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The decision to adopt a child was not one that Miles Edgeworth made instantly.

After narrowly escaping with his life from Calisto Yew and enduring his mentor’s disappointment for letting her get away, he found once again that Byrne Faraday’s daughter was watching him. Staying behind as his mentor and sister took their leave, he approached the girl, noticing as he did that she was still clutching a singular Swiss roll.

She had been saving it for her father, he remembered with a pang in his chest. Her father whose murder he had just solved. He knew how to solve murders, but when it came to comforting those who were left behind, he was afraid that that was where his skills ended. Still, he couldn’t leave her alone. He had been left alone after what happened with his own father, after all, until Mr. von Karma had taken him in out of pity.

In the end, he stayed with Kay until other relatives could be located. But even after moving in with her aunt and uncle, she continued to follow him around, breaking into his office when she was supposed to be in school and tailing Detective Gumshoe on investigations. It became increasingly evident over the next few years that her family wasn’t caring for her as they should have been. One day, after a particularly nasty incident where she fell from his office window and broke her leg, she told him with tears in her eyes that her aunt and uncle were moving out of the country and she didn’t want to go. His heart broke, and as soon as Kay was discharged from the hospital, Miles began putting the paperwork together to adopt her.

The decision to adopt a child was not necessarily one Phoenix Wright made for himself, but it was nonetheless a decision he readily accepted.

Trucy, like many other things in his life, had been willed to him by his mentor. Phoenix had been in the final year of his law studies when Mia had taken on that case involving Troupe Gramarye and had watched from the co-counsel’s seat as Mia’s client performed a vanishing act. He’d watched Mia comfort the abandoned five-year-old who was apparently her client’s daughter. Over the next several weeks, he had helped her search for any remaining relatives, and during that time, he had become Uncle Nick. Mia, not finding any relatives, became Mommy, and as Phoenix finished his degree and passed the bar exam, he found himself drawn into his mentor’s family by the adorable smiling girl.

Barely five months after the trial that had separated Trucy from her old family, however, tragedy struck at the Fey & Co. Law Offices, and after defending both Maya and himself and putting Mia’s real killer behind bars, Uncle Nick was thrust into the role of Daddy.

Phoenix had watched Trucy before, but the new responsibility was staggering and he found himself deferring to Maya on a lot of things, which never sat right– she was only seventeen, and although she had more experience with kids from taking care of her cousin, it wouldn’t be right for the only legal adult in the room to step back completely. They were all grieving, Trucy especially, and he owed it to Mia to be the parent Trucy needed.

Anyway, it wasn’t as though he was taking cases every day of the week. Dropping Trucy off at school and picking her up after was an easy enough addition to his routine. Groceries, however, were quickly going to become a tricky budgeting game, since he now had to feed not only himself, but a growing kid and a ravenous teenager.

Fortunately, taking Maya and Trucy on weekend grocery trips made the experience overall much more enjoyable.

“Whee!” Trucy cheered as Phoenix pushed the shopping cart through a mostly empty aisle, giggling as they picked up speed. Seeing the unrestrained joy on the little girl’s face, Phoenix cracked a grin. He loved being pushed like this as a kid, and what better reason did he have to indulge his more childish side than making his own kid smile? Stepping on the cart with one foot, he used the other to push off against the floor and make the cart go even faster.

Maya giggled as she jogged alongside the cart. “Pop a wheelie!”

Phoenix turned his head to frown at her, not sure how exactly one would pop a wheelie with a shopping cart or how advisable it would be to do with a small child in the seat. At that exact moment, another cart turned the corner, and before Phoenix could stop his cart completely, the two carts collided, jostling the few items inside and shaking Trucy.

Just as Phoenix was checking if she was startled or injured in any way, he heard a familiar voice nearby.

“Kay,” that voice said sternly, “what did I tell you about pushing the cart?”

“To look where I’m going and not bump into people,” a girl’s voice recited back.

Once he was certain that Trucy was okay, Phoenix chanced a glance behind her at the people whose cart they’d bumped into. To his surprise, it was none other than Miles Edgeworth behind the other cart, along with a girl who looked to be only a little younger than Maya with a giant key sticking out of her black ponytail.

“Exactly,” Edgeworth said to the girl. “And what do we say to strangers when we bump into them?”

The girl stepped away from the cart she had been pushing and approached Phoenix. “Sorry for bumping into your cart,” she said, her bright green eyes earnestly meeting his.

Phoenix laughed nervously. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Actually, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I was going too fast without looking and accidentally bumped into you. I’m sorry.”

“It was a lot of fun!” Trucy piped up from the cart seat. “Daddy, can we do that again?”

He gave his daughter an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, baby, but we can’t go bumping into people. It’s rude and it might be dangerous.” He glanced up again, fully taking in Edgeworth’s presence. It was the first time he’d seen him since that trial, wearing his full courtroom suit and cravat just to go grocery shopping. “Though I can’t say I was expecting to bump into you here, Edgeworth. I thought I’d never see you again outside the courtroom.”

Edgeworth frowned, raising an eyebrow as he stepped closer. “Were you under the impression I lived at my office, Wright?” He cast a judgmental eye at Phoenix and Trucy. “I’ll have you know that not everyone is comfortable sleeping on an office couch when they have a child at home to look after.”

If that comment was meant to be directed, Phoenix ignored it. “No, just surprised to see you shopping here. I thought you’d go somewhere fancier.”

Edgeworth shrugged. “Perhaps under other circumstances I might,” he said. “This just happens to be the most convenient grocery outlet if you don’t want undue judgment cast on your family.”

Now that, Phoenix understood. “I always get weird looks when I pick Trucy up from school,” he said, indicating his daughter, who was scrutinizing Edgeworth with an expression Phoenix couldn’t quite place. He leaned a little closer. “I try to ignore them,” he whispered, hoping Trucy wouldn’t hear the next part, “but I can tell they’re wondering where her mommy is.”

Edgeworth looked confused, so Maya stepped closer to clarify. “He means my sister.”

“I see.” He glanced awkwardly between the three of them. “I am… truly sorry for everything a few weeks ago.”

Phoenix wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Uh… thanks,” he managed. Was that a weird thing to say to an apology? Maybe if he changed the subject, nobody would notice. He turned to address the girl accompanying Edgeworth. “I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Phoenix Wright.” He extended his hand.

She shook his hand enthusiastically. “Kay Faraday,” she said, cracking a smile. “But you can call me Kay, ‘kay?” She glanced at Edgeworth as she let go. “I’ve heard a few things about you over the last couple of weeks.”

“Only good things, I hope,” Phoenix said with a grimace. “This is my friend Maya and my daughter Trucy.” It was the first time he had called Maya his friend out loud, but it was the most fitting word given the circumstances.

“I’m also Nick’s assistant,” Maya said proudly. “But I’m the real brains behind the Wright & Co. Law Offices. So, are you Mr. Edgeworth’s assistant or something?”

Kay opened her mouth to answer, but Edgeworth beat her to it. “As of two years ago, Kay is my daughter.”

“Your daughter…” Maya repeated.

“Yes.” Edgeworth glanced at Phoenix and Trucy as he gripped his left elbow. “It’s just the two of us, but I can’t say I miss living alone.”

Kay glanced at Phoenix, then at Edgeworth again. “Oh!” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Mr. Edgeworth! Is this ‘that man’?”

Edgeworth cleared his throat loudly. “It has been pleasant,” he said crisply, grabbing Kay by the wrist as he returned to his shopping cart. “Good day, Wright.” Taking control of the cart, he backed away and left.

“Daddy?” Trucy said, breaking the momentary silence. “That man was really tense when he was talking to you.”

Kay jogged to keep up with Mr. Edgeworth as he walked them away from that aisle. He looked even more grumpy than usual, and that was saying something.

Earlier in September, he’d been busy with a trial, going over paperwork late in the evening and muttering in frustration about someone named Phoenix Wright. On the ninth, he’d come home late, looking completely out of sorts and with fresh tear tracks on his face. He’d shrugged off all questions on the matter, but occasionally wondered out loud how “that man,” of all people, had gotten the best of him. Kay didn’t know what was going on, but she could tell “that man” was driving Mr. Edgeworth to distraction.

Now, having met Mr. Wright in person, she was certain he was the one Mr. Edgeworth had been fixated on.

“You could just talk to him, you know,” she told him.

“After everything I did?” Mr. Edgeworth grumbled. “He shouldn’t want anything to do with me.”

“I don’t know…” Kay tapped a finger against her arm. “He didn’t seem to be in any hurry when you guys were talking.”

Mr. Edgeworth sighed wordlessly and checked his grocery list again, frowning. Maybe he wouldn’t frown as heavily if he just let his conversation with “that man” play out. Maybe, Kay thought, he would even smile.

She began thinking of ways to get Mr. Edgeworth to talk to “that man” again.

Aside from the surprise encounter with Wright and Kay’s subsequent nudging on the matter, Miles’ shopping trip was as boring and predictable as all the rest, leaving him to spend most of the excursion trying not to think about Wright and the family he apparently had.

He’d mentioned picking up his daughter from school. This meant that she was at least five. Wright would be twenty-four in October, so either he had been a teenage father, or Trucy had been adopted under similar tragic circumstances as Kay and himself– more likely the latter option, considering that Mia Fey had been the girl’s mother, though he didn’t remember anything about her having a child on any of the occasions when they had faced each other in court.

At least she’d had an employee who was willing and able to adopt her child, he thought bitterly, remembering how Mr. von Karma had berated him for losing. Not that he would have fared much better in life being raised by Mr. Shields. Still… seeing the uncomplicated affection between Wright and his daughter, he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel somewhat jealous.

Not that he deserved to feel that way. He’d had that before and had thrown it away himself.

As they waited in the checkout line, Kay excused herself to grab something she’d forgotten and Miles noticed that Wright and his family were in the adjacent checkout lane. Their cart was completely full. Wright rode a bicycle to court– did he drive? Or was he planning to carry that entire grocery haul by hand to his apartment?

Kay returned just as he began loading groceries onto the conveyor belt. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Wright doing the same thing, with Maya Fey assisting and Trucy occasionally handing him one of the smaller items from her seat in the cart. Soon after the groceries were loaded, both cashiers began scanning the items.

As the items were being scanned, Miles casually looked behind him and noticed Wright patting his pockets. Had he lost something? He watched from the periphery as Wright urgently questioned Miss Fey. Giving up his questioning, he patted his pockets once again before looking over the empty cart.

Noticing where he was looking, Kay clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh no!” She tugged urgently on his sleeve. “Mr. Wright seems to have lost his wallet. What will you do, Mr. Edgeworth?”

He glanced back at the register. His items were almost done being scanned. A glance back over his shoulder told him that Wright was just hearing his total, one hand desperately feeling around in his pocket while the other reached up to scratch at the back of his neck.

Under different circumstances, he might have ignored the situation. But he had already caused Wright and his family so much pain, and if he ignored them now… his eyes flickered to the little girl sitting in Wright’s shopping cart, now surrounded by grocery bags. If he ignored them now, he would likely be depriving that girl of tonight’s dinner, to say nothing of what would have happened if Wright had been convicted.

“I’ll be right back,” he told the cashier before approaching Wright and pulling out his wallet. “Here. I’ll cover for you.”

“Wh– Edgeworth?” Wright asked in puzzlement. “Why are you helping me?”

“Think of it as compensation,” he said, swiping his card and entering his signature. Before Wright could say anything, Miles returned to his own register to finish paying for his groceries.

They crossed paths again in the parking lot, Wright having already returned his cart and struggling with four heavy-looking grocery bags. Miss Fey carried a modest two and was struggling to hold Trucy’s hand as they walked together.

As Miles unlocked his car and began loading grocery bags in the trunk, Kay dashed over to the struggling family. “Need some help?” she asked. “I can help with those bags if you want.”

Miles quickly turned his head, and sure enough, Kay had that dangerous smile she always did when she was up to something. He had to step in before she tried any of her shenanigans.

“Would you prefer a ride?” he asked Wright. “I can drive you all home if you would like.” He hoped that would be enough to prevent Kay from stealing their groceries, though he did see her hand quickly retract from Wright’s pocket.

“Ooh, can we?” Trucy begged, tugging lightly on her father’s pant leg. “I wanna ride in a fancy car!”

Wright grimaced, but ultimately the weight of his grocery bags won out. “Sure, why not?” he said. “Hope you have enough room for all of us and all of our bags.”

In the end, the three guests found themselves squeezing together in the backseat with a few bags on their laps. Trucy was buckled tightly in the middle seat that still looked unsuitably big for her with Wright and Miss Fey on either side, each looking for their own seatbelt.

“Um, Edgeworth,” Wright asked from behind him, “where are the seatbelts?”

It struck Miles that he almost never used the backseat. Before Kay, he had usually been the only one in the car, and she was already old enough for the front seat when he’d adopted her. The seatbelts for the backseat were probably tucked away.

“Just a minute,” Miles said. “Kay, could you help me get the seatbelts out?”

After some fiddling around with the backseat, during which Miles found himself standing much closer to his childhood friend turned rival than he’d ever expected to (and rather enjoying the closeness, which he hadn’t anticipated), they were all buckled and ready to go.

Despite the crowdedness, it was a pleasant car ride. Kay controlled the music as usual, putting on one of her pop playlists that Miles never cared to discuss with anyone but secretly enjoyed. Miss Fey, as it turned out, had a lot of opinions about pop idols, so much of the car ride was spent with the two girls chatting. Wright ignored them as he gave Miles directions to his apartment.

Once they arrived and sorted out which groceries were whose, Miles and Kay helped Wright carry the grocery bags into the building, Trucy holding Miss Fey’s hand as they followed. Wright, carrying two bags, pressed a button to call the elevator.

Miles froze in the doorway.

The elevator opened. Kay, Miss Fey, and Trucy stepped inside. Wright made to follow, but stopped, looking over his shoulder at Miles. “You coming?”

“I–” Miles lowered the hand that wasn’t carrying a grocery bag and gripped his elbow. “I… the stairs would be preferable. Which floor do you live on, Wright?”

Wright glanced back and forth for a minute before backing away from the elevator. “The third floor,” he said. “I can take the stairs with you, no problem.” He momentarily transferred one bag to the other hand to wave goodbye to the girls before leading him to the stairwell. “The elevator is usually more convenient for me since Trucy gets tired from the stairs. But I can appreciate the exercise.”

“Exercise… right.” Miles sighed in relief, glad that he didn’t have to explain. He already had to dodge his share of rude questions at the office.

They climbed the stairs in a relatively comfortable silence and met the girls on the landing as they brought the groceries to Wright’s apartment. Miles took in the scene as he was let in.

The apartment was small and tightly packed. The kitchen was tiny, with a cluttered counter and a fridge covered in magnets and drawings. The living room, directly beyond the kitchen, was furnished with a well-worn couch and a messy coffee table. Every surface was covered with bizarre items, including what looked like a plate of floating spaghetti and a mini-guillotine.

“Sorry about the mess,” Wright said. “This is the only place I have for all of Trucy’s magic props. There’s room on the couch if you want to sit down.”

“Make yourselves at home!” said Miss Fey, taking the grocery bags and handing them to Wright in the kitchen. “Can I get you two anything to drink?”

Miles glanced at the couch, where Kay had already found a place to sit. He looked back toward the kitchen and watched as Trucy handed Wright things to put in the fridge. Could this small corner of chaos really be another element of his ever-contradictory life?

He should say no. Everything he had been taught told him he should say no. And yet, despite the familiar voice dictating law and order and perfection, there was some part of him that wanted to stay. Some foolishly sentimental part of him that had told him to speak up in the class trial and lamented that everyone had forgotten him still wanted nothing more than to receive one of Phoenix Wright’s brilliant smiles.

“I should leave soon,” he ended up saying. “But perhaps another time.” He found a notepad and pen between the magic props on the coffee table and wrote down his phone number. “Tell Wright he can contact me.”

As he and a reluctant Kay made to leave, he thought he might like to do something like this again.

Over the next several weeks, Edgeworth and Kay became a regular element of Phoenix’s life.

There were the grocery trips, of course, though Phoenix kept a closer eye on his wallet (which had been in his back pocket, apparently, though he was positive he’d checked there) and didn’t need Edgeworth to cover him. But sometimes after the grocery trips, Edgeworth would take them all to lunch, Trucy now sitting comfortably in a booster seat. More frequently, however, Phoenix would come home after picking Trucy up from school to find Kay and Maya sitting on the couch together watching TV. Trucy, likely the only one in the target demographic of whatever show they were watching, would join them. Later, Edgeworth would come to pick up Kay, sometimes staying for a few minutes to drink a cup of tea and pretend he wasn’t watching the TV as well.

But of course, once they developed a comfortable routine, it was shaken up by another trial. This time, Phoenix’s client was Will Powers, the lead actor on Maya’s favorite show, and Edgeworth was prosecuting. He didn’t answer any of Phoenix’s texts that week, leaving him to figure out how his friend turned rival was doing based on conversations with Detective Gumshoe (not well, if crushing a cup of hot coffee was any indication).

At the very least, he seemed to have gotten over his previous loss enough to help Phoenix somewhat, and by the end of the third trial day, Mr. Powers was free and the producer Dee Vasquez was under arrest.

“I really wanted to thank you,” Phoenix told him when they met in the defendant lobby. “Vasquez would have gotten away if you hadn’t stepped in.”

Edgeworth ignored him for a moment as he exchanged introductions with Mr. Powers, but eventually addressed him directly. “Wright. I must say, I hadn’t expected to meet you again after all these years, much less… see you as frequently as I have. I can’t say I regret any of it, but thanks to you, I am saddled with unnecessary… feelings.” He gripped his left elbow tightly and turned away, blushing faintly as he scowled.

“Unnecessary feelings?” Phoenix repeated. What could that possibly mean?

“Yes.” Edgeworth’s grip on his arm tightened. “Unease… and uncertainty.”

“Mr. Edgeworth!” Kay interrupted as she burst into the lobby from the hallway. “There you are! I bought a pack of Swiss rolls and wanted to…” She trailed off. “Umm, am I interrupting something?”

Edgeworth opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head. “It’s nothing. I was just leaving. Good day, Wright. Miss Fey.” And with that, he followed his daughter out of the lobby.

Maya and Mr. Powers questioned him about the interaction, but he didn’t have any meaningful answers to give them. He barely knew what to make of it himself. Unease and uncertainty were a part of life, how were they unnecessary?

More importantly, was there still a chance that they could be friends outside of court?

As Kay ate her Swiss roll, she studied Mr. Edgeworth carefully.

He looked about as grumpy as he usually did around a difficult case, but with a uniquely moody air. Had he been about to confess his feelings? As much as he denied having any feelings for Mr. Wright, he couldn’t hide the truth from Kay– she had seen him arranging the pieces on that novelty chessboard in their apartment’s living room, had seen him make the pieces kiss while arranging them. Besides, she had caught the tail end of today’s trial after taking a half day from school. If the chessboard was really about wanting to corner Mr. Wright in court, Mr. Edgeworth certainly wasn’t acting like it today.

If he really had been about to confess, Kay regretted interrupting. Still, she had the distinct feeling that she’d just barely prevented a disaster. After all, opposing each other in court was in no way a good backdrop for a confession. If Mr. Edgeworth was going to confess, it had better be outside court.

They just needed to continue building that friendship. Mr. Edgeworth avoided Mr. Wright when they had a trial. Now that their trial was over, Kay only needed to find more ways to get them together.

Maya had always wanted to show her and Trucy that Steel Samurai show that Mr. Edgeworth liked, but it looked like the show was ending. However, Worldwide Studios had recently released the pilot episode of their new show Jammin’ Ninja, and Kay was already a fan. Maybe she could convince Maya and Trucy to watch it with her.

In truth, Miles had been about to say something he was certain he would have regretted.

After a confrontation with Mr. von Karma in his office that evening, Miles went down the hall to the bathroom to clean the blood from his nose. He could already see a bruise forming when he glanced in the mirror. The official story would be that the injury was accidental, but he was certain Wright would question this.

In any case, he needed to buy groceries that weekend, and as awkward as it was to be around Wright when they had a trial, he enjoyed spending time with him. It was a welcome reprieve from the rest of his life of punishment, the chaos in Wright’s apartment almost like a taste of the time before, the time when he would speak out in class parroting his father to pursue the swooping feeling he got whenever he met eyes with the spiky-haired boy. Now, despite that it had been almost fifteen years, he still had that feeling when he was around Wright.

So he spent the next few days treating the bruise with an ice pack and dodging questions from Kay, and by the weekend grocery trip, all that remained was a small yellow patch that one could only find if one were actively searching.

The grocery trip proceeded as it always did with the girls carrying the conversation, and when they arrived at Wright’s apartment (Wright mercifully taking the stairs with him as usual), the five of them worked together to sort and put away the groceries. The process, which normally took Wright over half an hour with all the mess in his kitchen, took less than five minutes. Miles credited his initiative to bag the groceries in a logical manner.

As they were finishing up with the groceries, Trucy tugged at Maya’s sleeve. “They’re airing the last episode today,” she said urgently. She turned to Kay, who was folding the reusable bags. “Wanna come watch the last Steel Samurai episode with us?”

Miles had the episode set to record at home, so he wasn’t sure why Kay needed to watch it here. She wasn’t even that much of a Steel Samurai fan. At least, not at home. Whenever it happened to come up in conversation lately, all she could talk about was the recent Jammin’ Ninja pilot.

Still, she turned on a close approximation of puppy eyes. “Please?” she begged. “I promise this isn’t me trying to skip out on groceries.” She was joined in a moment by Trucy, who… well, he could understand why Wright had a hard time saying no.

It wasn’t about the Steel Samurai, he realized. Kay was making new friends and wanted to spend time with them. He remembered when he first made friends as a child. As much as he admired and enjoyed being around his father, he wanted nothing more than to spend time with his new friends, Phoenix and Larry.

“Very well,” he said. “I’ll handle the groceries myself. You can stay here.”

“Yay!” Trucy jumped up and down with excitement. “And before the episode starts, we can practice that rope escape trick!” A mischievous look flashed across the five-year-old’s eyes. “Daddy, do you think you could beat Kay at rope escaping?”

Wright laughed nervously. “You know, I might have to pass on that one. You girls have fun by yourselves, okay?” He grimaced at Miles in a way that signaled get me out of here.

Miles nodded. “On second thought, I may be in need of assistance after all. Will you three be okay on your own?”

He was met with three enthusiastic nods.

Phoenix and Edgeworth spent most of the car ride in comfortable silence, Phoenix gazing out the window as they entered the more upscale part of town.

Once Edgeworth parked the car, Phoenix picked up half the groceries and followed him up what felt like endless stairs to his apartment. He glanced around the apartment as he was let in. It was bigger than his and minimally furnished, with only a couch, coffee table, and TV in the vast living room, as well as a smaller table with a red and blue chessboard he would have to examine later. The kitchen was tidy and sparkling clean. He felt extremely out of place and didn’t trust himself not to mess it up, so the most he ended up doing to help Edgeworth put away groceries was take them out of the bags the way Trucy usually did with him.

Thankfully, Edgeworth seemed to use the same organization strategy that made everything faster with his own groceries, so they were done in a matter of minutes.

“Would you… want to eat lunch together?” Edgeworth asked him when they were done. For whatever reason, he was glancing from side to side, not meeting Phoenix’s eyes.

“Of course,” Phoenix said. It would be the first time they did this since his birthday and the first time without bringing the girls along. Maybe he could bring home leftovers.

They ended up buying sandwiches from a deli and sitting down at a park bench to eat them. A bit more on the casual side from what Phoenix had first imagined, but it was still nice. As they ate, they talked about their lives, and Phoenix told Edgeworth about how he came to adopt Trucy and about his time working with Mia.

“So Trucy also lost her father in the courthouse,” Edgeworth said, chewing thoughtfully. “Just like… just like Kay.”

Phoenix had read the news fifteen years ago. He knew that Edgeworth wasn’t only referring to his adopted daughter, but he supposed that was something all three of them had in common. He decided not to press the issue. “Yes,” he said. “And it was even worse when we lost Mia. Trucy was always scared of being left alone, but for the first week or so, she couldn’t even stand it if I left the room for a minute. She was scared that I would disappear like her new mommy. To say her first day of school was rough would be an understatement.”

Edgeworth nodded sadly, no doubt recalling that case himself. “I don’t mean to be insensitive,” he said eventually, “but were you and Ms. Fey ever…?”

“What?” Belatedly, Phoenix realized how it might sound if he referred to Mia as Trucy’s mommy. “No… it was never like that between us. I was Uncle Nick before I was Daddy.”

“You hesitated,” Edgeworth muttered.

Phoenix was reminded of how Maya had teased him when they’d first met all those months ago. He sighed, feeling a blush rising to his face. “So maybe at one point I had a little crush on her, but it’s not like it matters much anymore. I was a college kid in a bad place and she saved my life. It happens.”

For whatever reason, Edgeworth looked crestfallen. “You’re still friends with Larry, I see.”

“Hey,” Phoenix said, feeling defensive. “I’m not the sort of guy who falls for any pretty lady who looks at him. I’m not even straight, for one thing.”

Something flickered in Edgeworth’s eyes. “I… I see.” He cleared his throat. “Apologies. This was never something we discussed in the von Karma household. But… for what it’s worth, I’m… not straight either. I’ve never been interested in women.” He looked down after he said that, his free hand clenching in the fabric of his sleeve.

There was a lot about that statement Phoenix would have to examine later, but one detail stood out above all the others. “The von Karma household?” He couldn’t say he’d ever heard that name before.

Edgeworth took a deep breath. “Do you know why I had to move away fifteen years ago?”

“Only what was on the news,” Phoenix said. The news had only mentioned his father’s murder. It didn’t explain why Edgeworth had to move or why his new address was so far away or why he never answered any letters.

“Right.” His hand clenched again. “After what happened with my father, Manfred von Karma became my new legal guardian. He is a perfectionist in all things. His career, his personal life… I admired his skills and dedication, and he taught me what it means to prosecute. I couldn’t follow in my father’s footsteps after what happened.”

“So you became a prosecutor,” Phoenix echoed.

Edgeworth nodded. “I could never truly live up to Mr. von Karma’s reputation, of course, but I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Phoenix studied Edgeworth’s face, trying to assess how he felt. He noticed a strange yellow area around his nose. A bruise? “What happened here?” he asked, indicating the area.

“Oh, that.” Edgeworth stared down at his lap. “It was an accident. I dropped my pen on the floor and bumped into my desk while picking it up.”

“Really?” No matter how he tried, Phoenix couldn’t picture that happening. “Because Kay said you came home with a nosebleed a few days ago and wouldn’t tell her what happened. She wondered if you got in a fight with someone.”

“I wouldn’t call it a fight exactly…” Edgeworth said, unconsciously lifting a hand to rub his face. “It was more of… a mistake. Something that should not have happened.”

Whatever really happened, Edgeworth clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Phoenix decided to let the topic rest for now.

Over the following week, Mr. Edgeworth looked to be in much higher spirits.

He usually came to Mr. Wright’s apartment with Kay when she visited, and whenever he did, the two adults didn’t stick around the apartment for long. This was more than fine by her, as she didn’t think they would want to get dragged into the escape act she and Trucy were putting together. Maya was always around, anyway, and she basically lived there even if she technically had her own place.

Right now, Kay was on the Wrights’ cluttered couch with Maya and Trucy, the latest teaser trailer for the upcoming Pink Princess show playing on the TV.

“Would it be cheating if I dressed up as the Pink Princess for Halloween?” Maya asked idly, scribbling notes on a piece of paper. “She is based on me after all…”

Kay glanced between the TV screen and the girl next to her. Aside from the color of their outfits, she wasn’t sure that the character had much in common with her. “Based on you?” she asked.

“Nick and I met the director when we were investigating the studio,” Maya explained. “He was kind of a creep if I’m being honest, but he got the idea of making Pink Princess as a sequel from my acolyte uniform.”

“Sounds like the director wanted to steal your look,” Kay said thoughtfully. “I don’t think it would count as cheating to steal it back.” She reached into her bag and pulled out some of the costume sketches she had done based on early Jammin’ Ninja episodes. “Now, the real question is, who would be more recognizable, you as the Pink Princess or me as Princess Misola?”

“Aunt Maya as the Pink Princess,” Trucy piped up from between them. “She’s the main hero. Misola barely appears in the first two episodes.”

Kay sighed in defeat. “Fair enough.” One of these days, she was going to convince someone around here how much better Jammin’ Ninja was than any of those samurai shows. “What do you want to be for Halloween this year?”

Trucy beamed. “I’m going to be a magician!”

“Aww, none of us are going to match,” Kay pouted.

“If you wanted to match, we could be magicians together,” Trucy suggested. “Or… does either of your princesses have a court mage?”

As the week went on, the three girls finalized their Halloween plans. Since Miles lived closer to Kay’s old neighborhood, they would meet at his building before going out together. He didn’t need to drive anyone, so nobody’s plans would be ruined if he happened to work late, but all the same, he left work a little earlier than usual.

He parked his car in the garage as usual. As he approached the entrance to the building, he noticed a bicycle approaching and stepped out of the way. However, instead of passing, the bicycle stopped, and only then did Miles notice the rider’s blue suit and the pink top hat sticking out of the child seat in the back.

“Wright.” He was caught off guard and unsure what to say. “I wasn’t expecting you this soon.”

“Don’t tell me you missed me, Edgeworth,” he said as he dismounted from the bike, putting down the kickstand.

Miles sighed in mock exasperation, watching as Wright unbuckled his daughter from the child seat and removed her tiny pink helmet. “I can open the bike locker for you,” he said simply, hoping his voice didn’t betray too much longing.

“Does that mean I can stay over?” Wright asked, buckling Trucy’s helmet to the handlebars along with his own. He nodded, and Wright’s eyes practically sparkled as he pulled out his phone, presumably to text Miss Fey about the change of plans.

As soon as they were done stowing Wright’s bike, two excitable girls came running from the main entrance. One was the Pink Princess, the other, a decidedly non-pink princess.

“Kay! Aunt Maya!” Breaking away from him and Wright, the young magician ran up to the two princesses, putting on her top hat at the same time. “Ready to go? I’ve been waiting forever!”

The Pink Princess, who Miles supposed was Miss Fey, checked her equally pink phone. “Really? Nick only texted me that you guys were here a few minutes ago.” She put the phone away and pushed back her mask to smile slyly at Wright. “Speaking of which, ready for your date night?”

“Um…” Wright glanced around nervously for a moment. “I don’t think it’s like that, Maya. I just didn’t want to be alone tonight. That’s all, no other reason.”

Miles pressed his lips together, pretending he didn’t feel his heart breaking all over again.

“Daddy?” Trucy asked, cutting across his swirling thoughts. “Why were you so tense when you said that?”

Wright laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, would you look at that? It’s already dusk. Have fun and be safe, okay? If any of you need anything, just call one of us.”

Within moments, the girls were off, shouting goodbyes over their shoulders as they left.

A hasty takeout order and a trip up the stairs later, they were in his apartment, Miles picking out an old samurai movie he remembered overhearing that Wright liked as the man in question finished his dinner.

“I never got the chance to ask,” Wright said, pointing at the chess table, “but why do you have a red and blue chessboard?”

Miles ignored the question for a moment as he connected the DVD player to the TV. “I don’t see the world in black and white the way so many people do,” he answered vaguely. “Ergo, I wanted a chess set that more accurately represented my personal worldview.”

“Your personal worldview, huh?” Wright stepped closer to examine the pieces. “Is that why there are four red knights with sharp swords surrounding a spiky blue pawn?”

Miles turned away, feeling himself blush fiercely. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

Wright chuckled under his breath. “I don’t need Trucy’s power to know you’re lying.”

“...It was inspired by a dream I had,” Miles admitted. That was as much as he was willing to say at this point. He powered on the TV and sat down on the couch, watching from the corner of his eye as his companion moved to join him.

“I hope it was a pleasant dream,” Wright said as he sat down.

It had been one of the few pleasant dreams Miles had remembered lately. More often than not, he was woken early by nightmares and couldn’t go back to sleep. On the rare occasion that he dreamed about something else, he tried to keep the memory alive.

As the movie played on the TV, he found that Wright was sitting closer to him than before. Or was he the one sitting closer? Either way, they were practically touching, and Miles felt like a high-voltage live wire from the proximity. It was a strangely pleasant feeling, not unlike how that dream had felt right before he’d woken up.

Miles was shocked out of his reverie when the monster appeared and the hero had to flee. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed Wright by the shoulders, heart pounding in his chest. He watched anxiously until the hero made it to safety.

Only as he let go did he notice Wright was holding him as well.

“You don’t have to do that,” he mumbled, hands resting on Wright’s elbows, still making no move to actually let go.

“I know,” Wright said. “I did that because I wanted to.”

Miles recalled the exchange with Miss Fey earlier that evening. “I thought you didn’t want this to be a date,” he continued to mutter. Maybe the movie would drown it out and Wright wouldn’t hear.

Wright laughed. “Did I ever tell you Trucy has a special power? She can tell when people are lying.”

There was no way he was serious about that. He was surely playing along with his daughter’s fantasy. “So you were lying earlier?” he asked, just in case.

“Not necessarily,” Wright admitted. “It’s true that I didn’t want to be alone. But if I’m being completely honest… yeah. I was hoping you meant tonight to be a date.”

Feeling emboldened, Miles turned to face him completely. “And if I did?”

“If you did?” There was a hopeful look in his eyes, and Miles could tell that as different as he looked now, the man beside him on the couch was still the same Phoenix he remembered.

Miles’ heart was pounding again. “May I…” He’d never asked this of anyone before, and there was a strange vulnerability in this, of sitting face to face with the man he’d had a crush on since before he knew what crushes were. “May I kiss you?”

Phoenix looked surprised, but nodded. Miles tightened his grip on Phoenix’s arms as he leaned forward to meet his lips.

They spent so much of the evening kissing that Phoenix barely paid attention to the rest of the movie.

They talked in between, of course. Whatever relationship they had would have to remain outside of work (for now, at least), and should any conflicts arise, their children would come first. Truthfully, though, Phoenix didn’t think they had to worry about conflicts with Kay and Trucy. The two of them were already good friends thanks to all the time Kay spent at his apartment with her and Maya. And Miles might be awkward with kids, but his interactions with Trucy had been pleasant so far.

Still, most of the evening was spent entangled on the couch. Perhaps this was what he was missing out on as a teenager, Phoenix found himself thinking as Miles grabbed his hair to kiss him even harder. He didn’t know if he liked the idea of keeping this a secret, but if it was what Miles wanted, then keep it secret he would. As long as Miles continued kissing him like this, he would do anything.

They were interrupted all too soon by the sound of the apartment door unlocking and hastily sprang apart.

“We’re back!” Kay shouted, sounding tired as she dropped a heavy-looking bag on the floor. Maya and Trucy followed suit, Maya closing the door behind the three of them.

“Welcome home,” Miles quickly said. “From the sound of it, I take it your evening was successful?”

Kay grinned. “It sure was!” She yawned loudly. “How about you, Mr. Edgeworth?”

“Me?” Miles asked, clearly feigning confusion. “What do you mean?”

“A little birdie told me that a certain someone had unnecessary feelings to confess,” Maya said as she took off her Pink Princess mask. “Well?”

Miles crossed his arms. “I don’t know what either of you are talking about. I don’t have feelings to confess, necessary or otherwise.”

“I knew it!” Trucy shrieked, putting aside the candy bag she had been trying to pack into her top hat. “You’re lying, Mr. Edgeworth! You have feelings for Daddy and you still haven’t confessed!”

Phoenix and Miles glanced at each other and shrugged. Taking the shrug from Miles as we don’t have to keep it completely secret, Phoenix took a deep breath. “It’s fine. Miles and I have talked about it and we’ve decided to try dating. We don’t want to go public right away, but we felt that you three at least should know.”

Inexplicably, the three girls turned to each other and exchanged a round of high fives, but whatever that was about, Phoenix would have to find out later. It was a school night and he needed to get Trucy home. “I can carry your candy for you,” he offered, and she pulled the bag out of the hat. “Well, everyone, as much as I’d love to stay and chat, I do have to get this one home for school tomorrow. Maya, are you staying over tonight?”

“Kay invited me for a sleepover,” she said. “Hope that’s okay with you, Mr. Edgeworth.”

Miles groaned. “I would have rather you asked sooner,” he grumbled, “but provided you don’t stay up too late, it should be fine. And Kay,” he added, “just as a reminder, you have school tomorrow.”

“Got it,” said Kay, moving her bag out of the doorway.

Miles helped him pack Trucy’s candy and walked downstairs with them to open the bike locker, Phoenix carrying Trucy down the last few flights of stairs. He helped Phoenix get everything settled on the bike and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before he put his helmet on.

“I’ll see you again soon,” Phoenix promised.

Miles stepped back, a small smile on his face. “Text me when you get home.”

Heart pounding wildly, Phoenix got on his bike to leave. As he turned the corner, he glanced back, noticing that Miles still hadn’t gone back upstairs.