Chapter Text
Over the next few weeks, Phoenix and Edgeworth carried out their relationship in secret, glad to avoid prying eyes. After the shenanigans of the past few months, they just wanted a little bit of privacy.
As luck would have it, the people around them were so busy with the holiday season that they managed to have a couple of weeks to themselves. That is, until the night of the party.
Edgeworth had been pressured into hosting a party for the holidays. As chief prosecutor it was good publicity to play host, and it had been years since he’d opened his home to such an event. And, well, it didn’t hurt that he’d been feeling a little sentimental lately.
A line of staff members politely brushed their way past Phoenix and Trucy as they approached the front door, which had been decorated with a simple wreath and a few strings of small white lights. They were the first guests to arrive, so they followed the stream of workers inside and gazed around the foyer. The holiday décor was clean and elegant: boughs of fir woven through the railings of the stairs, gold and silver candles placed throughout the house, a brass statue of a deer on the central table. And Edgeworth was standing in the middle of it, wearing a black tuxedo with burgundy accents, flipping through a notebook while a woman in a trim white suit talked at him rapidly.
He glanced up and did a double take. Trucy waved and he smiled at her warmly, ignoring the woman in white and walking over to them.
“Good evening,” he said with a bow. “You’re looking lovely as ever, Ms. Wright.” Trucy wasted no time in throwing her arms around his waist. He staggered a bit, but hugged her back.
“Here,” she said, taking a silver wrapped box out of Phoenix’s hands. “This is for you.”
“Thank you so much,” he said. “I’ll put it with the others. I believe I gave your present to your father.”
“Yeah, it’s under our tree already,” she said with a grin.
“But this is for tonight,” Phoenix said, handing Edgeworth a thin, festive bag. Edgeworth pulled the wine bottle out and examined the label briefly before looking back at Phoenix, impressed.
“Very nice,” he said, “I’ll have it put in the back room.” He handed the bottle off to someone just as another staff member approached him with a question. “Pardon me, we’re still setting up,” he said to Trucy and Phoenix.
“No problem,” Phoenix said. “We’ll look around. You do your thing.”
Phoenix and Trucy chatted while they walked through the house, dodging caterers and workers in starched uniforms carrying bundles of linens. When they got back to the foyer, Edgeworth was trying to talk to several people at once.
“I’m gonna go find Pess!” Trucy said.
“Have fun,” Phoenix said as she disappeared down the hallway.
For a while Phoenix just stood there, leaning against the railing, watching as Edgeworth handed down instructions.
When the crowd dispersed and went about their respective tasks, Edgeworth finally noticed Phoenix.
“And what are you looking at?” Edgeworth asked.
Phoenix slinked over to him. “Oh, just my boyfriend. Being handsome. Giving orders. Handsomely.”
He snuck his hands around Edgeworth’s waist and pulled him in close. Edgeworth’s notebook fell to the carpet.
“Phoenix,” Edgeworth said softly, drawing their foreheads together.
Phoenix kissed the tip of his nose and nuzzled the crook of his neck, placing a small kiss against a freckle at the back of his jaw. “Miles,” he whispered slyly.
“Pess!” Trucy exclaimed from the hallway.
They broke apart abruptly, just as Trucy chased Pess into the room. Pess tried to jump against Phoenix’s legs, but a stern scolding from Edgeworth froze her in her tracks. She sat down and stared at them, her tongue lolling happily out of her mouth.
Phoenix scratched her behind the ears and Trucy kneeled on the floor, petting her back in smooth strokes.
Moments later, the front door rang. Pess gave a few short barks and leapt up. Edgeworth sighed.
“Phoenix, can you put her in the spare bedroom upstairs? I’m afraid she can’t be out during the party.”
“Sure,” Phoenix said, tucking his fingers under her collar and leading her towards the stairs.
“And make sure she has fresh water,” Edgeworth called after him.
“Yes dear,” Phoenix said.
Little by little, visitors started to trickle in. By the time everything was set up the house was packed with guests eating and mingling. The Agency was huddled in the corner, doing their best to figure out who all the most prestigious guests were. They were pretty sure that some of them were fairly high up in the government.
Phoenix wandered around and found Edgeworth chatting with an officer. He waited until they were done and then swooped in for a little gossip with his boyfriend. He managed to sneak his hand around Edgeworth’s and squeeze it surreptitiously, out of sight of the rest of the party. Or so he thought.
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” came an unfamiliar voice.
Phoenix looked over his shoulder. Standing behind them was a young woman with a tall black ponytail, wearing a maroon dress covered in glittering sequins and a slit up to the knee.
“Oh my goodness,” Edgeworth whispered.
The woman looked Edgeworth up and down and then broke out into a huge grin and ran to him. They hugged and Edgeworth let out a breathless laugh.
“Ms. Faraday, it’s been ages,” Edgeworth said.
She fixed him with a glowing grin. “God, it has, hasn’t it. Look at you, mister big shot Chief.” She turned to Phoenix. “And look at this.”
Edgeworth smiled and gestured between them. “Kay, this is Phoenix Wright, attorney at law. Phoenix, this is Kay Faraday, an old friend.” He leaned in closer. “She works for the FBI.”
Phoenix gave an impressed whistle. Kay wagged her finger.
“Not ‘for’, ‘with’. I work with the FBI. Sometimes.”
“Either way, it must be exciting.” Phoenix shook her hand. “Good to meet you, Ms. Faraday.”
“Please, call me Kay.” She stood back and scrutinized him so intensely that he started to sweat. Finally, she smiled at him. “After all this time, I can’t believe your name is really Phoenix. I was seriously starting to think your name was ‘that man’.”
Phoenix blinked. “What is she talking about?” he whispered to Edgeworth.
Edgeworth blushed to his ears. “Nothing, dear. Would you get me some punch?”
Phoenix looked back and forth at the two of them. Kay giggled. “Uh, sure.”
He made his way to the punch bowl and took his time browsing the refreshments while Edgeworth and Kay caught up.
When he came back Kay was laughing and Edgeworth was trying to hide a smile. Phoenix handed him the punch and Edgeworth gave him a sweet, gentle look that shot right to his heart.
They chatted with Kay a while longer until she informed them that she had some “work” to do and wandered off towards a group of important-looking men.
Phoenix gave Edgeworth a significant look. “I think that might be our cue.” He squeezed Edgeworth’s hand and Edgeworth squeezed back.
Their friends were gorging themselves on hors d'oeuvres when Phoenix approached and coughed to get their attention. He and Edgeworth stood side by side, arms linked, as they waited for their friends to quiet down.
“Thanks everyone,” he said, raising his voice. “I’ll try to keep this short. There’s something that we wanted to say while you’re all here, and I feel like the time is right.” He looked at Edgeworth, who nodded back at him and slid his hand around Phoenix’s waist. “We’re, uh,” he mumbled, looking down at where their hips met, and back at their friends. “Well, we’re together.”
Their revelation was met with cold stares.
“I mean, we’re dating.” Phoenix took Edgeworth’s hand and held it up. “Like, really dating.”
No one said anything. Trucy clutched her arms around her chest and looked down at the ground. Phoenix sighed.
“Look, I’ll admit it. We were pretending to date for a while. It was my idea and I take full responsibility for that. I was upset that people were trying to interfere with our lives and it was like, a joke but not a joke, but then it…” he looked over at Edgeworth. “It turned into something else. I know it happened in the most backwards way possible. And I’m sorry we tried to trick you but, well, now it’s real. And we wanted you all to know.”
To their surprise, Simon was the first to walk up to them. He leveled them with a dark look and then smirked. “Congratulations,” he said, shaking their hands in turn. Phoenix nodded, somewhat baffled, and Edgeworth smiled in thanks.
“So it’s…it’s really true?” Trucy asked, her eyes wide with hope.
“Yes, Truce. It’s not a trick. I’m dating Mr. Edgeworth,” Phoenix said.
She sniffled, small pinpricks of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. A second later she launched herself at them, hugging them both around the middle.
“Does that mean you’ll come over for dinner every week?” Trucy asked, grasping Edgeworth’s shoulder.
Edgeworth laughed. “I’ll do my best, Trucy. And you’re welcome to come over and use my kitchen whenever you’d like,” he added. She squealed and hugged him again.
Klavier stepped forward, his hand already extended, when Apollo put his arm out to stop him.
“You really believe this?” he said with a scoff.
“Apollo,” Phoenix said softly.
“Why should I trust anything you say?” he spat out viciously. Phoenix was taken aback.
“Apollo, I’m sorry I tried to deceive you. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Apollo said slowly. “Which is why I have to question this sudden change of heart you’ve had. Why should any of us listen to a word you say?”
Phoenix put his hands up. “Look, Apollo, I-”
Apollo approached Phoenix, pointing his finger in his face. “If you’ve been lying all this time, why should we believe you’re telling the truth now? What else have you been lying about?” His voice cracked and suddenly he was yelling. “Why should I believe you?!”
“Because I love him!” Phoenix shouted.
Silence fell across the entire hall.
Phoenix stammered and took a step backwards. He saw the wide-eyed look of surprise on Edgeworth’s face and swallowed thickly. Without another word he turned and pushed his way through the clear bay doors to the back of the house. Out of sight of the rest of the party, he started running until he saw the garden, his heart pounding heavy in his chest.
Edgeworth walked through the entrance of the garden, a nervous crease in his brow. It wasn’t long before he saw Phoenix stretched across a stone bench, lying on his back and staring up at the stars, his fingers forming a pointed triangle over his lips. The moon shone brightly across plots of delicate flowers and polished stone. At the sound of footsteps, Phoenix glanced up at him, and then back at the sky.
“May I sit here?” Edgeworth said.
Phoenix slowly, silently sat up and moved over.
They sat on the bench quietly for a few minutes. Edgeworth studied his hands in his lap and Phoenix rested his palms on the back of the bench, looking up again at the inky blackness of the sky.
Finally, Edgeworth broke the peace.
“So, you love me?” he asked, keeping his voice casual.
“Hm? What?” Phoenix said nonchalantly. “Oh, I thought you were gonna ask where I got this amazing tie.” He gripped his blue silk tie in his hands. “The answer is: I forget. Probably at the mall.”
“Ah,” Edgeworth said with a small smile. “I only asked because I was going to say that I love you too. If it turned out I misheard you before, well, that would just be awkward for both of us.”
“Sure would,” Phoenix said, his voice thick.
Edgeworth leaned in, his lips brushing Phoenix’s ear. “I love you, Phoenix Wright. I love your earnest eyes and your crooked eyebrows and your kind heart. I love you, I love you, god, I love you.”
Phoenix turned to look at Edgeworth. He reached out and held Edgeworth’s jaw, and slowly brought their lips together. The kiss was searing and slow, and when they pulled apart, Edgeworth was laughing.
“Hm?” Phoenix said, a dreamy look in his eyes.
“You ran into a moonlit garden after declaring your love for me in front of the whole of the LA legal system. I was just wondering what sort of clichéd fairytale world you live in.”
Phoenix smiled at him with moony eyes. “The one where I get my prince.”
Edgeworth rolled his eyes but kissed Phoenix on the cheek. “I suppose you’ll do.”
Phoenix chewed his lip and looked down bashfully. “Sorry for making your love life into a public spectacle. Again.”
“Ah, well. If I’d wanted a quiet life I would have become a librarian.”
“Hmmm.” Phoenix’s eyes started to glaze over. “A sexy librarian,” he whispered.
Edgeworth snorted and Phoenix planted his face against Edgeworth’s shoulder with a grin. He stayed like that for a few minutes, pressed into Edgeworth, just enjoying their warmth against the chill of the night.
“You know, I’ve been thinking…” Phoenix started.
“Oh no,” Edgeworth said.
Phoenix shot him a look. “I was thinking about when our anniversary should be.”
Edgeworth raised an eyebrow.
Phoenix tapped his finger against the bench. “Look, we had a fake first kiss, a real first kiss, a fake first date, a real first date…it’s confusing, right? Which date’s gonna be the official one?”
Edgeworth looked to the ground in thought. “I suppose that would depend…”
“On what?”
“Which one was our real first kiss, exactly?”
Phoenix rubbed his neck. “Well, you know. A few weeks ago. The one after we cleared everything up.”
“Is that so,” Edgeworth murmured.
“Huh?” Phoenix said.
Edgeworth turned to him with piercing eyes. Phoenix gulped. “And what exactly made those previous kisses ‘fake’?”
“Um…well, the intentions behind them, I guess.”
Edgeworth nodded solemnly and crossed his arms. “How interesting.”
“Interesting?” Phoenix said, a line of worry etched over his eyes.
“So what you’re saying is that the motive behind those kisses made them fake.”
Phoenix rubbed his neck. “Well, yeah.”
“And your motive was…?”
Phoenix blinked. “To make our story more convincing?”
“Even after you knew our plan had been discovered?” A sly smile started to play on Edgeworth’s lips.
“I don’t…” Phoenix started to blush. “Look, what are you trying to say?”
Edgeworth leaned back a bit, his hands on the stone seat. “You know, at the time, it was easy to convince myself that there was nothing more to your behavior than acting.” He glanced at Phoenix. “Very good acting.”
Phoenix breathed in sharply. Edgeworth moved a little closer to him.
“But now, I’m not so sure.”
Shuddering under Edgeworth’s intense gaze, Phoenix looked away.
“What I’m saying is that your excuses don’t hold up under scrutiny.” He pushed his glasses up with two fingers. “In fact, the more I think about it, every single one of the incidents in question seems a bit…suspect.”
Edgeworth took hold of Phoenix’s chin and turned it towards him gently.
“So, tell me again. What exactly were your motives, Mr. Wright?” Edgeworth drew closer, their lips just brushing as he whispered. “What makes a kiss real?”
Suddenly, a nearby bush shook and they jolted apart, Phoenix clutching his chest dramatically.
“Um,” a small voice said from the garden entrance. They both looked over to see Trucy standing there in the darkness.
When the surprise wore off and he could breathe again, Phoenix let go of the fistful of fabric in his hand and waved her over. He made room for her to sit between them.
“Thanks, daddy,” she said. She pulled him down so she could hug him around the shoulders. “Sorry about Polly. He’s still acting kind of weird in there.”
“He has a good reason for it,” Phoenix said.
“I guess…” Trucy replied. A pang of guilt shot through Phoenix’s heart.
Edgeworth sighed and shook his head. “Perhaps we should go inside and talk with him.”
“Okay. Sorry for, um, interrupting,” Trucy said with a blush.
“Don’t worry about it,” Edgeworth said softly. After a second of hesitation, he leaned down and kissed Trucy on the forehead. She blinked up at him, her mouth open in surprise, and then grinned wide.
Phoenix let out an astonished laugh, his heart still racing, and they walked through the gardens and back to the house.
Apollo was leaning against the back wall while Athena and Klavier spoke softly on either side of him. Phoenix was surprised that Apollo had decided to stick around at all, but he knew that there was too much still left unsaid. He waved to them. Athena and Klavier smiled and nodded, but Apollo just turned his head, impassive.
Phoenix walked right up to them and stopped, fiddling with a button on his waistcoat. “Apollo, I-”
“I know about Lamiroir.”
Phoenix froze.
“How did you-”
“A couple of months ago her name came up during a meeting. And my bracelet reacted. To you.”
Phoenix just gaped, caught and floundering. “Apollo…”
“So I decided to dig up the old case files.” Apollo rubbed his forehead, scrubbed his hand over his eyes. “Some basic research brought up her bracelet and, well, it was easy to piece together from there.”
For a moment, Phoenix was silent. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked finally.
Apollo hugged his arms tight to his chest. “I figured, if she still has amnesia, she probably won’t appreciate some random guy claiming he’s her son. And if she really is recovered, she must not want anything to do with her old life. With me.” He clutched his arms. “All my life I’ve done alright for myself without a family. I don’t need one now.”
Athena rubbed his arm and Klavier studied him closely, a complex net of emotions running across his face.
“It’s not like that, Apollo,” Phoenix said gently. “She wasn’t in the right place for…I mean, she was rebuilding her life. It’s a messy situation and she didn’t want to drag you into that.” Phoenix sighed. “And she was ashamed when she remembered what she’d done and…well, let’s just say she didn’t think she was worth interrupting your life. She gave me license to tell you when I thought you were ready, and I agreed with her. At the time.”
Apollo was shaking, digging his feet against the marble floor.
“I was wrong,” Phoenix said. Apollo looked up at him, lips parted. “You’re a grown man. You should decide what’s best for you. And really, adult or not, you deserved to be part of that decision. I messed up, and I’m sorry.”
Apollo swallowed and looked down at the floor, his fists clenched against the back wall.
Klavier took Apollo’s hand and lifted it up. “The bracelet. It’s the same.” He touched Apollo’s wrist. “I had no idea,” Klavier whispered, gently holding Apollo’s arm. Apollo looked up into his eyes and Athena backed away to give them some space.
Edgeworth came up behind Phoenix and squeezed his hand. He gave Phoenix a significant look.
“Is – ah – is that all you found out?” Phoenix asked.
Apollo looked over at him and narrowed his eyes. “All?” he breathed in a harsh whisper.
Phoenix shuffled his feet. “I think we should discuss this in private, if you don’t mind coming back home with me.”
Apollo nodded slowly.
Edgeworth nudged him in the side.
“There’s someone else who needs to be part of this conversation too,” Phoenix said.
Apollo squinted at him but no explanation was offered.
Later that night, with apologies from Edgeworth that he couldn’t be there for support, Phoenix, Trucy and Apollo left the party early, sat down in the small living room of the Wright household and had a long, painful talk.
Trucy refused to speak to Phoenix for a week. For so long it had been her and her father against the world, and now she couldn’t even look at him.
On the upside, she and Apollo got in some quality sibling-bonding time over their mutual anger.
When she needed to say something to her father, she spoke through Athena or Edgeworth via a complicated series of calls and texts. Edgeworth put up with it, fielding both Trucy’s communications and Phoenix’s parental pain. Edgeworth allowed it to go on for longer than they would have thought, until finally he came over to their apartment himself and forced them to sit down and talk it out.
With Edgeworth there, Trucy finally relented.
He coaxed her out of her room and sat them all down so she could talk about her feelings openly. She finally let out her anger, her sadness, the pain and betrayal, and by the time she was done, the tension in her brow had slipped away and she was sinking into her father’s arms. He held her for a long time, eyes watery, while Edgeworth rubbed her back. She finally pulled herself away and sat down between them.
“Don’t think this means you’re off the hook, dad,” she said, rubbing her eyes.
“I know,” he said.
“You can’t keep treating me like a child forever.”
He leaned back against the cushions. “I know, I know. I’ll do better from here on out. I promise.”
“So Polly can come over for family dinners too, right?” she said.
“Apollo can come here any time he wants,” Phoenix answered.
She nodded, the smile slowly returning to her face. “Hey…” she said, her smile growing wider, “I know how you can start making it up to me.”
“Oh yeah?” Phoenix asked warily.
“Well, since I have a big brother,” she said slyly, “you could get me a baby sister.”
Phoenix stared at her dumbfounded for a moment. “Okay, I know I’m in the doghouse,” he said, waving his arms, “and I deserve that, I know. I absolutely do. But that doesn’t mean you’re in a position to negotiate those sorts of demands.”
“But daddy,” she whined, clearly enjoying making him squirm.
“Besides, I’m a full time attorney running a law office. And Miles is chief prosecutor, so there’s no way we’d be able to balance that. Right?” he rambled on quickly, nodding to Edgeworth.
“Huh?” Edgeworth said, spaced out. “R-right. Nonsense.” He stared up at the corner of the ceiling, biting his thumb softly. “A baby…” he said under his breath. He started to fiddle with his ring finger.
Phoenix gaped at him. He turned to Trucy. “You see what you’ve done?” he said, pointing at the distant look on Edgeworth’s face.
Trucy laughed out loud for the first time in days. “I was joking, daddy.”
“Well anyways, we would have to be living together before we could even consider more kids,” he said, crossing his arms.
Edgeworth looked into his eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Phoenix asked. “O-okay?” His mouth fell open again. “Like, okay okay, or…”
Trucy raised her eyebrows. With a huge grin on her face, she got up from her seat, came around to the back of the couch and squeezed their shoulders.
“Seems like you guys have a lot to talk about. I’ll leave you two alone.”
They didn’t reply, still staring at each other, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.
She walked back to her room and with a small laugh, she shut the door behind her.
The End