Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Spring Break 2029

Phoenix Wright knew better than many that the things one cares about most could be gone in the blink of an eye. A childhood friend. A mentor. An attorney’s badge. These days, he tried not to dwell on the negative; he had a family, his legal agency was doing better than ever, and his best friend was only a train ride away. Being morose about the myriad possible ways something could go wrong would only drag him down and he’d already experienced too much time at rock bottom to keep himself emotionally mired there. After crawling out of that hole with no small amount of help from Miles and Trucy, he had spent his time since basking in the joy of watching his daughter succeed at what she loved, the pride of mentoring a young lawyer who was now rebuilding a legal system of his own, the excitement of his best friend becoming the Master of her clan, and the peacefulness in the steadfast love of his partner. He was content.

Then came the case of State v Wyatt. Phoenix was indifferent about marriage himself; other than tax benefits, what would being married change about his life? He couldn’t envision either of them changing their names and they already owned a house together where they lived with Trucy and sometimes Pearl, who Miles had essentially adopted.

Miles, however, was clearly another story. He had seen the look in Miles’s eyes at Sprocket Park as he gazed at the flying chapel and breathed, “That’s a rather romantic venue, isn’t it?”

Phoenix had made the mistake of teasing him about it and as Miles’s eyes cleared and his Chief Prosecutor Face returned, Phoenix learned something: his boyfriend was inadvertently hiding something from himself again and it was obvious what that thing was. Miles had made great strides over the years at self-reflection and being honest with himself and others about his needs, however it was clear that he hadn’t worked this one out yet. That was okay, Phoenix had. By the end of the trial, essentially everyone else had as well.

Even the Judge picked up on the entire “the Prosecutor doth protest too much” vibe when Miles snarled out something about nothing being wrong with wishing to remain unwed. Phoenix had tipped a wink to the Judge where Miles couldn’t see and the Judge backed off, although that hadn’t stopped Maya from nudging him every thirty seconds.

So now Phoenix knew beyond a reasonable doubt that Miles wanted to marry him and it was that knowledge that motivated Phoenix to make that a reality. Marriage might not have been particularly important to him but it was to Miles and that made all the difference. He had discussed it with Trucy and Pearl who were as delighted as he could have expected and now the four of them were driving to a resort for spring break where he would pop the question.

“You’re awfully quiet,” his boyfriend observed from the driver’s seat of their crossover SUV.

“Oh, just taking in the view,” Phoenix said lightly. They were south of San Clemente now and the ocean was visible outside his window. He checked the backseat to see Pearl looking out her own window, deep in thought, and Trucy, directly behind him, with her nose in her sketchbook as she had been for months now. He’d been debating if he should say something to her; he knew a little something about hyperfocus and this was supposed to be a vacation for all of them, but decided to hold off for now. He glanced at Miles whose lips were tight. The semi-truck several cars ahead was going the exact speed limit in the far-left lane and he could feel Miles’s impatience.

“We have plenty of time to get there,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice and the hands on the steering wheel infinitesimally unclenched. Maybe a distraction would help. “What are you looking forward to the most?”

“Relaxing on the beach under an umbrella with the UCLA Law Review in one hand and a daiquiri in the other,” said Miles.

Phoenix laughed. “Oh please, you think I didn’t see you pack two different paperback mysteries? Did you and Pearl already finish reading all possible literature?”

Miles and Pearl had long enjoyed reading together and now that she was away for college, their weekly phone calls included discussion of whatever book they were on and Phoenix had heard more about Little Women than he cared to. Still, patting Miles’s hand as he choked up on the phone about Beth while Phoenix watched some new action movie on mute was a memory that still made him smile. The matter that earlier that very day, Miles had made an old widow named Beth cry in the stand, notwithstanding.

“We’re between books right now and yes, fine, I wanted some light reading for the trip. Franziska recommended them. And you? What are you most excited for?”

“The twenty-four-hour buffet,” Phoenix lied, knowing that Miles would totally buy it. The truth was that he had received quite a bit of money from the newlywed Sprockets for services rendered and thought it fitting for the ring to be bought with a portion of it. The rest he had held onto, waiting for the right moment and when they had agreed to this trip, he had called the resort on the sly and set up a spa day and private dinner for two. Secret desire for marriage or no, Miles wouldn’t want a big affair with people watching while he performed a spur-of-the-moment self-assessment. “Since you won’t take me to one,” he added on for good measure. Sure enough, the color restored to Miles’s knuckles as he relaxed into their timeworn dynamic of bickering.

“That is categorically untrue, we went to that Brazilian steakhouse last year to celebrate Maya’s return.”

“A salad bar doesn’t count.”

“A salad bar? They had stew, a variety of breads, salmon, and—”

“Sure, but they also had five types of salad and a sign hanging over it that specifically said Salad—”

“You could put a sign over a bouquet of flowers that says Salad Bar, that doesn’t make it one.”

Phoenix opened his window for the smell of that salty air and prepared for his retort while shooting another glance at Miles’s hands. This was going to be a good week and by the end of it, there would be a gold ring on one of those fingers.

Pearl Fey had her own concerns. She’d been all hyped up to tell Papa her good news but then that asshole Simon Blackquill went and ruined everything. She had arrived back in LA from college the day before and immediately went to the Prosecutor’s Office to say hello. She spent the entire elevator ride bouncing on tiptoe and readjusting her backpack with the tri-fold glossy brochure (with the yellow insert that said Accepted) sticking out of the side pocket. Papa’s secretary smiled and waved her through and she burst into the Chief Prosecutor’s office where he and Prosecutor Blackquill were on opposite sides of the large desk looking over some papers.

“Pearls!” her father greeted her with one of his small smiles; a rare sign of genuine feeling when he was at work. “Just one moment, Blackquill and I are nearly done.”

She left her suitcase by the sofa, wandered over to stand next to the man some called The Twisted Samurai, and glanced at the crime scene photos on the desk.

“Without the murder weapon, I don’t think we can go through with the charges. The medical examiner said that the cause of death was blunt force trauma with a flat object that has some sort of unique pattern, but for the life of me, I don’t know what could leave that sort of abrasion.”

“I’m telling you, Edgeworth-dono, the killer has to be Sal Montrap. I spent seven years surrounded by guilty men, I know the black heart of iniquity when I see it.”

“Be that as it may—”

“What’s that?” asked Pearl, pointing to a strange mark in the dirt next to the body. “It almost looks like—”

“Pawprints from the neighbor’s cat, probably curious to take a sniff. We’re lucky he didn’t take a bite; I hear—”

“Enough,” Papa cut in with a dark look at the other prosecutor.

Pearl squinted at the strange markings on the man’s face in between the blood spatter. “Maybe you should find the kitty, these marks kind of look like scales. Could he have been hit with a fish? I know scale patterns can be used to narrow down what kind of fish it is; maybe you could talk to an ichthyologist and compare that to any pieces of fish the cat might not have eaten?”

Both men looked quickly at the photo and back to her with surprise. Papa gave her another smile over the desk, “I think you might be right. Excellent work!”

Pearl blushed; she could feel pride emanating from him as he sat down in his chair and picked up his teacup.

Simon Blackquill, however, was emanating something else. She turned her head to look at him and saw his eyes flicker to the side of her backpack where the tri-fold glossy brochure (with the yellow insert that said Accepted) was sticking out, and they took on a cold glint.

“What a clever daughter you have, Edgeworth-dono. She would make an excellent prosecutor someday.”

“That’s what I keep saying,” said Papa, sipping the last of his tea. “It appears you know what to investigate next, so my vacation starts now.”

Prosecutor Blackquill gave him a little bow and her a sharp little grin and left the room.

“Let me get my organizer ready, Pearls, and we can go home.”

She took off her backpack and set it on the sofa, hiding it with her body as she took the brochure with its yellow insert and slid it into the middle pocket where it couldn’t be seen. Did Papa want her to go into law? Did he think she wanted that? She had entered her freshman year at college with her major undeclared; she was pretty sure she knew what field she wanted to enter but decided she wanted to take a few different classes just in case something else struck her. It had only confirmed that her interest in animals, specifically marine life, wasn’t just a phase; she truly wanted to study them. Now, she’d been accepted into a summer program beyond her wildest dreams, but seven words from Simon Blackquill made her consider for the first time: what if Papa would be disappointed in her?

“She would make an excellent prosecutor someday.”

“That’s what I keep saying.” Sipping his tea.

“Pearl, my dear, you will make an excellent Master of our village someday.” Sipping her tea.

In the backseat of the car, Pearl tried to shake it off. Papa wasn’t anything like her mother, at least towards her. They were both capable of being calculating when they needed to be, but he had become warm and kind where she had always been stern and aloof. He doled out affection unconditionally, her affection had been extremely conditional and strategically given. He gave advice where she had made proclamations. Besides, he knew of Pearl’s love of ocean wildlife and had only encouraged it; sending her any marine life articles he came across and keeping her subscription to BBC Wildlife magazine active. On top of that, there was no reason he would think she intended to go into law; sure, she enjoyed helping out on cases once in a while, but she didn’t want to make a career out of it. He definitely knew that, right?

Then why would he tell people at the office that she’d make a good prosecutor? Did he not care what she wanted, only about his expectations for her future? This couldn’t be true but…the doubt had already taken root in her mind that Logic couldn’t fully excise. Prosecutor Blackquill was known for his powers of suggestion but how could he have seen one brochure and known that would create a weak point in her? Pearl knew what Maya would call him.

“That asshole,” she whispered to herself.

“What did you say?” asked Trucy from the seat next to her. Her nose was in a large sketchbook Papa had given her for her birthday along with a set of nice drawing pencils. She was sketching out a design for a stage set with a ruler and protractor and doing calculations in the corner. Uncle Nick had drawn several backdrops for her in the notebook and she was currently working on the prop logistics for the one with the plants made of candy.

“Nothing,” said Pearl. She sternly told herself to focus; she hadn’t seen Trucy in three months and once Trucy graduated high school in May, she would be taking her Trucy Gramarye and the Chocolate Factory show on a worldwide tour. She needed to enjoy this time with her sort-of-sister while she could. Plus, Uncle Nick was going to propose to Papa. This was a week to have fun with her family, not stress over her fears that probably weren’t even valid. “Is that the part where you do your Chocolate Surprise trick?”

Trucy sighed. “Yeah, but I’m having trouble getting the melted chocolate to do what I want. It just sticks to my new handheld puppet, Little Hat, and I want it to flow over him. I finally finished the Golden Egg Caper.” She flipped forward to a page where the backdrop’s design was a room with lots of painted geese.

“What’s the Golden Egg Caper?”

“It’s sort of like a shell game but bigger, with lots of goose puppets and a golden egg that moves around between them.”

“How do you control all those puppets?”

“I have multiple rings on my fingers that lift each one.” Trucy grinned. “That’s all I’m telling you though.”

Pearl laughed. “Okay, fine. Are you excited to travel the world all by yourself?”

“Yes, I can’t wait! Although… I’ve never been away from Daddy this long before. It was hard sometimes back when we were in Paris for several weeks but at least then I had you, Papa, and our aunts. Maybe I’ll get into some trouble so that Aunt Fran or Aunt Kay can come hang out with me when I’m on my Europe leg.”

“How much trouble would you have to get into to get Interpol and the CIA involved?” asked Pearl. “Besides, I already sent both of them links to buy tickets, chances are good that you’ll see them and probably half of all international law enforcement at some of your shows.”

“Alright, fiiiiine, that does sound way easier, good call.”

Phoenix looked all around as they walked to the check-in desk; the upper walls and ceiling were painted in an ombre of dusky rose, dark pumpkin, and deep pomegranate as though the entry room was in a permanent sunset. The resort was a large central building which held the reception area, several upscale restaurants, the twenty-four-hour buffet, and the spa. There was a hotel area of rooms and also a number of cabins of varying sizes along the beach nearby. The resort’s website boasted of easy walkability to several nearby attractions.

“Ooh, look at those cute striped umbrellas,” Trucy said, pointing to the beach just outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Beach chairs in every color of the rainbow dotted the sand and each had a matching striped umbrella attached to it. Waitstaff wearing both neckties and Crocs darted back and forth taking orders and delivering cocktails.

“I can see the boardwalk way over there,” said Pearl, craning her neck. “They have a Ferris wheel, Trucy! Let’s make sure to do that, while we’re here.”

The girls discussed boardwalk attractions as the family approached the front desk and Miles gave his name to the receptionist.

She looked at the computer in front of her. “Oh yes, Edgeworth, one cabin with two rooms and beach access. Oh, and I see here you’re scheduled for a spa—”

“-radic schedule, I know, we’re completely all over the place,” Phoenix interjected quickly. “Boardwalks, beach days, a rescue aquarium, you name it.” He tried to sell it with a boisterous laugh.

The receptionist gave him a strange look but pulled out four clam-shaped magnetic keys. “You’re going to go out this door to your left, down the path, and you’re in cabin number nineteen. Your luggage will be waiting for you inside by the time you reach it. Thank you for staying with us and let me know if you need anything else.”

Miles took the keys and handed them out as they exited through the door she had referenced.

Phoenix sneezed when the salt air hit him. “It’s like the ocean in my face.”

“It’s like the ocean in my face,” Pearl said dreamily. “I can’t wait to do a run along the beach in the mornings.”

“You should talk to Athena when you’re back in town for the summer,” said Phoenix. “She likes to run a lot too, I bet she’d be your running buddy.”

Pearl’s face took a turn towards uncertain. “Oh… yeah, during the summer, for sure.”

“There’s our cabin!” Trucy began to run ahead and Pearl followed.

“I’m glad we did this,” said Miles. “I think we could all use the relaxation and quality time.”

“Yeah,” agreed Phoenix. “The Olympics last year were fun, but it was also pretty hectic and we were still worn out from everything that happened in Khura’in.” His stomach rumbled. “We’re doing dinner at the steakhouse, right?”

“Yes, I believe so— wait.” His face fell. “I completely forgot to check the menu when I made the reservations, they have food for Pearl, right?”

“I checked and yes, they have a portobello steak that had a lot of good reviews.”

“Oh thank god, I can’t believe I didn’t think to check. I was so careful at Christmas to make sure she had plenty of options, but it just completely slipped my mind when we were planning this.”

“I got you covered, Miles, no worries.” Phoenix gave him a friendly bump with his shoulder. “It was no big deal to make sure my newly-vegetarian niece has food to eat while we’re here.”

Looking relieved, Miles pulled him in for a kiss that made Phoenix's toes curl. He pulled back before they could get too carried away in public, so Phoenix took his hand instead and together they followed the girls to their beach house.

Chapter Text

The cabin was more spacious than the online pictures had suggested. The living room had a large sectional couch that seated at least five. Each of the two bedrooms had a king-sized bed, a walk-in closet, and its own en suite with a standing shower and separate tub. The walls of the showers were a mosaic of small turquoise, purple, cerulean, and gold tiles which formed waves and spirals and Pearl felt like she could stare at it forever.

A small fire table and chairs were set up on the back patio and past that was a wooden gate that opened out onto the beach. She could hear the waves crashing and decided she’d be sleeping with the bedroom window opened just a crack so she could fall asleep to its lullaby. Trucy wouldn’t mind; she slept like a rock in any situation. Pearl began to walk towards the gate.

“Hold up there, kiddo, we’re gonna go eat dinner soon; don’t let the siren song of the ocean draw you in too deep. We have all of tomorrow blocked off for beach time, don’t worry.”

She turned around to see Uncle Nick poking his head out of the back door. “I figured I’d have a few hours while you plan out everyone’s side dishes,” she teased.

He grinned triumphantly and walked over to stand next to her. “Not in this case, it’s one of those places where you get family-sized sides to share. I’ve got three lined up, including your favorite— honey-glazed carrots.”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at his ongoing attempts to eat as many different foods as possible in a single sitting; the family had long given in to the habit of trading parts of their meals with him.

“What’s wrong with a normal meal with an entrée and a side or two?”

“That’s boring! Why eat 3 bites of carrots when I could eat one bite each of carrots, green beans, and mashed potatoes! I think it goes back to elementary school where we always traded food.”

“Ah yes,” said Papa as he joined them outside. “Phoenix’s parents always sent him with the same sandwich, chips, and yogurt every day.”

“See? Boring. Way better to trade chips for apple slices and rice pilaf.”

Pearl snorted and looked at Papa. “Your dad sent you to school with rice pilaf?”

“No, mine were the apple slices. The rice pilaf or truffled potato gratin or broccoli casserole lunches were always—”

“Larry.” The two men finished together.

Phoenix laid face-up on his beach chair, seeing nothing but the orange-black of his eyelids. He’d taken several deep breaths earlier, letting his muscles relax more on each exhale. His back was loose, his skin was warm, and he was listening to two of his most dear loved ones chatting; what could be better?

Miles had set a timer for exactly ten minutes in the sun before taking his chair and retreating under the large green-striped umbrella. Phoenix couldn’t blame him; he’d have done the same if he burned as easily as Miles did.

“I’ve looked up places to visit while I’m in Japan, but it’s one thing to know on a map where to go and another to figure out how to get there in person,” Trucy was saying from her purple-striped chair between her fathers.

“I can give you a few suggestions but my visits were work-related and very brief. You should ask your Uncle Roan about it; he lived there for a time.”

“I don’t know him very well; I only met him the one time he and Aunt Fran visited and I’m not very good at starting conversations, Papa.”

“Since when? I’ve never known you to be shy before.”

“Yeah, but that’s in person. It’s harder to just text someone out of nowhere.”

“Well, you like those teas that he sends me for Christmas every year. He has them shipped from a tea shop he used to frequent in Japan; ask him about those and then go from there. Between me, Kay, Franziska, and Roan, you ought to be able to get tips on navigating most of Europe and Asia.”

“Pearl said that she sent Aunt Fran and Aunt Kay the link to buy tickets for my shows, I should ask them which ones they wanna see. I bet I can get my manager to comp them some tickets.”

“Do you have a stop in Cologne, Germany?”

“Where?”

“Lanxess Arena,” Phoenix offered; he had memorized her schedule as soon as she had sent it to him.

“Oh! Yes, I do!”

“That’s very close to where Franziska lives.”

“Ooh, I should ask her to introduce me to her horses!”

“I am quite sure she will take very little convincing to let you see them.”

Phoenix turned over to lay on his stomach and listened to the ocean, Trucy scribbling in her sketchbook, and Miles turning pages in his paperback. He was nearly asleep when Trucy spoke up again, quietly.

“Papa?”

“Yes, Trucy?”

“Do you think I’m making the right call, keeping the Gramarye name?”

Phoenix cracked an eye open; this had the potential to get heavy fast. She was sitting cross-legged, shoulders bowed, fingers fidgeting with the skirt of her yellow swimsuit bottoms.

“What do you mean?” asked Miles, as he set his book down. He caught Phoenix’s eye and they shared a look.

“The Gramaryes were just so shitty,” she said with an anger that was rare for her. “I have so many good memories of Grandpa and our time touring and our Vegas residency, but everything I’ve learned since then makes them seem like such miserable people who hated each other.”

Phoenix reached over to hold the hand closest to him. She gripped it hard as she continued, “The entire thing with Grandpa’s will, Zak disappearing, Thalassa wanting nothing to do with me or Apollo. They’re all awful and selfish and I thought maybe I could reclaim the Gramarye name and make it into the wonderful thing that made audiences love our shows, but then Mr. Reus tried to ruin that too. It’s all just so…tainted.”

Miles took her other hand. “As I recall, Magnifi’s will stipulates that anyone using his tricks is required to do so under the Gramarye name, but I will do some digging into estate law and attempt to find a loophole if that is what you wish.”

“The reason I’ve been working so hard on my chocolate factory show is because I’m trying to come up with all of my own tricks. If I can do that, it doesn’t matter what his will says and I think it’s early enough to take “Gramarye” out of the name of the show, but I’ve been practicing in the kitchen at home and doing all of the equations I can think of, and I just can’t get this chocolate to flow like I want it to.” She burst into tears.

Phoenix and Miles moved as one to hold her between them.

“You’ll figure it out, honey, I know you will,” said Phoenix. “I’ll help however I can.”

“I have the utmost faith in you and when we get home, we can practice in the kitchen,” promised Miles.

She sniffled out a thank you.

“Oh my god, are you okay, Trucy?” Pearl was standing in front of the chairs, mask and snorkel in hand dripping little divots in the sand.

Trucy laughed a little and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “I’m okay, I just got a little bit stressed out over my act.”

“Did you find any starfish?” Miles asked Pearl.

“Even better, I found a neat kelp bed! Wanna see, Trucy? If you’re feeling okay, that is.”

“I think I’m going to take a little afternoon nap,” said Trucy and waved off Phoenix before he could say anything. “I promise I’m okay, I just need to rest and I’ll be good as new. You guys have fun.” She took her towel and sketchpad and started walking in the direction of their cabin.

Miles and Phoenix met eyes again. “I’ll check on her in a little bit,” said Miles. “Go on ahead, Phoenix, I know you were looking forward to snorkeling.” Not being one for swimming himself, he picked his book up off the sand and gave it a fussy little shake.

Pearl was bouncing on her toes as Phoenix grabbed his mask and snorkel and followed her to where she found the kelp bed.

“Did you know that kelp can grow two feet per day?” she asked before they went under. Pearl was wearing flippers and a wet suit that covered her to the knees and elbows and dove far enough to weave in and out of the tall, waving kelp fronds. Phoenix in just his trunks stayed closer to the surface. Still, he could see in the distance a number of little fish swimming in and out of the forest; many in different shades of yellow, green, gray, and brown to blend in with either the kelp or the ocean bed. He went up for air and came back down to see a school of blue and orange fish swimming together towards Pearl until they saw her and darted away in sync. She looked as delighted as someone with a snorkel in their mouth could. He didn’t know the name of the lethargic red and black fish or the group of black and orange fish zigzagging between kelp blades but he still felt he understood why Pearl enjoyed this so much.

A shadow further out to sea caught his eye from his higher vantage point and Phoenix carefully swam down further to catch Pearl’s attention. It was a sea lion making a beeline towards a school of small yellow fish and she clutched his hand tightly as they watched it catch its lunch. When something else caught its interest and it turned away, they both emerged for air. She laughed at him as he blew out the water from his snorkel like a whale after they breached the surface and then pulled her mask off. Her eyes were shining.

“I think that was a juvenile sea lion and did you see how fast he was?”

“Those fish didn’t stand a chance,” Phoenix agreed.

They went back under and while they didn’t see any more mammals, it was still fascinating, almost mesmerizing, to watch the fish in their natural habitat.

Miles wasn’t there when they returned to little cluster of chairs, so they gathered everything and headed back towards their little beach house.

“What were the blue and orange fish?”

“Goby, I can’t believe they got so close to me! They usually hide around urchins.”

“And the orange and black?”

“Treefish, they’re not usually out this time of day, maybe some of those scuba divers further down on the seabed disturbed him.”

“I saw a black and red one too, I think.”

“Oh, I didn’t see that one! It was probably a California sheephead. They’re a more vulnerable species, good eye, Uncle Nick.”

“All of the yellow and gray ones look the same to me, were any of those unique?”

“I saw a barred sea bass and I think I caught a glimpse of a blacksmith damselfish…” She chattered animatedly as they opened the gate to the cabin porch where Miles was sitting in the shade, watching their approach.

“The two of you look like you had a good time,” Miles observed, smiling softly.

“We saw a sea lion!” said Pearl.

“It was a lot of fun, we saw a bunch of fish, and true to form, your daughter knows every single one.”

“Of course she does,” Miles said proudly.

Phoenix noticed a slight wrinkle in her forehead and she was biting both of her lips in a way that suggested she was trying to keep herself from saying something. He decided to let her work it out for now but noted to himself to keep an eye on it. Looking between them, an idea suddenly hit him. Miles was usually the one with the perfect gift ideas, but this one was a doozy. He would get Pearl an underwater camera so she could share her experiences with her swimming-avoidant father. Maybe that would be a present for both of them for their birthdays next August. He made a mental note of that as well; eureka indeed. For now, there was a more important question on his mind.

“How’s Trucy?”

Miles turned his attention to Phoenix. “She was asleep when I checked on her, so I decided to read here in case she needed anything.”

Phoenix set his equipment in one sunny corner of the porch to dry and went inside. He listened at the girls’ door and heard rustling, so he knocked quietly.

“Come in.”

He cracked the door a little, she was sitting on her bed applying eye liner. “Hey, Daddy, did you have fun?”

“We sure did, you should definitely try it when you get a chance. We even saw a sea lion! How are you feeling?”

“A sea lion? That’s pretty cool. I’m better, I think I just needed to cry it out and take a nap. I’m still a little worried, but I think I can focus on having fun with everyone for now. Stress isn’t good for my creativity.”

“Glad you’re feeling better, Trucy-lou, but let me know if you need to talk again. It’s not good to keep all that inside.” She met his eyes and he suspected they were both thinking of a time when her Papa had reached a breaking point from doing just that.

“I will, I promise. I do feel a lot better now though. I’m really looking forward to the aquarium tomorrow, maybe I’ll get to see some sea lions too,” she said with a smile and he could tell by the creases near her eyes that she wasn’t just doing her Magician Mask.

He smiled back. “I think it’s going to be a good time and I've always wanted to see a sea turtle. Now, how about you put that sketchpad away for a couple of days; I know you and staring at the same thing over and over again isn't good for your creativity either.”

Trucy picked up the pad from the table next to the bed and tossed it in her suitcase. "Yeah, you're right. I get my inspiration from the world around me and this vacation is for family time. What are we doing for dinner tonight?"

"Pearl was a good sport about sitting next to me and my Meat Medley Platter last night, so I let her pick and she found some Korean-Mexican fusion place around the corner. I'm pretty intrigued by the bulgogi burrito."

"Ooh, I bet they'll have kimchi; I've never tried that before," she said as she opened her bedroom door back out into the hallway and together, they left to find the rest of the family.

Chapter Text

The aquarium was surprisingly large for a rescue aquarium. After seeing the tiny (for a whale) enclosure in which Orla the Orca had been kept at the Shipshape Aquarium, Pearl didn’t want to spend time on her vacation at a commercial aquarium (she’d likely see several over the summer if all went well anyway) and had come to terms with the tradeoff that a rescue aquarium would probably be much smaller. Looking around at the numerous hallways leading to different types of sea creatures, she was pleasantly surprised to have been wrong on that count.

“Where do you want to go first?” asked Papa from her side. He was wearing a polo shirt and baseball cap with her college logo on it; a rare sight that never failed to tickle her.

“It says here that the dolphin exhibit is closed for now as the previous dolphins were safely released back into the ocean last month,” said Trucy, thumbing through a pamphlet.  

“That’s good,” said Pearl, secretly a little disappointed. She shifted her backpack on her shoulder; the tri-fold glossy brochure (with the yellow insert that said Accepted) still hidden inside, nestled amongst several water bottles.

“Maybe we could start with the outdoor animals before it gets too hot,” suggested Uncle Nick. 

Everyone agreed to the plan of action and the first enclosure on the outside path was the sea lions. Three of them were sunning themselves on rocks.

“You actually saw one of these?” gasped Trucy. “They’re so big!”

“Yes!” said Pearl. “We watched him catch himself a snack before he swam off.”

“How close were you?” asked Papa, alarmed.

Uncle Nick put a hand on his arm, “We were pretty far away from him, don’t worry. He didn’t even see us.”

Two of the sea lions began barking loudly at each other and Uncle Nick and Trucy took turns trying to imitate them. Papa pulled the brim of his cap a little lower and took a few sidesteps away.

A variety of sharks were next; nurse sharks, bamboo sharks, epaulette sharks and sandbar sharks, followed by sea turtles which delighted Uncle Nick. Several had been rescued due to injury and it hurt Pearl's heart to see one with a prosthetic flipper and another with a clamp on its cracked shell, but the engineering innovation fascinated her mind. The turtles swam serenely, ignoring both their medical devices and Uncle Nick waving at them in equal measure. An area for shorebirds followed and Papa took as many pictures as he could to send to Aunt Kay who was a nut for birds. They got to touch mantas in a small pool, although Papa took some coaxing.

“They’re less slimy than I thought they’d be,” he said looking at his hand with surprise.

After lunch in the café, they wandered around the indoor exhibits looking at eels, crustaceans, sting rays, seahorses, and tanks upon tanks of fish. In the back corner of a room with several types of rays, Pearl saw a purplish-blue glow and found a small, dim room fully glassed in by a jellyfish tank. It was empty except for a bench in the middle and she sat down to watch the mesmerizing jellies bounce and float in every direction.

If she was certain before that she wanted to work with sea creatures for the rest of her life, this day had cemented it for her.

“She would make an excellent prosecutor someday.”

“That’s what I keep saying.” Sipping his tea.

“Pearl, my dear, you will make an excellent Master of our village someday.” Sipping her tea.

Despite all evidence to the contrary (he found this place and suggested it for the trip knowing you would enjoy it, her logical mind tried to scream), she couldn’t shake that nagging doubt that perhaps he had some kind of plan for her life that he expected her to follow. Like she’d had.

The man himself was now standing behind her.

“Are you having fun, Papa?”

He laughed quietly, “How did you know it was me?”

“I can see the reflection of the light on your glasses in the tank glass.”

He moved to sit next to her on the bench. She continued watching the tank in front of her as an Upside-Down jellyfish floated by a Lagoon jelly.

He put an arm around her and squeezed gently. “That’s my logical girl.”

Pearl tensed and she felt him tense in response and turn towards her. This was stupid, she needed to just find out what his feelings were. She pulled on her bravest face for the third time in her life; the one that she had once worn to interrogate him with her magatama and he flinched as she looked at him coolly.

“Do you want me to become a prosecutor like you?”

He let go of her in surprise. “What?”

“When we were in your office, you told Prosecutor Blackquill that you often say what a good prosecutor I’d make. Is that what you want me to do? Because I’m not interested; no one is ever going to plan my life for me again. Not my mother, not you, not anyone.”

He was silent for a long moment; his face awash with the indigo waves of the lights through the tanks which created strange, tumultuous shadow patterns. His glasses under the brim of his hat glowed opaque with purple and he seemed in that moment to be some inscrutable being, some entity with an unknowable design for her. He took his glasses off and there was her Papa again, gray eyes soft with concern.

“I say that you have the makings of a good prosecutor because it’s true, you do, but I don’t want you to go into some field or another for my sake, I want you to do what makes you happy. I suppose I’m proud of your logical abilities because it’s something I helped cultivate; perhaps that’s a part of fatherhood about which I’m still learning. However, I’m also proud of you for plenty of things that are entirely you: your successes in running track, your grades at school, your love of reading that you actually helped cultivate in me. I’ve been watching your face all day and that along with what I already know about your interests suggests to me what career path interests you, but you tell me: what do you want to do?”

Pearl exhaled sharply in relief. Her inner self-doubt changed tactics from suggesting Papa’s disappointment to recrimination that she’d ever even believed it possible Papa would be disappointed in her. She brushed it off; she’d gotten the answer, there was no need to dwell on it any further. “I’ve been accepted for a paid summer internship with Dr. Crab,” she whispered. She reached into her backpack, pulled out the glossy tri-fold brochure (with the yellow insert that said Accepted) for Crab Veterinarian Services, and handed it to him as he put on his glasses again.

He smiled as he flipped through it. “Congratulations! Will you be at the Shipshape Aquarium?”

“Not completely; Dr. Crab travels to a bunch of different aquariums on the Pacific coast, that’s just one of the places where he has an office. I met him again during one of my classes at my college’s Marine Science Center. That was the class where I decided I’m going to officially make marine biology my major.”

Papa touched the brim of his hat. “I assumed that science center is why you chose that particular university.”

“Yes, but I just wanted to make sure, and now I am.”

He wrapped his arm back around her shoulders and held her close, “Pearls, I couldn’t be disappointed in you if I tried.”

She rested her head on his shoulder and together they watched the bobbing jellyfish around them.

“Do you want me to become a prosecutor like you?”

Phoenix took two quiet steps backward; this seemed like a conversation for the two of them to have and besides, Pearl looked like Dahlia with her face like that and he didn’t particularly want to look at it any longer than he had to.

“Are they in there, Daddy?”

“Yep, but I think we’re gonna give them some time alone. What say we go check out that cute shopping area we passed on the way here, I think I’m getting fished out.”

She agreed and they soon found themselves in a little artisan district. Each building was small and painted pastel blue, green, pink, or yellow with white trim. Bougainvillea lined the wide sidewalks on either side of the street and up the paths to the shops, each of which had a wooden sign hanging from a post carved with the name of the business.

Caiden Ironworks had a number of garden statues outside. Circuits with blinking lights were visible in the windows of Drebber Engineering. A shrill scream came from Sithe Ink and Phoenix and Trucy quickly moved past by unspoken agreement.

“This is really adorable,” said Trucy as they passed by a glassblower on one side and a candle shop on the other.

“Aromatherapy & Chocolate Artistry,” Phoenix read aloud. “What a strange combination.”

“Let’s check it out!” Trucy was at the door before Phoenix could respond. When he entered the shop, she was already deep in conversation with the curly-haired man behind the counter. The store was freezing, presumably to keep the Chocolate Artistry from melting, and artistry was certainly the correct description. Chocolate slabs were carved into life-sized characters from famous movies, cartoons, and video games. Phoenix rubbed at his arms for warmth and looked at a humanoid robot the same height as he, and marveled at the intricate detail of the chocolate circuitry in its chocolate joints. In the back he could see a Taurusaurus whose horns grazed the vaulted ceiling.

“—is the actual chocolate artist, I’m just the gorgeous aromatherapist and the muscle. Someone around here has to lug these things around.” The man behind the counter flexed and his rippling biceps were indeed impressive. The shelves behind him and under the counter were full of various aromatherapy candles, plug-ins, and sprays. The man continued, “The two of you look like people who could really benefit from a twelve-foot-tall chocolate Gourdy and we just so happen to be running a sale on creations over ten feet!”

“Oh, uh, we’re just browsing,” said Phoenix as he approached the other two.

The man glanced at him and then did a double-take. “You’re the guy who got me sent to prison!”

Phoenix blinked and looked closer. The man’s nametag said John, that wasn’t familiar. Big arms… cute pout… curled beard “—oh my god. Mr. Armstrong?”

“That’s me. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t deserve the jailtime, but still. Anyway, it’s all water under the bridge, especially if you’re interested in a life-sized chocolate Gourdy.”

“Weren’t you French?”

“Jesus, it’s called a phase, okay? You don’t see me making fun of you for your weird tiger phase.”

“You had a tiger phase, Daddy?” Trucy asked with great interest.

“NO, no, it’s, ugh, it’s complicated.” Suddenly, he had an idea. “Since we’re here though, maybe we could ask you some questions about chocolate-making? My daughter has been working with chocolate recently and—”

“Oh, I was just telling her that I’m not the chocolatier. Hang on, I’ll get him for you.” John turned and called out, “Hey Laurice, you have fans!”

Phoenix’s stomach sunk all the way to his shoes. It just couldn’t be.

“Heyyyy folks, you guys here for a book signing or a—” Larry turned the corner from the back office and stopped. “Nicky! Trucy! What are you guys doing here?”

Larry Butz. Of course. Phoenix glanced around at the exquisitely carved chocolate around him and wondered, not for the first time, how one person could be so ridiculously talented at so many artistic mediums. His house with Miles had gifts from Larry in every room from painted watercolors to welded statues.

“Laurice!” Trucy cried and ran up to hug him. “You’re coming to my graduation in May, right?”

“Absolutely, I actually just mailed back the RSVP yesterday.”

“You what?” said Phoenix.

“Yeah, we’ve cleared our schedule and have it on our calendar,” said Larry cheerfully, putting his arm around John.

Phoenix looked between the two. Oh. First things first, however. “You invited Larry to your graduation?” he asked Trucy.

“Of course I did, he’s practically family.”

“I’m like a favorite cousin to everyone I meet,” said Larry.

Phoenix chose to let that one go and get back on the original topic. “So, Trucy here has been working on a magic act involving melted chocolate, would you be able to help us out?”

Larry stroked his chin, “‘Fraid not, carving already hardened chocolate is my specialty, but Fontaine’s Fondue Fountain down the lane might have some ideas.”

“Great!” said Trucy. “We’ll check that out.”

Phoenix held his hand out to John, “It was nice to see you again.”

John shook it. “If you’re friends with Laurice then I guess you’re alright. Come down to Shamspeare’s around the corner tomorrow night for Drag Karaoke, it’s always a fun time. If you see me there, I’ll be Claurice.”

“Do they have wristbands for eighteen plus?” asked Trucy.

“Sure do, hon.”

“Great! Pearl and I are going to the boardwalk tomorrow, we’ll see you guys there after!”

“Glad to hear it. Claurice and Laurice Duets are quite the spectacle; you won’t want to miss it.” John gave Larry a kiss on the cheek.

“What happened to your mustache, Larry?” asked Phoenix.

“Jesus, it’s called a phase, okay? You don’t see me making fun of you for your weird tiger phase.”

“I have to know more,” said Trucy.

“I have a picture of Nick in his tacky tiger shirt somewhere,” Larry said, pulling out his phone.

“That was one time for Halloween! I thought it would be funny!”

“Oh, here it is.” He showed Trucy the picture and when she started laughing, turned it for Phoenix to see.

“That’s actual Furio Tigre, come on! Wait, why would you even have a— never mind. Trucy, let’s go see this Fontaine.”

Fontaine’s Fondue Fountains was a small, quiet shop. Phoenix led Trucy by the hand through a maze of multi-tiered fondue fountains. They passed by a four-tiered set of pyramids and a stunning six-tiered set made of various gears that looked as though they would rotate with the fall of the chocolate. On the counter was a small, gold double-fountain of the scales of justice.

That would be perfect for our wedding reception, he thought dreamily before getting himself refocused. This was for Trucy… but maybe he’d come back later.

The person behind the counter turned and greeted them with a small smile. “Welcome to Fontaine’s Fondue Fountains.” They had a soft voice, long dirty-blonde hair, and a set of glasses perched on their nose. “How can I help you today?”

“My daughter is trying to figure out the logistics of moving melted chocolate and we thought you might have some ideas.”

Fontaine looked at Trucy and gasped, “Trucy Gramarye? The famous magician? I saw Trucy in Gramarye-land, it was wonderful!”

Trucy beamed. “We had to make a lot of changes on the fly after a pretty disastrous dress rehearsal, so I’m glad you liked it!”

“Oh yes, I saw something about that on the news, but I never would have known otherwise. Are you planning to use melted chocolate in a new show?”

Trucy reached deep into a pocket and pulled out an NDA. Fontaine was vibrating with excitement as they signed the bottom. Trucy explained the mechanics of the Chocolate Surprise trick involving rippling chocolate flowing down Little Hat while he was in a transparent glass tube. “I’ve tried experimenting with different chocolates, different consistencies, and different angles but I just can’t get it to flow right.”

Fontaine took off their glasses and rolled one of the arms between their fingers, deep in thought. “I think I can help. Let me walk you through how a fondue fountain works and I think we can figure out how to apply that to a more unusual shape like Little Hat.” They pulled a plain fountain out from under the counter and Trucy pulled her sketchbook from even deeper in her pocket (Phoenix gave her A Look at this) and the two of them went to work discussing viscosity and movement. It mostly all went over Phoenix’s head but he marveled, not for the first time, at how smart his daughter was. His heart ached at how much he would miss her while she was travelling on her tour; maybe he could talk Miles into a trip.

Finally, the pair had developed several different options for Trucy to try and exchanged social media accounts in case she had more questions.

“My last show will be at the Sunshine Colosseum,” said Trucy. “I’ll be sure to send you a couple of front row tickets and backstage passes for all your help. I’ll check with my manager and see if we can put your business on the show pamphlet too; I really appreciate all your help.”

“That would be wonderful,” said the young fountain maker cheerfully. “It’s a delight to be able to assist.”

Trucy skipped alongside him on the way back to their little beach house. “I can do it, I know I can! Finally, I can just be Magical Girl Trucy and get rid of the Gramarye name entirely. That was such a good idea, Daddy, thank you so much!”

“No trouble at all, Trucy-lou, I’ll do anything to help you achieve your dreams,” he said firmly. A thought crossed his mind. “Will you do anything with the rights to the Gramarye tricks?”

“I’ll give them to Valant. He needs the tricks and the Gramarye name more than me.”

They had seen Valant several months prior trying to perform in the parking lot of their supermarket. “Yeah, he needs all the help he can get.”

“He’s not a bad magician,” Trucy clarified. “He’s good at performing the magic, he’s just not good at creating his own tricks and that’s okay.”

Phoenix, overwhelmed, stopped in his tracks and pulled her to him in a tight hug. “You have the biggest heart, sweetie. I think that, if nothing else, separates you from the Gramaryes.”

She pulled back to look at him. “Thank you for telling me about everything. I know why you wanted to give her a chance to say it herself, but I’m glad I got to know my brother before he moved to Khura’in.”

Phoenix had promised Thalassa that he would let her inform her children of the connection between the three of them, but she had disappeared without a trace a month after the MASON trial. He gave her time while he was focused on retaking the bar and getting back into the swing of things, but after the courtroom bombing, the thought that Apollo might have died without learning about his sister was too terrible to imagine. Better a broken promise than Trucy’s broken heart. Her children needed to know the truth. He watched a crying Trucy hug a stunned Apollo and his heart filled with a fury he hadn’t felt since he learned who was behind his disbarment.

Trucy had given it a year and with still no word from her biological mother, sold her locket with Thalassa’s picture inside and her framed photo of Zak that had once hung on the wall in the agency and had gotten a nice chunk of change from some superfan on the internet.

“You deserved to know,” Phoenix said to her now. She grabbed his hand and they continued their walk back to the cabin.

Chapter Text

It was sweltering hot on the boardwalk with no shade and it didn’t take long for Pearl and Trucy to find the indoor mini-golf and arcade. Trucy, due to her quick hands, was shockingly good at nearly every arcade game and she beat Pearl every time; however, Pearl won by a mile at mini-golf, a talent she hadn’t even known she had. They pooled their tickets and when they exited the building into the late afternoon sun, Pearl's backpack was stuffed with silly trinkets. They rode a wooden roller coaster, a tower ride, a spinning coaster, and a swinging splash ride before taking a break for pretzels and churros. Trucy insisted they ride the Ferris wheel before they left and they watched the sunset as the Ferris wheel rotated.

“I’m going to drop the Gramarye name,” said Trucy.

Pearl looked at her with surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah, I want to do my own thing, but it’s hard to totally shake the feeling that I might be disappointing them, you know? Even though they all kind of sucked.”

Pearl thought back to a conversation she’d had several years prior when she and Papa had visited Aunt Fran and Uncle Roan for Christmas.

December 2025

“You attended your mother’s execution?” Aunt Fran asked, startled, as they guided their horses around a cluster of trees. It was the last day of the trip and she had requested to go horseback riding with Pearl one last time. She told Pearl about her father and in response, Pearl shared the story of her mother’s machinations. It was nice to talk to someone who understood and Aunt Fran was a patient listener even though she knew some of it already. Until this part anyway— no one else knew about this, not even Mystic Maya.

“Yes. I went in to see her a few hours before… you know… and I was allowed to bring her favorite tea for her since that was her request instead of a last meal. She rambled for a while about the Fey clan while she drank her tea and then when it was time, her last words to me were ‘Pearl, my dear, you will make an excellent Master of our village someday.’ Then I put on my bravest face and went into the viewing room and as she died, she gave me a knowing look, like I was still in on the plot. She was delusional until the end.”

“Shit,” muttered Aunt Fran and the horse she rode snorted out a visible breath in the cold air, perhaps in agreement. “My father was similar; he died still under the misapprehension that he would free himself with his own prosecutorial abilities. I saw him before… although, I didn’t attend.”

“Do you still think about what he wanted you to be?” Pearl could hear the desperation in her own voice. When her near-obsessive determination to become a proficient reader had turned into a genuine love of books, she'd thought that a sign that she was moving past this; weekly cleaning of the Mystic Misty scrolls be damned, but sometimes the pressure came creeping back. "Does it still weigh on you that you aren't?"

“Sometimes. The expectations of our families can be a burden, a source of purpose, or both and I think we all have to decide what to do with that. Your cousin seems happy in her path to Mastery of your clan as was, to my understanding, the expectation of her mother. It gives her a purpose to fulfill. I don’t regret becoming a prosecutor as my father wanted since that led me to the realization of my true passion: investigating. However, I had to cast off that weight of his expectation to move forward. The requirement for either of us to become what our parents wanted would be to remain unhappy for the rest of our lives and it's not worth that. Any time that weight comes back, remind yourself: it’s not worth that.”

Pearl took a deep breath of the chilly air and as the pressure lifted from her shoulders, she squared them. “Even if I did want to be the Master of the clan, I’d have to hurt Mystic Maya to do it and nothing is worth that. I just have to choose my own path and do what's right for me. It doesn’t matter what Mother would think now anyway."

Aunt Fran gave her a fierce grin. "Attagirl."

Pearl grinned right back and they turned their horses around to head back to Von Karma Manor.

“Aunt Fran once told me that we have to decide for ourselves if the weight of family expectations is something we want to carry. I think if you want to let the Gramarye name go because they sucked, you should do it. For you.”  

Trucy punched the air with the hand not holding her sno-cone. “Yeah! I’m gonna do it. I’ll be Magical Girl Trucy and I’ll design all my own tricks and shows!”

“That’s the spirit! So did you figure out the chocolate thing?”

“Yup, Daddy tracked down a fondue fountain maker who had some really good ideas and Papa will help me try them out in the kitchen. Speaking of, what were you and Papa talking about?”

Pearl caught her up on the details. “I just made it so much bigger in my head, you know? I knew it didn’t make sense but it was hard to shake that little niggling voice in the back of my mind.”

“I totally get it,” said Trucy. She put her finger on her chin and thought for a moment. “Why do you think Simon did that, anyway?”

“Because he’s a huge asshole who hates happiness?” suggested Pearl through a mouthful of shaved ice. “And since when did you call him ‘Simon’?”

“He comes around the office sometimes to hang out with Athena. He’s definitely a little… um… rough around the edges, but setting up a scenario on purpose to mirror your memories of your mother seems a little much.”

Pearl considered this. “He could have looked up the Turner Grey case, although, no… my name isn’t actually in the public court documents for that or the Hazakura Temple case because I was a minor. He’d have access to the private documents but he’d have to provide an official reason to access those. I guess it’s unlikely he’d know about Mother at all, let alone the details of her plans for my future.”

“Papa does talk a lot about what a good investigator you are, especially after you found that stockpile of gold medals at the Olympics last year. I was with you the whole time and I still don’t know how you figured out they were in that hidden compartment in the kayak.”

“I just compared the slalom speeds—never mind. Anyway, maybe he assumed like I did that since Papa talks about it so much that he wanted me to join the legal field in some way?”

“Then when he saw your pamphlet in your backpack, he realized that you were planning on doing something else. Maybe he was just trying to create a little chaos because he was annoyed at how fast you figured out that fish case.”

“He’s still an asshole,” Pearl scowled. “And petty.”

Trucy laughed. “Now that I believe.”

“Let’s talk about something less depressing. Your senior prom is coming up soon, right?”

“Yup! I found the perfect dress the other day; it’s a really dark purple and I think I’ll wear a gold diamond-shaped necklace that matches my earring. Daddy and I are gonna go back in a few weeks so I can try it on.”

“Are you going with anyone?”

“Yeah, there’s a boy in my class that asked me. We’ve gone on a couple of dates but he’s been accepted at a college on the east coast and I’ve got my tour, so we’re just kind of having fun right now. Ooh, speaking of dates, do you think Daddy is asking Papa to marry him right now?”

Both girls giggled as the Ferris wheel ride came to an end.

Trucy grabbed Pearl’s hand and started for the exit of the boardwalk. “We got invited to a drag karaoke night with Laurice and his boyfriend and I think it’s starting soon; let’s go check it out.”

Phoenix watched his boyfriend as he read the menu in the dim light. They were in one of several small private rooms off of the main seating area of the resort’s seafood restaurant. He had been informed when he’d booked the place that the modus operandi was for diners to be left alone after their food was delivered. There was a small button on the wall if they needed further service. Phoenix made sure he was sitting with his back to the window with a full view of the doorway into the alcove and was glad he’d done so as he could see the orange of the sunset behind him glitter on Miles’s hair.

Miles’s eyes flickered over his glasses at Phoenix and he gave a small smile. “You’ve planned a truly wonderful day for us, thank you.” His face was as smooth as Phoenix had ever seen it after a day of hot rocks, facials, body wraps, and deep tissue massages. It was nice to see him so uncharacteristically relaxed.

The spa had done wonders for Phoenix’s back but the boneless feeling had faded once they were seated at the table and he was getting increasingly keyed up as he waited for the right time to make his move. He’d tried to come up with a plan ahead of time but eventually gave in and decided to rely on his old friend Just Wing It. He wiggled his fingers under the table in an attempt to direct his tension out of his body.

“I haven’t had oysters in some time, perhaps I’ll order a few,” Miles mused.

“I won’t tell Pearl if you won’t,” said Phoenix.

When the waiter came, they ordered a seafood medley appetizer then Phoenix requested the redfish Pontchartrain and Miles, the Mediterranean branzino. They each ordered a glass of wine as well. When the appetizer and wine were delivered to their table, Phoenix took a crab leg and a deep breath. Time to shine, baby.

“Has Trucy told you anything about what she wants for her graduation party?”

Miles tucked his napkin into the collar of his shirt and picked up an oyster. “Bits and pieces. I believe she wants something quite large with a guest list to match.”

“Yeah, so far, along with the normal people you’d expect, she’s mentioned the Kitakis, Sasha Buckler, every member of the Berry Big Circus who she apparently met last time they played in town—”

“Oh, Regina Berry, I met her once at a prison.”

“You what.”

“She was performing an animal routine at a prison where I was investigating a murder. It was an entire ordeal, but she seemed nice.”

Phoenix snagged a shrimp. “Oh, um, that’s good, I guess? Anyway, I think Apollo is planning to fly in and he said that Nahyuta is going to try to come too.”

“Didn’t he try to prosecute her for murder?”

“He apologized and our daughter has forgiveness in spades.”

“Indeed. Well, between that group and our own family and friends, we should have enough space in the house and backyard for people to mingle freely.” Miles finished opening a crab claw and held out the cracker to Phoenix who waved it off as he pried open a leg with his fingers and considered what tack to take next.

“It occurs to me that we’ve never thrown any kind of party for you; not even for your promotion to Chief Prosecutor. What about for your birthday this summer?”

Miles frowned. “I don’t know that I’m really much for parties or being the center of attention.”

Phoenix could see movement out of the corner of his eye, the waitstaff was about to bring them their entrées. He pressed forward. “I’ve seen you enjoy large parties, remember how many people were at the Sprocket wedding? We had a good time, right?”

Three people came into the room: the first removed the remainders of the appetizers and the small plates, the next placed their meals in front of them, and the third refilled their wine glasses and then asked if they needed anything else. Phoenix assured them that they were fine and thanked them.

When they left, Miles shook his head. “What were we talking about?”

“How much you enjoy large weddings.”

Miles blinked. “Oh, no I think I’d prefer something smaller and more intim—” He stopped and stared at his plate.

Phoenix took a sip of his wine and watched him process his own words. A variety of emotions crossed Miles’s face made even more beautiful in the sunset. A honeyed bewilderment followed by a puzzled frown in marigold from which evolved a subsequent saffronic scowl as he remained deep in thought. An absent-minded smile graced his lips awash in amber and his eyes softened; the steel gray turned almost bronze. Phoenix’s redfish Pontchartrain smelled incredible, but he kept himself mostly still. He waggled his fingers again under the table. It helped.

Finally, Miles looked up, wonder on his face in the garnet glow, and began to speak slowly. “I think that perhaps, I would like to be married.”

Phoenix slid out of his chair and dropped to one knee, pulling the ring box out of his pocket. “Miles, the past three and a half years have been some of the best of my life and it’s because of you. You helped push me out of my disbarment depression and pull me back from my obsessive hyperfocus on the MASON project, and it’s because of you and this family we’ve built that I am where I am today. I love the family we’ve created so much that it makes my heart hurt. I love the warmth in your eyes when you’re baking muffins with Trucy and when you’re discussing books I’ve never read with Pearl. I love the way you blush when I surprise you with a kiss. I love the indignant affection on your face when I muss up your bangs. I love holding you on the back porch when we watch the sunset. I’ve loved you my entire life. Would you do me the honor of being my husband?”

Miles's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the ring and Phoenix. “Yes, I— oh, of course I will.”

Phoenix grinned so hard his cheeks hurt as he slid the ring on Miles’s finger and sat back in his chair to eat. His new fiancé ate in a sort of daze, not even noticing when Phoenix stole half of his fish and replaced it with his own. It was perhaps a strangely quiet engagement dinner but he supposed it was a lot to throw at Miles at one time and anyway, Phoenix was too busy smiling stupidly at his plate every time Miles's ring clinked against his fork to do much else. When they’d finished, Phoenix pushed the button on the wall and ordered a chocolate torte for them to share and finally Miles seemed to come back to himself.

"How did you know?”

“It was plain as the nose on your face when you were looking at the Sprocket wedding blimp.”

Miles snorted. “You really can read me like a book, it’s uncanny.”

The waiter brought out their dessert.

“Oh!” Phoenix said. “This reminds me, Trucy got her chocolate trick partly figured out thanks to a fondue fountain-maker we found.”

He told Miles all about Fontaine and in return, Miles told him about Pearl’s new internship.

“Where are the girls anyway?”

Phoenix checked his phone. “They’re at a Drag Karaoke night with Larry. Apparently, he’s living in the area now and making a living carving Chocolate Artistry.” He sent Trucy a thumbs up emoji.

“Larry does drag?”

“His new boyfriend does. Let’s go check it out and tell the girls the good news.”

Shamspeare’s Tavern was a riot of color, inside and out. Pearl suspected it was only called a “tavern” for the general Shakespeare theming as it definitely had more dance club vibes than a dimly-lit place where one would drink a pint of ale. For karaoke night, tables had been set out on what was probably the dance floor on other nights. The KJ, a drag queen known as Toxic Verdigris, was all in lime green and singing a ballad to kick things off.

Pearl and Trucy approached the bar and Pearl, both thirsty and impatient, looked over the décor while they waited for the bartender to take their order. A large sign over the liquor bottles was edged with pink LED lighting and said “This Above All: To Thine Own Self Be True” in cursive script and a matching one above the exit door said “Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow.” A number of other similarly lit signs in neon pinks, blues, and greens dotted the walls and bore such quips as “A Bear, A Bear, My Kingdom for a Bear!” and “Hell is Empty and All the Degenerates are Here”.

“Welcome to Shamspeare’s, shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

Pearl looked up at the bartender. “What?”

The blonde bartender, who was wearing an unfastened doublet that showed off his chest and abs, was unfazed. “May I take your order, good gentleladies?”

“I would give all my fame for a glass of soda,” said Trucy looking delighted and holding her phone with an open browser page of Shakespeare quotes surreptitiously under the bar.

The bartender chortled, “What a creative twist on the Bard, my lady.”

Pearl cleared her throat.

“And you, my dear Lady Disdain, what shall slake your thirst?”

“Sparkling water, please.”

The bartender handed them their drinks along with two coasters with “I am one who loved not wisely but too well” printed on them. They appeared to be advertising condoms.

They took their glasses to a six-top table and sat down, but no sooner had Pearl taken her first sip, a man with bright magenta hair approached.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the last remaining Gramarye.”

Pearl faintly remembered him from years prior when Uncle Nick and Mystic Maya had taken her to see a circus for Christmas.

“Max Galactica! It’s good to see you, how have you been?” asked Trucy with a smile.

He looked taken aback by her earnest response. “Oh. Well. The Big Berry Circus just finished our newest world tour last month, so we’re all taking a break until our next one starts.”

“I know,” said Trucy shaking a playful finger at him. “So why are you the only member who hasn’t RSVP’d to my graduation party?”

“As if I’d attend a function hosted by a Gramarye.”

“Is this about your Magician’s Grand Prix loss?”

“Loss?” he scoffed. “More like theft. The idea of the Zak and Valant Teleportation Trick being superior to my Formidable Flight of Fancy illusion is laughable to the point of farce.”

“For your information, I’m not a Gramarye anymore. I’m ditching the name and you don’t have any reason not to come to Magical Girl Trucy’s graduation party, right? I haven’t even competed in a Grand Prix, yet.”

“Well. No.” He looked a little grouchy and Pearl wondered if he’d been hoping for some sort of catty magician’s feud banter. “I suppose I don’t.”

“Great!” she said cheerfully. “I’ll see you there. Now then, has the Big Berry Circus ever played Saitama Super Arena? That’s the first show on my tour and I was hoping to get any advice you might have. What’s your rider like?”

Max blinked and then broke out into a grin. “Oh darling, we had a show there several years ago and you would not believe who we saw backstage. Picture this: me, looking absolutely marvelous, walking from my trap door exit up the stairs, when who should come along but K-Pop super sensation…”

Pearl idly rubbed her finger on the table on which “I’m the idiot full of sound and fury” had been carved and looked around the bar. A pair of very drunk lesbians giggled as they left the stage and Toxic Verdigris was applauding from behind the KJ stand from which hung a sign that naturally said “All the World is a Stage”. She thought she might never read Shakespeare again.

“Next up, our favorite duo of regulars, Claurice and Laurice singing “My Way” by Frank Sinatra!”

Claurice in a stunning red ballgown, elbow-length white gloves, and a wig of dark brown curls down to the small of her back, picked up one microphone and Laurice in a white single-breasted jacket with a lapel and bowtie of red sequins took the other. Their beards were curled identically. 

Halfway through their soaring harmony, Papa and Uncle Nick walked in and Pearl waved them over.

“He can sing, too?” Uncle Nick asked incredulously and went to the bar to get drinks.

“I hate this song,” Papa said grumpily as he sat next to Pearl who elbowed Trucy and they both looked at his left hand.

“You said yes!” they cried together.

His blush was visible in the dim light and he held it up for them to see. Pearl threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Trucy got up and did the same squealing, “I’m so happy for you!”.

“Congratulations!” said Max.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, Papa this is Max Galactica,” Trucy said, sitting back down in her chair. “He’s a famous magician and he’s played a bunch of the stadiums that are on my tour too, so he’s giving me tips.”

“Did I tell you that just down the street from PGE Narodowy is the best hole in the wall in Central Europe…” The two went back to looking at her list.

The duet finished and Pearl stood up to cheer along with the rest of the bar.

“If music be the food of love, play on!” cried the bartender with a sweep of his arm that Uncle Nick had to duck to avoid being clocked with the soda gun.

“Next up: Max Galactica,” said Toxic Verdigris from the stage. Max got up and Pearl caught him wink at Laurice as they passed each other. Judging by the look on her face, Claurice did as well. The pair sat down and sipped their drinks, Claurice fanning herself.

Uncle Nick came back, hands full of drinks for himself and Papa and refills for her and Trucy. “The bartender called me a foolish mortal or something. This place is weird.”

“Congratulations, Edgey!” Laurice shouted and leaned over the table to shake his hand.

Claurice lifted up her drink in a toast with a smile.

Introductions were made while Max performed every beat of choreography perfectly to whatever pop song he was singing. Trucy pulled a chair over when he finished so they could continue discussing music venues around the world. Papa and Uncle Nick couldn’t stop holding hands while Claurice and Larry appeared to be playing footsie under the table. Pearl observed all of them with a smile.

Laurice got up at some point and came back with five drinks for the two couples and Max.

“What are these?” asked Uncle Nick.

“Sea breeze!” Laurice took a sip of his and closed his eyes. “This place has the best cocktails.”

“Oh!” said Papa, sitting up with a start. “That reminds me; one of my daughters has good news!” He touched Pearl’s elbow. “Tell them!”

She grinned a little bashfully as the entire table turned to look at her. “I got selected for a paid internship with a marine veterinarian. I’m going to travel up and down the coast over the summer learning about marine biology!”

The table broke out in congratulations.

“That’s incredible, Pearls!” said Uncle Nick.

Papa wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tightly to him. “I’m so proud of you.”

Phoenix took a deep breath of the salty air as the four of them walked across the sand back to their little beach house.

“This turned out to be a pretty good vacation, I think,” he said, looking up at the stars. “We’ve got a summer internship, a magical world tour, and an engagement.”

He leaned over and pecked Miles on the cheek. His fiancé smiled as he wrapped an arm around Phoenix's shoulders, ring glittering in the moonlight. Phoenix pressed a soft kiss against that as well.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” asked Pearl.

“I want to go snorkeling with you,” said Trucy. “Since I wasn’t up for it the other day.”

“I could go for another day of reading on the beach,” said Miles.

“I saw a bunch of food trucks in that lot over on the other side of the main resort building, maybe we could do that for dinner. I bet Uncle Nick would love that.”

Phoenix smiled and listened to his family discuss their plans for the rest of the trip. He was just a tiny bit tipsy but he felt as though he was floating above the sand. The four of them were together, they were happy, and the love between them all in that moment was as tangible as the humid air. Yes, Phoenix Wright knew better than many that the things one cares about most could be gone in the blink of an eye, but it was moments like these that made it all worth it.