Don't Think Twice

Voices

Holly's head hung low but with a fierce determination, her gaze couldn't be broken but as the trial began and she sat at the defendant seat, seeing how beautifully Phoenix shone in that light the very one that they should be a part of, made her heart trip further down to the depths of a darkness they couldn't exist. What would the prosecution mean to her? It was only Blackquill even if she swore that Edgeworth was at the side, but Phoenix wasn't alone with Athena there.

What would it equal to?

"The defense is ready, your honor."

"So is the prosecution, your honor."

Clockwork.

"Now, let's get to the matter that this trial is nothing but a farce, and that my client, Holly Wright is accused of a murder that she didn't commit due to memory loss. Her past isn't well known even if her surname is Nakamura." Phoenix began and there was a majesty in all his proceedings but could this be with her?

"The defense forgets that there's evidence-"

"It's been seen by the defense, your honor and this cannot be tied to this woman right here. This isn't the same Holly Nakamura as previously outlined."

"Oh! Why is that?" The judge asked.

"She died 15 years ago in a car accident and the one you're seeing is rather a facsimile of the same girl. Her family owned a pharmacological company that also moonlit into genetics and cloning. The building's records were taken from the functioning computers in said lab and examined. She cannot be tried due to her non connections to the-"

"OBJECTION!" Blackquill shouted fiercely. "The defense forgets that she may have died, but there is evidence, ones that were just analyzed that Holly Nakamura is the same as the girl that died. She isn't a clone but rather the original and thus-"

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix kept the momentum. "Are you saying she didn't die, prosecution? That she miraculously survived? We dug up the records of the crash and it listed no survivors."

"Exactly. Her next of kin, a cousin also in the family business used their facilities to resurrect her plus add some much needed modifications. I present this report on not only her blood work but, the analysis on her bio-metrics."

Blackquill raised up a folder, heavily packed.

This was bad.

No where did it say she survived so why keep that a secret?

No.

They wouldn't do that to her, would her family use her as a little experiment for their research? And how did Blackquill fit into her narrative? Phoenix had to discover the truth. What did these modifications do to her body? Would that affect the sleeping baby in her? Their child?

"It seems that these modifications were life saving, according to the main summary. She would have ultimately died but in doing so, it shortened her lifespan though the only saving grace was that she ages slower than most people."

What.

She would die early? Phoenix's heart ached. Their time together, again would be gone but how much slower was the aging process that her family developed? Oh god. What was rolling in her mind now? Would she be despaired? Couldn't he relieve that even if the truth was deeper than he imagined?

"That's true, defense. Still, after being saved, she was witnessed to a murder."

"Murder? The one the prosecution claims involved arson and the multiple bodies scattered around the city. I was under the impression that I was the one that found her three weeks ago still unconscious but alive, again escaping death."

Yes.

"OBJECTION!"

What?

"The defense forgets that the prosecution presents more evidence to this matter. The one involving the fire and the connection to the bodies. I present this photo."

Photo? Where the hell was this coming to?

He had to shake his head nervously as the photo happened to be the real deal but he was still upset that Holly would be the one receiving the news of her so called death.

It continued on for another hour as the judge decided to adjourn for another day among more investigations.

"Holly!"

"Phoenix? I...I...you were so wonderful."

He embraced her in the lobby heaving slightly as if exasperated by the prosecution's many attempts to slander her maiden name and finally going after her new name. Holly Wright. She had been given special treatment due to her pregnancy and thus, allowed to stay with him and the staff at Wright Anything Agency.

"It's not enough."

Did she have to hear that straight from him?

"Phoenix, do what's right and find that truth, okay? I fear that locket may hold the key to this case."

"Holly honey. I don't want to..."

"Don't be scared for me, dear Phoenix, you've always been so compassionate and so trustful of me. How could I forget any of that? Besides, how can I call myself a mom if I am sentenced to prison? For our baby and Trucy?"

"H-Holly, don't say that. I'll win this case and we'll be together."

"Then don't fucking be scared of this truth. I already know that...I don't wanna hear more but what can I do? I just fucking hate all of it and, pardon my french, of course, but this hurts worse than I could imagine being. My parents...how could any of them do that for me at the cost of others' lives? Those clones of me?"

"What?"

"I'm saying that-"

"They're clones of you!? You're starting to get your memory back?"

Unflinching silence as she began rubbing Phoenix's back but shoving it aside, a thought occurred to him-she'd have to testify and maybe with her memory slightly returning it could prove her innocence.

"I am, sadly."

"H-Holly, please be strong in all this..." his arms wrapped around her fragile neck as her head lowered again, crying all the tears she could muster. Why was it just now that bad luck followed him?

"Phoenix, I'm not the person I should be, and it's clear who my parents are; they did what they did for me. They were wrong entirely and yet, I cannot fault them at all. The love of a child, the love of a parent. What would we do if not for that?"

"We'll decide that in the courtroom."

And he would with the locket's contents inside, if she decided to save herself in the end. Would she spare herself from that fate?