A/N: Well, we're back to Friday updates. I feel like I wasn't getting as many readers in the middle of the week on Wednesday, so I'll stick to updating on Fridays before everyone goes out for the night (or whatever you guys do on Friday nights).

Enjoy.

Phoenix wakes the next morning to the ringing of his cell phone on the nightstand. It takes him a moment to get his bearings when he opens his eyes, and for the memory of last night to come back to him, but when it does, he finds himself smiling from ear to ear. Maya's no longer in bed with him, but he can hear the sound of the shower in the bathroom attached to her bedroom, so he knows she's safe in there.

He rolls over to grab his phone and turns it over to view the screen. It's 10 AM, and Trucy is on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, sweetie. Is everything okay over there?" he asks, rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling.

"Mhm, everything is fine. What about you?"

Phoenix smiles. Of course. She's only calling him to find out how his night with Maya went. Pearl must not have called her since she'd headed right to a friend's house, and he and Maya had gone to bed before Pearl even arrived home.

"Everything here is great, Truce."

He hears her gasp softly. "Really, Daddy? Miss Maya felt the same way?"

"Yep."

"What are you doing right now?" she asks coyly.

"Sleeping," he says.

"Is Miss Maya with you?"

"Truce…"

She giggles. "Sooo, that's a yes?"

"No, actually. She's in the shower. Your call woke me up but Maya's been up for a bit."

"Sorry about that, but you never called me last night so I needed to know what happened!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. It slipped my mind."

"It's okay, I bet you were busy," she giggles. Since when did Trucy get such a dirty mind? He stays quiet, not wanting to discuss such things with his daughter. "Hey, Daddy? I'm really happy for you," she says.

"Thanks, Trucy."

"So I'm guessing you're not going to come home tonight either?"

He hears the shower shut off in the bathroom, and then the sound of Maya humming that same song that was on the radio last night. "No, I don't think so. Maybe not for a few days. Will you be okay there on your own?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Actually, I'm probably going to go over to Athena's until you decide to come home. She invited me over since she knows I'm not fond of staying home alone."

"That was nice of her. She's okay with putting up with you for a few days?"

"Hey! She's my friend, of course she is. So call me when you decide to come home, alright?"

"Sure thing."

"Okay. Bye, Daddy. Have a good day. I love you!"

"I think I will, Truce. Love you too, bye."

He hangs up and sets the phone back on the nightstand before sitting up, lifting his pillow to sit back against the headboard. Maya re-enters the room soon after dressed in a bathrobe, her hair still wet. She's running a towel over it as she walks towards the bed.

"Good morning, Nick."

If he gets to wake up to the vision that is Maya fresh out of the shower every morning, he'll be the happiest man alive for the rest of his life.

"Morning," he says, smiling at her as she sits down on the edge of the bed, her hands still bunching the towel around strands of her hair. "Is there any hot water left?"

Maya smiles. "Maybe some. You might want to wait a few minutes to let it heat up again, though."

"Alright."

She crawls onto the bed and moves closer, snuggling in to rest her head against his shoulder. "Who were you talking to?" she murmurs.

"Trucy called. She just wanted to know how things went."

Maya smiles, her fingers tapping against his chest. "She knew? Like Pearly did?"

"Yeah. I couldn't keep it from her anymore. She knew, and she always knows when I'm lying anyway."

"Well, we would have had to tell them sooner or later. I'm just glad they never found out about the whole pretend relationship thing."

"Yeah, me too. Oh, that reminds me. I got a new phone. I need to take a new picture of you for the caller I.D."

Maya frowns. "I haven't even done my hair yet."

"You look beautiful anyway though," he says, reaching for his cell phone again.

She smiles and holds out her hand. "Give it to me."

He drops it into her hand and she inspects it. "Fancy. You went and bought a brand new phone just so you could text me?"

He nods. "I was pretty concerned and I didn't want to have to wait for my old phone to be released from evidence at the police station. I'll get it back eventually for the data on it, but I needed a new one as soon as possible."

"That's sweet," she says, opening the camera and pressing the button for the front facing camera. She leans in closer to him, holding the camera out in front of them.

Phoenix leans over slightly so he's out of the shot. "Okay, you might not have done your hair yet but at least you've already taken a shower."

Maya snorts. "Come on, Nick. Hardly anyone will even see this picture since it'll be in your phone. You look fine."

She gets on her knees beside him and throws an arm around his neck, forcing his face closer to hers. She leans in to kiss him on the cheek, and he sees the flash go off behind his closed eyes. Maya giggles. "Oh, fine, Nick. No more pictures. But at least let me kiss you for real."

"No, I need to brush my teeth."

Maya grunts. "I don't care about that, but fine, on the cheek again, come on."

He sighs, and turns his face back to her. She leans over again, placing another soft kiss on his cheek. Quick as she can possibly move, she thrusts the phone out in front of them and snaps another picture.

"Mayaaa!"

She rolls away from him before he can reach out to grab her and glances down at the phone. He's trying to untangle himself from the sheets so he can get up and grab the phone back from her, but he stops when he sees the look on her face as she stares down at the little screen in her hands.

"Maya?"

She holds the phone up to her chest, holding it against her heart. It's alarming how quickly she went from playful to seemingly sombre, and when she looks up at him, standing now on the other side of the bed, he can see tears shining in her eyes. But she's smiling.

"We make a cute couple, don't we, Nick?" she all but whispers. She looks down at the phone again as he approaches her to look over her shoulder.

"If you like that picture, you should see the one Trucy took of us the night we went out to dinner."

She glances up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. She framed it for me after you left. I think she knew I was upset that you left. It's a nice picture."

She smiles and lifts a hand to wipe at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying."

He wraps his arms around her, gathering her against his chest. She clings to the front of his t-shirt, her cheek pressed against him.

"It's okay. We've had a hell of a week and I think it's been emotional for both of us. Now everything is just crashing together and moving so fast. It's hard not to get emotional, even for me."

"Really?"

"Mhm." He can feel her breath warm against his chest. "Hey, Maya?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

There's a breath of laughter from her as she pulls away. "Go take your shower. Then we can get breakfast."

"What, you're not going to say it back?"

She smiles coyly, leaning up to place yet another kiss on his cheek. "I love you too, Nick. Now go."

"Jeez. Always rushing me to get to the food. Is this what our relationship is going to be like? Me trying to be romantic, and you there like 'hurry up, I want to eat'?"

She pushes on his chest playfully. "Shush. You knew about my stomachs already so if that was a deal breaker, you shouldn't have come here to admit how much you're in looove with me."

He smiles at her, shaking his head slightly. "True, I guess. Okay. I'll be out soon." He grabs his bag from the floor and takes it into the bathroom with him to get ready for whatever the day has in store for them.

Phoenix spends the next four days in Kurain Village with Maya and Pearl, though Pearl does her best to give them time alone. He hasn't visited Kurain like this in years, and it feels like a blissful vacation he hadn't even known he needed. Despite all the turmoil the village put Maya and Pearl through over the years, with Maya's guidance, it has become a beautiful little village hidden within the mountains, and he's one of the only outsiders who has the privilege of seeing it.

Maya takes him to all the regular spots she's shown him a million other times. The hot springs, the cherry blossom trees, the training waterfalls, and the caves near the mountains. They're all beautiful sites, but they're nothing he hasn't seen before. And yet, getting to see them now, with Maya by his side as more than just his friend, makes them feel new again, and even more beautiful than he remembers. Before two weeks ago he never would have thought that he'd be able to lean down and kiss her under the cherry blossom trees, or hug her in the chilly mist of a waterfall. He feels like a teenager again, back when having a girlfriend was something new and exciting and fun, except with Maya it's not just the puppy love of a teenaged boy. It is new and exciting and fun, but it's also real.

He's known Maya for years and has spent endless amounts of time with her, so he thought he knew everything about her already. All her likes and dislikes and all her little quirks, but he was wrong. He's still learning things about her, things that she could really only show to a lover, like how she tends to squeeze his hand before letting it go, or how she always ends up stroking his hair like she's petting a cat while they lie in bed together trying to get to sleep, or how once she is asleep, she sleeps so soundly, which is in stark contrast to her rambunctious personality while awake.

He also takes more notice of things he's always known about her but never paid much attention to, simply because he's spent so much time with her. She crinkles her nose when talking about something she doesn't like, but her eyes get so big and expressive when she's talking about something she loves. She purses her lips when she's lost in thought, and has a habit of lightly grabbing his sleeve whenever she gets excited over something that she wants to show him.

All these little things put together only make him love her more, and it seems to grow every day he spends there with her.

On the fourth night Maya takes him out to the cherry blossom trees again for a picnic, though they leave later than usual and end up eating dinner rather than lunch. By the time they've finished eating and their discussion has moved on to mundane things like the weather, it's almost nighttime.

He helps Maya pack up their things, and they begin the walk back to Fey Manor together. It's quiet in the village after sundown, which Phoenix has to appreciate. Being a man, he's a rare sight in the village to begin with, and people take to staring at him when he's out during the day. It doesn't help that he's with Maya now, and though she hasn't made their relationship public knowledge, they don't hide their affections either. People know, and he gets the feeling that being the Master makes Maya somewhat of a celebrity in the village. It's apparently exciting news, not just for he and Maya, but for everyone who appreciates her as the Master.

She slips her hand into his as they walk down one of the smaller paths behind many of the houses, a shortcut Maya says, but he gets the feeling it may actually take longer going this way. He doesn't mind, the more time he gets to spend with her the better.

"Nick?"

He glances down at her, squeezing her hand lightly in his. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know that these past few days have been… some of the best in my life."

He smiles. "Oh, I'm sure you've had better."

She shakes her head. "I'm serious. Of course we have a lot of great memories together, and maybe we're not on some romantic getaway right now, but that doesn't matter. Just getting to be with you, not having to pretend anymore… it's been amazing."

He stops, and Maya stops as well when she feels his hand tighten around hers, pulling her back slightly. She looks up at him, an eyebrow quirked. They're standing directly under a street lamp and the yellow light reflects in her hair and her eyes and he just has to lean down to kiss her. Maya kisses back, her fingers grazing his jaw as she lifts her hand to his face, her other arm wrapping around his waist.

When he pulls back, he sees her tongue slide over her bottom lip just before she bites down on it, her eyes still closed. It's… sexy, a word he never thought he would use to describe Maya. Cute, yes. Maybe even hot. Definitely beautiful. But this is the first time he's thought of her as sexy.

He takes a deep breath, consciously taking a small step away from her. If he doesn't, he'll only end up frustrated by the end of the night. They still haven't taken that next step, and while he wants to, Maya still seems hesitant. He understands, it's not even been a week since he got to Kurain and everything happened so suddenly. She just needs more time to get used to the idea, which he's really fine with. It's just that certain parts of his body are not so easily persuaded.

She opens her eyes, a questioning look on her face. He just smiles and rubs the back of his neck. "We should get back or Pearls will start worrying about us."

Maya smiles softly. "She won't. She went to a friend's house tonight, for a sleepover. We'll have the house all to ourselves."

"O-Oh…"

"Yeah." She reaches out for his hand again. "But still. As romantic as stars and things are, I want to get back to the manor so we can crash on the couch and watch a movie or something."

"That sounds good to me," he says, falling back into step beside her. "And Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"These past few days have been some of the best for me, too."

"I'm glad. Now will you carry me?"

"What?!"

"I'm tired and my feet hurt. Please, Nick?" He sighs and stops walking. Maya claps her hands together. "Yay!"

She runs behind him, and he smirks to himself as she attempts to jump on his back. He hasn't bent down at all, and she's scrabbling to get a grip on him. Finally she makes a noise and smacks him on the back. "Bend down, Nick! You know I'm a lot shorter than you!"

He chuckles, but bends his knees slightly. Maya jumps, her legs wrapping around his waist and her arms around his neck. He grabs her legs to hoist her further up, his fingers wrapping around bare skin as her robes bunch around her legs. He swallows. Her skin under his fingertips combined with her breath against his neck, not to mention her breasts pressing softly into his back… This is going to be a long walk home.

It's almost embarrassing, the feelings he's getting just because he happened to touch Maya's bare legs and she was pressing her chest against him. He's not a teenaged boy who can't control his raging hormones. It's not even the first time Maya has hugged him or pressed herself against him like that, but it feels so different now, and he can't stop thinking about about how badly he wants her.

When they get back to the manor he excuses himself to the bathroom while Maya picks out a movie and makes some snacks, despite them having just finished dinner. He splashes some cold water on his face while he's in there, willing himself to stop acting like a teenager with his first girlfriend. Admittedly he doesn't have that much experience with women for his age. Sure, a few girlfriends in high school that never went far, then the nightmare that was his relationship with "Dollie". Even knowing that he was actually dating Iris half that time doesn't help. In fact, it almost makes it worse and even more messed up of a memory. Then after that, nothing. He never needed anyone. He had Maya and Pearl, and then he adopted Trucy, and finding someone to spend his life with didn't seem to matter so much anymore. It wasn't a priority, not when he already had the best family he could hope for.

The only time he'd been lonely in all those years were the two years Maya was away in Khura'in. There were a few times back then, mostly at Trucy's insistence, that he almost did decide to try dating again. He never got around to it, though. Then Maya came back, and everything seemed fine. He has to wonder now if he was reluctant back then because of Maya. Did knowing she wouldn't be in Khura'in forever hold him back? Maybe it wasn't a conscious decision, but he can see no other reason now that he thinks about it.

He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair in the mirror. Maya will be waiting with the TV on by now, so he really should get back out there.

Maya smiles from the couch when he enters the living room, where sure enough she has a small bowl of chocolate chips in her lap.

"Wow. Just pure chocolate, huh? Not even cookies or anything?"

She smiles. "They're so good though."

"I bet."

She holds the bowl out to him as he sits. "Want some?"

He obliges her and takes a handful for himself. Maya starts the movie, sits back, and nestles in against him.

"Nick? Are you sleeping?"

"Mmmno."

Maya pushes her shoulder against him gently. "Liar."

He takes a deep breath and shifts slightly in his spot. It was a tiring day. He couldn't help nodding off before the movie was even close to ending.

"The movie's over. You missed the best part," she grumbles, pressing her face into his shoulder.

He wraps an arm around her, swiping his thumb over her shoulder absentmindedly. "Sorry. I'm surprised you didn't wake me. You usually hate when I miss things."

"Hmph. I thought you were being unusually quiet, but the movie was too good for me to waste time bugging you to wake up."

"You missed my commentary, huh?"

"Well, no actually," she says. "I quite enjoyed watching it without you interjecting your opinion every ten minutes."

He shrugs. "Then there's no problem. You can just tell me what happened, if you want."

Maya sighs, but then sits up. "Oh!"

He finally lifts his head from the back of the couch to look down at her, eyebrows raised. "What?"

"How about instead of telling you, I show you what happened?" She's trying not to smile too much, but clearly whatever she's thinking about doing has her pretty excited.

"Oh God, Maya, I'm too tired for a re-enactment."

"But… I think you'll like it!"

He groans. "I'll just watch the movie again with you tomorrow."

"Seriously, Nick, I think you're really going to like this re-enactment."

He opens his mouth to complain again, but closes it abruptly when Maya sits up and swings her leg across his lap to straddle him, settling herself comfortably in his lap. She rests her hands on his shoulders, smiling shyly, barely able to keep eye contact with him for more than a second.

His hands move automatically to help steady her, staying safely on her hips, although he can't help noticing how her robes are riding dangerously high around her legs, the smooth skin of her thighs coming into view again.

"Maya…"

She puts a finger to his lips to shush him, and brings her face closer to his. "The movie had one of those typical romantic endings where the guy and girl finally got together," she tells him, her voice low. "You can probably guess what happened."

She presses her lips against his, and he thinks he probably won't ever get tired of kissing her. Each time it happens is like the first all over again, and even though Maya's kisses are still a little clumsy, it makes no difference to him. Besides, she's most definitely getting better.

He shifts, wrapping his arms around her, using them to pull her closer. He swipes his tongue along her lip, trying to subtly ask permission to deepen the kiss. Maya grants him this, allowing his tongue access to push and swirl against hers, and she moans approvingly, which sends a thrill through him, to parts of him that he wishes weren't so eager.

They part, breathless, and Maya rests her forehead against his. That seems their default position when their lips aren't busy, as if neither of them wants to be too far away from the other.

"I bet we did a better job than the actors in that scene just now," she murmurs.

He blinks, deciding to be honest. After all, didn't she say she could take a joke about sex a few days ago? "Maya, I don't want to alarm you, but you're really turning me on right now. As in, the phoenix has risen."

A laugh bursts out of her. "Nick, that is not even a remotely sexy thing to say right now. But now that you mention it…" She shifts, the friction of her hips against his forcing him to close his eyes.

"Please don't move around like that."

She smiles and takes his tie in her hands, fingers tugging at it. Her hands are shaking, he can see them, but she manages to untie it and slip it from around his neck.

"Maya, wait."

She stops, eyes meeting his, her cheeks dark red. "Yes?"

"Is this okay? We're not moving too fast? It's only been a few days… I don't want to rush you. And what about Pearls? She might come home…"

She smiles again. "I already told you earlier that Pearly is staying at a friend's house for the night. I maybe sort of… asked her if she could stay there tonight so we could be alone, so she won't be home for anything. And of course this is okay, Nick. If anything, this is long overdue."

She looks so sincere, her eyes so full of love, that he knows she's not just doing it to make him happy. She wants it just as much as he does, so he says no more as Maya continues on to the buttons of his shirt. She seems to be having an even harder time with those than she did with the tie, and he's glad he's not wearing his waistcoat today, or there would have been double the buttons for her to undo.

He watches her face as she concentrates. Her tongue is poking out of the corner of her mouth, her eyes narrowed as she fumbles. She looks up at him suddenly, face flushed, and notices his smile. She smacks her hands into his chest in frustration. "What's so funny?"

He wipes the smile from his face. He doesn't want her to think he's making fun of her. "Nothing," he says. "You're just cute when you're nervous." He takes her wrists in his hands. "You're shaking."

"I'm sorry," she says, reaching for another button, her attempt even less successful this time.

"Don't apologize," he says, taking her hands away from his shirt again. He entwines his fingers with hers and lifts their hands between them, keeping her fingers locked between his. "Calm down, Maya. You are cute when you're nervous, but we won't get anywhere if you can't even get my shirt off."

She stops and looks straight at him, those dark eyes searching his. She takes a deep breath and nods.

"Hey, I'm just as nervous as you are," he tells her. He's being totally honest. His body of course may react a certain way, but he can't deny the fluttering in his stomach or the way his own hands are a little shaky.

"But this isn't your first time… is it?" Maya asks.

"No… But it is my first time with you. Just remember, we can stop whenever. We don't have to do this if you don't want to—"

"No, I want to. I really want to, Nick."

He leans forward, grabbing her lips in another quick kiss. "Then why don't we move to your bedroom? A bed will probably be easier than couch sex…"

Her face gets even redder at the actual mention of the word, but she nods and climbs from his lap. She holds a hand out to him, which he takes, and she pulls him to his feet to guide him to her bedroom.

A/N: I finally got to use the "phoenix has risen" line in an actual fan fic, lmao.

Another little announcement:

There technically won't be a new chapter next week. But there still kind of will be. Basically, if you follow my page on AO3 you know I write a lot of smut. Well, given the ending of this chapter you all know what's going to happen. So next chapter is going to be smut, but I won't be posting it as a chapter here. It will be posted separately as a one shot, so that this fic, for people who don't want to read or aren't comfortable with smut, will stay rated T. Not reading the smut chapter won't affect the rest of the story at all so don't worry about reading it if you don't like it.

Since this is FFN I do have to say that if you want to read the smut chapter you're going to have to read it on AO3. I don't post smut to my FFN account, so I won't be posting it here, but if you want to read it you can find it easily on AO3, under the same username Boo2020. I'll be posting it sometime next Friday.