Author's Note: Wow. What is this? An update? Sorry guys about all the waiting you've done; I've been super busy for ages! (: Finally managed to get this done for you, though. (:

Anyways, thanks for all of your very kind reviews, they're all so positive and sweet. (: You guys are amazeballs. (Who even says amazeballs? Who invented it?) So, anyways, because you guys are awesome sauce (again, ?), please keep reviewing!

~Rainbow Fruit Loop xx

~Irresistible Love and the Turnabout~

Chapter Eleven.

With trembling fingers, Miles picked up the strangely light gun that rested at his feet. He was angry; angrier then he ever had been before. How dare that man yell at his father? How dare that man scream?

Without thinking of the consequences, Miles threw the gun at Yogi as hard as he could - with all of the force of a terrified, angry child.

*Bang.*

The next time Miles opened his eyes, his father was dead.

Miles awoke with a gasp, his dark eyes flickering open to scan the room before closing briefly when he realised where he was. Gingerly, he sat up, and glanced to his left to look at his alarm clock.

Seven o'clock. His alarm didn't go off until seven thirty, and he always knew that he was in for a long, tiresome day when he woke up before his alarm went off.

With a heavy sigh, Miles got out of his bed - there was no point in lounging around in bed; he may as well get ready for work.

As he pulled his pale magenta robe off its hook and wrapped it around himself tightly, Miles chided himself for having the same dream every night - despite the fact that Phoenix had cleared his name.

It's time you forgot about DL-6, Miles. You need to move on. It's what father would have wanted, and you know that.

Miles stifled a yawn, and padded across his apartment and into the kitchen. It felt strange, his apartment - its lack of Phoenix made it feel oddly empty. And he definitely had to admit; he hadn't slept as well as he had that night when he was with Phoenix.

What is it that you're doing to me, Phoenix?

After the horrible incident at the pools, Miles had found himself drawing away from Phoenix in the way he always had before. He wasn't sure what it was that had almost transpired, but he knew that it was something that shouldn't ever happen.

Yet, he had found himself pondering on the situation far more than he would have liked. Because the sensation he had felt in that single second was more powerful, more brilliant than anything he had experienced before. And there was something intoxicating, something fascinatingly whimsical in the thought that it was Phoenix - Phoenix, of all people; brilliant, amusing, foolish, completely clueless Phoenix - who had inspired such bliss.

It had Miles second guessing everything he had thought about his feelings towards his best friend, and, again, he found himself wondering what really was happening - or what could possibly happen in the future - between them.

Miles shook his head, and cleared his mind of its perilous thoughts.

Stop thinking about him, Miles. It's not worth it.

It was eleven o'clock when Phoenix rang, and, stupidly, stupidly, Miles picked up.

"Hello, Miles Edgeworth speaking."

"Hi, Edgeworth! It's me!" Phoenix's chirpy voice rang out across Miles' phone's speakers, and Miles felt a headache coming on.

He sighed to himself, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Good morning, Wright. What do you want?"

"Lunch. With you." Phoenix murmured into the phone.

It had been a few days since Phoenix had gate-crashed Miles' office, and, much to his disdain, Miles found that he had caught up on all of the work he needed doing. He knew that the fact that he had finished everything should please him, but… well. It gave him less of an excuse to avoid going out with Phoenix.

"Why?" was Miles' first response, even though he already knew why.

Phoenix chuckled. "Because we're friends. And we haven't seen each other in a while. And we've still got to find you a partner."

Miles sighed into the phone. "I saw you a few days ago."

There was a bit of a silence on Phoenix's side, and Miles got the strange feeling that it was an awkward silence. Finally, though, he spoke up.

"Yeah, well. Can you make it or not?"

Miles shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "…All right. But not for too long."

Phoenix's voice brightened instantly. "Great! There's this really nice Chinese restaurant in town, so let's meet there."

After giving Miles slightly confusing and probably incorrect directions, Phoenix said goodbye and hung up the phone; leaving Miles with the horrible feeling that the lunch date was a mistake.

It was twelve o'clock when Miles put down his fountain pen with a sigh.

I'd better leave in a few minutes. I don't want to be late.

He still had the dull feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that something bad was going to happen, and it unnerved Miles.

Why am I so nervous? I've seen Phoenix since that day at the pools, and, though it was slightly awkward, it was fine. Nothing has changed between us. And nothing probably will.

Lunch will be fine, and then I can come back here and work myself into oblivion.

After picking up his coat and locking his office, Miles made his way to the staircase - passing the elevator like he always did.

But this time, he stopped.

His irrational fear of the metal contraption annoyed Miles; why was he so afraid? Just because he had had one unpleasant experience in an elevator didn't mean they were all going to end in tragedies.

What does Phoenix think of my inability to use the elevator? He must think of me as a child.

With a forced type of confidence, Miles pushed the small metal button on the wall, and waited nervously for the elevator to appear. He fiddled nervously with his fingers, and jumped a bit when the doors pinged open.

I can do this.

Taking a deep breath, Miles took a step forwards; striding into the dark, empty box. But then he stopped, sighed, and turned around to retreat back down the stairs.

Old habits die hard, I suppose.

Once outside, Miles made his way to the restaurant Phoenix had suggested - luckily, it was within walking distance from the Prosecutor's Office. It was a nice walk; calming and peaceful, and it gave Miles time to properly think about what was happening between himself and Phoenix.

All right, so it's obvious - even to me - that something almost happened at the pools. I think- I think we almost kissed. Which is something… something I think I wouldn't mind if it were to actually happen.

What does this mean? That I… That I want a relationship with Phoenix? No. Surely not. I've never wanted a relationship with anybody before.

Nngh. How can I seriously be considering this?

Miles curled his fingers into tight balls at his side, and carried on walking; counting to one hundred in French and German inside his head to distract himself from his terrible thoughts.

You betray me, mind.

Once he reached the restaurant, Miles had a quick look round.

I can't see Phoenix anywhere… Please say that he's not late. This is all I need. Him to be bloody late when I've had to take time off work.

With a slightly melodramatic sigh, Miles strode into the restaurant, black coat flapping behind him.

So, he was pleasantly surprised to notice that the very man himself was sitting at a booth in the corner of the room, twiddling his thumbs nervously.

With a smile that he quickly extinguished, Miles walked over to the booth, and sat down in the chair opposite Phoenix.

"Good afternoon, Wright."

Phoenix looked up, and beamed his ridiculous smile. "Hi, Edgeworth! Glad to see you made it!"

Why does he always seem so absurdly pleased to see me?

Miles leveled Phoenix a mild glare, and took his jacket off and draped it across the back of the chair.

"Of course I made it."

Phoenix chuckled, and it was a pleasant noise that Miles hadn't really noticed before. Hearing Phoenix laugh was probably akin to hearing an angel sing.

…What?

Miles cleared his throat awkwardly, and looked around at the interior of the room he was sitting in. It had wooden walls and red paper lanterns strung across the ceiling. There was Asian writing on a sign above the counter, and Miles had to admit; he was impressed with Phoenix's choice.

"The restaurant you've chosen is… nice. I like it." Miles said, speaking slowly, as though he was afraid of appearing too eager.

"Thank you! It's quite cheap, so I like going here when I've got a bit of money. It's definitely better than cheap takeaways or Maya's startling cooking!" Phoenix chuckled to himself. "Also, guess what?"

"…What?" Miles hedged, hesitant now.

"You know Iris Hawthorne?"

"The girl you dated when you were studying art?" Miles asked, suddenly resenting talking about Phoenix's 'exes'.

"Yeah. The one we defended at Hazakura. Well, she's finally managed to pay my defence fees! So I can pay for lunch today!"

Miles gave a gentle smile; amused at Phoenix's juvenile excitement.

It doesn't take much to make him happy.

"That's good. Thank you."

"Do you want to order now?" Phoenix asked, reaching for one of the two menus that lay in the middle of the table.

"All right." Miles said, mirroring his actions.

"Choose anything you want." Phoenix allowed generously. "I'm paying, remember?"

Miles smirked to himself, but kept quiet; keeping his sarcastic comment to himself.

They read in silence for a few minutes, and Miles was thankful for the English translation they had at the side of the page. He'd never thought about learning an Asian language; choosing instead to master as many European languages as he could.

"Have you chosen?" Miles finally asked, looking up from his menu.

It seems as though we spend a lot of our time looking at each other over menus these days.

Phoenix glanced upwards, and a lopsided grin tugged at his lips. "Yes. Have you?"

"Yes."

"Great." With that, Phoenix's hand shot up into the air to alert one of the waiters.

After the waitress had taken their orders - 'egg-fried rice with beef and vegetables' for Phoenix, and 'sweet and sour chicken with noodles and stir-fried vegetables' for Miles - Phoenix leant back in his chair.

"Hey, I was thinking about how we're supposed to be finding you a partner." Phoenix mentioned, flashing Miles a sheepish - yet stupidly flawless, and Miles cursed himself for noticing - smile. "We've kind of got distracted by… well, everything."

"I suppose we have." Miles murmured, nodding his head in agreement.

"Are you sure there's no one you've got your eye on? Anyone could be helpful."

Miles shook his head, and he felt his stomach clench. "There is no one."

Phoenix sighed. "All right then. But I honestly don't know who you're going to go with."

Miles was about to open his mouth, we he noticed that the same waitress as before was bringing their food over.

That was fast. Phoenix has definitely chosen a good restaurant.

Miles thanked the waitress politely as she placed his dish on the table. He picked up the chopsticks he'd been given.

"Aw. I didn't get chopsticks." Phoenix complained, looking down at his meal morosely.

Miles rolled his eyes to himself, and gestured towards the fork lying to Phoenix's left. "But you got a fork, so stop complaining."

After the two had finished eating, Phoenix pushed his plate away from him, and smiled across at Miles.

"Hey, do you want to buy a fortune cookie?" he asked eagerly.

"If you would like." Miles replied, deciding to humour his friend.

"Awesome! They're really accurate here. I came with Maya once, and she got one that said 'You will fall in love this afternoon', and then when we left the restaurant, we went looking around the shops and she saw this huge Steel Samurai doll, and she totally fell in love with it." Phoenix gushed, nodding his head at Miles. "So you never know."

Miles smirked.

I'm not entirely sure that's what the fortune cookie meant…

There was silence for a few seconds as Phoenix tried - in vain - to call over another waitress.

"Ahem." Miles cleared his throat awkwardly. "I, uh…" he started, before pausing. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Phoenix glanced towards him, eyebrows drawn down in bewilderment. "You what?" He lowered his arm, and turned to give Miles his full attention.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. It's, uh, a bit embarrassing." Miles stammered, feeling like a complete fool.

"No, what is it?" Phoenix urged, smiling warmly in the way that made something in Miles' stomach flutter.

"I was just going to say that I tried to take the elevator today, but…" he trailed off rather lamely, and dragged his eyes away from Phoenix's.

Why do I constantly feel the need to bore him with my woes?

"That's good, Edgeworth." Phoenix smiled at him sympathetically. "Baby steps, I think, is the best way forward."

"Hopefully."

"You know, I like seeing you like this." Phoenix commented, looking at Miles approvingly.

"Like what? Embarrassed?" Miles scowled.

Phoenix chuckled. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant, I like it when you open up to me. You know, when you tell me things. Emotional things. Things that I don't know about you."

Miles smiled, albeit briefly.

This is why you're wonderful, Phoenix. You never judge me, no matter what I've done.

"The waitress seems to be ignoring us." Phoenix grumbled after a few seconds of silence. "I'll go and order the cookies from up at the counter."

Before Miles could protest, Phoenix was up at the counter, ordering the cookies enthusiastically.

I wonder what mine will read? Not that I believe in any of this rubbish or anything. But… I guess it will still be interesting… From a non-subjective type of way, at least.

Phoenix strode back to the table, looking utterly pleased with himself. "They'll be here soon."

"Great." Miles deadpanned.

"Hey, you know, I've just thought of something!" Phoenix suddenly burst out, grinning from ear to ear. "You could take Maya to Kay's party!"

I'd rather take you.

"Ms. Fey? Won't she be in Kurain?" Miles enquired politely, his mind screaming 'Nooo' at the thought of having to entertain Phoenix's kooky assistant for an entire night.

"She might be." Phoenix mused. "I could ask her, if you want."

"Kay hasn't set a date yet."

"Oh. Well, I could still ask her if she'd be willing to go, if you want." Phoenix smiled.

"Uh… No, thank you. I wouldn't want to drag her away from her responsibilities." Miles lied through his teeth.

"Okay then!" Phoenix chirped. He was about to say something else, when his phone started ringing; the loud 'Steel Samurai' theme song impossible to ignore.

Phoenix looked startled for a second, before scrambling around in his pockets for his new phone.

"It's Maya… speak of the devil. Do you mind if I take it?"

"Not at all." Miles indicated that Phoenix should answer.

Phoenix smiled, and pushed the call button on his phone.

"Hi, Maya!"

Over the next few minutes Miles sat, awkwardly listening to one side of the conversation. He noticed a few murmured 'I miss yous' and one very clear 'I love you'.

He tried not to let his mind wander about the possibility of an actual relationship between the two - something that Phoenix kept denying.

Finally, Phoenix said his goodbyes, and snapped his phone shut sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I haven't spoken to Maya in, what, forever?" he laughed humourlessly to himself. "But she's fine, so… yeah. Everything's all good."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Just then - as though the waitress had been watching Phoenix on the phone - the fortune cookies arrived. Phoenix grinned, and watched as Miles picked up his cookie.

"Er… How do you eat it?" Miles asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You mean you've never eaten a fortune cookie before?" Phoenix asked incredulously.

"No. They're not exactly common in Germany." Miles said sarcastically.

"Right. Well, what you do, is you…" Phoenix paused, before snapping his cookie in half. "Snap it in half, like so." He pulled out the little piece of paper from inside the biscuit.

"What does it say?" Miles asked.

"It says - 'Accept your feelings for what they are, and don't try to hide from them. This is the beginning of something good, and denying it will only make you unhappy. Carpe diem - seize the day.'

Miles raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I guess I've got to accept some feelings or something. And I'm going to be happy soon."

Miles paused. "Are you not happy now?"

Phoenix smiled. "I am. But I'll be happier. Hey, open yours now!"

"All right."

Hesitantly, Miles snapped his cookie in half, wincing slightly as it crumbled in his hands. Carefully, he pulled out the small piece of paper, and unfolded it.

"Well, go on. Read it out loud." Phoenix demanded.

"Okay. 'The person who will make you truly happy is someone you never thought you would fall in love with. He-'"

He? Hmph.

"'He is handsome, funny and trustworthy. But you must act quickly, otherwise all could be lost. Don't be afraid.'"

Phoenix was silent for a few seconds.

Please say he doesn't pick up on the-

"He?"

"What?" Miles asked defensively. "I didn't write the fortune, did I? It was probably meant for some sappy girl."

Phoenix shrugged. "I guess. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, Wright." Miles muttered, a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Is it talking about…?

Suddenly, Miles stood up abruptly - surprising himself. "I have to go to the restroom. Urgently."

Phoenix looked concerned, and he made to stand up. "Are you all right? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Miles brushed him off. "I'll be back in a minute."

He turned from the table, and strode into the male's restroom. Once inside, he turned on the cold tap, and splashed his face.

What - or rather, who - is it talking about?

Miles straightened up, dried off his face, and reached into his trouser pocket for the pages he had photocopied out of a book called 'Love, and Other Mysteries' that he had borrowed from the library.

He flicked through the pages until he found the one he wanted. It was titled 'How to Know If You're in Love.'

'If you are in love, there will be several 'symptoms' that you will have noticed.

a) You notice small, unimportant things about them.

I… I guess I have noticed things about him. Like, the way he dresses, or the way he smiles, or the way he laughs…

b) You don't sleep well when you're away from them.

That is… true also. I haven't slept since that night that we spent together.

c) Your appetite is gone; the only time you eat is when you're with them.

This morning is a testament to that. I couldn't eat anything.

d) You can't stop thinking about them.

This is the most true of them all. He's always in my head, no matter what I'm doing. Work, Court, lunch…

e) You are thinking about a specific person while you read this.

Oh, Christ. It's you, Phoenix. I think... I think I've fallen in love with you.

With shaking hands, Miles shoved the paper back into his pockets, and strode back into the restaurant. Phoenix was still sitting where Miles had left him; his childish face all lit up because of something on his phone.

Of course I've fallen in love with you, Phoenix. How could I not? You're… You're good for me. You're everything I need in a partner.

As he approached the table, Phoenix glanced upwards, and his face spread out in a wide, sincere grin.

"Are you okay now? I was just about to go in there and get you." He joked, laughing to himself as though he thought he was hilarious.

"I'm fine. Everything is… all right. Finally."

Disregarding Phoenix's confused look, Miles sat down.

Finally. Everything is good.

Author's note... again: Everyone's opinions are different, but I like thinking that Miles is comforted by the fact that he finally knows what's happening in regards to his feelings towards Phoenix. Like, now he actually understands how he's feeling. (: This'll probably end up changing in the next chapter, but whatever. (: