Chapter Text
Miles Edgeworth…
That name had been a constant in Phoenix Wright’s mind for a good number of years.
Originally, they met as children when they were in grade school. The spiky haired male had gotten himself into a situation where he was wrongfully accused of theft.
Lunch money. It was lunch money. That day, he had skipped PE class because he was slightly under the weather. While everyone else was there, the money was stolen.
Once the rest of the class returned and found that the money was missing, he was pinned as the prime suspect.
He hadn’t done it, obviously.
Everyone else firmly believed that he did, however. He felt so alone at that moment. It seemed that nobody would stand up for him; that he would get accused of a crime he did not commit…
…
Suddenly though, someone did stand up for him. Edgeworth.
The black haired boy had never spoken to the other before, and it was his own money that had been stolen, but he believed that Phoenix Wright was innocent.
That was the reassurance he needed back then. He wasn’t all alone. Someone did hear him.
That boy’s courage inspired his other long term friend Larry Butz to stand in his favor as well.
Shortly after, the matter was dropped, and Edgeworth became part of the group.
They were close for the entire year. They all spent a lot of time together, sharing hobbies, secrets, and memories. He remembered wishing it could last forever.
But then, that December came.
Edgeworth left their school without a word. No goodbye, nothing at all.
Nobody knew where he went or what happened to him.
It was all incredibly hurtful. That was Phoenix’s first real encounter with betrayal, and it hit him hard. None of the adults around him could answer any of his questions. It was hopeless.
He spent years asking why…
Eventually those feelings went away, and he remembered them as more of an ugly childhood memory than anything else, but…
In his first year of college, he saw a news article that would rock him to his core.
It was about Edgeworth. The headline said something along the lines of “Demon Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth: Unrivaled”.
Instantly, the memories came flooding back.
That was him, wasn’t it?! The guy that used to be his friend?! The one that saved him all those years ago?!
He was a prosecutor now also! Back when the spiky haired male knew him, he’d wanted to be a defense attorney just like his father was. So, why?!
…
He tried to go about his life like normal after that, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about it. All these years, he’d been curious about what happened to the other. Now, however many years later, he read an article about him which contradicted his entire previous worldview! It just bothered him immensely, he needed to know!
…
This led him to taking up studying law on the side when he wasn’t busy with his other coursework. Maybe, if he could face him in court, he could find out the entire story and have a chance to cross paths with him again.
It was alright for a while, until he found himself on trial for the dealings of his now ex girlfriend.
…
He really was such an idiot back then, but he didn’t regret any of it as that trial was an integral turning point in his life as well.
Seeing his defense attorney, Mia Fey, just inspired him all the more to pursue law full time. The way she did whatever she could to help him, her collectedness behind the defense’s bench, the way her beliefs never wavered… all of it.
…
He became her apprentice, and the rest was history essentially. He found himself in the path he followed now.
His first few months as an attorney were anything but what he expected, however.
He had dealt with a lot of difficult emotions. Losing Mia and needing to defend himself in court was an extremely stressful experience. It hurt even more when the wound was still bleeding. Now, on top of these feelings, he was also emotionally digesting the case he had just finished working on.
…
Edgeworth was accused of murder.
Phoenix heard about it initially on the news. He couldn’t believe his ears.
No way! Never!
The silver haired male might’ve been rough around the edges, but there was no way he was a murderer. He refused to believe it!
…
Seeing him in that jail cell was just… wrong.
All the other defense attorneys had refused to take the case. The prosecutor was somewhat of a local celebrity, so it did make some sense. If they lost, it would surely be bad for their reputations.
He himself wasn’t safe from this either, of course. If he lost the case, it was likely he’d have to say goodbye to his career as a lawyer before it even really got started, but…
He just couldn’t leave Edgeworth like that.
He owed him. It was the least he could do to make up for the distant and recent past alike where they’d worked together to find the truth.
Despite the protests, Wright took the case. It wasn’t an easy one to get to the bottom of, as he found out shortly after beginning his investigation.
The case at hand was intricately linked with the events of his counterpart’s childhood.
The accused man refused his defense because he didn’t want him to have to get dragged into his past, and what a past it was.
The defense attorney felt so bad for him. That incident, the DL-6 incident… it stripped away whatever childhood innocence the prosecutor had left.
Phoenix was filled with a deep sadness hearing about everything. It gave him a sense of closure, yes. Now he knew what happened.
More so than this though, he felt a strong sense of guilt.
Why couldn’t they have switched places? His own childhood wasn’t ridden with trauma…
If only he could’ve been there for him. It might’ve been better.
He felt terrible for all those years he held resentment towards the other. Once again… if only he knew.
…
It was hard enough to hold himself together during the investigation, but it was even worse when they went to trial…
Manfred Von Karma was the prosecutor. In addition to the fact he hadn’t lost a case in 40 years… he was the man that raised Edgeworth.
Knowing this just made the spiky haired male feel sick to his stomach. How the hell could this monster be trying to get someone he raised convicted of murder?!
Did he not care about him at all?! Clearly, he didn’t.
The trial went on, and Von Karma continued to do despicable things. He even tried to steal evidence at one point during the investigation by using underhanded tactics.
All hope seemed lost for a while. There was a guilty verdict at first. The feelings that’d bubbled up came forward and burst, and Phoenix Wright was an absolute wreck.
Somehow though, he was saved. Larry came out of the spectator stands and provided some new testimony which bought him some more time.
…
The final day of the trial, he managed to do it. The whole story turned out to be way crazier than he imagined.
The one who was at fault in both the DL-6 incident and the incident at hand was none other than prosecutor Von Karma.
DL-6… Von Karma’s spotless record had been called into question by Gregory Edgeworth, Miles’ father. The defense attorney was able to make it seem plausible to the court that forged evidence was in Von Karma’s hands.
He obviously was not going to stand for that, and when an opportunity to exact his revenge presented itself, he took it.
It was dark, and he’d wandered into the court records room. There was an elevator there.
That day, there happened to be a power outage, and three people had gotten locked in that elevator. Gregory Edgeworth, his son, and a court bailiff.
Von Karma pushed the button to make use of the elevator. As soon as he did so, a sharp noise was heard, and he felt an even sharper pain in his shoulder. He’d just been shot!
He couldn’t believe it! In his disorientation, he scanned the area around him. There were three unconscious people in the elevator, and a pistol at his feet.
It was then that he had the idea. He could kill that defense attorney to exact his revenge, and he would never get blamed for it. The elevator was locked and only one of its occupants had a gun. Nobody would suspect him. How would they even prove he was the shooter? The power had gone out, no cameras would be running!
So, he did it. He picked up the firearm that lay at his feet, and he shot Mr Edgeworth dead.
The man who was in the elevator with them, Yanni Yogi, did catch the murder charge, but his defense attorney got him off the hook…
His defense attorney, Robert Hammond, tried to say that he was insane due to the lack of oxygen and that’s why he pulled the trigger. This destroyed everything about his life…
And now that ex defense attorney was the victim in the current case.
Von Karma had a letter sent to Yogi. He instructed him to commit the murder, and then pretend to be Hammond. He did as he was told.
Miles Edgeworth was summoned too. He showed up after the deed had already been done.
When the man introduced himself as Robert Hammond, the prosecutor was none the wiser. He hadn’t seen him in 15 years after all.
The conversation started normally. They went out on the lake using a nearby boat. Soon enough though, the faker drew a weapon, fired it, and jumped into the water. The gun had been left at his feet.
The silver haired male was in disbelief. Had that guy just shot himself?!
Out of instinct, he picked up the gun. That was a mistake he would not soon forget.
The next day, he got arrested as his fingerprints on that gun were enough to constitute an indictment.
This was the beginning of this whole mess.
…
Once the case had concluded, Phoenix Wright finally felt like he could breathe again.
He’d even managed to get Edgeworth’s phone number. That was mostly thanks to Maya’s prompting, though…
Small victories.
…
Maybe he could call him. See if he was available.
This would be his best opportunity.
Reconnecting…
His foot already was technically in the door, but…
He couldn’t shake the feeling. Would it be awkward at all, considering what he knew now?
…
…
Blue eyes looked down at the floor. He contemplated for a few moments before deciding…
No, probably not…
In all honesty, it probably would let them connect even better. Their relationship had already been started again…
In addition, he had a solid amount of free time now. No new cases.
More than all of that, though…
He just wanted to check in on him.
It’d been a week since the case closed, and… he hadn’t heard anything from him. He’d been thinking about him… a decent amount. Not that he’d admit that to anyone, though.
It was also Saturday. The prosecutor’s office was closed on weekends.
…
Yeah…
He didn’t know why he felt this hesitation.
A friend, checking in on a friend. That’s all it was.
…
…
He dialed the number. His heart was racing for some reason… ugh!
“Edgeworth speaking.”
Crap! He actually picked up!
“Oh. Uh. Edgeworth! H-Hey!”
The spiky haired male let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.
“I had no idea if you were gonna pick up or not…”
“Wright. I wasn’t expecting you to call today.”
Phoenix chuckled. God, maybe it was awkward…
“First time for everything, I guess. I was just thinking about how we haven’t talked since the trial.”
“Oh. I suppose we haven’t. Apologies…”
There was a brief pause.
“I assure you, I meant to talk to you sooner. It’s… been a busy week.”
“Oh, really?”
The defense attorney smiled at that. He was thinking of him too, it seemed.
“Indeed.”
The conversation stagnated for a moment. Jeez… okay, keep it going…
“…I’m guessing you’re busy with work.”
“…Correct. There’s always a lot to do.”
“What are you up to today though?”
“…The usual. Dealing with some… people’s shenanigans.”
“Oh, I can let you go if this is a bad time.”
“It’s quite alright, Wright.”
Another silence fell. Why did this feel so difficult…
“… You… been doing okay though?”
“… I’ve been alright.”
“Good.”
“…Yourself?”
“M-Me? Oh, I’ve been fine too.”
“…Good.”
Okay. He definitely hated talking on the phone. It would probably feel better if they were together in person.
…
That was it!
“Okay, cool. Edgeworth, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Before I go though… uh. Are you doing anything tomorrow?”
“I don’t believe so. Why?”
For some reason, the male with the spiky hair felt a huge wave of adrenaline running through him at the thought of asking this question. His face flushed a bit. God… why did he feel like he was a schoolboy asking his crush out???
“D-Do you… wanna go get breakfast or dinner tomorrow? If it’s too short notice, I get it. Just… wondering.”
“…”
Silence. Shit, did he just mess up by asking that?! He—
“…Mmh. My schedule is clear tomorrow. That works.”
Wait, he actually agreed to that?!
“…Oh, awesome! I know a place we can go to! What time would you like to meet?”
“… How about 09:00?”
“Works for me. Do you want to meet at the place, or do you want to meet in the middle somewhere?”
“Let’s meet at the place. Send me the details when you’re able.”
“Gotcha. Welp, uh… I’ll let you go now. See you tomorrow then, Edgeworth!”
“… See you, Wright.”
They hung up after those words were exchanged.
…
…
Phoenix Wright simply collapsed into the chair he’d been sitting in with a big smile on his face and a warmth in his chest.
He actually managed to set up a meeting with Edgeworth… was this actually happening?
It was honestly hard to believe, but it was actually true.
He was so happy.
Everything he’d done seemed to be paying off.
He was gonna get to know him personally again, just like he’d wanted to do for all these years, and this…
This was simply just the beginning.
