This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has ever talked to themselves in a mirror.

Also, to my bartender. I love my bartender.

I played with Larry's characterization just a smidge, so if he seems a little bit out of character, please allow me to extend my preemptive apologies to all the rabid Larry fangirls out there. (Are there rabid Larry fangirls?)

On the inside of the closet door in Phoenix's bedroom there was a full length mirror, left by a previous tenant. Phoenix wasn't particularly vain but he'd kept it where it was and generally used it to make sure his tie was on straight.

On Sunday morning he stood in front of it in his boxers and confronted his own image.

"Please tell the court your name and occupation." He asked himself.

"Phoenix Wright, Attorney at Law." He paused and then corrected himself with a little snap of his fingers and a point in the direction of his reflection. "Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney."

"Mr. Wright, you are accused of having a crush on another man." He said, beginning to cross-examine himself.

"Oh?"

"Have you ever been in a serious relationship, Mr. Wright?"

"Yes, I have."

"And was it with a man or a woman?"

"It was with a woman!"

"And were you attracted to her?"

"Very much so."

"And have you ever been physically involved with a man?"

"Objection!" He pointed a finger at his reflection and doing his best impression of a prosecutor. "Whether or not the witness has been physically involved with a man is irrelevant! The question is whether or not he wants to!"

"Objection!" He pointed with his other finger, in his own defense. "The witness is 24 years old! Don't you think if he wanted to he would have already done so?"

"Maybe the witness was chicken or confused because he's also finds women attractive!"

"Objection sustained."

"Mr. Wright. Will you please testify to the court, how you feel about Miles Edgeworth?"

Phoenix paused in his diatribe, all the energy slowly running out of him. He studied his own face in the mirror. All silliness aside, the expression certainly did remind him of someone who wasn't eager to tell the truth on the stand.

"You really are crazy about him, aren't you?" He said to his reflection.

He closed the closet door, hiding the mirror with his image and sank down on to his bed.

It wasn't really his fault, he told himself. How could it be? It was all Miles' fault. Miles with that violent intelligence in those sharp grey eyes. His cool arrogance, hiding a much a more insecure man. His careful wit and small smiles, usually so carefully hidden.

Phoenix sighed and lay back on the covers. His heart hung in a balance between the gleeful pounding of new affection and the pressure of the fear of the newness. He wondered what it might be like being sexually involved with a man. Images he'd seen and comments he'd heard over the years drifted through his head and his stomach tightened into knots.

Phoenix needed to talk to someone. Someone he could trust and someone who wouldn't make fun of him. Someone who would listen and help him think reasonably.

Not having anyone like that, he finally settled on calling Larry.

O O O

They met at the bar on Elm that afternoon. Larry spent much of the first drink moaning about a woman named Melissa, with whom he'd gone out twice but who now didn't return his calls. Katie, once again behind the bar, wisely took this as cue to tend to needs of less plaintive customers.

"...and we would have been great together, I just know it." Larry lamented. "I can see us now, Larry and Melissa." He was staring off a starry look in his eyes.

"Sounds like it's her loss."

"She's beautiful, too. She's a student at UCLA but she makes extra money modeling for art classes."

"Really? I guess that's kind of impressive."

"Okay, so what's up, anyway?" The starry look disappeared from Larry's eyes and he looked very serious.

"What, what?" Phoenix stammered momentarily lost.

"Well, first off, you called me. Second, you haven't stopped tapping your beer glass since it sat down in front of you. The number one weird though, is that you've been trying to make me feel better, which is, no offense, Nick, is weird as hell coming from you."

"Oh. Um yeah, I guess."

"So what is it?" Larry's whole being tensed and Phoenix could tell he was preparing himself to hear that Phoenix had cancer or something equally awful. Phoenix swallowed. He'd put himself in a corner and now he had to actually say it.

"I um... I sort of have feelings for someone... a, uh, guy."

"That's it?" Larry practically exploded, relief palpably emanating from his body. "I thought it was something bad. Geez, Nick, I've been expecting that one for years."

"What?!" This wasn't the reaction Phoenix expected.

"Dude," Larry held his hands in front of him in a gesture of mock protection. "Don't spill my beer, okay?"

"Sorry, sorry." He apologized. "I just want to know what you meant by that."

Larry shrugged and sipped his beer. "I've just been expecting you to say that since we were like fourteen years old, is all."

"But... but..." Phoenix protested weakly. "I've always liked girls."

"Well, yeah," Larry said thoughtfully, "and you were with that chick for a while in college."

"So why the hell have you been waiting for me to say that I have a crush on a guy since we were fourteen years old?" Phoenix asked defensively.

"Well, let's just say..." Larry's mouth twisted and he looked up and to the side, as if the words he were looking for might appear in the corner of the bar ceiling. "I know you, dude." He said finally, as if that explained everything.

Phoenix was quiet for a minute, taking into account this statement and its source.

"So," he said, quietly. "Was it always that obvious?"

"No, no!" Larry sat up straighter and protested perhaps a bit too loudly. "Not really, no!" He took a long drink of beer and continued while Phoenix waited for him to explain. "Look, Nick. I am bad with women, bad at working, was never great in school, and to be honest, we all know I'm not a genius. But that doesn't mean I don't pay attention to my friends. I mean, there's a reason you still hang out with me right?"

Larry turned back to his beer and when it became obvious that Phoenix had no further objections, he laughed a little too loudly. "So, who's the dude?"

Phoenix found his face growing warm and his line of sight not taking in much more than the foam in the pint glass in front of him. "I really don't feel like saying," he said half to his friend, half in the glass.

"It's Edgeworth, isn't it!"

Phoenix jumped and stared at his friend who was in the middle of an enormous fit of laughter.

"I was just joking but..." He said trying to calm down but still struggling to get the words out through the guffaws. "Man, that is totally not a surprise."

The familiar bob of curly hair appeared in front of them as the bartender scooped up the now empty beer glasses.

"You guys need another round, right? IPA and a lager?" Both men nodded. "So," Katie said, filling both glasses with amber beer. "Did I overhear that Nick has a crush?

"Do you know Miles Edgeworth?" Larry leaned over conspiratorially.

"Is he that guy who's been in here with you a couple of times?" She asked Phoenix, giving him his beer.

Phoenix nodded dumbly.

"Oooh," Katie squealed, smacking him playfully on the arm. "He's cuuute."

Phoenix's felt his face heat up unpleasantly, again.

"Aw, why are you blushing?" The bartender teased. "You've got good taste." She handed Larry his beer and leaned over the bar. "So, is he's sweet on you, too? He's gotta be, right?"

"Congratulations, Nick. You've admitted to liking dudes for about, um" he checked his watch, "four minutes now and you already have a fag hag." Katie swatted at Larry across the bar.

"Shut-up, Larry."

"He kissed me on the cheek last night." Phoenix mumbled.

"What?" Larry prodded his arm.

"I said he kissed me on the cheek last night." Phoenix said a little louder.

"Well, I'd say that clinches it," said Katie. Larry nodded in agreement.

"Not really." Phoenix shook his head. "I mean, we split a whole bottle of wine and then he was sort of referring to this thing that happened when we were kids when we were at the park and..." He paused, realizing he'd begun to ramble. "It's a long story."

"Wait, so you guys knew each other when you were kids?"

"Yeah." Larry gestured to himself and Phoenix. "The three of us were all pals, way back when we were small."

"No way. Okay," she pointed towards a couple at the other end of the bar who had just sat down. "I'm going to take care of those guys and when I get back, I want you to pop me the way back machine and tell me everything, 'kay?"

"Sure thing," Larry smiled.

"What do you mean 'sure thing?'" Phoenix asked turning to his friend, as the girl left. "There's no everything," he said, emphasizing the word in a parody of the drawn out way the Katie had said it.

"You're..." Larry nearly choked and then managed to squeeze out the rest of his sentence. "You're kidding right?" When Phoenix didn't respond, Larry clapped him on the back. "Listen up, bro-man. I guess you need to hear this, too."

A few minutes later, the bartender was back and stood in front of them washing glasses and ready to talk. "Okay, story time."

"A'ight." Larry leaned forward, clearly enjoying having an audience. "Basically, the story is that Nick here has been chasing after Miles Edgeworth his whole life."

"That's not..." Phoenix started to protest.

"Cram it, Nick. I'm telling the story and you know it's true. Anyway," Larry turned back to the bartender. "I didn't even know this until a few months back, but apparently he became a lawyer because this guy stood up for him when we were in the fourth grade."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah..." Phoenix acknowledged.

"See, Nick was getting totally blamed for something I did; only I wasn't there to admit that I was the screw up. Everybody was piling on Nick, students, even the teachers. Then ten-year-old Miles Edgeworth got up and proved that it couldn't have been Nick. Nick was practically in love with him after that."

"Hey, Larry, I was ten."

"Yeah, that's true." Larry tugged on his goatee thoughtfully. "The three of us were all pretty tight for a while after that."

"So, what happened?" Katie asked.

"Well, Edgeworth suddenly disappeared without a trace," Larry snapped his fingers. "Like one day he was at school and the next, boom, he was gone. This guy," he pointed at Phoenix, "wrote him letters for what, two years?"

"Three..." Phoenix said weakly.

Larry scowled and looked upwards. "Yeah, three years. Anyway, flash forward, to college, right? Nick is a theatre major at this point and we're twenty, I think? So this was over four years ago. Neither of us has seen Edgeworth in a decade. Then one day Edgeworth's picture shows up in the newspaper and the next day Nick's got a double major in pre-law."

"It wasn't exactly like that..." Phoenix said weakly.

"So wait, you went into law just to meet up with this guy?" Katie asked.

"Sort of. It's a lot more complicated than that. And there were a lot of things that happened later, too."

"True." Larry said. "Like that whole thing with the girlfriend..."

"Mia."

"Mia wasn't the girlfriend."

"No, but Mia was a hell of an inspiration."

Larry nodded respecting his friend's memory and then quietly raised his glass.

"A good woman, Mia."

"One hell of a human being." Phoenix raised his glass in concert. They both drank and were silent for a moment. Katie didn't press the point by asking.

"Anyway," Larry continued, "the story gets so much better. So, Nick finally met up with Edgeworth again in court, only the guy was a prosecutor now and they don't even get along at all."

"Aw," the girl made a sympathetic noise.

"Man," Larry said. "Even if he wouldn't admit it, he had some sad beers over that one. But then! At the end of last year, Edgeworth got put on trial for murder and he didn't even want a defense attorney because he confessed to the whole thing."

"I think I remember something like that," Katie said turning to Phoenix. "It was in the papers, right?"

"Yeah, a little," Phoenix admitted.

"Nick had so much faith in this guy he refused to believe he was guilty and defended him against his will."

"Whoa."

"Well," said Phoenix, "he wasn't."

"And that brings us to where we are today." Larry swept one hand across the air, indicating a marquee. "Edgeworth and Wright. Legal Eagles and Childhood Pals. That was the name of the headline, right?" He asked Phoenix.

"Something like that."

"Well," Katie leaned over towards, Phoenix. "I think it all sounds really romantic."

Phoenix sighed, recognizing that his friends were at least making an effort. "I just don't know what to do," he said at last. "I am so, so lost right now."

"Let me ask you this," the girl said. "Have you ever been with a guy? Like romantically or anything?"

"No." Phoenix's face started getting warm again and he had trouble looking her in the eyes.

"Look, Nick, just so know, you can turn the color of Merlot if you want but we're having this conversation. Now, you're crazy about this dude, right?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you think that might be what is freaking you out? Like that you are going to have to look yourself in the mirror and admit that you're at least kinda gay?"

"Obviously." Phoenix raised his eyebrows, as if to say get to the point.

"Don't you think that's what's so damned confusing? Not anything else? I mean," she said, "I think you know exactly what you want."

Phoenix looked at her blankly.

"Okay, lemme put it in small words your big old lawyer brain will understand. You've been chasing after the same guy your whole life. Why the hell would you stop now just because it's finally sunk into your damn spiky head why?"

"I...I..." Phoenix fumbled for a response but failed to come up with one. He glanced at Larry. Larry just looked at him expectantly. Phoenix sighed. "Okay, you're right. You're both right."

"Just invite me to the wedding, okay!" Larry slapped him on the shoulder.

"When did you get so smart, anyway?" Phoenix asked the girl, shrugging off Larry's hand.

"Please. Do you have any idea how many people come in expecting me to be able to solve their problems?" She snorted. "I'm better than a psychiatrist back here."

Phoenix laughed. "Okay, well then doctor. How much do we owe you for day?"

"Well you," she pointed at Phoenix, "the last round is on me. You," she pointed at Larry, "still have to pay."

"Thank you." Phoenix leaned over the bar and kissed the girl on the cheek. "See you soon, okay?"

Larry dug out his wallet and paid for his beer. "By the way, Katie, what time do you get off tonight?" Larry asked as they started to leave.

The bartender sent a sharp look in his direction. "Larry, for the thousandth time, we are not going out, not ever. Not in a box, not with a fox, not in a house, not with a mouse. You got it?"

Larry looked deflated for a moment and then appeared to have an idea. "How about a movie then?"

Katie groaned and made shooing motions with her hands. Phoenix waved a last goodbye and guided his friend out the door.

O O O

Back at his apartment, Phoenix made himself a sandwich for dinner and took out the Sunday paper, not having bothered to look at it much before. Scanning over the editorial section he noticed a letter under the heading, "Crusading Attorneys?" The letter read

To the editor:
In this era of activist judges, it is perhaps unsurprising that sentiments such as the right of the individual to perpetuate their own form of justice have trickled down the ranks. If Mr. Wright suspected foul play, why didn't he alert the police to the problem? I suspect our rising young attorney saw an opportunity for his own self-aggrandizement, too big to pass up, even at the expense of reasonable jurisprudence.
L.M. Quincy
Orange County

Phoenix put the paper down, bemused and but oddly unaffected. It was somewhat amazing to him that just trying to do the right thing inadvertently turned the doer into the bad guy in someone's book. At this thought, a connection jumped to life in his head and on a whim Phoenix got up and went in search of a book.

On the way, he paused at his keyboard, which sat in the corner the living room. It had been a gift from his mother, years ago when he'd just started college. He'd never been good at it, even back when he'd had a reason to use the thing. Since then he'd forgotten most of what he had known. Absently, Phoenix flicked it on and plunked out a few notes.

Middle C, E, G. He hit the notes and a C major chord rang out. He shifted one finger. Middle C, E flat, G. The tenor of the chor changed. C minor.

Phoenix turned the instrument off. There wasn't much he could do with it and he doubted he would ever take the time to learn it. Still, he couldn't bring himself to give it away. Sentimental, he told himself, that's what he was.

Remembering why he'd come in the room in the first place, he went to his bookshelf and fumbled through the contents, telling himself that one of these days he really ought to organize the shelves. There were paperbacks, from some time ago when he'd had the time to read them, mixed in with books from law school, and the plays he'd studied before that.

Finding the collection of Ibsen plays he'd been thinking of, he sat on the floor in front of the bookcase and thumbed through them to "Enemy of the People." He'd played Dr. Stockmann once and at the moment it amused and intrigued him to think that where some people were concerned, he was a sort of real life version of the same. He spent a few minutes flipping through the text, reading a page here and there and mumbling out loud half remembered lines.

Phoenix propped his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his crossed arms, letting the book dangle from one hand. It was an odd feeling that his life had drifted from fiction into hard reality. Six years ago, one year ago, a month ago, even two weeks ago, would he have pictured himself where he was now? Everything changed so quickly. In that moment, it seemed as if he had suddenly become himself, twenty-four years old, with his own law firm, cases and a reputation that made the papers and on top of it all, that thing he'd been waiting for, for so long with Miles Edgeworth was finally happening.

It didn't matter what Katie or Larry said, however, his relentless pursuit of Miles Edgeworth hadn't been entirely out of affection or idealized attraction. Miles had demonstrated a great truth to him once and shown him that one person really could save another, against all odds. When he'd seen Miles picture in the paper so many years later, he'd been reminded powerfully of that truth and how much he believed in it.

And then he'd met Mia.

Phoenix rested his forehead on his arms and closed his eyes. His chest felt tight and his heart ached softly at her memory. The woman had been a power to contend with. Young and brilliant, she'd been the embodiment of everything Phoenix had found in himself to believe in. He would have followed her to the ends of the earth had she lived long enough to take him there.

He felt an abrupt desire to tell Miles about her and about everything she'd meant to him. They had faced off in court ages ago, he knew, so Miles had known who she was. He'd also lost someone close himself, Phoenix mused sadly, so perhaps he'd be able to find a meaning in the incoherent ramblings that came out of Phoenix when he tried to talk about her.

Of course, he'd probably follow Miles Edgeworth to the ends of the earth, too, if he let him.

Eyes still shut, Phoenix smiled at the thought.

The ends of the earth, however, would have to wait. Right now there was another voice he wanted to hear, one which would take the edge off the unbidden memories of Mia.

Picking himself off the floor he went to get his cell phone. He dialed, waiting for the person on the other end of the line to pick up.

"Hey, Maya. How are you?"