By the time an hour has rolled by, Maya is already regretting saying she'd be okay staying at the office alone. It's not that she's scared, but after the week she's had with him, suddenly not having Phoenix around feels incredibly lonely. She knows that she's going to have to get used to not seeing him every day, the same way it's been for most of their friendship, but after only a week she's not ready for that yet. She wants to spend every waking moment with him while she still can.

She wishes she'd at least told him to call or text her once he got to Edgeworth's. Though she doesn't think Molly would be dumb enough to try something like kidnapping Phoenix in the middle of the day in a busy city, after the amount of DNA evidence that was found in the apartment, Maya's not sure she can put anything past her anymore.

Still, she's sure Phoenix is fine, and she doesn't want to interrupt him when he's talking to Edgeworth about something important. She busies herself instead with watching TV, playing some games on Trucy's console, and watching videos on her phone.

Athena calls her at one point to inquire about the office, and Maya brings her up to date. Because the nature of the break in was so personal and embarrassing for Phoenix, he'd opted not to let Athena in on some of the more major details. The investigation was mostly taken care of before he or Maya had even shown up anyway, and another body in the room while they cleaned up would have only gotten in the way. Athena tried to protest, but for once Maya had the opportunity to hear Phoenix use his 'boss' voice. Instead of letting her come in to help, he'd given her a few days paid vacation to take a rest after all of the cases she'd taken on prior to his leaving for Kurain Village the week before.

There isn't much more to tell Athena since they haven't heard anything back regarding DNA or fingerprints yet, and they hang up after only a few minutes. Maya calls Fey Manor next, and spends half an hour chatting to Trucy while Pearl is off taking care of a few things the Master would normally attend to. She doesn't tell Trucy anything they didn't tell Athena, but she does let her know that she and Phoenix are fine, and she should be able to come home soon.

When Pearl gets back from her errand, Maya speaks to her for a few minutes as well, and then lets her go so Trucy isn't left with no one to talk to.

Maya sits around for another half an hour before deciding she's hungry again. She leaves the office after writing a note for Phoenix in case he comes back while she's gone. She locks the door behind her and goes down the street to get a burger at the same fast food place she and Phoenix have frequented since they first met. She eats her food inside at the counter and converses with one of the waitresses she knows. When the waitress inquires about Phoenix's whereabouts, Maya simply lets her know that he's off running errands. Maya also tells her about the recent change in their relationship, and the waitress grins and high fives her, telling her it's about time the two of them finally went for it, teasing that she's tired of watching them make eyes at each other across the table every time they come in.

By the time Maya makes it back to the office, she's in a pretty good mood. It's been close to three hours since Phoenix left, and she's expecting him to be home by the time she gets back upstairs.

When she gets there, the office door is still locked. It doesn't really surprise her with everything that's happened, so she uses her key to enter. She doesn't spot Phoenix anywhere as she steps back into the office, and when she looks over to the coffee table, she can see her note is still there exactly where she left it. It hasn't even been touched.

She takes a deep, calming breath. It's fine. He's fine. He's with Edgeworth. They're friends, so she's sure Phoenix just got caught up chatting with him. There's no way whatever Edgeworth wanted to talk about would have taken three hours, but if they'd gotten off topic, it's possible Phoenix's short meeting had turned into a longer visit between friends.

She sits down and shoots Phoenix a quick text message. All she needs is some reassurance that he's where he said he'd be.

Nick, are you still at Edgeworth's? Just wanted to let you know that I've already eaten, so don't get me anything on the way home. Come home soon, okay? xoxo

She waits, and while she wouldn't normally expect a reply right away, given the circumstances she thinks Phoenix will be courteous enough to reply to her right away to ease any worries she might be having, but ten minutes pass, and her phone stays silent.

She has a terrible feeling, but she tries to ignore it. She phones him next, waiting impatiently for him to answer the phone. When she finally does hear his voice, she feels a split second of relief before she realizes it's just his voicemail, telling her to leave a message.

"Nick, please call me," she says. "It's been three—almost four—hours since you left. I just want to make sure you're still at Edgeworth's. I'm worried, so just text me or something, okay?"

She hangs up and waits. Still her phone remains silent. She purses her lips as she stares down at her phone in her hand, then she sighs as she dials in Edgeworth's cell number.

"I swear, Nick, if you did something stupid, I'm going to smack you harder than Pearly ever has," she mumbles to herself as she lifts her phone to her ear.

Edgeworth answers after two rings.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya practically shouts. "Is Nick there with you? Tell him to hurry up and get his butt home!"

Edgeworth pauses for a moment, and when he starts to speak Maya can hear the confusion in his voice. "Wright? Wright isn't with me, Miss Fey."

Maya swallows, fear clutching at her. She knows the answer to her next question before she even asks it. "D—Did he come see you at all today?"

"No, he hasn't. I've been at work all day. I haven't heard from him at all. The last I spoke to him was when I called last night. Why?"

"Mr. Edgeworth," she says, her voice starting to shake as she holds back panicked tears. "I don't know where he is. He's not answering my calls or texts."

Edgeworth takes a slow breath. "Damn it, Wright. I told you not to try and be a hero," he mumbles.

"What? Where did he go, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"I'm assuming he went to Miss Hott's, heaven knows why he thought that would be a good idea. How long has he been gone?"

Maya feels like there's a fist inside her chest, squeezing her heart. She takes a deep breath. Now would not be the best time to start freaking out. "The whole afternoon. He left around lunchtime."

Edgeworth sighs. "Phoenix, you idiot," she can hear him mumble, so quietly that she thinks he didn't mean for her to hear it.

"Mr. Edgeworth, where does Molly live?"

She can hear shuffling and noise on the other end of the line before Edgeworth speaks again. "Don't go there alone, Maya. Wait for the authorities, please."

She steels herself. "Edgeworth. Tell me now."

There's another pause, then another sigh. "Alright. Promise me you won't go inside until the authorities get there?"

"Yes. I promise."

Edgeworth sounds unsure as he answers. Maya knows that he probably doesn't believe her, but he gives her the address to Molly's apartment building and her room number anyway.

As soon as Maya hangs up the phone, she leaves the office, intent on getting there as quickly as possible.

She knows the building Edgeworth had given her directions to, and she knows it's within walking distance. Trying to hail or call a cab will just waste time, so instead she goes on foot. What starts out as a fast walk turns into an all out sprint as she makes her way there. It's hard to run in sandals, but she's used to it by now, and it's already been so long, she's scared what she might find when she gets there. She has no plan, but she's learned from the best how to go about making things up on the fly.

When she gets to the apartment building and makes it into the front entranceway, she hits all the call buttons on the intercom, hoping that at least one of the occupants will open the door for her without bothering to answer the call. Sure enough, the door buzzes open a second later, and she finds her way to the elevator. A woman and a little boy are waiting as well, and both of them stare at Maya as she stands there, strangely dressed and impatiently tapping her foot, clearly nervous about something.

The mother wraps an arm tightly around the boy. "I haven't seen you here before, Miss," she says carefully. "Can I help you with something?"

Maya looks at her, jerked out of her thoughts about all the terrible things Molly might be doing to Phoenix while she waits for the stupid elevator to get there. She shakes her head. "I'm just trying to find someone."

"Do you know their name? I may know which apartment they're in."

Maya shakes her head again. "I know the apartment number."

The mother turns back to look up at the numbers above the elevator. Twelfth floor, seventh floor, fourth floor… It feels like it's taking forever.

Maya turns back to the mother. "Actually, you haven't seen a man pass through here recently, have you? Blue sweater? Weird, spiky, black hair?"

The mother starts to shake her head no, but the little boy pulls on her sleeve. "Yes! Mom, remember that man we saw earlier when we were leaving? He had really weird looking hair, and he was wearing a blue shirt!"

The mother nods. "Oh, yes. We did see a man like that, quite a while ago I believe. He got off the elevator on the top floor, but I didn't see which way he went after."

"Nick," Maya breathes, just as the elevator in front of them dings and the doors open. Maya rushes inside, stabbing at the button for the top floor and then hitting the button to close the doors over and over. The mother and boy, who had followed her in, stare at her curiously, but say no more as the elevator finally makes its way up.

When the door dings at the top floor, Maya squeezes through the doors before they're even fully open, almost knocking the little boy to the side as she does.

"Sorry!" she calls back quickly as she sprints down the hall.

She stops when she reaches Molly's door and tries the handle, but it's locked, so she lifts a hand and starts to pound on it. She doesn't stop or wait patiently for Molly to answer, she hits the door with her fist as hard and as loudly as she can, until she hears the locks on the other side turning.

Molly opens the door looking as annoyingly beautiful as she always does, though she's dressed much more casually than Maya has ever seen her, in jeans and a white t-shirt that's too short for her. Maya can see what looks like a belly button ring shining at her navel. She looks surprised at seeing Maya at her door.

"Hello Miss Fey," she says, glancing around the hallway. "What brings you here?"

Maya pushes her way into the apartment. "Where is he?"

Molly doesn't try to stop her. She closes the door behind her and stands there, watching. "Who?"

"Nick!" Maya shouts, rounding on her. "I know he's here. Where is he?"

Molly lets out a quiet laugh. "Why on earth do you think he's here? I thought you two were so in love. You're telling me he went somewhere without telling you and you immediately assumed he came here? That's some trust you guys have."

Maya looks around the apartment, ignoring Molly's attempts at getting under her skin. The apartment looks spotless, bar two empty wine glasses and an empty bottle of wine sitting on the counter near the kitchen sink.

"Nick?" Maya calls.

Molly sighs. "Please leave, Miss Fey."

Maya ignores her and starts walking through the apartment, looking inside all the different rooms. She checks what looks like an office, the bathroom, and a guest bedroom, but Phoenix is in none of them. There's one door left though, most likely the master bedroom. Molly watches Maya closely as she approaches it.

"Miss Fey," she calls when Maya is a few steps away from it. "I'll tell you where he is."

Maya stops and turns to glare at her. "Where?"

Molly smiles, crossing her arms as she takes a few steps closer. "He did come here earlier. It's kind of sad really, that he didn't tell you, but given the things he said about you I guess I can understand why."

"What do you mean?"

"You poor girl," Molly says, shaking her head slightly. "He just needed to get away, you know? He told me he spent the whole week with you, and you even followed him home. He wanted to take a break. So he came here, we had a little drink, then he left."

It's Maya's turn to smile. "You're so full of it, Molly," she says. "Now where is he?"

"I'm not scared of you, Miss Fey. I've dealt with a lot of real criminals in my line of work and you are the least intimidating person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. How you've been arrested and accused of murder more than once is honestly beyond me, because I'm willing to bet that cute little face couldn't hurt a fly even if it wanted to."

Maya shakes her head and turns back around, heading towards the last door again. Molly follows her slowly down the hall, and Maya has a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she reaches for the door handle, wondering why Molly isn't bothering to stop her.

She turns the knob and opens the door to a large bedroom. The only light is coming from a dim lamp on the nightstand, but it's enough to highlight the bed, and Maya's breath catches in her throat when she sees Phoenix, sprawled on the bed in a rather unnatural looking position, like someone dropped him there rather than letting him get into the bed himself.

She rushes into the room and drops to her knees beside the bed. "Nick? Nick!" she yells, shaking his shoulder. It's impossible for Maya to miss how the sweater he was wearing is gone, and the white dress shirt he had on underneath of it is now unbuttoned almost halfway. She can see red marks on his exposed skin, and when she peers closer, to her horror, she realizes they're lipstick marks. He's fully dressed otherwise, which Maya hopes means nothing more serious happened. Maybe she'd shown up at just the right time.

Her shaking hands reach out to touch his face, fingers stroking over his jaw and down his neck to feel for a pulse. He has a pulse, and when she focuses enough to look harder, she can see that he's breathing, but he's passed out cold.

Maya shakes his shoulder again before gently patting his cheek. "Nick, please wake up!" There's zero response from him. She turns to Molly, angry tears in her eyes. "What did you do to him, you crazy bitch?"

"Language," Molly tuts as she leans against the bedroom doorframe. "He drank too much earlier, he's just sleeping it off. He didn't want me to tell you he was here, he said you wouldn't approve of him getting so drunk."

"He's completely unresponsive!" Maya yells, getting to her feet again. "You did something to him! He's not passed out drunk, you gave him something else, didn't you, you creep?!"

"I don't know what you're suggesting," Molly says coolly.

Maya doesn't think she's ever felt such rage. She's been in dangerous situations before, but every one of those times she'd been the one in danger, scared and waiting for Phoenix to save her. Not this time. This time he's the one that needs saving, and Maya's not about to let Molly get away with this.

Maya gets a split second's worth of satisfaction when she sees the fear in Molly's eyes as she rushes at her as fast as she can.

Maya collides with her before Molly has the chance to run, knocking them both to the floor. She can hear Molly make a noise as she lands on her back beneath Maya. She's never fought anyone before, the experience she has 'fighting' comes from the times she and Phoenix used to mess around, getting into tickle fights or play wrestling during those late night movie marathons in the office when they were younger.

Those happy memories with him just spur Maya on as she grabs at whatever she can. She tears out a chunk of Molly's red hair, eliciting a shriek from the other woman. Maya manages to sit up, pinning Molly down beneath her.

"You. Disgusting. Pervert!" Maya yells as she hits, each word punctuated by a swing of her fist.

She's not expecting Molly's own fist to swing up at her face, hitting her in the side of the head and knocking her to the side, temporarily dazing her. Molly however doesn't continue to hit her, she scrambles to her feet now that Maya's weight is off of her, and sprints to the kitchen. Maya is up soon after, her ear ringing, but close on Molly's tail.

When she makes it into the kitchen, she stops. Molly is standing at the kitchen counter, leaning against it, looking frazzled. Still, Maya doesn't miss the glint of metal she now has in her hand. Molly stands up a little straighter and turns, lifting the knife she's holding.

"Get out, Miss Fey, before you regret this."

Maya eyes the knife. "I'm not leaving him here with you. You're crazy. You'll kill him."

"I won't kill him," Molly says. "I love him. I'll be a much better girlfriend than you will ever be, Miss Fey. I can make him happier than you, so why don't you leave us, and I'll let you live."

Maya shakes her head. She can almost pity Molly. She's clearly not all there mentally. "You don't love him. You've known him for less than three weeks! You're infatuated with the idea of him, obsessed because he's the one man in your entire life who doesn't want you, but you're not in love with him."

Molly's eyes flash in anger. Maya takes a step to the side, inching around, keeping the kitchen island between them. Molly watches her closely, turning to keep Maya in her view.

"Calm down, Molly," Maya says, trying to take a different approach to the situation. "Why don't you let us help you?"

"I don't need any help. I just need to be with him, without you always there to ruin it!"

"Molly," Maya says, softening the tone of her voice. "He doesn't want to be with you. If you want to make him happy, you'll let him go."

Molly stops. She's standing on the other side of the island, still waving the knife around. Her grip is loose, though. "He can learn… He will learn eventually…"

"No, he won't, Molly," Maya says, trying to discreetly reach behind her. Their circling of each other around the island in the middle of the kitchen has left Molly on the outside, and Maya on the inside, near the two wine glasses and the empty bottle.

"Do you think Nick is going to wake up and forgive you for what you did to him? He won't," Maya says.

Molly lifts the knife again, and Maya holds a hand out in front of her. "But, if you stop this and come with us to get help, he might be able to forgive you. Nick is like that. He told me what happened to you at the bank. He saved you, right? You know that he just wants to help. That's why he came here, right?"

Her other hand finally clasps the neck of the wine bottle, and she pulls it off the counter as stealthily as she can, keeping it hidden behind her back.

"Please, Molly. Nick doesn't deserve this, and you know it."

Molly shakes her head and takes another step around the island. This time, Maya stays where she is. "Molly, please, stop."

"NO!"

Maya is startled when Molly screams the word at her, and before she knows it Molly is rushing at her, the knife outstretched in front of her. Maya sidesteps out of the way as quickly as she can, hitting her hip on the counter beside her. She feels the stinging pain of the knife as it cuts into her forearm, but it misses her otherwise. In her haste, Molly runs past Maya like a bull running past a matador, and Maya takes the opportunity to bring the bottle of wine up, holding it by the neck.

Molly starts to turn around just as Maya swings. The bottle hits her on the side of her head, and unlike in movies or TV shows, it doesn't break, but Maya feels a hard clunk, and then the sound of a heavy weight falling as Molly drops face down, sprawled on her kitchen floor.

Maya takes a deep breath, setting the wine bottle back on the counter before her shaking hand drops it on the floor instead. She stares down at Molly. There's no blood, but she's not moving at all.

Maya leans down and feels her neck for a pulse. There is one, and she breathes a sigh of relief. It's not to say Molly won't have some sort of brain trauma or a concussion, or at the very least a giant goose egg on her head, but at least she's not dead.

"Couldn't hurt a fly, huh?" she mumbles as she pulls her cell phone from her pocket and dials in 911, giving them the situation and the address. She picks up the knife next and sets it on the counter before she shrugs off her purple coat and uses it to tie Molly's hands behind her back. She's out cold for now, but Maya can't risk her waking up and attacking them again.

When she's finished that, she gets to her feet, and runs back to the bedroom where Phoenix is still asleep.

She sits down on the bed beside him and takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. She reaches over to run her fingers over Phoenix's forehead to push his hair out of his face. The adrenaline is still pumping, but at least she knows they're both safe now.

She looks down at him. The lipstick marks on his skin disgust her, but she knows she can't remove them, not until after the police have taken note of it. She reaches forward to re-button his shirt, though. The least she can do is help hide the ones on his neck and chest. She sits near him, picking his hand up in hers to hold it in her lap while she waits for help, and glances around the room they're in. She was so worried and angry before that she didn't get a good look at it.

Unlike the rest of the apartment, the bedroom seems older and darker. The large canopy bed with purple satin sheets remind Maya of a bed at a love hotel. On the bedside table, she spots some loose pills, and wonders how long Molly was planning on keeping him drugged up. She turns to look at the other side of the room, where an armchair is sitting. There's a pile of what looks like dirty clothes, and on top, some sort of suit jacket. Maya gets up, not believing what she's seeing. She approaches and picks up the jacket, turning it to see it better in the lamp light. It's Phoenix's, no doubt about it, the blood on the sleeve in the same spot he has his stitches makes that obvious, along with its colour.

Tears spring to Maya's eyes. If she was strong enough she would carry Phoenix out, just to get him away from this disgusting place, but she's not. She can barely budge him when she tries. She isn't sure how Molly managed to get him into her bedroom to begin with, but Maya doesn't know a lot about the types of drugs she would have used either. Perhaps they clouded Phoenix's judgment, making it easy for Molly to convince him, before knocking him out completely.

She drops the suit jacket back on the chair and goes back to the bed, where she reaches over him with an arm and lowers herself down to lie across him protectively, resting her head against his abdomen, finding his hand to hold again.

Maya hears Edgeworth and Gumshoe's entrance before she sees them, when Gumshoe shouts something about the police coming in, and then the sound of the apartment door bursting open, but she doesn't move from her spot. She can hear Edgeworth say "over here", then the sound of more people entering the apartment.

She tunes it all out, until she feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks up to find Edgeworth's concerned face peering down at her. He looks scared and worried, worse than she's ever seen him, and the image of her there with reddened eyes lying across Phoenix's body the way she is probably isn't helping.

Maya sits up. "He's sleeping," Maya says meekly, keeping a hand on him. "S—She drugged him. And she touched him. He has lipstick marks on him, and she has those," she points to the nightstand, at the pills. "I don't think… or well, I hope she didn't do anything to him. He looked like this when I got here."

Edgeworth helps her stand before reaching down to Phoenix himself, pressing his fingers into his friend's neck. Edgeworth nods. "If he's been drugged it may still be awhile before he comes to. We'll take him to the hospital, have him checked for everything, but he should be okay, physically, at least."

Maya nods, trying to hold back more tears. Edgeworth pats her on the shoulder and pulls her away from the bed as EMTs enter the room. She tries to go back to Phoenix, but Edgeworth squeezes her shoulder. "Let them do their jobs, Maya," he says. "You'll be able to go in the ambulance with him."

She sighs. "What about Molly?"

"They're taking her in another ambulance, and she will be under guard from now until she's released from the hospital. After that, she'll go to the Detention Centre for questioning. What happened out there?"

Maya shakes her head. "We fought. She got a knife, I managed to grab a bottle of wine, and I hit her. I was lucky."

Edgeworth glances down at her bloody arm. "She got you as well, it seems. You should have the EMTs take a look at it in the ambulance."

"It's fine," Maya says. "Nick is more important right now."

"Yes, of course."

She watches as the EMTs check him over, and when they lift him onto the stretcher, Edgeworth finally loosens his grip on her shoulder. "Go with him, Maya. I'll be sure to visit and let you know what's going on with Molly when I can."

Maya tears her gaze from Phoenix to look up at Edgeworth. "Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth. If you hadn't given me this address… I don't know what I would have walked into the middle of her doing to him."

"You're welcome. Now go."

She rushes after the EMTs and follows them out of the room. She turns back to Edgeworth as he comes into the kitchen behind her. "Check the wine glasses. I think that's how she did it."

Edgeworth nods, and Maya turns to catch up with the EMTs, following them downstairs to the ambulance where she climbs inside, and sits holding Phoenix's hand all the way to the hospital.

After getting her own wound tended to, Maya sits in the hospital waiting room for what feels like hours before a nurse finally calls her over to bring her to Phoenix's room. When she enters, a doctor is standing beside the bed, a clipboard in his hand. He turns when he hears the door open, and the nurse leaves.

"You must be Miss Fey?"

Maya nods.

"Take a seat, you must be tired. You're Mr. Wright's next of kin?"

"He has a daughter," Maya corrects as she sits in the chair beside Phoenix's bed, "but she's only 17, and out of town. I'm his girlfriend."

"Ah, I see. Well, you should know that he's fine. There were drugs in his system, as you probably already guessed. We're estimating they should wear off in a few hours and he'll wake up. There isn't anything we can do to hasten it as they're already in his system."

Maya nods, taking it all in. "Was he… violated?"

The doctor's gaze softens. "No. Aside from those lipstick marks we wiped off of him after taking swabs, it doesn't appear so."

Maya breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"You should know that none of this was his fault. The drugs he was on, date rape drugs, they make a person very compliant and easy to manipulate. If they're conscious they won't know what they're doing."

Maya raises her eyebrows. "I know that."

The doctor nods. "Good. When he wakes up, he probably won't remember much of the night, if anything, but I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

Maya nods in understanding. "Right. Thank you."

"Let us know if you need anything," he says, before stepping out of the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

She sits quietly for a few minutes, listening to the beeping of the machines at Phoenix's bedside, and thinking. Is this what it's been like for him all these years? Every time she got into trouble, every time she was accused of murder or kidnapped, or put in some other sort of danger, this is what he's had to deal with? He's even stronger than she ever gave him credit for, because she has no idea how he's managed it for so long. She feels exhausted and it's not even dinner time yet.

She doesn't know how or why he's put up with her for so long. He could have dropped her after that first time, told her to buzz off after he helped her for her sister's sake, and would have avoided so much trouble if he had. But he didn't. As annoying as she could—can—be, he has never made her feel like she isn't wanted.

Maya pulls her chair forward more so she can reach out to rest her hand over his arm, and can't help as grateful tears spring to her eyes. Grateful that he's not hurt, grateful that Molly didn't do anything worse to him, but also grateful just to have him. She doesn't feel like she deserves him or anything he's done for her, but she knows Phoenix would tell her she's wrong if she voiced that thought, so the most she can do is be thankful he seems to think she does deserve him.

She wipes at her eyes, stroking her fingers up and down his arm. "Nick… I hope you know that when you wake up, you're in for a talking to. No matter how worried I was and how happy I am that you're safe, I want you to know that I'm really mad too."

She stops, wishing he would wake up and mumble something sarcastic back at her, but he doesn't.

She bites her lip, trying to hold back more tears. "I don't know how I'm going to go back to Kurain without you, Nick. If I'm being honest, I don't even want to. I want to be here, with you. I always have. I've never been good at being a leader anyway. I know it's so selfish after everything I put everyone through to get this title, but I don't want it, and I'm so tired, Nick. I'm tired of putting everyone else's needs and happiness before my own."

She sighs, wiping her eyes again, and taking a deep breath. Looking down at him, his chest rising and falling with each breath, she feels an overwhelming surge of love for him, and suddenly Maya just knows that she's meant to be with Phoenix, by his side, as his friend or his lover, it doesn't even matter. All that matters is that she's with him. It's the only thing she's ever really wanted. In that moment, she makes a decision. It's about time she takes control of her own life, instead of living the way everyone else wants her to.

She swallows down her doubts. She knows she won't regret this. "I don't think you'll approve of what I'm going to do," she says to him, "so I guess it's a good thing you're not awake right now to talk me out of it."

She stands up and straightens out her skirt, then bends down to place a kiss against his cheek. "I'll be back, Nick. I'm sorry you won't get to see my pretty face the moment you wake up, but I'll be back soon."

Maya turns to leave the room, cell phone in hand. She shoots a quick text to Edgeworth, then heads out of the hospital. She has a train to Kurain Village to catch.

She needs to talk to the Kurain Council of Elders.

A/N: I hope you guys don't hate the direction I'm going with Maya...

Anyway, we're getting closer and closer to the end. Only a few more chapters to go.