WrightWorth: Ace Attorney Bridge To The Turnabout "A Phoenix Rises From Pain"

"...Tears..."

'..violet?'

phoenix mumbled out quietly as he walked into his kitchen to see maya wide awake, staring down at the photo he had given her with a sad look on her face, he frowned as he sat next to her on the other stool, it was then she had finally noticed him, and put up a small smile, ..he saw right through it

'hi nic-'

'violet, you don't have to keep up an happy face around me'

her smile faltered a bit as she tried to keep up the act, ..she didn't want phoenix to worry about her, he already had his own issues, she didn't want to add more to it

'w-what do you mean nick i'm-'

he didn't let her finish her sentence, he gently pulled he into a hug, she jumped a little bit at the sudden affection, ..phoenix was never really a hugger, ..she this surprised her alot, she shook a bit as she tried to insisted

'i-i'm fine nick, r-really..'

'it's okay to cry violet'

her eyes started to tear up as she clutched onto him tightly, ...but still weakly protested otherwise, claiming she was okay, and not hurt

'i-i'm ....fine'

'it's okay to not be fine violet'

he smoothly said, she broke down after that, and started to sob into his chest, holding onto him like her life depended on it, ..phoenix didn't dare let go of her, he locked his arms around her, keeping her warm and safe in his arms

'...i-it hurts..'

'..i know, ..i know'

she started to chock on her sobs, the amount of pain and grief she felt, ..it was horrible.., it was like how she lost her sister, and got kidnapped all over again.., she slowly raised her head to  look up at him in eyes

'..d-does it ever go away?.., does it get better?..'

phoenix eyes teared up slightly as he stared back at her, ...he never wanted this for maya, ..he never wanted her to suffer the same thing as him, ..maya sniffled as she asked again

'..nick?'

'..i-it doesn't go away'

maya lowered her head at that, but it was gently lifted up again by phoenix, who had gently cupped her face in his hands

'..but it gets easier..'

'..i-is this how you felt?, ..did you feel this bad'

she asked him, shaking a bit, he nodded slightly

'..yeah'

'..i-it's awful!!'

she cried out, hiding her face again in his chest, he hugged her right back as he gently ran fingers through her black hair, calming her down just a bit

'..i know, i know it's awful, ..it's unbearable'

'..d-did you ever get over it?'

'..no, never, ....i never got over it, ..i'm still not, ..and it's okay to not be completely over it.., ..it' okay to be sad'

he felt a few of his own tears fall from his face as he admitted his own pain to her, but then made her a promise

'violet, ...i understand everything that you are going through, ...your not gonna be alone in this, i promise you, i'm not leaving, i'm always here'

he hated making promises, ..he always did, ..but this, ..this was a promise he would never, ever break, maya sniffled as she wiped away her tears

'...i'm sorry'

'for what?'

he asked gently, not understanding why she was sorry for anything

'..that you had to suffer with this alone..'

maya grief worsened when she thought about how phoenix had to cope alone, ...how he had to deal with so much, ..and to live with the trauma of seeing your own mother killed right before your own eyes, phoenix gently wiped away her tears again with his thumb

'..i'm not alone anymore.., and neither are you'

'..th-thank you nick, ...thank you for always being their for me'

'..thank you for being in my life maya..'

'AAAAAAHHHHH!!!'

they both nearly fell out of their seats when they heard that screaming, phoenix rushed into maya's bedroom and saw pearl, shaking in her bed, tears rolling down his face, maya came into the room, saw what was happening, and rushed to her side

'..a nightmare?'

maya guessed, pearl shook a bit as she nodded, phoenix very carefully picked her up in his arms, sitting up in her bed

'it's okay oysters, it's okay'

'..i-i'm sorry f-for waking you two up...'

she apologized, sniffling, maya wiped away her tears

'oh pearly, we weren't even sleeping, it's okay'

it took awhile for pearl to calm down from her  nightmare, ..after she had fallen back asleep, phoenix gently put her into bed, tucked her in and walked back to his bedroom, maya followed from behind, she collapsed onto his bed

'..is this what it feels like to be an adult?'

phoenix chuckled as he joked

'your not an adult violet, your a woman child'

she giggled softly at him, ...but then felt a hand rest very gently on her head

'..you don't have to grow up at such a young age maya, ..i'm here'

'..promise your not leaving?'

he snuggled up with her in bed, gently wrapping an arm around her, without hesitation, maya snuggled him right back

'never.., i'm always here'

he stayed up a bit as he watched her sleep peacefully in his arms, he kissed her forehead, picked her up, walked her back into her bedroom, and placed her into bed, he went back to his bedroom and drifted off to sleep, holding onto his locket

for the past weeks, everything was starting to go good again, maya and pearl still had some nightmares, ..and maya was starting to experience some anxiety issues, but phoenix was always their to listen, it hasn't been easy for any of them, but they were going at their own pace to heal properly

despite what everyone had thought, phoenix wasn't going back to court either, ...the whole case brought a lot of emotional stress and mental exhaustion onto him, ..he even had a mental breakdown at his last therapist appointment over it...

as the time went buy, after maya and pearl started to visit iris weekly..phoenix started too think about his own family, ..he had lost his mother, his cousin, ..he never had a father or an uncle, ...but, ...their was one last person in his family how he could tell call, ..the question was, ..had she changed?