September 25th, 7:00 AM
Fey Manor, Kurain Village

Maya and Phoenix woke early the next morning, knowing that the day was going to be long and painful. The first thing Maya did was phone Kurain's one and only funeral director and tell her the situation. She was sad to hear of the passing of Sierra's mother, but promised Maya that she would retrieve the body from the hospital and begin preparing it for burial the next day. Maya informed her that they only needed a small ceremony, but that it would be paid for by the Fey family, so not to spare any expense.

They made breakfast together after that, both being relatively quiet. They spoke only of what their plan was for the day. They decided that it would be best to channel Sierra's mother and speak to her before telling Sierra anything. They wanted to make it as easy as possible for her to understand, and Maya wasn't sure if letting her see her channeled mother was the best idea. She might not understand that her mother wasn't going to be around permanently anymore.

When Pearl made her way into the kitchen, Maya sat her down to explain what had happened. Pearl agreed to take Sierra to the park to play while Phoenix and Maya had another acolyte channel her mother to talk. When breakfast was ready, Maya made her way to the room Sierra was staying in to wake her.

She entered quietly, but when she looked to the bed, Sierra's little head turned towards her. She was already awake. Maya smiled at her. "Good morning."

"Morning, Master Maya."

"Did you sleep well?"

Sierra sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "Yep."

"Good. Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry."

Sierra nodded. "Okay." She looked up at Maya. "Is my mommy home yet?"

Maya felt her heart ache and she came forward to sit down on the bed, gathering Sierra into her arms to hug her tightly. "Not yet, honey."

Sierra sighed. "Okay."

"Pearly is going to take you to the park after breakfast though, how does that sound?"

"Yay! My mommy used to bring me there before she got sick!"

Maya smiled at her and stood up, taking Sierra's hand to help her out of bed. "Let's go eat. The sooner we eat the sooner you can go out and play."


Sierra ate breakfast quickly in her excitement to go to the park with Pearl, and sat fidgeting in her chair while everyone else finished. Once the dishes had been set in the sink, Maya helped Sierra get ready for her day out, and then handed her off to Pearl.

Pearl said nothing about Maya's plans to talk to Sierra's mother as she led her out by the hand. Maya stood at the front window and watched them go. Phoenix approached her from behind, setting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We should go find an acolyte right away, Maya. Pearl will keep her there as long as possible but little kids get bored and tired quickly. They won't be gone all day."

Maya nodded. "Right. I'm going to ask Mystic Rei. She's been there for Sierra so much while her mother's been in the hospital. I trust her, and she has a similar body type and hair colour to Sierra's mom. I think that'd be better if her mom thinks it's a good idea "

"Whoever you think is best," Phoenix said. "You know everyone here better than I do."

"I'll go call her now," she said, smiling sadly at him. "Why don't you go to the Channeling Chamber to wait?"

"Sure."

She watched him walk away before taking her cell phone out and dialling Mystic Rei's number.

Rei agreed to assist once Maya explained to her what had happened. She was sad to hear of Sierra's mother's death, but not necessarily surprised. She was more sad for Sierra, and was willing to do whatever she could to help. After hanging up, Maya headed to the Channeling Chamber to wait for her with Phoenix.

It didn't take her long to show up, she only lived down the road. She was dressed in acolyte's robes similar to Maya's, and had her long black hair tied back.

"Thanks for coming, Mystic Rei," Maya said as she led her inside the room. "I hope you don't mind if my husband watches."

Rei bowed at Phoenix. "Not at all. I don't think we've officially met, though I have seen you around the village," she said, looking up at Phoenix as he approached to shake her hand.

"This is Phoenix Wright," Maya introduced him. "Nick, this is Mystic Rei."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Phoenix said. "Thank you for helping us with this."

Rei nodded. "I will admit it feels a bit strange to be channeling Aimi, but I'm happy to do it if you think it will help Sierra."

"We haven't even told her yet," Maya said. "I feel terrible about it but I wanted to speak to her mother first, to see whether or not she thinks it would be okay for Sierra to see her as a channelled spirit. I'm not sure how much she knows about channeling, and I don't want her to get confused about, well, the permanence of death."

"That makes sense," Rei said.

Maya nodded and took a deep breath. "I guess we should get started."


They seated themselves on the pillows on the floor, and Rei closed her eyes to begin channeling. Her transformation was quite quick, it was clear to Phoenix that she was one of the more skilled spirit mediums in the village.

When Aimi opened her eyes the first thing Maya noticed was how relaxed she looked. She supposed it made sense; after being sick for so long, dying was probably a relief, at least in a physical sense.

Aimi blinked and looked first at Phoenix and then over to Maya, confusion evident on her face. "Master Maya?"

Maya smiled, trying to look as reassuring as she could. "Hello Aimi."

Aimi's face fell. "Ah. I'm being channelled."

"Yes, I'm sorry. You didn't realize?"

"Not until now, but I guess I should have realized given how good I feel. Who's channeling me?"

"Mystic Rei."

Aimi nodded. "That's good. She took care of Sierra a lot when I wasn't able to. Everyone in the village was so helpful, really." She took a deep breath. "Does Sierra know yet?"

Maya shook her head. "Not yet."

"My poor Sierra. I was holding on as long as I could for her. She was the only thing keeping me from not giving up, but my sickness finally proved too much for my body to handle. My biggest regret is not asking for her to come see me. I thought I was going to make it." She sighed. "Though I can't lie and say it's not also a bit of a relief. Not just for my own sake, because I haven't felt this well in ages, but because now I won't be holding her back."

"I'm sure you never did," Maya said.

"Maybe not in her eyes, but I did," Aimi said. "I couldn't play with her, or take her to the park, or let her friends come over to the house the way other mothers could. Maybe now she'll be able to live like a normal little girl."

Maya swallowed, glancing over at Phoenix. He was being respectfully quiet. Maya turned back to Aimi. "I wanted to ask you… do you think it would be a good idea to let Sierra see you? I don't know how much she knows about spirit channeling, so… well, I don't want her to think that just because you're here now, you're going to stay."

Aimi looked torn. "I would love to see her and say goodbye properly… but for now I think it's best if I don't. She knows about spirit channeling, but being so young I don't think she fully understands how it works. I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Maya said. "It must be hard."

Aimi nodded, wiping at her eyes quickly as a tear made its way down her cheek. "Please help take care of her."

Maya reached over to squeeze her hand. She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but she had to ask, just in case. "Does she have any family we should know about?"

"Unfortunately not," Aimi said. "Her father is gone, so are her grandparents, and both my husband and I were only children, so there are no aunts or uncles either. I suppose she'll have to be put into foster care somewhere."

Maya didn't let go of her hand. She looked down, finding it hard to look Aimi in the eye. "Actually… I was wondering something, I just wanted to be sure Sierra had no other family before I asked. It's another reason I wanted to have you channeled."

Aimi looked up, eyebrows raised. Maya was aware of Phoenix turning his head to her to look at her too, wondering what she was up to. She hadn't talked this over with him first.

Maya reached over to rest her hand against his arm. "I'm not really sure how to say this, or even if it's appropriate… but Nick and I have been trying to have a baby for over a year now, and just recently found out that it's highly unlikely I can get pregnant. We wanted to adopt… and well… we both really love Sierra."

"Maya?" Phoenix said from beside her.

She looked apologetically at him. "I was going to mention this to you before, but Aimi is here now, and I wanted to make sure she was okay with it."

"You mean… you want to adopt my Sierra?"

Maya nodded. "I would really love to, if you think it's a good idea. You said she has no other family, and this way she'd be able to stay near Kurain."

"I'm a little taken aback, but definitely not unappreciative," Aimi said. "I'm just surprised you've made such a big decision so quickly."

"So am I," Phoenix said. "Don't get me wrong Mrs. Sato, I do love Sierra too, but this is a surprise for me too."

"I know you're a good person, Master Maya," Aimi said. "So I trust your husband here as well, and I'd be more than happy to know you two are going to be the ones looking after my daughter. But… do you two need to talk about it more first?"

Maya sighed. "I guess we should."

"No, wait," Phoenix said, shaking his head slightly. "This is a surprise for me but… I can't say I have any disagreements about it. I think it's a good idea. I have another daughter, Ms. Sato, adopted as well, so I'm not totally new to this parenting thing. She's older but she was excited at the prospect of having another little sister or brother. Plus we have Pearls, and Sierra already loves her, so I'm sure she'd be happy with us."

Maya smiled at him, looking happier than she had in quite a long time. Seeing her look that way, he knew he'd made the right decision. Maya looked back to Aimi. "You have no idea how much this means to us," she said.

"I can say the same to you," Aimi said. "It's nice knowing Sierra will be with someone I know I can trust, and she'll still grow up knowing about Kurain and its history. I'd much rather her stay with people I know than be sent off somewhere where I'll never see her again. Thank you, Master Maya."

Maya shook her head. "Thank you, Aimi. And when Sierra is older and knows more about channeling, we'll definitely have you channeled again so you can see her."

"I would love that," Aimi said. "I may not be able to watch her grow up, but at least I'll be able to visit her, in a way."

They were all silent for a few seconds, seemingly lost in their own thoughts, until Aimi spoke again.

"I suppose I should get going," she said, "I don't want to overstay my welcome, and I'm sure you two will be very busy in the next few days. Please, take care of my daughter. Make sure she knows I'll always be watching over her. And feel free to have me channeled if you ever need me for anything."

"We will," Maya said. She sat forward to grip Aimi's hand in hers again. "Thank you. So much."

Aimi squeezed her hand, glancing between her and Phoenix. "I have to thank you as well. Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye, Ms. Sato," Phoenix said, as Maya smiled, a few happy tears slipping down her cheeks.

She was still holding Aimi's hand when Rei regained consciousness. She looked down at their entwined hands and then back up at Maya. "Master Maya?"

Maya let her go and wiped at her cheeks. "Thank you, Rei," she said. "We were able to talk to her about everything."

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all," Maya said, smiling over at Phoenix. "She gave us some great news, actually."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Maya nodded. "Me and Nick are going to adopt Sierra. Her mom thought it was a great idea. See, we've been trying to have a baby for a while now and it's just not happening so…"

"That's wonderful news, Mystic Maya. I'm glad I could help you speak with Sierra's mother."

"Now we just have to tell Sierra…" Maya said, looking over at Phoenix.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It'll be hard, but we'll be there for her, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah… Her and Pearly will probably be back from the park soon…"

Rei looked solemn as they all began to rise from the floor. "I'm sorry," she said once she was standing. "If you need me for anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

Maya nodded thankfully. "We won't. Thank you for coming."

She bowed slightly, smiled at Phoenix, and took her leave.

Maya turned to Phoenix. "I guess we should go prepare."


When Pearl and Sierra arrived home from the park, both of them headed into the kitchen for some lemonade that Pearl had made earlier that morning. Pearl knew what was to come, and tried to keep Sierra as happy as she could in the moments before Phoenix and Maya entered the room to sit down at the table with them, to deliver the news as best they could to a four year old.

For how young she was, Sierra did seem to have a good grasp on what exactly death meant. Maya got the feeling her mother had tried to prepare her for the inevitable when she'd gotten sick. She knew this would come eventually. Sierra understood her mom wasn't coming back, and of course there were tears and hugs all around.

It wasn't until Sierra timidly asked where she was going to live now that Maya and Phoenix told her. They weren't sure how she would take it. She clearly liked both of them, and she loved Pearl, but to be told your mother was dead and that you would be moving in with different people was big news for anyone, let alone a little girl like her.

Luckily for them, she seemed happy about it. After the tears over her mother, the news that she would be living with them seemed to cheer her up, at least a little bit.

They spent the rest of the day quietly, even heading over to Sierra's house to pick up some more things that she wanted. She didn't seem to want to stay there long though, and soon enough they were back at the manor eating dinner and spending some time watching TV before putting her down for bed. Pearl headed to bed not long after, leaving Phoenix and Maya alone in the living room of Fey Manor.

The TV was still on, but they were both clearly off in their own worlds, thinking. Eventually, Maya turned to him.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Today was hard, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "It was."

"I feel so sad for her," Maya said.

"Me too," Phoenix said. "But she has us now. We'll help her through it."

Maya managed to smile. "I guess we should call the adoption agency tomorrow and tell them we have to back out. I feel a little bad about that, but Sierra would've ended up in the same place if we didn't take her in. And knowing we have her mother's blessing makes me feel better. I wouldn't want her to think we're just taking advantage of the fact that she died. I really love Sierra, I want to raise her in a way that'll make Aimi proud."

"Being in Kurain helps too, doesn't it?" Phoenix said. "Being able to channel her and talk to her about it made me feel better too, and all we have to do now is talk to the Council of Elders and sign some papers for them, right?"

She nodded. "They'll still probably tell us to keep trying for a biological child, because they're just like that, but I think the fact that Sierra was born in Kurain will make them a little nicer about it."

Phoenix huffed. "Even if she wasn't, she's just a little girl. Can't they be happy she'll still have family after losing her mother?"

Maya sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. "Maybe. Rose will be, at least. She'll probably become Sierra's unofficial grandmother."

"When do you think she'll be ready to move to the house?" he asked quietly. "She's so used to living in Kurain. The manor is one thing, but moving to another city, a whole other home?"

"I don't know, Nick. We should just play it by ear. I think we'll need to stay here for a while though, to get her used to living with us first. Then we can tell her about the house and see how she feels about it."

"I'm going to take some time off work," he said. "We have some savings, we can afford it. I just want to get to know her better, you know? I don't want to be out working on murder cases when I have a little girl at home."

Maya cuddled into him more. "You're already thinking of her as your daughter, aren't you? You already love her."

"Maya, are you crying again?"

She nodded, hiding her face in his arm. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice muffled in the fabric of his shirt. "I'm just so… emotional. I'm happy, but I'm sad at the same time. I've wanted a child of my own for so long and now I'll have one, but it's only because this terrible thing happened to her. And then you, Nick. Just you being amazing, like always."

He wrapped an arm around her, squeezing her tightly. "I love you, Maya."

She returned his affection with an arm around his middle. "I love you, too."

"We should probably head to bed too. We have to go talk to a funeral director tomorrow."

"Okay," she said, sniffing and wiping at her eyes as she sat up. "Let's go."

He got up to follow her to the guest bedroom they were both currently staying in, watching as Maya walked ahead of him. She'd always played an important role in both Pearl's and Trucy's lives, but he still couldn't wait to see her as a mom, raising a young child of her own. It was true, the passing of Sierra's mother was sad and if it was possible to bring her back he wouldn't think twice, but he couldn't squash down the excitement he felt at getting the chance to raise another girl, and with Maya no less. He'd work as hard as he had to to make Sierra's life as enjoyable and fulfilling as possible, and he knew Maya would too.

They would do good, with her.