Hi guys! Sorry for posting later in the day; I was trying to write shorter chapters for this fic, but I accidentally wrote a longer one, so I decided to cut it in half and rearrange some of it. As a result, this story is now planned to have six chapters instead of five, which I guess means that this is the climax! Please enjoy! :)
"Feenie…" Iris played with her hair nervously. "You've made your decision? What did you have to decide?"
Flinching, he equivocated, "I just needed to find the best way to phrase this, that is, how I feel about you." Alright, Wright, let's start out with the truth: "Ever since Dollie's – uh, your sister's trial, I've refused to fully believe that you were the evil wench the Chief told me you were. I knew from all our time together that you were an honest, gentle young woman, and I never stopped trusting that. I still trust that, just like I trust you."
The former temple nun blushed. "Thank you. All this time, I figured that you'd hate me for what my sister did to you."
Phoenix shook his head. "Of course not! That was her, not you! You've been nothing but kind to me, and to Maya." Shoot, Maya, I was trying to forget about her!
Iris nodded, "Yes, well, I wanted to repay Mystic Maya for all that my sister did to her family. Plus, I know how important she is to you. I mean, after all, she's been at your side for longer than I was. She's always been there for you, and… Feenie, are you okay?"
To be honest, Feenie was not okay: his face was earnestly trying to decide which color of the rainbow to turn. Thinking about his assistant again made him feel indecisive, embarrassed, and frankly miserable, considering that he was about to choose Iris over her.
Letting out a sigh, he pleaded "The truth is, Iris…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Iris, I'm in love."
So, you said that there's a circumstantial amount of evidence that Wright loves Maya?" Edgeworth spread his hands in offering gesture, "I'm all ears."
"I'm surprised you can't figure it out yourself, Miles Edgeworth," Franziska smirked. "It's so painfully obvious." Pearl gave her a supportive nod, to which the prodigy prosecutor asked, "I suppose you'd like to assist me in proving this case, Ms. Fey?"
The young girl bit her thumb. "Assist? Um, should I channel Mystic Mia?"
"I think we're fine, Pearl," Edgeworth smiled, gently patting her head. "Just chime in for the parts of the story you know."
"Oh, okay!" she grinned, bouncing in her seat, "I can do that!"
"Let's begin:" Franziska tugged on her whip, her testimony commencing: "Approximately three years ago, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey met over the dead corpse of the defense attorney Mia Fey."
"How romantic," Edgeworth drawled, "Surely, it must've been love at first sight."
Franziska shot him a frigid assassin of a glare, before continuing, "Throughout the trials for Mia Fey's murder, the two clearly became quite fond of each other. This can be seen in how Wright continued to help Fey even after she refused his defense request, and how Fey stayed by Wright's side when he was later accused of the same crime."
"Interesting," the other prosecutor tapped a finger on his arm, "I wasn't aware you knew all the details of that case."
"Of course I do!" she declared, extending an arm, "That was the case where my precious Little Brother lost his perfect trial record! Naturally, I found out everything there is to know about it."
Pearl chimed, "Oh, and I know what happened next!" The prosecutors turned to the child, who elaborated, "Mystic Maya got really, really happy because Mister Nick was going to take over Mystic Mia's lawyer company, so she came back home to pack her bags, then went to live with him!"
"Live?" Franziska echoed, "Were Wright and Fey living together?"
"Of course not," Edgeworth explained, "They simply shared the apartment space above the Law Offices, it wasn't like they had a house together!"
The woman folded her arms, "And you aren't at all suspicious about what could've been happening between them in said shared apartment space?"
"Franziska, Maya Fey was seventeen at the time!"
"Still," she shrugged it off, "The fact remains that the pair wanted to live in close proximity to each other."
Meanwhile, alone in the detention center lobby, Maya thought to herself: I fell in love with him so abruptly, I don't even know what caused it. Probably how he stuck around for me when no one else did. Maybe it was how he got himself accused of murder but didn't regret it because it meant I was free. Phoenix Wright is my knight in shining armor. I knew it from the start. That's why I wanted to stay with him, so much that I'd leave behind the only home I'd ever known.
Edgeworth frowned, "But she left eventually, didn't she?"
"And remember what happened then?" Franziska countered, "You told me so, at least. The miserable slump that Wright slipped into…"
Phoenix's gaze wavered, his mind wandering elsewhere. I can't even bear to think of the first time I was without Maya. Everything was so dark; I don't know how I failed to notice how much she was doing for me. I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to eat. I wouldn't have been able to afford food, anyways, since I was turning down all cases. Then, Ema came along…
"Ema Skye, who looked exactly like Maya," Edgeworth concluded grimly. "She was the one who convinced Wright to start taking cases again. Clearly, she was helping to fill the gap that Maya left in him when she departed."
"Now you see it," Franziska grinned.
Suddenly, Pearl budded in, "The same thing happened with Mystic Maya! For a whole month after she returned home, she was so sad, and when I asked her what was wrong, she said that she missed Mister Nick. The only way we could convince her to perform her first professional spirit channeling was to promise she could see him first!"
Nodding, Franziska added, "And thus the foolish fools reunited June of 2017, which resulted in a foolishly foolish murder incident conspired by two foolishly foolish who foolishly-"
"In other words, you lost your winning streak," Edgeworth smirked, "and after that incident, the pair got back together."
"To be honest, I thought they were already a couple at the time," Franziska confessed. "I mean, Phoenix Wright literally broke down a door for her!"
Pearl rejoiced, "That's because Mister Nick is her hero, just as a girl's special someone should be!"
"Speaking of, how exactly did you come to believe that Wright was Maya's 'special someone', Ms. Fey?" Edgeworth questioned curiously.
"Oh! Um…" Pearl looked around nervously. "Can you both keep a secret?"
Slightly alarmed, the pair of prosecutors exchanged a glance. Franziska nodded, "Of course. What is it?"
The young medium blushed. "I, uh, I might've read Mystic Maya's diary. And, well, she might've said that she likes Mister Nick?"
"WHAT!?" Miles Edgeworth exclaimed.
"HA!" Franziska beamed, bowing into a customary courtroom curtsey, "And there you have it, Miles Edgeworth! Decisive evidence that Fey and Wright are a thing!"
"HOLD IT!" the demon prosecutor glowered, "Just because Maya had an infatuation with Wright at one time by no means proves that she is still romantically interested in him, nor that Wright returned her feelings at any point!"
Pearl whimpered quietly, both hair and eyes tilting downwards. Edgeworth's expression faltered, morphing into one of concern; he hadn't considered how disheartening his words might've been to the poor girl.
Franziska retaliated almost instantly: "OBJECTION!" Pearl's head jolted up, as the prosecuting prodigy decreed, "I'm not finished, Miles Edgeworth! I will, without a doubt, prove that Wright is in love with Maya Fey with the upcoming evidence!" She winked at the tiny medium. "Fear not, Pearl Fey, this is far from over!"
You're in love?" Iris's eyes lit up, sparkling at him as she smiled angelically. "Oh, Feenie, I don't know what to say!"
"Neither do I," Phoenix admitted bleakly. He tried to hide his genuine uncertainty, but found himself unable to perform his usual specialty of convincingly bluffing in the current situation.
Iris looked at him with concern. "Something is wrong, isn't it?" Silence. She pleaded, "Please, just tell me. I'll accept anything you have to say."
"I know," Phoenix muffled, his head buried in his hands, "I just don't know if I can accept what I'm about to say."
To be continued next Sunday...
