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It's... strange, being a free woman once again. Though in truth, Iris isn't entirely certain that free woman has ever applied to her so much as it does now. Someone else was always in charge, whether it was her mother or Dahlia or Sister Bikini or, most recently, those in charge of the prison she'd stayed in.
It had had its moments, she will admit. It wasn't all bad. She learned, through necessity if nothing else, to stand up for herself. She met horrible people there, but—there were some good people there, too. Good people that had been wrongfully convicted, good people that had been convicted of precisely the things they'd done, a few in particular who she suspects were exposed by a certain Mr. Phoenix Wright.
Of course she heard about what happened to him, even in prison. But she could hardly imagine the full extent of it until she got out, at last, and met up with him.
"Yeah, it's uh... it's good to see you," Phoenix says with an uncertain smile, leaning against the doorframe of what had been his law office once. "I've got plans for later today, but I'd say I've got at least an hour, so... you're welcome to come in? If you want to?"
"It feels strange to even consider it," Iris admits. One of her hands absently brushes against the streak of red in her hair. "I-I wouldn't want to impose, but..."
Phoenix snorts. "Please. You're not imposing—honestly, I'm glad to see you're doing alright, Iris. Besides, you can meet Trucy."
Iris is already stepping over the threshold before the last part of what he said fully registers. Who is Trucy? Does he have a girlfriend? That's... disappointing, Iris would have hoped he and Mr. Edgeworth would have figured their situation out by now. Unless Trucy is Mr. Edgeworth? That... doesn't sound quite right, but Iris doesn't quite know enough to dispute it, so...
"Hi!"
Iris turns to see a little girl in a blue top hat and cape prop herself up on the back of the couch, grinning. She waves. "You're Daddy's friend Iris, right?"
"T-That's right," Iris says uncertainly. "Though I'm not sure if friend..."
"Nah, we count as friends by now," Phoenix says firmly. "Trucy, this is Iris. I, uh... defended her in court back when I was still a lawyer. Iris, this is Trucy Wright... my daughter."
Okay, so given that the little girl had referred to Phoenix as Daddy, Iris should have maybe seen that coming. But she still can't quite keep her jaw from dropping, because... little Trucy isn't that little, she must be at least twelve or thirteen. When did Phoenix get an entire child?
...well, presumably at some point while she was in prison, and given the relative ages he presumably had adopted, but he'd never mentioned that when he visited her in prison. Not that he had to, of course, Iris is just... surprised? Surprised.
"It's nice to meet you, Trucy," Iris says after a pause just a little bit too long. She takes Trucy's extended hand and shakes it.
"Nice to meet you too, Iris," Trucy says cheerfully. She tucks her hand into the pouch at her belt before pulling out a deck of cards and fanning them back and forth. "Would you like to see a magic trick?"
Iris blinks. "...sure?"
Trucy picks up the top five and holds them out, backs facing her. "Pick a card, any card!"
"A-Alright..."
She picks the middle one, the ace of hearts. Trucy motions for her to set it down on the table facedown, returns the other four cards to the deck and shuffles it, then holds out a hand for the card again, eyes shut tight. She shuffles that card back into the deck, too, then fans them all out for her to see.
"Hmm... I don't know..." She strokes her chin thoughtfully with one hand, before lighting up and picking one near the middle. "Iris, is this your card?"
It is, indeed, the ace of hearts.
Iris has no idea how she did that. She nods, impressed. "Wow."
"She's a magician," Phoenix says proudly. "Real good one, too."
"Mmmhmm!" Trucy beams, and tips her hat. "I've got lots more where that came from!"
"I'm sure you do, kiddo, but Maya will be here soon for while I'm..." His phone rings. "Out. Hold on, I've got to take this."
Iris raises an eyebrow. Sounds like he's still in touch with Mystic Maya, at least. She whispers to Trucy, "I can go, if you need me to..."
Trucy shakes her head. "Not while Daddy's on the phone!"
Speaking of being on the phone, Phoenix looks progressively more concerned before sighing, muttering, "Only you, Maya," and hanging up. He sighs.
"Do I want to know?" Iris asks, bemused.
"Well, I do!" Trucy proclaims. "She's okay, right?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Phoenix says wearily. "Apparently she missed the last train out from Kurain Village and instead of telling me that sooner, she spent the last hour begging Edgeworth to come pick her up instead. Hey, Truce—"
"Don't cancel on him." Trucy looks suddenly—strangely—serious. "I can stay by myself. I'm thirteen, Daddy."
"I know you can, kiddo, but..."
"I can stick around?" Iris offers. Then she winces. "Sorry, no, you wouldn't want... sorry."
"I wouldn't want... what?" Phoenix raises an eyebrow. "If you're able and willing, it would mean a whole lot. It'd only be for an hour or two, tops. And Truce is right, normally she can take care of herself, but... eh, I just get worried sometimes."
Iris would think that there's more to this story than meets the eye even if she didn't see the look exchanged between father and daughter. No matter what's really going on, though... it's the least she can do.
"It's no trouble at all. I don't have any other plans."
Mainly because she just got out of prison and is still trying to figure things out, but... still. Phoenix looks immensely relieved.
"Thank you," he says—and then the doorbell rings. Both he and Trucy immediately stiffen. In a low voice, he continues, "Trucy, you seen my beanie?"
"Over here," Trucy says, and throws something blue and pink at him.
Phoenix pulls it over his hair—it's a beanie indeed, with PAPA written on the side and a bunch of cheerful-looking buttons. It... completes the look, in a way, and not necessarily a good one. It occurs to Iris suddenly that this is how he intends to go out, presumably to dinner with someone (Edgeworth? Maybe? With her luck, probably not.)
Beanie, hoodie, sweatpants, and flip flops. Sure, he'd worn that outfit to come visit her in prison a few times, but that, she thought, was different.
For the first time, she sees— really sees—just how badly being disbarred from the job he was born for has hurt him. Then he opens the door to... a man standing there, in a purple suit. Long blonde hair, twisted over one shoulder. Arms crossed. A defense attorney badge on his lapel.
Iris knows nothing about him, but she's certain that the smile on his face is anything but genuine.
"Good evening, Phoenix," the man says. "I hope you've been well?"
The magatama she still wears around her neck, hidden carefully beneath her shirt, goes so cold that it burns . The man is lying so thoroughly (and so convincingly) that were she not wearing her magatama, she would be doubled over in pain right about now. And she wouldn't have known anything, not for sure, without that.
"Eh, same old, same old." Phoenix waves a hand dismissively. "Good to see you too, Kristoph."
The good news is that Phoenix is definitely lying about being glad to see him, too. The bad news is that this is clearly who Phoenix intended to go with, very much not Mr. Edgeworth, and...
She doesn't know. She really, really doesn't know what's going on here. Except—Kristoph's gaze shifts to her, and it takes everything in her not to cringe away from him.
"Good evening, miss...? I don't believe we've met."
"Iris," she says simply—she still hasn't made a decision on a last name, only the decision that she doesn't want to serve at Hazakura Temple as a nun any longer. "You're... Kristoph?"
"Kristoph Gavin." He bows, slightly. "Attorney at law. Should you ever find yourself in any legal trouble..."
"I'll remember you," Iris lies—and it isn't even very much of a lie. She will remember him, if only to remember not to go to him or anyone connected with him.
"She's Truce's sitter for the night," Phoenix says with a shrug.
Iris realizes, then, that Trucy is nowhere in sight. A quick and not entirely subtle look around reveals that she's ducked back down behind the couch—only the top of her top hat is visible now.
Honestly, she relates to that kid on a spiritual level.
"Is she, now?" Kristoph asks. "Don't you think she's old enough to take care of herself, now?"
"No," Phoenix says—and that's a lie, too. "Bye, Iris. Bye, Truce. I'll be back."
The door shutting seems far louder than it should be, given that it's not being slammed or anything. Maybe it's just that everything else seems so quiet by comparison. Iris stares at the closed door for a long moment, even as the sound of footsteps beyond it fades away.
What on earth did she just get herself into?
A rustling sound from behind her draws her attention back to Trucy. The kid's pulled some kind of beeping device out from her bag and is running it over every surface that Kristoph went near.
Confused, Iris asks, "What... are you...?"
"Shh," Trucy says. Iris waits for her to finish, and when she does, she looks up and says, "Bug detector. Can't be too careful where he's concerned."
"He being...?"
"Mr. Gavin," Trucy mutters darkly.
"Ah." Iris nods. She takes a seat beside her on the couch and says, "I was going to make sure you knew he was lying about... a lot of things, but it looks like both you and your daddy have that under control."
"Yep." Trucy pauses, and looks up. "Wait, you knew he was lying? You can see them too?"
"See...? No, sorry, not... exactly. It's..." Iris fishes out her magatama from under her shirt. "When I was little, I used to start hurting every time someone told a lie around me. Now, as long as I wear this, it just makes this really cold instead."
"Ooooooh, that's really cool. Can I try?"
"I... sure?"
Trucy nods and says, without skipping a beat, and while bouncing up and down a little on the couch to boot, "I think you're a stinky poopoo head."
"... interesting choice of words," Iris observes. She holds out the magatama slightly.
Trucy taps a finger to it and draws back, eyes wide. "Y-Yeah, Daddy doesn't like it when I say bad words around him or other adults. So."
"So," Iris agrees. "You said you could... see lies?"
"Mmhmm! My mommy could too, before... well, that was a long time ago. Before I got my new daddy." Trucy blinks hard and forces a smile again. "Try telling me a lie."
"Hmm..." Iris thinks. "I didn't miss your daddy at all while I was in prison."
"Y-You were in-?" Trucy shakes her head. "Anyway, when you brought up your hand to your face, your little finger was moving slightly when you said you didn't miss him."
Iris stares. "It was what now?" She unclenches her fist (when had she clenched it in the first place) and looks at the offending finger.
"Yeah! I-It's easier when I already know people are lying, but... yeah." Trucy shrugs. "But you were in prison? I-I thought..."
"I did some bad things, in the past," Iris says quietly. She looks down, and settles her hands into her lap. "Things that Phoenix perhaps shouldn't have forgiven me for, and yet—he did. He proved I didn't commit the murder I had intended to take the blame for, but I was in prison for what I did do."
"Ahh," Trucy says, nodding. "I think I've got it. So, why shouldn't Daddy have forgiven you?"
Iris winces. Hard. "I don't think I'm the one who should be telling you that particular story. It is... more his to tell than mine."
Trucy visibly pouts, but nods. "Okay, in that case... would you like to see another magic trick?"
True to his word, Phoenix does return a little under two hours later. Iris smiles and nods and waits long enough that Mr. Kristoph Gavin has time to be well out of earshot before grabbing the sleeve of Phoenix's hoodie and saying, quietly, "We need to talk."
Phoenix looks at her. He blinks. "Yeah, sure, alright. Outside?"
Iris nods. She doesn't speak again until the door is closed and they're both standing in the deserted hallway, and only then does she say, quite simply, "Kristoph reminds me of Dahlia."
"Ah. Yeah. That." Phoenix laughs unhappily. "Not surprised you'd pick up on it, though I'm impressed you did this quickly. You were in the same room as him for... what, two minutes?"
"Your daughter confirmed my suspicions, somewhat." Iris sighs, and looks down. "He does not like you. And I'm pretty sure that the feeling is mutual—"
"Wait, how do you know that?" Phoenix asks quickly. There's a frantic look in his eyes, and—oh. Oh. He thinks it's obvious.
"If it wasn't for this, I would have thought you were as oblivious as he most likely believes you to be," Iris replies, drawing out her own purple magatama—once again—from beneath her shirt. "I... believe you have one of these, though yours works a little bit differently from mine."
Phoenix nods, and pulls out a green one from a hoodie pocket. "You don't see psyche-locks?"
Iris blinks. "I... do not, no. It's... to make a long story much shorter, it becomes colder when someone is lying to me—or even just around me, generally. What are psyche-locks?"
"Weren't you a..." Phoenix shakes his head. "It's a long story. I see... locks, sort of, when someone is actively trying to hide something from me. I can break them if I can come up with evidence pointing toward what they're hiding? I try not to use it on family and friends, because that's..."
"A little invasive," Iris says. "At least you can turn it off... I assume? By just leaving that magatama behind?"
"You... can't?"
Iris shakes her head. "Believe me, this growing cold is a much better alternative to what used to happen."
"Ahhh." Phoenix nods. "So, uh... how are you? How are things?"
"Mysti—" Iris shakes her head again, more emphatically this time. "Maya and Pearl have assured me that they'll help me in whatever I choose to do from here, and it means... quite a lot. So has Sister Bikini, though I cannot help but wonder if she would be so encouraging if she knew I was seriously considering leaving Hazakura Temple in my past."
"I'd... be surprised if that would change a thing, honestly?"
"Well, yes, but... that would be leaving her all alone up there, and I am unsure... maybe a little worried about her. I don't believe her back has gotten any better..."
"I feel like there's probably something you could figure out with Maya," Phoenix says thoughtfully. "If it involves changing tradition in any way, she'll have to go up against those village elders she hates so much, but if all else fails she can call in her girlfriend again and put her on loophole finding duty..."
"Maya has a girlfriend?"
"Oh! Yeah, you've met her. Uh... you remember Ms. von Karma?"
"The prosecutor with the whip?" Iris gulps. "Vaguely. That's... hm. I never would have seen that coming."
Phoenix laughs. "Yeah, I wouldn't either if I hadn't been dealing with Maya's pining in my texts late at night. Though I don't really think I'm in any position to talk."
"No, you are not. How is Mr. Edgeworth?"
Iris takes some small pleasure in the fact that Phoenix blushes a little, though he manages to hide it quickly. "He's in Europe."
"You still haven't told him?"
Phoenix gives her a look. "Do I look like I can handle a rejection like that right now? Because if I do, that's better than I looked yesterday, and way better than I feel. Even, best case scenario, if it wasn't a rejection? That would be one more person I'm risking Kristoph knowing about and ruining like he did me."
"Like he—" Iris pauses. "What?"
"I've said too much." Phoenix shakes his head. "I don't think there are any bugs here, but... better safe than sorry."
"...right," Iris decides. "I think I can put two and two together from there, in any case. So you're... you know what he's like, then?"
"I sure the fuck do."
"That's... a relief." Iris smiles. "Just... be careful? If there's anything I can do to help..."
"Are you kidding? You just got out of prison. If anyone should be saying that, it's me."
"Yes, well... it's... I'm still slightly taken aback by how nice people are being to me, after everything I've done," she confesses. "Still... it shouldn't take too long for me to get on my feet, not with the future master of the Kurain School of Channeling on my side. If there's anything I can do to help, even if it's just keeping an eye on Trucy for a few hours like tonight..."
"Thanks," Phoenix says quietly. "Same to you, Iris. So... what are your plans, now?"
"Oh!" Iris smiles uncertainly. "W-Well, while I was in... prison, one of my fellow inmates was a writer of sorts herself, and she encouraged me to try it. It wasn't as if I had anything better to do, so... I did. I've found I r-really like writing, and Pearl could use somewhere to stay in town so she doesn't have to commute two hours each way to high school—"
"She knows she's always welcome here, right?"
"Yes, but... I don't think she wants to impose. That's a sentiment I can relate to."
"... you're not imposing either, Iris. You really aren't."
Iris blurts, "Yes, but—I-I thought... it was a bit of a pipe dream originally, but Maya thinks she can actually make it work... Pearl and I are going to start a little bookstore."
Phoenix blinks. "That's... absolutely not what I was expecting, but hey, that's awesome!"
"It will be," Iris says firmly. She pauses. "I... I know I've apologized already for deceiving you, but—"
"You really don't have to apologize any more, Iris, it's fine."
"I know, it... shouldn't matter now, but..." Iris sighs. She looks down at her feet, then back up at Phoenix. "Dahlia... wasn't always like she was when you knew her. I still miss her sometimes, even though I know what she did to you and to e-everyone was horrible. I don't want to miss her, but... I do, still."
To his credit, Phoenix manages not to freak out entirely at her confession. He nods slowly. "Emotions are tricky things. She was your sister."
Iris blinks hard. "She was. I think, before... everything, you and her might have even gotten along, which is the strangest thing of all to think about. But that's... t-that's enough about her. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but..." Iris smiles, even as her eyes water. "I'm glad I met you, Phoenix. And I'm glad we can be friends now."
Phoenix grins back. "Right back at you, Iris. Let me know when you get that bookstore of yours open, or one of your books published. Or—hell, if you need someone to read over one of them, I never was good at writing myself but I'd be happy to let you know what I think if you need a second opinion?"
"That... that would be great." Iris wipes her eyes. "T-Thanks. I'd better get going, then... stay in touch?"
"Of course."
Iris goes to leave, then. But she looks back, right before she turns the corner to be completely out of sight. Phoenix is still there, leaning against the wall—brought down for now, but not broken, not by a long shot. Whatever the full extent of what is going on with Kristoph Gavin is, he'll figure it out, and he'll come out on top—at least this time he knows that Kristoph is bad news already.
He sees her looking, and waves.
Iris waves back. Things might actually be looking up in the future, for both of them. And that's... that's definitely good. That's far better than Iris ever dreamed, for a while.
It's because of Phoenix, directly and indirectly, that she can dream again at all, that she is truly free and not just in name. She owes him far more than he’ll ever realize.
Maybe that is for the best.