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It was exactly three years ago that Phoenix Wright, Trucy's dad, had been disbarred and became her adoptive father. Trucy remembered the day very well.
Since then her dad has given up lawyering and spent his days a piano and poker player, even though he's not very good with the piano. Despite the changes her dad's best friend and her cousin would still frequently visit him and make sure he's doing well. Maya and Pearl Fey.
Trucy and Pearl became best friends quickly and did all sorts of things together. From what Trucy could tell and what her dad had told her, Maya was the most important person in the world to her dad. They were extremely close together and clearly cared deeply about each other.
Among the things Pearl and Trucy enjoyed doing together, one of their favorites was imagining Phoenix and Maya as a happy couple. When they first met Pearl told Trucy that Phoenix and Maya were in love. Although that wasn't officially true, yet, Trucy was quickly on board with the idea and supported it as much as Pearl did.
Pearl and Maya were visiting at the agency today and Pearl and Trucy were in Trucy's room together.
“It's so infuriating!” Trucy complained, “They're so obviously into each other yet neither of them want to confess it!”
“I know…” Pearl agreed, “If only there was a way to make them reveal their true feelings for each other…”
Trucy then jumped up quickly, slightly startling Pearl, “Pearls you're a genius!” She exclaimed.
“I am?”
“Yes! We just have to think of a way to trick them into confessing!”
“Oh, you're right! That will definitely work! But how will we do that?”
“Well if we put our heads together I'm sure we can think of something…”
Trucy and Pearl spent the next ten minutes thinking about how they could get them to confess to each other.
“I've got it!” Trucy exclaimed eventually, “Okay, here's the plan Pearls…”
Maya was relaxing on the sofa in the Agency's main room. Phoenix had gone out to run some errands real quick and promised he'd be back soon. So for now Maya was just relaxing and binge watching Steel Samurai.
“Mysti- I mean, Maya!” A voice said.
Maya turned around and almost broke down in laughter. Standing there was Pearly sitting on Trucy's shoulders with the both of them wearing a poorly designed Nick costume. They were wearing Nick's old lawyer outfit and Pearly's head had fake spikes made out of paper on it. Pearly's hands didn't reach all the way down the sleeves and was clumsily holding a rose.
“I have something very important to tell you!” Pearly said in the manliest voice she could do. Maya covered her mouth to hide the massive smile forming and was trying extremely hard not to laugh. For now she decided to just play along.
“Y-Yes Nick?” She asked.
“I have to tell you now, I can't keep it in any longer. I really really love you mysti- Maya. Please be my special someone!” She held out the rose as far as she could reach.
“Really now?” Maya asked.
“Yes!” ‘Nick’ wobbled a little before regaining his balance, “It's the truth! I need you to be my special someone!”
Then the door to the room opened and the real Phoenix walked in with a few bags of groceries in hand. He was wearing his gray sweater and pants, with no beanie, his spiky hair on full display.
“I'm back Maya, I got burg-” He froze up on seeing what was going on. Pearly also froze as she looked at Phoenix.
“Psst, Pearls, what's going on up there?” Trucy loudly whispered from inside the suit, she then peeked out of the suit and saw her dad and also froze.
“U-Um… Abort the mission!” Pearly shouted in her normal voice as she and Trucy ran away.
Phoenix walked up to Maya and both of them lost it. They broke down in laughter from the whole ordeal and just laughed for a solid minute before getting a grip.
“Oh man…” Maya said between breaths.
“Those two are ridiculous.” Phoenix finished for her.
“Very. But it's also adorable.”
Phoenix nodded in agreement, “I got you some burgers.” He said as he reached into one of the bags and handed her a wrapped burger.
“Thanks!” Maya quickly unwrapped it and began devouring it.
“So what exactly were they doing disguised as me?”
“They tried to confess your love to me.” Maya answered with her mouth full, “It was so funny.”
“Haha, I bet it was.” Phoenix chuckled.
Maya finished her burger and leaned back into the couch and let out a satisfied groan.
“That hit the spot. Thanks Nick.” She said,
“You're welcome. Glad you liked it.” He replied.
The two of them sat in an awkward silence for a little while, just listening to their own thoughts. Pearl and Trucy had always teased the two of them about this for a long time, but they had never gone that far to try and get Phoenix and Maya to “confess their love to each other.
“(Maybe it was finally time…)” Maya thought to herself. Phoenix was really low right now, disbarred and remembered as a forger rather than a legend by most. He never showed it, but Maya knew he was still struggling. In truth, since the day Phoenix took Maya's defense and stood up for her and protected her when it felt like the world was against her, she had this funny feeling inside her that she couldn't describe whenever she thought of him. The first time Phoenix saved her she initially thought he only did it because she was his boss’s sister. But the second time he saved her she was certain it was more than that. She'd never seen Phoenix fight so hard in court before, and he did it for her. The strange feeling she had about Phoenix had only been getting more and more intense the longer they knew each other.
“(Maybe she is more than a friend…)” Phoenix thought to himself. Since they met Phoenix had only thought of her as his best friend. But even he knew there were times when it felt like she was more than that to him. The time when she took a taser attack for him, the sight of her restoring his memory when he got amnesia that one time, and all the care and support Maya has been giving him since his disbarment, she meant a lot to him. And Phoenix always fought his hardest in court when it was Maya on the line, and he's definitely some less rational things while thinking of Maya. Slapping Lotta when she was saying that Maya was guilty for the murder of Turner Grey, going to extreme lengths and trying to pin a murder on the innocent Adrian Andrews to save Maya from De Killer, and even attempting to run across a burning bridge to get to the other side to save Maya.
“(Is Maya really just a best friend to me?)” Phoenix wondered.
The two of them sat in awkward silence for a little while longer, just blankly staring at the TV and occasionally glancing at each other. Peeking out around the corner in the hall was Trucy and Pearl, now out of their disguise.
“What are they doing..?” Trucy whispered.
“No idea…” Pearl whispered back.
“They’re both really tense… I can tell from here. Are they… Thinking about each other?”
“Let’s wait and see if anything happens.” The two girls nodded at each other and turned their attention back to Phoenix and Maya.
Eventually Maya bent down and picked up the rose Pearl and Trucy had when they came in dressed as Phoenix, they dropped it when they made a run for it. She examined it for a moment before taking a deep breath and facing Phoenix.
“Here.” She said as she offered it to him. He slowly reached out and took it from her hands.
“What’s this?” He asked.
“It's a rose, duh.” Maya smirked at him, Phoenix chuckled slightly at her remark.
“Well, obviously. But why are you giving it to me?”
“Oh! Um…” Maya blushed slightly and hesitated before answering, “Well Pearly and Trucy tried giving this to me while pretending to be you. I thought the real you should have it.”
“Oh? Well thanks.” Phoenix smiled and put it down on a nearby table.
The two of them sat in silence for a short moment before Phoenix popped a question.
“Maya. Was there… Another reason you gave me that rose?”
“Huh?! U-Um… No?” She said unconvincingly. The magatama in Phoenix’s pocket reacted and a psyche-lock materialized in between them, but Phoenix didn’t need the magatama to know there was more to it.
“...You sure?” He asked, deciding to press her.
“Uh- Y-Yes of course I am!” She said shakily, she was still slightly blushing and her voice wasn’t very convincing.
“I don’t think you are very sure. You don’t look or sound very sure.”
“I- I don’t?”
“No you don’t. And I think I can get you to tell me what you’re really thinking with this!” He picked up the rose from the nearby table and held it out to Maya. For a moment, Maya froze, but she soon came back to reality.
“The… The rose?” She questioned.
“Yes. It’s for you. Consider it a… Thank you gift.”
“Thank you gift? For what?”
“For… Everything.” Phoenix reached out and grabbed Maya’s hand with his free hand, “For being there for me, for everything you’ve done for me.” Maya’s face turned red, Phoenix was also blushing slightly, “You’re… You’re the most important person in the world to me. Maybe even more than that. More than a best friend….” Phoenix paused for a moment to find the right words to say next, but before he could, Maya lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his body and held him tightly.
“Nick… Y-You’re such a flirt.” She said, Phoenix laughed and put his arms around her.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t play dumb Nick, you know exactly what you’re doing. And… I… I have something to say too!” She pulled back and looked Phoenix in the eyes, “F-For the longest time I’ve… I’ve had this funny feeling whenever I thought about you. I never really understood or knew said feeling, but it made me feel warm and safe. Now I understand that feeling. It was love, love for you, Nick.”
Phoenix froze, processing what he had just heard. The psyche-lock broke and the magatama stopped reacting. She just stared in shock for a moment before snapping back to reality.
“Y-You love me…” He muttered.
“I-I’m sorry! Did I make you uncomfortable or-”
“No.” He interrupted Maya, “No you didn’t. I’ve been thinking a lot about this too and… And… I think- No, I know I love you too.” He held Maya’s hands gently and looked into her eyes. Neither of them said a word as they leaned into each other and shared a kiss.
From around the corner, Trucy and Pearl were vibrating in extreme joy. They were shaking each other by the shoulders and trying their hardest not to squeal.
“Oh my goodness! I-It happened! Th-They’re kissing!!” Trucy quietly squealed.
“I know! I know! This is the greatest day ever!” Pearl quietly replied.
When Phoenix and Maya finally broke the kiss, they looked into each other's eyes for a moment before saying anything.
“T-That was-” Phoenix started.
“Amazing.” Maya finished.
“Y-Yeah. It was amazing. So does this make us a couple now or…?”
“I think so! I’m really looking forward to being your girlfriend, Nick.” Maya smirked at Phoenix, he smiled back at her.
“Yeah. So am I. You wanna spend the night here?”
“I think I want to spend lots of nights here.”
“You two can come out from around that corner now!” Phoenix shouted, Maya turned around and saw Pearl and Trucy disappear down the hall quickly.
“Were they watching us the whole time?!” Maya asked.
“Sure seems like it.”
“Those two… Well, I guess they definitely wouldn’t want to miss this moment. A part of me is kind of glad they didn’t.”
End.