why did you have to go? Now you've left me all alone…" she said brokenly, finally burying her face in Larry's chest.

Her words suddenly made Miles's heart go cold and he felt himself freezing up in shock.

No…this can't be! he thought to himself.

Almost without realizing it, he made a mad dash to the casket in the front, daring not to believe her words without seeing the proof for himself, not caring for a moment if he disrupted the service with his yearning for the truth. With his heart beating madly in fear, he willed himself to look down at the body in the casket.

There lay Phoenix Wright, looking no different than the last time Miles had seen him, the expression on his face peaceful, almost like he was taking a deep nap and nothing more. But Miles was not one to fool himself out of the truth. His hands gripped the edge of the casket so tightly that his knuckles turned white as the truth of the situation washed over him, making him feel extremely drained.

"No…" Miles said in an extremely weak tone, "No…this can't— Phoenix!"

He kept staring at Phoenix's lifeless body, just waiting for him to move, of show some other sign of being alive, the silent stillness of his body being much too unnerving to Miles. Before Miles knew it, tears were running down his cheeks, an unbearable sadness overtaking him.

"Phoenix…I never told you…that I…I loved you!" Miles whispered hoarsely, yet more tears covering his face at this candid confession and the fact at how it was much too late to matter.

Miles raised one shaky hand to touch Phoenix's face, and he found it to be icy cold.

Miles suddenly woke up and found his face to be wet with tears and his body to be wet with sweat. He trembled slightly as he removed himself from his bed, shaking his head to fully wake up. Within seconds, he realized that it all was just a nightmare, which caused relief to flow through him, but this still did not dispel all of his fears.

He walked into his bathroom and quickly got into the shower to literally and figuratively wash the nightmare away. He refused to let himself dwell on the dream as the cool shower water washed over him, deciding that would only bring him much more pain and regret than he wanted to handle.

One thing that this nightmare made obvious to him was that his past would continue to haunt him, and that his subconscious mind would continue to punish him for his mistakes, never letting him forget what, and more specifically, who he let slip through his fingers.