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„It's a promise.“ his brother said and hung up.
Of course it was.
How could it not be?
Gaspen Payne left Japanifornia quite unexpectedly. It couldn't have been a complete spur-of-the-moment decision, since his husband was in on it, left with him, and they even sold most of their belongings before.
But Winston wasn't brought up to speed until the day before they left. Probably because Gaspen knew he'd try to convince him otherwise.
Which, admittedly, was true. Winston was an old man, used to a certain way things ran. To his normalcy.
And his brother was a huge part of that.
One thing is for certain - nothing is ever certain.
For example - sure, Winston had held his job for decades, but he couldn't know whether Edgeworth just doesn't decide one day that his performance isn't good enough and fires him.
But he felt like he can be certain about three things - or rather, people - being here: his wife, his daughter, and his brother.
Until one of them left, barely saying anything. Probably thanks to his state of shock that day, he only remembered Gaspen saying something about being dishonored, and being chased out, and the next day, he was gone.
And Winston felt… Sort of left behind.
He was probably all too used to his brother just being around. He came into his life when Winston was eight, and never left. They both went to colleges in or near their birth city, and never moved away for their whole lives.
They both had their own lives, their own friend circles, but if one of them needed it, the other was always close by. Whatever Winston was going through, his brother offered support (though often enough he offered some wisecracks alongside it), and Winston did his best to help out Gaspen as well when it mattered.
And then, suddenly, he was gone.
But who would he be to stop him, anyway? His brother had the right to go anywhere he wanted, even if Winston would like a heads up next time. After all, he had to command his brother's bravery. He couldn't imagine himself in his fifties, just picking himself up and moving into such a different country like Khura'in is, but Gaspen just did so.
He was always the wilder sibling. Winston remembered how he worried himself all throughout Gaspen's teenage years.
But still, Winston felt like he should've been a bit angrier. Since Gaspen first ignored all that Winston was telling him about being a proper lawyer and now, that he was reaping what he'd sown, he decided to abandon his responsibilities, the consequences of his actions, all while barely saying goodbye.
However, he couldn't bring himself to be angry at his brother. He mainly thought about how he'll miss him.
Even if he didn't get completely left behind, in the end. Gaspen was already calling him the day after he arrived in Khura'in, talking about what it was like there(back when he was awed by Khura'in, in a positive sense) and his plans to try becoming a prosecutor.
Gradually, Winston got used to his brother being overseas. Modern technology helped - his daughter even helped him to set up an app for videochatting, and so Gaspen was able to show him the house he lived in now, and his new suit he wears while at work.
And Winston became happy with the way things were - his wife and him had more peace now, after all, and Gaspen rose to the rank of chief prosecutor in a few months, meaning, he was doing well for himself over there. They were making plans for visiting in summer.
Then, the revolution in Khura'in struck and Winston got a whole another gut punch.
When he wanted to call Gaspen to ask what's happening, he couldn't contact him for the whole day. Nor could he contact his husband.
He was panicking. Apparently, the revolution was non-violent, but if he couldn't reach either of his family members in Khura'in… And it all has to happen during work, while he was preparing for a case.
Luckily, he was able to cut his stressing shorter. As Gaspen was an important person in Khura'in, there should be some news if some thing's gone wrong for him.
'Chief prosecutor of Khura'in arrested, facing charges-'
Well, after he's read through the article, he had a lot on his mind.
He got a call from Gaspen's husband eventually, saying he was on his feet the whole time, trying to get things in order to be able to defend his husband once the day comes.
At that point, Winston had already taken a vacation, and booked the earliest flight to Khura'in. He had to talk to Gaspen.
Initially, he thought he cannot go, but once his daughter found out what happened, she insisted on taking over his case so he can leave and wouldn't budge, allegedly 'someone should and it should be you' and she 'can take two cases at once', so he flew and had a talk with his brother. The one positive of this was that Gaspen seemed to have finally gotten the slap in the face he needed to finally understand his wrongdoings.
But as he flew back to Japanifornia, he felt alone like he hasn't in a long time. Gaspen was going to prison. He tried to have Phoenix Wright executed along with a child, and he couldn't even be properly mad.
He couldn't help himself but to forgive him. He was his brother, the one who was there for him his whole life, how could he not?
He felt like he's just about incapable of staying mad at him.
But he couldn't really talk to anyone about these feelings. There were only two people who he'd trust with this, but for one, he wasn't the person to dump his feelings on his children, and for the other, his wife was livid when she found out about that trial. Rightfully so, but how could he look her in the eyes, and say 'I feel like I should be angrier at him, but I'm not'?
But he'll push through it. He's pushed through worse things in his life. The charge for Gaspen's crimes can't be that bad. Wright and his employees are involved in this revolution, and hopefully they don't associate with people who would execute others willy-nilly. And prison life in Khura'in seems surprisingly decent, from the limited recources he found.
—
It ended up quite alright, for the situation this was. Gaspen ended up with a reasonable sentence, through which he could be let out quite early, if he behaved well. Winston even visited him in prison twice, and he seemed alright, which Winston was thankful for. In many prison systems, a corrupt prosecutor wouldn't have stayed alive for long.
And even before that, Winston did ended up opening up to his wife, on her insisting that there is something wrong. And of course, she was as understanding as ever.
And now, Gaspen was coming back. Of course Winston had to see him arrive.
They had dinner plans with the whole family tonight, and Winston was looking forward to them all spending time together again.