A/N: These next few chapters will be happening one right after the other instead of the "one shot" thing I've been doing with the large gaps of time. They'll also be focusing more on Apollo and Trucy now (just for a bit though). I've wanted to write something like this for a while so I might as well stick it in here instead of making it something separate, because it fits.

So this is something that I really want to happen in the next game, and if it doesn't well... wtf Capcom. Get on it, it's been long enough!


January 5th, 2029, 6:00 AM
Fey-Wright Residence

The ringing of Phoenix's phone woke Maya from her sleep, and for once that familiar old Steel Samurai theme song made her want to get up and throw the phone against the wall instead of causing the rush of nostalgia it normally did. She and Phoenix had a late night. After the kids went to bed they stayed up watching TV, which had turned into a heavy make out session on the couch, which had eventually made its way into the bedroom again. By the time they fell asleep they were both exhausted, and were going to be running on only a few hours of sleep for the trial, especially now thanks to whoever was calling him at 6 o'clock in the morning.

She could hear the shower running in the bathroom and knew Phoenix was already up and getting ready. Athena had a case of her own to investigate, so Maya was planning on going to the trial with him and acting as his assistant again. She'd only had time to help him with a few cases since the one in September, and she was looking forward to it, but she had hoped she'd be able to sleep in at least a little longer.

The phone was on his nightstand and she figured she should at least check the caller ID in case it had something to do with the trial. She rolled over to his side of the bed and grabbed it. She could tell right away that it had nothing to do with the trial since she didn't recognize the name displayed, but it still gave her pause. Instead of a full name, there were only two initials: T.G. She furrowed her eyebrows. She couldn't think of anyone she knew with those initials.

The shower shut off in the bathroom but she knew Phoenix would still be in there a while. She pursed her lips as she stared down at the phone in her hands, which was still ringing its tune. She usually wasn't one to snoop on her boyfriend's phone, but curiosity was getting the better of her at the moment. She decided to answer it.

She pushed the green accept button and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

There was a pause on the other end. "Um… Hello. Is Mr. Wright available? Do I have the correct phone number?"

Maya sat up in bed and settled herself back against the headboard. The woman on the other end had a soft voice and some sort of accent Maya didn't recognize. "Who is this?" Maya asked. She trusted Phoenix completely, and she wasn't worried about him being unfaithful or anything like that, but he didn't have many female friends and she found it strange that he even had initials set as a contact in his phone in the first place, instead of an actual name. It was almost as if he didn't want anyone to know the identity of the person the number belonged to if they happened to call when he couldn't answer, like right then.

The woman on the other end didn't speak right away. Maya almost thought she hung up, until that soft voice came through again. "…Who is this?"

"I'm Mr. Wright's girlfriend," Maya explained a little huffily. Who was this lady to question her? Besides, she asked first!

"Oh, I didn't realize he was in a relationship… At least I know I do have the correct number now. May I speak with him please?" The woman sounded relieved to hear who Maya was, which only puzzled Maya further. She was no closer to knowing who this mystery woman was and was reluctant to let her go, but she didn't want to risk her hanging up if she pestered her too much. "Please tell him it's very important," the woman said when Maya's silence stretched on.

Maya let out an audible sigh. "Just a minute." She crawled out of bed to knock on the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" Phoenix called back through the door.

"You have a phone call," she said.

"Maya, I'm a little busy, can you not ask them to call back?"

"They said it's important."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know. Someone called T.G. in your phone."

There was a clattering noise from the other side of the door and Phoenix flung it open a second later. He was clad in only his boxers and his face was still half covered in shaving cream, his razor forgotten in the sink where he dropped it, but he was already reaching for the phone in her hand.

She held it out of his reach. "Who is this, Nick?"

"Maya, please," he withdrew his hand and reached back into the bathroom to grab a towel, which he used to wipe his face with before throwing it into the laundry hamper. He walked past her into the room and to the dresser where he quickly pulled on a t-shirt and some sweatpants, then held out his hand again when he was done. "Give me the phone. I promise I'll tell you after."

She handed it to him with a look that said "you'd better". He left the room before even greeting the person on the other end, and she stood in the doorway and watched him practically race down the stairs before heading back to their bed. If she could get even another hour's worth of sleep she'd be happy.


Phoenix made his way downstairs to his office where he knew no one in any of the bedrooms upstairs would hear his side of the phone conversation. So much for less excitement in 2029, this was one hell of a way to get it started. Once the door was safely shut, he dropped into the chair at his desk, and spoke into the phone.

"Phoenix Wright speaking," he said, opting to sound professional despite knowing exactly who was on the other line.

"Hello, Mr. Wright. Happy New Year."

"What do you need?" he asked, getting right down to business. He was sick of her avoiding the subject that he continued to bring up any time he had the chance to, ever since Trucy had found that drawing in his sketchbook a few months ago. If she wasn't calling to talk to him about finally revealing the truth to her kids, then he had nothing to say to her anymore. "I have work soon, so I can't talk long," he told her.

Thalassa Gramarye sounded a little taken aback at the annoyed tone of his voice when she next spoke. He was usually so cordial with her. "I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, I suppose I didn't think much about the time difference—"

He exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Thalassa... Why are you calling me? I'm a little surprised to hear from you, seeing as I've always been the one to get in touch with you these past few months. I never hear a word from you otherwise."

"That's partially why I'm calling."

"Just to check in, like usual? You'll be happy to know that both Apollo and Trucy are doing just fine."

"You've spoken to Apollo recently?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact he's staying at my home as a guest at the moment. He's probably still asleep in the guest room upstairs right now. Trucy was happy to see him again at Christmas."

"That will make things so much easier," she said quietly, as if talking to herself. Phoenix waited on her to continue. "I'm so glad they've both developed such a close friendship," she said. "But I didn't just call to check up on them."

"You didn't?"

"No. I know how frustrated you must be with me, Mr. Wright. I've been forcing you to keep this secret even after you've made it abundantly clear that you wish to tell the two of them. It's been my own cowardice that's kept me from revealing the truth."

He listened intently to her, trying not to get his hopes up at all. Thalassa agreed to tell Apollo and Trucy about her right after they'd all come home from Khura'in, but she disappeared again before they could make any definitive plans. Phoenix could only ever contact her by phone, never knowing where she was in the world at the time, and she often avoided his calls altogether, or had her assistants take messages that she never returned. His patience was wearing thinner and thinner.

She took a deep breath. "I have made a New Year's resolution this year."

"And what would that be?"

"To finally reveal my true identity to my children... To finally tell them of their relation. I will admit I am scared. What will they think of me, for abandoning both of them? Even if I didn't remember them at first, I have no excuse for putting it off going on three years now despite having my memories and my sight back. But even if they can't forgive me for hiding it so long... They need to know."

"When do you plan on doing this?" he asked hesitantly. "If you really want to do this Thalassa, then talk to me about it now. If I let you go again I'm afraid I won't hear from you for months, and if you don't tell them soon on your terms, I'll have to tell them on mine. I can't keep it from them any longer. They're both grown up, they've both been through and lost so much. They deserve to know they still have blood relatives, especially Apollo. Trucy has me, and I do think of Apollo as part of my family and he knows he's always welcome here, but it's not the same. He's had no one for such a long time. He needs to know about his sister."

"I agree." Another deep breath from her. "You said Apollo is staying with you currently? How much longer until he returns to Khura'in?"

"School starts for Trucy again next week, so he'll only be here another week, and then he's flying back to Khura'in."

"Then I suppose we need to make plans sometime within the week. There's no point waiting until he's gone back to Khura'in if he and Trucy are both in the same country together right now."

Phoenix could hardly believe what he was hearing. For once Thalassa wasn't making excuses. She wasn't trying to convince him that she would call back later. She was honest to goodness talking to him about this, finally! He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Even if she was, that didn't mean she wouldn't disappear again or that she'd actually show up on the planned day. He would have to go about this carefully.

"Are you serious, Thalassa?" he asked. "You're not just saying this, and then going to disappear halfway across the world again, are you? Where are you now, by the way?"

"I'm currently in Borginia. As soon as we have a date and time decided, I'm going to buy a plane ticket to America. I'll even send you a copy of the receipt if you'd like. I'm quite serious this time, Mr. Wright. I've put this off long enough, and the longer I wait the worse their reactions may be."

"No offense, Thalassa, but I won't tell Apollo and Trucy that you're coming until you're here on my doorstep. I can't risk disappointing them if you don't show up."

"I understand why you don't trust me completely. That's fine."

"Alright, well… I think their schedules are relatively free for the next few days. When did you want to come?"


After talking to Thalassa for close to half an hour, Phoenix trudged back upstairs. Maya was sleeping again, but she stirred when he sat down on the bed beside her.

"That was a long phone call, Nick," she yawned, stretching her arms above her head and rolling onto her back to look at him easier. "Who was that? Why did you take so long?"

"Maya, I need to tell you something."

She sat up and gathered the blankets around her so only her face peered out at him. "What is it? You're sort of scaring me…"

"It's nothing bad. Well, not really. It is kind of surprising though. I haven't told anyone else, and you absolutely cannot say a thing about it to anyone, okay? Not even Pearls."

She looked intrigued. "Alright. What is it?"

He lowered his voice all the way to a whisper just in case and told her flat out. There was no other way to say it.

"Apollo is Trucy's brother."

She blinked at him. "You're kidding me, Nick."

He shook his head. "They're half siblings, but siblings nonetheless. They have the same mother, and neither of them knows."

"What…? How…? That's not 'kind of' surprising that's… shocking! I had no idea." She scrunched her eyebrows together. "But now that you say that, they do sort of look alike, don't they? Why haven't you told them? How long have you known this? Since adopting Trucy?"

She was asking so many questions so quickly he had to hold up his hand to stop her. "Wait. Save your questions, because there's more."

"More?!"

He nodded. "Their mother is alive, and that was her on the phone." Her jaw couldn't have dropped any further. "Oh, and you know the singer Lamiroir? She was kind of famous a few years back; remember I told you about how Trucy was helping Apollo defend the pianist she performed with when her agent was killed?"

Maya nodded. "Yeah, I remember I listened to some of her albums after you told me. They were good, she's an amazing singer. What about her though?"

"Lamiroir is their mother," he said. "Her real name is Thalassa Gramarye."

"T.G.," Maya whispered.

"Yeah. Sorry if some random woman calling my phone worried you," he said, smiling sheepishly. He was actually relieved that Maya had answered the phone since now it gave him an excuse to tell her about Thalassa. It felt so good to finally tell someone.

Maya stared at him, shaking her head in disbelief. "How long have you known this, Nick?"

"I didn't know when I adopted Trucy. I've only known since I hired Apollo to be my attorney a few years ago. You know about his ability, right?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, he can tell if someone is lying because he'll notice their nervous ticks, right?"

"Right. The bracelet Apollo wears is part of a set, and Thalassa has the other one. It helps him by tightening around his wrist when he subconsciously notices the movement, which makes it easier for him to focus and catch someone in a lie. You never knew this, but Trucy has the same ability. It's not as well developed as Apollo's and she doesn't make a point of using it to her advantage that often, but it's there, and it's something that's only found in children of the Gramarye bloodline."

"Whoa. This is a lot to take in, Nick. You've been keeping all that a secret for over two years now?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry for never telling you. Thalassa wanted it kept a secret. Trucy thinks her mother is dead, and Apollo doesn't even know that his mother is the same woman. Plus Thalassa had amnesia for a long time. She didn't even remember them when they first met her, so you can't really blame her for that, but she regained her memories almost three years ago now. She has no excuse anymore."

"Doesn't she want her kids to know she's still alive?"

"She does, but she's scared they'll be angry at her. Hell, I'm scared they'll be angry at me for keeping it from them for so long…"

Maya couldn't think of anything to say, and he looked at her almost pleadingly. He wanted her to reassure him that they wouldn't hate him for keeping this from them, but she was so shocked herself that she couldn't even guess how Apollo and Trucy were going to react.

"Trucy could never hate you, Nick," she said once she'd found her voice. "She loves you too much, and she's understanding enough. She'll probably be really happy to find out her mother is alive and that she has a brother, but I don't really know Apollo that well, so I don't know how he'll react to news like this. I'm sure they'll probably both feel a little hurt at first, maybe confused about why she didn't come forward sooner, but hopefully the fact that they're siblings will outweigh their hurt feelings."

"I hope so."

They were quiet for a few moments, Maya still taking in this new information and Phoenix desperately hoping she was right. He looked up when she started speaking again. "Nick… Is it possible for Thalassa to take Trucy back? Would she do that?"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Maya loved Trucy like she was her own, just like he did. "No," he said firmly. "It's too late for that, whether she wanted to or not. I'm not an adoption lawyer but I do know that her parental rights expired long ago. I'm not sure she would want to anyway, given she's kept this from them for so long, and Trucy is almost eighteen. If Thalassa really wanted that she would have tried it already."

Maya visibly relaxed, but she still looked a little sad, keeping her eyes trained on the blankets. He dipped his head to get a better look at her under her fringe. "Maya, Trucy won't replace you either. Just because her mother is alive doesn't mean she'll see you as anything less. I hope that her and Apollo will be able to have at least somewhat of a relationship with Thalassa, but Trucy would never forget about everything you've done, or the fact that you've been part of her life for longer than Thalassa ever was. You may not have been around all the time, but you were there when she needed you most."

Maya nodded, glad for the reassurance, and smiled up at him. "Right. I'll try not to worry about it. When is she going to come?"

"She said she was going to book a flight for the seventh, but we'll see. She said she'd send me a screenshot of the plane tickets once she had them."

"Sounds like you've had this talk with her before."

"Yeah, I have. A few times now, so I'm not going to tell Apollo or Trucy about her visit until the day of."

"Understandable." She glanced at the alarm clock on her side of the bed. "Whoa, you have to get dressed for court and I need to get ready so we can leave soon, or we'll be late," she said, sliding off the bed and heading to the closet where her robes and his suit were hanging.

"Ah, you're right. I was so surprised to hear from Thalassa that court almost slipped my mind."

"Don't forget to finish shaving," she said over her shoulder. "You had a long vacation and you were starting to remind me of your scruffy disbarred days before this morning."

"I thought you liked the scruffy look?"

"I do, but at the moment, you're only half scruffy. Besides, as much as I like it, you are going to court, so you should probably look a bit more professional."

He ran a hand over his face and remembered he'd been in the middle of shaving when Thalassa called. "Oh, right."


January 5th, 2029, 3:00 PM
District Courthouse
Defendant Lobby No. 1

Maya dragged herself to the nearest bench as soon as she made it out of the courtroom, with Phoenix following right behind her. They dropped onto it together tiredly. Maya's legs were killing her after having to stand beside Phoenix to urge him on and support him for six hours straight. The judge hadn't given them even one recess the entire day. The trial was pretty straightforward, or as straightforward as a Phoenix Wright trial could be, with no extra witnesses or information needed. They'd won and the client was on her way back to the Detention Centre to sign out, and Maya couldn't be happier to have it over with.

Maya reached over to pick a piece of confetti out of Phoenix's hair. She didn't even know where it came from nowadays. At some point, Gumshoe had been the one throwing it, but now it just seemed to float from the ceiling whenever they won a trial. She threw it to the floor and slumped against him. "I'm so tired, Nick. They need to give the defense and prosecution chairs to sit in."

He chuckled. "I know. I'm used to long trials but not any without a recess or even a bathroom break for six hours!"

"Maybe if the judge was forced to stand too, he would've thought about giving us a little break at some point! See how he likes standing for that long."

"Put in a petition for chairs in the courtroom, Maya," Phoenix said, fishing in his jacket pocket for his phone. "This thing has been vibrating for the last hour."

She leaned over to look at it when the screen lit up. "T.G. is texting you… a lot," she observed.

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "I don't hear from her for weeks or months at a time but I take an hour to answer her text message and she thinks I'm ignoring her. Doesn't she know I have a job?"

He unlocked the phone to scroll through her messages, which were just a lot of question marks and 'did you see it?' or 'did you get it'? messages, along with the same screenshot of her plane ticket purchase over and over again.

"How old is Lamiroir, Nick? She texts even worse than you."

He shrugged. "I don't know. A little older than me, I think. She must have had Apollo pretty young though." He tapped the picture and squinted at it. "What do you know, she actually did purchase a plane ticket."

"You think she really will show up, then? She is a famous singer, I'm sure she wouldn't go hungry if she decides not to use a plane ticket that only cost a few hundred bucks."

He was tapping a reply to her slowly and Maya had to restrain herself from grabbing the phone out of his hands to do it for him. "We'll have to see," he said. "I really hope so. If she doesn't, I'm going to tell them anyway, and she knows that. It's her last chance to do it on her terms."

"Just for the record, Nick, I think you're doing the right thing. I know you've kept this a secret for a long time because she's their mother, but in my opinion she definitely isn't the best mother in the world. She should have been running to them after getting her memories back!"

He nodded, he understood Maya's position all too well. "I always think about that time I lost my memory temporarily and went through a whole trial not knowing who I was, who you were, or anyone else either. When I finally remembered you it was such a relief, I can't even imagine getting my memories of such an important person in my life back and just… not bothering to do anything about it. She says she wants to wait for the right time, but there's never going to be a right time for something like this."

He finished sending his reply to Thalassa, and Maya stood up, having to tear herself from the bench. "Let's go home, Nick. I need a long relaxing bath after that trial."

"Another bath?" he said, standing up with her. "Don't try to tempt me again. I barely got any sleep last night."

She giggled as they made their way through the courthouse. "Not my fault you can't control yourself. I was just taking a normal bath."

"Sure you were."


When they got home, Apollo, Trucy, and Pearl were seated in the living room, going over Trucy's new driving handbook. Phoenix approached them and glanced over their shoulders from behind the couch. "You're actually going to get your licence, Truce?" he said.

"Oh, Daddy! We didn't hear you come in! Yes, that way when Apollo goes back to Khura'in, Pearl and I will still be able to go out without relying on those stupid bus schedules! And maybe if you let me use some of my savings from my shows, I could buy a used car? Just a cheap one!"

"That money is supposed to be for college."

Maya nudged him. "Come on, Nick. Trucy's shows are so popular now, I'm sure using some money to buy a car wouldn't hurt. Besides, she can use it to go to and from school and it'll probably make transporting her magic props to shows easier too."

Apollo leaned back on the couch and tilted his head back to look up at his former boss. "I think it's a good idea too, Mr. Wright. It would give her some responsibility and independence. It'd be up to her to keep it in running condition and buy her own gas."

Trucy bounced in her seat. "See, Daddy! If Maya and Polly agree, it must be a good decision!"

"You have a point, Truce." Maya and Apollo were almost totally opposite personality wise. Maya would look at this as something fun, Apollo would look at it as something serious, so when they agreed on something that generally meant it was a good thing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Yay!" Trucy jumped up from the couch. "Polly, let's go downstairs and go through this handbook. As the only person here who knows how to drive, you're going to tutor me!"

Apollo sighed. "Alright, alright. I guess we should get as much studying in as possible before I go back to Khura'in."

Phoenix walked around the couch to sit down in Trucy's vacated spot. "Oh hey, Apollo, Trucy? Could you two come to the office together on the seventh? Don't worry, I'm not going to put you to work or anything, I just need to show you both something…"

Apollo and Trucy exchanged a look, but Trucy just shrugged. "Yeah, no problem." Apollo nodded his agreement. Then all three of them, Pearl included, were gone downstairs.

Maya plopped down onto the couch beside Phoenix and turned so she could lie down. She rested her head in his lap. "You totally didn't make that sound really ominous, Nick."

He ran his fingers through her hair. "I couldn't think of a good enough reason. At least they didn't question me."

"Are you still nervous?"

"Of course."

She reached up pat his cheek. "You'll do fine. Thalassa should be the nervous one."

"I guess, but as annoying as it always was when she would blow me off, I do hope that they can forgive her. I'm mainly worried about Apollo. His circumstances are different from Trucy's."

"Mm, you're right. Did she ever tell you why she couldn't find him after the fire that killed his dad?"

Phoenix shook his head. "No. I didn't even know about that until last year. With her, who knows. Maybe she didn't find the 'right time' in Apollo's 24 years of life to look…"

"Maybe. Well, for their sakes, I hope she does show up this time and I hope she tries to make things right."

"Me too, Maya."

She sat up. "I'm going upstairs for a bit. Don't bother me, for real this time," she said, poking him playfully. "After that trial I need to relax."

"What? I can help you relax," he said, reaching forward to grab her shoulders.

She let her head drop forward as he massaged her shoulders, but eventually lifted her own hands to pull his off of her. "As good as that feels, I mean it. But… I probably wouldn't object to that later tonight."

"It's a date then."

She gave him a peck on the lips and got up to head upstairs, leaving Phoenix to contemplate how exactly he was going to go about introducing Apollo and Trucy to Thalassa again.


A/N: The next chapter is already half written (it was originally going to be part of this one) so it shouldn't take too long for the next update, for once. Thanks for reading/reviewing/following, as always!