Chapter 7

When Anka returned home from the Gatewater hotel, she found that Phoenix and Maya had already returned from the university and everyone was waiting for her to start dinner. She was in low spirits due to her unsuccessful talk with Edgeworth. As Lisa and Maya set the table, Phoenix came over and chatted with her.

"So the newspaper is working you pretty hard, huh? Keeping you this late on the weekend and all. Must be a pretty big story." Phoenix said, expressing his interest in the story he thought she must be working on.

"Newspaper?" Anka asked in confusion, but as she remembered what she told her parents before leaving, she quickly added, "Ahh…yeah. We are working hard…"

Anka was not the only one with sensitive perception. Phoenix knew his sister well, and he immediately knew she was lying.

"So, what exactly is this big story about?" Phoenix asked as he gave her a suspicious look, suddenly switching into cross examination mode without realizing it.

"Well…umm…" Anka said, struggling to think of something plausible to say, "Its…uhh…about this guy…that has to make a difficult choice."

"Oh? What kind of choice?" Phoenix added, pressing Anka further.

Suddenly Anka knew what she was going to say.

"Yeah. A life altering choice." she replied seriously, "He has to choose between his so called responsibilities and what he wants most."

"How would this choice be life altering? Everyday, people balance their wants and responsibilities without any substantial effect on their lives." Phoenix said, curious as to where Anka was going with this.

"Yes, that's right, but this person's biggest want is actually not a thing, but another person." Anka replied.

"I see. I suppose that would change things after all then. But out of curiosity, why would your paper want to publish a random story about a person? Don't school newspapers usually only do stories about school or current events?" Phoenix asked, trying to get to the core of this.

"Human interest, Phoenix. I think people would like to see the outcome of his situation. I personally think that, so far, he's making the wrong choice, but there is still a chance for him to make the right one." Anka replied.

"Hey, who is this guy anyways?" Phoenix asked next, feeling like she was purposefully keeping the identity of the person from him.

"What, am I on trial here or something?!" Anka said nervously, trying to stop the conversation before it went in this direction.

Suddenly Anka realized how ironic her last statement was and smiled, the seriousness of the conversation forgotten for a moment. Phoenix also smiled for the same reason.

"Okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Phoenix said, deciding to quit if she didn't want to talk, "I was just curious. But if it makes you feel any better, the defense rests."

Phoenix saw that Anka looked like she was really thinking about something, so he waited for what she would say next, getting the feeling that this "story" of hers affected her on a much more personal level than she was letting on.

"He's actually a…lawyer." Anka said hesitantly, wanting him to get the point without her having to say it blatantly.

"Really?" Phoenix asked, his curiousity renewed.

"A defense attorney." Anka said seriously, looking Phoenix straight in the eye.

Phoenix looked at Anka thoughtfully for a while, before a shocked expression slowly materialized on his face as all the pieces fell into place, as if he was in court.

"Surely you don't mean – " Phoenix started saying in surprise.

"Phoenix, I met him today. Please, its not too late…" Anka cut him off softly to not be overheard by her parents or Maya.

"You what?! Wait a second, Anka. What do you mean by 'its not too late'?" he said, everything hitting Phoenix so fast that he could hardly react.

Anka did not even have to name who she saw, Phoenix already knew. There was only one important "him" in his life.

"Please, Phoenix, you can't – " Anka started pleading.

But she was cut off by Lisa calling everyone to the table for dinner. Anka gave Phoenix a look of pleading to which Phoenix returned with a look of sadness, but they exchanged no more words as they joined everyone at the table.

Before he realized it, it was Sunday evening and time for he and Maya to go. Phoenix had avoided talking to Anka about his wedding for the rest of the weekend, deciding he needed to think about things on his own. As he and Maya packed, he saw that Anka seemed to sense this and, thankfully, gave him his space. He was blown away by the fact that Anka found out about Edgeworth and gone to see him on her own.

But now that I think about it, this is just like her. She was never someone to take a problem sitting down. Right away she would just dive in and do everything in her power to try to solve the problem, for better or for worse, Phoenix thought, I wonder what she told Miles? I doubt that whatever happened went well since she did not seem very pleased when she came home.

His thoughts then shifted to Maya.

Anka doesn't seem to want me to go through with the wedding, but where does this leave Maya? What a horrible thing it would be to do to leave her so close to the wedding. And then again, what would have happened if Miles had come just a week or two later? I know if Miles wasn't here, I wouldn't even be hesitating right now. Phoenix thought sadly, is this all a mistake? I know I've never loved Maya as anything else than a sister, but how could I not move on when Miles left without a trace?

Thinking about Miles made him feel even worse.

If I'm feeling this bad about things, I can imagine what Miles must be feeling…Phoenix thought in regret, if only Miles didn't always take everything so much to heart.

Suddenly someone grabbed him in a hug from behind. He turned and looked behind him and saw Maya smiling at him.

"You finished packing?" Phoenix asked.

"Yup." Maya said, sounding very happy.

"That's good. We had better get going." Phoenix said, smiling back in spite of his current thoughts, Maya's smile being too infectious.

"Okay. Hey, Nick…" Maya replied.

"Yeah?" Phoenix asked.

"I love you." Maya said, sounding like she really meant it.

Phoenix looked at her a moment, practically seeing the love in her eyes.

I can't leave her…I can't do that to her…Phoenix thought, feeling like it would be the worst thing in the world he could do to her when she obviously loved him the way that she did, I can't be selfish. I can't break her heart…

"Yeah…I…know you do." Phoenix said, never quite able to say to Maya that he loved her easily, this time especially no different.

Phoenix couldn't tell if Maya was disappointed when he didn't say "I love you" as well, but he decided not to think about it since he already felt guilty enough. Both of them then brought their bags out to the living room where they found Phoenix's family waiting for them.

"Oh, it seems like you just got here, and you're leaving all ready!" Lisa said to Phoenix, as he hugged her goodbye.

"Don't worry, mom. We'll be seeing each other in just a week." Phoenix said, missing home already.

"Bye, son." Bill said to Phoenix, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Bye, dad." Phoenix replied, smiling.

"I guess I'll be seeing you soon, Phoenix." Anka said, sounding hesitant.

Phoenix knew exactly why, but he did not know what to say to her to make her feel any better.

"Yeah…and take it easy on those elephants, huh?" Phoenix said, giving her a small smile, his voice light.

"Not a chance." Anka replied with a little smirk.

Phoenix then looked at his family and said, "Okay, bye everyone!"

"Yeah, bye!" Maya added, waiting by the door for him.

Maya and Phoenix walked over to Maya's car, loaded their luggage in the trunk, and with a final wave, they were off. Anka watched the car tail lights disappear into the night, anxious for what the future would bring.