Trucy Wright and Pearl Fey were about as close as any pair of friends could realistically be. If it was at all possible for them to stick close to one another at any given point when Pearl was in the city, - with or without Maya - it could be reasonably assumed that the two would do everything in their capacity to do so. It was rare for Phoenix to ever deny his daughter the chance to see her best friend, and he'd gone to great lengths in the past to ensure that the two could meet up, near regardless of any possible difficulties involved.

The two hit it off well from the first day they met, though their very first meeting nearly spiraled into disaster.

It wasn't too long after Trucy's adoption that Maya had surprised Phoenix with a visit to their former law office. She brought Pearl along, eager to finally be properly introduced to the daughter Phoenix had taken in. Her young cousin was the one to knock on the office door, and to their surprise, it was answered by girl of age similar to Pearl's, who smiled brightly at them from beneath a pink top hat that barely fit on her head.

Phoenix only became aware of their arrival when he exited the bathroom a minute after the knock sounded, whereupon he approached the door and was met with the confusing sight of Maya and Trucy attempting to console a sobbing Pearl. When he stepped forward to greet them, he was nearly assaulted by the young medium, who furiously rebuked him for a "betrayal" of some kind.

Maya apologized at length after the fact, explaining that she'd carefully avoided mentioning Trucy's adoption to Pearl back in Kurain Village, hoping to make their meeting a surprise.

That was the only bump in the rapid process of the two girls becoming about as close as Phoenix himself was with Maya. To that end, the pair shared a certain pastime that Phoenix couldn't claim he hadn't worried about.

Pearl's insistent belief that Phoenix was romantically involved with Maya spread to Trucy like an infection. Fortunately for her father, however, Trucy was considerably less on-the-nose about it than her friend.

The first few of the years between Phoenix's disbarment and his eventual success in exposing the crimes of Kristoph Gavin occasionally saw him trying to convince Maya that, for all the negative effects it might have on the emotional state of their respective young charges, it would be safest for Maya and Pearl to remain away from the city unless it was truly necessary. Maya put an end to that idea quite effectively. She'd seen the state of despair that her best friend could fall into, and she wasn't about to let it happen again.

The last instance stuck out clearly in Phoenix's mind, and he felt ashamed when he thought of the argument that had taken place on that day.

That was the primary reason that he found it so difficult to request that Maya specifically stay in Kurain once he felt ready to begin his calculated plan to expose Kristoph's numerous crimes.

The fire in Maya's eyes was the first image he remembered.

"Maya, please, I want you to understand - I'm not trying to push you or Pearls away. I just… You know me, I worry too much about you. Both of you. I don't want to imagine what I might do if something happened to either of you and I felt like I was responsible."

Maya sighed. "And you would feel that way, wouldn't you? You'd… You can just be so stupid sometimes, Nick. You fell off a burning bridge because you thought there was a chance I was in trouble once, remember? I'm Pearly's guardian; I know what you mean when you talk about being afraid that something might happen."

"And I hope that means you can understand where I'm coming from. I'd never think that you'd let yourself get into trouble, but…" Phoenix hesitated, rethinking his words. "I'd feel best if I could just know that you two are at least out of harm's way, on the off chance that something does go wrong."

Maya had her mouth open to reply, but she hesitated now.

"… Nick," she said slowly, "What d'you mean by that? 'Something goes wrong'?"

Phoenix grimaced. He hadn't wanted Maya to ask that question.

When he didn't answer her, she went on. "Do you… Nick, you think Gavin might try to kill you, don't you?"

Phoenix looked steadily back at Maya now, meeting her gaze. "I can't say anything for certain, Maya, but the risk is there." he said, as seriously as possible.

Concern flashed through Maya's eyes. "Nick, what about Trucy?"

Trucy was currently enjoying a two-week stay at a magician's camp; the usual place she spent her spring break.

"Say something happens to you - what then, Trucy has to find out that she's lost her father again?"

"Maya,"

"No, Nick." Maya cut him off. "If that's the reason, I'm not going to hide in Kurain and just cross my fingers."

"Maya, you have your own responsibilities out there. All I'm asking is that you skip on planning any trips here until-"

"Until what?" Maya interrupted again, her voice rising. "Until I either find out that my best friend is dead, or you do whatever it is you're planning and eventually decide everything's OK again?"

Maya didn't want to get angry at him, but Phoenix was pushing her there. The recent years had done a lot to change her best friend's disposition. Some days she wanted to scream at him - anything to get it into his head that the loner he was slowly trying to turn himself into was the wrong person to solve his problems.

She could tell that he didn't want to argue either. He wasn't sounding firm or confident, but rather pleading, and willing to compromise on his requests.

"Maya," he started once more, still unable to summon the confidence of the attorney he once was, "Please… I know you don't like it, but why can't you just go along with this, just once?"

"Because, Nick," she said, "It's not a good idea, and you know it. Sure, you know that what you're doing is dangerous, and you don't want anyone you care about being dragged into it, but…" Now Maya was the one rethinking her methods in this conversation. She sighed, cursing the sudden loss of her own confidence. "Damn it, Nick, I'm afraid of exactly the same thing. You've put yourself on the line so many times already, one way or another, and… I care about you and Trucy too much to be OK with taking that risk."

She'd lost the edge that she'd come into this with. Staring back at Phoenix across the table between their two couches, she waited for a response.

Phoenix had an unusual look in his eyes. It was one that suggested he was searching for something - seeking an answer to a question he couldn't bring himself to ask.

The moment held for several seconds, and it ended when both participants took an action that neither could have seen coming, yet which still made its way into their respective minds simultaneously.

Maya pushed herself off of the couch, acting purely off of something like instinct. At precisely the same moment, Phoenix himself rose from his seat. The two each took a single step to make their way around the glass table between the seats, and when their paths met, their bodies intertwined almost automatically.

Maya threw her arms over Phoenix's shoulders, letting her wrists hang limply in the air. She felt his hands circle around her back, and in the next moment, as his face lowered towards her own, their shared motion became a kiss.

Everything around them ceased to exist at once. Maya's eyes drifted closed, and Phoenix became her only anchor to the real world. She pushed her body against his, tilting her head slightly while maintaining her connection to him without pause. Phoenix's hands pressed into her back, just below her shoulders. Her own hands moved, finding their way into his dark hair. She pushed his handmade blue beanie up and off of his head, exposing the mildly flattened spikes that his hair always seemed to grow into. She pulled her lips away slightly, giggling as the hat dropped against her own head.

Trucy had made that hat for her father. Seeing it reminded both Maya and Phoenix of how very glad they were rapidly becoming to know that Trucy was still going to be away at camp for another week.

I like to imagine that Nick and Maya would only ever get their act together once something forced them to both realize just how much they needed each other, at exactly the same time.