Song: Always Remember Us This Way – Lady Gaga (A Star is Born OST)
Maya wasn't quite sure what she was doing here.
It was a cold December day when she took a train from Kurain all the way down to her other home, the Wright & Co. Law Offices. She hadn't been to the city in almost a year now, so the bustling atmosphere and hurry of general society around her flared a sense of familiarity. Despite Kurain being her true home, she always felt at comfort in the city.
Though, she was never sure if it was because she was a city girl or if it was because of the company she kept.
She felt an overwhelming sense to see him. The news she had gotten her hands on slandered that man, calling him a fraud, liar, and a coward. Every single insult and slang thrown towards the man who had saved her multiple times. It was one of the biggest conflicts she had ever had internally.
Every single word said about Phoenix Wright was wrong. He wasn't a fraud, he fought against frauds. He wasn't a liar, just a bluffer.
He wasn't a coward. He saved my life. Maya avoided the news after his apparent disbarment and struggled to keep in contact with him after the whole event. The man was well and truly disgraced, and even without everything turning to hell, she struggled to even leave Kurain. No doubt the village was panicking without her there.
But she just had to be here today. Why? She was having trouble figuring that out herself. She woke up earlier than usual and was dressed earlier than usual. The robes never did a good job of keeping her warm, and she always got strange looks. It was something she had grown used to.
After taking the usual route from the train station to the office, she found it to be looking abandoned. She shouldn't really be surprised, but in all honesty, she felt her chest tighten a little. This was her home. Her everything. This was also where her sister passed, and it looked completely ghosted. It felt disrespectful. Every second of work her sister had spent, scrapped.
She entered the familiar building and climbed the familiar stairs to go to that familiar room. Everything about the place felt dead, and yet, a sense of home filled Maya's body. The door didn't have that sign anymore. It wasn't the Wright & Co. Law Offices.
"Wright Talent Agency?" She spoke to herself softly.
Of all the things Nick would turn to after disbarment, trying to host a talent show may have been the last thing that ever came to mind. Although, he did always surprise her. She smiled, albeit softly, at the crazy things he used to do. Cross examine a parrot. Take many a whipping from Franziska.
Run across a burning bridge.
Maya was surprised to find it wasn't locked when she went to open it. What used to be a clean, crisp office with the only mess coming from Maya's own hands had turned into… Dump, was the first word that came to Maya's mind. Random objects scattered throughout, papers everywhere, and a top hat for some reason in the corner.
Maybe without law, Nick went completely mad.
At the very least, Charley was still here, and still strong.
Maya looked around at the room that had created so many of her fondest memories, and some of her darkest. She took in a breath, and knew this place was still occupied. Wherever Nick was, he still came here often.
Did Maya expect to see Nick? She wasn't sure if she even wanted to see him. How do you confront a man who has faced utmost disgrace? What do you do to help with the depression that comes afterwards? Maya was never good at that kind of stuff. Especially in her younger years, emotional maturity wasn't a major strong suit of hers.
She placed a hand on his desk. A memory. He fell asleep here one night, paper after paper stacked high next to him. She had placed a blanket over him, told him good night, and kissed his cheek. Technically, it was her first kiss. She had no idea why she had done it. No idea what kind of spirit warped in her to kiss him on the cheek, but she did it anyway, and she wasn't sure if the immediate feeling that filled her was regret, embarrassment, or joy.
Years later, she believes it was the third one.
This place was no longer hers. It was no longer theirs, and she knew she had to come to terms with that. Yet, it hurt. It did hurt a bit to know that this place where she had practically grown up was nothing more than cobwebs and insanity. She could wait here for Nick, but what then? Would he break down? Would she? Would things go back to normal? Would they wake from this nightmare?
Maya pinched herself daily, on the off chance that she would wake up in this exact office and realise she had left toast in the toaster. Or that she was missing the latest Steel Samurai episode. She wanted to wake and go back to a time where she felt warm and at home.
Maya felt her hand drag away from his desk, and yet, the bonds of connection didn't shatter. She never felt as if Nick was dead to her. The chain of their relationship still held strong and true, but she didn't know why. She didn't know what more she had with this disgraced man. What more could the world want from them?
She left the office as the sky darkened and realised she hadn't eaten all day. In her younger years, this would be the time she'd pester Nick for a burger. She always looked back on herself, and although she knew she could be annoying at times, it didn't really get to her. She liked tugging his tail a bit, even if she overdid it at times.
What are true friends without getting on each other's nerves every now and then?
She went to a bar nearby. Maya was by no means a drinker, but she craved some city food more than anything. The stuff in Kurain can sometimes get dreadfully dull. When she entered, she found a small crowd in the bar/restaurant. Plenty of spaces for her to sit alone.
One of those seats being by a lonely piano.
Maya had never really put her instrument skills to use, and definitely not in public too. However, she wasn't really going to get an opportunity like this again. The place was full of skeletons, and she was never one to be embarrassed.
Slowly, she went over to the piano, and noticed no one stopping her. Must be for public use. She took a seat, and only noticed a few glances in her general direction. She knew that failing a performance usually results in becoming the next social media sensation, so she took care to play something she had practiced before. It was from a movie she and Nick went to see before she had left for Kurain.
She played the first note, and along with it, she begun to sing.
That Arizona sky burning in your eyes.
You look at me and, babe, I wanna catch on fire.
It's buried in my soul, like California gold.
You found the light in me that I couldn't find.
She glanced around and didn't see any cameras yet. Nor was anyone really looking. It gave her time to reflect that the song she was singing reminded her too much of him.
So when I'm all choked up,
And I can't find the words.
Every time we say goodbye,
Baby, it hurts.
When the sun goes down,
And the band won't play,
I'll always remember us this way.
A moment of silence. Those were some hard notes to hit, but yet again, not really many looks. Maya was never sure of her singing ability. It didn't turn any heads, but she wasn't necessarily making people cry from the voice she had. Not that it mattered in the end.
Maya took some time, sucked down a shaky breath, and begun to slam down the notes harder.
Lovers in the night,
Poets trying to write.
We don't know how to rhyme,
But damn we try.
She lets out a laugh at that line. The two of them always did fluff about on the most severe of cases where peoples lives were at stake. She was convinced he never passed a bar exam, and the two of them placed a heavy burden on the police and many prosecutors. Still, they never technically lost a case.
But all I really know,
You're where I wanna go.
The part of me that's you will never die.
Their chain of relations was still there. Slowly, she was beginning to unravel why that was the case.
So when I'm all choked up,
And I can't find the words.
Every time we say goodbye,
Baby, it hurts.
When the sun goes down,
And the band won't play,
I'll always remember us this way.
She began to play at a more intense pace as she started to realise that breathing was becoming an issue. She wasn't sure why her throat was so tight, or her chest felt like it was being crushed.
Oh yeah,
I don't wanna be just a memory, baby, yeah.
She had to sing many repetitive notes, but it was becoming almost impossible to even speak.
When she felt a liquid drop on her hand, Maya realised she was crying.
She missed him. God, she missed him so damn much that it felt like the weight of the universe crushed her. He wasn't even dead, and yet the grief she felt of never seeing that spark of a man for months was consuming her.
But she could barely bring herself to face him. She felt as if she had failed him in every aspect and let him down in every step of her life. She felt like a leach that had sucked him dry and left him to rot, and she didn't have a clue how she could face a man who had already taken a dozen beatings, when she knew she'd be the blow to his stomach that would destroy him.
Maya sobbed, and she sang loudly. It was obvious she was crying. She didn't care.
So when I'm all choked up,
And I can't find the words.
Every time we say goodbye,
Baby, it hurts.
When the sun goes down,
And the band won't play,
I'll always remember us this way.
Maya felt drained of breath. Her lungs were sucked dry of every emotion in her body as she finished up this last song that she and Nick had shared.
When you look at me,
And the whole world fades,
I'll always remember us this way.
She sat the piano for some time, hiding her face from the world as she silently wept. Everything about the last hour filled her with so many emotions that exploded out into crushed tears that fell upon this dusty piano.
She knew how embarrassing this was. To openly weep in front of a bunch of strangers trying to get dinner. Yet, she felt as if no one could understand the pain she had gone through. The suffering she had endured in the loss of this man. Every single pore of her body screamed to be with him. She felt as if she was missing a limp without him, and the worst part is, she knew he could never feel the same.
What kind of man would fall in love with a stupid girl like him? She was full of regret with every day she never told him she loved him. She never even took any of their conversations seriously, and she was an utter joke. Maya dealt blow after blow to herself as she sat at the lonesome piano.
Maya felt as if she had become a memory for this man, and nothing more.
She didn't realise how wrong she was.
He sat by the bar facing away from her, but he knew the instant she started singing who it was. He had always wanted to hear her sing, but he could barely bring himself to look at the tears she was shedding, for he knew he had caused those tears.
So, Phoenix sat at the bar, and although the chain of relation was still locked between him and Maya, they never knew that they were simply a few feet apart on that fateful December night.
Looking at your partner, and knowing that you brought them suffering, is harder than any disbarment or Kurain test the two could ever face.