Aaaand it's fairy tales, Phoenix Wright style! So Phoenix tells little 9-year-old Trucy bedtime stories

XX

Phoenix Wright sat on his couch, sipping his coffee contentedly. He had just put little Trucy to bed, and was now looking forward to a good night's sleep himself. Until… "Daddy?" Phoenix practically jumped, only to see Trucy standing before him, pouting, wrapped up in her blanket.

"Trucy, what are you doing out of bed?" Phoenix asked. "It's past ten o'clock."

"I can't sleep," she mumbled. Phoenix sighed before picking up his daughter and carrying her over to her room.

"Just try to sleep," he urged her. "Close your eyes, and sleep will come. Trust me."

"But…" Trucy protested.

"Shh…" Phoenix hushed. "If you don't relax, you'll never be able to sleep." Trucy shut her eyes as Phoenix pulled the blanket over her. She reopened them slowly.

"Daddy?" she asked. "Can you tell me a bedtime story?" Phoenix raised his eyebrows slightly before smiling.

"Sure," he agreed. "Why not? What story do you want to hear?"

"Cinderella," Trucy answered immediately. Phoenix chuckled.

"Ok, but is it ok if I tell you a different version?" he asked. Trucy grinned up at him.

"Sure," she said.

"Ok," Phoenix said, exhaling slowly. "Here goes."

There was once a little girl named Maya. She was the kindest, sweetest little girl in the world. Her mother passed away when she was young, so she lived with her father. They were both very happy together, but her father thought she was missing something: a mother. So he married a rather wealthy woman named Morgan Fey, hoping she would be the perfect mother for little Maya. Morgan had a daughter of her own named Dahlia, who was—

"OBJECTION!" Trucy cried out. Phoenix sighed heavily.

"Trucy, if you keep screaming like that, you won't be able to sleep," Phoenix reminded her. Trucy frowned and tilted her head to the side.

"But you do it all the time, Daddy," she reminded him. Phoenix scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh yeah, I do, don't I?" he mumbled. "Well what is it then?"

"Cinderella has two stepsisters, not one," Trucy told him.

"Oh yeah, she did, didn't she?" Phoenix muttered to himself. "Well Trucy, for the sake of this story, Cinderella only has one stepsister." Trucy crossed her arms and pouted.

"Ok," she grumbled.

So as I was saying, Morgan had a daughter of her own named Dahlia. Now Dahlia was very beautiful as well – and I know what you're going to say, Cinderella's stepsisters were ugly, but for the sake of this story, Dahlia was beautiful. Anyway, they all lived happily together for some time, but then Maya's father got sick and died, leaving Maya in the care of Morgan Fey. After Maya's father died, Morgan grew vicious and mean. She turned poor Maya into a servant and forced her to work for her and Dahlia. Dahlia herself threw away that sweet, innocent persona and antagonized poor Maya. But Maya would just smile and work as if nothing was wrong.

Now there was a prince named Nick. His father, the king, known only as the Judge, thought that he should marry and usurp the throne. To do so, they hosted this grand ball which would be attended by every fair maiden in the land. The Judge sent out the grand duke, Miles Edgeworth, to give out invitations to every household with daughters the same age as Prince Nick. Sure enough, Morgan's household was no exception. Maya begged and pleaded to go, but Morgan told her that the only way she could go was if she completed all her household chores.

So Maya set to work, eagerly working in hopes that she would finish in time for the ball. But her wicked stepsister Dahlia kept giving her more and more tasks so that she wouldn't finish on time. In the end, Maya prevailed, and she stood confidently in front of Morgan. She said, "Mother, may I please go to the ball? I'm finished with all my chores." And do you know what Morgan said?

"No. You have nothing decent to wear, so you will not go to the ball." And so Morgan and Dahlia left, leaving Maya home alone. Poor Maya bawled her little eyes out because she worked so hard to go to the ball, but she couldn't go in the end. And then… Appearing in front of her was her fairy godmother, Franziska, whip at the ready.

"Wait, that's not right," Phoenix mused. "Franziska's the same age as Maya."

"Daddy?" Trucy called. "What happened?" Phoenix grinned sheepishly.

"Ok, Trucy, it wasn't Maya's fairy godmother who arrived," he continued. "It was her fairy godsister."

So Maya's fairy godsister Franziska arrived. "Foolish fool Maya Fey," she reprimanded her. "How could you so be so foolishly foolhardy to believe the foolish lie your foolish fool stepmother fed you that you could so foolishly go to the foolish fool ball?" And then Franziska whipped her.

"HOLD IT!" Trucy yelled. "That's not what happened in the real Cinderella story!"

"Well for Franziska's sake, the fairy godsister whipped Maya," Phoenix assured her.

Maya still cried because not only was she not allowed to go to the ball, but her mean fairy godsister was whipping her. Franziska sighed. "I apologize," she said. "My whip has a mind of its own. Now allow me to introduce myself. I am Franziska von Karma, your fairy godsister." Maya dried her tears.

"I really wanted to go to the ball," she told her fairy godsister, "but Mother said—"

"Do not worry about your mother, Maya Fey," Franziska told her. She cracked her whip, and Maya's dirty clothes turned into a beautiful ball gown. "Your mother said you could not go if you did not find something suitable to wear, correct?" Maya smiled and nodded.

"Yeah!" she agreed. And then her face fell. "But… how do I get there?" Franziska pondered this for a minute before leading Maya outside. Franziska whipped a pumpkin, and it turned into a magnificent coach. Then she whipped several mice, which turned into horses, and the family dog, which turned into a coachman.

"I believe this is sufficient enough transportation," Franziska said.

"Oh thank you, fairy godsister!" Maya said, bowing to Franziska.

"But," Franziska warned, holding up her pointer finger. "There is one condition: at the stroke of midnight, the spell will break, and everything I have given you will return to its original state."

"So I just have to come back before midnight then?" Maya asked. Franziska nodded.

"But of course," she affirmed. "Now go. I believe your prince is waiting for you." So Maya got into the coach and rode all the way to Prince Nick's castle. There, she saw her stepsister Dahlia dancing with the handsome Prince Nick, and she grew depressed. She wanted to dance with the prince, you see. But then the music ended, and Nick finally noticed Maya. He thanked Dahlia politely and went over to Maya. He took her hand and they danced together. He didn't dance with another girl the entire night. Then he led her over to a balcony and the two watched the stars together. And then… Prince Nick's cell phone rang. Maya gasped at his ringtone.

"Th-That's…" she stuttered. "That's the Steel Samurai's theme! I didn't know you were into the Steel Samurai!"

"I'm sorry," Prince Nick apologized. "That was just my alarm. It's almost midnight." Maya gasped. Franziska's spell was going to wear off soon!

"I have to go," she said hurriedly before running away.

"Wait!" Prince Nick yelled as he ran to catch up with Maya. "Please, wait!" But Maya didn't wait. She just kept running and running, and in her haste, she left behind one of her shoes. But Maya didn't care. She rode the coach all the way home, and, just as she arrived, everything Franziska had given her had reverted back into its original state. Everything except her shoes, that is.

Now Morgan and Dahlia had noticed how Prince Nick was so enchanted by this mysterious girl. They both hated her for stealing away the prince like that. She seemed so familiar, and yet it was as if they didn't know her at all. So they arrived home about an hour after Maya did and found her sitting by the fireplace. "Hello, Mother," Maya greeted politely. "Hello, Dahlia." But Morgan wasn't buying it.

"Maya, where were you this evening?" she asked.

"Why Mother, I was right here," Maya answered. After staring at her face for a bit, Morgan finally let it go.

The next day, things carried on like nothing had happened the previous night. But Prince Nick just could not get that girl out of his head. So he and the grand duke Miles Edgeworth went from house to house, hoping that one of the girls would fit the shoe the Maya dropped the day before. At long last, they arrived at Morgan Fey's home. "Madame Fey," Edgeworth greeted. "I am here on orders of the king and Prince Nick. Please tell me, how many daughters do you have in this household?" Morgan smirked.

"Just one," she answered. But Nick wasn't buying it. He saw Maya sweeping the fireplace. "Pay no attention to that girl over there. She's just the household servant." So Prince Nick pulled out Maya's old shoe and let Dahlia try it on. Now Dahlia's foot was much too big, so Morgan had cut off her toes to make her foot smaller. Sure enough, the shoe fit, and Prince Nick prepared to take her back to the castle. But something was wrong – why was there blood in the glass slipper? Nick saw, much to his horror, that the shoe in fact did not fit, and took Dahlia back to Morgan's house. Morgan was furious with Dahlia for spoiling the plan, and while she was screaming, Prince Nick went over to Maya.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. "Would you like to try on this shoe?" Maya was at a loss for words. Then Dahlia threw something at Maya, and it knocked the glass slipper out of Prince Nick's hand. The glass slipper shattered when it hit the ground, and the grand duke Miles Edgeworth was furious.

"Look what you did!" he yelled. "Now Prince Nick will never—" But then Prince Nick's cell phone rang.

"Your Steel Samurai ringtone," Maya whispered. "I remember… from last night."

"You…" Nick said as he scrutinized Maya's face. "You're the girl from last night." Maya smiled.

"I never told you my name, did I?" she asked. "It's Maya. Maya Fey." And then Dahlia snapped.

"MAYA FEY," she seethed. "MAYA… FEY… DO. YOU. THINK. YOU'VE. WON. MAYA FEY?" The butterflies that usually flocked around Dahlia spontaneously combusted, and Dahlia charged at Maya, but then Maya's fairy godsister Franziska von Karma appeared in front of her. Franziska brandished her whip and cracked it at Dahlia.

"You will not harm her," she told her. She then turned to Maya. "Foolish fool Maya Fey. How could you leave your shoe behind like that?"

"I-I'm sorry fairy godsister," Maya apologized.

"HOLD IT!" the grand duke Miles Edgeworth protested. "I would like to see some evidence that you are, in fact, the girl Prince Nick danced with last night."

"I…" Maya stuttered. "I…" Franziska then whipped Miles Edgeworth.

"Foolish fool," she accused. "I can prove that." She whipped Maya, and her rags turned into the same ball gown from the night before.

"You…" Nick whispered. "You're the one. I was sure of it before, when you mentioned the Steel Samurai, but…"

"That is enough," Edgeworth said. "You are the one. Now come with us to the castle." So Prince Nick and Maya rode off into the sunset, ready to be married. Everyone lived happily ever after. Except Morgan and Dahlia.

"The end," Phoenix concluded. "Happy?" Little Trucy was fast asleep. Phoenix chuckled and switched off the light in her room before leaving.

XX

Oh wow, this was so ridiculously fun to write. I don't know why, but I find Trucy imitating Phoenix's "objections" and "hold its" endearing. Next up: Sleeping Beauty. PLEASE REVIEW!