Turnabout Endings
Chapter 11: Sister Iris, Part IV: New Beginning
DISCLAIMER: The Ace Attorney franchise belongs to Capcom. I do not own any of the characters or locations. And all that bullshit.
A/N: Oh, dear. It seems I have only about a week left of Summer Vacation. What a shame. I go back to school on August 13th, so my updates may or may not be slower than usual. We'll see. Because by the time I get back to school, I'll have only uploaded probably 2 or 3 more chapters by then. Ah, well.

April 14th, 2030, 12:35 PM
Kurain Village
Front Gate

So, here it was. Kurain Village. Iris sighed. The past weeks were troubling and stressful. In light of her husband's death, Iris had been doing some thinking and research. Without a job, she wouldn't be able to afford to keep any of Michael's belongings for long, so she decided to just donate his belongings. He was always a kind-hearted man, and she knew that's what he would've wanted. She donated a few dollars to charity, and kept some money for herself.

She sold the house as well. In her last days in Michael Lynch's house, she spent most of her time crying, thinking about her future, sleeping, and the like. She didn't bother talking to Michael's friends – who had become her friends as well over the years – because she thought that there was no way they'd be able to comfort her in any way.

She had faced tragedy in her life before. And every time she would face it, she would gather the strength and resilience to stand up and continue living her life. But she wasn't so resilient now. She was fragile. She was broken. She thought she had moved on. Moved on from her previous life. The life she had with Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, her sister Dahlia, and the mysterious prosecutor known as Mr. Godot, or rather Diego Armando, who was given the death penalty for premeditated murder, despite the motive behind it.

Holding two suitcases in her hands, Iris took some steps forward. It was time she returned to the life she had moved away from. The memories she repressed were all coming back to her now. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Not that it mattered, considering she felt like death. She would never meet a man quite like Michael Lynch ever again. Not even Phoenix Wright was as sweet as him. Okay, well, maybe as sweet as a 19 year old Phoenix Wright, but not Phoenix Wright today, wherever he is. She wondered where he was, but decided she may or may not be seeing him again, considering she's in Kurain Village now.

On a journey to meet Maya Fey, the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique. Of course, she was a bit nervous. She felt a bit out of place here. And then a thought occurred to her. Now that she was here, how was she going to find Maya Fey?

She sighed softly in frustration, looking around. It would've been a bit awkward to ask a random person where the master of their village was, but it was the only thing she could do right now. She looked around, spotting a young woman in purple robes, but her hair was a light shade of brown, rather than Maya's raven hair. She might know where Maya would be, though.

"E-Excuse me?" Iris asked the girl as she approached her. As she got closer to her and examined her face, she came to the conclusion that this girl wouldn't be older than 20. Maybe just under. Like, 19 years old. And yet…there was something about her. A particular presence about her. She didn't know how to describe it. It seemed familiar, and yet, at the same time…it…

"Hmm?" The girl simply responded. "How may I help you, ma'am?"

Iris blinked. She didn't look that lost, did she? "Err…I'm looking for a Maya Fey. You wouldn't know where she is by any chance, would you?"

The girl smiled in slight amusement. "Follow me. I'll show you to her. Around here though, we call her Mystic Maya, since she's the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique."

"Y-Yes, I know." Iris replied as she began to follow the young lady.

"Do you happen to know her by any chance? I haven't seen you around here before…" The girl said, continuing to walk.

"Err…you could say that. We have met. I am a…distant relative. To be honest, I've not seen her in a whole decade." She stated as she examined the village. There were small houses everywhere, most of which looked the same. There was also sand everywhere, which is quite annoying, considering Iris was wearing sandals. Then again, so was everyone. Actually, some of the people here were walking barefoot…

"Oh? What is your name?" She asked, snapping Iris from her thoughts.

"Err, my name is just…Iris." Iris replied. She had many surnames in her life. Her birth name was Iris Fey, but then she became Iris Hawthorne, and for five years, she was known as Iris Lynch, but now…she was now just Iris.

"Really now? I knew an Iris when I was little. She was pretty nice, even though I was a little brat around her when I was younger." The girl said with a smile, presumably/most likely reminiscing old memories and such.

They continued chatting until they finally reached a house. It was slightly bigger than all the other houses, but it was still a house, nonetheless. The girl continued to walk in, signaling Iris to follow. "Come."

Iris did so. The house was beautiful. After a few turns inside the house, the girl entered a garden, with Iris following behind. There, she saw a woman with long, raven hair. There she was. Maya Fey. She looked different from these last ten years, but then again, so did Iris. She seemed to be tending the garden, watering the plants and such.

"Mystic Maya? Someone's here to see you," the girl spoke up.

"Who is it, Pearl?" Maya asked, turning around. As she did so, she blinked. "It's…you."

Iris nodded. "It's been a long time, Maya Fey."

"It's been a decade now. I thought you'd have moved on once you got out of prison," Maya said. With her age, her upbeat personality seemed to be replaced with that of a serious-minded personality. Of course, it was probably because her duties as the Master made her more down to earth and such. And yet, she wore the exact same clothing and sported the exact same hair style. Maybe people don't change completely after all.

"I thought I did too…" Iris said rather distantly, but cleared her throat to snap herself back to reality, "So…I imagine the last few years have been—"

"Now, wait just a second!" The girl named Pearl exclaimed. "You're…you're the same Iris from when I was just 9 years old?!"

Maya laughed a bit. "Calm down, Pearl. Let's go inside and have some tea."

"I certainly didn't expect to see you again, Iris!" Maya exclaimed as if she was a very close friend. They may have been cousins, but Maya didn't know about her existence until roughly a decade ago, and even then, complications arose.

Heck, it was still a bit awkward for Iris, though Maya seemed to be perfectly fine with seeing an old cousin that she had only met once in her life.

"Yes, quite," she replied as she sipped her tea.

"So what brings you to Kurain Village?" Maya asked curiously.

Hmm. That's curious. Her tone and choice of words changed in these past ten years. Perhaps this experience as the Master made her wiser? Iris pondered this but it didn't take long until she pushed aside the thought for now.

"Let's just say that some…complications arose when I tried to settle for a normal life," Iris said sadly as she remembered the events of the fateful day just weeks ago. She knew that deep down in her heart she hadn't gotten over the death of her husband, and she probably won't for quite some time. "So I've decided that I shouldn't deny my destiny, and…well, perhaps help out in the village? Perhaps I could work as a shrine maiden here like I was at Hazakura Temple?" She requested as she set down her cup of tea.

Maya nodded without hesitation. "Of course! Anything to help a family member, no matter how distant!" She said eagerly, which surprised Iris while Pearl observed their conversation in silence.

To think that Maya is acting like nothing happened! She didn't bother to bring up the incident. That incident. The TT-5 Incident. Of course, perhaps it was better to leave things in the past. And besides, it wasn't like Iris was the one who directly killed Misty Fey. That was Diego Armando's doing. Iris just assisted a bit.

All these personality changes made Maya seem like a completely different person. A decade was a long time, and there was a lot of time to change.

With a smile and nod, Iris began talking again. "Thank you so much. Your words are greatly appreciated."

Iris, Maya, and Pearl began to chat like normal friends. They had finished their tea long ago, but they continued to talk, and talk, and talk. One thing led to another, and they began talking about the past again.

"…and whatever happened to Phoenix Wright?" Iris said. She had moved on from him, and even stopped calling him 'Feenie.' It's not like there was any point. She might as well refer to him as his real name. After all, he probably doesn't belong to her anymore. He most likely would've found another woman. A woman that was truly right for him. They probably had a child together. He was probably happy with his new life.

The question gave Maya an uncomfortable expression. "Err…I don't know. Well, I do know, but it's not certain. I haven't talked to him in three years to be honest. Maybe not much has changed, but you never know."

"Well, when you were still in contact with him, what was going on? I already heard he was disbarred, but that's about it," she said.

"Well, his last case led to some complications. The defendant, I forget what his name was, had a daughter. He was a single father, from what I heard. He disappeared when Nick…" she cleared her throat, "…couldn't prove him innocent. He was a magician, and he literally disappeared from sight." She said.

"But that's impossible, isn't it?"

"We can never know with those magicians. Anyways…from what I remember from Nick's letters, the daughter ended up being adopted by Phoenix. And then he became a mentor to a defense attorney named Apollo Justice. And then…we just lost contact."

"What do you mean, lost contact?" She said as she raised an eyebrow. Did something bad happen to him?

"Poor choice of words. I apologize. We just eventually…moved on with our lives. We weren't who we used to be. He's no longer the confident and hard-working defense attorney I knew. I'm no longer the bubbly and energetic young girl I once was. Things change. People like us changed. We didn't bother anymore. It was a long distance friendship, and we both knew it had to end someday. I just didn't think it'd be so abruptly…"

"Well, why don't we give him a surprise and go visit him?"

"Hmm. I would occasionally think about that, but then I'd give myself an excuse, like the "I'm too busy" or something like that. Or I just convince myself that I'm actually waiting for him to visit me someday, but I'm sure he's busier than I am."

"So why not do it now? I'd do anything to see him again!"

"Oh, yeah? I think Pearl has something to say about that. Isn't that right?" Maya said with a laugh.

Pearl began to blush in embarrassment. "Oh, come on, Mystic Maya! I was only 8 years old! Besides, the reason I was like that when I was little was only because of how you described him in your stories! Plus…our family background, but anyway…"

"So, let's do it now?" Iris asked.

"Oh, I don't know. It's been so long. What if he doesn't—"

"Maya, are you making an excuse?" Iris said jokingly as she raised an eyebrow.

"…I suppose I am. Be warned though, I don't possess a vehicle, and I suspect you came on foot. Or hopefully, a taxi cab," Maya said, to which Iris nodded.

"Indeed. Let's go now!" Iris said eagerly as she stood up.

"I suppose I have some free time. Do we just…knock on his door and say hi? He still practically lives in his office. Even though now it's the Wright Anything Agency, apparently."

"Yes, we'll just appear out of nowhere and say hi. Pearl, you're coming too."

"And so, it was agreed. The three did indeed come to see me…" Phoenix said, catching his breath from the excessive story-telling to Franziska, who was paying close attention to every single word that came out of his mouth.

"Hmm, yes. Quite fascinating." Franziska said as she put a hand to her chin in thought. It was a habit of hers. She started doing it around her mid-20s, and it stuck to her ever since. "So what happened next, Phoenix Wright? Did they meet this Apollo Justice? And your daughter?"

Phoenix nodded. "Yes, the reunion went a little something like this…"

A/N: I've really been lazy and stuff. Again, expect even slower than usual updates due to school. Then again, it might have the opposite effect, and school will motivate me to work harder…or something, I don't know. It' 7:12 AM, alright? Gosh.

…Oh, right. Reviews, please.