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As Phoenix settled himself on the edge of Trucy’s bed, getting ready to tuck her in the same as he did every night, she couldn’t help but notice how different things felt.
It’d been two years since he’d taken her in, and the two of them had certainly gone through a lot together in such a relatively short amount of time – moving apartments, going on trips, attending hearings and trials in the early days before her adoption was finalized -- yet none of them had the same tension looming over the air as that particular night.
Throughout everything Phoenix and Trucy had been through, they’d been through it together; but tomorrow, they’d be separated from one another for longer than a few hours for the first time since Trucy had been adopted.
It wasn’t for a BAD reason, of course. Daddy was leaving on a week-long trip to Europe to visit Uncle Miles and help him out with a particularly difficult case there. Due to how busy the two men would be, and the lack of anyone else available to take care of Trucy in such an unfamiliar place, bringing her along wasn’t exactly the most feasible proposition this time around.
Phoenix had initially turned down Miles’s offer because of this, and it was only at Trucy’s repeated insistence that he’d agreed to go on the trip. It wasn’t like she WANTED him to leave, of course she didn’t—but thanks to her heightened perception, she could tell that he really wanted to see Uncle Miles again, as they hadn’t been able to meet in person since before she was adopted.
Trucy knew that her Daddy would never, EVER think of her as a burden, not in a billion years, but she hated feeling like she was one anyway. She wanted hhim to be happy, more than anything else; after all, she’d met him immediately after he’d lost his badge, so for almost as long as she’d known him, he’d seemed burdened by a profound sadness. Trucy, much as she loved him, hated feeling like he’d hold himself back from doing something that’d make him happy just for her sake.
Father and daughter were undoubtedly both nervous as the former’s departure loomed overhead; they were venturing into uncharted waters, and even though Trucy had faith in her Daddy and knew that things would be fine, it didn’t stop her from feeling a pit of dread pooling in her stomach.
It’ll be fine. He’ll come back. He always does.
As Phoenix finished tucking Trucy in, he gently reached a hand over to card his fingers through her dark brown hair.
“How you feeling, Truce?” he asked quietly.
“Good!” Trucy replied. It wasn’t a LIE, necessarily; more so an omission of the entire truth. “I mean, I am nervous, but it’ll be fine! I’m sure of it!” She was more nervous than she’d felt in years, but put on her usual performer’s smile, even though Daddy was usually able to see through it at this point.
“That’s good to hear,” Phoenix smiled, continuing to idly stroke Trucy’s hair. “Be good for your Aunt Maya and Aunt Franziska while I’m gone, okay?”
“Of course!” Trucy lilted. “….Hey Daddy, what’s Aunt Franziska like? I know Aunt Maya, but I've never met Aunt Franziska before.”
“Hmm…” Phoenix hummed, crossing his arms thoughtfully, “Well, she can be a bit gruff before you get to know her. It takes a lot for her to come out of her shell,” he mused. “That said, she’s one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. Once you earn her trust, she’ll fight for you with everything she has. For better, or for worse…”
Trucy’s eyes briefly flashed red as she picked up a tell that seemed to imply Daddy was lost in thought, but he quickly snapped back into the moment.
“Anyway, she’s Uncle Miles's sister and Aunt Maya's girlfriend, so like her or not, you’re probably gonna be seeing a lot of her. I really do think you’ll like her though.”
“…Do you think she’ll like me, too?” Trucy fidgeted underneath her covers.
“She will. Absolutely,” Phoenix affirmed almost instantly. “I’m sure of it. it’s nearly impossible for anyone NOT to like you, Trucy.”
“Aw, you’re just sayin’ that…” Trucy blushed.
“I’m really not!” Phoenix laughed. “I’m convinced it’s humanly impossible. Scientists are gonna have to run tests on what makes you such a lovable little girl.”
Trucy giggled as Phoenix ruffled her hair.
“Hey…will I get to see you before you leave tomorrow, daddy?”
Phoenix’s face fell slightly. “…I don’t think so, sweetheart,” he said apologetically. “I gotta leave the apartment for my flight at 5 am, and I don’t think you’ll be awake by then.”
“I could set my alarm!!” Trucy suggested enthusiastically.
Phoenix pointed at Trucy with mock-scorn. “Hey now, don’t you dare, young lady! You’re a growing girl, you need your rest.”
“Aw, darn….!” Trucy giggled. She nervously fiddled with the end of her blanket as the two fell into a somewhat comfortable silence, though the tension in the air was still very much present.
After a couple moments, Trucy spoke up -- “I’m really gonna miss you, Daddy.”
“…Me too, Truce,” Phoenix said softly, pulling Trucy into a side-hug. “More than I can even put into words, really.”
Trucy returned the hug, clinging tightly to her father.
“This is hard for me, honestly,” Phoenix dryly laughed. “Leaving you behind like this. but….I trust Maya and Franziska to take care of you. And I know that you’ll be safe and happy with them.”
Phoenix said this, and believed it, but Trucy could tell that he still had reservations about it. Trucy nodded silently, pursing her lips slightly.
“But I’ll always be just a phone call away,” Phoenix continued. “Feel free to call me literally whenever you need me, time zones be damned. Nothing is too important for you to interrupt. Call at 3 AM my time if you have to, even if it’s just to say hi.”
Trucy felt a simultaneous rush of affection and anxiety surge up within her.
“Um…hey….Daddy….?” Trucy asked quietly, “You…you promise you’ll come back, right?” It was a dumb question. Daddy always came back, but Trucy still felt like she needed to ask. She needed to hear him say it, or else the doubt would eat away at the back of her mind. But hearing him affirm that he would indeed return almost always alleviated the doubts; as much as they ever could be for her, at least. After all-- Trucy knew that a promise Daddy made was a promise he wouldn’t break.
Daddy’s expression softened, and he held up his pinky. Trucy did the same, wrapping her tiny finger around Phoenix’s comparatively large one and squeezing it tight. “Of course, Truce,” he said softly. I’ll always come back. Pinky promise. You’re my guiding light, after all. I’d be lost without you.”
Phoenix patted Trucy on the top of her head a couple times. “Well hey, get some rest, alright? You’ve got a big day tomorrow. I do, too, so I definitely need to get to bed. Your ol’ pops isn’t as young as he used to be.”
“You aren’t even thirty yet!” Trucy giggled.
“No, but I’m gettin’ there,” Phoenix grunted as he hoisted himself up, then leaned forward to plant a kiss to the top of Trucy’s head.
“G’night, Trucy,” he whispered. “Sleep tight.”
Phoenix clicked off the lamp on Trucy’s bedside table for her.
“Night, Daddy, I love you!” Trucy said. “…I’ll miss you.”
Phoenix, now standing backlit in the doorway to Trucy’s bedroom, shot her a weak smile; even though she couldn’t make out much of his face due to the dim lighting, she could swear she could see tears welling up in his eyes. “I’ll miss you too, Truce. I love you,” he said, gently shutting the door to her room behind him with a click.
==
By the time Trucy woke up to the alarm she’d set for 4:55 am sharp and scrambled out to the living room, Daddy was already gone. In his place was a small note-
Trucy-
I’m assuming you set your alarm anyway, because I know you, and BECAUSE I know you, I know that it’d be impossible to try to stop you. So I should tell you that I actually left the apartment at 4:00.
I’m really sorry I wasn’t honest with you. But, despite how strong I’ve been trying to be for you, leaving you behind is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I know that if I had to say goodbye to you at the door….i wouldn’t be able to hold back my tears. And I don’t want to scare the Uber driver.
Maybe this is selfish of me, and if it is, I’m sorry. But I worry that if I had to say goodbye, I might change my mind about leaving. And neither of us would want that.
Once again, feel free to call me whenever you need to. And I’ll be sure to call you at least once a night to touch base.
If nothing else, know this, Trucy - you’re my guiding light through the darkness, my reason for getting up in the morning. I love you more than words can say, and I promise I’ll always come back for you. But until then, I’ll miss you with every ounce of my being.
Stay magical.
Love, Daddy
Trucy held the letter away from herself so the tears falling down her face wouldn’t stain it, eventually managing to place it back on the table as she quietly sobbed.
After a moment, she felt a hand gently place itself on her shoulder from behind her
“Daddy?” she whirled around, though she knew just from the feel of the hand that it couldn’t be him.
Looking down at her was a woman with warm brown eyes, jet-black hair cascading down her shoulders, a small top-knot tied up on the top of her head, and a golden stone hanging around her neck.
“Hey, kiddo,” she smiled.
“Aunt Maya!!” Trucy cried, throwing herself at the older girl in a hug.
Maya laughed, patting Trucy's back as she gently cried into her shirt. “Y’know, I TOLD Nick that letter was going to make you cry.”
Trucy sniffled, pulling back to look up at her aunt. “Wh-What are you doing here!!”
“What else, babysitting you, doofus,” Maya smirked, ruffling Trucy’s hair. “I tagged in just a little bit before Nick left. He didn’t want you to be left alone even for a second.” Maya yawned exaggeratedly.
Trucy giggled. “You seem tired, Aunt Maya.”
Maya grunted as she stretched her arms over her head. “Well, you’re not wrong.”
“No, I’m Wright,” Trucy chirped without missing a beat. Maya shot her a glare, but there was no real heat behind it.
”I’m not exactly used to getting up at this time of day, y’see,” the spirit medium explained. “The things I do for the people I love, I swear…y’know, you’d never see Franziska getting up this early.”
“OH, YEAH!!” Trucy shouted, glancing around the dimly lit apartment to see if anyone else was there. “Is Aunt Franziska here? Daddy said she was coming too!!”
Maya chuckled, slipping a hand into her pocket. “Y’know, despite what you may assume based on appearances, I think Hell would freeze over before Fran got up this early. She’s the sorta person who’s impossible to wake up once she gets into REM sleep. She could snooze right through the Titanic sinking, I swear to god.”
Trucy giggled. “Hey Aunt Maya, I already asked Daddy, but…what’s Aunt Franziska like?”
“Hmmm…” Maya tapped her finger to her chin. “Well, she’ll be the first to admit that she can be a bit scary at first, but she’s sorta like a bear. She’s just as scared of you as you are of her. Once you get to know her, though, she’s an absolute sweetheart. I think she’ll love you, Trucy.”
“That’s good….” Trucy said quietly. “So it’s just you here for now?”
“Well, technically not. Pearly’s conked out in Nick’s bed right now.”
“PEARLY’S HERE?!” Trucy yelled, excitedly bouncing up and down.
Maya giggled. “Well yeah , I mean, once she knew I was coming down to see you there was basically nothing on Earth that could keep her away. Though much like Franziska, she’s a girl who values her sleep, so try not to wake her up, alright Truce?” Maya winked, putting her index finger over her lips in a shushing gesture.
“Aye-aye, Aunt Maya!” Trucy saluted, shooting her little hand up to her forehead. “So, um….I don’t think I’m gonna be able to get back to sleep tonight….do you think we can stay up and hang out for a while?”
Maya grinned. “Sure! I’m the fun, cool aunt, after all! I’ll fix us some hot cocoa and then we can watch whatever they air on TV at 5 in the morning. Toenail infomercials, or whatever.”
“Hehe, yay!” Trucy shouted, running over and flinging herself onto the sofa.
“Though, word of caution, Truce, you might have trouble staying awake considering how early you got up. I speak from experience,” Maya warned, rummaging through the kitchen cupboards for some mugs.
“Nuh-uh!” Trucy pouted. “I’ll be totally able to stay awake, you’ll see!!!”
--
Several hours later, Trucy cracked open her eyes, the living room now illuminated by the early morning sunlight. Someone had placed a blanket over her as she lay on the sofa; She glanced over at the room’s wall clock, which read “7:41” in bright red digital numerals.
Aw, darnit. I fell back asleep.
Trucy sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes. “Mmrrn….Aunt Maya…?”
“Heyyy, there’s my favorite and only niece!!” Maya’s cheery voice came from the kitchen area. “You’re just in time, I’m fixing French toast for us!”
“Poorly, I might add,” an unfamiliar voice teased. Trucy turned around, peeking over the back of the sofa, to see a tall, lean woman, her silvery-blue hair cropped into a short bob, wearing a casual black turtleneck with jeans. “I don’t understand why you didn’t simply opt for pancakes, darling, they’re far simpler.”
Maya laughed, fiddling around with a pan at the stovetop. “Listen, Fran, french toast blows pancakes outta the water, I’ll fight you on this.”
The mystery woman smiled. “Very well, love. I’m not one to take on an argument I know I can’t win.”
The woman’s sharp, stormy gray eyes flickered over to meet Trucy’s.
“Eep!!” Trucy yelped, ducking down slightly behind the back of the sofa. After a moment of hesitation, the woman walked over towards her.
“...Trucy Wright, I presume?” she asked, looking down bemusedly.
“Y-yes.” Trucy tried to mask how intimidated she felt. “A-Aunt Franziska, I presume…!”
“That’s correct,” she said, her lips pressed into a line. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you at last.”
She extended a hand for Trucy to shake; she gulped as she accepted it.
“She’s a bit scary at first, but once you get to know her she’s an absolute sweetheart,” Trucy remembered Aunt Maya saying. And Daddy had said something similar too...right. Aunt Franziska was a good person! Daddy and Aunt Maya both trusted her, after all. She was just sort of a little a LOT scary at first.
“Y-you too,” Trucy said after a moment. Most adults weren’t this formal with her; usually, Trucy loved when grown-ups treated her like an equal instead of babying her, but with Franziska, she couldn't help but wish she babied her a LITTLE bit.
Well, either way... Trucy always had a surefire way of breaking the ice with new people!
“Aunt Franziska, do you wanna see a magic trick?”
Franziska, looking as if she was expecting Trucy to say something of the sort, nodded. “I would love that.”
“Alright!” Trucy was in her element now. Quickly mentally running through her repertoire, she opted for a trick she knew like the back of her hand, one that she had a low chance of messing up, even if she was nervous. She needed to make a good impression, after all!
Trucy produced a deck of cards, seemingly from thin air, then began to shuffle them elaborately.
Franziska eyed it suspiciously. “This is one of those trick card decks, is it not?”
Trucy rolled her eyes. Ah, so Aunt Franziska was one of THOSE people, who’d try to figure out how her tricks were done. Well, she’d have to try pretty hard to decipher a Trucy Wright original!
“You wound me, Aunt Franziska!” Trucy put a hand to her chest in mock offense. “This deck is as genuine as they come! No tricks here. You can look at it yourself, if you don’t trust me!”
“Ah, that…won’t be necessary. I trust you, Miss Wright.”
“Just Trucy is fine,” Trucy said, continuing to shuffle the deck.
Franziska hesitated. “Very well, then, Trucy. I’m quite eager to see what you have in store.”
Trucy finished shuffling the deck, then fanned it out in front of her aunt.
“Okay. Draw two cards from the deck. Look at what they both are, but don’t tell me.”
Franziska did as Trucy told her.
“Now, put both cards in one pocket.”
Franziska quirked an eyebrow. “My pocket?”
“Well, certainly not mine!” Trucy said, earning a smirk from her aunt.
“Very well, then,” and Franziska did as she was told once more.
“You remember what your cards were?”
“I do indeed.”
“Alright! Now then, I just need to get a couple things ready.” Trucy gave the deck another quick shuffle, then tapped it once, twice.
“Boop, boop! Alright, now pull them out of your pocket!”
“Already?”
“Already! You can look at them, too, so don’t worry about that!”
Franziska reached into her pocket and pulled out her cards.
“So!” Trucy chirped, excitedly leaning forward over the back of the couch. Doing magic got her into her comfort zone like nothing else could. “Your cards should be the same kind as they were before, but now they belong to a suit of the opposite color.”
Franziska gaped at her cards. “Wh—h-how did you--?“
“A magician never reveals her secrets!” Trucy mimed zipping her mouth shut and tossing away the key.
“Yeah Fran, that’s like the number one rule of magicians,” Maya yelled from the kitchen. “I don’t question how she does it at all anymore, I think she’s just legitimately magic.”
“Of course I am!” Trucy said proudly.
Franziska laughed. “Well, that was very impressive, Trucy. You’re an exceptionally talented magician,” she said, handing her two cards back to her niece.
“Aw, shucks!” Trucy blushed.
“And on that note, French toast is done, gang!” Maya announced. “I think I did a pretty bang-up job, if I do say so myself!!”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Franziska declared as she walked over back towards the kitchen, Trucy excitedly clambering off the sofa to do the same. On the way over, she took a detour to her room to grab her top hat and cape and put them on over her pink Hello Kitty themed pajamas. She’d get properly dressed later.
Trucy tiptoed lightly heading back out of her room, peeking around the corner of the hallway to listen in to Maya and Franziska’s conversation. In her experience, adults always tended to say what they REALLY thought when kids weren’t around.
Maya wrapped her arms loosely around Franziska's shoulders from behind, leaning forward against her girlfriend.
“Hello there, love,” Franziska greeted her warmly.
“So. you’ve met The Girl?”
“I have.”
“What's the verdict?”
Franziska chuckled. “She's a talented magician, I’ll give her that much.”
“She’s an absolute delight, is what she is.”
“I could say the same about you,” Franziska pressed a kiss to Maya’s forehead, then untangled herself from her girlfriend’s embrace. Maya groaned in protest.
“Come now, darling, I have to eat, after all,” Franziska smirked. “French toast is a bit too sweet for my liking, but far be it from me to turn down a home-cooked meal from my beloved.”
Maya scoffed. “God, okay, settle down Shakespeare, it’s white bread with eggs in it."
Suddenly, Trucy's eavesdropping was interrupted by gentle footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around, and saw wandering out of her daddy’s bedroom, light brown hair falling down over her shoulders, was a young girl wearing rumpled pink spirit medium robes (which she’d seemingly slept in.)
“Something smells good…” Pearl mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“PEARLS!!” Trucy squealed; her attempts at stealthiness fully forgotten, she broke out into a run towards her friend; Pearl barely had time to react before Trucy barreled into her, squeezing her into a hug.
“TRUCY!!” Pearl cried, squeezing Trucy just as tightly back.
“I’ve missed you so much!!”
“Me too!!”
Trucy took off her hat and placed it on Pearl’s head, a tradition the two of them had kept going ever since their very first meeting. Pearl grinned and adjusted it on her head.
“I’m SO glad you’re here!!” Trucy chirped. “Daddy and Aunt Maya didn’t tell me you’d be coming!”
“I wasn’t sure I'd be able to make it at first,” Pearl said. “It took a bit of convincing to get the elders to agree to let me go. But even if they’d said no, I probably would have gone anyway!” Pearl said mischievously, rolling up the sleeve of her robes with her little hand balled into a fist.
“I’m so glad I was able to see you again….!” Trucy said.
“Me too!!” Pearl beamed at Trucy. “The past couple of days, I've gotten to spend time with Miss Franziska again as well, and it’s been wonderful!!”
Trucy glanced around to make sure Maya and Franziska were out of hearing range, before whispering in Pearl’s ear - “Aunt Franziska’s sorta scary.”
Pearl giggled. “I thought so at first, too. But she’s very kind once you get to know her.
“I used to hate Miss Franziska, because she was mean to Mystic Maya,” Pearl admitted. “But she apologized for that, and now she and Mystic Maya make each other happy. So if Mystic Maya can forgive her, I guess I can too.”
“What did Aunt Franziska do?”
“Tried to send Mystic Maya to jail,” Pearly pouted.
“Hm, Uncle Miles did that too,” Trucy noted. “How many people have done that, anyway?”
“They’re the only two, but that’s STILL way too many,” Pearl grumbled.
“Morning, Pearly!” Maya poked her head around the corner, waving a spatula around. “I made French toast if you want some! Franziska called it edible, which is high praise comin’ from her!”
“Ooh, coming!!” Pearl eagerly ran over towards the living room. ”C’mon Trucy, i’m gonna eat all of it before you do if you don't hurry up!”
“AAH NO WAIT! SAVE SOME FOR ME!!” Trucy cried, chasing after her friend.
--
Before long, the four had gathered at the kitchen table to eat the breakfast Maya had fixed. Pearl and Trucy scooted their chairs close together as they caught each other up on what they’d been up to, Trucy telling Pearl about a book of magic tricks Daddy had gotten her for her birthday and Pearl telling Trucy about Maya’s attempts to help her become less sheltered and see the world outside the village.
Meanwhile, Franziska and Maya were playfully bickering, as Trucy could already tell was some sort of love language for the two of them.
“But it’s NOT maple syrup, it’s CORN syrup,” Franziska argued. “You’re using the entirely wrong kind of syrup!”
“Oh, lah-dee-dah, Miss ‘eats actual maple syrup instead of goop flavored like it,’” Maya rolled her eyes, gesturing around with her fork. “Some of us LIKE the imitation syrup!”
“I understand how Trucy can eat this, since she’s a child,” Franziska scorned, “But you’re twenty-one years old, Maya. How can you handle eating that much sugar?”
“Hey, you never grow out of liking sugar, it just gets worse and worse for your health!” Maya beamed.
“Incorrigible,” Franziska muttered.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today, gang?” Maya changed the subject, scrolling through her phone with one hand and shoveling food into her mouth with the other. “My suggestion: Steel Samurai movie marathon.”
“NO,” Franziska responded immediately. “I’m sorry, Maya dear, but after having seen those films with you no less than a dozen times I believe I’ve had my fill for the foreseeable future.”
“Having your fill of the Steel Samurai? Impossible!” Maya exclaimed. “Well, fine then, let’s see what bright ideas you have, Fran!”
“M-me?!” Franziska blanched. “Uhm…what’s something that children enjoy….” She muttered under her breath. “Um…perhaps the….natural history museum? It seems like there would be enough to occupy us for the day at such a place.”
Maya let out a loud exaggerated gasp, slamming her palms on the table. “FRAN BABE, YOU’RE A CERTIFIED GENIUS! GOT IT IN ONE!! You’re brilliant without even trying, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me!”
“Wha--r-really?!”
“Ummm…Mystic Maya, what’s a natural history museum?” Pearl asked quietly, anxiously biting her thumb.
“OOH, okay, so, you know what a museum is, right Pearly?”
Pearl nodded. “Those buildings where they display people’s art, right?”
“Yeah, but they’re not JUST for art! There are other kinds of museums too!!” Maya explained eagerly. “And a natural history museum, as one might expect, focuses on the history of nature. Now, normally, one might assume that such an institution would be boring and lame, but AU CONTRAIRE, girl with looped hair! There’s a TON of awesome stuff to see there, but mainly, dinosaur bones. Like, real bones from actual dinosaurs.”
“REAL DINOSAUR BONES?!” Trucy's jaw dropped. “Well, what are we still doing here then!!!”
Maya laughed as Trucy hopped up out of her chair and bolted over to her bedroom to get fully dressed. “That sound alright with you, Pearly?”
“Ooh, yes, it sounds very interesting!” Pearl said eagerly. “I’m always excited to learn more about the world outside the village!”
“I will admit, I was not expecting that spitball to be such a popular suggestion,” Fran noted awkwardly.
”No, it was an absolute stroke of genius, babe, like. It’s technically educational, which Nick'll approve of because he’s a square, but it doesn’t feel educational, because you’re looking at dinosaurs. So it’s basically perfect for everyone involved.”
Franziska laughed. “Well, in any case, it sounds like a wonderful time. Not to mention that an outing would be quite welcome, given that I anticipate I’ll likely go stir-crazy being crammed here in Phoenix Wright’s apartment with the lot of you for days on end.”
“Oh, you’re so dramatic, Franzy,” Maya smirked.
“I think I’m exactly the right amount of dramatic, Maya dear.”
“You are,” Maya said, leaning over to give Franziska a quick peck on the lips.
“GROOOOSSSSSS!!” Trucy yelled from across the apartment.
===
The museum of natural history was a large, beige art-deco style building, nestled amongst lush gardens on a sprawling campus, with a large central path connecting the museum and the parking lot. Maya, Pearl, Franziska and Trucy traversed it as they headed towards the main entrance.
Both of Maya’s hands were occupied, Trucy holding her right and Pearly her left. Trucy silently wondered if Franziska felt left out because she and Pearl had both decided to hold Maya's hand instead of hers. Ordinarily, she’d try going over to hold Franziska’s hand, but she felt like she didn’t know her well enough for that yet. Plus, she was scary. Mostly the fact that she was scary.
“I swear, museums in Germany all have free admission,” Franziska grumbled, tucking her wallet back into her purse after paying for their tickets. “I don’t know how you Americans live like this.”
“You get used to it,” Maya shrugged.
“I would prefer not to get used to such abject foolishness.”
The gang entered the building, and upon seeing its interior Trucy looked around in amazement, her mouth agape.
The lobby of the museum was a large, imposing room with a T. rex fossil displayed prominently in the center; suspended from the room’s high domed ceiling were a couple skeletons of various flying reptiles, posed as if in flight.
Trucy had seen a LOT of insane things, having traveled with Troupe Gramarye when she was younger, but this museum already took the cake. Come to think of it, Trucy couldn't remember a time when Zak had taken her somewhere like this. It was probably just because he was so busy... right?
Shaking the thought away, Trucy glanced sidewards at Pearl, whose eyes were practically sparkling as she looked around the vast lobby.
“Mystic Maya,” she whispered, tugging on the hem of her cousin's skirt. “Are those actual dinosaur bones?”
Maya smugly put her hands on her hips. “WELL," she began with a grin, "complete dinosaur skeletons are actually super rare! So most of the fossils here are the real deal, but some parts of the skeletons are replicas made to fill in the gaps.”
“Wow….you’re really smart, huh Aunt Maya?” Trucy said.
“HEHEH, WELL…you’re the one who said it, not me!” Maya blushed, waving her hand dismissively.
Franziska rolled her eyes at her. “Regardless, I believe It would do us well to make haste before the crowds here become unmanageable.”
“Hm, good idea, babe. Uhhh….” Maya squinted at the informational brochure she’d picked up at the entrance, scrutinizing the map of the museum it had printed on it. “Okay girls, what do you want to go see first? I know you’re probably gonna say dinosaurs but--”
“Dinosaurs.” Trucy and Pearl said in unison.
Maya puffed out her cheeks. “Oh come on, you two, much as I hate to be a stick in the mud like Franzy--”
“Hey--!!”
“--I’m sort of a ‘save the best for last’ type person. If we see dinosaurs first, then you're gonna be checked out before we see anything else here!”
“There’s stuff here besides dinosaurs?” Trucy cocked her head to the side.
“Probably nothing as cool,though ..." Pearly pouted.
"You’d be surprised! " Maya grinned. "C’mon, I'll lead the way."
-
The party’s first stop, at Trucy's insistence that whatever they see first HAD to include fossils of some sort, was the exhibit on prehistoric humans, featuring objects made by ancient people, as well as some bones from the ancient people themselves.
“So ...people used to be monkeys?” Pearl furrowed her brow, pressing her tiny hands up against a glass case where several skulls of early hominids were on display.
“Mm, not exactly,” Franziska explained. “As is my understanding, both humans and modern-day monkeys and apes evolved from a common ancestor, which diverged from one another many millions of years ago.”
“Oh,” Pearl frowned. Trucy could tell that she didn’t really get it, but to be fair, she didn’t either.
“I didn’t know you knew things too, Aunt Franziska,” Trucy chimed in.
Franziska huffed. “Well, actually as a prosecutor, I know a great many things, Miss Wright. My areas of expertise simply tend to be more oriented towards…law. Rather than fossils.”
“Hehe! The lack of internet access in Kurain forcing me to read dinosaur books 24/7 as a kid is finally paying dividends!” Maya beamed, smugly puffing out her chest.
Pearl bit her thumb anxiously, still transfixed on the skulls in the glass case. “So Mystic Maya, these are real bones from real, um...ho-mi-mids?”
“Yep!” Maya said. “Hey, who knows Pearly, maybe one day it’ll be YOUR bones on display in a museum!!!”
“EEEEEK!!” Pearl squealed, hiding behind Trucy.
“Don’t traumatize the poor child, dear,” Franziska lightly chided.
-
The quartet continued their meandering around the museum, checking out various exhibits, and various not-exhibits.
“Good god, Maya,” Franziska grimaced as her girlfriend walked out of the gift shop with an armful of museum-related goods, “Must you purchase merchandise wherever you go? These are all massively overpriced.”
“Oh cmon, buying dumb crap you don't need is part of the museum experience, Fran!!” Maya beamed.
“Whoa, you went to the gift shop already?” Trucy gaped. “Daddy always makes me wait until the END of a visit somewhere to go to the gift shop!”
“Well, fun fact about being a grown-up, you can do what you want. Also, Nick is a square,” Maya smirked. “Crap, I am WAY overburdened with merch right now…here, Pearly, can you hold onto this for me real quick?”
Maya handed the brochure containing the map of the museum to her cousin.
“Oh! Of course!” Pearl dutifully tucked the map within her robes as Maya wrangled the several shopping bags she was carrying..
“Perhaps Phoenix Wright waits until the end of his visits so he doesn't have to lug around bags for the duration of his visit,” Franziska smirked.
“Hey. Shut up.”
Eventually, Trucy and Pearl’s long awaited visit to the dinosaur exhibit was upon them (Maya had wanted to save it for last, but ultimately cracked to Trucy’s patented puppy dog eyes) and the girls were beside themselves with excitement.
The dinosaur wing of the museum was obviously one of the star attractions; a tall archway stood at its entrance, leading into a large rotunda with a stegosaurus skeleton mounted in its center, skylights allowing the early afternoon sun through its domed ceiling above them. The area was lightly themed, fake prehistoric plants dotted around the hall with ambient noises being piped in over loudspeakers.
This central room branched off towards several smaller exhibits, displaying mounted skeletons, fossils of eggs and footprints, insects captured in amber, and countless other prehistoric relics.
Pearl insisted on trying to read the descriptions accompanying the exhibits all on her own, and though her reading ability had certainly greatly improved in recent years, she still had difficulty with some words, at which point Trucy would usually chime in to help her out.
The group spent a lot of time in this part of the museum, Trucy and Pearl positively enraptured by every little thing they saw, oohing and ahhing relentlessly.
Maya also roped Franziska into having her picture taken with one of those standees with a cut-out for their faces, allowing the two of them to look like terrifying Jay Jay the Jet Plane-esque dinosaurs with human faces.
“You girls okay? Not getting tired?” Maya asked as Trucy and Pearl dutifully stuck some of the free dinosaur stickers they’d been offered onto each other’s faces.
“I’m fine, Mystic Maya!” Pearl replied.
“Same here!!” Trucy said determinedly, pumping her fist above her head. “I have enough energy to power the entire STATE right now!!”
“I give her ten minutes before she falls asleep,” Franziska stage-whispered to Maya, causing the medium to giggle, and Trucy to puff out her cheeks angrily.
Suddenly, from the other side of the hall, a cheery-sounding woman (apparently a museum employee) clicked on a megaphone, her amplified voice echoing around the exhibit.
“Attention, guests!!” she shouted, the heads of most museumgoers turning towards the commotion.
“What fresh hell is this…?” Franziska muttered.
“For a VERY limited time, right here and now, the museum is offering FREE dinosaur T-shirts to guests!!” The museum worker said cheerily, gesturing at a table set up next to her. "Hurry over and get one while you can, because they’ll be going, going, gone before you know it!!"
“YO!! THEY’VE GOT FREE T-SHIRTS!!” someone yelled.
Around the four of them, the crowd began to grow frenzied, people beginning to push each other out of the way in a mad dash towards the table where the T-shirts were being offered, Trucy’s group almost immediately swamped as they were jostled around by the sudden rush of people.
“Ow, crap--” Maya yelped. “F-Franzy--”
“OUT OF THE WAY, FOOLS!!” Franziska shouted, cracking her whip once, twice above her head. The crowd parted around them only slightly, but not enough to make much of a difference.
Franziska cursed angrily under her breath. The crowd was so dense at this point that she’d lost sight of Trucy and Pearl, and could only make out the very top of Maya’s topknot bobbing in the sea of people. She shoved her way over towards her girlfriend, managing to grab her wrist so they wouldn’t be separated.
Eventually, mercifully, the crowd began to thin out, as the museumgoers were sated with the promised free T-shirts. As the crowd dispersed, the wreckage of what was formerly a table sat smoldering (somehow) on the ground, the museum worker’s abandoned megaphone sitting next to it.
“Well, that was unpleasant,” Franziska muttered, brushing off her clothes and adjusting her hair.
She was interrupted by Maya tugging at her sleeve urgently. “Um -- Fran? Where are the girls?”
“The gi--” Franziska’s eyes immediately widened, quickly scanning the room around them for Trucy and Pearl, and finding the two nowhere in sight. She felt her heart turn to lead.
“T-Trucy? Pearl?” Franziska called out somewhat Frantically, weaving around the nooks and crannies of the hall’s exhibits, yet turning up no trace of the two girls.
“Fran,” Maya said urgently. “Did we lose Trucy and Pearl?”
For once, Franziska felt at a complete loss for words. “I….I…Th-They were just here, I-I only looked away for a second, I d-don’t.—”
Maya, knowing Franziska well enough to sense that she was beginning to panic, firmly planted her hands on her girlfriend’s shoulders. “Franzy. Deep breaths.”
Franziska took in a shaky lungful of air as she eased into Maya’s touch, somewhat (but only slightly) helping to ground the icy sense of dread rising within her.
“It’s going to be okay,” Maya continued resolutely. “We’ll find them.”
===
Trucy felt like this was all her fault. After losing sight of her aunts in the whirlwind of people, she’d led Pearl after a person who she was SURE was Aunt Franziska, but turned out to be someone entirely different. And now the two of them had no clue where the actual Maya and Franziska were, or where THEY were, for that matter. The two of them were now completely lost somewhere in the massive museum.
Pearl sat against a wall in an out of the way corner of the museum, sobbing with her head buried in her knees. Trucy knelt down next to her, pulling a multicolored handkerchief from her sleeve with a flourish
“Here,” Trucy said softly, offering the handkerchief to her friend. “Don’t cry, Pearls…it’ll be okay!! We’ll be fine.”
Pearl accepted it, and blew her nose with a loud HONK, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.
“*sniff* I-I’m sorry, Trucy…” Pearl hiccuped. ”I’m just scared.”
“N-no, I’m the one who should be sorry,” Trucy said glumly. “Thanks to me, we followed the wrong person and ended up lost.”
“Trucy...it wasn’t your fault,” Pearl sniffled. “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s like you said...everything’s going to be fine!” Pearl tried to put on a brave face, rolling up her sleeve and balling her hand into a fist.
Trucy gave her friend a weak smile. “Th-thanks, Pearly...”
Pearl smiled back, wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her robes. “What should we do, though?” she asked timidly.
“hmmmm,” Trucy thought for a moment. “Well, Daddy always tells me that if I ever get in trouble, I should turn to a trusted adult.
“But!!” Trucy made a point of gesturing with her finger. “He also tells me not to trust people I don’t know. And aside from Aunt Maya and Aunt Franziska, I don’t know any adults at this museum. So, we’re back to square one. It looks like we gotta find them ourselves!
Pearl bit her thumb anxiously. “But...how are we going to find Mystic Maya and Miss Franziska in this huge place…?”
Trucy racked her brain for a moment, scrunching up her face in concentration, before hitting on an idea. “OH! Pearly, do you still have that map of the museum Aunt Maya gave you to hold on to?”
“Ummm...” Pearl dug through her robes and pulled out the crumpled-up brochure. “Mm-hm.”
“Great! Can I see?” Pearl nodded and handed the map over to Trucy, who plopped herself down next to her as she began to look it over. “Hey Pearls, where are we right now, come to think of it?”
“Um…” Pearl looked around at her surroundings. ”I think we’re in the geology wing.”
“Geology…?” Trucy frowned.
“Exhibits for rocks and stuff.”
“Huh? Who wants to come to a museum to see rocks! I can go outside to do that!” Trucy frowned. “Well, no matter.”
Trucy pointed at a spot on the map. “Okay. So we lost Aunts Franziska and Maya in the dinosaur wing. Which is…on the exact opposite side of the museum from where we are now. Wow, how did we manage to get THIS far away…?”
“We should try heading back to where we lost them!” Pearl suggested. ”They might still be waiting there for us!”
“Right, great idea!” Trucy said determinedly, rolling up the map before reaching over to squeeze Pearl’s hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Pearly, we’ve got this!!”
===
“Free T-shirts, FREE T-SHIRTS,” Franziska seethed, pacing back and forth in a tight circle, the soles of her shoes clacking against the linoleum floor. “Of all the idiotic---I guarantee you, Maya, that half the fools who practically stampeded us for those T-shirts just now are going to go home, never wear it, and at the end of the year toss it in their pile of things to donate to charitly for tax deductions. People truly hear the word ‘free’ and all of their logic and reason goes flying out the window. Pure, unadulterated idiocy and foolishness.”
“I hear ya,” Maya said glumly.
“Tch…no matter,” Franziska grumbled.“Right now we need to focus our efforts on finding Trucy and Pearl. Though we have informed the museum staff, it would be foolish of us to not exhaust every option available to us to locate the girls.”
Franziska grit her teeth and growled out a sigh. “With any luck this nightmare will be behind us sooner rather than later.”
“...Franziska?”
Franziska paused, turning to meet Maya's eyes. She rarely called her “Franziska” anymore, so it caught her off guard, which seemed to be the desired effect. Maya’s gaze bored into her own with an expression of concern, speaking in a tone of voice softer, yet also somehow sharper than it usually was.
Franziska didn’t respond.
“Are you okay?” Maya asked her, then hastily added-- “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I get it. I’m worried to death about the girls too, but…you just seem really torn up about this.”
Franziska pursed her lips. “I don’t believe I'm the one you should be worrying about at this moment in time.”
“Don’t deflect,” Maya’s eyes narrowed. “Listen, Fran, I’m going to worry about you even if you don’t want me to. I may not be as frighteningly perceptive as Trucy is, but i can still tell that there’s something else bothering you. I totally understand if this isn’t the time, but…..i want you to feel like you can talk to me, is all.”
Franziska grit her teeth. “I just…it’s….” her voice hitched slightly. ”I only just managed to earn Trucy Wright's trust, and this is going to torpedo it,” she hissed. “Pearl barely tolerates me as things stand, and once Phoenix Wright hears of this I doubt he’ll ever trust me with his daughter again…i…good god, why must I make everything about myself…!”
Franziska could no longer keep up the dam, and felt tears streaking down her cheeks. With everything else going on, she couldn’t even bring herself to care that it was likely ruining her makeup. Maya, cautiously, took hold of Franziska’s free hand and held it between both of hers.
“I… care , Maya,” Franziska admitted. “I care what other people think of me, but it’s—I’m not USED to it. My entire life I’d been focused single-mindedly on being the quote-unquote perfect prosecutor, I didn’t care about being liked, I didn’t care about being a good person, I cared about being Perfect.
“But now? Now, I do care what people think of me. I DO want to be a good person. I care what you think, what Trucy and Pearl think, hell, I even care what Phoenix Wright, of all people, thinks of me!!
“Phoenix Wright may be a foolish fool, but he is a good man. He placed his trust in me to protect his daughter, even after everything I put him through in the past. And look at where that trust in me has gotten him,” Franziska said bitterly.
Maya was quiet for a moment.
“Fran,” she said quietly. “I’m….i’m sorry you’re feeling this way. But, for what it’s worth...i think you’re a lot harder on yourself than anyone else is.
“If I can forgive you for trying to convict me of murder, hell, if PEARLY can forgive you for that -- and trust me, that girl can hold a grudge like her life depends on it -- then i don’t think Trucy and Nick are going to hate you for something that wasn’t even your fault in the first place. People are understanding, Fran. The people who matter are, at least.”
Franziska swallowed, a lump rising in her throat. “...it would seem that my fear of failure has extended to my relationships with other people as well,” she croaked. “ I fear….disappointing the people I care about. No one can be perfect, I know this, but making mistakes...it still takes its toll on me.”
She let out a shuddering breath. “The specters of my father’s teachings continue to maintain a grip on my psyche, despite my attempts to remedy the situation.”
“You’re not your father, Franziska,” Maya said firmly. “You’re so much better than he could ever hope to be. And you’re deserving of forgiveness and love and like, SO many other nice things that i could sit here and list for hours on end.”
Franziska felt a massive surge of affection bubble up within her, and the only thing her brain could even think to do in that moment was lean forward to kiss Maya.
“Mmrmph--hehe, easy there, sport,” Maya laughed, pulling away after a moment and reaching towards Franziska’s face to wipe a tear away. “Remember, we do have missing kids to find. And we’re in public, also.”
“R-right. My apologies,” Franziska stammered, awkwardly adjusting her blouse.
“Hey, i wasn’t complaining,” Maya smirked. “Anyway, point is, you’re the smartest person I’ve literally ever met in my life, so don’t be so hard on yourself, ‘kay? Use that big sexy brain of yours to brain blast us outta this.”
Maya was right….despite the circumstances, she and Maya had to do their best to remain calm. Panicking would only serve to mar their better judgment.
Franziska took a deep breath to steady herself, then began to mull over the situation in her head.
If we want to find those girls...we need to think like them, she thought. Pearl, being unfamiliar with matters outside of the village, tends to defer to those with more experience in that regard, meaning that she’ll likely go along with whatever Trucy suggests. And Trucy is…somewhat unpredictable, from what I've seen so far. But she’s wildly intelligent for a child her age….I believe she would likely attempt to return to the area where they were separated from us. Should they be lost somewhere, however, unable to make their way back…then someone will need to go find them.
“Maya,” Franziska said. “I'm sorry to ask this of you, my love, but...can you stay here and wait? I believe that the girls may return here, and if they do…..i suspect they would be put at ease by a friendly face waiting for them.”
“You can count on me, babe.” Maya replied, without a moment’s hesitation. She cocked her head to the side slightly. “What about you, though?”
“I’m going to search for the girls as well,” Franziska said. “God knows I don't trust the staff here to do so competently. I won’t rest until I've inspected every suspicious-looking nook and cranny of this place.”
“Alright,” Maya nodded. “Good luck, Fran. We’ll keep in touch. Love you.”
Franziska smiled. “I love you too, Maya.” and with that, she bolted away to begin her search for Trucy and Pearl.
===
Trucy pressed her face up against the glass partition separating her and Pearl from the museum’s fossil lab, staring in wonder at the scientists at work inside.
“Um, Trucy…” Pearl’s timid voice came from just next to her. “We really should be focusing on finding Mystic Maya.”
Trucy peeled herself off of the glass to meet her friend’s eyes. “R-right, sorry. This place is just so interesting! it makes it hard to focus when there’s so much cool stuff around.“
“What does the map say?” Pearl asked.
“Hmmm...” Trucy unzipped her heart-shaped pouch and pulled out the museum brochure, squinting down at it and rotating it around haphazardly. “Ughh, I can’t make heads or tails of this thing! I wish it was like a video game map where you saw a little arrow where you were.”
Trucy looked around her immediate surroundings to try to get a decent point of reference, and upon spotting a geology-themed gift shop, all other thoughts immediately vacated her mind as a proverbial lightbulb lit up over her head.
“Hang on, hold that thought, I have an idea!!” she said confidently, striding over towards the gift shop.
“T-Trucy?” Pearl called, anxiously making pace behind her. “W-wait, this isn’t the time to be shopping! We don’t even have any money!!”
“No, listen!!” Trucy explained as she and Pearl entered the shop. ”Maps are usually aligned north, right?. So if that’s true, the dinosaur wing is in the museum’s east! If we know which direction east is, then we can just walk east and we should end up back there eventually!!”
“Is it really that easy…?” Pearl mumbled.
“I don’t see why not!” Trucy said cheerily.
The young magician weaved through the shelves of the gift shop, scanning the merchandise for sale, with Pearl sticking close behind her.
“Bingo!” Trucy finally exclaimed, picking up a cheap-looking compass with a 3d render of a velociraptor on it. “Alright, earth’s magnetic field, don’t fail me now!!”
She held the compass level with the ground, Pearl peeking over her shoulder, and rotated her body until the needle pointed east.
“Thataway!” Trucy pointed, putting the compass back on the shelf. “Thank you, compass!”
“Whoa!!” Pearl cooed. “I never would've thought of that!!”
“Alright, I’m gonna hold this position and strafe back and forth like I’m Z-targeting in a 3D Zelda! " Trucy said. “You help guide me along, Pearly!!”
“What's a Zelda…?”
===
Maya sighed as she sat on a bench near where they’d lost Trucy and Pearl. She hated having to just SIT there doing nothing while the girls were missing. But Fran was right, though…. If the girls DID come back, she needed to be there for it.
It didn’t make it any less frustrating, though. She was bouncing her leg up and down at this point to burn off her nervous energy, scanning the room for any sign of the girls.
“Oh, Pearly, this is it!”
Maya whipped her head around at the sound of the familiar voice.
There, at the opposite end of the hall, was one Miss Trucy Wright, her arm outstretched pointing eastward, with Pearl by her side, holding her steady.
“Oh, you’re right!!” Pearl said, letting go of Trucy and looking around the room.
“ Trucy Wright!” Trucy replied, almost on instinct.
“TRUCY, PEARL!!” Maya yelled. God, as much as she hated to draw attention to herself in public, she was so relieved to see them in one piece at that point that she couldn’t really bring herself to care.
“MYSTIC MAYA” “AUNT MAYA!!” Trucy and Pearl yelled simultaneously, the three rushing towards each other and meeting in the middle in a hug.
“Oh, thank GOD, i was so worried--‘“
“M-Mystic Maya!!” Pearl wailed, tears once more streaming down her little face.
Maya pulled back and looked the two girls over. “Are you guys okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No no, we’re fine!!” Trucy said. “We found our way back here all by ourselves!”
“I’m so sorry, Mystic Maya!” Pearl cried. “We-we worried you!!”
“It’s okay, honey, it wasn’t your fault.” Maya said, stroking Pearl’s hair as she buried her head in her shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“Where’s Aunt Franziska?” Trucy frowned, looking around the room. “Did she get lost too…?!”
“Oh, she went looking for you two, actually,” Maya said, standing up as Pearl clung to her leg. “I should text her and let her know you guys are okay.”
Maya continued to stroke Pearl’s hair idly, pulling out her phone with her free hand.
“Um….Aunt Maya…” Trucy asked nervously, ”You aren’t mad at us, are you?”
Maya seemed a bit taken aback at first, but then smiled, reaching down to ruffle Trucy’s hair. “Hey, you didn’t mean to get lost. It was an accident, yeah? More than anything else, I’m just so relieved that you’re safe.”
Trucy smiled. “M-me too!” she put her hands on her hips and gave Maya her winningest smile. “Plus, we had something scary happen to us, which means now we get ice cream to make us feel better!”
“Oh? Is that how this works?” Maya smirked, hitting the send button on her text and putting her phone back in her pocket.
“Yep!!” Trucy lilted. “I mean, let’s be honest, are you really gonna say no?”
“Ice cream sounds nice...” Pearl mumbled into Maya’s leg.
Maya sighed. “Trucy Wright, you’re SO lucky I'm such a pushover. Alright, once Fran gets back, I promise we’ll get you guys ice cream.”
“YEAAAAAAAH!!!”
===
Franziska’s search for Trucy and Pearl had proved completely fruitless thus far. She was supposed to be a professional investigator for goodness’s sake, yet she couldn’t even scrounge up a single scrap of evidence pointing to where she could find Trucy and Pearl! It left her to simply search the museum blindly, which, while far from ideal, she was fully prepared to do as long as was necessary.
“Aren’t you a little old to be here?“ a young child asked skeptically as Franziska searched around the museum’s kids’ area.
“Silence, little boy!! I’m here on official investigative business,” Franziska snapped. “Say, you haven’t happened to see two young girls around here, have you? One wearing strange pink robes with her hair tied up in loops, the other in a magenta magician’s outfit?”
“Hmmm…” the boy thought for a moment. “Well, maybe I have, maybe I haven't. Depends on what it's worth to ya.”
Franziska glared daggers at the boy, who, for his part, seemed entirely unperturbed. “ Fine , then. How much money do you want for your information? Be warned, however, that should you be simply attempting to extort me unduly, I am a licensed prosecutor in the state of California, and if you think I won't prosecute a child, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“No dude, I've got info, the real deal.” the boy leveled nonchalantly.
Franziska sighed. “Very well. I will give you twenty American dollars for it,” She said through gritted teeth.
“Hmmm, I dunno…” the kid drawled. ”Twenty American bucks...seems a bit low for juicy info like this, if you ask me….”
“You’re playing a dangerous game here, boy,” Franziska glowered.
As she prepared to haggle with the child further, Franziska’s phone buzzed in her purse, and she quickly pounced on it to see she’d received a text from Maya.
“found the girls, they’re safe, everythings fine!! ^_^”
Attached was a photograph of three posing together for a photo, Trucy and Pearl looking slightly worse for wear but otherwise completely unharmed.
Franziska felt a weight she didn’t even know she was carrying lifted off of her shoulders. She took a deep, steadying breath, a smile gracing her face for the first time in a while. It was as Maya said -- the girls were fine. They were safe. All was well.
Franziska returned her phone to her pocket, then glared down at her would-be informant.
“Deal is off, little boy. Your information is no longer required. Good day to you.”
“Aw, c’mon, what…!”
And with that, Franziska awkwardly clambered her adult-sized body out of the playground designed for children to make her way back to where Maya, Trucy and Pearl waited for her.
--
Upon her return, Franziska felt very much out of her element as Trucy and Pearl screamed her name and flung themselves directly at her in a hug. Maya smirked at her as she awkwardly returned the hug and patted both girls on the back.
Despite her obvious discomfort, Franziska had been smiling so hard for so long that her cheeks were beginning to ache.
“Hello, girls,” she said softly. “I’m so glad you’re both safe. and....I’m sorry that I allowed such an event to transpire.”
“No, no, it wasn’t your fault, Aunt Franziska!!” Trucy reassured her, then looked down glumly. “...It was mine.”
“Explain.”
Trucy kicked her foot back and forth sheepishly. “I, um... followed someone I thought was you, but it turned out that they weren’t. And by the time i realized, me and Pearls were already lost...”
“That’s hardly your fault, Trucy,” Franziska said.
“Wh-why not?”
“You simply made a mistake, is all. And a relatively harmless one, at that.”
“I-it wasn’t harmless, though!!” Trucy’s upbeat facade cracked ever so slightly. “Y-you and Aunt Maya were worried so much because of me...!”
Franziska paused; emotional matters tended to be more Maya’s wheelhouse than hers, but….this was something she felt like she could handle.
She got down on one knee to be level with Trucy and Pearl. “You know, Trucy….a very smart person told me something once,” she began, her eyes flickering towards Maya. “It’s that mistakes...are quite often necessary in order to learn and grow as a person. It’s something that I myself have had quite a difficult time internalizing. For me to stop feeling that my mistakes are failures.”
Franziska pursed her lips, then continued - “But you are a child, and children must grow, and learn, and sometimes in order to do so you must make mistakes. This is true for everyone. Do you understand, Trucy?”
Trucy sniffled, then nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
“Good. I’m glad,” Franziska said, returning to a standing position.
Maya leaned up against Fran’s shoulder “Well, all’s well that ends well, I guess! Arguably.”
“Yeah! Anything that ends with ice cream is ending well in my book!” Trucy grinned.
“Mm-hm...” Pearl timidly hummed in agreement.
Franziska frowned. “Ice cream?”
“Oh! I promised the girls I'd get them consolation ice cream.” Maya explained.
“Ah, I see.” Franziska smiled. “...Well, alright, come along then, you two,” she said. “After today’s excitement, I think ALL of us could use some manner of treat.”
Trucy and Pearl cheered and eagerly ran ahead, albeit stealing frequent glances behind them to make sure that Maya and Fran were still there.
“I’m proud of you, Fran,” Maya whispered to Franziska as the two of them trailed after the girls side-by-side.
“...Thank you, love,” Franziska said quietly. “...Say. Do you think we should tell Phoenix Wright about all of this?”
“Hmmm…” Maya hummed. ”Well. if he finds out that we DIDN’T tell him I think he’d be more pissed than if we did. Plus, I think we handled this well, all things considered. He’ll be proud of our resilience in the face of adversity, or whatever the hell.”
“Yes...I simply don’t want him to decide…that we’re not to be trusted with his daughter,” Franziska admitted. “Trucy is absolutely delightful, and….I would be saddened were I no longer able to see her.”
Maya elbowed Franziska. “Hey. Tell him that. If you don’t, then I absolutely will.”
“You wouldn’t DARE, Maya Fey.”
“Oh, I’d dare,” she smirked. “For real though, I don't think you have anything to worry about, Franzy. Nick isn’t the sorta person to hold grudges against people who don’t deserve it. He likes you, Franziska. He wouldn’t have trusted you to look after Trucy if he didn’t.”
“Tch. If that fool has decided he likes me, then I simply haven’t been whipping him enough!”
“Aww, Franzy, SOMEONE’S flustered that she’s a likable person!”
“i-I am not!” Franziska blanched. “Flustered, I mean! I am likable!!”
“Damn straight you are!! I like you so much because you’re hot and kind. And hot.”
“Would you still like me even if I wasn’t hot, dearest?”
“That’s like asking me if the sky wasn’t blue, babe, I just don’t see it happening.”
“Shut up,” Franziska laughed, playfully pushing Maya's shoulder.
Suddenly, at her left, Franziska felt a tiny hand gently slip into her own; her gaze snapped downward in surprise to see Trucy Wright, holding her hand and looking up at her with uncertain eyes.
“Um...is this okay, Aunt Franziska?” she asked quietly.
“Y...yes, of course, dear,” Franziska answered after a moment. At that, Trucy seemed to ease up significantly, smiling and squeezing Franziska's hand tighter.
Fran felt an emotion bubbling up in her that she’d never felt before. She couldn’t really identify it with a word, but all she knew is that it was making her want to cry again. And she’d only JUST fixed her makeup, so that certainly wouldn’t fly.
Maya smiled at the two of them with a sideward glance. She’d been right, Franziska thought, when she told her that Trucy wouldn’t hate her for being imperfect. The fact that she had decided to hold her hand of her own volition would seem to be proof of that.
So, if Trucy could still like Franziska in spite of her imperfections...hell, if Maya Fey, Pearl Fey, and even Phoenix Wright could….well, then maybe it wasn’t that bad a thing for Franziska to try extending herself that same courtesy.
===
Compared to the excitement of their museum visit, the rest of the week came and went without much incident to speak of. Franziska tried to bake sugar cookies with Trucy and Pearl, the trio’s endeavor eventually having to be bailed out by Maya at the last minute due to none of them knowing what they were doing.
Pearl and Trucy built a sprawling blanket fort in the living room, which made navigation for the comparatively larger Maya and Fran a bit of a challenge for a couple of days. Maya quickly dubbed the fort “The Catacombs.”
Having a sleepover with Pearl every night and having fun with her aunts during the day was the most fun Trucy had had maybe ever , but there was still a gaping hole in her heart from not having her Daddy there to enjoy it with her. Just from hearing the tone of his voice in their nightly calls, Trucy could tell that he missed her just as much as she did. One night, he put an (obviously out of his element) Miles Edgeworth on speakerphone to say hi to her, greeting her with a very awkward "Erm, I very much look forward to meeting in person, Miss Wright." Trucy giggled at that; he and Aunt Franziska really were siblings, weren’t they?
The week, at times, felt like it both flew by and moved along at a snail’s pace to Trucy, but either way, it had to come to an end eventually.
Trucy settled into bed the night before her Daddy was due to return. Maya had taken over Nick’s “putting Trucy to bed” duties while he was away, and was doing so tonight for the final time.
“You happy to see your dad again tomorrow? Maya asked, sitting on the side of Trucy’s bed much like her daddy usually did.
“Mm-hmm.” Trucy nodded.
“Hope me and Fran did a good job, all things considered. I know it must’ve been weird without him here.”
Trucy paused for a moment, weighing whether or not she should express her thoughts to Maya. “…Aunt Maya? Can I tell you something?”
Maya looked over at Trucy with a warm smile. “Of course, Truce. Anything at all.”
Trucy took in a deep breath. “I miss Daddy so much. It hasn't been the same without him here. But...I've had so much fun this past week, I don't want it to have to end.
Trucy’s voice cracked as she felt tears start to well in the corners of her eyes.
“H…having you and Aunt Franziska and Pearls here all the time has just been….it’s been so so fun and so amazing and –“ she sniffled – “I wish that when Daddy came back you guys didn’t have to leave and we could just stay like this forever.”
Maya reached her hand over to gently pat Trucy on top of the head. “Well, I mean, if Fran had to live in the same apartment as Nick, I’m pretty sure she’d end up killing something within the week,” she chuckled.
“But….for real, thank you, Trucy. That…really means a lot to me, you know. Me and Fran were both really worried that we wouldn’t do a good job with this. Even though I’ve had experience looking after Pearly for years, looking after you still felt like a big thing to tackle. And, for what it’s worth….we’re all really going to miss you, too. I know I am.
Maya sighed. “You mean a lot to Nick. To ALL OF US,” she added. “No one wanted you to be miserable while he was away. All of us were worried about that. But….knock on wood, I’m glad that things turned out okay.”
“I know….” Trucy mumbled. “Things turned out way better than okay. I just wish every day could be this fun.”
Maya stroked her chin in thought for a moment. “Hey. Can I make an analogy for you, Truce?”
“Mm-hm,” Trucy nodded.
“Okay so, true story, there’s this noodle shop in the city. It’s my favorite noodle shop in the world, its noodles are absolutely to DIE for. But I limit myself to only getting one bowl of their noodles a month. Do you know why?”
Trucy shook her head.
“It’s so that it stays special,” Maya explained. “If I got those noodles every single day, it doesn’t matter HOW delicious they were, I’d be bound to get tired of them eventually. That’s why I try to keep it as a special treat.
“Point is, if it helps, you can consider us all being together like this sorta like that noodle shop. If you keep it special, that’ll make the times that we ARE together all the more meaningful.
“At least, that’s one way of looking at it. gotta find the silver linings where you can, yeah?”
“Oooohh….” Trucy gaped. “Wow, you’re REALLY smart, Aunt Maya! Daddy always calls you, um, what was the word…a klutz?
Maya scowled. “Well hey, remind me to punch your dad in the gut next time I see him, okay?”
Trucy giggled. “Aye-aye, ma’am.”
Maya’s expression softened. “But...for real, I've also had a ton of fun with you this week, truce. And Pearly’s happier than I've seen her in years. Even Fran seems happier than usual, even though I doubt I could get her to say that out loud.”
Maya reached over to wipe a tear from Trucy’s face with her thumb. “And it's not like this is the last time we'll ever see each other, you know? Your dad and I, we're family, and we're not going anywhere anytime soon. I wish you guys didn't live so far away from Kurain; TRUST me, I do too. But my village needs me...for now, at least. If I could push the city physically closer to me and Pearly, I would in a heartbeat. But until that day...we'll be sure to keep in touch.
“Yeah.” Trucy hugged Maya. “I love you so much, Aunt Maya.”
Maya didn’t respond for a moment, and when she did, her voice sounded choked up. “Love you too, Truce.”
For the first couple months after Phoenix had adopted her, she was terrified to be separated from him for even a moment. It made his job search more challenging, certainly, but she was worried that if she took her eyes off him for even a second, he wouldn’t be there when she looked back.
Two years later…it wasn’t that she didn’t miss her Daddy, or that the worry that he wouldn’t return wasn’t still nagging at the back of her mind. But….she was okay by herself too.
Trucy, much like her father, hated being alone, despite how independent she seemed on the surface. And Phoenix knew this, because he knew Trucy better than anyone else. So having a ton of people who she loved around her to keep her company while he was away really was the best thing he could’ve done for her. Trucy loved her Daddy more and more every day, and she knew he felt the same.
At first, when she’d changed her last name from Enigmar to Wright, she’d felt guilty, intimidated by the finality of it-- changing her name felt like admitting that Zak wasn’t coming back. But….she knew that at this point. She’d probably known it for a long, long time. plus….she loved Phoenix more than anything. Even if Zak did come back….she wouldn’t want to have to leave Phoenix. Because Phoenix Wright was and always would be her REAL daddy, and nothing could ever change that.
So….Trucy would definitely miss everyone when they left, but it was like Aunt Maya said. It wasn’t like they'd never see each other again. Circumstances beyond any of their control made it difficult for them all to see each other as much as would be ideal, but the immutable fact of the matter was that they were all family, a weird motley crew of a family, cobbled together in weird ways through equally weird circumstances.
And as Aunt Maya turned out her light and wished her a good night, gently clicking the door shut behind her….Trucy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the universe.