Hey, guys. It's been a while... sorry about that. Thanks for your great reviews and encouragement!

In this chapter, we're finally starting the Trials and Tribulations arc. Hopefully it will prove satisfactory. There's a fat section that goes over Dahlia's background, so just bear with me here. Honestly, she fascinates me, even though I despise her. Anyways. Enjoy!

Chapter 16

Phoenix could not tear his gaze away from those eyes, the ones that had always made his heart skip a beat, the ones that could, if necessary, bend him to their will.

'I'm doomed, he was there, it's over, our friendship is gone…'

Without a word, Edgeworth stepped behind his back and steered him into the parking lot, opening the door to his shiny red car. He looked pointedly at Phoenix, who stared at him dumbly, wondering whether or not to bolt. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Edgeworth grabbed his sleeve and shoved him into the passenger seat, closing the door behind him and seating himself behind the steering wheel.

Phoenix closed his eyes as the car began to move, trying to control his breathing. He felt a deep sense of betrayal. Maya had ruined everything. Pearl… she was manipulated, but the rest… he didn't dare confront Franziska, but Ema and Larry would pay. If he had the power, he would have lowered Gumshoe's salary. 'Edgeworth probably will…' he thought. 'He would never submit to an assault on his precious reputation.'

They turned into the driveway, and Phoenix numbly opened the door. He knew there was no escape, not from those grey eyes. Edgeworth pushed him into the house and closed the door. Never tearing his gaze from Phoenix's face, he pointed to the couch. Phoenix sat down, glad for a chance to rest his shaking legs. Edgeworth followed suit, folding his hands in his lap and staring at them for a while.

Finally, he spoke.

"Wright…"

Phoenix didn't reply, looking down at his own hands.

"Look at me, for God's sake."

Phoenix shook his head.

"I… don't think I can."

Strong fingers gripped his chin, yanking it up.

"Damn it, Wright! You're not solving anything by doing this!"

Phoenix blinked at him.

"There's… nothing that needs to be said."

"Yes, Phoenix. There is." Miles took a deep breath before continuing. "I was there."

Phoenix winced, although he had been expecting it.

"Heh… Maya sure is tough," he managed weakly.

"Don't change the subject," Miles snapped. "This isn't the time to bluff, Phoenix." He released his hand from Phoenix's chin, sliding it back down to his lap. "…What they said… is it true?"

Phoenix closed his eyes.

"…Yes..."

Miles wondered briefly if his heart was going to end up bursting out of his chest. He let out a long sigh, looking away.

'So it is true… but how can I tell him?'

"I'm – I'm sorry," Phoenix said, interrupting his thoughts. "I should go…" He quickly stood up and made to leave.

"Phoenix, wait."

"I'm sorry, Miles. I hope we can still be friends after this." With that, Phoenix exited the house, leaving Miles to bury his face in his hands.

One year later…

February 8

1:37 A.M.

Hotel Room

The phone was ringing. Miles Edgeworth was angry about this. He had been having a rather nice dream. Groaning sleepily, he fumbled around with one hand before locating the telephone.

"Miles Edgeworth speaking…"

"Yo, Edgey! You gotta come back right away! It's an emergency!"

"Larry, I told you, I just have some business to take care of overseas. I should be back in a couple of weeks." Sighing, he prepared to hang up the phone.

"B-but, it's Nick! He fell off a burning bridge into the river and it was really high up and now he's dying on his deathbed and – "

"Wh-what?!"

"-and… and…" Larry sniffed.

"He fell off a burning bridge, Larry?!" Miles was sitting bolt upright now. 'Shit…'

"Yeah. I think it was called Dusky Bridge or whatever. And now the love of my life is accused of murder and my mentor is dead and Maya is trapped and Pearl is missing and… other stuff."

"Dusky Bridge…" 'Where have I heard that name before?' Miles got up, rummaging through his suitcase. "Okay. I'll be over there as soon as possible. See you later." He hung up the phone and quickly got dressed, dialing a number on the phone. "Hello, I need a private jet to Los Angeles…"

February 8

8:00 A.M.

Hospital

Phoenix sighed and stretched his arms. These hospital beds weren't exactly comfortable, especially in the way of back support. Some thicker blankets might be nice, too.

A nurse walked into the room. "Mr. Wright, you have a visitor."

"Oh, good," he replied, brightening. 'Maybe they have some news about Maya…'

The man who walked into the room was the person that he least expected at that time.

"Edgeworth?!"

Miles walked over and sat himself on a chair next to Phoenix's bed. "How are you feeling, Wright? I'm sorry that I couldn't get here sooner…"

"Uh, fine… and that's okay." Phoenix was very confused. Miles was peering into his face intently, reaching out to adjust a bandage on the patient's head. "You don't have to fuss over me or anything…"

'You know you like it.'

'Crap, not you again.'

"Wright? Are you okay? You don't have to act like you're well for my sake."

"I'm fine, Miles…" Phoenix sighed. "They said I was lucky. I have a cold from falling in the river, and some bruising, but other than that, I'm fine. You're acting like I'm on my deathbed or something."

Miles looked away, eyes narrowing. "I am going to kill Larry."

Phoenix looked confused for a moment, then laughed. "He exaggerated things again, didn't he?"

"Enough for me to charter a private jet to get here," Miles grumbled. He felt very embarrassed. Larry would pay.

"Aww, was Miles worried about little old Phoenix? That's so sweet!" Phoenix cooed, clasping his hands together and attempting to make his eyes sparkle.

"Shut up!" Miles folded his arms and looked at the door.

"Heh, sorry. But seriously… you didn't have to do that. I'm the one who should apologize for taking you away from your work," Phoenix said, biting his lip anxiously.

Miles turned to look at his friend. "It's nothing. Anyone would do the same."

"I guess…" Phoenix looked doubtful.

"Wright… what happened to you, anyways?"

February 8

4:03 P.M.

Hazakura Temple Main Gate

Edgeworth sighed and stared at the shiny attorney's badge on his lapel. What the hell was he doing here? He was in way over his head, what with those creepy Psycholock things and being a defense attorney in Phoenix's stead. Why had he accepted this offer?

'That's a stupid question,' he admonished himself. 'It was Phoenix who asked, after all… and I was probably a bit curious about what it's like to be a defense attorney. So sue me.'

Stupid weaknesses for certain stupid defense attorneys. Stupid godforsaken mountain with its stupid snow and stupid wind. If anything else that was stupid showed up, he decided, he would follow Wright's example and jump into the stupid river.

"Hiya, Edgey!"

Edgeworth sighed again. 'River, here I come.'

"I said, HI, EDGEY!!!"

Edgeworth decided that living was preferable, and he grudgingly turned to face Larry.

"What in the hell are you wearing?"

"Aww, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"In your case, yes."

Larry "hmph"ed and folded his arms. "For your information, Edgey, this is the garb of a true, inspired artist!"

"Funny," Edgeworth remarked. "I seem to remember that your drawings suck."

"HEY! SHUT UP! I'VE GOTTEN BETTER! WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE –" Larry clammed up suddenly, sweating a bit. "Okay, so maybe you're pretty good, but – "

"And I have never worn anything as ridiculous as that," Edgeworth finished, pointing to Larry's orange beret.

"Then what's this?" Larry challenged, fluffing Edgeworth's cravat into the irate prosecutor's face. At Edgeworth's stony silence, he continued, "And you should be flattered! I was taking a leaf out of your book with the pink sweater!"

"I don't wear PINK, damn it!"

"Piiiiink pink pink pink – "

"MAGENTA!"

"Fine." Larry coughed, muttering "pink" under his breath.

Edgeworth resisted the urge to stuff that stupid orange beret down Larry's throat.

February 9

12:00 P.M.

Train

Phoenix Wright was currently going over that morning's trial records. He chuckled when he saw the name of the prosecutor: Franziska von Karma. 'Bet that went well.'

The defendant, Iris, had supposedly been seen pulling a ceremonial sword out of the victim's back. However, it had been proven that the sword in question was not the murder weapon. Afterward, Larry had testified and made a complete idiot of himself as usual. He mentioned something strange, however – that he had seen Iris flying over the bridge. Further testimony on his part raised the question of where the murder actually took place. The snowmobile in front of the temple had been used by Iris on that night, possibly to transport the body or to dispose of the murder weapon.

'Iris… who is she?' The nun strikingly resembled Phoenix's college girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne. After researching Mia's first case, and from his own memories of Mia's second case, Phoenix had been able to piece things together pretty well.

During Mia's first case, she had been defending a man named Terry Fawles. When Dahlia was fourteen, she conspired with him and her own stepsister, Valerie, to steal a diamond from Dahlia's father. Terry staged a false kidnapping of Dahlia, who was his girlfriend, and the two of them met Valerie at Dusky Bridge. Valerie was supposed to exchange the diamond for Dahlia, and the money from the diamond would be split three ways. Valerie, however, betrayed the plan and shot Terry in the arm, giving Dahlia an opportunity to escape with the diamond by throwing herself into the river.

Five years later, Valerie, knowing that Dahlia was alive, contacted her stepsister and told her to admit to her crime. Valerie arranged to meet with Terry Fawles on Dusky Bridge. Terry escaped from prison, stole a car, and drove to the meeting site, taking a brief detour to retrieve a gift that Dahlia had given him. The gift was a small bottle on a necklace, filled with poison. In the meantime, Dahlia killed Valerie and stuffed her into the trunk of the car. She then disguised herself as Valerie and met Terry on the bridge. When Terry was arrested for Valerie's murder, Dahlia testified against him in court, taking on the name of Melissa Foster. Her true identity was proven by Mia, who had fought a long and difficult battle against none other than Miles Edgeworth. Before Dahlia could be properly convicted of the murder, however, Terry drank the poison from the bottle necklace and died, thus ending the trial.

Several months later, Diego Armando, Mia's fellow attorney, called Dahlia to the courtroom library. He, too, had been present at the trial, and he strongly suspected Dahlia of Valerie's murder. Dahlia knew this, so she poisoned Armando's coffee, which had apparently killed him. The container for the poison was none other than the bottle necklace that she had given to Terry. Using her relationship with her college boyfriend, Doug Swallow, she was granted access to the school's chemistry lab, where she acquired the poison.

Naturally, Dahlia needed to dispose of the bottle necklace. She spotted a young man in the library, Phoenix Wright himself. Phoenix was quickly attracted to the beautiful young woman, and she presented him with the necklace as "proof of their love". Phoenix, naturally, was thrilled with this, and he showed the gift to everyone he knew. In the meantime, Dahlia was being questioned about Armando's murder, but because she had no poison on her person, she was set free.

Dahlia was worried about Phoenix's habit of showing off the necklace, for she feared that, if shown to the wrong person, it could incriminate her. She constantly pestered Phoenix to give it to her, but he consistently refused, assuming that she was just joking. Dahlia decided to kill Phoenix to get the necklace, so she stole more poison from the chemistry lab. She stole Phoenix's bottle of cold medicine and poisoned it, but her old boyfriend, Doug, had noticed her stealing the poison. He warned Phoenix about Dahlia, but Phoenix refused to hear such things about his girlfriend, and pushed Doug. After Phoenix left, Dahlia approached Doug, and, using a broken electrical cable, quickly silenced him, arranging the scene to pin the crime on Phoenix. Phoenix came back to see if Doug was okay after he shoved him, and discovered Doug's dead body. By then, the police had arrived, and they quickly arrested Phoenix.

In court, Mia Fey, Phoenix's defense attorney, attempted to expose Dahlia as the real murderer. She demanded that the bottle necklace be tested for traces of poison. Phoenix, in an attempt to stop this, ate the bottle. Mia then turned to a new tactic: have Dahlia take some of Phoenix's cold medicine. Dahlia then had no choice but to admit her defeat.

'So if Dahlia Hawthorne is, indeed, in jail… then who is Iris, and does she have any relation to Dahlia?'