A/N: Hey readers! It's September 5th, which means it's Phoenix/Maya Day again, so in celebration I wrote a few fics. Here's the first one, the others should be up shortly after.
I don't own Phoenix Wright or its characters. Sadly.
...
"Nick, what are you doing?" Maya whines, poking her head into the bathroom.
"You've been asking me that for the last hour! I'm cleaning the toilet, like I was five minutes ago when you last checked." I reply irritatedly.
"But you've been cleaning it for hours! Let's do something fun!" she suggests.
"I have work I need to get done!" I scold her. I love having Maya as an assistant, but sometimes I think she forgets that getting work done is more important than goofing off.
"Like what? You've been cleaning this toilet all afternoon, and before that you were just staring out the window! We've been here all day and we haven't done anything, let's just close up early already!" Maya demands. I have to admit, she's got a point.
"Fine! What do you want to do?" I ask, standing up and walking away from the utterly spotless toilet.
"What? Isn't it obvious?" Maya exclaims. "Nick, it's the second Friday of the month! You know that on the second and fourth Fridays of the month, we always do the same thing."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I lie. Don't ask me why, but I always think Maya's so cute when she's flustered.
"Movie night! Nick, I can't believe you forgot!" Maya pouts, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" I assure her, taking a couple of bills out of my wallet. "Here, go to the video store and pick up some movies for tonight."
"You got it, Nick. I'll be back before you can say 'Samurai Slap!' " Maya declares, making her way to the door.
For as long as I can remember, Maya's always insisted that we have a movie night twice a month. For me, it's never really been much of a problem; even in the beginning I agreed with the idea because I saw how happy it had made Maya, a girl who had just lost her sister and desperately needed to be cheered up. But lately, I've become a huge fan of movie night. After all, it's basically just an excuse for me to spend all night with Maya. And as of recently, I can't think of anything I would rather do...
…
It was only shortly after the incident at the Hazakura Temple that I realized how much Maya meant to me. It didn't really take very long for me to figure it out: I guess a part of me already knew how I felt, and that's why I was willing to risk my life on a burning bridge to save her, or why I nearly lost my mind when I thought she was dead. But before then, I never really gave myself the chance to consider what I thought about Maya. After the fear of losing Maya came so close to being a reality, however, I had to take a step back and figure out just what it was I was feeling towards her. And I'm positive that it's love. The way my heart leaps when I make her smile and laugh, the way it beats faster whenever she walks into the room, the way I can feel it tearing apart whenever Maya's in danger... there's nothing else it could be.
I'm in love with Maya Fey.
Sadly, even after realizing how I felt, I haven't managed to get very far with improving our relationship.
It's not from lack of effort; I've spent an unhealthy amount of time thinking about what to do about her. It's just that I want to tell her how I feel properly, I want it to be romantic, but I haven't had any experience in this kind of thing for years now, so I have no idea what to do.
I suppose a little push in the right direction couldn't hurt.
Yes, I definitely need some help. Unsure of what else to do, I phone Edgeworth.
…
"Miles Edgeworth speaking."
"Uh, hey Edgeworth, it's me, Phoenix. You're not busy, are you? I could use some advice."
"Oh? And just what do you need advice on?"
"Uh... Well it's about... girls."
"...And you came to me? Wright, I don't feel I need to tell you that I am not an expert on women. In my vigorous studies to become a prosecutor, I was forbidden to let girls become a distraction, and now that I am a prosecutor, I'm afraid I've been simply too busy to start dating-"
"I know, but you seem to be pretty smart most of the time, and besides I didn't know who else to ask! I can't ask Larry after all, he'd just give me some stupid advice, you know how he is."
"Why not ask your assistant? She is a girl herself, in case you've forgotten." I swear I can hear Edgeworth chuckle on the other end of the phone.
"I obviously haven't forgotten! Look, I can't ask Maya about it, OK? I was just hoping you could give me something to work with."
"... While I regret to inform you that my experiences on such matters are few, I find that honesty truly is the best policy. I suppose this all sounds a bit cliched coming from somebody whose occupation involves seeking the truth, but I think that if you simply tell Ms. Fey how you feel about her, you would have much less to worry about."
"Just be honest, huh? Alright, thanks. Wait, who said anything about me liking Maya?"
"Wright, you insult me. Don't you think that after all the times I've faced off against you in court, I should be able to tell when you're playing dumb?"
*CLICK*
I barely have time to process Edgeworth's words before the door swings open.
"Maya? Are you back from the movie store already?" I call out.
"Yup! I already had what we're watching tonight planned out. I've been looking forward to our movie night all day." Maya says, putting down a small stack of DVD's on the coffee table and sitting on the couch.
"Really?" I ask. Even though Maya probably loves movie nights so much because we usually end up watching Samurai movies over and over again, it's nice to know she likes spending time with me.
"Well it was either think about that or watch you clean toilets until I died of boredom, so yeah." Maya grins.
I sit down beside Maya on the couch and, remembering what Edgeworth told me, I speak up. "Well I was looking forward to it too. I really like spending time with you Maya."
"Aww, thanks Nick. I like hanging out with you, too." Maya grins. So far, so good.
"So, what are we watching tonight?" I inquire, staring down at the DVD's.
"Well, I figured you might be getting bored of watching the same Samurai movies all the time, so tonight I decided to get something totally different." Maya replies.
"Oh, awesome. What did you get?" Honestly, I'm pleased just to be moving away from the Samurai stuff for once. They're not horrible movies, but all the action can be a bit much some times.
Maya picks up the movies. "Uh... The Iron Ninja, Revenge of the Iron Ninja, and Iron Ninja with a Vengeance. I looked for Night of the Iron Ninja too, but they were all out." Oh boy. So much for taking a break from action.
"Sounds... interesting." I respond, trying to stick to my new mantra of being truthful. Unfortunately, I don't come across as very convincing.
"You don't want to watch these, do you?" Maya sighs, crestfallen.
"No no, of course I do!" Well, it's technically true. Watching the movies means I get to spend more time with Maya, and I definitely want that.
"Awesome! These ones might not be as good as the Samurai movies, since everybody knows that samurais are better than ninjas, but I'm sure they'll still be super cool!" Maya exclaims enthusiastically, punching the air in excitement as she starts up the first movie.
…
"Hey Maya?" I whisper. We've reached that point in the night where we're too tired to pay attention to the movie, but not quite tired enough to fall asleep. I always love these moments most about our movie nights.
"Hmm?" Maya grunts, the last remnant of her interest in the movie fading away as she turns her attention to me.
"I care about you a lot, you know that?"
"Well of course you do. It'd be hard not to, after knowing an awesome person like me for as long as you have." Maya teases. Then, becoming serious, Maya slips her body underneath my arm so that it ends up wrapped around her and says "I care about you a lot too, Nick."
Maya's attention is momentarily brought back to the TV as the the Iron Ninja engages in a passionate kiss with his love interest.
"That must be nice..." she thinks aloud.
I stare at her in astonishment. "Wait, you've never kissed anyone before?"
Maya blushes. "Well... No. I guess I've just been waiting for the right time, with the right guy. I know that sounds a bit dorky."
"No, no, it's not dorky," I assure her, "It's romantic."
"You're just saying that to be nice." Maya mutters. "I bet you've kissed lots of girls, haven't you?"
"W-well not that many..." I stutter, not prepared to be put on the spot. "Honestly, I haven't kissed anybody in years."
"So we're both out of practice then? Maybe we should... kiss each other, then. You know, just so that we don't, uh, look stupid the next time we kiss somebody?" Maya suggests.
"R-really? Uh, OK, I guess. If you want to, I mean..." I consent nervously.
"Well if you don't want to, we don't have to do it..." Maya points out.
"No, no! I mean, I wouldn't... I wouldn't mind it."
"Alright, I just don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to do it or anything-"
To reassure her that I really am OK (more than OK, in all honesty) with kissing, I make the first move and press my lips up against hers.
It feels fantastic to be kissing her, but to be truthful, it's also kind of terrifying. I mean, I know she wanted me to kiss her, but I'm still kind of paranoid. Did she actually want to kiss me, or is she serious about just doing this as practice? Am I kissing her for too long? What if I'm a bad kisser? Dolly- I mean Dahlia (Iris?)- always told me that I was great at kissing, but she was leading me along so I'm not sure if she meant it.
I wonder if I can figure out how Maya's thinking by reading her eyes. I open my own eyes to try out this theory, only to find that Maya's eyes have been closed too. I guess that could be a good sign? Figuring that I've drawn the kiss out for a moderate amount of time, I pull out of the kiss.
"Wow." She says after a heart-pounding moment of silence. "That was... even nicer than I was expecting."
"Yeah," I agree, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I don't remember it being quite as good as that."
"Oh, well, glad you liked it then." Maya replies, evidently still a bit flustered.
I can practically hear Edgeworth shouting "Just be honest!". I figure that now's as good of a time to try as ever. "Can I be honest with you?"
"Sure. What is it?" Maya inquires.
"I've actually wanted to do that for quite a while." I admit.
"W-What, kiss me?" Maya asks doubtfully.
"Yup." I confirm.
"...Oh."
This time it's Maya who makes her move, leaping at me and kissing me with much more confidence than she had just a few moments before.
"Me too." She explains bashfully as she pulls away. Then, before I can utter another word, she lunges at me for another kiss.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the credits rolling on the TV screen, signaling the movie's end. It doesn't matter, our night's just getting started.
Honesty really is the best policy.