What makes a man fall in love with the woman of his dreams? Was it one thing that captured his heart or a sum of things?

Phoenix Wright always wondered why he ran across that burning bridge during their stay at the Hazakurain Temple. The answer was always the same.

"To save Maya."

Maya Fey, in all honesty, was probably insane. She was always hungry, no matter the circumstance and never had she failed to stick Nick with the bill.

Phoenix remembers the day he met her with absurd clarity. He remembers her kneeling next to her sister, Mia, while crying. He remembers thinking that she had killed Mia, but he had taken a stand and decided to defend her, only to become sure of her innocence. He also remembers coming back to the office and feeling as if Mia were in the room, sealing a pact between the three of them.

The next time Maya was arrested for murder, there hadn't been a question in his mind about her innocence. There was no way she could have done it. Poor, innocent Maya framed by her own aunt, who was trying to secure the Master's position for her daughter, Pearl.

Pearl was definitely Maya's cousin. Their naivety was similar. He remembers blushing with Maya every time the nine year old said that the other was there "special someone".

He hadn't known at the time that she was right.

Quickly, the pair had become basically part of his family, along with Edgeworth and Larry. What a messed up family.

When he lost his badge, he couldn't bear to face Maya, let alone Pearls. He knew they wouldn't blame him, that they would fight for him as he'd always done for them.

He just couldn't face them.

He thinks that when he adopted Trucy, he saw Pearls. He could bear to tell her that her father had disappeared, and, later, killed by the same man who had caused Phoenix to lose his badge.

Then he met Apollo, a young attorney who reminded him so much of himself. Soon, he saw Trucy as Maya and Apollo as himself. He would blink and see the reality. The fact that he had let himself fall out of touch with Maya.

Phoenix couldn't pinpoint the day he had fallen in love with Maya, but he that didn't matter, he just needed to get in touch with her again.

He picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number, hoping it hadn't changed.

"Maya, I'm coming to Kurain." Then, he smiled. Maya was going to laugh at him for looking like a hobo.

A/N My first Phoenix Wright fic. Sorry for the confusing tense changes. I'm writing as if he's alive which puts him in present tense, but then his actions are what he has done.

Please review and tell me what you think!

AirDragon717