151 Run To You

I know there’s something in the wake of your smile.
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yea.
You’ve built a love but that love falls apart.
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark.

Listen to your heart
when he’s calling for you.
Listen to your heart
there’s nothing else you can do.
I don’t know where you’re going
and I don’t know why,
but listen to your heart
before you tell him goodbye.

Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile.
The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yea.
They’re swept away and nothing is what it seems,
the feeling of belonging to your dreams.

Listen to your heart
when he’s calling for you.
Listen to your heart
there’s nothing else you can do.
I don’t know where you’re going
and I don’t know why,
but listen to your heart
before you tell him goodbye.

And there are voices
that want to be heard.
So much to mention
but you can’t find the words.
The scent of magic,
the beauty that’s been
when love was wilder than the wind.

Listen to your heart
when he’s calling for you.
Listen to your heart
there’s nothing else you can do.
I don’t know where you’re going
and I don’t know why,
but listen to your heart
before you tell him goodbye.

Listen to your heart
when he’s calling for you.
Listen to your heart
there’s nothing else you can do.
I don’t know where you’re going
and I don’t know why,
but listen to your heart
before you tell him goodbye.

Maya Fey and Pearl Fey
Kurain Village, Courtyard
June 16, 2026, 10:00 AM

The hushed aftermath of the imbroglio caused by Pearl’s paroxysm could only be described as deafening. The spirit medium stood there trembling like a leaf, her defiance now downright vanquished as she felt hundreds of astounded and accusing eyes upon her.

I know tensing against the shaking of my limbs is useless, yet I do it instinctively, trying to suppress for a few more moments what I know I cannot. I need to drink in the reticence to counteract the fear that threatens to engulf me.

Pearl had expected her cousin to crumple, wail, or dissolve into tears, but she did none of those things. She frenetically scanned Maya’s countenance for her reaction to the terse quiescence hanging in the air, much like the suspended moment before a falling glass shattered on the ground.

A myriad of expressions crossed the visibly discombobulated bride’s mien as she gawked incredulously at the young girl she’d had been raising as a daughter for half the teen’s life now – until the ineffable disappointment immediately following the aftermath would not allow the Kurain Master to suffer in taciturnity any longer, and she, at last, found her voice.

“Pearl Sakura Fey! What in the name of Mystic Ami has gotten into you?!”

A chill ran through the teen’s spine as she heard Maya’s unbridled yell of ferocity, in a pitch she’d fervently hoped she’d never hear again – ever! Maugre the sunny, summery weather, the sound made her violently shudder, as if an arctic wind had swept over her. Her blood ran cold and a bead of sweat dripped down her temple. She remained helplessly cemented on the spot, not knowing what to do and too scared to even think.

“Just what kind of contumacious stunt are you trying to pull here, missy?” Maya demanded harshly, her cheeks flushed pink with confused anger at the girl’s audacity. “What grounds could you feasibly have for trying to bring this wedding to a screeching halt… and by screaming objection, of all things?!”

Pearl shrank back under her guardian’s withering stare.

“This is no small matter, so indeed, I shall require further elucidation as well.” Reverend Paesano regarded the teen sternly, a look made all the more intense with his scraggly, bushy birds’ nests eyebrows over piercing hickory eyes. “Bringing a wedding to a standstill is hardly a meritorious act, young lady. What possible reason did you have for your actions?”

In place of the typical nervous butterflies in the stomach that most people experienced whenever their nerves were shot, Pearl was experiencing giant flapping bird wings, and her courage nearly failed her. A quick glimpse at her boyfriend’s sympathetic but encouraging expression, however, strengthened her resolve. As she wildly groped for a viable explanation,  she wondered if it wasn’t too late to stick with the original plan A – somehow!

“It – It’s just t –that Luke and I worked so hard together to surprise you with a personalized orchestra bridal procession, Mystic Maya!” She stammered, pretending not to notice, out of the corner of her eye, that her boyfriend was face-palming at her cowardly solecism. Meanwhile, his free hand was fastened onto cheerfully oblivious, Feyt, who was elegantly dressed in a pint-size, black puppy tuxedo, tiny pink tongue happily wagging, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him. “And then the stupid paparazzi helicopter had to go and ruin everything!”

Maya’s infuriated eyes widened with further umbrage.

“Do you mean to tell me…” She began slowly, in an awful voice that the younger Fey was certain that she’d be hearing in her nightmares for months to come. “That you stopped my wedding because I didn’t get to hear the music you planned for when I came down the aisle?”

Pearl gulped.

Seated next to Luke, Regina and Max were trying to contain both Desse and Jylan. The primates were becoming noticeably obstreperous, innately sensing the tension in the air, which further heightened the spirit medium’s trepidation.

“You only get married once!” The maid of honor cried plaintively. “Please just indulge me this one time, Mystic Maya!”

In response to this, Armstrong’s phizog was now twisted in a most unbecoming moue, whereas Longines merely heaved an exasperated sigh and shook his head, and Maya momentarily her eyes and mentally counted to ten.

“If it honestly means that much to you…” she began cagily, but never got a chance to finish her sentence as her cousin seized the momentary reprieve with gusto and frantically turned to the impassive conductor.

“Hey – Maestro!” The acolyte exclaimed, waving her arms. “Hit it!”

Recalcitrant laconism met her command as the haughty-looking orchestra head merely eyed her stonily.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” The teen raised her voice an octave. “Could you guys please play that song again so my cousin can hear it this time?!”

“Miss, I am the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,” the band leader informed Pearl loftily, in the snootiest, most obnoxious British inflection she had ever heard –  even Armstrong’s faux French accent sounded authentic by comparison! “I am not some two-bit DJ at some… bantam nightclub, nor am I a myrmidon who takes orders from polemically misbehaving little girls!”

“I am not a little girl!” Pearl indignantly stomped her foot, fully unmindful of her boyfriend quickly murmuring to Jylan and Desse in the background. “I am going to be 17 years old this fall, I will have you know!”

“Enough of your pell-mell shenanigans, you yobbish little hoyden!” Mildred declared with a contemptuous sniff, attempting to regain control of the situation. “Mystic Pearl, I am appalled by your indecorous behavior! This is supposed to be a wedding, not some sort of rigmarole, three-ring circus!”

Upon hearing this vituperation against his mommy, the normally benign Feyt, who was perched on Luke’s lap, growled menacingly and bared his teeth in the direction of the village elder.

“Looks like you’ve been right all along, sweetie,” Max muttered to Regina in a stage whisper as he frowned at the old woman, whom both performers immediately decided they loathed at first sight. “I guess animals can sense evil!”

At that exact second, the stealthy Big Berry monkeys, unnoticed by their owners, had crept up behind the conductor, with Desse perched on Jylan’s shoulders – with the former then proceeding to reach up and yank the ratty brown toupee right off the unsuspecting man’s pate!

The jaws of the flummoxed congregation all fell to the ground in unison at this unforeseen commotion.

“Nghrk!” The sputtering, undignified maestro squawked with horror, making a mad grab to snatch the hairpiece back from the red-handed monkey, who had jumped off his brother’s shoulders and promptly tossed it over to his sibling, while the disgraced man was subjected to being the proverbial monkey in the middle betwixt two guffawing, actual monkeys! “Bloody hell! Stop that, you sodding, mangy, filthy beasts! Give it back!”

Maya and Longines viewed this with their hands clapped over their mouths, unsure whether to laugh or cry at this admittedly comic spectacle!

“You watch your mouth, Chrome Dome!” Regina shot up out of her seat and subjected the bald musician to a ferocious glare. “Those are the star performance monkeys of Big Berry Circus that you are insulting, and I will have you know they are neither filthy nor mangy!”

“That’s right!” Max piped up, putting his hands on his hips. “The only thing that’s mangy here was that ghastly wig they’re handling right now! Desse probably mistook the blasted thing for a missing piece of fur from his brother’s rear end!”

“You’ve got some bloody cheek!” The conductor momentarily paused in his futile attempts to retrieve the hairpiece from the still too-quick simians and dramatically clasped a hand to his chest. “That’s bleedin’ bollocks, I say! I’ll have you know that is a top-of-the-line gentlemen’s product that was flawlessly blended in with the rest of my hair –  until these abominable hellions decided to play hanky-panky and publicly expose my secret!”

Both circus performers merely snorted derisively at this proclamation in response, and even the monkeys appeared to be snickering.

Secret? Oh, give over! Luke rolled his eyes but somehow kept his jaw clamped shut, although he was internally shaking with laughter. Stevie Wonder could tell it was a rug!

“I can certainly command both of them to return your property, good sir, with no Procrustean action required.” The English youth spoke calmly, tightening his grip on the still-yapping Feyt, who was forcefully attempting to lunge at Mildew. “All you have to do is kindly play the bride’s aisle music once more, just as my lady friend so politely requested.”

“Go ahead! Anything to get on with the show, relatively speaking, I guess.” Armstrong didn’t even attempt to mask his giggles as he waved his hand, nodded his consent, and beamed at the bride and groom. “The English Muffin did get my permission for the surprise musical change in the first place, so it’s just as well that everybody hears it. Longines, I know you are going to just love it!”

Expelling out a relieved sigh, Luke signaled to the monkeys, and with a snarl, the conductor snatched the proffered, and now gnarled hairpiece back from the still-cackling Jylan. The monkey-turned-ham then bowed grandly at the infuriated man as he presented it back to the owner, then at the congregation, who burst into a smattering of applause as the hairy performer joined Desse over by the still-hooting Max and Regina. The humiliated conductor clamped the wig back atop his dome, not even caring that it was now comically askew, and ignored the whispering and slight titters of both the congregation and orchestra as he waved his hands in signal for the musicians to recommence.

The lyrical introductory melody of the Whitney Houston song began to play, and Maya tilted her chin up as she listened, a slight smile of anticipation on her lips.

Longines immediately recognized the tune and was also smiling, although he did cast a quizzical glance at Armstrong.

“That’s Whitney Houston! But Jean … whatever made you choose this song?”

“I didn’t! That’s neither I Wanna Dance With Somebody nor Saving All My Love like we discussed dear English Muffin!” Armstrong put his hands on his ample hips and zeroed his accusing gaze on Luke. “Care to explain this divergence, Sweet Cheeks?”

The teen couple ignored both men and anxiously studied Maya’s visage with mutually bated breath as they awaited her reaction.

To their great chagrin, however, there was absolutely none.

Not even a flicker of recognition crossed the bride’s pretty face as she flashed a hesitant, appreciative smile at the two co-conspirators.

“This is absolutely lovely, kids,” she said pleasantly, still looking slightly puzzled. “I’m afraid I don’t recognize the song, though…”

Pearl’s heart froze in her chest, while Luke felt internally asphyxiated, as the dismayed duo simultaneously realized how grossly they’d overestimated Maya’s musical knowledge, particularly with orchestra covers.

Seated in the congregation between Sister Bikini and Mystic Matilda, Iris, who, thanks to her months of perfecting her (ultimately unrequired) pianist skills, was more than familiar with the melody that was playing at the moment. She’d found the late singer’s music to have been quite fitting for her circumstances since falling for Larry, and felt a sharp pang of sympathy on behalf of her visibly deflated and demoralized half-sister and her boyfriend. The shrine maiden had no doubt what the well-meaning teens had been trying to achieve, and exactly which emotions they’d been attempting to stir within the bride by utilizing this particular musical choice.

“You truly don’t know this song, Mystic Maya?” Pearl wailed mournfully, tears of disappointment welling in her doe eyes. “B-But I thought… I mean, I was hoping…”

“I’m sorry, sweet girl, I don’t.” The village leader appeared both disquieted and bemused by the crestfallen expression of the now sniffling teen. “I love it though! It’s so pretty…”

“Sister Bikini, quick!” Iris hissed in her mother’s ear. “Do you have paper and pen in your purse?”

The perplexed old woman dumbly handed over the requested items from her bag, observing as her daughter fanatically began scribbling.

“What’s going on?” Matilda questioned, leaning over.

“I have no idea…” the elderly nun began, the words dying in her throat as an event entirely more unforeseen than even the toupee-thieving occurred in the next instant.

“Maya Fey! Girl, you don’t know my song?” An unambiguous, sonorous voice suddenly rang out from within the congregation. “Maybe it would help jog your memory if I sang it for you, then!”

A collective gasp was heard from every person in the courtyard, because standing there between Sister Bikini and Mystic Matilda, wearing Iris’s shrine maiden garb, was none other than world-famous diva herself – the late, great Whitney Houston!

Not at all daunted by the hundreds of eyes upon her, the stunning songbird stepped into the middle of the aisle and began belting out the lyrics to the song, which the altogether dumbfounded orchestra had somehow managed to keep playing, despite their collective shock. After all, they were the most revered professional orchestra in California for good reason!

“Pish, posh, applesauce, piss in the pot when you blow your top! I so need to take a picture of this once-in-a-lifetime moment!” Max stood up, mobile in hand, amongst the other members of the congregation, who were already excitedly filming and taking pictures of the reincarnated diva. “Nobody’s ever going to believe us, otherwise!”

“Forget the photos!” Regina was already standing on her chair, ready phone in hand. “I’m totally filming this!”

Didn’t we almost have it all
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall my friend
Loving you makes life worth living
Didn’t we almost have it all
The nights we held on till the morning
You know you’ll never love that way again
Didn’t we almost have it all

“Didn’t We Almost Have It All?” Maya’s eyes were round as her hand fluttered to her throat, more so by the powerful lyrics than by the unmistakably astonishing fact that her supposedly no spiritual power-bearing cousin had somehow managed to channel a long-dead superstar singer! “I do know this song! But Pearly, why did you…?”

Tears rolled down Pearl’s face as the truth finally spilled out of her like a deluge.

“It’s Mr. Nick! I wanted you to hear a song to make you remember him because I didn’t want you to panic when I told you what I’ve known now since yesterday Mystic Maya! He – he’s been in an accident and is in the hospital!” She brushed the streaming droplets off her cheeks and stared beseechingly at her thoroughly gobsmacked cousin. “Trucy called me and told me that he’s alive for now, but…”

“This was why you halted the ceremony and manipulated the orchestra?” Mildred’s sharp, piercing voice cut in as she stared daggers at Pearl. “What makes you think Mystic Maya, who was set to marry the blond knight of her dreams, even gives a rat’s patootie about that good-for-nothing, disgraced, forging attorney anymore? Mr. Wright is Sister Iris’s cross to bear now, not the bride’s!”

“Nick!” Maya’s lips could barely form the word as her mind reeled. “Nick’s been hurt?!”

Whitney continued to sing the poignant, angst-filled song about lost love while the Master listened, rocking back and forth on her heels as her heart and wounded pride commenced a devastating tug-of-war within her.

The Dragon Lady is right, Maya! Her mind screamed at her. Phoenix Wright is not your problem anymore! That man left you for your cousin, remember?

The bride had never felt so lost or torn in her whole life. A lump formed in her throat as the protective armor she’d had over her heart for the past year now began weakening. An overpowering mythical phoenix’s talons ruthlessly began clawing away at her defenses, forcing her to face the truth she could no longer deny, even though she was standing at the altar, in a white dress on her wedding day – to another man.

Maya Fey had never, ever stopped loving Phoenix Wright.

The way you used to touch me felt so fine
We kept our hearts together down the line
A moment in the soul can last forever
Comfort and keep us
Help me bring the feeling back again

The bride remained frozen in place, unshed liquid pooling within her orbs while six years of whirlwind memories began flashing through her mind like a kaleidoscope…

It was April 17, 2019. Her milestone 21st birthday, when she’d finally realized Phoenix had always been a man of action rather than words. She’d been so petulantly aggrieved with him for not complimenting her new red dress…completely overlooked every other way he’d proved his undying love over the years…right up until he declared it publicly and sang “I Would Break Every Law For You” to the Bruno Mars tune of “Grenade” at The Borscht Bowl Club…

Maya was all but sobbing now, uncaring if she ruined her new makeup.

A silly red dress. I’ve been acting like a spoiled, entitled brat just because he didn’t compliment me on my stupid new dress. And why? Because that was how I was nonsensically gauging his love for me? How could I have been so damn stupid, so blind, not to have noticed he’s been saying I love you, with his actions, for the past four years?

In her mind’s eye, Maya could now clearly see each and every way Phoenix had shown how much he loved her over the years. Every single burger, on a daily basis, even though at times he’d only had enough money for just her food, so he’d gone without. Every single children’s Samurai show and film that he’d taken her to and sat through, without any real griping, even when he’d been exhausted from work, just because it made her happy. Fan conventions. Day trips, with her and Pearly, to amusement parks, zoos, and shopping malls. Always on his tab, which she’d always greedily taken. Always without genuine complaint. Not to mention all the times he had kept her out of prison, and then saved her life, the last attempt of which had nearly cost him his.

My body feels afire
Being near you it just fans the flames
You are my heart’s true desire
Why is it you can’t see it, Maya baby?

Maya’s eyes were still closed against her unending tears. She was conscious of someone handing her some napkins to wipe them away, which she did silently, even as her heart kept screaming in response to the lyrics.

I do see it now, Nick, I do! I swear I do! I swear to you on my mother and sister’s graves that I will doubt the morning sun will rise before I ever doubt your love again!

It doesn’t matter whether or not he’s with me as my lover anymore. The sensation of the repressed tears behind her stinging eyelids prompted the psychic to close them tightly so nobody would see her conflicted expression. I would never want anything bad to ever happen to him. Not after all he’s done for me. For my family.

Maya’s lips remained closed, but they were quivering as her tormented heart finally won over the battle with her mind, and she succumbed to the inundation of bittersweet memories flooding her senses.

Didn’t we almost have it all
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall my friend
Loving you makes life worth living
Didn’t we almost have it all
The nights we held on till the morning
You know you’ll never love that way again
Didn’t we almost have it all

Jan 25, 2020. The day of her Master of Kurain ceremony, when Phoenix’s train had come late, and she’d thought he was going to let her down and not show…but then she’d turned around, and there he was, just as he’d promised would…

Triggered from naught but sheer relief, she started to laugh at her foolishness, but it got caught in her throat at the sight of Nick’s beatific smile in the sunlight.

Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes.

Her heart no longer filled with pain or uncertainty, she lifted her shining gaze to look at his sculptured, clean-shaven face, with the golden hues of early morning rays upon it, and thought that even with the silly hat Trucy had given him, he was still so handsome. Moreover, in spite of what the world might think, he was still a pursuer of the truth in all things, a trustworthy, reliable man who kept his word. The man she loved.

She still felt wonderful, but no longer in a giggly way. She wanted Nick’s arms around her again. She wanted to know what his lips felt like again after all this time. She just plain wanted. Him.

Phoenix’s smile, too, faded and within a couple of quick strides, he closed the open space between them, and then he was holding her, pulling her to him. She looked up into his beautiful sapphire eyes, feeling giddy with joy.

“Thank you, Nick,” she whispered. “Thank you for being here for me when I needed you most.”

Maya didn’t know how she could have ever doubted him. But nothing else mattered now. She was where she belonged, with Phoenix’s warm, firm arms around her shoulders and her hands around his back, feeling his muscles shifting under his clean-smelling hooded sweatshirt. Her lips parted as she leaned toward him.

Toward this kiss.

This soft, sweet, so-worth-the-wait kiss.

Didn’t we have the best of times
When love was young and new
Couldn’t we reach inside and find
The love of me and you
We’ll never lose it again
Cause once you know what love is, you’ll never let it end

Maya’s resistances were annihilated now. A sob emerged from her chest as the first tear streaked down her artfully made-up visage.

She’d nearly died 6 years ago trying to push herself in that Special Training Course, to prove her worthiness as Master, then been in a coma for three days, nearly seeing that proverbial white light…when she’d heard his plea to come back to her.

“Forgive me, Maya. I’m sorry I pushed you away after I got disbarred – and how I’ve kept you at arm’s length since, all because of my underlying thought that I wasn’t good enough for you, that you would reject me, the hobo bum that I became. How could I have underestimated you that way? I was so stupid not to realize that you’re the hope that moves me to courage again.”

Phoenix’s voice trembled with emotion.

“I realize that you would never reject me. Even now, with a whole village against you, telling you to sever ties with me, you still prove your steadfast loyalty is always to me. It’s me who’s been keeping us apart. I swear, I thought it was for the greater good… not because I didn’t want you by my side. Never that. You’re a part of me. When it comes to loving you, you’re my only reason, you’re my only truth.”

A tear rolled down his face as he softly stroked her pale cheek.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t fight harder to keep you by my side where you belonged, where you were happiest. I will try to move heaven and earth to make sure we can be together more often, if only you come back to me. You told me that day in Kurain, that you needed me, too. And Maya, I need you! Like water, like breath, like rain!”

He pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Pearls is here with me now, and she needs you and loves you as much as I do. Please come back Maya, for the both of us.”

“We love you, Mystic Maya,” Pearl whispered, clutching her cousin’s hand.

“Nick…” murmured Maya sleepily. “Pearly…”

Her eyelids slowly slid open and her disorientated eyes took in the sight of the people who mattered the most to her in the world.

Just when she’d nearly gone over to the Twilight Realm, she’d heard Nick’s voice, keeping her from passing over the dark side of the abyss.

Nick’s love had brought her back to him.

Nick’s love gave her life.

Loving him made life worth living.

Didn’t we almost have it all
The night we held on till the morning
You know you’ll never love that way again
Didn’t we almost have it all…

“Nick!” The histrionic scream was wrenched from her throat in a piercing sound that echoed amongst the trees. “I’ve got to get to Nick!”

Maya’s eyes popped open. Her chest heaving, she stared sightlessly at the concerned groom, and then at her hopeful cousin, who quickly placed a hand on the tremulous bride’s arm to steady her.

“Mystic Maya?”

“Nick!” Maya turned to Longines, her heart pounding in her ears, not even caring if her babbling made any sense. “I’m sorry, but it’s my daughter’s sister’s – er, cousin’s – father! I have to go see if he’s all right!”

“Er, um…sure?” The balbutient groom was unsure of what else to say – or if it’d even have mattered at this point.

“I swear I’ll be back!” Maya promised, lifting her skirts as she bolted from the altar, haphazardly tossing her bouquet at Maggey, who was seated next to Gordy, as she grabbed Gumshoe by the arm. “Come on! What are you waiting for? I need to get to my Nick!”

Longines winced but nodded bravely.

“You do whatever you need to do, Maya,” he called disconsolately after the woman in white who was already dragging the police Chief towards the exit. “I’ll be right here, waiting for you to return…”

“Hold it!” A unison of voices rang out as the still too stunned to react assembly remained in stupefied silence. “Wait for us!”

Gumshoe and Maya paused just at the end of the aisle as Pearl, Maggey, and Luke raced after the two, the Chief’s wife huffing slightly from the weight of holding baby Jeff in one arm and the massive armload of flowers in the other while attempting to sprint in her high heels.

“We should come along as well!” Luke insisted.

“Yeah, I wanna see Phoenix too!” Maggey chimed in.

“If anybody is going it’s going to be me!” Pearl declared, passing her nosegay to her partner. “Mr. Nick is the only father I’ve ever known or ever will know, and I’m not taking no for an answer!”

Longines flinched slightly.

“Ouch! Tell us how you really feel, why don’t you?“ Armstrong also cringed on the groom’s behalf and awkwardly patted his friend on the arm. “Small Fry can be super brutal at times!”

“But what about us?” The British lad wanted to know. “I haven’t seen Mr. Wright in almost 10 years!”

“Honey, you should stay here,” Gumshoe advised his wife. “I can drive faster if no kids are riding along, and there’s no way I can fit you, me, and the kids, as well as Pearl and Maya, in the car. We’ll just go make sure Phoenix is OK and be back before you know it.”

“I guess so,” Maggey agreed with a melodramatic sigh, giving her husband a pointed look, and biting back a smile as he smirked in response. “Give Phoenix my love and tell him I hope he gets well soon.”

“Will do!” The Chief winked back.

Maggey pulled him in for a kiss, ensuring the teens were preoccupied and waiting until Maya had raced ahead to the parking lot before murmuring in his ear.

“Dick, we both know Phoenix is perfectly fine!” She reminded him with mock admonishment. “As soon as Ema let us know about the accident, you called his hospital room and he directly spoke to us, remember? And we sent him flowers?! I don’t suppose it occurred to you to let Maya know about that?”

“Oh, did we?” The big man affected his most innocent expression. “I guess that factor ultimately slipped my mind, what with all the commotion between the monkeys and the reincarnated singer and the Runaway Bride!”

“Luke, I need you to stay here too,” Pearl told him, having heard none of the Gumshoe’s conversation. “Somebody needs to keep those animals under control, and you’re obviously better at it than Regina and Max! Most of all, I especially need you to keep an eye on The Dragon Lady for us. Don’t let her out of your sight for a minute! I have very little doubt that she had her own underhanded reasons for ensuring nobody could get to Mystic Maya up until right before the wedding!”

“Got it.” Luke nodded amicably, his narrowed eyes already zoning in on the supercilious village elder, who appeared to be one of the few people to have recovered from being staggered and now just looked flat-out steamed! “You can count on me, love!”

“I know I can.” Pearl dropped a swift kiss on Feyt’s head, pecked her beau on the cheek, and dashed after Maya, Gumshoe in tow. “Hold down the fort!”

Seated amongst the flock, Sister Bikini and Mystic Matilda watched while Iris, still as Whitney, remained fully in performance mode. The songbird had now launched into “Run to You” that, as luck would have had it, the Philharmonic also knew, and were merrily playing along for the impromptu show.

“Um, the chanteuse is really getting into the swing of things, isn’t she?” Matilda uneasily whispered into the nun’s ear. “And even though things didn’t go as we planned, the bride still took the hint and is off like a shot! But Whitney’s job is done now! Shouldn’t one of us grab the spirit severing stick and bring Iris back to us?”

“And ruin a perfectly good free concert which the guests are all immensely enjoying? Wa ha ha ho ho ho!” Sister Bikini’s belly shook with hearty laughter. “Perish the thought, Matilda! Can’t you see the prima donna is in her absolute element?”

“But this is the longest Iris has ever channeled before – and the first time she’s ever been able to channel with full succor!” Matilda held up the discarded note Iris had dropped the moment she had transformed into the singer. “This proves that unlike when she resurrected Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King, our Iris fully intended to channel the dearly departed diva!”

The note simply read: Ms. Houston, I swear everything will be explained later! Right now, the bride, Maya, needs to hear you sing “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”  along with the orchestra! You will be blessed in our prayers for this. For the sake of true love, please do us a favor and honor us with your divine vocals!

“What do you know? It seems after all the work we’ve done with her over the year, Iris can perform focused channeling when under extreme pressure!” Sister Bikini smiled proudly at her transformed daughter, who continued to belt her heart out for the mesmerized crowd. “I say we just let the diva do her thing! There can hardly be a wedding when the bride is gone, and between Whitney Houston, and The Big Berry circus performers, this congregation’s going to need some form of entertainment until Maya returns.”

“True. I guess you’re right…” Matilda agreed doubtfully, and wisely kept the rest of her skeptical thoughts to herself.

… If Maya ever comes back at all!

The last words Gumshoe, Maya, and Pearl heard as they swiftly exited the venue almost sounded as though they were being personally prompted to keep moving by the songbird herself, vanquishing any lingering doubts any of them may have had about their impulsive actions.

Each day, each day I play the role
Of someone always in control
But at night I come home and turn the key
There’s nobody there, no one cares for me
What’s the sense of trying hard to find your dreams
Without someone to share it with
Tell me what does it mean?
I wanna run to you (oooh)

Maya Fey
Hickfield Clinic Parking Lot
June 16, 2026, 12:00 PM

“It sure comes in handy traveling with an officer of the law when you’re in a rush!” Pearl was positively chipper as the former detective pulled into the crowded hospital parking lot. “I can’t believe how fast you got us down here, Uncle Gumshoe!”

“What can I say? I know a lot of shortcuts!” The Chief boasted proudly. “Besides, if I had attempted to drive the speed limit, I get the feeling your cousin would’ve snagged the wheel away and just taken over herself!”

Maya didn’t even bother denying this unmistakably accurate proclamation. Instead, she remained silent, just as she had for the duration of the 90-minute car ride. Her stomach was in a twisted series of knots as she mentally played out this impromptu reunion she was about to have with her former lover, whose physical state was as equally unknown as what his reaction would be upon seeing her, not his current lover, Iris, by his bedside.

Assuming he was even conscious!

She’d gone over the envisioned picture a million times in her mind already during the trip, each more exceedingly absurd and outlandish than the next.

“Hiya, Nick! Long-time no see! I was just wedding-dress shopping and happened to be in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d pop in and see how you were doing!”

“Yo, Nick! I’ll bet you’re wondering what the heck I’m doing here instead of my cousin, AKA your present-day girlfriend! The reason I’m here in her stead is that she’s busy channeling a long-dead superstar right now but she sends her love, which I insisted on relaying to you in person because that’s the way I roll!”

“Nick, I never stopped loving you. And even though you’re supposed to be with Iris, I know she’s not seen you in ages, which means you aren’t even making half the effort that you were with me! What gives? I need to know if she truly is the one for you, or if there’s any chance at all you might still feel even an inkling for me of what I’ve never stopped feeling for you all this time…”

Granted, the last rehearsed scenario was probably the most pathetic and unlikely, but certainly, more bizarre occurrences had transpired: Toupee juggling monkeys, resurrected divas by late-bloomer spirit channelers…

Not to mention a size 2 wedding dress that mysteriously no longer fits me, even though I’ve never been thinner in all my life…

“What is taking you so long to find a freakin parking spot?” Maya demanded agitatedly of her friend as he circled the lot for the umpteenth time with zero success, whilst her mounting tension only grew further. “Don’t you police folks have designated parking spots in the front?!”

“Sure – when we’re in a marked cruiser!” A hint of frustration crept into Gumshoe’s voice as he spotted that what he’d deemed an empty spot was actually occupied by a motorcycle! “Since it’s my day off and I’m driving a regular civilian car, I need to park in a regular civilian spot!”

“Hey, look!” Pearl squealed excitedly. “I think that car’s leaving!”

“Great job, pal!”

The police Chief eagerly pulled forward, noting Maya impatiently drumming her fingers against the dashboard, and attempted to do a reverse park into the vacated space as quickly as possible. In his anxious haste, the result of his harried efforts resulted in a sickening crunch as his Dodge Charger slammed back into a gleaming white BMW!

“Jeebus crackers!” The big oaf groaned, burying his head in his hands. “Curse my rotten luck!”

And your rotten driving! Maya fumed silently. Which I see hasn’t improved one single bit over the years!

“Oh no!” Pearl gasped. “You knocked the left side fender right off of that car, Uncle Gumshoe!”

“Why did it have to be an expensive German model?” Gumshoe buried his head in his hands. “Why couldn’t I have just hit one of those stupid electronic Smart cars? It would’ve folded in two like an accordion and done no damage to my bumper whatsoever!”

Leaping out of the car, he saw that save for a small scrape, absolutely no damage had been done to the rear end of his vehicle.

“Oh thank heavens! Hurrah for American cars – there’s barely a graze!” He expelled a thankful breath. “Maggey would’ve killed me!”

“Can I leave you to sort this out with the unfortunate owner of the impacted automobile?” Maya asked curtly, her waning patience now officially obliterated. “I just want to run in and determine that Nick is alright.”

“I’ll come too!” Pearl said eagerly, but her guardian held up her hand.

“No, I need to go by myself this time.” Her dark eyes were pleading. “Pearly, please … I just need a few moments alone with Nick. It shouldn’t be very long at all. You can come up and see him as soon as I’m done, OK?”

“I understand, Mystic Maya.” The teen bit her thumb and nodded. “Whatever you say.”

“Thank you, sweet girl. Gumshoe, I don’t know what the protocol is for these fender bender things since I don’t drive,” the necromancer said quickly. “But, um, would you mind spotting me a couple of dollars so I can grab Nick something from the gift shop? I have nothing but my phone on me and didn’t think to bring my purse at the time. I would hate to show up empty-handed.”

“No problem, pal.” The Chief distractedly handed her a few crumpled bills as he reached for his cell. “It’s not like I can go anywhere until the owner of this vehicle comes out and we exchange information, anyway.”

“Thanks! See you soon!” The bride was already dashing across the lot towards the entrance doors. “I’ll be right back!”

Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey
Hickfield Clinic
June 16, 2026 12:45 PM

Maya was starting to feel claustrophobic, and her fingers were beginning to get scratched from the sharp thorns on the floral bouquet she’d hastily purchased from the lobby gift shop and was now gripping in her hands.

When she’d arrived in Phoenix’s room half an hour ago, he’d been fast asleep, looking as cherubic as always, despite the two-day growth of stubble on his square jawline, and that horrible hobo hat on his head. He was breathing steadily, and aside from the large bandage on the ankle of his propped-up leg, he appeared to have no other injuries, save for a small bruise on his cheek. She didn’t see any sort of scary-looking or unidentifiable life support machines at all.

Ergo, his life didn’t appear to be in any sort of imminent danger that she could take note of.

Rather than be agitated that she’d run out on her own nuptials, only to discover his situation wasn’t as dire as she’d feared, Maya was so immensely grateful that she wept a few silent tears of sheer relief.

What would she have done if Phoenix had actually died?

In the end, despite everything that had transpired between them, and even though she’d given him her body, heart, and soul, which he’d ultimately discarded in favor of her cousin, Phoenix Wright would forever be the love of her life. No flamboyant, fair-haired Frenchman fiancé, whom she suspected was ready to come flying out of the closet any day now, could ever change that!

The village leader could have lived with the agony that he was alive and happy with Iris because even though he was apart from her, he was still living. She never had, nor ever would, wish him any ill-will or harm. They had been through too much together for that.

How would she have been able to go on if Phoenix was ever gone from this world? Life would be even bleaker than it already was. A part of her was only existing because of him; knowing that her pillar of strength, although not by her side, was prevailing as well.

That was just it. If he was suddenly gone, she wouldn’t be able to survive.

The tender ballad escaped her lips as if of their own volition. It was an aching, almost bittersweet love song, one of her favorites, and seemed to perfectly summarize how she felt about subsistence without Phoenix in it, as well as exemplifying the mundane existence she’d been enduring since that fateful day that he had shattered her heart into a million pieces.

The spirit medium poured her all into the lyrics, uncaring that he was asleep and couldn’t hear her. She had no idea how she sounded; most of her singing was done in the showers at home, or in most cases, while under the frigid Kurain waterfalls. How else was she supposed to pass the time while cascades of freezing water washed over her during the eternal quest for spiritual enlightenment?

When Pearl had been younger, at times she’d serenaded her at bedtime. Her little girl had always dreamily stated that her guardian sounded as pretty as a lark, but as the child also loved her so unconditionally, Maya wasn’t sure this was any kind of objective feedback!

How do I live without you,
I want to know,
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go,
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I, oh how do I live?
How do I live without you?
How do I live without you baby?

Maya had tearily just finished the last verse of the song when she suddenly heard footsteps coming into the room. Trucy? Edgeworth?

Holy shit snacks! I am in no right state of mind to be explaining my weeping, flower-laden presence at Nick’s bedside! Especially since Trucy’s never had any previous knowledge of my existence! And as much as I’d love to see Mr. Edgeworth, I would fare no better for an unplanned friendly reunion than I would for what would undoubtedly be the mother of all awkward introductions!

Without even thinking twice, Maya hurriedly ducked behind the side curtain, her heart thumping so loudly, she was positive the visitor would be able to hear it.

Dammit! I hope whoever arrived won’t be here long! With my luck, I’ll probably manage to sneeze or fart and somehow give myself away!

A strange man’s voice, with an unmistakable German enunciation, was heard in the room. As the media coverage had confirmed Kristoph’s incarceration two months ago, the village leader surmised this must be Klavier Gavin. Her speculation was confirmed when she heard the other man mention he’d been present at Phoenix’s murder trial, where Kristoph had been on the defense council.

Maya recoiled as she listened to her former beau nonchalantly recount the grisly details of his accident.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you must be Superman! How in blazes are you still alive, Nick?!

Subsequently, she recollected this was the same badass who’d fallen off an 80-foot high burning bridge, been hit over the head with a fire extinguisher, and consumed a poisonous glass and metal necklace! Yet somehow, he’d miraculously survived it all, with merely a cold, temporary amnesia and a hysterical case of sissy-style weeping! Assuming, of course, that Mia hadn’t been exaggerating about the last incident!

Forget being Kal-El! Clearly, you’re a descendant of Wolverine and somehow inherited his regenerative powers! Are you rocking some lower-level, yet still stronger than mere human Adamantium bones?! Yup, it’s official – this near-death experience confirms it! Someone call the X-Men because my ex is a freakin’ mutant!

Thenceforth, he’d also had scalding coffee thrown in his mien, shocked by a 600,000-volt stun gun, whipped till he passed out, and physically assaulted by a homicidal maniac! No doubt if Phoenix were ever stabbed with a Shichishito as poor Misty Fey had been, he’d most likely stumble away slightly, pop an aspirin for the pain, and shrug it off as a flesh wound!

Maya then had to bite her cheeks to keep from laughing as Klavier went on whine about how Ema, now Detective Skye, hated his guts because of his part in getting Phoenix disbarred. It was evident by his cadence that the poor man was truly heartbroken about this, as he appeared to be hopelessly in love with the pretty brunette, whom the Kurain Master fondly recalled had treated her with nothing but friendly kindness when they’d met a lifetime ago.

She also barely suppressed a titter that Klavier had no inkling where Ema’s loathing of him stemmed from. Did he seriously not recall bumping into the girl and spilling her drinks all over that pristine white lab coat at the bar, which surely would have stained it, had Maya and Franziska not advised the science lover on how to speedily treat them in time? And how could he have forgotten that he’d then had the audacity to try to hit on her afterward?

The bride felt a spark of hope fill her when Klavier asserted that he was now uncertain of Phoenix’s guilt. Maybe the prosecutor could help clear his name! She felt the stirrings of joy fill her heart at the thought of her ex regaining back the life he’d loved before it was so cruelly snatched away.

She immediately cursed her weakness and stupidity for feeling such sentiments on behalf of a man who had sworn to love her for the rest of his life, then cast her aside like she was yesterday’s trash.

OK, the fact that I ran out on my own wedding and am currently hiding like a stalker in my former lover’s room makes it undeniably irrefutable that I am every bit the foolish, fool-hearted, fool of a girl a certain whip-wielder would proclaim me to be if she knew about this! Hell, I know she would have a freaking heyday if she knew! Jeez, Franziska Von Karma … now there’s somebody that appears to have fallen off the face of the earth! She hasn’t returned any of my messages ever since she told me she was going back to work! I wonder what the heck happened there…

For the love of God, why weren’t the two men done gabbing yet?!

Maya simply wanted to offer Phoenix her get-well wishes and then breezily state that she had to boot, scoot and boogie out of there! Gumshoe was waiting, and she had a wedding to get back to, with an anticipating minister who’d had zero qualms with letting them know that like a hooker, he was charging them by the hour! At least, that had been what the text Longines had sent her had indicated. Oh well, what was the point of marrying a billionaire if he couldn’t handle a few unexpected additional costs?

Oh, balls! Now I need to go pee!

With a sigh of relief, she, at last, heard Klavier bid Phoenix adieu, but just as she was about to come out from hiding, a bubbly girl’s speech was heard, along with a booming male baritone.

Man oh man is that guy ever loud! Does he have no concept of what an inside voice is?!

Goddammit, they were all nattering now, too? Today just wasn’t her day! Maya bit her lip in helpless vexation and desperately tried not to think about gallons of frigid waterfalls. Oh crap, now that was all she could think of! She crossed her legs and swallowed back an aggravated moan. Why was everyone so garrulously
chatty today?!

She listened with rapt dubiety as Phoenix first attempted to bluff about the reason for his non-attorney status to Apollo – so this was the now graduated law student whom her ex had been tailing for some time – citing he’d quit because of the shame of being bested by a 17-year -old rookie prosecutor.

Seriously, Nick? Maya frowned disapprovingly. To the young man who saved your ass from death row, this is the cockamamie bullshit tale you come up with? You entrusted him with your life! You can trust him to be running all around town, investigating potentially dangerous situations with your underage daughter, but not with the truth? Why can’t you tell the poor kid what truly happened? He deserves that much!

“Tell me, how does it feel?” She suddenly heard her former swain ask Apollo, in a lifeless tone she’d never heard before. “How does it feel to stand here before Phoenix Wright, the Forgin’ Attorney himself?”

Who was this alien speaking in such an apathetic manner? Why did he now appear to be merely a shadow of somebody that she used to know?

Oh Nick, what’s happened to you? Maya’s heart ached. Does Iris bring no joy to your life at all? You sound as resigned as a man who’s actually on death row, instead of one who just recently dodged it! AGAIN!

“I don’t see you jumping to my defense on this one,” Phoenix continued in that same curt tone. “Maybe I did forge evidence, maybe I didn’t. It doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

“B-But… Detective Skye hinted that Prosecutor Gavin was partially to blame for what happened to you!” Apollo exclaimed. “She hates his guts because of it!”

“I’m not an attorney anymore,” Phoenix declared flatly. “That’s the only truth you need to know.”

Maya bit her lip so hard it nearly bled. Fresh tears filled her eyes.

Nick, you can’t let him think such horrible things about you! It’s obvious this young man thought the world of you and doesn’t want to believe all these lies! What’s with this “I am whatever you say I am” lassitude? Fight back! Tell Apollo you’re innocent!

As if hearing that wasn’t painful enough, the next thing she heard felt like a dagger to the heart, as a high-pitched feminine intonation announced itself.

Evidently, Phoenix’s female nurse, fearing her favorite patient would be wasting away existing on hospital slop, had brought a special homemade dish, in hopes it would better whet his appetite!

OK, easy there, Nurse Tart! The Master scowled, hating herself for the sudden surge of jealousy beginning to swell within her, which she knew she had no business feeling. I’m sure Iris wouldn’t be too appreciative of this! I know Nick’s as sexy as hell, but he is off the market!

“Ha-ha. Well, since you put so much care into making this yourself, Karin, I promise you I will most definitely give it a try.”

Karin, is it? Maya gritted her teeth. How cozy! Nick’s been here all of two nights and they’re already on a first-name basis!

The bride’s vitriol was only further sparked when her equally overly familiar ex-boyfriend, for some reason or other, decided to incite this disgusting, unseemly mating dance and told  “Carin Karin”  to address him by his first name as well!

Her blood pressure began rising even higher, along with indignation on her cousin’s behalf, as she was forced to listen to Karin coo over the patient’s shapely calves and speculate aloud about what kind of body he was hiding underneath his baggy attire! Next, she announced that she’d be working a double shift and that some petrifying Amazon with an eyepatch would not be giving him that night’s sponge bath – it’d be given by Nurse Good Touch herself!

With steam practically blowing out of her ears, Maya waited for Phoenix to politely veto the offer and insist on somebody more professional to be running their hands over his wet, naked body for a “scrub a dub-dub” that evening! Instead, to her enraged disbelief, she heard him say:

“Heh heh. Er, sounds good. Um…I should get to that surely delicious lunch while it’s still hot, and stop neglecting my visitors here…”

Sounds good?! Grrr! You vile, incorrigible man-whore! How dare you be encouraging that hoochie mama?! Nick, we both know that harlot wants to use your body as a loofah sponge and your abs as a washboard!

Tucked into the bust of her gown, Maya’s cell, on vibrate mode, buzzed suddenly, drawing her attention away for a moment from the conversation on the other side of the drapes, even as she half-heard Nurse Bimbette exclaim: “Urethra!”

It was a text from Longines: Everything OK with your ex?

Maya typed back quickly: Yes, he’s fine. I forgot that Nick is painstakingly unbreakable!

She quickly tucked the phone away, feeling it go off again, just as a tremendous crash sounded in the hallway!

CLANG! CLACK! CLANK!

The endless clatter echoed throughout the outside corridor, prompting Maya to clamp her hands over her ears, and temporarily unable to hear anything on the other side of the curtain the entire time. By the time the noise had died down, she was able to tune back in just in time to hear Trucy speaking.

“…hauled a stack of DVDs that big with me on the bus!”

“I thought that was kind of strange myself!” Phoenix responded, making the eavesdropping visitor wish she could understand the context of what he was talking about! “I suppose I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time.”

“I guess I’d better be off and let you enjoy your company, Phoenix,” Karin purred. “The next time I see you, good-lookin’, it’ll be bath time.”

If Maya had felt her head was going to explode with the other woman’s previous flirtations, this last one made her feel as though she had lava, rather than blood, pumping at her veins! This theory continued to manifest itself to a fever pitch when she heard her slimeball Casanova ex’s response, which was unequivocally inappropriate of a man who was spoken for!

“Yes, looking forward to it,” Phoenix answered. “See you then.”

You philandering, fart-knocking, dipshit, dick McNugget! Maya’s hands curled up into fists of fury. Only a lecherous rogue would embolden another woman like this when his own faithful girlfriend is merely two hours away!

The moment the nurse was gone, Apollo appeared to be checking out the DVDs surrounding Phoenix’s bedside, which the spirit medium had only briefly peeked at when she’d entered the room, but hadn’t had a chance to scrutinize before Klavier had entered. However, she logically assumed these must be the shows Trucy had just mentioned bringing in from the stash Maya had given her ex over the years.

“A swaying, spiraling stack of DVD cases. The Steel Samurai, The Nickel Samurai, The Pink Princess, The Zappy Samurai: Electric Bugaboo…They’re all children’s action hero shows..?“

Maya’s heart went into a tailspin as she heard Phoenix’s nonchalant reply.

“This ‘kid’ I know sent them to me.”

The rest of his response wasn’t heard, as Maya’s phone buzzed yet again. Not that it mattered. At this point, the Kurain Master had clenched the flower stems in her hands so hard, she pricked her fingertip on a thorn and barely suppressed a whimper of pain as it started to bleed. But that sting was nothing compared to the agony in her heart.

She was no longer even worth mentioning by name?!

A kid? Not even an old friend, or an old assistant, but a freaking kid? That was all she’d ever been to him? Except for all those times when she’d been grown up enough to be a warm and willing body for him! Maya felt bile rising in her throat and wondered if she was going to be sick. She’d lost her virginity, and her heart, to a callous, soulless bastard, one whom she didn’t even recognize anymore. She’d never have even known the voice speaking was her Nick, had she not just seen him on the other side of that curtain.

“Huh. Like a niece or nephew?”

“Something like that.”

Maya’s hand clenched into a fist at her side, nails digging into her palms, and felt her lips curling into a snarl as she seethed. She was no longer sad – now she was just good, old-fashioned mad!

No, wait. To hell with mad. Maya was downright homicidal in her wrath! The night she’d thrown a martini into Phoenix’s stupid, smarmy mug was nothing in comparison to the incensed rage now pumping through her veins!

Glancing down at her phone, she saw the last two texts from her fiancé.

Glad he’s OK. When can we expect you back, honey?

A nefarious smirk crept over her features as she purposely keyed in her fully loaded yet short and sweet reply back.

I bought him a floral bouquet. I’m going to let him HAVE IT … right NOW!

The minute the Runaway Bride heard the door close behind Apollo and Trucy, she leaped out from behind the curtain and wielded the flowers like a baseball bat, basking in the satisfaction of seeing Phoenix’s stunned, saucer-sized eyes and thunderstruck expression at the sight of her.

“M-Maya?” He stammered, reeling back slightly. At this point, he was positive that the heavy-duty meds he was on were making him hallucinate. What else could explicate dreaming he’d heard his former lover’s beatific singing voice – only to have her apparate like some sort of heavenly creature, right before his eyes shortly afterward?

Except for that teensy weensy factor that the allegedly celestial vision in front of him looked anything but angelic; she looked downright murderous!

“You scruffy, two-timing,sleazy-ass, turd-fondling, rambling dick badger, son of a bitch!” Maya screeched at an earsplitting decibel, just before she winded up her makeshift weapon and beaned the flabbergasted pianist right in the kisser! “How could you?!”

Phoenix teetered as he felt the heavy bunch of flowers hit his cheek, but didn’t fall. By some miracle he remained standing on his feet, except now he felt as though he were seeing double! His ex had a surprisingly mean swing to her, despite her diminutive stature. Also – unless he was losing his mind and going overboard with the whole angel theme – she appeared to be dressed all in white!

White…as in a bridal gown!? Also, OW! Since when did roses become weapons of mass destruction?! Gah! I think she scratched me with a thorn! And I think it may have been on purpose!

“Maya?! What the heck’s gotten into you? Ouch!” The disbarred attorney raised his hands over his head. He was only semi-successful in his endeavors to thwart the rapid succession of blows his suddenly deranged lunatic of an ex-girlfriend insisted on bombarding upon his recently injured sinciput! “Christ on a crutch! Do florists no longer remove the pricks from flowers anymore?!”

“The only prick here, Phoenix Wright, is you!” She shrieked, a small frenzy of white silk blurring around him in a rapid succession of whumps to his poor, incapacitated skull with the now nearly decapitated roses. “Don’t you dare try to bluff your way out of this one! I heard you! I heard every single thing you said just now, you … lying, Judas, rat-bastard!”

“Hold it!” The assaulted party gasped, at last having no choice but to charge right at the psychic by tackling her around the waist. As he did so, he effectively grasped her forearms and restrained them by her sides before pinning her back against the wall so that she could no longer raise her hands to attack him with her floral bat. “Maya – what’s going on here?! Why are you so mad at me? More than that… What in Merlin’s beard are you even doing here…and in a wedding dress?!”

As she struggled against his gentle yet firmly subduing hold, her eyes flamed with ferocity at such an obtuse query, and now that she had finally ceased hitting him, Phoenix’s poor drug-addled, sleep-deprived mind registered something at last.

His bewildered gaze roved over her flashing mocha eyes and flushed cheeks that were red with ferocity. Even though she still looked infuriated and ready to kill him at a moment’s notice, his battered heart still couldn’t help but note that dressed up in her bridal attire, with her hair swept up off her ethereal, perfectly made-up visage, he’d never seen her look more breathtaking. Maya Fey had always been an exquisite beauty, even when riled up like this.

Still downright spellbinding, albeit somewhat terrifying! I need to get her to calm the hell down and figure out what’s gotten her so hot and bothered! 

“Moreover… How are you even here right now? Aren’t you supposed to be getting married today?!”

“I was about to get married!” Maya continued squirming against his grip so incessantly that Phoenix had no choice but to finally release her, but cautiously took a few steps backward on his precarious ankle so he was no longer within swinging reach. “I was all set to walk down the altar to wed a gorgeous multibillionaire who could give me everything money could buy! I was going to move on with my life, just like you told me to when you left me a year ago!”

Her words shook with emotion and her lips quivered.

“But then Pearly told me you’d been in an accident, and been admitted to the hospital! She wasn’t sure if you were going to live or die … and I just had to…” her voice broke then, and she couldn’t go on.

The hobo couldn’t believe his ears! Maya had been all set to get married, yet on her own accord, through no influence from him, had rushed to his sickbed, because she’d thought his life was in peril. A small glimmer of hope flickered through him.

Could that possibly still mean…?

No, I can’t get my hopes up! He told himself firmly. The love of my life may have come here because she was worried about me, but that still doesn’t explain why she also nearly tried to make me her next channeling client a mere few moments ago!

“Maya, I don’t know what to say!” He cried helplessly, wanting to somehow comfort the visibly distraught woman he loved with all his heart, but unsure she’d even allow him to come near her without striking him again. “What do you want to hear? That I’m sorry I’m not dying like you believed I was? That I feel terrible you made the trip down to the city for nothing? What can I do to make you stop being so mad at me?”

“Don’t you dare play dumb with me!” She stormed, hurling the bouquet at him. It hit him square in the kisser, grazing the same injured cheek one more time – although with less impact this time – before sailing harmlessly onto the floor. “Imagine what a chump I felt like when I got here! I was out of my mind with worry, thinking you were at death’s door! Instead, I come here to see your Man of Steel self with barely a scrape, enjoying DVDs, home-cooked food, and getting preferential luxury treatment from Nurse Tart … while encouraging her disgustingly lewd behavior!”

“Nurse Tart?” He repeated, nonplussed. “You mean Karin?!”

“I see you’re on a cozy mutual first-name basis with yet another lascivious … blonde bimbo!” Maya snapped, guessing the hair color at random. “I feel like I got stuck in a time machine and ended up circa 2019 at The Borscht Bowl Club again with Booberella!”

“Karin’s not a blonde, nor is she a bimbo!” He protested lamely. “She’s a registered healthcare provider and she’s got black hair, just like you!”

Seriously?! Maya seethed. That’s all he’s got to say for himself?! He’s honestly gonna try to play the dumb, innocent card here, even after he got busted in the act of blatantly flirting back with that shameless hussy?!

“Don’t even bother trying to play daft with me, Nick!” The Kurain leader regretted immediately wasting her ammunition and chucking her bouquet at her ex instead of keeping it in her hands for another series of batting and using his thick skull as the ball! “Or are you purposely trying to miss the point entirely, by pussyfooting about the actual charge, so you won’t have to admit how iniquitous your actions were?!”

The card shark blinked in confusion. He hadn’t acted in any particular way with Karin that’d make her think they had anything beyond a nurse/patient relationship somehow, had he?  What the shit was Maya getting so worked up about?

“How hard did you hit your head in that accident, Nick?” She shouted. “Did you fail to realize your unfitting conduct when you were telling her that you were looking forward to her special sponge bath? You know, when she finally gets privy to what goods lie underneath your shapeless sweatshirt?!”

He merely gawked in response, so she continued in her ruthless tirade, not even pausing for answers.

“Are you seriously going to use Karin having black hair as your lame attempt to justify your behavior? You certainly have a type, don’t you? Did she effectively fill the void and allow you to conveniently forget about Iris?!”

“Iris?” He echoed blankly. “What’s she got to do with anything?!”

“Yes, Iris! Sweet, forgettable Iris!” She yelled. “My cousin! Remember her? The one who you left me for! The maiden you’re supposed to love and be faithful to, and therefore not be playing rub a dub dub, fun time scrub with Nurse Good Touch!”

Of course! Phoenix groaned to himself. She still thinks I’m with Iris! And she thinks I’ve been unfaithful because I didn’t dissuade my nurse’s flirtations as much as a man who’s spoken for probably should’ve! I was distracted at the time by that phony letter that was allegedly from Maya when I was replying to Karin about bath time! Nevertheless – I know I’m single! Heck, she’s the one wearing a wedding gown, yet currently acting like she’s still in the role of my jealous possessive lover here – even though I technically did nothing wrong! It’s like dealing with her overactive green-eyed monster back at the Borscht Bowl with Tiffany all over again! I am so sick of always being accused of bullshit that I haven’t done! Therefore, my ex has got a huge, unanticipated TAKE THAT coming right at her!

The words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“Listen, just because I refuse to tell every flirtatious woman who comes within my immediate vicinity to fuck right off  in order to make you happy, it doesn’t automatically mean that I’m either a two-timer or two-faced, Maya Fey!”

An iron curtain of dead air followed his exclamation, which was such a turnabout in his character, it felt like a sucker punch to Maya’s gut, due to the underlying meaning.

Who is this poker-faced intruder occupying the body of the man I once deemed to be my soul mate, whom I’ve been suffering without all this time?  She thought achingly, still recoiling from what she’d heard. Although I believe it’s been much more than just suffering.  It was a plethora of shattered bones, burning flesh, and cracked skulls. In other words, it’s been beyond painful. The very air has seemed heavy as the agonizingly long days have passed. Had I lost my sight, would I not see the same darkness? If I’d lost everyone near me, would I still recognize no one? Not to mention the current need to shed a tear, yet feeling nausea at the very reminder that I would have loved you for the rest of my life. Moreover, I would’ve died for you.

Nobody was more blown away by the licentious blather that had just left his mouth than Phoenix himself, who couldn’t believe he’d allowed his latent inner defense attorney to come along and defend his falsely accused actions –in the most ridiculous, borderline despicable way possible! Now he was fervidly wishing, more than anything in the world, that he could take back what he’d just said.

Maya was apparently thinking along the same lines regarding his vagaries, for she kept staring at him with undisguised nihilism.

You were so zoetic to me once that I would have run to the edges of the universe if only to bring you back a star. And for what? So you’d have something tangible that you’d gaze upon every night and think, “I love you, Maya.” But now that will never happen and I can never go to being that same naïve, forlorn girl in love; that heartsore and vulnerable naif. Because this person you are now, Phoenix Wright. This foreigner impersonating the man that I once loved … he’s no longer worth any of it.

“Is this honestly what the real you is like now, Nick?” She asked despairingly, her wrath deflating like a punctured balloon. The vigor had subsided, and now she was simply resigned. “Or were still you like this when we were together during my absence, too?  Back then, was it still being all laissez-faire, devil may care, with you playing the role of loyal and devoted partner only whenever I was present – because you knew that’s what I would have expected and wanted?”

While the DILF was affronted that she’d necessitated asking such a scurrilous question, it was overpowered by the self-loathing he felt. He’d been so busy defending himself against unjust, false charges that he hadn’t even bothered thinking about how his defense strategy could cost him an even bigger penalty by doing so.

Because it was glaringly evident his ex-lover had already accepted his unthinking, blurted spiel as verisimilitude.

He must’ve kept mum too long for her liking because once again she wouldn’t allow him to speak but just stared at him, lachrymose orbs now just filled with lamenting pain, not anger. The fight had fully drained out of her.

“Your flippant attitude towards the woman for whom you forfeited our six happy years together makes me ponder how faithful, how genuine, how were true with me when we were together, Nick.” Maya shook her head lugubriously, her voice thick with unshed tears. “Obviously, I spent this past year mourning the loss of a man who no longer exists, or perhaps never did at all, except in my mind. Who are you? I don’t even know you anymore! I –I wonder if I ever really did.”

Her devastating words shocked him into speechless silence, his chest feeling as though a hole had been ripped right through it.

Maya, you regard me as a stranger, yet worse. Instead of the fragile soul that you loved for so long, you see an adversary. Mostly it’s because you’ve misinterpreted my motives and mixed them with frustrations that don’t belong to me and came at me with verbal bullets. Only one I love so much could be my assassin. It takes an inside job to attack one so resilient to emotional injury as I am. That is my heartbreak, to know you are the tool of my greatest pain, my love. I could be hurt in any way by another and still bounce right back, but only you can do far worse with just a few small words, without even knowing it.

Phoenix gaped at her, agog and at a total loss for how to respond. His mouth foolishly opened and closed like a fish out of water, yet no sound came out, even though his heart was crying out the words he couldn’t seem to let himself say.

My love, I never sought to hurt you. It’s as if all that love became pain, the pain became fear and the fear sowed odium strong enough to break us. Maybe that’s the way things go. Strong hate to break a strong love, to erect walls, to protect oneself. If only I could find the words to soften this anger you feel right now, perhaps I can take down some of these walls you’ve built, one brick at a time. This can’t be us though, it just can’t be the end of our story. Can we not find even a fragment of the love we once shared? A seed that might grow into a new relationship – a friendship to heal us both. I still see who you are, and know the person you were to me. I know you’re hurting and I’m sorry, truly; yet there has to be a part of you that should know how much I hurt also because breaking your heart completely destroyed me.

“Maya,” he finally croaked out. “You’re so wrong. About everything. Please, let me explain…”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong about something. I think I’ve rather gotten used to it by now,” the necromancer whispered brokenly. “I’ve been a shell of myself without you all this time. I thought you were this great guy, who’d just been given an underserved, raw deal in life which caused a string of unfortunate bad luck, and who I’d always prayed would turn things around. Badge or no badge though, it didn’t matter to me. I loved you. There was a time when I loved you so much I would have given up my life for you, Nick.”

She shook her head sorrowfully, glossy orbs now filled with nothing but anguish and regret.

“The quondam Nick I knew was this kind, virtuous, compassionate soul, who’d always make mistakes, but always tried to atone for them. Now in his place stands this uncaring, unfeeling, blasé stranger, who tries to sweep everything under a rug, or bullshit his way out of it. Is that who you’ve become now? Or is it who you’ve always been, but I was just too much of a callow ingénue to see it?”

“Stop talking like this!” He vehemently shook his head. “Listen, about Karin, I need you to know…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Maya replied dully, cutting him off. “Why should you care what I think, anyway? Who am I to you anymore, right?”

She pushed herself away from the wall, which she’d been leaning back on for support, and slowly shuffled towards the door.

“Take care, Nick. Get well soon. I hope you figure things out, about what you want, and what’s important to you. Even though Iris was the reason you left me, I still think my cousin deserves better than this.”

“Maya, there’s something I need you to see! Stop interrupting me every time I open my mouth and just listen to me!” Phoenix cried, grabbing her wrist as she attempted to brush past him. “I’ve got something I have to show you!”

He desperately reached into his sweatshirt pocket, searching for the letter he had written to show her, which would carefully and thoroughly explain things so much better than he ever possibly could aloud.

Because sordid tenuity was the result each time he opened his big, fat stupid mouth, and only kept pushing her further and further away!

WTF? The letter isn’t there?!

“Let go of me, you swine!” The feeling of his strong fingers on her bare wrist was more than she could handle at that moment. It just brought back all her fiery ire once more, along with the painful reminder that even if the man in the room was now an unrecognizable, coldhearted snake, her quisling heart still insisted that she loved him, against all odds. “Get your damn paws off me this instant!”

His sole focus had been on reaching into his pocket while trying to contain the now struggling necromancer with his one free hand,  therefore Phoenix wasn’t mindful of where he was stepping. He haphazardly caught his foot on the wheel of the rolling tray by his bedside, which in his woozy state, made his one good foot slide right out from underneath him, leaving his injured ankle as his sole means of support.

Unfortunately, his bum ankle couldn’t allow him to support all of his own weight, along with that of the psychic upon it, and remain upright.

The result was Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey collapsing back onto the hospital bed in a conjoined heap. The wild-eyed bride fell on top of him with a thud, with the front of her body plastered against his. Both former flames were of stertorous breath as penetrating indigo orbs stared into startled topaz ones, their faces merely inches apart.

The titillation of once more being in such intimate proximity to the lover she’d been yearning for all this time was nearly her undoing. Maya knew Phoenix was still slightly injured, which had to be why his reflexes were surely so slow in trying to arise and push her off of him.

However, she had no excuse whatsoever for briefly reveling in the ardor of his heady, masculine scent. Basking in his warm breath against her neck. Savoring those beloved, intense pavonine blue eyes now boring into hers, bearing an expression that was slightly reminiscent of the Nick she’d once known and believed she’d love until the day she died.

“Maya,” he whispered hoarsely, his heart beating wildly against hers as he reached up to cup her cheek. “Maya, I…”

The feeling of his heated palm against her face felt like a branding iron, and she jolted sharply at the taboo sensation. What the deuce had happened to all her pride and self-respect? How dare enjoy her former swain’s touch, his propinquity, after hearing all that she had? Especially while fully knowing he was not only Iris’s paramour? Not only that, but he was also an ornery, feckless son of a bitch, with zero concepts of loyalty or love.

And for whom Maya had been nothing more than a kid at the end of the day?!

“Don’t touch me!” She jumped off of him as though she’d been scorched, her eyes blurring with outraged tears. “I – I just can’t take it! I can’t stand what I regress into whenever it comes to you anymore, Nick!”

She had already raced to the door by the time the flustered Phoenix was able to get the strength to sit back up on the bed as he stared at her haplessly, both his bum ankle and heart twinging as he saw, even across the room, the gut-wrenching sight of the two liquid beads rolling down her cheeks.

“Since you’ve been gone, all I am is sadness, every other emotion pushed from my being. Where there was love, light, and laughter is now just an aching hollowness!”

Another drop fell from each eye, but still, she held her head high like a queen.

“Once you were my sunshine, the one for whom I lit from the inside. I used to feel a frisson of love even if my thoughts turned your way for only a moment. The image of your visage once conjured my smile; I would yearn to dive into your eyes. I would have done anything you asked, given you whatever you wished for! But in the end, it was all for naught, because you’ve obviously never seen the woman I became and have been blinded by the girl I was when I met you! If all I am is a kid to you, why the hell didn’t you ever tell me you’d keep seeing me that way? Or why didn’t you flat-out inform me that was all I was ever going to be to you?!”

“A – kid?” Phoenix attempted to push himself off the bed, but his injured ankle wouldn’t allow him to go more than a few feet. Panting, he leaned down on one knee and stared at her imploringly as the horrible realization of the situation finally kicked in. “Maya, no, wait! I know now what you thought you heard, but you’re wrong!”

“I’m wrong about everything! I guess I’m just not grown up enough to know better!” She cried, spinning on her heel. “So be it! As much as I know how easily you disregard the women in your life who are present lovers, I’m also painfully aware of where I stand as a former one! I know what you really think of me now, so to hell with you, buster! Now that I know the truth, it will be that much easier for me to finally get over you!”

“Maya –!” He frenziedly reached into his other pocket, and found, to his incredulity, his own missing love letter, with Pearl’s enclosed DVD one, jammed alongside it!

Are you freaking shitting me?! Now I find the blasted thing? How the hell did it get into that other pocket?!

“You can’t hurt me anymore,” she announced defiantly, giving him one final glare from the doorway. “Though the loss of you was once my nightmare, I can breathe once more. From this day forward, I wash my hands of you completely, because I no longer give a rat’s ass about you, Phoenix Wright!”

With that, she flicked her hair and walked away from him with as much regal dignity as she had the last time they had set eyes on one another in Kurain.

And right before he could see the full force of the tears now emptying down her face.

Right up until then, anyone would have been fooled by the bounce in her step. But inside, her heart sank like a stone in the river, and she couldn’t help but wonder if this is what not caring truly felt like.

This despair feels cold. It feels like concrete drying in my chest. This latest heartbreak was again unexpected, as they always are – top of the world one minute and cut down the next. To know how worthless my love was to you is the knife that sets me free, cuts the mooring rope, and finally allows the discovery of a panacea. I’ll be better off this way, adrift from your shore, safer. There are only so many times you can break this heart of mine, Nick. One day, I know it’ll heal all wrong. It will heal… with you on the outside.

Roxette – Listen To Your Heart (Chapter Quote)
Whitney Houston – Didn’t We Almost Have It All
Whitney Houston – Run To You
Leann Rimes – How Do I Live