Whether or not this is what I deem the final chapter, this fan fiction is finished. I might come back to it and tweek and adjust, but, as I have said in previous chapters, it has become my nemesis. It was my very first fan-fiction, and it turned a lot more epic than I thought it would. (Not quite as epic as 'Sleepy' and 'Glitter'!) Thanks go to everyone who has read and reviewed and stuck with the story. Oh, yes the letter and the title come from bits of the Linkin Park song "Leave out all the rest", I do not own that song or the characters, just Phoenix's tears.

March came in like a lion. The rain didn't stop until Phoenix's birthday when the sun finally came out and warmed the earth and Phoenix's spirits. Miles knew Phoenix hated the rain; that with the combination of the incident with Pearl, Miles couldn't snap his friend out of his funk. Even their relationship had become strained. Phoenix wouldn't talk to Miles, and Miles would bury himself in paperwork. So, when the sliver of sunlight shone through the heavy drapery onto Miles's eyes, he smiled, but only after rubbing his eyes and cursing it for waking him up so early. He sat up slowly and walked over to the window to throw open the velvet drapes and let the sun warm his face. He heard a groan behind him and he turned and saw Phoenix throw the covers over his head. Miles chuckled and padded back over to the bed.

"Phoenix, c'mon wake up." Miles peeked under the covers and was greeted by one lazy blue eye scowling at him.

"Mmmnnnggg...Why?" Phoenix groaned his voice heavy with sleep.

"Well," Miles paused and yanked the covers off of the defense attorney's head. "For one thing, the sun is finally shining!"

Phoenix lazily looked over his shoulder. "Hmm...so it is!" He rolled all the way over until he was on his stomach. He kicked out a leg and grabbed a pillow. "Well, are you gonna gawk at me or the bright yellow...thing that we haven't seen in an eon?"

Miles smiled. So many things ran through his head at that moment as he realized he was gawking at Phoenix. The way the covers were situated over Phoenix's ass...

Miles was suddenly straddling Phoenix, kissing the back of his neck. Phoenix groaned as he could feel Miles excitement growing with every kiss. Their love life had been completely lack luster the past month and Phoenix was elated with the attention that Miles was now showering on him. He nibbled on his ears and kissed and nipped at his shoulders. Phoenix shifted his hips so that Miles's erection was situated between his ass-cheeks. He heard Miles breath hitch as Phoenix moved his hips, slowly and softly caressing the prosecutor to full attention.

"Another thing; it's your birthday..." Miles paused to bite Phoenix's shoulder to help control himself. Phoenix yelped but kept his slow rhythm. "What do you want?"

Phoenix was fully turned on himself as he managed to buck Miles off his back and in the same gesture crawled on top of his silver-haired lover. A feral look crossed Phoenix's face and it was emphasized by a growl deep in his throat. "I want you, all of you!" He pinned Miles's arms above his head and kissed him with unleashed passion.

"Are you sure there isn't some way you can stay, or that I can go with you?" Phoenix asked after they had cleaned up. They were laying on their sides, facing each other, Phoenix softly laying butterfly kisses on Miles's collarbone.

Miles let out a contented sigh, but inside he was dying. He almost made the decision to drop everything and stay in the states. But, there was nothing here for him anymore, save for Phoenix. He had contemplated taking his lover with him, but Phoenix wouldn't be happy over there either. Living in a strange place where no one speaks your language and no one knows you, would push Phoenix to hate him for taking him overseas.

Instead, he continued to run his fingers through the dark tendrils he had gotten used to and memorized the feel of Phoenix's soft hair. The silver-haired prosecutor was never good at saying good bye; just another thing he added to his list of Von Karma problems. Over the next few weeks, he tried his hardest to push Phoenix away from him. Every time Phoenix gave him a certain look, or touched him a certain way, Miles melted inside and gave in to his whims. Miles finally resorted to keeping himself in his home office or on the phone with the excuse of getting final preparations ready for his permanent departure to Germany. It killed him to see Phoenix try to save the last of their relationship, but he was convinced that this was the best way to depart.

Fate dealt an ugly, yet opportune hand in late April as Phoenix and Miles were having breakfast on the deck on the side of the house.

Miles was reading the morning paper on his laptop.

"Hmm..." Miles said as he scrolled through the page.

"What?" Phoenix asked, his mouthful of bagel and cream cheese. Miles gave him an annoyed look.

"The Great Magnifi Gramarye was shot in his hospital bed last night. Officials are crying suicide, but his family is crying foul play."

"The Great...who?"

Miles threw him another annoyed look. "Magnifi Gramarye. He is, well was, a great magician and his family carried on the tradition. Don't you remember watching him on TV when we were little?"

It was Phoenix's turn to give Miles a confused look. "Yeah I remember, but I'm surprised you remember! I thought you shut out all of your kiddie memories?"

"Heh, well, you have a tendency to bring them out in me!" Miles ducked behind his screen and blushed.

Phoenix chuckled at him, then turned thoughtful. "Hey, I bet someone's gonna need a defense attorney soon!"

"Well, you are mentioned in this article, alongside Kristoph Gavin." Miles eyes narrowed as he remembered what Maya told him about the man behind the name.

Phoenix's eyebrow's shot up. "Kristoph? Humph...looks like I'll have to put on my best poker face and challenge him for that case!"

Something inside Miles snapped when Phoenix said Kristoph's name, and suddenly things were working in his favor.

"Oh no! You are not setting foot in that place again as long as I am still on American soil! And you will not go anywhere near Kristoph Gavin." Miles eyes were full of fire as Phoenix was taken aback.

"Uuhh...ok, whatever you say!" Then he leaned on his hand and fluttered his eyes at Miles. "Is someone jealous?"

Miles frowned at his dark-haired companion. "No, I just don't want you to get in over your head in something that you are able to avoid!"

"Alright, alright, you win!" Phoenix put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Thank you."

Nothing was mentioned about their conversation until a couple days later. Phoenix arrived home from doing paperwork at his office and found Miles sitting at his kitchen partition,his laptop in front of him, typing furiously. He walked to the fridge and out of habit reached for a beer. Disappointment hit him as he remembered Miles took all the alcohol out of the house a few months back. So he reached for bottled water instead. He leaned across the partition to crane his neck to read what Miles was typing. Miles huffed at him and gently pushed his head out of the way. Phoenix pouted.

"What the hell are you typing that could be more exciting than me? Oh wait, your laptop is more exciting than I am." Sarcasm dripped from Phoenix's voice as he walked around Miles.

Miles cringed inside. He deserved that. "I am typing up some last minute documents that will take care of my personal property here in America."

"Am I part of that personal property?" Phoenix stepped up behind Miles and wrapped his arms around him.

Miles drew in a deep breath and set his jaw. "No you are more than personal property..."

Phoenix kissed Miles on the ear, "Well, I would hope so!" Then started nibbling. Miles's self-control started to wane as his typing became sporadic. He managed to keep himself in check as he clenched his jaw. "I love you." Phoenix sighed deeply and stepped away from the prosecutor who didn't respond. Phoenix threw Miles a look of confusion when he didn't answer and a dark feeling formed in the pit of his stomach.

Something on the dining room table caught Phoenix's eye and he walked over to investigate. It was a white envelope that had his name written in an elegant script that was similar to Miles's. Shivers ran up the dark-haired mans spine as he thought of the note that Miles had written so long ago...

"Huh?" Miles glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot that arrived for you earlier today. I-I honestly wasn't going to give it to you because it involves Kristoph. I really don't like that man, and I can see why Maya and Pearls didn't like him either." Miles paused and watched as Phoenix turned the envelope over in his hands. He seemed to be in deep thought. "Anyway, he delivered it personally to you."

"Oh, I see..." Phoenix paused and started to open the envelope, when something that Miles had said made him stop. "Wait, Maya and Pearls didn't like Kristoph? They sure put on a good show! Maya was there everyday, helping me..." He put a finger to his lips thoughtfully. "I guess Pearls wasn't there..." Phoenix's phone interrupted his thoughts.

"Konstatin! Priviat! Shto ti deliesh**?" He walked into the living room to finish his conversation. Miles drew another short breath and strained to listen. "Zak...challenge me.." The hand had been dealt. "Kristoph lost?" And Kristoph had shown his hand, now it was Miles's turn to end the game.

"Okay...calm down, I will be down there in a few minutes. Da, da ...those cards are perfect." Phoenix finished his conversation as he walked into the kitchen. "Miles..."

"Don't do it Phoenix." He said not looking up from his laptop.

"But miles, this is a great opportunity to breath life into my career, get me going on the right foot." Phoenix pleaded. Miles was suddenly standing in front of him, his arms crossed.

"Phoenix, do you really want to restart your career with a poker game?" He swallowed hard. "I can't let you go down there."

"Miles Edgeworth...I would think you of all people would understand that I need this. I need to get myself back on my feet."

Miles cringed at the sound of his full name.

"I do understand, I can't let you go down there and blow everything you know on a Poker game either. Phoenix, if you leave this house, then...then I leave America tonight." The prosecution held Phoenix's confused gaze.

"I-I Miles! Please! I need to do this, just tonight, and then I promise I will never step foot inside that place again."

Miles felt something inside him shatter and all the old walls went up. Promises were something he never dealt well with, and now that Phoenix was promising a lie, a part of him died inside. His decision was made for him as soon as Phoenix said promise. He did the only thing he could that wouldn't make him totally break down. He stepped up to Phoenix and wrapped his arms around him for the last time.

Phoenix didn't notice the stoic face as he left.

As soon as he came back later that night, he finally figured out what the strange feeling that had came to him earlier meant.

He felt the stillness as soon as he opened the door. He took a deep breath and walked around the house, noticing the subtle differences and missing items. He knew the comfort he had been feeling was only temporary. Everything with Miles was only temporary. His body shook to the core as his head started to pound. Every breath was a struggle as his lungs started to burn. He had never felt so alone... so afraid... so broken...

Miles never said he loved him back earlier that night. That's when everything started to feel wrong. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists and screamed, even though he knew it was childish. His hands were still shaking as he walked into the kitchen. There on the counter was an off-white envelope with the words 'meine Leibe' written in Miles's perfect script. Everything he had ever lived for...breathed for... changed everything in his life for had flown to Germany. Phoenix wiped his eyes and read the last thing that Miles would ever write to him.

"Phoenix,

Please don't resent me. I'm strong on the surface, but not all the way through. You always knew I've never been perfect. The night you came to me with your nightmares was the turning point in our lives. Now I wish I could've kept a level head and turned you away. But, I've never been able to say no to you, until now. Why do we live like this, running away from each other? When you think of me, forget the harm that I have done. Please let me leave behind some reasons to be missed. When you are feeling empty, keep me safe in your memory. Leave out all the rest. Please remember, I have and will always love you.

Miles Edgeworth"

** "Konstatin, Hello! What are you doing?" Or loosely translated as "How's it going?" as well.