Turnabout for Better, Turnabout for Worse
Written by mindpaper
Note: This story takes place sometime after Gyakuten Saiban 3. References to the game (names, places, etc) are made in tandem with the English version of the game. This fanfiction contains a few spoilers, the existence of which I will make sure to specify before each chapter that contains them.
Also: This fanfiction tends towards the Phoenix and Miles pairing, so please take it with a grain of salt.
Prologue
Miles Edgeworth slowly opened his eyes, and then closed them abruptly. He waited for the glaring lights to fade, the whiteness of the brightly lit hospital room to succumb to the darkness of his dreams. He opened them again. No, he was still here. He was still waiting here, in frustration, in this terrible daymare.
He straightened up and looked down at his watch. He had been asleep again. For exactly 14 minutes. He turned to look at the young, oddly-dressed girl beside him, slumped forward on her chair with her face in the bed. She had been asleep too—for exactly 4 hours and 23 minutes. She, like him, was waiting. Like him, she was stuck in this terrible daymare. Poor girl. She must be terrified. Maybe even almost as terrified as he was.
He turned to face the unconscious person in the bed. This soft-hearted moron—always getting mixed up in these things. These seemingly simple, but impossible situations that no one seemed to want to deal with. But of course, with him, these kinds of cases were the best. Of course, with him, no one was left behind. For him, truth was never impossible—only inevitable. And he was good at taking care of people. Of course the idiot took this case. There was no question as to why.
Edgeworth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He could imagine what he would say when he woke up. If he woke up. He'd try to get up, shocked, and look at him strongly with those serious blue eyes. Edgeworth!What happened, he'd ask. How long have I been asleep? Don't tell me that the trial is over…Did my client lose? Abruptly, Edgeworth shook his head. No! He could not hope. He had to accept what was happening now. He may just disappear. I have to be ready for that, thought Miles. I have to be ready to let him go. If I am not ready… then…
If yesterday was any indication, he was not ready. Images of the previous night flashed unbidden through his mind's eye, dizzying him. This person's weakened, desperate voice on the phone—a voice that truly frightened him. Seeing his crumpled body on the floor of the apartment. Finding nothing—no voice, no frowns, no lively gestures, no stinging words. No signs of life—nothing. It was terrifying.
He stood up, gripping the edges of the bed sheets so fiercely that the sleeping girl beside him stirred. He stood, listening to his own heart pounding in cacophony with the slow, consistent sound the heart monitor. He stood, wishing for a sign—anything—a greeting, a movement. But there was nothing—just that expressionless face covered with a respirator. This could not be—this was impossible. This rock—this solidity that had always been there, across from him, glaring at him with that unmistakable intensity. The same glare he had when he was a kid, when they were ten…
"Miles," Phoenix had said, glaring at him. "You're wrong!"
"I am not wrong," he had retorted, casting a sidelong glance at his friend as they sat on their customary set of stairs, eating lunch. "I am merely being honest, and I only said that if one is deceased, then one ceases to live."
"Big words—don't use 'em," Larry had interjected, shoving a whole onigiri into his mouth. "Ah dowft unnersthdannd."
"Neither do I," said Phoenix miserably, "but you probably mean that when you die, you can't do stuff anymore."
Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "Exactly right, Wright." He flicked Phoenix on the forehead. "My father told me that. And he also told me that if I were to die, he wouldn't know what to do." He took a bite out of his sandwich, watching Phoenix fall deep into thought. Larry stole Phoenix's juice box.
After a while, Phoenix crossed his arms. "But that's why I think you're wrong. I don't think that's true."
Edgeworth scoffed. "What? Prove it. What evidence to you have to back up your point?"
Phoenix stared at him. "Stop talking so smart. Anyway, I think you should think about dead people the same way you think about alive people. If I was dead, Miles, you would know what to do, right? Would you give up your dreams about becoming a great law-man?"
Edgeworth glared back, startled. "N..No. Of course not! And that's law-YER, not law-man."
Phoenix grinned. "Good. Because I'd be mad at you and I wouldn't forgive you if you gave up being a lawman—lah-YER. And Larry, I wouldn't forgive you if you gave up on being.. um…"
"Myself?" Larry answered helpfully.
"Yeah. And when you die, I don't think you can't do stuff anymore. If I died, you guys would still remember me, right?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Edgeworth snatched the juice box from Larry. Phoenix smiled again. "Then that's enough! Dying and forgetting is stupid. I wouldn't give up just like that! You'd never forget me, so I would always be there."
Edgeworth looked down at his sandwich. "What nonsense, Wright. Everyone dies eventually, and then they're gone-- forever. You're such a hopeless idiot."
Larry had stolen the juice again. "Sluuuuurp. Yeah, what a idiot."
Phoenix shrugged and began looking for his juice box. "Maybe that's just… what you gotta be sometimes. An idiot."
And look where you are now, you hopeless idiot, Edgeworth thought bitterly. Where did that steady and generous heart lead you to now? Are you just going to get up and get going again, like you promised? Reaching out suddenly, he hesitated, and then lightly touched that familiar face. Still feverish. He was still fighting. Stubbornly refusing to give up.
He sat back down and resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. He had to admit it-- he was terrified. Terrified that this infallible person in front of him was going to lose this battle. He had thought through all his options, and he only had one option left—to do the thing that this unconscious person did best.
He waited. And, feeling like a hopeless idiot, he hoped.
That's the prologue to a long series of chapters, folks. Thanks for reading. I am an amateur at this, so any reviews are well appreciated. Please stay tuned for more updates.