The Realization of a Turnabout

"Nick, what am I to you?" Maya Fey placed the picture of her deceased sister on the desk.

"Well you're my assistant. Why do you ask?" The spiky-haired lawyer didn't even look up from the case file.

"No Nick! I mean why do you have me as an assistant?" Phoenix stared at the ceiling. What does she want me to do?

"Uh, well… You help me by channeling your sister…" Maya gave a discouraged look, "Oh. Well thanks." I guess, she thought quietly. "Well I have to go… see ya tomorrow." Maya left, shutting the door quietly behind her. What the heck was that about? Phoenix shook his head; he could never understand that girl.

"Mr. Nick!" Pearl Fey, Maya's cousin, popped out from behind a potted plant. "That was so… so… UNROMANTIC!"

"Pearly! How long were you behind that plant," Phoenix managed to blurt out, his heart still going at least one hundred miles an hour. It wasn't everyday a ten year old almost slaps you from behind a plant.

"No time for that! Now you have to go and apologize to Mystic Maya!" Pearl began to push Phoenix towards the door. "Apologize? About what?" This girl always seemed to be babbling about one thing or another. "For what you just said," she exclaimed as if it was clear as day. "Pearls, I don't understand. What the heck are you talking about?" Pearl folded her arms as if she was about to lecture a child. "You just told Mystic Maya the only reason she is your assistant is because of her channeling abilities!" Phoenix shrugged, "So? It gives us an advantage in court." Pearls slapped him across the face. "Well is that the only thing she has done for you?" Without giving him a chance to answer, she continued on her rant. "What about when she saved a vital piece of evidence after being tasered? Or maybe you can recall when she was kidnapped and cared more about finding the true murderer than her own safety." His stomach flipped over as recalled that memory. It always haunted his thoughts. What if he hadn't gotten to her in time? What if De Killer hadn't believed him about the tape? What if he had to prove Engarde guilty and seal Maya's fate as well? What if Maya had died? So many 'what if's' ran through his head as Pearl continued. "And not only did she stand by your side when you defended the man thought of stealing our prized urn, she was possessed by your evil and dead girlfriend." Actually part of that was your fault… "And of course, there is Iris." Phoenix was forced into a corner, metaphorically and physically. They had dated, but just for a short while. "Pearls, I told you this over a million times, we're just friends. We thought we could go back to how it was, but… things have changed over time. I became a lawyer, I've become a lot more critical and sarcastic, and….

I've fallen in love with Maya.

"Feenie, this is so much fun," Iris squealed in delight. "Do want me to feed you like we used to during college?" Phoenix turned a light shade of pink, "Iris, there are people watching…" Iris blinked. "So? They can all see how much in love we are," she gushed. "Uh…" He turned slightly redder. "Soooo," prolonging the word, he tried to come up with a conversation. "How do you like it out of prison?" Iris scrunched up her face in disgust. "I hated it there, but really I felt sorry for your friend. She was there with Dahlia inside of her." She whispered Dahlia's name as if it was a curse word. Phoenix chuckled, "Didn't you know that spirit mediums can't remember anything when having another spirit residing in them." Iris stared, "Wow, you know a lot about spirit mediums, don't you?" He quickly explained how Maya was his assistant and he had been to her village a few times. "Oh! Well I'm glad she never had to visit that atrocious place!" He chuckled again, "Well actually she has been there a few times. Well first she was framed for the murder of her sister, that's when I first met her. Then she was framed for the murder of a doctor. Of course she was hauled away in court after an outburst, she really saved me there! And then there was-" Iris interrupted him. "Phoenix." Then with dead serious, hurt eyes she asked, "How long have you been in love with Maya Fey?"

Phoenix tried turn away from the memory, but it kept replaying in his mind.

"Hey, Feenie." Iris rubbed his back. "Its okay, people fall in and out of love all the time." She looked as if she was trying to convince herself that, too. "I know Iris, but I can't fall in love with her!" Iris looked shocked, "Why not, you acted as if the whole world revolved around her. An office romance, nothings more exciting!" Iris perked up a bit. "And then when I found a new man, we could double date! Its like nothing ever changed, but it did!" Phoenix couldn't help but smile at her optimism. She wouldn't have any trouble finding the perfect man for her. But he would watch her, just to make sure creeps didn't try and touch her. "So Feenie! Are you going to ask her out?" She began to ramble about how the first date always left the best impression of your character. Like Maya didn't already know what kind of person he was… but this was wrong! "Ugh! I can't fall for a girl who was almost ten years younger than me!" He dropped his head in his hands. It was immoral, the girl was barley nineteen! She couldn't even drink, let alone date a man in his late twenties! Why is this so hard? "Its alright," Iris placed her arm around his shoulder, gently rubbing it. "You'll know what to do." Phoenix faces Iris, her face illuminated in the fading light. "Hey Iris, I love you." He kissed her cheek. "Just not like that." She finally broke down, sobbing into his suit. Why couldn't he fall for someone like he? His age, pretty, selfless… He shook his head. No, he loved a younger girl, who was stubborn, childish, got under his skin, and made his stop whenever he saw her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Like that helped anything.

Why is this so hard?

"Why is this so frickin' hard?" He finally couldn't hold it back. "What," Pearls squeaked as stood up and began to pace furiously across the room. "If you must know, I do have feelings for Maya!"

Man it feels good to get that off my chest.

"Everyday I see her; I fall in love over and over again. I want to tell her, I really do! But she's still a kid in most of the world's eyes! And in the small other part of the world, she is some almighty psychic leader. There are no eyes to see her as my 'special someone', my Maya." He fell back into the desk chair, amazed at how much better he felt. "Mr. Nick, you're wrong. There is one pair of eyes that see her as that." She ran over and held him tight. She was a kid, but she could tell he was in pain. "Thanks Pearls."

"No Nick," a quiet voice sobbed, "There are two." Maya stood in the doorway, tears running down her red face. "M-Maya," he stammered. "Why are you here?" She tried to calm herself. Hiccuping, she replied, "I forgot P-Pearly. *hic hic* And I came right back up. A-And I *hic* heard everything. B-But now *hic* I really need *hic* a t-tissue…" He laughed softly, "Come here Maya." She sat down on his lap, still hiccuping and sobbing to herself. Phoenix began to wipe away her tears with his thumb, but soon he was lost in her watery gaze. Ever slowly, he could feel his face moving closer and closer. She began to lean in, her eyelids slowly closing. Their lips met with a spark. They seem to match perfectly as Maya slid her arms around his neck. His hands moved across her back, pulling her closer to him. He could feel their legs, which had been hanging loosely over the ground because of Mia's tall chair, tangle. Gaining control of himself, he released her, pulling his head back so he could stare at her once again. "Maya, I can't do this. Its just you're you and I'm me." Maya pouted, "So? You love me right? And… I love you." She nestled up against his wrinkled jacket. "That's just it. I've been through heart break and relationships. I know what it feels like to love someone, but you haven't experienced much. You been holed up in your village filled with woman's stories of their love-life." Maya's eyes welled up as soon as she realized he was right. "B-but what if I really do love you?" Phoenix gave her a gentle squeeze. "I'll be here, waiting for you."

I'll always be here for you.

"So what's up with the videos, Mr. Wright?" Apollo Justice flipped through the boxes.

"Ah, nothin'," he chuckled. "Some kid keeps sending them to me. I'll tell you about her sometime." He watched the young defense attorney leave his hospital room. Ah, kids, he thought to himself.

Its okay, people fall in and out of love everyday. Right?

"Get outta' my way," a girl screamed down the hall. "Boyfriend was hit by a car here!" A short woman with a long mop of black hair was standing in front of the doorway. "Hey Nick, you still in one piece?" She tried to joke around, but worry still gleamed in her eyes. "Hey kid, I'm alright. See?" He walked over to her. "I'm not a kid anymore," she smiled affectionately. "See?" She pulled his face to hers, kissing him for a good minute. "M-Maybe," he stammered.

But we sure haven't.

Author Notes:

This last part might be confusing. If you haven't played Apollo Justice, in one of the cases Phoenix (who now is thirty-something and looks like a hobo) was hit by a car. And Apollo is just the main character of that game… I wished that Maya would've shown up in that game.

Well… that was my first post on here. I'm not too good at this yet, I have done one full four part fanfic of Maya and Phoenix on DA. It was called Turnabout Future and it was okay besides the spelling mistakes I recently saw…oops. Criticism is appreciated.

P.S. If you have a better suggestion for a name, please tell me! I sorta just came up with that on the fly…