Disclaimer: I do not own the Ace Attorney Series or any of its characters. All elements belong to Capcom.

Notes: I know it might be a little late for a Christmas story, but it just came to me and I really wanted to write it and post it. I think this contains what is considered 'Fluff', but since I'm not entirely clear as to the definition of the term I'm not exactly sure. A bit of a long oneshot, but it wouldn't have worked broken into chapters. Review if you feel like it.

Perfect Gifts

"Geez Nick, it's Christmas Eve, I think its time to stop." Maya said in her usual tone standing over him as he toiled away at his desk. Phoenix, declining to look up from his paperwork, simply smiled to himself, not having the heart to tell her that he would have been done long ago, if it weren't for the racket coming from the nearby television, that had been going non stop with cartoon Christmas specials for the last week. "Nick, you listening to me?!" Phoenix sighed and dropped his pen.

"I would think my Assistant would have a better understanding of just how much work I have to do." He said teasingly folding his hands beneath his chin.

"Tch. Nick, how much work could you possibly have, we haven't had a case in three weeks, you know." She retorted, crossing her arms. She did have him there.

"Well, doesn't matter now, because I just finished, alright?"

"Yippee!!" Maya exclaimed and jumped into the air with her arms high. "You know Nick, we should have an Office party, like the ones they have on tv." She suggested in excitement. Phoenix sighed again.

"I already told you Maya, there's no point in having an office party when its just the two of us..."

"Hey, what about me Mr. Nick!" Came a small voice from next to Maya. Two large brown eyes peered up at him form the edge of his desk.

"Sorry Pearls, the three of us." He chuckled.

"It doesn't have to be just us, I mean we could invite Gumshoe and Maggey, and Edgeworth and Franziska, and Larry, everyone." Maya said.

"True, but you realise that it's already Christmas Eve and a party takes time to plan."

"Oh, yeah." She muttered. "But..." She didn't finish what she was going to say, knowing that she had lost. Phoenix stood and went into the living room, patting Pearl on the head as he went.

"All ready for Santa Clause Pearls?" He asked. The girl nodded excitedly.

"Yeah Mr. Nick, I was really good all year long."

"I know." He smiled. "You know Pearls, I was talking to Santa not too long ago." He said as he sat on the couch.

"Really Mr. Nick!" She said in amazement. Getting up on the couch with him.

"Yeah, he asked me if you were as good all year as he's heard."

"What did you tell him?"

"Told him the truth, that you're the best little girl in the world and that you've helped me a lot." Phoenix smiled again. "He told me he's got something extra special for you tomorrow."

"Really, thanks Mr. Nick." She gave him a small hug. Phoenix looked over at Maya, who was giving him a warm smile. She nodded at him and he returned the gesture.

"Sooo, Nick, what do you have for me?" Maya asked slyly, as she moved to stand behind the couch.

"Not telling, you're just going to have to wait." He replied.

"Oh, I bet I know. It's an Engagement ring isn't it Mr. Nick?" Pearl said. "You're gonna ask Mystic Maya to marry you!!" She gushed, bouncing up and down on the couch cushions. Maya blushed, Phoenix sighed once more. He did a lot of that.

"No, it's not an engagement ring Pearls." Pearl instantly settled down, a look of disappointment on her face. Phoenix shifted to look up at Maya. "But it is something you're really going to like." Maya's blush faded.

"Well, I've got to know now!" She shouted.

"Sorry." Maya looked at Phoenix, then down to Pearl, and then back to Phoenix and a truly evil smile appeared on her lips.

"Come on Nick." She whined and draped her arms loosely around his neck from behind. "You really shouldn't keep secrets from your special someone." She teased.

"Maya!"

"Yeah, Mr. Nick, keeping stuff from your special someone is just-just mean." Pearl joined in, taking her cousin's bait. She, however, unlike Maya, was serious.

"So come on lover, tell me what you got me." Phoenix just chuckled to himself before gently taking hold of Maya's wrists and removing her arms from around him.

"This is pathetic." He chuckled. He leaned back on the back of the couch and looked up at her. Her hair was falling down on his face form the position she had been in and he had to keep from getting it in his mouth as he spoke. "Maya, you're a grown woman you know, you can wait another few hours, and using poor Pearls and getting her hopes up like that, you should be ashamed of yourself." His tone wasn't too serious, he didn't want her to think he was mad about something so minor.

"Awww, c'mon Nick, tell me" Phoenix shook his head and stood. She followed him as he went over to the door. "Be your best friend."

"You're already my best friend." He retorted.

"Be your best friend..." Maya motioned for him to bend down, when he did she put her mouth close to his ear. "...with benefits." She whispered. Phoenix rolled his eyes and stood up straight again. He grabbed his coat and flung it over his shoulders.

"Where are you going anyway?" Maya asked.

"It's a tradition, I meet up with Edgeworth and Larry every Christmas Eve at this restaurant we like for coffee. Then I thought I'd go visit Iris at the detention centre. Poor thing's probably not going to have any other visitors over Christmas.." He answered.

"Oh." Maya mumbled. "Well have fun." She said with her eyes downcast, the mentioning of Phoenix's ex never failed to damper the small woman's spirits.

"Oh, while I'm gone, could you and Pearls decorate the tree?" He asked, pointing to the stark plastic tree in the corner.

"Okay Mr. Nick!" Pearl called from the couch.

"Yeah, sounds like fun." Maya said, brightening a little.

"Good, the box of decorations is in the closet. Oh, and Maya, don't tear this place up looking for your gifts, I'm keeping them at Larry's where you can't get them." Maya stuck out her tongue at him before going over and opening the closet door. "I'll be back around Eleven."

"Alright, see you Nick."

"Bye Mr. Nick." Pearl called. When he was in the hall, Phoenix kept the door cracked and looked back in at the two Feys. Maya had lay the box by the tree and they were going through the decorations. Maya and Pearl had spent Christmas in Kurain ever since he had met them, but this year Maya had opted to stay with him for the holidays, and, once Pearls had heard that she wanted to too. For this Phoenix was thankful, like most, he didn't enjoy spending Christmas alone. This is why he tried to make sure he had the perfect gifts for them. He wanted them, especially Maya, to know how much he appreciated them and how much he cared.

"Pshhh, Maya!" Phoenix called in a hushed voice, after poking his head in through the door.

"Nick?" She looked over from the couch where she was watching tv. "It eleven already?"

"Where's Pearls?"

"She's gone to bed." Maya replied copying Phoenix's tone.

"Good." He opened the door all the way, bringing several wrapped packages with him with him. He placed them beneath the tree before going back out for the rest.

"Wow Nick, look at all this stuff." Maya said looking wide-eyed at what lay beneath the tree.

"Yeah Miles and Larry had some stuff for us too." He explained.

"But, I didn't get anything for them."

"Don't worry, I signed all three of our names to what I had for them" Phoenix smiled.

"Oh, okay." Maya looked in anticipation at a larger box that had her name on it.

"Maya, don't you dare." Phoenix said sternly, but teasingly.

"You're no fun Nick." Maya huffed. Phoenix went back into the hall and returned with the largest parcel yet. He could barely keep it steady and nearly dropped it when he put it under the tree. The tag said 'To Pearls, From Santa.' Phoenix groaned as he stood back straight.

"The tree looks great."

"Thanks." She said with a warm smile. "You want some tea or anything Nick?"

"N'ah, I don't think I want to put anymore caffeine in my system now tonight." After discarding his coat, Phoenix slumped down on the coach and motioned for her to join him.

"So h-how's Iris? " She asked with feigned enthusiasm.

"She's depressed today. Can be expected I guess, being incarcerated for Christmas has got to be rough."

"Yeah, I can only imagine. Being locked up isn't fun any time of year let alone now." Maya said thoughtfully.

"She tried to put on a brave face, but I could tell she was heartbroken. She almost started crying while I was there."

"Humm."

"She asked about you and Pearls. You know I think it would be nice if the three of us went to see her, after all, you two are the only real family she's got." He reached over and took Maya's hand, lightly squeezing it.

"M-Maybe w-e should." Maya stammered, clearly flustered by the contact.

"Anyway, this is far too depressing to be talking about on Christmas Eve." Phoenix grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

"I-I think I'm going to bed now any way." She stood, causing Phoenix's hand to fall away from hers. "After all, Pearl will probably have us up pretty early in the morning." She said looking over her shoulder at him.

"Pearl?!" Phoenix said with a smirk, "Why do I get the feeling that you're gonna be the one who'se up first." Maya stuck her tongue out at him again before heading towards the hall where the bedrooms were.

"Hey Nick!" She called. He turned his head to give her his attention. "You really care about Iris don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." Phoenix couldn't help but notice that she suddenly looked tired. She forced a weak smile before going into her room.

"Yeah, but not nearly as much as I care about you Maya."

Phoenix was awoke the next morning by the sound of Pearl knocking at his door.

"C'mon Mr. Nick wake up! Santa was here." She exclaimed in a pitch higher than he thought she was capable of. He threw off this covers and opened the door.

"Morning Pearls, what's going on?" He teased.

"You know what's going on, now come on, Mystic Maya's waiting." She took hold his hand pulled him out into the hall.

"Okay, okay." He chuckled, and followed her into the office where the tree was. Maya was sitting on the floor next to the tree. Pearl joined her.

"'Bout time Nick." She admonished him as he took a seat on the couch.

"Sorry." The three were still in their pajamas.

"You go first, okay Mr. Nick." Pearl said.

"Oh, Okay." Phoenix unwrapped his gifts, it turned out to be a pretty good haul. His parents had sent him some new clothes, he got a rather nice pen set from Larry, a new watch from Edgeworth, a new briefcase that they both went in on, and a silk tie each from Maya and Pearls.

"Thank you very much." He said to the Feys, looking at the ties.

"You're welcome Mr .Nick." Pearl said beaming

"You can't have too many." Maya added.

"Your turn Pearls." Pearl ended up with some clothes from Edgeworth and Larry.

"This one's from me Pearly." Maya smiled handing her a poorly wrapped gift. Pearl opened it and found a new jacket along with a teddy bear that was wearing a t-shirt that had Pearl's name written on it.

"Oh wow, thank you Mystic Maya."She gasped and put her arms around her cousin's neck.

"You're welcome." She said and hugged her. "This one's form Nick."

Phoenix sat back and smiled to himself, if one didn't know better they'd swear that the two Feys and him were a real family upon seeing this scene. Inside Phoenix's gift for Pearl were a Barbie and a Ken doll.

"Than you Mr. Nick!" She squealed in delight as she ran over to him and hugged him. "This is the best Christmas ever!"

"No problem Pearls." He said. Pearl sat back on the floor and began to tear at the packaging separating her from her new dolls.

"There's one more here for you Pearly." Maya said.

"Really." Maya directed Pearl to the large gift that Phoenix had struggled to get into the apartment the night before.

"It's from Santa." She said playfully. Pearl stood in front of the gift that was about two thirds her height for a second before tearing away the paper. "Oh my." Maya gasped. It was a beautiful, extraordinarily detailed wooden doll house with plastic windows, a tiled roof and even little brass knockers on the door. With excitement Phoenix bounded off of the couch and crouched next to it.

"It opens up like this" Pushing a button that looked like a brick on the left side, Phoenix caused the whole front to open up revealing several rooms which were all fully furnished.

"This is the best, you were right Mr. Nick, Santa really did have something special for me." Pearl said with a smile so big her face could hardly support it.

"Nick." Maya whispered into his ear once he had returned to the couch. Pearl was busy looking over her new dollhouse. "Where did...?"

"I started it back in July, only finished it a couple weeks ago." He explained. "Larry barely had enough time to paint it." He smiled.

"That's really sweet Nick. You made Pearly's Christmas."

"Mystic Maya, Mystic Maya. C'mon, time to open yours!!" Pearl called out to her.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Let's see what this big secret is Nick's been keeping." Maya skipped over the smaller stuff and began with Pearl's. It was a limited edition, deluxe Steel Samurai action figure.

"D-do you like it Mystic Maya?"

"I LOVE THIS!!" She exclaimed and wrapped Pearl in a tight hug. "Thanks Pearly, thank you, thank you!!!"

"Pearls picked it out and paid for it all by herself." Phoenix said from the couch.

"I was saving all year to get you something you'd really like." Pearl said beaming again.

"Wait 'till I tell the guys online about this." She said proudly. Phoenix sat forward on the couch as she turned her attention to his gifts. This was it, the moment of truth. Maya started with the smallest one. Inside she found a plush box. A fierce blush came over her face as he looked at it in her hand.

"I was right." Pearl chirped. "It is an engagement ring!!"

"No it's not, open it up Maya." Maya did so. Inside was a silver necklace with a large, ornate pendant attached to it.

"Nick.." She gasped holding it to her chest. "Thank you. I-It's beautiful" She hastilty undid the chain and put it around her neck. "I'm never going to take it off!" She said with a huge smile.

"There's more there yet." Phoenix said. Maya nodded and turned her attention back to the task at hand

She opened the second largest package. It was a large box, decorated with images of the Pink Princess.

"Th-this is..."

"Yep, the Ultra Deluxe Collector's Edition of the Pink Princess movie." Phoenix said with a proud smile. "It's got the movie, the Pink Princess video game, a copy of the script; I don't know in case you want to act it out with your friends I guess; and a limited edition key chain."

"Nick, this costs over $300." Maya gasped, her hands were shaking.

"It's none of your business how much I paid for it." He smirking.

"B-But Nick, this is a Blu-Ray disc, I don't have a Blu-Ray player." Phoenix continued to smile and motioned with his head toward the last gift. "Nick you didn't!?" Tearing away the paper she found it, a top of the line Blu-Ray player. "Oh Nick, th-this is too much."

"Nonsense, what's the use of having money if you can't spend it on the people you lo- care about. Now what do you say we clean up this mess and get something to eat."

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Pearl said.

"Yeah okay." Maya muttered.

Phoenix sat alone on the couch watching the Christmas Carol on tv. Pearl was asleep in her room, exhausted after spending all day pretending Barbie was Mystic Maya, Ken was Mr. Nick and the dollhouse was the dream home they lived in after getting married. Maya had left just after dinner, saying she had something to do. He was beginning to get worried about her. There were a lot of drunks traveling the streets at Christmas, it wasn't a good time be out in the dark alone. She had left the movie and the Blu-Ray player unopened on the coffee table. Phoenix had been certain he was going to have to watch it with her tonight, and then probably have to pass a quiz about it after, but no. Maybe she didn't like it, she had seemed despondent over dinner, in fact she seemed out of it as soon as she opened his gifts. Maybe she really was upset over how much money he had spent or maybe he was being too forward. After all, some men don't even spend that much on their wives, let alone a friend. And of course, he had almost said 'love' that one time. The sound of the door opening roused Phoenix from his thoughts. Maya came in through, her cheeks turned red by the cold.

"Maya, where were you.?"

"Ou-Ou-Out." She said through chattering teeth. Removing her jacket and scarf, she plopped down next to Phoenix. She folded her hands in her lap and kept her eyes on her feet. At least she was still wearing her neckalce.

"Maya." He began. "Look, I'm sorry if I ruined Christmas by getting all that stuff for you. I just really wanted to make you happy." She looked at him wide-eyed.

"N-Nick how c-could you think you ruined Christmas?! Everything you got me was just...perfect."

"You looked awfully disappointed about something this morning." He said.

"N-no of course not, I couldn't have asked for better."

"Well then why did you leave?" Maya shifted her gaze back to her feet.

"I f-felt embarr-embarrassed, y-you know? Here you were giv-giving me all these great gifts and all I got you was a lou-lousy tie. I spent the entire day look-looking for something else to get for you, but all the stores were either closed, sold out or not worth talking about." Phoenix smiled.

"Hey, ties are great, besides, you know what they say, it's the thought that counts."

"Yeah well, I did-didn't th-think. Any-anyone can go get a t-tie for someone, after-after all you've done for me, I sh-I should have gotten something b-better."

"Maya, you're freezing!"

"It-It's really c-cold today." She said. Phoenix chuckled.

"Come here." He put her arm around her, drew her close and rubbed her arm, after a few moments of this he could feel the warmth returning to her body. "Feel better?" He asked.

"Y-yeah." She said lowly. Phoenix cleared his throat.

"Maya listen, I gave you that stuff because I wanted you to know how much I care and appreciate you. You don't need to get me an expensive gift, I'd cherish anything from you.." He said softly. "Actually, the fact that you were willing to go out in the cold looking for something for me is a gift in itself." He looked down a her and smiled.

"N-Nick I-I do have something for you, but-but I'm not sure if you're going to like it."

"What did I just get through telling you." Maya pulled herself up to his face and quickly pressed her lips against his.

"I-I love you." She whispered when she pulled away. Phoenix smiled.

"Best gift ever."

END