A/N: I swear that in my mind this epilogue was only going to be about 500 words. ...Oops? But hey, it's still out before Dual Destinies.

Anyways, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Hopefully after I exhaust the new game I'll be prepared to write something new!

-LAX-

Phoenix hated goodbyes. Especially goodbyes with Miles. The prosecutor wasn't the type for them; they weren't written into his code. For years, he had booked his flights early and slipped out the door without telling a soul. Phoenix hated that, waking up to a cold, empty space where Miles should be. It was a harsh reminder that they inevitably had to return to their separate lives, but it was just Miles' way. He showed up without warning and disappeared just as spontaneously. It had taken him forever to convince Miles that, this time, Phoenix was going to follow him all the way to the airport. It hurt having him leave so suddenly but, even though this time was going to be different, Phoenix could never shake the sadness that soured the event at the fact that they would be parting ways soon. Maybe for a long time. Phoenix got that this was probably why Miles always tried to avoid goodbyes. They sucked.

On the other hand, the week that they had gotten spend together had been close to great. Phoenix had been released from the hospital before the last day of Apollo's trial. His ankle had felt much better, although it was still a little sore. Miles had insisted he do a minimal amount of walking and so - though it was a little over-kill in his opinion - Phoenix spent most of the week spread out on the couches at the Agency. He wasn't too hesitant about raising his complaints over it, either. If he was going to suffer doting from Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, than the other man was going to suffer along with him.

In the end, the two of them had spent most of their days snuggled together on one of the couches marathoning the Steel Samurai like Phoenix had promised. Phoenix was so comfortable just laying around with Miles that after they ran out of episodes he decided to pop in the Pink Princess instead of get up. Trucy joined them every once in a while when she wasn't running around with Apollo or preforming at the bar (something Miles heavily disapproved of). She had even expressed concern over the fact that Miles hadn't worn proper clothes in three days, buried under blankets in his silky pink pajamas, worried that her Papa was going to become as lazy as her Daddy. Lazy or not, Phoenix would have been okay with a little more action during their rare time alone, but it was a nice change just having Miles close enough to hold.

They had worked their way through most of the Nickel Samurai before time ran out.

As it was, Miles had driven the three of them to the airport in his shoddy rental car, cursing out the engineering the whole way. Trucy was more than happy to tag along, wanting to see her Papa off. She hadn't complained at getting up early and jumped excitedly into the back of the rental van. Miles had promised to take her driving if she had her permit the next time he visited.

"I don't need to drive, Papa," Trucy had said from the back seat. "I'm not a prosecutor."

"What?" Miles had asked, glancing back at her in the mirror. Phoenix had turned around to see her in the seat behind him.

This had to be good.

"Well, Papa, you're a prosecutor and you drive. And Prosecutor Gavin drives," she had tapped her chin with a few fingers while she reasoned. Phoenix hadn't been so convinced that he considered what Klavier did to be 'driving' with the way the prosecutor sped about on that motorcycle, but he had let Trucy finish. "But Daddy and Apollo don't drive. So if I'm not a prosecutor, than I don't need to drive, right?" She had seemed pretty pleased with her logic.

"Trucy..." Miles had started, shooting Phoenix a concerned look. It had hardened rather quickly. "You explain, Phoenix."

"Trucy," Phoenix had said. "You're absolutely right."

"Phoenix!"

Phoenix had shrugged at the exasperated prosecutor. He supposed he'd have to call a taxi to get them home.

Now, they were at the security gate. The worst part was yet to come. Phoenix stood with Trucy, looking around the busy area. Numerous signs around the checkpoint constantly reminded that no one without a boarding pass was allowed past this point. As if Phoenix could forget. He'd been through this too many times.

Miles was standing with his arms crossed and back turned to Trucy and her father, squinting at the flight charts. Phoenix could just barely make out his familiar figure with the influx of travelers all pushing past one another. Usually he would have a briefcase or some small carry-on, but Phoenix figured that he must not have had the time to pack anything extra with how quickly he had arrived in the States.

"Miles, just admit it," Phoenix forged his way through the crowd, resting a hand on the other man's shoulder when he reached him. "You need glasses." Phoenix wanted to lighten the mood. He also didn't want to look at the chart himself.

His heart seemed to know exactly how much time was left before Edgeworth's departure.

"I do not!" Miles protested, shrugging Phoenix's hand off. "I can see perfectly fine."

Phoenix rolled his eyes. He pointed at the flight chart. "Oh yeah? Tell me what time your flight is arriving." He had to raise his voice to be heard over the people gathered under the chart, clutching their boarding passes and trying to find their flights on the board of numbers.

Phoenix had memorized Miles' flight numbers all the way to Germany.

Miles huffed as if Phoenix had asked him to count to ten. "It's..." Miles leaned forward. Phoenix couldn't see from his position behind the prosecutor, but he guessed that Miles was squinting harder. "It's... Why do they write it so small!"

"Daddy?" Trucy appeared from the crowd, joining them. "Is Papa going blind?"

"I'm afraid so, Trucy," Phoenix responded, shaking his head.

"Oh, Papa..."

"I am not!" Miles protested, turning around to fix the two of them with a good, penetrating look.

Phoenix smirked at him. Miles sighed in frustration and adjusted his clothing. He pulled out his phone and checked the display.

"Either way, unless my flight is going to be exceptionally delayed, it's about an hour until I need to start going through security." Miles shut his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. "Let's get away from here, there are too many people."

Surrounding the entrance to the security gates were shops and food courts. Miles led them towards the shops, holding Trucy's hand the whole way and insisting she not get lost. Phoenix was going to remind Miles of how old Trucy was, but she didn't seem to mind and Phoenix was enjoying watching the two of them bump around among the crowds. He kept his hands in his jacket pockets, though at one point Trucy looped her free hand around his arm and oddly linked the three of them in a chain.

Miles led the way out of the crowd and into a slightly less packed coffee shop. It was early, but it wasn't so early that the commuters were getting their first cup. Trucy dragged Edgeworth to a round table by the window while Phoenix got in line. She sat as close to her Papa as possible. If she moved over any more Phoenix thought she might fall out of her chair. Ordering was simple: tea for Miles (Phoenix knew how he liked it), coffee for himself (the whole incident with Godot all those years ago somehow hadn't scarred him, or maybe it was just the need for caffeine that kept him drinking it), and hot chocolate for Trucy. Phoenix returned quickly with their drinks and sat down on Mile's other side.

The coffee shop was quieter, so hearing each other wouldn't be a problem. But even so, not one of them made much of an effort to start a conversation. Miles thanked Phoenix for his drink before they all lapsed onto silence again. All in all, Phoenix found that his own mood to be in the pits. The inevitable reason why they were all here was starting to loom, and even Trucy's usual good mood was starting to be effected. Though maybe that was just the drinks. There was something to be said for airport food, Phoenix mused. It was a special kind of terrible.

That wasn't to say that Phoenix wasn't enjoying the grimace Edgeworth made every time he took another sip, probably just to put something in his system that would keep him awake through his first flight. Phoenix knew that Miles wasn't one for sleeping on planes, in case he encountered any turbulence. Phoenix didn't particularly want to dwell on the thought of Miles suddenly waking up ten thousand feet in the air thinking he was in the middle of an earthquake. He brushed this thought away by continuing to watch Miles attempt to down his crappy tea. It wasn't fair how someone could make that face and still look like they belonged on the cover of a magazine, and Phoenix was going to enjoy every minute of it that he had left.

It wouldn't be long before Miles was gone again.

After finishing their less-than-satisfactory drinks, they wandered back out into the crowd, Trucy again joining their hands. Phoenix wasn't surprised when she suddenly pulled them in one direction and into a book store. He let her navigate through the aisles by herself, pulling out different books on magic and then putting them back after a few pages. Looking around, Phoenix found that Miles had rooted himself in a relatively empty section of the store, anxiously following Trucy with his eyes as if she would be swallowed up if he blinked. Phoenix got a little closer and, with great restraint, chose to pretend to watch Trucy too instead of mentioning the particular section Miles had decided to stand in to the prosecutor. It paid off, as several middle-aged woman crossed in front of Miles, at first upset that the adult section was being blocked, but their facial expressions quickly changed as they prepared to confront the handsome, constipated-looking man doing the blocking. In the end, they all failed to approach him, preferring to detour to the shelves nearby and pretend that they weren't checking Miles out.

Phoenix had to bite his cheek. Miles probably looked like every male protagonist in the books they were after: well dressed and with a pretty face. With the way he was watching Trucy like a fretful parent, the whole scene looked like soap opera waiting to happen. Phoenix allowed himself to chuckle. Miles, of course, was completely oblivious to the curious eyes of the ladies. But that was Miles for you. Phoenix wondered how many times Miles had been shamelessly flirted with and not responded in any way. He had seen it happen plenty of time himself and he'd gotten some good stories out of Detective Gumshoe. Prosecutor Edgeworth was like a robot when it came to women. Or really anyone daring enough to try to catch his eye, but it was always the girls that trailed after Miles like he was as famous as Klavier Gavin. Even Maya had expressed how pretty she thought he was back in the early days, and he had been trying to convict her for murder.

I guess that makes me special, Phoenix thought, his ring hand in his pocket absently starting to play with the metal band on his finger. It was true, out of all the people who admired Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix had ultimately won. He was the only one who had even been given a chance. He, of course, had admired Miles most of all: intellectually, as an opponent, and, most importantly, as the person he was underneath that thick skin of his. Miles Edgeworth was far more than a pretty face. Phoenix's chest swelled with emotion as he recalled all the trouble he'd had to go through to prove it to the man himself. He had been determined to make Miles realize how great he was and in the process Miles had, for some strange reason, found something in Phoenix.

Miles was a very private man and he might not be the type for "I love you" and "goodbye", but he had picked Phoenix. Somehow, that said it all in a very Miles Edgeworth manor.

One of the women had wandered over to the shelf that Phoenix was not even pretending to browse anymore. During his thoughts, Phoenix had stopped looking around and instead had just ended up staring at Miles. Oh well. Miles was nice to look at.

"Excuse me honey," the woman spoke softly, coming closer to Phoenix's section of the rack. Phoenix made to move over, but she held up a hand to stop him. She glanced fleetingly at Miles before returning his very confused gaze. Wait, was she going go ask him to confront Miles and make him move? Ha. That would be good.

"Are you looking at that man over there?" She nodded her head in Miles' general direction, obviously trying (and failing) to be discrete.

"Uh..." What kind of a question was that? And what was he supposed to say?

Yes, ma'am. I am checking out my damn fine husband.

"I'm sorry," the woman continued, shaking her head. "But I just don't think you have a chance. You're not his type, if you know what I mean." She was staring disdainfully at something over his head, which Phoenix assumed was his beanie. Rude.

Maybe this lady was related to Oldbag.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Phoenix shrugged, his hands still resting nonchalantly in his pockets. An idea was coming to him. "But at least I can get him to move over for you."

The woman was opened her mouth to say something else, the expression on her face telling Phoenix that is was likely a protest, but Phoenix headed over to Miles before she could try and stop him. The focused prosecutor didn't even notice him as he continued to stiffly follow Trucy with his eyes. Phoenix reached out and took his hand.

"Hey, let's get out of here."

Miles reached into his pocket checked his phone, presumably for the time. "Yes, we should go..." Louder he called, "Trucy!" She looked up from the book she was currently browsing, something about magic wands. Miles pointed to the front of the store, which she promptly headed to after putting the book back on a shelf that it probably didn't come from. Oh well.

Miles didn't pull his hand out of Phoenix's as they made their way to follow her. Phoenix didn't look back, but he was sure that if he had there would have been several gawking women watching their departure in disbelief.

Yep. Phoenix was definitely the lucky one.

-LAX-

"Hey, Miles! Aren't you forgetting something?"

Miles turned around. Phoenix was standing at the edge of the crowd where he had left him to get in line for security. Trucy had been there too, but she was gone now. Phoenix was waving him back over.

Goodbyes had been quick. Trucy had hugged him and he had given Wright a good nod. It was quick and sufficient, the way Miles liked it. But now this...

What do you want? I already told you I'm not going to kiss you here...Idiot.

Phoenix was still waving to him. Maybe he was just trying to delay the inevitable. Miles fought through the crowd to reach the raggedy-looking man again, as Phoenix had refused to put on anything nicer than his jacket and sweatpants. Maybe for the better, as a small circle had formed around Phoenix in the flow of people which made it easier for Miles to cut through, probably because the travelers didn't want to get too close to Phoenix in his shady outfit. If it were anyone else in that get up, Miles would have avoided them, too. When he finally did reach the man in question, Phoenix had one of his famous smirks on his face.

Oh great. What do you want from me? Miles thought dolefully.

"What are you talking about?" he said out loud. "Maybe you've forgotten that I have a flight to catch."

Phoenix shook his head. He pulled his other hand out of his pocket, the hand that hadn't been waving, and held up a gold ring. "How about this?"

Miles's eyes widened. Instinctively, one hand reached into his pocket and, sure enough, no ring was to be found. "When did you...?"

Phoenix shrugged, still holding the ring up. He twirled it between his thumb and index finger. "Back at the hospital."

So it hadn't been loose change that he was after. Sneaky bastard.

"Why-?"

"Just curious to see if you would miss it." Phoenix was still smiling, though Miles couldn't fathom as to why. He'd almost left without his wedding band. The guilt was mortifying.

Although, Miles hadn't exactly been wearing proper clothes for the last few days, either. So not noticing it was gone from his pocket was almost understandable?

That's still no excuse.

"Well, I've noticed." Miles said tautly. He was so embarrassed that he almost wanted to forget about getting the ring back and jump on his flight instead. The faster he was hundreds of miles away from here, the better. "May I have it back, now?"

"I've been waiting for you to say that," Phoenix's smirk expanded into a genuine, toothy Phoenix-grin. It was really the only way for Miles to explain it.

...Miles was going to miss that stupid, happy look on his face.

When Miles reached to for the ring, Phoenix grabbed his hand and turned it over. Miles tried to pull away and just take it, but Phoenix held tight. He spread Miles fingers and slipped the ring into place on his hand.

"There. Now you won't lose it." Phoenix turned his head up to smile winningly at him.

"I wouldn't have lost it in the first place if you hadn't stolen it." Miles tried to sound angry, but Phoenix still had Miles' hand held captive in his warm grip. Miles didn't particularly want to let go.

Why did Phoenix have to call him back? He had almost been gone; the pain of their goodbyes had almost been over with. Miles hated leaving Phoenix and with every time he always found another reason why, this time, he should stay.

But there were always a million more reasons to leave piling up on his desk back in Germany.

"Are you going to let go?" Miles said after a long moment, although it came out more breathy than he had been trying for.

Phoenix finally frowned. It didn't make Miles feel any better, but it was more natural for the situation. Phoenix took a while to answer him, probably stalling for time. He looked down at their hands, and Miles followed his gaze. Both had rings on them this time, two simple gold bands with scratches and worn spots, in need of a good shine. It said something about them, Miles thought. They might not take the best care of their relationship but, with a little polishing, things always fell right back into place.

Eventually, Phoenix looked up and waited for Miles to return his gaze before answering. He had a serious composure, and it was almost frightening to Miles how intense his eyes were. Miles expected to get some deep answer, like "never" or "if only I could", but instead Phoenix's stare broke into a coy grin.

"Only if you say you'll miss me."

Miles almost smacked him. "The only thing I'm going to be missing is my flight."

Suddenly, Phoenix tugged Miles' hand down and used the distance that closed between them to pull Miles in for a kiss. It was hard, smashing their lips together. Miles closed his eyes and gave in. He didn't like to display affection in public, as he considered affections to be a private matter, but heavens knew when he was going to see Phoenix again. Screw it all, just this once. When he opened his eyes, Phoenix was gone. Miles couldn't even make out his retreating form in the flow of people. He had taken his warmth with him and Miles' hand hung cold and empty where he hand been holding to Phoenix's. His ring, however, still held a little of the heat from Phoenix's pocket and so Miles left it on his finger all through security and passed the flight gate until even that reminder of Phoenix's warmth was gone.

It wasn't until his third flight that Miles pulled the ring back out of his pocket, too numb from the cliché sadness of leaving his lover behind to even think about working, and the airline had yet to ask him what he wanted for dinner. He needed something because he wasn't ready to let go yet, his mind wandering back to Phoenix and his warm skin and his warm smiles. Miles slid the ring onto his finger, although it wasn't the same as when Phoenix had done it. To Miles' surprise, the ring was warm again from being in his own pocket.

Miles decided that maybe he would start keeping his ring in his pocket not because he wanted to keep it a secret or fall into a habit he had picked up from his mentor, but because when he slipped it on after it spent some time in his pocket he could pretend that it was warm from Phoenix, instead of himself. It would be his own private piece of Phoenix to keep with him, meant for him alone. Miles supposed that that was what the ring was supposed to mean in the first place.

And just maybe that would get him through the day feeling a little less cold in the absence that Phoenix's goodbyes always left in his heavy heart.