When Phoenix finally swims into consciousness, he mistakes the bright lights in the room for the sun, shining through the blinds in his bedroom. It isn't until he focuses on the strange noises all around him that he realizes he isn't in his room at home.

He opens his eyes and stares up at a white ceiling, the fluorescent light shining down on him. He's not unfamiliar with the sight. He's in a hospital room, but he can't remember why or how he got there.

He turns his head when he notices something move out of the corner of his eye. It's Edgeworth, sitting in the chair beside his bed, his nose stuck in some book.

"Edgeworth?"

At the sound of his voice, Edgeworth drops his book into his lap and looks up over his glasses. "Wright. You're finally awake."

"Why am I in the hospital? The last thing I remember is…" He trails off as he thinks. He remembers waking up and finding Maya's note, and getting that phone call from Molly. His eyes widen. Molly. He'd gone to Molly's apartment alone, without telling anyone. "I went to Molly's apartment and she invited me in. That's it. What did she do to me?" he asks, turning to look at Edgeworth again. "And where's Maya?" he asks, starting to attempt sitting up.

Edgeworth leans forward. "Don't get up so fast, the doctor said you might feel sick when you woke up."

Phoenix wishes Edgeworth hadn't said that, because the moment he does he feels a wave of nausea hit him. "Oh God, is there a bucket somewhere?"

Edgeworth reaches down and grabs a bucket from beside the bed, lifting it up. Phoenix grabs it quickly, just in time to throw up anything he's eaten in the past day. Edgeworth looks away, grimacing.

Phoenix takes a deep breath when he's finished. "I need… the bathroom."

"Yes, I suppose you do. I'll get a nurse to take this away."

Phoenix nods as he climbs out of the hospital bed. He feels fine aside from the nausea, but puking has seemed to help a bit.

"I went to your apartment and got you some things," Edgeworth says to him as he passes. "If you want to change, your clothes are in there, and there's a toothbrush, and a shower…"

Phoenix nods. "Thanks."

He brushes his teeth and then looks through the clothing Edgeworth brought him. The clothes look like the new ones Maya had bought him before he stupidly decided to go to Molly's apartment. At that thought, he suddenly remembers Maya, and how Edgeworth hadn't told him where she was. He forgets all about getting dressed and leaves the bathroom still in his hospital gown.

"Edgeworth!"

Edgeworth turns, looking startled. "What? Do you need the bucket again?"

"No. Where's Maya?"

Edgeworth looks relieved that he won't have to witness Phoenix puking again. "She's fine, Wright. She had some personal matters to take care of in Kurain." He searches his inner coat pocket and pulls out his cell phone. "She insisted I read this message to you once you woke up," Edgeworth says. He pauses before starting, but then sighs. "'Hey Nick. Sorry you didn't get to see my beautiful face the moment you woke up, but Mr. Edgeworth's face is pretty beautiful too, so that counts for something, right? I had something I had to do in Kurain, but I'm coming back as soon as possible. It was really important, so I had to go before you woke up. I hope you're feeling okay, and I'll come back as soon as I can! I love you. xoxo, Maya.'"

Phoenix smirks as he listens to Edgeworth read out Maya's message. Even though the words are Maya's, hearing Edgeworth say them is amusing.

"Good to know Maya thinks you're beautiful," he says, sitting down on the edge of the hospital bed and pulling some of the sheets over his lap. "But no offense, I'd much rather have woken up to Maya's face over yours."

"Yes, well…"

"Edgeworth. What happened? What did Molly do to me?"

Edgeworth pushes his glasses up his nose. "You were drugged. The wine she offered you? It had traces of a date rape drug in it."

Phoenix sits back, running a hand through his hair. "Oh…" He hates not remembering. That's the worst part of this. He can't remember what happened even before he blacked out. He doesn't even remember drinking any wine, just turning up at her apartment. Everything after that is blank, and the fact that he was alone with her in her apartment while unconscious for who knows how long makes him feel self-conscious and violated. What was she doing to him in that time?

Edgeworth seems to know what he's thinking by the look on his face. "Wright. She didn't rape you. She assaulted you, it seems, with inappropriate touching and kissing, but she didn't go all the way. Maya got there in time to stop that."

Phoenix looks up. "What? Maya?"

Edgeworth nods, then smiles. "She's just like you, you know. Willing to do crazy things for the people she cares about the most. She went to Miss Hott's apartment and confronted her. Found you passed out in the bedroom, and attacked Miss Hott."

"She attacked her?!"

"Yes, with the wine bottle, evidently."

Phoenix can't help the laugh that escapes him. "Maya attacked her with a wine bottle?"

"After a bit of a scuffle, yes, she knocked her out cold. Then tied her up in case she woke up, before calling 911. It's because of Maya this wasn't worse, given how idiotic you were to go there alone."

Phoenix looks down, feeling almost ashamed. "I know it was. I just thought, maybe she would listen to me? Maybe I could help her. She obviously has some sort of mental problems, but I thought maybe I could talk her into getting help. And I knew Maya would refuse if I told her where I was going."

"It was stupid, Wright," Edgeworth reiterates. "I told you not to be a hero, and what do you do? Try to be a hero."

He nods. "Yeah, I know, you're right. It was stupid."

Edgeworth sighs and sits back, crossing a leg over the other. Phoenix stares at the floor, not sure what to say. On top of that shameful feeling, he hates how absolutely helpless he feels, even though the ordeal is over with. He had to rely on Maya to save him. He put her in danger because he was stupid enough to go to his stalker's apartment, and drink wine given to him by her, and he can't even remember any of it. Knowing that Molly didn't go all the way does help a bit, but he still feels disgusted when he remembers Edgeworth's words about 'inappropriate touching and kissing'. Maybe it's better that he can't remember it.

A shower also sounds really good right about now. He gets up again. "I'm going to go shower and get dressed. When can I leave the hospital?" he asks.

"We'll have the doctor look you over once more, just to be sure, but you'll most likely be able to be discharged right away since the drugs are out of your system," Edgeworth says.

Phoenix nods. "And… what happened to Molly?"

"She's at a different hospital. She has a concussion from the bottle, but she's okay otherwise. She'll probably be released within a few days and transferred to the Detention Centre for questioning. She's under guard, so you don't need to worry."

"Right, of course."

"I'll wait for you," Edgeworth says. "You'll need a ride home once you're cleared to leave."

Phoenix nods again. "Yeah. Thanks. And, uh, Edgeworth?"

"What?"

Phoenix purses his lips. "Will you take me mattress shopping after this?" he asks, knowing he sounds like a needy child. But he needs to buy a new mattress unless he wants to keep sleeping on the couch, and he can't drive himself.

Edgeworth sighs. "Yes, I suppose so."

"Thank you," Phoenix says. "Seriously, I owe you one. I'll be quick," he says, heading back into the bathroom.

He's not as quick in the shower as he said he would be. Once he's in there, his thoughts take over, and he can't stop imagining Molly touching and kissing him while he was unconscious, and he ends up scrubbing every inch of his entire body, until the hot water is turning cold and his skin is red. When he finally does shut the water off and climb out, and once he's dressed in fresh, clean clothes, he feels a little bit better.

Edgeworth leaves the room while the doctor comes in to talk to Phoenix, and once he's let him know about the possible after effects of the drugs and recommended a therapist, which Phoenix says he'll think about, Phoenix is free to sign himself out.

Edgeworth keeps a close eye on him as they leave the hospital, and for the rest of the day Phoenix feels a bit like a child with his parent. He's almost surprised Edgeworth doesn't ask to hold his hand while they cross the road with how close he's sticking.

At the end of the day, Phoenix has an entirely new bed frame and mattress ordered and Edgeworth is gracious enough to pay the extra for overnight shipping. He also goes to the store to get some groceries, and a new set of blinds, and then Edgeworth brings him back to his empty apartment.

"You're not going to insist on coming in, are you?" Phoenix asks as he unbuckles his seatbelt. "I'm fine now, you know. I've gone the whole day and haven't even thrown up again."

Edgeworth doesn't look amused. "No, I won't. But you'd better go straight upstairs, eat something, and go to sleep."

"Yes, dad," Phoenix says, rolling his eyes and turning to open the car door.

"Wright."

Phoenix turns back to him. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're okay. Call me if you need anything, okay? Even if you don't feel comfortable staying here for the night alone, you're welcome at my apartment. I have a guest room."

"Thanks, Edgeworth, but I'll be okay."

Edgeworth nods and pops the trunk, waiting for Phoenix to get his grocery bag and the box with the new blinds. When he has them in hand, he closes the trunk and waves through the back window, then steps up off the road onto the sidewalk. Edgeworth pulls away, and once his car is out of sight, Phoenix turns to stare up at his building.

It's not going to be a fun night here alone, without Maya or Trucy, but so long as he keeps the blinds closed and the doors locked, he should be okay.

He's starving and tired, so despite the grocery bag full of food in his hand, he goes upstairs, puts the food away, and orders a pizza instead of cooking something.

He goes to sleep on the couch again that night, missing Maya's presence even more.

Phoenix wakes to the late morning sun, bright even behind the closed blinds. He checks his phone but sees no messages from anyone. He sends a quick one to Maya, letting her know that he's fine and he hopes her matter is taken care of soon because he misses her, then he gets up to go about getting ready for the day.

Once showered, dressed, and after he's eaten, he calls Edgeworth to let him know he's still okay, then flicks on the TV and gets lost in some mindless TV show that takes his mind off of what Molly did to him, and keeps him from missing Maya even more.

If he misses her this much now, when she's gone back to Kurain only for one night to take care of something, he's not sure how he's going to handle it when she has to leave for weeks at a time. Given the distance, it'll be difficult to see each other every day, and he doesn't look forward to a long distance relationship where they can only see each other on the weekends.

He sighs and drops his head onto the back of the couch to stare up at the ceiling. He was telling the truth when he told Larry that he knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Marry her, have kids with her if she wants them, and be with her for the rest of his years. He doesn't know how they're going to make it work, but he does know that they will. He'd told Maya so, and he doesn't plan on going back on that promise.

Eventually even the TV show isn't distracting enough, so he heads back upstairs to finally put the new blinds up, and once done that, he goes down to the office to sit at his desk, hoping to find something else to do. He ends up turning on his computer and looking through all of his old photos, figuring now would be a good time to replace the ones that Molly had ruined. It had really hurt Maya's feelings, and he thinks it'll be nice to have them replaced before she comes back. The new bed should be there soon as well, and he'll need to be there to let the delivery men in to set it up.

Phoenix manages to find the glossy photo paper and figures out how to turn on and use the printer to print the photos out again. He's actually quite proud of himself, even if it did take an hour and a half, because any other time he would have needed Trucy's help. He goes upstairs and replaces the larger photos in the frames, adding in some more updated ones as he goes. The only photo Molly had left alone was the picture frame on his desk with the picture of Trucy and Pearl, so he keeps that one. The other frame, the one with the photo Trucy had taken that night they went to the restaurant, is gone. Molly had shattered it, and he doesn't have a copy of that photo anyway. He's going to have to wait for Trucy to come back before he can replace that one, but he definitely wants it sitting on his desk again in the future.

He feels a little better after fixing the pictures and is 'resting his eyes' at his desk, his head in his arms, when he finally hears the jiggling of the lock on the office door. He sits up quickly, suddenly alert, and sits quietly, waiting to see who it is. The delivery men had already come and gone with his new bed while he was busy with the printer, so he can't help the jolt of nervousness he feels before he remembers that Molly is under guard, and Maya will be coming back from Kurain soon.

The door opens and the first thing he glimpses is a flash of pink and a flash of blue as Trucy and Pearl burst into the office, looking around excitedly. He stands up from his chair just in time for Trucy to spot him. She rushes over and jumps on him, grabbing him around the neck.

"Daddy! Miss Maya told me you had to go to the hospital because of that prosecutor lady! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Pearl makes it over by the time he manages to gain his breath back from Trucy's hug and is also crushing him in her arms. "Mr. Nick, we were so worried about you!"

"Thank you, girls," he says, smiling at both of them and patting them on the back. "It was a little scary, but I'm okay."

Maya finally shuffles into the office, both of her hands occupied with large duffel bags. She says nothing as she drops them on the floor and goes back into the hallway, only to return with a suitcase and another smaller bag. The large amount of bags are unusual enough, but the other thing he finds incredibly weird is the fact that Maya is dressed casually. No Kurain robes, instead she's dressed in a long sleeved pink sweater, and jeans. He's rarely seen her in anything other than a dress or her spirit medium garb, and the sight, though welcome, is strange.

Phoenix steps away from the girls to approach her. "Maya? Do you need help?"

Maya leaves her suitcase near the door and drops the smaller bag near the larger ones. "No, I'm okay, thanks though."

"Um… What is all this, Maya?"

Maya looks past him at Trucy and Pearl, who are standing side by side and watching.

"Girls, can you head upstairs so Nick and I can talk?"

Phoenix doesn't exactly like the sound of that. Maya hasn't even acknowledged him yet, and to be honest he was expecting to be greeted a little more nicely by her. A kiss at least, but even a hug would have been nice.

Trucy sighs. "Alright. Come on, Pearl. Let's go upstairs."

Pearl nods and follows Trucy from the room. Maya waits until their footsteps have completely faded before she looks at him.

"Maya?"

She stares at him, then takes a step forward, and starts to lift her hand. He thinks she's going to touch his face, caress his cheek, or wrap her arm around his neck the way Trucy had, but she doesn't. Instead she winds back, and in one swift motion, slaps him clean across the face.

The slap doesn't have any real strength behind it, but it still stings a bit, and it was the last thing he'd been expecting, so he's reeling more from the shock of it than any pain. He lifts his eyes to hers again, his hand covering his cheek, only to find Maya trying and failing to keep tears from slipping down her cheeks.

He opens his arms to her silently, and she breaks, rushing into them, colliding with his chest. "You're so dumb, Nick!" she yells through her tears, her fingers gripping into his shirt. "Why would you go to her place without telling anyone?! Why did you lie to me of all people about where you were going? Do you even realize how much worse it could have been? Do you know how worried I was?!"

He rubs at her back. "I'm so sorry, Maya," he murmurs into her hair. "I deserved that, I know I did. I'm so sorry."

She sniffs, then stands on her tip-toes to press her lips against his in a crushing kiss. He can taste the saltiness of her tears on his lips when she pulls away, and it's enough to remind him again of how stupid he'd been. It almost hurts to know he put her through something like that.

This time when she lifts her hand she does lay it gently across his cheek. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

He shakes his head. "It's alright."

"No, you've already been through enough. You didn't deserve it. I was just… emotional."

He reaches up to grab her wrist. "Really, it didn't even hurt that much. I could tell you didn't really mean it."

She smiles, reaching up to pull him down by the neck so she can press her forehead against his. "I love you. So much. But if we're going to be together, we need to be a team, okay?" she says. "You can't hide stuff like this from me."

"I just wanted to help her," he murmurs.

"I know you did." She shakes her head incredulously. "You remember, back when I said you care about others more than yourself?"

He nods.

"And remember how I said it makes you do dumb and reckless things?"

He nods again.

"What you did was dumb and reckless," she says. "I love that you want to help people, even the ones who hurt you, but I hate it at the same time. Maybe that sounds weird, but I realized last night that I really don't know what I would do if anything happened to you. I don't know how you always stayed so strong when I was in trouble. I must have put you through so much stress over the years. Now I know how it feels."

"I'm sorry, Maya," he says. "I feel awful for putting you in that position. Edgeworth told me what you did."

She sighs. "Yeah. Look," she rolls up the sleeve of her sweater so he can see where her arm is bandaged. "We match. I had to get stitches and everything."

He takes her hand in his to examine her arm, feeling even worse knowing she really did get hurt because of his stupidity. "Maya, that's terrible."

She shrugs. "I barely felt it, it's a scratch. When it heals we'll have matching scars, though. They took your stitches out while you were unconscious, right?"

"Yeah. I guess it was just convenient."

She smiles. "Don't feel bad, Nick. It was worth it to make sure you were okay."

She closes the distance between them, pressing her soft lips against his again. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer, never wanting to let her go again. Maya's hands skim up his chest and around his neck to tangle in his hair as she deepens the kiss. It's only been a day, but it feels like forever since he's kissed her.

When they finally break apart, Maya smiles lovingly at him, her hands moving back down to take his. "Now, I need to tell you something else, Nick."

He stands up straight again to look over her head at the bags she'd brought. "Does it have something to do with all the stuff you brought with you?"

"Yes. Come, sit."

She takes him by the hand and pulls him over to the couches where they sit down together. Maya takes a deep breath. "First, you have to promise not to get mad at me."

He furrows his eyebrows "Alright."

She swallows, looking down at her lap where her hands are clasped together. "I'm… leaving my position as Master of Kurain. I want to live here with you, if you'll have me."

He blinks. "What? You're not serious, are you?"

She looks back up at him. "For once, I'm being completely serious. This isn't a joke or a prank."

"Maya. Y—You can't, you worked so hard for that position, you deserve it. I told you you wouldn't need to change your entire life for me—"

"I'm not changing it for you," she interrupts. "I'm doing it for me. Nick, I've never wanted to be the Master of Kurain. I… resigned myself to it, all these years, because it was what everyone else wanted for me, and I was the only person who could do it anyway so I told myself it'd be okay. I convinced myself it was worth it. But no one ever bothered to ask me if it was really what I wanted to do with my life, and I realized recently that it's not. So I'm not quitting just to be with you, but you did help me see that I needed to put my happiness first for once. And my happiness is here, with you. It's always been here with you, even before I realized I was in love with you."

He reaches forward to take her hands in his. "Maya, I never knew you felt that way about it. Don't get me wrong, I want nothing more than to spend every day with you, and if this is what you want and it'll make you happy, then I'm happy, too. But what's going to happen in Kurain? Is Pearls going to take over?"

Maya shakes her head. "No. The last thing I want to do is push this on her the same way it was pushed on me, especially after everything her mother did to her. No, I discussed it with the Council of Elders. They're all women I trust completely, so they're going to run the village as a group until we can elect a new leader."

"A new Master? But doesn't the Master have to be part of the Fey bloodline?"

"Not anymore. That's such an archaic way of passing on leadership in a community anyway, I'm surprised we're even allowed to do that nowadays. No, there's no more Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique," she says. "It's going to be put to a vote, and anyone who wants to run for the position can run. They'll be more like… the mayor. No spiritual powers necessary. I mean, we will still have spirit mediums. That's Kurain's claim to fame and our main source of income when we get tourists, but there are plenty of amazing spirit mediums in Kurain now that can do that job, and get paid for it. There's no need for a Master anymore."

Phoenix runs a hand through his hair. "Whoa, Maya. You decided all of this just over night?"

She smiles. "It's been a very long night, Nick, believe me."

"Will the people in the village be okay with this? It's such a dramatic change from what they're used to."

"I hope so," Maya says. "The Elders were who I was worried about convincing, but they seemed to like the idea, and like I said, I do trust them so I'm not worried about any of them going against this or trying to take over behind my back. Kurain has needed to catch up to the modern era for a very long time, and I honestly think most of the villagers would agree. I can't see anyone being too upset. Being able to elect a leader will make things more fair anyway, and hopefully eliminate any future problems like the ones we had with Morgan."

She takes a breath, then continues. "The only thing I'll be going back to Kurain for over the next few weeks will be to help get the word out and start the election process. It'll be a lot of work, and I will still be away a lot for the next few weeks, maybe even a few months, but after that, I'll be yours. If you don't mind me staying here, that is."

He smiles at her. "Of course I don't mind. I can't think of anything I'd love more than for you to stay here with me, Maya. It's a small apartment, but I guess you don't need to sleep on the couch anymore, huh?"

She grins. "Nope. Two bedrooms is all we'll need for now. Pearly did decide that she'll stay in the village, just to keep an eye on things. She'll be nineteen soon anyway, and she's ready to be on her own. I'm going to pass Fey Manor on to her. She can do what she wants with it as she gets older. Maybe raise her own family there, I don't know. Whatever she wants."

Phoenix rubs his thumbs over the tops of her hands. "Maya?"

"Hm?"

"I'm proud of you, you know. You have this all figured out."

She beams at him. "Thanks, Nick. Oh, there's one other thing I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Can I be your assistant again? Full time, once everything is settled in Kurain? You don't need to pay me or anything, but I'd really love to start helping you in court again."

He sits back on the couch and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Yes. A million times yes."

She snuggles into his side. "Good."

They're quite for a few minutes, until Maya lifts her head again to look at him. "You know, I think all of this calls for a celebration. Want to get the girls and go out for dinner?"

He smiles down at her. "Yeah, let's."

Dinner is uneventful, but Phoenix is thankful for that. So much has happened lately that it's nice to go out for dinner without anything crazy happening. When they get back to the office, Trucy informs him that Athena had texted her while they were out, and wants her and Pearl to come over for the night.

Phoenix and Maya both give their permission for them to go. He knows it's probably some sort of ploy by the girls to give him and Maya alone time anyway, and he's glad. It'll be nice to have the apartment to themselves for the night.

They come inside only long enough to pack up some things before bidding their guardians good night and heading out to walk to Athena's. Phoenix sits down on the couch when they're gone and leans back, waiting for Maya to join him.

Maya walks over and sits down next to him, leaning in to wrap her arms around him. "I should have asked you this sooner, Nick. Are you okay? After everything that happened?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Edgeworth told me that she didn't… you know. Go all the way. I still felt a little gross knowing she was touching me and stuff while I was unconscious, but I'm relieved it wasn't worse."

Maya tightens her arm around him, hugging him tightly. "Me too."

"The doctor recommended me a therapist," he tells her.

Maya looks up at him. "Are you going to go?"

He shrugs. "Everything turned out okay, so I don't see why it's necessary."

Maya frowns. "Okay. But if you change your mind, don't keep it to yourself. It's okay to get professional help."

He chuckles. "I know it is, Maya. I promise if I start having nightmares or something, I'll make an appointment."

She rests her head back on his shoulder. "Good. Now, can you turn on the TV?"

He leans forward to grab the remote and flicks the TV on. Without Maya there, watching TV would just seem like a boring way to end the night, but with her pressed into his side, it's blissful.

Maya ends up falling asleep while he watches some documentary about deep sea creatures that he, quite frankly, finds terrifying. When it's over, he turns to shake Maya gently by the shoulder. She stirs, looking groggily up at him.

"Maya, it's late. We should head up to bed."

She smiles. "Did you get a new bed?"

"Yeah, brand new everything."

"Mm, good." She gets up, yawning and stretching, before turning to him rather excitedly for having just woken up. "Well, let's go!" she says. He stands and follows her to the hall and up the stairs to his room.

Maya oohs and aahs over the new bed, flopping down onto it and burying her face in the pillows. "So comfy! I can't wait to… try it out."

Phoenix sits down on the bed beside her. "It was expensive enough. It better be comfortable."

Maya giggles, stuffing her face back into the pillow, and he raises his eyebrows at her. "What?"

She rolls onto her side to peer at him, resting her head on her hand. "Nothing! I would just think, a guy like you, single for how long? Fifteen years or something? Would have more on his mind than sleeping in his new bed. You really are an old man, Nick."

He grins at her. "Believe me, Maya, those things are always on my mind. I just don't want to come on too strong, since this is still pretty new for us."

She bites her lip. "Ooh, you can come on as strong as you want, whenever you want. I might be new to this whole thing but that doesn't mean I don't want it. Last night was awful laying in that bed all alone."

He moves over, slipping his arm across her waist to lean over her. "Is that right?"

"Mhm."

He leans down to kiss her, but moves his hand to her ribs to tickle her instead. Maya shrieks and pushes him off. "Nick!"

He sits back up, smiling at her. She sits up, too, and frowns. "I need to use the bathroom," she says.

"Thanks for announcing that."

She jumps off the bed and heads into the bathroom, leaving him alone in his room. He stands up from the bed to start getting undressed, but not before he checks the new blinds to be sure the windows are completely covered.

He flops face down onto the bed once he's down to his boxers, and doesn't hear Maya emerge from the bathroom behind him. She surprises him with a cold hand on his back, making him jump. He turns onto his side to look up at her, and finds her smiling mischievously.

"Your hands are freezing," he states.

"Yeah. I put them under the cold water for a minute just to get you back for tickling me."

He rolls his eyes. "Thanks."

"Mhm."

He stares up at her, waiting for her to do something. Maya fidgets where she's standing.

"Do you like my outfit, Nick?" she asks suddenly, turning in front of him. "It feels kind of weird, wearing normal clothes for once."

"You look great, but I will admit I kind of miss the wonderful view that are your legs."

Maya laughs. "I'll have to make sure I wear a lot of skirts still, just for you. They are a lot more freeing than these tight jeans, anyway."

"So, no more Master means no more Kurain robes?"

"They're part of my culture, even if I'm not the Master anymore, so I'll still wear them occasionally, but they're not necessary all the time. I've always wanted to expand my wardrobe to include more casual things anyway. And I figured, if I'm going to start working here, I should try to look the part."

"You never bothered before."

"I know, but now that I'm older I want to look more professional. Besides, the last thing I want is to be the reason people don't take you serious enough."

Phoenix snorts. "Look around you, Maya. My daughter is a magician who keeps all her random props lying around, and my only employee is still a teenager. You're definitely not the reason people don't take me seriously."

"You're the one who let Trucy change your law office's name to the 'Wright Anything Agency'," she says, an eyebrow raised. "You ever think about maybe changing that back? People probably don't even realize this is a law office until they hear your name."

He shrugs. "My name is usually enough."

"Ooh, big fancy lawyer, aren't you?"

He snorts. "Are you going to change or what?"

Maya nods, that mischievous smile showing on her face again. She first takes off her magatama necklace and lays it on the nightstand, then moves her hands to the hem of her sweatshirt, and he watches as she lifts it over her head and drops it on the floor beside the bed, leaving her clad in a black bra. He says nothing, but watches appreciatively as she continues, moving her fingers to the button and zipper of the jeans she's wearing, and sliding them down her legs to step out of those as well.

He blinks when he sees the dark purple bruise on her hip, just above the hem of the black panties she's wearing. He sits up and moves to the edge of the bed, and Maya smiles at him, seemingly waiting for him to reach for her, but all he can do is stare at that bruise.

Maya's smile fades when she notices where he's looking, and she covers the spot with her hand. Phoenix reaches forward, moving her hand to run his own fingers over it. "Is this from Molly, too?" he asks quietly.

Maya swallows. "Yeah… I bumped my hip on her counter trying to get away when she attacked me. It left a pretty nasty bruise, I guess. I hadn't really noticed it until now, it must've developed overnight."

Phoenix sighs. "I'm so sorry, Maya. You got this and that cut on your arm. You were hurt because of me."

Maya reaches forward to wrap her arms around his neck. "You don't have to apologize, Nick. It was her. Nothing that happened was your fault, okay?"

He looks down. Maya might say that, but he knows. It is his fault. If only he hadn't gone, Maya wouldn't be injured like this…

Maya taps her fingers against his shoulder to get his attention. "Nick?"

He looks back up at her, standing in front of him still, half naked and beautiful and smiling at him. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to do something to make it up to me? Even though it wasn't really your fault? Just so you feel better?" she asks.

He nods.

"Okay. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and make love to me instead."

Her directness does manage to bring a smile to his face, and Maya runs her fingers through his hair as he stares up at her. "I can do that."

She smiles. "Good."

He pulls her forward by the wrists to wrap his arms around her, and brings his lips to her belly, kissing across her navel and down to the side of her hips to plant kisses against that dark bruise. Maya sighs in contentment above him, her fingernails digging into his shoulders, and he smiles against her skin.

At least making this up to her will be fun for him, too.