The Lionhearted Turnabout

'Please, daddy, I really want to go to the zoo,' Trucy whined.

'After you have cleaned up all of your magic props, I'll think about it,' Phoenix answered and switched the channel of the TV to the news. 'How come you want to go there so badly, Truce?' he then asked her after a while, when he watched her collecting all her magical instruments in the living room.

'I read in the newspaper that a baby giraffe was born in the Los Angeles Zoo last week. We talked about it at school and it seemed that... everyone in class has been at least to a zoo once , except me,' she answered while putting her magic panties in her box full of props.

'You mean... you have never been to a zoo before, Trucy?!' Phoenix's eyes widened. She nodded.

He sighed and knew what he had to do.

'Alright, we can go to that zoo next Saturday,' Phoenix said and gave his daughter a little smile.

'Really, daddy?!' Trucy ran to Phoenix and hugged him so tightly that he almost could not breathe. He gently pushed her away after returning the hug.

'I am surprised you have never been to a zoo to see the animals.'

'I am really looking forward to it, daddy!'

'That's good to hear, sweetheart,' he answered and put her hair behind her ear.

'Daddy?'

'Hm? What is it?'

'Can I ask uncle Miles to come with us to the zoo?' she asked him. This question surprised him and it took a while for him to answer.

'S-sure,' Phoenix stuttered and continued. 'I am not sure if he will come, but you can ask, of course.'

'Can I have your phone then, daddy?' she asked him, a smile still present on her little face.

'Y-yes,' he replied and got his mobile phone from the pocket of his sweatpants.

'I'll just look if the washing machine is done,' the spikey-haired man said and vanished from the living room.

Trucy scrolled through her father's contact list, but when she clicked on the speed dial button, she already found the number she was looking for on the top of the list. She then pushed the call button.

The phone rang three times before the person answered.

'Good afternoon, Wright,' the prosecutor said when picking up the phone.

'Uncle Miles! It's me! Trucy!' the girl giggled.

'T-Trucy? Err.. Hello. How are you doing?' he asked her with surprise and slightly unease.

'I am fine! Daddy said he will take me to the zoo next Saturday!' the little magician replied enthusiastically.

'Err.. that sounds nice. I hope the weather will be good that day,' he continued, not really knowing how to keep this conversation going. However, Trucy knew how.

'Uncle Miles, would you like to come to the zoo too?'

'... Y-you mean to say…me coming with you?' he asked.

'Yes! Together with daddy and me! Please! I have never been to the zoo!'

'Trucy... I am very busy-'

'Please, uncle Miles?' she interrupted.

He sighed, she could clearly hear him making up his mind.

'You'll enjoy it too!' Trucy then added.

'Alright, Trucy. But I cannot join for too long. Ok?' he then replied. He knew he could not refuse her. Miles did not want to disappoint the little girl, nor make her sad. She was a cute and lovely nine-year-old. He realized that his friend's daughter had both men wrapped around her little finger.

'Yes! I understand, thank you soooo much, uncle Miles! I reaaaally look forward to it!'

'Let your father send me the time and address of the zoo,' he then said, smiling a bit when he heard her squealing at the other end.

'Yes, I will! See you next Saturday!'

'Y-yes, till then, Trucy.'

She hang up first, but before doing so, Miles was certain he heard her yelling: 'Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Miles said yes!'

He continued typing the report on his laptop and noticed that his lips were still formed in a smile after finishing it.

'That must be uncle Miles!' Trucy hopped off the couch and ran towards the door of the office when the sound of a car door was heard downstairs.

'Ho ho there, calm down,' Phoenix warned, getting his backpack with some snacks from the dinner table.

'We are going to ride in uncle Miles' car!' she sang and waited in the open doorway for her favorite uncle to appear on the second floor.

'Uncle Miles!' Trucy exclaimed when Phoenix crouched down to help her into her jacket.

'Good morning, you two,' Miles said when he approached them and gave Trucy a smile.

'Hello uncle Miles!' she waved at him eagerly, causing Phoenix to almost fall owing to his current position.

'Trucy, please hold still,' Phoenix kept saying and eventually managed to get both Trucy's arms in the sleeves and the zipper closed.++

He then turned around with a soft sigh and then a laugh.

'Good morning, Edgeworth.' Phoenix saw a little smirk on Miles's face.

'Are you ready to go?' the prosecutor then asked.

'Yes, just let me lock the agency,' the spikey-haired man replied and he saw Trucy skipping towards the stairs in the corner of his eye.

'Thank you for picking us up,' Phoenix said when they finally sat in the car with an energetic child in the back seat.

'It is no nuisance, really,' Edgeworth spoke as he started the engine.

The drive took an hour, in which many things happened. First, Trucy named all the animals she was expecting to see, then they had a little traffic jam, then there was a road construction and when they finally arrived at the highway and Miles could speed up with his vehicle, the impressed Phoenix began asking Miles thousands of questions about his red fast sports car. Not that Miles minded, cars were one of his biggest interests.

After finding a spot at the parking area, the two men walked towards the entrance with a skipping Trucy ahead.

'Let me pay for the tickets,' Miles said when they stood behind the last person in queue.

'No, no, we- Trucy invited you. Also, you have given us a ride, so no.'

'But-'

'No.'

'If you insist,' Miles sighed.

'I insist.'

Miles put his hand on Trucy's shoulder tightly in order for her not to run away in excitement when Phoenix paid for the tickets.

'Alright, where are we headed first?' Phoenix asked while he studied the map of the zoo he just received.

'Shall we just follow the route?' Miles suggested and pointed at the arrows.

'Alright, seems a good plan. What do you think, Truce?' Phoenix asked.

After receiving no reply he looked up and saw Miles looking around as well. 'Trucy?'

Phoenix then spotted a pink cape a few meters away at the beginning of the route.

'Trucy!' Phoenix's loud voice sounded. Trucy turned around and returned to her father and her 'uncle'.

'Trucy, listen. Stay with Edgeworth and me. I don't want you running around and eventually getting lost somewhere. Ok?!' Phoenix strictly said and he got a nod in reply.

'Yes, daddy.'

'Good, come give me your hand. I believe we will first see the apes.'

Miles watched the scene in front of him and followed the Wright family. He was actually agreeing with the way he handled Trucy.

'Uncle Miles?' Trucy asked him while the three walked together, Trucy's hand in her father's as they travelled to the big cages with apes.

'Yes, Trucy?' Miles replied in surprise, wondering what she wanted to ask him.

'When was the last time you went to the zoo?'

Miles thought while still walking down the path.

'That must have been when I was around eight years old.'

'That is so long ago! 'What about you, daddy?' she turned her head towards the other man.

'Hm... the last time?' I believe I went with Pearl and Maya some years ago,' Phoenix spoke.

'Oh the apes!' Trucy ran and dragged her father, whose hand was still in hers, with her.

'Trucy, slow down!' He managed to say and she stopped in front of the cages.

Slowly, Miles walked towards them and read the little signs at the cage which explained the information about the sort of apes present.

'Oh! See that one, daddy!' Trucy squealed and pointed at the certain ape which was running around.

Phoenix laughed saw Miles glancing at them with a soft smile.

'A little distraction from work is also nice, don't you think, Edgeworth?' He asked him. Now Miles' smile turned into a little smirk.

'I suppose you are right,' he answered and watched an ape hanging in one of the trees.

Phoenix glanced at him in satisfaction until he was dragged to the next animal on the route.

'Daddy, daddy! It's the giraffes!' Trucy almost yelled and then turned to Miles.

'There was a baby giraffe born two weeks ago,' she seriously stated.

'Was there?' Miles asked her and saw how Phoenix let go of Trucy's hand and instead guided her with his hands on her shoulders.

'Yes! They have named her Kirin!'

'Kirin? As in Japanese for giraffe?' Miles snorted.

'Does that mean giraffe in Japanese? That is so cool!' she ran in front of the fence of the big giraffe shelter and looked for the baby. The two men followed.

'I didn't know you speak Japanese,' Phoenix commented.

'Just the basics. It is quite difficult and different from the languages we are used to,' Miles replied.

'So, what's your favorite animal?' he then asked.

'Wright... are you really asking me that question? If Trucy asked it, okay, but-'

'Just answer it-,' Phoenix interrupted and looked on the zoo's map again. '-so we won't forget to see them,' he finished his sentence. Miles gave a sigh in defeat.

'Fine, I enjoy the aquariums,' he answered.

'Oh! Yeah! Especially the sharks,' Phoenix replied with enthusiasm.

'There is Kirin!' Trucy shouted, pointing at the right side of the outside giraffe residence with her little index finger. The ex-lawyer and prosecutor looked up from the map, glancing at the direction in which the girl pointed.

'That is indeed a little one,' Phoenix said.

'Daddy, can I take a picture?' she asked him, already with her hand out to receive the camera. Phoenix grinned.

'Sure, sweetheart.' He sat down and opened his bag to look for the camera. Miles stood in front of the big fences.

He gave his daughter the camera, after warning her to be careful a few times. He then stood next to Miles again, and they wayched the giraffes eating leaves from the tall trees.

'Daddy! Uncle Miles! Look here!'

Surprised, both men looked Trucy's way, hearing the camera making a snap! sound. The little magician giggled.

Phoenix then laughed, shaking his head. Miles snickered.

'I am sure we look extremely shocked in that photo, Wright.'

Next, they travelled to the aquariums of the zoo. They walked through the special tunnel as the fish and sharks swam over their heads and beside them behind the glass.

'These sharks are scary!' Trucy said and followed closely how one swam over Miles.

'What if it all suddenly bursts and they eat us?' she asked. Miles could only hold back his laugh and answered the question seriously to calm her down.

'It is very thick glass, Trucy. It will definitely not burst.' She nodded, but nonetheless slid her hand in her father's.

'I think you might prefer the dolphins over there?' Miles then said and pointed at another big aquarium when they entered another hall.

'They are so pretty!' She immediately forgot about her fear of a minute ago and skipped towards the enormous water tank.

'Daddy can you lift me?' Trucy asked him. She could just look over a little wall, but did not see everything.

With a little trouble, Phoenix lifted her and Miles watched the two.

'Wait, is that another looking fish in the dolphin tank?' Trucy commented. 'It looks like the dolphin there wants to eat him. He is following that small fish everywhere.'

'Hmm, yes, that dolphin looks quite fishy, don't you think?' Phoenix laughed at his own pun. Miles could only let out a snort.

'Please, Wright,' he warned and gave him a glance. Phoenix laughed and looked back at the water tank, while still holding his precious princess.

'Daddy, I am hungry.'

'Would you like to eat in the restaurant?' Miles proposed when they walked out the 'underwater world'.

'I have fruit with me, though,' Phoenix interrupted. 'And eating with Trucy in a restaurant can take a lot of time.'

'Daddy!' Trucy pouted.

'My work can wait and I am wondering if they have sandwiches.'

'Shall we take a look, uncle Miles?' Trucy grinned.

'Edgeworth,' Phoenix growled and pretended to be irritated.

Miles looked at him with a face that said: 'Sorry, Wright, but I am siding with your daughter' and followed Trucy to the restaurant.

'What would you like, Trucy?'

'Can I have this muffin, please?' she pointed at the vanilla muffin.

'Yes, but put it on a little plate. And which drink?'

'This one!'

Miles put the apple juice next to the muffin.

'What about you, Wright?'

'Hm... I will get this sandwich with some coffee.'

'Alright,' Miles answered, put a cup of tea and a different kind of sandwich on the tray as well, and walked to the register.

As Phoenix had predicted, the whole eating session took a total of an whole hour as Trucy was chatting away about Kirin and the dolphins.

Miles listened carefully and asked her some questions which gave Phoenix the opportunity to get out his camera again and look at the taken pictures.

Trucy had taken the most and many of them were blurred but the with Kirin the baby giraffe was a good one. He was sure she wanted him print it in order to hang it next to her bed.

Then, he came across the one Trucy had suddenly taken from him and Miles. Miles looked slightly surprised, just like him. It was a funny picture, the two of them at the zoo with the giraffes in the background.

He then got an idea. Slowly, he brought the camera up in the direction of the two others at the table. Unfortunately for Phoenix, Miles noticed instantly.

'Wright, I am eating.'

'So I see, Trucy is as well. Trucy, say cheese!'

Trucy immediately smiled and made a little V-sign with her fingers. Miles sighed, put his fork and knife down and looked at the lens of the camera.

'Smile Edgeworth!'

'Wright! Now take the picture or I'll leave!'

Phoenix snickered and took the picture, quite satisfied with the result. Miles watched his smile with an annoyed face and continued eating his sandwich.

After finishing the food, they visited the lions, hippos, elephants and many other animals and Trucy even went down the slide a couple of times in the children's park.

'I think we have seen everything,' Phoenix commented. Miles glanced at the two Wrights.

He realized he enjoyed the day with the Wrights. It had been awkward when Trucy asked him to join. Nonetheless, he just went, ignoring all uneasy feelings and bravely came to the zoo. Now, afterwards, he can say he liked being around them.

Seeing the little girl happily strolling around the zoo and pointing at the baby giraffe with enthusiasm caused him to smile. It were those little things that made him realize that even the smallest things mattered. He had no regret of coming to the zoo together with the Wrights.

'Shall we go home then?' Phoenix asked him, after receiving no answer.

Miles and a tired Trucy nodded in unison.

'Alright, let's go,' Miles said and walked towards the exit. Suddenly he felt a little hand into his and immediately looked next to him, finding Trucy holding his bigger hand firmly.

'Thank you for coming, uncle Miles. I really enjoyed today.' He watched her with big eyes, focusing mainly on that little hand in his. Then, he changed his posture again.

'It was quite nice today, wasn't it? I am glad you enjoyed it, and so did I,' he replied and smiled at her. She gave a warm smile back and the two walked towards the parking area, not even noticing the sound of the Phoenix's camera when they exited the zoo hand-in-hand.

-END-

A/N

Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think about it! ^^