Chapter Text
Phoenix didn't really know how he ended up sitting on a bench in the middle of a mall with a lost child next to him. It all happened so fast. He'd been walking in front of Maya and the kids, his hands full of shopping bags they refused to carry as he led the way to the next store, and then between one sentence and the next, they disappeared. They'd been talking about lunch, so he wouldn't be surprised if they had seen some glaring neon sign and run off to the food court. So of course Easy-to-Get-Lost Phoenix had just started looking around for the closest, impossible to read map when he noticed a little girl of about five years old pressed up against a nearby wall, her chin jutting out and her lower lip wobbling slightly. She looked close to tears and was clearly trying very hard not to cry. A quick look around told Phoenix there were no adults nearby who seemed to know her or even notice she was there. It didn't take much to put together she was lost and had no idea what to do.
Without thinking, he headed over to the girl and stopped a good five feet away, hoping not to scare her.
"Um, are you okay?" he asked. The girl jerked in surprise, her head snapping toward where he was standing, an impressive glare pinching her face.
"I-I'm okay." Her voice wobbled a bit and Phoenix held in a sigh.
"You're not lost, are you?" he asked as gently as he could. The girl scowled at him, tears welling at the corner of her eyes.
"I'm not lost!" she shouted a little too loud. Her chin stuck out a little further, making it quite obvious she was definitely lost and didn't want anyone to know. As for why she was being so stubborn, he couldn't even begin to guess.
"Ah." Phoenix glanced around the mall. There was still no one in sight who seemed like they were looking for this girl. He shuffled his feet and looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye, an idea forming in his mind. "You know...I'm, uh, actually lost. My friends and I got separated."
"You are?" The girl shifted uncomfortably against the wall.
Phoenix nodded. "I am very lost. I have no idea where my friends are. Actually, I was trying to find the information booth. If I go there, they'll call out my name and my friends will come to me."
"They do that?" The girl's pout lessened a fraction.
Phoenix nodded again, relieved. He could tell that his plan was working. "Of course they do. My only problem is I don't know where to find the booth. Do you think you could help me find it?"
"Um," The girl hugged herself. "Y-yeah. Of course I can, you fool!"
Phoenix internally balked. Who calls someone trying to help a fool?
"R-Really? That'd be so great!" Phoenix gave her a little bit of a forced small smile. He hoped it didn't come off as creepy. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her even more and as a strange man smiling, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to do. "There's a map over there. Why don't we go look at it and then you can help me find the booth. Does that sound good?"
After a moment of hesitation, the girl nodded, straightened her back and strode past Phoenix toward the map.
“My name’s Phoenix Wright, by the way.” He said as he trailed behind her.
The girl hesitated a second before saying, “Franziska Edgeworth.”
“Nice to meet you, Franziska.”
“You too…” A few steps later, she peered up at him. “You have a funny name, you know?”
“So I’ve been told…” Phoenix sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, ignoring the almost insult and reminding himself that she was a lost child and much more scared than she was willing to let on.
Ten minutes later, he'd succeeded in guiding her to the booth while making her believe she was the one leading the way. They stepped up to the woman behind the desk with her fake customer service smile a little too bright to be real in any way.
“How can I help you, sir?” she asked.
“Uh, hi. We got a little separated from our groups. Do you think you could call, uh, Edgeworth? To the booth?” There was a brief pause where the woman looked at him, her eyebrows raised high.
“Why don’t you use your cell ph-?”
Luckily for Phoenix and his master plan, Franziska chose that moment to tug on his pant leg and say rather fiercely, “What about your friends? You’re the one who is lost.”
“Ah, right. I am very, very lost. This kind young lady helped me find my way over here.” He gave the woman a quick wink and a slight head tilt to Franziska. “Could you, uh, call my friend Maya Fey, too?”
Understanding flowed across her face and she gave a quick, secret wink back. “Of course! Let me call them right now. Edgeworth and Maya Fey, right?”
“Right.”
The nice woman leaned over to a mic behind her desk and over the mall speakers they heard a calm, precise, “Edgeworth and Maya Fey. Your friends are waiting for you at the information booth in the center of the mall. Again, Edgeworth and Maya Fey, your friends are waiting for you at the information booth.”
Phoenix couldn’t help but let a small wince slip out. Maya was going to make fun of him for weeks for this. This was definitely going on her list of Phoenix’s Most Embarrassing Stories.
The woman took her finger off the speaker and pointed out a bench nearby where they could wait. Phoenix thanked her and led Franziska over, careful not to trip over her as she clutched his pant leg. If it wasn’t for how tight she was holding onto his pants, he would never have known how scared she was by looking at her. She must have gotten some of her confidence back from “helping” him, and a little part of him melted inside at how hard she was trying.
And that’s how he ended up sitting on a bench in a mall with someone else’s daughter. It was kind of crazy, really.
Phoenix checked the time on his phone. It had only been a few minutes since they sat down but it felt like forever. He glanced down at Franziska, her hand still clutched to his pants and her legs swinging nervously from the bench. If he felt a few minutes had been a while, it must be even longer for her. Maybe he could find a way to distract her while they waited. He tapped his thigh in thought, wondering what he had on him beside his wallet, phone, all the shopping bags he’d been forced to carry…
That’s right, he thought. The bags! He began searching through all the bags at his feet. Most of them were clothes for the start of the new school year but they did get a few other things for them to use.
“What are you doing?” Franziska’s legs stopped swinging and she leaned over to see what he was digging through.
“I am looking for something we bought today. I think it’ll give us something to do while we wait.” He pulled over the bag from the last store they’d been in and rummaged past the clothes to what he wanted at the bottom. “Aha! Here it is!”
Phoenix pulled out a bright blue notebook with a cute blue monster on the cover that Trucy had picked out. Franziska’s eyes went wide. “Is that a monster notebook?”
“You bet it is! I figured we can play some games in it or draw some silly pictures while we wait.”
“Please let me see.” Her tone was a lot more demanding than expected, but at least she added please onto her sentence.
“Sure.” Phoenix handed it to Franziska, hiding a smile at her wide, entranced expression. “You like monsters?”
Franziska nodded and touched the cover gingerly as if she was afraid one finger print would destroy the whole image.
“It’s a pretty cool notebook, huh?” She nodded again, her fingers tracing the horns on the monster. “You know what else is cool?”
She shook her head, her eyes still glued to the notebook. Knowing she was going to love what he had, Phoenix dug through the same bag and pulled out a pink monster pencil case made entirely of one zipper. “What do you think of this?”
Phoenix didn’t think it was possible, but her eyes grew even wider and she held out one tiny hand in silent awe. He gave it to her, trying not to laugh at the delicate way she held it, and showed her how the zipper worked. Her face lit up with uncontainable glee as she unzipped and zipped the pouch over and over again, exclaiming in delight every time. For the first time since he found her, she didn’t seem afraid and Phoenix found himself relieved.
He didn’t know how many minutes ticked by while she played with the pencil pouch, but pretty soon it was clear she remembered where she was. Her feet started to swing my slowly again and she kept glancing around the mall.
“Do you like to draw monsters?” Phoenix blurted.
“Yeah…”
“Would you like to draw some with me?” He pulled out a couple pens from his pocket and gave one to her. He flipped open the notebook to the first page. “Why don’t you show me your favorite type of monsters?”
Biting her lip once, she nodded and began to draw, the tension leaving her shoulders as she focused. Next thing Phoenix knew they had a few pages of monsters and they were both giggling over a silly looking one with what she called, “terrible hair,” that looked a little too much like Phoenix’s own hair for his liking. He was just finishing drawing some very long nails on their monster when a voice cut through the mall noise.
“Franziska!” At the sound of her name, Franziska’s head snapped up and relief filled her face.
“Father!”
Phoenix had just enough time to sit up out of the way before Franziska flew off the bench and launched herself into the arms of the most handsome man Phoenix had ever seen.
The man, presumably Mr. Edgworth if Phoenix put all the correct connections together, was fairly tall, likely a similar height to Phoenix himself when his butt wasn’t currently glued to a bench. His hair was an odd, yet entrancing gray, something that would normally be associated with someone of a much older age but it was clear the man couldn’t be more than twenty eight years old. Even odder, Mr. Edgeworth was wearing a brightly colored magenta suit with some sort of frill around his neck. It was extremely high fashioned for a trip to the mall, but he somehow pulled it off and made it seem like it was the only way a person should dress at the mall. Phoenix trailed his eyes over Mr. Edgeworth as he knelt in front of Franziska, his hands holding her at arms length, his eyes searching over her to make sure she was unharmed before pulling her in for a quick, stilted hug. Phoenix’s heart almost stopped when he smiled at Franziska in his arms, a little relief tightening the edges, but it was a beautiful smile all the same.
Just as suddenly as the smile appeared, it disappeared and then two pairs of calculating eyes turned in Phoenix's direction, causing him to jump in his seat like a student caught doing something they weren’t supposed to. Before he knew it, his hand betrayed him and he gave the most awkward wave imaginable, an embarrassed smile straining his face as he was assessed by a very attractive man. God, he must look so stupid.
Mr. Edgeworth said something to Franziska, who nodded sharply once. Then he stood up with much more grace than Phoenix ever would be able to and, with Franziska’s hand in his, made his way over to Phoenix.
“I presume you are Phoenix Wright.” Even his voice was beautiful. How was that fair? Phoenix gulped as he stared up at him. “The one who-“ he paused, eyes shifting down to Franziska for a brief second, “...got lost.”
“Y-Yeah. That’s me.” Phoenix could feel his hand creeping up to the back of his neck, a nervous tick he could never seem to get rid of. “I was very lost and very lucky to find such a brave person to help me.”
Beside the man, Franziska’s chest puffed out in pride. One silver eyebrow rose as he looked from Franziska to Phoenix, his gaze clearly amused. “I see.”
“I owe your daughter my deepest thanks, Mr.-“ Phoenix raised his eyebrows in question.
“Miles Edgeworth.”
“Mr. Edgeworth. If it weren’t for your daughter, I would be incredibly lost.” Mr. Edgeworth’s eyebrow stayed raised as he pointedly looked at the phone Phoenix was holding. Phoenix winked at him, his face flaming in embarrassment as he powered on. “It’s dead.”
It was very obvious to both men that Phoenix was lying, but Mr. Edgeworth must have caught on to Phoenix’s plan from the way Franziska was beaming at his side. “Ah...Yes. You were very lucky indeed.”
Mr. Edgeworth had no idea how lucky Phoenix felt. His face burned as a silence fell between them, more awkward than he would ever want. He couldn’t seem to form any thoughts, let alone sentences that would continue the conversation and he was internally scrambling to come up with anything- anything to say. Mr. Edgeworth cleared his throat. “Well, the two of us better-“
“Wait, Father!” Franziska gave one sharp tug on her father’s coat.
“Yes?”
“I would like to show you something.” Mr. Edgeworth looked down at her, finger tapping on his arm in expectation. “Please.”
“Go ahead.”
Franziska turned to Phoenix, her hand extended and a rather fierce expression on her face. “The pencil case.” She hesitated, glancing quickly at Mr. Edgeworth. “Please.”
Startled, Phoenix wordlessly handed her the pink monster case. Her face lit up once more and she turned to her father, excitement spreading as she showed him what it was and how it worked. Mr. Edgeworth listened with rapt attention, nodding along to her demonstration, a fondness bleeding through in the way the corner of his lips tugged up and slight crinkling at the corner of his eyes. It was incredibly endearing and Phoenix felt himself falling fast.
He was snapped out of his trance at a sharp, “Mr. Phoenix Wright!”
“Y-Yes, Ma’am!” He flew to sharp attention, a salute at the ready.
“Please tell us where to find this monster pouch.”
“O-Of course! It’s, uh, back by the Macy’s, a few stores to the right of it? I think, um, it’s called Monsters, Inc? Or something like that? It has Monster in the title. They’ve got a whole bunch of monster stuff.” They both watched him with a laser focus, as if every word he said was of the utmost importance, causing Phoenix to stumble over his words. Apparently, he was incapable of having a conversation without making a fool of himself.
“Like the notebook, as well?” Her eyes flicked to the notebook at his side, a faint pink of excitement tinging her cheeks.
“Yup. All sorts of stuff, just like that.” Phoenix glanced at the open notebook.
“Speaking of which...would you like to take your drawings with you?”
“I would expect nothing less.” She held her hands out.
Phoenix obediently ripped out her pages with as much delicacy as he could muster and handed them over to her with a dramatic bow -the best he could do while still seated at the bench.
“For you, Fair Monster Queen.” Franziska gave a surprised giggle.
“Why thank you, you foolish peasant.” Phoenix faltered. Foolish peasant? She called him a foolish peasant? Where did she even learn the word peasant? She can’t be more than five. Another giggle slipped past her lips and Phoenix let his shock fade away, glad he could at least make her laugh after such a stressful afternoon.
Papers in hand, Franziska held them up toward Mr. Edgeworth. “Look, Father. We drew some monsters while we were waiting. This one right here is my favorite. It has the funniest hair.” Phoenix felt his face start to warm all over again. Franziska was pointing to the monster she drew that had hair a little too similar to Phoenix’s own. The moment was made worse when Mr. Edgeworth hid a chuckle behind a cough into his hand after his eyes darted between the drawing and Phoenix.
“Those are very good, Franziska. And I must admit that, as you say, it is a rather ridiculous hair style.” Phoenix wanted nothing more than to hide behind his hands. His blush spread down to his neck, like it always did when he got really embarrassed. “However, it is quite charming in its own way, is it not?”
Wait? Did Mr. Edgeworth just compliment his hair? It was a really roundabout way of doing so, but he did. He said the word “charming.” If Phoenix could combust on the spot, there would be nothing left on the bench but ashes ready to blow away as fast-walking mall goers went by.
“If you say so.” Franziska twisted the drawing to the side, her brows furrowed, trying to see what was “charming” about the hair.
“Well, Mr. Wright.” Phoenix looked up from his shoes. He didn’t even realize he’d stopped watching them both. “We really must be on our way. However, I would like to thank you for...getting lost and for entertaining Franziska while you waited for your friends.”
“No problem. I’m glad to get lost anytime.” Internally, Phoenix cringed. He really should not let his mouth do the talking, ever. Mr. Edgeworth’s lips twitched at the corners and a little spot of warmth tingled in Phoenix’s middle. Maybe that wasn’t too bad after all.
“Goodbye, Mr. Wright.” Edgeworth gave Phoenix a sharp nod.
“Goodbye Mr. Edgeworth. And goodbye to you, too, Franziska. Thank you very much for your help. It’s been a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand. Franziska took it with much more strength than expected.
“Goodbye Mr. Phoenix Wright.” She shook his hand once and with one last proud smile, she grabbed her father’s hand, turned on her heel and strode off into the mall in search of monsters. Phoenix waved to Mr. Edgeworth as he turned away, his own hand raising up halfway as he was pulled off by his daughter.
Phoenix stared after them, wondering if he should do something, say anything to get them to come back and continue the conversation. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side and his view was interrupted as a small body barreled into his chest, nearly knocking him off the bench.
“Daddy! We found you!” He looked down at the little girl in his arms, her smile blinding and her eyes squinted in joy. “That was an excellent magic trick, Daddy, but you’re not supposed to disappear when you have to pay for lunch.”
“Yeah, Nick. How’s a girl supposed to feed five children - four of which are yours, I might add - and herself without your wallet? I’m just a poor college student, you know.” Phoenix looked up at Maya and the four others trailing behind in varying levels of excitement or annoyance.
“Hey, everyone.”
“Mr. Wright! Where have you been? Why are you here?” Phoenix winced at Apollo’s voice so close to his ear. For a kid of eight years old, he sure could project.
“Volume, please.” Phoenix glanced off to where Mr. Edgeworth and Franziska had been, but they were long lost in the sea of shoppers. He sighed. “It’s a long story, kiddo.”
Maya’s eyes got a rather mischievous glint. “Does it have anything to do with the hot dad we saw walking away?”
“N-No. No! NO! Hot dad? W-What are you talking about?” Sweat started to drip down the back of Phoenix’s neck.
“Sometimes you are the worst liar.” Maya snorted.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Mr. Nick. Why are you lying to Miss Maya?” Phoenix shifted in his seat, doing his best not to look into Pearls wide puppy eyes. He was a sucker for puppy eyes and everyone knew it. “It’s very unkind of you to lie to Miss Maya.”
“Exactly. It’s soooo unkind to lie to me. So what were you looking for a second ago?” Maya crossed her arms, clearly having the time of her life.
“Yeah, Pops. We all saw him walking away. You gotta tell us.” Athena propped her hand on her hip.
“You know you can’t lie to us, Mr. Wright. You always fiddle with your locket in your pocket when you do.” Phoenix stared at varying puppy eyes, pouted lips, and, in Nahyuta and Apollo’s case, very intense stares. Six faces, five of which were between the age of five and eight and one who should be way too old for this to even affect him, all watched him, silently waiting for him to cave. He let out a long sigh.
“Fine...I’ll tell you.” All six of them erupted into cheers loud enough to draw attention from several people nearby. “But only after we get some food and only if you help carry the bags.”
More loud shouts erupted around him, some in agreement, some voicing their displeasure. Yet, somehow his ploy worked. After many minutes of bag reorganization and assignments, Phoenix once again led them off to the food court, this time checking every few steps to make sure they were behind him. And maybe, if he felt like admitting it to himself, he was searching for a magenta suit amongst the crowds of people, too.