Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Ace attorney, I don't own either Phoenix or Trucy.

A magical birthday gift

The rain came drizzling down on a cold and chill early-springtime night as the city streets of Japanifornia were softly lit up by lampposts that had stood boldly on either side of the roads that had been left almost deserted except for the occasional passerby that would take a casual stroll by —the streets were coated with a thick layer of leftover frost and ice, making them a bit of a hazard to walk on.

They were also a giant pain to traverse.

Phoenix Wright sighed in a mix of frustration and exasperation as he made his way homeward bound, trying to avoid catching his feet slipping on patches of ice that coated the path, as he frigidly grumbled beneath his breath as he stuffed both hands in his pockets, which also happened to contain some crumpled up papers, in an effort to keep them warm.

Each breath he made came out as a vivid white fog of condensation.

It was getting close to midnight and time had seemed to be caught up in some gooey mass that seemed to make it go slower then it should of, the only way that he could tell it was midnight at all was thanks to the neat platinum watch that hung on his left wrist, ticking along.

Phoenix's whole body felt as though it was made from lead and it felt so heavy that he could hardly hold himself up. His arms and legs dragged, his neck felt as stiff as a brick, his spinal cord curled inwards painfully with each and every step he took, and both his hands and feet felt numb.

He was thankful he hadn't slipped on any ice or else he probably wouldn't have gotten back up.

Thankfully it didn't take too much longer before he finally made it home from work.

It was dark.

It was hard to see.

He lifted his arm, grasped the door handle, and opened the front door.

He hardly hesitated before stepping inside and he promptly started meandering up the stairs. His knees ached and his lungs felt like a pair of deflating balloons as he breathed heavily in his effort to successfully make it up to his little room —the place where he longed (and desperately needed) to be right now.

There was one thing on his mind right now.

He stopped mid-way up the staircase and turned to look to his right to stare into the mirror that hung on the wall. He glanced over at the mirror and caught a glimpse at his own reflection and he knew that he was the epitome of pathetic.

He had stubble due to a lack of shaving that covered his chin and around his mouth, his wiry brows knitted together, the sharp spikes of hair that were once pointed and as sharp as his pointing finger of justice had not only dulled and drooped a bit due to poor care but were also usually covered up by a blue woollen beanie hat, heavy bags sagged under his sunken eyes, and his face had become a bit thinner then what could be considered the picture of health.

His mouth formed a thin line of distaste.

What had he become...?

"Bet you're proud of me now, eh, Mia?" He thought to himself bitterly.

He glanced away from the mirror before he resumed stomping up the stairs of his flat until he finally lumbered heavily into the room and sat at the big wooden desk that once belonged to the bravest person he knew, his posture was slouched with exhaustion and his gaze was clouded with fatigue as he tiredly ran a hand through his black spikey hair.

Phoenix's tired eyes begun examining the copious amount of bills stacked in front of him that stared him right in the face.

Those stupid, stupid, confounded bills...

Even though it had been a month since he'd started working at the Borscht Bowl Club, he was barely scraping enough money together to even pay for Eldoon's noodles —the amount of money he was getting paid was so little that it would have made Chief detective Gumshoe's pay check jealous.

He removed the crumpled papers from his pocket and placed them among his not-so-neat little stack of bills.

It was his earnings for his toiling at the Borsht Bowl Club...and they weren't much.

It was true that he couldn't play the piano to save his life but at least he started challenging people to poker, yet he couldn't incorporate his little "ace up his sleeve" quite yet since he wanted to make a name for himself first —and he was confident that he could beat some of those amateurs without resorting to said "ace up his sleeve".

He hung his head and closed his eyes.

It was going to be his adopted daughter, Trucy's, tenth birthday in three days and he could hardly get anything for her birthday present...or at least anything that would be presentable as a birthday present.

He could hardly believe it.

It had been two years since he'd lost his job as a defence attorney.

It had been two years since he'd taken the young magician into his life.

During those dark times, Phoenix had been scrimping and saving as much money as he possibly could to try and keep himself and Trucy afloat but he was just barely making ends meet especially since he was unemployed. It was difficult but he was happy he wasn't going through this all by himself, especially with some of his friends shunning him for the "forging evidence" he was accused of...he bet that Mia would have been ashamed of him if she were alive. Despite everything he'd been through, the passed two years had been priceless to him and he wouldn't have traded them for anything.

All thanks to Trucy, his little light.

But these bills just reminded him of the cold, hard truth:

He couldn't...he couldn't afford something for his daughter's birthday.

What kind of father was he?

"...Daddy?"

Phoenix sat up when he heard that familiar voice.

The ex-lawyer whirled around and looked down to find the little girl who consumed his thoughts.

Trucy was stood by the door with an exhausted and half-asleep expression as she sleepily rubbed at her eyeballs and gripped on to the doors hinges as a means to keep herself stood on both feet. She looked so tired but so oblivious to everything that was going on...and Phoenix preferred to keep it that way because he couldn't risk her knowing and getting all worried —certainly she'd try and put on an act of optimism and joy but she would probably worry and fret deep down inside.

"Trucy? What're you doing awake?" He asked as she waddled up to him.

Phoenix collected the child into his arms, the almost ten-year-old practically melting into his embrace, and pulled her on to his lap. She seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as time went on and he knew that his back wouldn't allow this for much longer, it upset him a bit but it was inevitable; after all, was he expecting to pick her up and sit her on his lap when she was eighteen years old? The poor girl looked like she could barely keep her eyes open as she clung to his chest with as much strength as she could muster right now.

"I stayed up...waiting...for you...to come home..." She drawled exhaustedly.

Phoenix instantly felt a pang of guilt hit him right in the heart.

He hadn't meant to get Trucy worried about him to the point where she was staying up super late.

He wrapped both of his strong arms around her in a featherlight embrace and lowered his voice into a quiet mumble as he responded to her, hoping that lowering the volume of his voice would actually get the stubborn little magician to surrender to exhaustion and lull her to sleep.

"Sorry about that, sweetheart, Daddy just had to work late...have to fight those bills."

Phoenix cradled the nine-year-old against his lap as he held her close, trying to lull her to sleep.

She closed her eyes and started to nod off as she slept against his side.

The former attorney didn't say anything as he simply held the child in his arms.

He didn't know how he was going to get his precious Trucy a birthday gift.

He was lost in a haze of his own thoughts as he gazed sightlessly out the window, his ears only just picking up the sounds of his daughter's voice chirping sleepily.

"I know you can do it, daddy...you can do anything..."

Phoenix smirked softly down at the little magician before he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

From the time he had known her, she had always seemed so optimistic and so bright and cheerful, but she was also very a vulnerable and fearful little girl who always carried this fear of abandonment which was understandable since almost everyone in her life had decided to vanish on her —her grandfather died, her mother vanished during an an attempted magical illusion, and her father vanished in the middle of court and left her behind. She was always frightened that she would be left all on her own and she tried to never let that fear show but, whenever she would wake up in the dead of night due to nightmares, she would break down and shed all those fears.

It was always a heartbreaking spectacle, even after all these years of taking care of her.

The ex-lawyer stroked his adopted charge's head full of short brown hair as he thought back on that promise he had made to her on the day he had offered to take her in, back in the old office:

"D-Daddy? You won't...?"

"I won't vanish, I promise..."

Phoenix sighed for the second time tonight.

He didn't know what he was going to do about getting his daughter a birthday gift, even if he knew what to get such an amazing girl he had no clue how to go about affording anything that wouldn't leave them both without food for a good while and he couldn't bare the thought of his darling little Trucy going hungry at any point. But, if he had to, he would go hungry and just give her all his food since she was a growing girl. Not even that was on his budget, though, so he couldn't do that and Trucy was also clever and he didn't want to make her suspicious and sad.

Especially not on her birthday.

He did initially think of getting her a new prop but he couldn't even afford that right now.

Phoenix looked back at Trucy's sleeping face.

Surely, he had to do something...!

Suddenly, as if by pure coincidence, a thought suddenly dawned on him.

In his spare time, the attorney had been trying to find hobbies and doing little things that could help make time go faster.

Sewing had become one of those hobbies.

Thus, his gaze fell upon a pile of useless-looking blue material that rested on top of a nearby sofa cushion.

He wasn't much of a man of creativity but he had been practicing in his sewing to try and surprise his daughter, he felt very ill-practiced though. The mere thought of going near sewing needles and thread to continue his little project was difficult but he felt that he needed to try and get it done because if he did complete it then he could hopefully solve all of his current problems.

He glanced down at the materials he had and his mouth formed a thin line and his wiry brow furrowed as a droplet of sweat. He didn't want know how he was going to go about making Trucy a good gift but he was definitely going to try.

He gulped.

"How am I gonna do this...?"

A/N: Heres the first part of a two-parter fanfic and its a Phoenix and Trucy fic.

I hope you guys enjoy it!

Hopefully the second part should come out tomorrow.

-Chloemcg