"Nick, get the door!" Maya yelled, sprawled out on the sofa in front a repeat episode of the Steel Samurai.
"Fine, fine…" Phoenix reluctantly got up from his desk to answer the door.
Through the frosted glass of the door he could see a male figure dressed in dark pink; only one person wore that colour.
"Edgeworth, hi!" said Phoenix, opening the door to let the prosecutor in, "Come on in, have a drink!"
"Oh, if you insist…" Edgeworth came into the office, "Ah, Maya and Pearl are here too!"
Maya tore her eyes away from the TV screen for a moment. "Mr Edgeworth! Wow, it's been ages since I last saw you!"
"It's… good to see you," said Edgeworth, "My, you've certainly come a long way…" He gestured towards her baby bump.
"Yeah, I know! I can't believe that so soon I'll have my own baby!" She affectionately patted the bump.
"I'm going to be its Auntie Pearly!" Pearl said happily.
"I'm sure you'll make a good aunt," said Edgeworth, "Might I sit down?"
"Sure," said Phoenix. "What d'you want to drink? Tea? Coffee?"
"I'll have a tea, please," he replied politely, sitting on the empty armchair. Phoenix wandered into the kitchen to make drinks.
Maya picked up the remote and paused the episode she was watching. "I'll save that for later! So, um… what are you doing here?"
"Well, I was just on the way back from the dry cleaners and I thought I'd stop by," he explained, "I was wondering if you had been invited to the police department Christmas party tonight?"
"Oh, yeah! Me and Nick are definitely going!" Maya said excitedly, "I've got the best outfit ever sorted out! And we're going fancy-dress shopping later to get Nick an outfit too, it'll be amazing!"
"Oh, really?" Edgeworth looked faintly amused at the idea of Phoenix in fancy dress. "I wasn't sure whether to go myself. I mean, I'm expected to attend, but I'm sure Franziska will be there too, and… well…"
"Oh, so things are still a bit… tense?" said Maya.
"Hmm, you could say that. We haven't actually spoken for several weeks."
"Oh. Right." Maya considered this for a moment. "Well, I think you should go anyway! Dress up and show her that you're fine without her – just go along and have a good time!"
"Maybe I will," Edgeworth said, "But still… mightn't I look a fool, dressing up? What on earth would I dress as?"
"Huh. I don't know."
Pearl meanwhile was looking at the carrier bag which Edgeworth had brought with him.
"What is in that bag, Mister Edgeworth?" she asked.
"Oh, just a few suits. I picked them up from the dry cleaners before coming here, you see."
"Oh." Pearl bit on her thumbnail, thinking. Her eyes suddenly lit up. She leaned over to Maya and whispered something in her ear.
"Wow, yes!" said Maya, grinning, "Mr Edgeworth, I know what you can dress up as!"
"Really? What?"
"Just… come with me, OK? I promise, you'll love it!" She heaved herself up off of the sofa and grabbed Edgeworth by the arm. As she dragged him away, she winked at Pearl.
Once they were out of sight, Pearl got up and rushed towards the carrier bag. She took something out and hid it behind the back of the sofa.
When Phoenix came back in with a tray of drinks, everyone had returned to their seats.
"What took you so long, Nick?" asked Maya, "I'm dying of thirst here!"
"Oh, Larry called a few minutes ago and I got distracted. He broke up with his girlfriend… again…" He put down the tray on the coffee table and looked around at the three people sat around him. "You all look a bit… shifty. You haven't stolen anything, have you?"
"N-no!" said Maya, a bit too quickly. Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "Honestly, what would I want to steal from you, Nick? You're poor, and all your stuff sucks!" she argued.
"Thanks," he said, "So, are we still going baby shopping later?"
"Yep!"
"And… do we still have to go to the fancy dress shop…?"
"Um… well, actually, I already brought you an outfit from the fancy dress shop in Kurain!" said Maya.
He looked at her suspiciously. "There isn't a fancy dress shop in Kurain, Maya."
"Y-yeah there is! There's a new one which opened… er… yesterday!"
"No there's not, Mystic Maya," said Pearl, "We got Mister Nick's outfit from-"
"Shhh!" Maya said quickly, "Just go along with it, OK?"
Edgeworth and Phoenix exchanged a confused look; neither of them knew what Maya and Pearl were up to.
A mug of tea later, Edgeworth left, promising to see them later at the party. As soon as he was gone, Phoenix confronted the two girls.
"What the heck are you going to make me wear tonight? And why were you lying about there being a fancy dress shop in Kurain?" he demanded.
"Hey, calm down! All will be revealed now that Edgeworth's gone!" said Maya, "Pearly, show him!"
Pearl reached behind the sofa and pulled something out.
"Oh!" said Phoenix, "Right. Hmm. Actually… that's not a bad idea!"
That evening, the three of them returned to the office with bags full of baby items. Phoenix's wallet felt considerably lighter after their shopping spree.
"Well, that was fun!" said Maya, "We should do it again sometime! And next time we should go to the burger place three times – two burger breaks just weren't enough!"
Phoenix sighed. "Maybe. I'll think about it. But we've got most of the stuff we need for the baby now, right?"
Maya pulled out her checklist. "Yep! But this checklist is only for a newborn baby… wait til you see the next list!"
"Oh, no…" he groaned, "Let's save that for some other time, OK?"
Pearl looked at the clock. "Hey, you two need to get changed into your outfits! You need to be ready in time for the party tonight!"
"Pearly, you're right!" said Maya, "Come on, let's go and get changed! We're going to look awesome together!"
"You think so?" said Phoenix, "Our outfits don't really go together…"
"You'll look lovely!" said Pearl, "Just like a sweet, happy couple!"
Phoenix didn't feel sweet or happy as he parked his car outside the police department. He was starting to doubt that wearing this outfit was a good idea; in fact, he was dreading seeing Edgeworth's reaction.
The doorway had been hung with tinsel and Detective Gumshoe was in the doorway giving out glasses of champagne. He was wearing a Santa costume, complete with a curly white beard.
"Hey, pal! You look great!" he said, "That cravat really suits you!"
"Um… thanks." Phoenix looked down at his outfit; the pink suit and frilly cravat weren't really his thing, and he didn't think the outfit suited him at all. He wondered what Edgeworth would be wearing.
"Your outfit is cool too!" said Maya, "You have just the right build for Santa!"
"Thanks, pal!" said Gumshoe, "Hey… wait! Is that an insult?"
"No, not at all!" she said, "So… d'you like my virgin Mary outfit?"
"Oh, so that's why you have a tea towel on your head!" said Gumshoe.
Phoenix took a glass of champagne and they went on in to the party. Immediately he spotted Franziska, wearing a short green elf dress and a little cap with pointy red boots. Phoenix couldn't help thinking she actually looked… pretty cute.
"Um… hi, Franziska…" said Maya nervously. The two of them hadn't spoken since Maggey's wedding, which had been quite a long time ago by now.
"Ah, Phoenix Wright!" she said, completely blanking Maya, "I see you have chosen to dress yourself a little more smartly than usual."
"Y-yeah…" Phoenix said, blushing. Her legs were very nice, he noticed. "You look… great!"
"Why, thank you," said Franziska, "And merry Christmas."
Phoenix grinned sheepishly.
"So, you decided to leave your whip at home?" Maya joked. Franziska aimed an icy glare at her and then continued to ignore her.
"Still, Phoenix Wright, I don't see why a man like yourself would choose to dress as a fool like Miles Edgeworth."
"Well, it's kinda for a joke, I guess…" said Phoenix, "I mean, I don't really want to look like Edgeworth…"
Franziska giggled; Maya almost did a double take. Why was Franziska… giggling?
"Hehe. Yes, well, he can't really compare to you… can he now?" she said.
Maya was starting to get annoyed. If she didn't know better, she'd think that Franziska was flirting with Phoenix. But that was impossible, surely?
"Hey, Nick! There's Edgeworth!" she said, tugging on his sleeve, "Let's go and say hi, OK?"
"OK… see you later," said Phoenix to Franziska. Maya could've sworn she saw Franziska wink.
Phoenix was the one who did a double take this time, when he saw what Edgeworth was wearing.
"Huh? Edgeworth? But… that's…" he gestured speechlessly at the royal blue suit and red tie of Edgeworth's fancy dress costume.
"Wright! Why on earth are you wearing my clothes!" said Edgeworth angrily.
"I could ask you the same thing!"
"Well, Maya kindly lent me this outfit earlier today! Now, how did you get hold of my suit?"
"Pearl gave it to me!" said Phoenix, "She borrowed it from your dry cleaning bag when you came to the office this morning!"
Both of them turned to Maya. "Did you set this up so we'd be dressed as each other?" asked Phoenix.
"Yep! Surprise!" said Maya, "I'm so smart, right?"
Edgeworth shook his head in disbelief. "Well, you'd better not get that suit dirty, Wright. And you're paying for it to be dry cleaned and delivered back to me when you're done with it!"
"Fine! But only if you get MY suit dry cleaned too!" Phoenix retorted.
"Ha, I think not! A cheap suit like this does not need to be dry cleaned! It would be cheaper just to buy a new suit!"
"Hey, I'm not THAT cheap!" said Phoenix, "For your information, that suit cost me-"
"Whoa, don't argue, you two!" said Maya, "Let's just have a good evening, OK?"
"Alright," Edgeworth agreed, "So, have you seen… er… Franziska?"
"Yeah, she's dressed as a cute elf," said Phoenix, "We were talking to her a few minutes ago, weren't we Maya?"
"Yes," said Maya, "But did you notice her acting a bit… weird?"
"No, not really," said Phoenix, "She seemed normal to me."
"Oh." Maya skimmed her eyes across the room and focussed on Franziska, who was in conversation with some other prosecutors but seemed to be watching them. Maya looked away; it was probably nothing.
Franziska continued to observe Phoenix. Truthfully, he interested her very little and she found him somewhat repulsive. But all the same, he seemed to be falling for her charms tonight… and if she succeeded, he would be the perfect way to make Miles Edgeworth jealous. It would only be a matter of time before he realised what he was missing and she had him wrapped around her little finger again…
Later that evening, Maya found herself to be pretty much the only sober person. She sat on a chair by the wall while everyone else did a drunken conga around the room. The music boomed as Phoenix danced clumsily past; Franziska's arms were on his waist. This was ridiculous, Maya thought. Sure, Franziska was a bit tipsy, but surely she would rather die than flirt with Phoenix?
Several minutes later, the conga broke up. Franziska and Phoenix went over to the bar.
"Huh. Maya's staring at us," said Phoenix.
"Forget her," Franziska snapped, "Come on, drinks are on me!"
"'K, sounds good…" Phoenix stumbled a bit and Franziska grabbed his arms to steady him.
She bought a couple of drinks and handed one to Phoenix.
"Are you alright, Phoenix Wright? You look queasy."
"'M fine… it's kinda hot in here…"
Franziska decided to seize the opportunity. "You're right! Come on, let's get out of the crowds."
She took him by the hand and led him out of the drunken crowd and into a quieter corner where something hung above their heads.
"Ah, look. Mistletoe." She pointed to the ceiling.
"Huh…? Um… what's that?" Phoenix said. He looked pale and wobbled a bit.
"Idiot," Franziska muttered under her breath. She looked around the room; Miles Edgeworth's eyes were on them, as were Maya Fey's. Perfect.
She flung her arms around Phoenix's shoulders and kissed him. After nearly a minute of fumbling, they broke apart. Phoenix looked a faint shade of green.
"You're hot…" he said, his eyes unfocussed. Then suddenly he doubled over and made a retching sound. "I… I'm gonna throw up!"
Franziska reacted quickly, running behind him and shoving him out into the corridor. He stumbled through the double doors and emptied the contents of his stomach all over the floor.