Over the years, Trucy had learned there were only two things she truly loved.

Her work as a magician, and her Daddy. Everything else was secondary. Inconsequential. Meaningless to her.

Because she was a magician. She could not let her mind focus on what other people saw or thought. All that mattered was what she wanted them to see.

Sometimes she missed Apollo terribly. There were times, when they were alone together, that she felt like he understood her. More than her closest friends, more than Maya Fey, certainly more than Athena, and even more so than Daddy.

Other times she hated Apollo and was glad that he was gone. "He left us, at the first opportunity." She would repeat to herself, over and over. "He abandoned us, because he doesn't care about us."

No matter how much she tried to convince herself, she knew in her heart that it wasn't true. Apollo wrote to them near constantly. About his life in Khu'rain, about his new friends, about how rebuilding Khu'rain was going…

And she wrote back, more than any of them, trying to outdo him. "Things at the office are better than ever, Polly! I can't wait until you come back and see how much things have improved!"

Things weren't improving.

Athena, years after obtaining her attorney's badge, still could not overcome her crippling fear of courtrooms. Daddy tried to work with her, he really did, but she was genuinely struggling. Every set back caused her to lose her train of thought, forcing Phoenix to step in.

There was only one lawyer at the Wright Anything Agency, now.

Her own show, Trucy in Gramarye Land, while being well received among the critics who did see it, failed to perform commercially. Only performing one show of what was supposed to be many had killed her big chance to rise to stardom.

At least for the moment.

She was too skilled, too determined, too herself to let something like that deter her from trying again. In fact, it didn't slow her down creatively at all. She began to work twice as hard, skipping meals and sleep to practice on her magic.

Someday, she would stand on her own two feet. She knew. Someday, Daddy would be able to watch her from the crowd and applaud.

And maybe, Apollo would come back as well. Maybe. He deserved that. He was, after all, the reason she was still allowed to perform at all.

She did not feel the same sort of affection for Athena.

"What are you working on?"

Trucy looked up to see Athena's smiling face beaming down on her. "Just a new trick." She said. She tipped her hat at her, grinning. "But no peeking! It's not quite ready yet."

Athena slumped over, in that way she did whenever she was disappointed. "Really?" She asked. "Come on, I really want to know!"

"A magician must never reveal her tricks." Trucy said firmly. "Now, unless you want to practice…"

Athena gulped, and raced off. Far faster than she ever could hope too.

That was another thing about Athena. She pretended to be enthusiastic about everything. She would ask Trucy about her magic, but then never allow herself to help in the process. She would smile and laugh at Daddy's friends, only to confess to Trucy in private that she didn't get along with any of them. She was the first to cry at Apollo declaring the fact that he was leaving, but the first to laugh about it when they left him behind.

Trucy missed the days when it was just her and Daddy.

Times were even harder then. Daddy didn't even have a real job, and she was only getting started. But something about putting herself out there, dragging herself to the top by fingertips with nothing but what Zak had left her had given her an appreciation for everything she had now.

Then, they had met Apollo, and everything changed.

Daddy had not had his law license for the entire time they had been together, and Trucy honestly felt he looked happier than she had ever seen him. She wondered what it would be like if she couldn't practice magic. She couldn't even begin to imagine it.

She knew very little about why Daddy loved law so much. Very little indeed. Growing up he was unwilling to talk about it much, and as the years went by they sort of moved on, without ever really talking about it. She never understood why he insisted on taking care of Charley or why a poster for a movie he had never seen hung on his wall, or the who her Mommy was.

Trucy had caught a glimpse of her once, while she was younger, when Daddy had to get the chain the locket her photo was in fixed. She was beautiful, with long black hair and a small, nervous smile. She and Daddy were standing in the snow, laughing.

He took it from her, shaking his head.

"Trucy, please…"

Whoever the woman was, Daddy didn't want to talk about her. And Trucy would never do anything to hurt her Daddy.

She would never ask Daddy, but she did ask Maya, Pearl's cousing and Nick's close friend, once.

"Trucy, I'm not really not sure I should be the one to tell you about that." Maya said. Trucy had never seen her look so serious. "That's… well, it's really personal to your Father, and I think he should be the one to tell you."

So she waited.

Athena of all people was the one to finally bring the subject up.

"Trucy, why hasn't Mr. Wright gotten married?"

"I… don't know."

"Really?" She sounded doubtful. "Surely he's won some fans over the years in his line of work. I mean, I know Apollo does, Juniper never stops talking about him."

She felt a flash of anger inside of her, although she could not quite place why.

"I mean, Apollo is quite the catch, I suppose, but Mr. Wright… Well, he's a famous lawyer now, and I just wondered…"

"I think I had a mother, once." Trucy said quietly. "But I never even met her."

Athena looked quizzically at her, frowning. "You mean your real mother, or…?"

"Daddy used to always say, day after day, that I would meet her soon." It all started to come out, in a rush. "That she was really excited about meeting me, that she was coming live with us soon, that we would be a real family, and then…" She swallowed. "It never happened."

They sat in silence for a while, as neither of them really understood what that meant.

"Maybe they just broke up." Athena suggested. "It happens, you know? I mean, I've never dated, so I wouldn't know…"

She laughed. She was trying to lighten the mood, but Trucy didn't feel very cheery.

Athena did not ask her again. Instead, she asked Daddy up front.

"Mr. Wright, why didn't you get married?" She asked. "I mean, Trucy grew up without a mother!"

It was meant to be a humorous jab, but her Daddy's icy stare caused Athena to back off. "I-I'm sorry." She said, stuttering slightly. "I didn't mean-"

"It's fine." He said shortly. He stormed off, slamming the door behind him.

Athena was more susceptible to sudden mood changes than most people. She spent the rest of her afternoon crying into the Steel Samurai pillow Maya had left last time she was here.

Enough was enough, she thought. It was time she learned the truth.

She left her hat and cloak at home, instead opting for a more practical outfit as she hurried down the stairs trying to find him.

He did not recognize her at first when she found him. She felt a twinge of annoyance… did she really look that odd without her clothes? But he bought her a hot cocoa and she joined him on a walk through the snow.

"Daddy…" She said. "I… I want to know about her."

She could not live with herself any longer if she did not.

"I thought you might." He said. "It has been too long."

They set off, and Trucy realized that, this brief emotional connection between them, was more than she had ever done with Zak. Rage bubbled up within her, but she tried to suppress it. Zak was gone. She only had Daddy now.

He led her to a graveyard, and she felt her stomach tightening with regret.

"Lots of memories here." He said, as he looked at the first tomb stone they came across. 'Mia Fey.' Next to her was a small, unmarked grave. Daddy lay flowers on both of them. "These are the people who taught me what it means to be a lawyer." He told her. "But that's not what you want to know, is it?"

There were other names that they passed. Trucy got the impression Daddy came here often. Manfred Von Karma… Misty Fey… the names went on and on. And then, finally, they stood at a small grave sitting on it's own. It read simply 'Iris Wright.'

"This is it." He said finally, looking down at it. Trucy fell to her knees, staring at it faintly. She had never even known her first name until now, she realized faintly.

"This… is her…?"

She reached out a hand and touched the stone, barely registering just how cold it was. Her eyes began to water as she stared at it.

"I had no idea…"

"There was never a good time to tell you." Phoenix said gravely, standing over her. "She… left us less than a year after we met."

Her hand balled into fists. "Why… What happened?"

Phoenix looked away. He did not answer her.

"Daddy…"

She flung her arms around him, knowing that he something about the loss of his beloved wife haunted him to this day. She did not let him go. She would never ever let him go.

Because she was Trucy Wright, and she loved her Daddy.