41 Almost Paradise  

I thought that dreams belonged to other men
‘Cause each time I got close, they’d fall apart again
I feel my heart a-beating in secrecy
I face the nights alone, oh how could I have known?
In all my life I only needed you

Oh, almost paradise
We’re knocking on heaven’s door
Almost paradise
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I could see forever in your eyes
Paradise

It seems like perfect love’s so hard to find
I’d almost given up, you must have read my mind
And all these dreams I save for a rainy day
They’re finally coming true, I’ll share them all with you
‘Cause now we hold the future in our hands

Oh, almost paradise
We’re knocking on heaven’s door
Almost paradise
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I could see forever in your eyes
Paradise
And in your arms salvation’s not so far away
It’s getting closer, closer every day

Almost paradise
We’re knocking on heaven’s door
Almost paradise
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I could see forever in your eyes
Paradise, paradise
Paradise

Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey
Edgeworth Master Bedroom (AKA Love Shack)
September 17, 2020, 7:05 PM

Maya couldn’t help but admire the understated but unmistakable opulence of the luxe penthouse as she and Phoenix plodded across the living room and down the hallway to where the sleeping quarters were.

Looking like something straight out of the pages of a refined home-inspiration magazine, the barrister’s posh, Italian style décor was garnished with gold gilt trim, inlaid everywhere from the mahogany furnishings to the terrazzo flooring, as well as the frames on the mirrors and the fresco-inspired murals. The condo also featured two large bedrooms, each separated at either end of the suite, both featuring a sitting area, a walk-in closet, and a full bathroom.

The restrooms boasted an oversized, walk-in rain shower that doubled as a steam room that was made of sleek glass tiles and was separate from the sunken marble, deep-soaking tub. Vintage black and white film photography brought iconic and historic cultural moments to life on the walls. The psychic poked her head into both, marveling at how the splendor of it all, before at last following her beau into Edgeworth and Franziska’s boudoir.

The master bedroom was Classic European décor with rich, vibrant color tones, teak flooring, and an expansive walk-in closet. Its en-suite bathroom had exotic stones and custom-designed, marble mosaic flooring. The focal point of the room, however, was the enormous, immaculately made, California king-sized bed, which looked large enough to accommodate ten people.

Bedroom. Giant bed. Phoenix. Maya. Alone. At last.

That’s when the reality finally sunk in for the two of them – they were finally alone together, just as they’d been longing to be for far too long. But now that the time was there … now what?

The pianist regarded his swain with the same bashful expression in his eyes that she’d glimpsed earlier that evening, and she suddenly felt every bit the quivering, timid virgin she’d been on the night of her 21^st birthday a year and a half ago … excited, but so uncertain, and so unsure how to proceed…

They approached one another timidly, hesitantly, as though the other were breakable. It had been so long since they’d been alone together, that the bond between them seemed fragile just then, both apprehensive about the future and the wounds they could inflict with all their jagged edges.

After staring at each other for what seemed like ages, tentatively, almost shyly, Phoenix leaned forward, tugged Maya’s wrist, and pulled her toward him until she collided, somewhat startled, against his body, with her parted lips barely an inch apart from his. She put her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him closer until they were standing in each other’s arms. His lips were soft against her temple as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest as if he’d been waiting for this forever and he wasn’t going to let her escape.

“Hey,” he whispered after a while. His warm breath felt like heaven against her skin.

She turned and tilted her head up to meet his gaze, his nose now touching hers, his lips one breath away, his eyes already devouring her, and she was a puddle with no arms or no legs. She could smell him everywhere; she could feel every point of his physique pressed against hers – his hands at her waist, gripping her hips, his legs flush against her own, his chest overpowering her with strength, his muscular frame built by bricks of desire.

She had never felt this secure. At last, in the middle of Edgeworth’s bedroom, in her lover’s long-coveted embrace, everything else faded away, and she was completely safe. She wrapped her arms around his waist beneath his shirt, luxuriating in his strength. His breath wafted against the top of her head, and his heart was beating steadily beneath her cheek. The soft cotton of his thin black T-shirt felt comforting against her face. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy how he made everything feel so right.

Suddenly overwhelmed by an irresistible impulse to connect with him physically, she instinctively withdrew a fraction, her fingertips tracing the contours of his sculpted chest, the defined ridges of his abdomen, and the enticing lines of his hipbones. Maya found herself particularly enamored with his slender hips, especially when they were ensconced between her thighs. With a sense of liberation coursing through her, she trailed both hands up his spine, across his broad shoulders, and down his sinewy biceps, savoring the liberty to explore. She caressed his hips with the gentle stroke of her palms, before shifting her touch to his chiseled pectorals, her lips grazing the sensitive area with a delicate touch. The muscles of his back tensed beneath her touch, signaling his awareness of her kiss. Locking eyes with him once more, she caught her breath at the intensity of desire reflected in his gaze, a shiver coursing through him in response.

Phoenix seized her, drawing her back to him with urgency and intensity. His mouth descended upon hers in a swift, passionate embrace. The moment their lips met, a low, guttural moan escaped him. Maya’s lips tasted sweet, her touch soft and exquisite, sending a surge of longing coursing through him. Their bodies melded together seamlessly, moving in perfect synchrony as their mouths danced in unison. Hands explored curves and muscles with eager anticipation, breaths quickening in tandem. And when Maya tangled her fingers in his hair, it was as if a dam had burst, unleashing a torrent of desire and longing that had been building within him.

His arms encircled her waist, solid as steel bands, lifting her effortlessly as he reveled in the flawless alignment of her body against his. With a fervent grip, she clung to his neck, her embrace mirroring his intensity as their kiss transcended innocence, hurtling into a realm of heated passion bordering on the brink of losing control.

You and I, it’s as if we’ve been schooled in the art of kissing by the divine and then dispatched to earth in tandem, tasked with testing our proficiency in the lessons we’ve been imparted.

With a newfound intensity, he kissed her with a fervor that consumed him. His lips pressed harder, delving deeper, driven by an urgency previously unknown. Breaking away only to draw a breath, he then sought refuge in the enticing curve of her neck, along the delicate expanse of her collarbone, tracing a path up her chin and across her flushed cheeks.

The whirlwind of sensations engulfed him, propelling him toward the brink of delirium, as Maya shifted her legs, each movement a tantalizing dance. One thigh gracefully shifted, followed by the other, enveloping his hips in a cocoon of warmth. He reveled in the delicious pressure of her curves melding against his flesh, igniting an avid inferno coursing through his veins. His fingers instinctively sought purchase on her skin, desperate to anchor himself amidst the tempest of desire.

Her essence ignited like a supernova, flooding her senses with an electrifying awareness. Every nerve ablaze, she yearned to draw him closer and rip his clothes right off him at that very instant. She wanted to strip naked and have him take her, right there in the middle of the bedroom floor.

Powerful hands firmly grasped her backside, their touch intense and insistent, penetrating through layers of fabric. She pressed against him eagerly, prompting a primal growl to escape his lips as he pulled her tightly against his unyielding form, his mouth ravishing hers with a hunger that bordered on consuming.

She returned his kiss, opening her mouth and inviting him inside. It had been so long since they’d kissed, but she didn’t ever remember feeling it down to her toes.  She poured all that she’d been feeling for the past torturous nine months into that kiss – from the initial agony she’d been experiencing since the day he’d left Kurain, to the despair she’d felt the entire time they’d been apart, to the joyous relief she felt that they were finally together now –  as she pressed against him. Lifting her hands to his hair, she ran her fingers through the familiar spikes in the back.

The grazing of even your fully clothed body pressing against mine is enough to ignite a spark within me. I find myself drawn towards your lips, succumbing to the burgeoning flame that consumes and spreads through me.

She heard a moan but wasn’t sure if it was his or her own. He surrounded her, consumed her, and she wanted to give him more to take.

But instead of getting closer, Phoenix unexpectedly set her back down and minutely pulled back, allowing room for a hand to travel under her shirt, fingertips brushing the underside of one breast. He explored her with tender caresses so at odds with the frantic tension exploding between them, palming the heaving mounds, rubbing his thumb over her tingling buds through the thin material covering them until they blossomed, begging to be drawn deep into the warm recesses of his mouth.

“Take this off,” she begged between kisses. “I need to see you…to feel you against me.”

She reached for the bottom of his T-shirt and pushed it higher. Phoenix stopped and watched her with passionate, sapphire orbs. They were exquisite, luminous, and full of love and longing … revealing the depth of desire that this gorgeous, amazing man harbored for her. Thrumming liquid heat swelled low in her belly, threatening to boil over.

He raised his arms, pulling the fabric over his head and flinging it aside. She stared at him in awe; as always, he was so sculpted … so damn beautiful to her. She’d felt his solid muscles working as he’d held her, and finally, she could feast her eyes upon him unabashedly.

Nick is a true rarity — a manifestation of beauty that surpasses the ordinary, leaving me breathless in his presence.

His breath hitched, a gulp swallowed, while his gaze lingered on her lips, hunger evident in the intensity of his stare. His fingers moved with deliberate intent, undoing the buttons of her blouse one by one, unveiling the tantalizing sight of her black, lacy bra against her creamy flesh. Meanwhile, his lips traced a searing trail from her jawline, descending the curve of her neck until they reached the delicate expanse of her collarbone, leaving a scorching imprint in their wake.

“I still can’t believe this is finally going to happen.” His lips trailed a scorching path of open-mouthed kisses along the curve of her shoulder. His touch was tender yet electrifying, sending shivers down her spine as he eased her blouse down her arms.

“God help me, my love.” His voice was thick with longing. “You’re exquisite. I’ve missed touching you like this. I’ve missed my mouth on yours, missed my hands on your body … missed being deep inside of you.”

He was making love to her with his words even though he was barely touching her, and her body came alive. Every inch of skin burned for his touch, her nether regions hot and pulsing, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. His hands tangled in her hair, gently tugging her face closer to his. She stared up into his smoldering gaze, and this time she answered him the way she couldn’t before. This time, she responded in kind, surrendering to the ardency that had been building between them, unable to resist any longer.

“Let’s forget this past year of hell we’ve gone through, being apart,” she breathed into his mouth. “Make me forget, Nick. Make us forget.”

“Maya.” The warmth of her skin against his ignited a tempest within him, while the delicate traces of her perfume at her throat and the enigmatic scent of her hair stirred a primal longing that coursed through every fiber of his being. “How I’ve yearned for your taste, your scent, the essence of your soul intertwining with mine.”

“I’ve longed for this.” Her eyes drifted shut as she surrendered to the inevitable. With silent urgency, she offered her mouth, silently pleading to end the torment of their separation. “I can hardly wait for the touch of your hands upon my knees, to be savored like a cherished book you’ve yearned to read.”

“Then let’s continue this conversation in bed,” he whispered.  “My legs also ache to hear the tales your hands long to tell.”

His fingers caressed the swells of her bosom, tracing the delicate edge of her bra with deliberate precision. With skilled finesse, he removed the last remnants of her attire, unveiling her form inch by tantalizing inch. In a frenzy, she reciprocated, her hands fumbling in their urgency to divest him of his clothing. With a frantic determination, she sought out the drawstring waistband of his jogging pants, fingers grappling with the knot in fevered haste, her breath coming in rapid gasps.

After what seemed like ages, their clothing was finally discarded and they fell back onto the bed, frantically clawing at each other with wild urgency.

Phoenix’s fervent hands and lips roamed her body insistently, expertly. She closed her eyes blissfully as his mouth ran along her cheekbone and then back toward her mouth, gasping as his lips wrapped around the crests of her bosoms, his tongue lapping at the engorged tips before surrounding it with wet heat and suction, making her gasp and writhe beneath him. He caressed her side from bust to hip and back again, over and over, gentling her as her heart raced wildly. He trailed kisses across her chest to the other breast, murmuring words of apology and need in a voice broken by love and the tormented misery they’d had to endure to finally get to this juncture.

“Nick.” The erotic pull of his skillful lips on her heated skin coaxed desire through her restless mind. Her body was already lost in him, greedily seeking the rapture and beauty that was uniquely his.

“I breathe you,” he whispered. “You’re everything. You’re the air.”

He teased her globes with his fingers and planted gentle kisses down her neck, feathering up and down her body while she urged him on with confident fingers, which were intimately roaming over every inch of his heightened body.

“Take me, Nick,” she begged, arching against him. “Take me now.”

He kissed between her breasts and took one of her peaks in his eager mouth as his hand glided across the surface of her skin, moving down to test her, and shook his head.

“You aren’t ready.”

“But I want you.”

“I want you too. But it’s been so long since we were last together. I want to set your body on fire first.”

Maya’s impatient desire was countered by Phoenix’s commitment to see that each of their primal encounters was pleasurable for them both. He’d rather delay entrance and gratification until she was equally as mad with want, rather than speed along before her body was sufficiently aroused.

He trailed kisses down past her navel and then moved lower, his hair caressing her stomach as he settled between her thighs. Spreading her legs further apart, he lowered his head and nipped her thigh right over her pulse point, sucking the flesh into his mouth, feeling the beat against his tongue as he moved his fingers along the seam of her moist folds, reveling in the soft cry she gave in response. The first moan was always his favorite, that long, drawn-out sound of demand and need.

“So ready,” he whispered, wondering how he’d managed to wait this long to make love to this woman. “So wet. So willing.”

Passion like this didn’t burn out. No. The only way to extinguish the fire burning within them both was by coming together in a blaze, unlike anything he’d ever battled before. Running his tongue down and around toward what he wanted so badly, he pulled on her hips so he could get a taste of her sweetness.

At the first, unfamiliar touch of his mouth grazing between her legs, however, she stiffened and modestly tried to draw them closed. He held them firmly apart with his hands, looking up at her with an earnest and determined expression.

“Trust me, my love.” His cadence was a husky murmur. “Don’t pull away. It’s been far too long. I need to make sure you’re ready for me, so I can prove to you it was worth the wait.”

His look of promise and tender persuasion was her undoing. She lay, trembling then, and let him love her with his talented lips and tongue as he’d never done before – light, teasing licks and fluttering dips across the tender flesh that took her to the brink of insanity.

He started from the outside and worked his way in, teasing each dip and curve with his tongue, tasting every inch of moist flesh. She squirmed beneath him, letting out sweet, panting little huffs. Her pulse accelerated, a rapid series of thumps beating against the hands he’d curled around her inner thighs. When he reached her center, he flicked his tongue, darting inside, drawing out her dew, then returning for more of her addicting flavor. God, she tasted good. His tongue surged deeper, wanting to reach the core of her.

Tension spread through her body, tightening everything until she felt like she might snap under the pressure. Maya’s back bowed and hoarse pleas left her lips as Phoenix’s expert lip service, at last, pushed her over the edge, the tip of his tongue giving the softest nudge against her most sensitive spot, bringing her to sweet release.

“Oh, Nick!” She cried out, body arching, legs drawing together, closing him between them as heated relief pulsated through her writhing body. “Nick!”

Maybe he’d been wrong earlier. Her final moans might be his new favorite. Hell, all her moans were damn addicting. He didn’t even care if they violated a noise ordinance.

As she slowly came back down to earth, Maya’s satiated, lust-addled brain managed to register that even after the best climax of her life, what Phoenix had just done to her had been more than just a fantastic sexual experience.

It had been emotional too.

He had been surprisingly tender, paying attention to her desires, to every part of her. He’d taken the time to figure out what she liked. What she craved. How she wanted to be touched.

And now, he was still hard, still waiting for his turn, but not in a rush to get inside her. He wasn’t trying to figure out how long it was going to be until he got to come.

Phoenix truly was the lover of her dreams. She never could have imagined being intimate could be like this. And she’d never known, not until tonight, that she’d needed, desperately needed, to be made love to like this.

Ardently. Wantonly. Without boundaries.

She was so grateful that she would have done anything right then to make him feel as good as she already did.

“I can’t let you go, Maya.” He levered over her as she continued to vibrate with pleasure. “I can’t …”

She barely paused to catch her breath before sitting up and grabbing his head for a searing kiss before pushing him to recline on his back and straddle his hips.

“Then don’t,” she whispered and reached down to encircle his thick shaft. Oh, Lord, he was so big, so hot, and she was so ready to feel all that steely flesh inside her. Then, with a boldness she didn’t know she had, she guided him to her.

She threw back her head and cried out as she sank onto his erection. He instinctively lifted his hips, and she felt the tip of his rigid length nudge against her cervix. The heady ache consumed her.

“Yes, oh, my God, yes,” she gasped, closing her eyes and feeling every inch of him buried deep inside her, her inner walls expanding to accept and accommodate him. She was hot and slick and more than ready for him now, tightening around him instinctively and fitting him like a glove.

When they were at last joined, she stared down into open midnight-blue eyes, their faces only a whisper apart. She moved with him painstakingly slowly, her eyes closing as she focused on the pleasurable sensation of feeling him inside her, before opening them again. Dark blue orbs, heavy with emotion, gazed up, unblinking, into wide chestnut ones. Every movement, every yearning was reflected
between the couple’s eyes.

“I’ve missed you so much.” He nuzzled her nose with his as she gradually increased her pace, lifting his hips in synch to match her frenzied gyrations on top of him.

“Mystic Ami help me, how I’ve needed you like this, Nick –” Her last word was interrupted by a low moan. A delicious shudder came over her body as she rocked against him, amazed that he was able to bring her to the edge of glory again so quickly. “Oh Holy Mother, I’m so damn close … I’ve been waiting so long for this…”

“Me too, baby, me too. Christ, it’s been too long,” he rasped, bucking beneath her so that he was fully sheathed inside of her. “I was so worried after being apart all this time that you’d have moved on from me…”

“Never. It’s still you. It’s still you.” She stopped his mouth with a quick, clinging kiss that scattered his troubled thoughts like dead ashes. “We’ve gone beyond promises. Everything but this moment.”

She reached down to catch his lips as her movements sped. Their tongues explored one another, refusing to allow their groans and confessions to interrupt their connection. He ran his fingers over her back and smoothed over her waist. He slipped his hands under the curve of her bottom so he could lift her slightly, increasing his leverage to go deeper and take more of her, all the while his ministrations rubbing over a place inside her body that was bringing her such bliss.  She wished he would continue forever, thrusting and driving.

Maya had become addicted to this, to him. She adored the way he looked at her in these passionate moments and how the world fell out of focus around them.  She’d been aching and craving him all this time; to feel him loving her, moving with her, being one with her – he always made her feel so sensual, so beautiful.  She would have said that any frenzied peak was an extra gift, in addition to the way she felt when they were conjoined.

She heard him groan and his thrusts were faster now, triggering the euphoric convulsions overcoming her again. Pleasure began to flow, to pull vigorously within her, in spasms that sent ecstasy shooting throughout her body, then traveling within every part of her, grasping her abdomen and stomach, down to her throbbing core. The orgasm sailed, then retreated to build and return until she was screaming at the high beams of the ceiling, her back arching, his back arching, his body slamming up against hers. She felt Phoenix’s simultaneous release at that same moment, his euphoric sounds sparking her fierce yearning to a dizzy pitch, then slowly fulfilled it with piercing, welling intensity, until her own incited cry was swept away as he lifted his head to reclaim her lips with his as his hips slowed and finally stopped. Her body grew slack.

Finally, with sweat drenching both their skins, she collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily for several moments before she felt his arms wrap around her waist, holding her against his glistening, chest, which was rapidly rising and falling. He rolled them over so she was lying cradled against his side on the bed now, both struggling to catch their breaths.

Phoenix reached over and smoothly tucked an errant strand of hair back behind her ear.

“I love you,” he murmured, brushing her lips with his. Gently he explored her face with his fingers as a blind man might; as if he had never seen it before and might never again. “I love you so much, Maya.”

“I love you too, Nick.” She smoothed the damp hair from his temples and smiled at him mischievously.

“But don’t you get too comfortable now, Buster! This was merely an intermission, not the final curtain call! There are nine whole months of making up that you’ve got to do here!”

“Have mercy, woman!” He half laughed, half pleaded, although putting up no resistance as her tiny hands pinned his broad shoulders down then. She flashed a vixenish grin that made her intentions quite clear.

“It’s been nearly a year for me, too! You’ll be the death of me, Maya Fey!”

“Then you’ll die the happiest old man on earth.” She winked lasciviously. “Giddy-up, cowboy.”

Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey 
Edgeworth Master Bedroom (AKA Love Shack)
September 18, 2020, 7:05 AM

The next morning, a still exhausted but happily sated Maya awoke with her head on Phoenix’s chest, with his arms wrapped around her. He stirred slightly and stroked her satiny hair, down to her smooth back, and then back up again, eyes still closed.

Placing a kiss on his warm, bare chest, she leaned up on one elbow.

“Can we talk a bit now?”

“Not until I’ve had my coffee,” he mumbled.

“Nick!” She playfully hit him over the head with her pillow. He still didn’t stir or open his eyes.

“Woman, I am spent! You made me ravage you three times last night, you insatiable wanton seductress! You’re lucky all my necessary parts are still attached to my body!”

“I didn’t hear you complaining at the time!” Maya swallowed back a giggle and leaned over to kiss him. “But fine, how about I talk, you listen?”

“Deal.” Phoenix dropped his arm over his eyes.

And so the Master then proceeded to tell him about what she’d faced back in Kurain when she and her cousin had returned. When she got to the part about The Dragon Lady nearly hitting her cousin, Phoenix jolted up in the bed, his eyes ablaze, now fully alert. Even after reassuring him that her sister had stopped Mildew before she’d ever laid a hand on Pearl, she could still sense his anger at hearing that part of the story. However, he let out a shout of laughter when he heard about Mia’s merciless tirade, along with the pseudo-banishment of Mildred to the outskirts of the village to oversee the cabin rental project with Bikini, and how despite having Fey Manor restored to its former glory, the harrowing memories of the shagadelic 70’s décor remained etched into her mind.

“I almost wish I’d taken photos to show you, but that would mean never getting the images of paisley out of my head!” She shuddered.

“Thanks for sparing me the sight, although rest assured, my love, your depictions are most vivid,” he assured her, twirling a strand of her long hair around his fingers.

“I’m so glad Mia and Edgy came through with their legal stuff!” She enthused. “It honestly was what I needed to attack that Dragon Lady and stuff her back into her cave!”

“I wish I could have helped you out more in that department,” he stated quietly. “I’m sure you could have greatly benefited from a local attorney’s services to have assisted you with that whole Kurain mess.”

Maya looked up at him, although in the dark, shady room, with the drapes closed, it was difficult to make out his expression. She hoped he wasn’t about to get depressed about his plight again. She decided to change the subject.

“I hope the Elders – the non-mean ones, don’t think I was too brutal with Mildew,” she fretted. “Or worse, are disappointed in my inabilities which led to my collapse, and see me as a failure of a Master.”

“I don’t think anybody is disappointed in you,” he reassured her. “I’m sure they’re pleased to have you back. They’re not telling you to quit, are they?”

“Well, no, I don’t think so anyway…”

“See? You’re not a failure. Not like me.”

“Oh, Nick! You’re not a failure,” she implored unequivocally, immediately engaging herself with his problems. “Don’t beat yourself up over this again!  You know that’s exactly what the person who framed you wants!”

“Yeah, I guess. But I can’t help it! And I know everyone thinks I forged that evidence.”

“But I know you didn’t do it. If anyone thinks you did, then they obviously didn’t really know you and aren’t worth your time, anyway.”

“Thanks,” mumbled the hobo, a gross understatement of the immense gratitude he felt for her unwavering loyalty. “But it completely ruins any career prospects. For example, this poker job is terrible. I’m always paranoid I’ll lose and be fired.”

“Poker?” She asked blankly. “I thought you played the piano?”

The clandestine poker champion cursed his slip of the tongue and chose his next words carefully, still loathe to confide to his unassuming lover that his pianist position was a thinly veiled front for being that of a card shark.

“Um, they have me playing cards at this place too now. But they only keep me so long as I keep winning.”

“Does it matter?” Maya demanded. “If you were smart enough to pass law school, I’m sure you can find something else to do…”

“Well … I’m sticking around mostly to see if Trucy’s father is ever going to turn up. If he does, it will probably be on the poker circuit.”

The diviner squizzed at him quizzically and he carefully stretched the truth as much as he could without flat-out lying.

“We have a … card room downstairs where patrons can play poker from time to time and Zak was obsessed with the game. Therefore, hanging about might be the only way to find him!” He cried out in exasperation. “I just can’t seem to stop obsessing over this though, Maya! I’ve got to find out who did this, and what actually happened. I don’t know how much longer I can take this, any more than I know what the future will bring…”

“It’ll be okay, Nick,” she whispered. “Know that I’ll always be here for you, whatever happens.”

Phoenix only nodded in agreement and moved down for a kiss.

“You know, since we sort of rushed straight here into the bedroom, you skimped out on giving me that promised tour, so we never did get a chance to check out all the bells and whistles this place has!”

The exuberant necromancer suddenly realized, hopping out of the bed and flicking on the bedside lamp. He smiled with amused admiration as he watched his swain’s flawless, bare form bounce around the room, long raven waves floating behind her, running her fingers over everything she could get her hands on, like a kid in a candy store.

“Hey Nick, check this out!” She grabbed a small remote from the dresser table and started to randomly punch some buttons. “I wonder what this does?”

“Maya stop touching stuff if you don’t know what it is!”

“Why not? This is an adventure, and for the next two days, I’m on vacation, Old Man!” She hit another button, and suddenly the wood panel in front of the bed began to flip over, exposing an enormous, 60-inch flat-screen TV.

“Wow, Edgy’s like Batman!” Her eyes were wide. “I’ll bet he even gets the foreign cartoon channels on this thing!”

“That is a pretty sweet setup,” the DILF admitted. “I think this is the TV remote here on my bedside table…”

He busied himself flicking through the channels while Maya kept pushing the buttons on the magical mystery remote.

“Awesome!” She exclaimed, as the drapes on the floor-to-ceiling windows suddenly began to be drawn back, as if on their own. She walked over to the glass and pressed her nose against it. “Nick, you should come and see the view from up here! It’s incredible!”

“Not as incredible as the view I’m sure you’re giving the people in the penthouse across the courtyard, Maya,” he admonished. “Can you please get your naked behind away from the window now?”

“You’re such a stick in the mud!” She turned away from the window and casually pulled her long hair down the front of her shoulders, arranging it so it draped over her chest in some semblance of modesty. “And if you’re so worried about my decency, maybe you should turn off the light then!”

“What?” He raised an eyebrow suggestively. “And interrupt my viewing pleasure, then?”

She giggled and then headed over to the bathroom.

“Man, this john is huge! The tub is a whirlpool one! We should take a bubble bath together later!” She called out to him. “The toilets are even made of marble! Aw! This is so cute, Nick! Edgy’s even got a little drinking fountain here set up for Pess!”

“Maya, that’s a bidet!”

“Oops!” The Master poked her head out the door and grinned sheepishly. “Hey, what’s this weird paper bag poking out of your overnight bag in the corner?”

She walked over to it; her eyes bright with curiosity.

“Oh yeah, that’s for you. You need to make sure you wear that stuff every single time you come here from now on, going forward.”

Maya examined herself in front of the full-length mirror behind the door before twirling around so her boyfriend could see the transformative effect of the long golden blonde wig, oversized sunglasses, and black trench coat.

“Coolio!” She exclaimed, making exaggerated duck faces at her reflection in front of the glass. “I look like a movie star trying to be undercover from the prying eyes of the paparazzi!”

The key thing is, you also won’t look anything like you if noticed by the spying, stalker eyes of Kristoph Gavin, Phoenix was beyond relieved that the costume had the desired effect of making his girlfriend look completely unrecognizable. Thank Christ for small miracles.

“Why the flaxen hair, Nick?” She teased. “Do gentlemen truly prefer blondes? Or is this just your way of saying you want to do some kinky role-playing?”

“This gentleman doesn’t,” he chuckled. “But while I wouldn’t kick you out of my bed if you were to keep that wig on, the key thing is you don’t look like the Master of Kurain anymore, which is the whole point. Please, my love, just trust me on this one, OK? I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Whatever you say!” Maya pulled off the coat, hat, and glasses and continued to poke around the room, while her lover kept staring at the TV screen, still flipping channels. “Your quirky fetish wish is my command!”

Suddenly, the spirit medium squealed with delight.

“Omigod, Nick! Check this out! Edgy has the original film print from the actual movie reel of the first Steel Samurai flick mounted in a case on the wall here!” She crowed excitedly.

“Put it back, Maya,” Phoenix instructed, without even turning his head.

“What the –”  The diviner gawked at him, wide-eyed, her hand on the small, framed item, wondering how her boyfriend had known what she was up to when he hadn’t even once taken his eyes off the screen. “How did you know I going to take it off the wall?!”

“Because after all these years of enduring your attempted and successful endeavors of helping yourself to various coveted items from crime scenes by exercising your ‘five-finger discounts’ MO, I know you, my little kleptomaniac.”

The ex-lawyer finally swiveled his head towards her with a knowing smirk.

“And knowing Edgeworth, he’s probably got an alarm rigged to that thing. Unless you want the heat busting in here at any moment, I suggest you take your hot little hands off that thing and step away from the merchandise.”

“He does not have an alarm on this thing!” The Master triumphantly removed the film print from the wall. “And he’s got so much Steel Samurai stuff already, I’m sure he’ll never miss this teeny thing…wait, there was a note behind it on the wall. What the heck…?!”

Her tone was incredulous as she read the reprimanding message aloud.

“Miss Fey. Put. It. Back. Now.”

The diviner scowled, hung the framed item back up, and hurled herself back onto the bed beside her sniggering boyfriend.

“Stop laughing, you jerk!” She swatted him on the arm. “You’re all a bunch of big ol’ meanies!”

“Come here, my sticky-fingered lady,” the pianist coaxed, pulling her sulky form against him and dropping a kiss atop her head. “We shouldn’t be spending the rest of your vacation with you pouting!”

“You’re right, Nick.” She brightened up then and leaned over to peck him on the lips. “So, tell me, how did the channeling go with Pearls yesterday at the conference? Was it as successful as you’d hoped?”

“It went better than I could have hoped! The audience was mesmerized, watching a little girl transform into a grown woman right before their very eyes. This will be so great for business! And of course, you know it’s always a bittersweet joy for me to visit with Sis, however briefly.”

“I owe that woman so much,” he reflected. “Even in the afterlife, she’s there for me when I need her. Pearls channeled her for me, that first night you were in a coma, and honestly, Maya, talking to Mia was just what I needed, though I’m glad you didn’t see me fall apart on her. I think the scariest part of my disbarment was having her find out.”

“Did she have some miraculous answer that saved the day, as always?”

He sighed and wrapped his arms around Maya, resting his head on hers. “I don’t think this one’s going to be that easy, but she did remind me of something very important.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not doing this by myself. I think I lost sight of that, but this is no different from when I was still practicing. You and me, my love, with friends like Gumshoe and Edgeworth…there’s nothing we can’t achieve.”

“And as long as you and I have each other,” Maya added, looking up at him with loving eyes. “The sky’s the limit. We can do anything.”

Phoenix nodded and simply held his girlfriend close to him.

“Let’s get back to your next move. Nick. What do you have going on in the pipeline?”

“Well, I have Edgeworth overseas, keeping an eye out for any information on the Gavins. I have Trucy at home to keep me sane. I have an eternal mentor now to push me along and,” he smiled lovingly down at Maya. “I have the love of my life in my arms right now, giving me a reason to fight.”

“We’ll figure this out,” Maya promised, scooting closer to her boyfriend and nuzzling into him. “But while we’re together right now, let’s just please take a break from all that. Today, and again tonight, it’s just us.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Phoenix agreed amiably and lowered his lips down to hers in a tender kiss.

I am your moon and your moonlight. I am your flower garden and your water too. I have come all this way, eager for you. Without shoes or a shawl. I want you to laugh. To kill all your worries. To love you. To nourish you.

Yes, his future was still uncertain and he still had zero plan of attack, but he felt far better about it now. It was only a matter of time and, if that time was spent like this, with the woman he loved in his arms, then he really could get through anything.

Though there may exist more beautiful moments, this particular one belongs uniquely to us.

Maya wrapped her arms around her soulmate’s neck, pulling him closer as their kiss deepened. She had never imagined how wonderful it could be to awaken in the morning and find herself wrapped in the arms of someone he loved. Such a peaceful feeling, a safe feeling. It made the prospect of her coming day so much brighter, knowing she’d have Phoenix to share it with when she came home again that evening, as well as tomorrow. And she knew that someday, somehow, in the future, the day would eventually come when all her tomorrows would be his.

 Mike Reno & Ann Wilson – Almost Paradise