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When Apollo first hears that Phoenix Wright has a daughter, he’s thrown into a loop of confusion. The news and lawyer circles never mentioned Phoenix having a romantic partner. Although his assistant was always pretty.. ‘smushy’ with him. What Apollo imagines in his head is a small girl, maybe 5 or 7, after all, Mr. Wright is only 33.
So when Apollo finds out the young blue magician he met is Mr. Wright’s daughter, he’s shocked. The ages do line up with the possibility that Mr. Wright had a kid at 18, at the latest. Then he quickly clears up the fact that she’s adopted, and Apollo just says ‘Oh.’
Trucy Wright is 15. She almost always wears her blue magician's cape, dress, and tophat. And she’s bubbly and bright. She always has something to say, even if it’s the smallest, most insignificant piece of evidence. She does shows at the wonder bar (which are pretty damn good, he has to admit) And Mr. Wright relies on her almost an unhealthy amount, but not enough. Since he disappears randomly and mysteriously with little to no explanation. And even more concerning - Trucy seems used to this treatment.
The year that Apollo joins the agency is pro bono work. The cases are stressful on his eye and his brain. He rarely gets paid, and Mr. Wright is the one to give him his checks. Or, he thought Mr. Wright was signing the checks and passing them on. But one day he asks Trucy for his pay and she says,
”Oh! I forgot, here let me just…”
He watches her take a slip of paper from a book. Click a pen, and her tongue sticks out in concentration as she carefully forges the signature Phoenix Wright onto the paper. Makes it out to Apollo Justice, writes the amount of money, and hands it to him. The check looks the same as the other checks, and the signature is a clone of the signature he’s personally seen Mr. Wright sign on documents.
”Here you go, Polly. Thank you~”
He’s so tired and he just wants to eat tonight so he thanks her and leaves. It’s yet another day that Mr. Wright hasn’t been in the office.
Apollo still clings to the idea that he only shows up after dark.
Trucy tags along for all of his cases. He wasn’t comfortable - still isn’t - comfortable with a 15-year-old following him around for violent murder cases. But Mr. Wright pushed her on him for free babysitting, and Trucy doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer from her father. Much less Apollo. So he instructs her not to say anything out of turn or touch evidence without asking. She nods cheerfully, and not even an hour later she picks up a gun, and he thanks the entire universe that she wears gloves.
After their first case together, they learn a lot about each other. Mainly that they seem to have the same eye power, which is an extremely weird coincidence. But it gives him an ace in court so he could not possibly care less. Same thing with her infinite black hole called ‘Magic panties.’ Trucy is still in high school, naturally. She’s a sophomore and a troublemaker on the low. Because she tells him over a bowl of Eldoon’s that she got expelled from her last school for setting the classroom on fire during a lab.
Weirdly, they adopt a sibling relationship. Or that’s what Apollo calls them. Trucy calls them best friends, but Apollo doesn’t want to set the wrong tone by calling a high school girl his best friend. Apollo has a trial right after her school day ends so he takes his bike to her school to pick her up. His bike only seats one person, so she stands on the weird pipe thing on the back wheel and rests her hands on his shoulders. And her friends whistle and make kissing noises at her as he speeds away.
After their second case, Trucy takes a surprise Polaroid of them together. It’s a picture of them in the moment, the magician has her arm wrapped tight around his neck and he’s leaning in. Both with award-winning smiles on their faces and a hint of something shining in their eyes. She makes a copy of the photograph for him to do, quote, ‘ Whatever boys do with photos of cute girls.’ And she tells him later that she pinned the picture to her locker. Along with a photo of thee Klavier Gavin. It’s moments like these where Apollo remembers Trucy isn’t some innocent flower. She can throw dirty jokes out from time to time. Of course, she never does it when Daddy is around.
When their friendship starts breaching the lines of friends. He’s not sure, she’s not sure either. But it probably happened in early February.
There was no case to be had, so now when Mr. Wright was out or napping. Trucy did her homework and Apollo tried to look productive by reading old case files to ‘study technique’ while he thinks about what he wants for dinner. But Trucy is clearly not in the game, her pencil rarely moves and she mostly chews on the eraser and spits out any bits that get chewed off. Doodling in the margins. He’s not too good with comforting, but he’s been around Trucy enough to get an idea. Apollo sighs, and approaches her, taking her pencil away from her hand, limp in thought, and places it down. Moving to sit in the chair next to her.
”Hey, Trucy, what’s going on? You seem lost.”
”Umm. If I tell you, you can’t tell Daddy, okay?”
He’s hesitant. But he nods his head slowly.
”It’s Valentine’s Day, and I haven’t gotten any flowers or anything.”
"...Yeah?"
”Every Valentine’s Day Daddy gets me some flowers or some chocolate and he takes me out of school. And we spend the day together, but… I think he forgot. He’s been pretty out of it, I’m kind of lonely, Polly..”
Apollo isn’t good with words, so he rubs her back comfortably and offers help with her homework. Although Apollo thinks she’s oblivious, Trucy smiles when she realizes he’s being more lenient with giving her the answers. He watches her cook some instant noodles to make sure she doesn’t burn the agency down, and then he wishes her goodnight and leaves.
The next afternoon when Trucy gets out of school. She notices a familiar black bike posted up against the rack. And Apollo is standing there, a relaxed smile on his face, and a small array of pink flowers in his hand.
”Hey, Trucy. Happy Valentine's day. I didn’t wanna take you out of school b-“ And he’s cut off by Trucy tackling him with her arms around his shoulders. He freezes, but after a few moments, he wraps his arms around her too. And they relax for a minute, around the bustling noises of cars and people walking past.
When they finally separate, Trucy takes the flowers and plants a kiss on his cheek.
“Thanks, Polly.” She chirps. “Let’s go home.”
”Of course. Hop on.”
Something about the word ‘Home,’ makes him feel warm inside. But he pushes it down as the unfamiliar feeling when you do something nice for someone. Like when Clay gifted him chocolate for friendship. He wanted to give Trucy some chocolate, but he could barely afford the expensive flowers. Apparently, pink isn’t in fashion right now. He sits on his bike and released the brake latch. And Trucy stands on the back legs of the bike, resting her weight on his shoulders. Placing the flowers in his basket up front.
After nearly half an hour of tireless biking. He arrives at the office and Trucy hands him a water bottle because he looks like he’s about to pass out. He can feel her staring when he desperately drinks down the water, he doesn’t even bother to wipe away the drops that are falling down his chin. As if separating from the water will have it taken away.
”Hey, what’s going on, Trucy?”
Apollo flinches.
”Hi, Daddy. Polly picked me up from school and got me flowers! Aren’t they pretty?”
”H-hello, Mr. Wright..” Please, please tell me this looks platonic!
Mr. Wright raises an eyebrow at the flowers and the generally suspicious scene in front of him. But he seems to remember what day it is and looks away sadly.
“You can take the day off early, Apollo. I still have time to spend with my Baby girl, don’t I?” He teases, wrapping Trucy in his arms and dipping her. Making her squeal.
”Daddy! I’m gonna fall!”
“You won’t, I’ll catch you.”
Apollo is frankly, disappointed. Mr. Wright obviously forgot what day it is, but it looks like Apollo bought flowers to cover for him. Trucy knows the truth, so he lets it go. And takes his coat and walks outside. It’s still early evening and the bike ride home wore him out, maybe he’ll take the bus or stop at that Chinese spot. But he’s been eating out a lot…Trucy pays him next week…
When he’s finally home and laying in bed. The fact that Trucy kissed him finally sinks in. And he puts an arm over his eyes and groans.
There’s a new girl at the office, Athena. She’s a few years older than Trucy, which makes it hard to see her as a grown adult. Especially when she’s so prone to people’s emotions. She’s a prodigy from Europe and Trucy and Mr. Wright seem to welcome the change. Although Trucy seems a little jealous that the attention is lost on her. When Apollo walks by the school to pick her up - a habit that he can't remember picking up. She holds his hand and says,
”Polly, you’re not gonna replace me with Athena, right? I can still be a good assistant..”
”Trucy, no one’s replacing you. But it’s always helpful to have another lawyer on board, especially with Widget.”
That's not all he wants to say, but she just nods and grabs his arm. “Hey, let’s stop by the arcade on the way home. They finally fixed the FPS machine.”
”Of course, Trucy.”
And then, a few months later. Apollo gets the call that Clay has died.
He slowly starts closing himself off, until he finally takes a leave of absence and disappears. The worse part of leaving wasn’t facing Mr. Wright or Athena. But rather, turning his back on Trucy and ignoring her.
Phoenix would have to be impossibly stupid to not notice how Trucy’s smile is gone with Apollo. They don’t know about their relation yet, but he can’t find a good time to tell them. The longer he waits, the harder it will hurt. But they seem so close, Trucy needs that positive influence in her life. So instead of looking at their actions as anything romantic, he sees the flowers as platonic. The laughs and crossing arms as mindless actions. The crowd at the wonder bar watching her lead him around and commenting on how they look like a beautiful couple is just heteronormativity. The kiss that he definitely wasn’t meant to see was a chaste gesture. Nothing more.
Even the moans.
5 years later…
One day, Maya gets dangerously close to implying the true relation between Apollo and Trucy. She was about to make a joke about teasing siblings until Phoenix shoved her foot under the table and shook his head. Mouthing, ‘ they don’t know. ’ Luckily, she doesn’t dare to mention it over a casual cheerful dinner. But she has a perpetual air of anxiety around her when Trucy and Apollo talk to each other. Which gets worse when Trucy reaches across the table and jokingly steals a piece of his chicken. And the two begin aggressively picking food off each other's plates, laughing all the while. Their faces are far too close to the point Maya wonders if they’re going to lean in and kiss each other.
Phoenix hopes Maya will drop or forget the subject, but unfortunately, she’s not the mindless airhead she was when she was 17. Trucy and Apollo decide to go out for a short walk since the sun is still out. And Maya stops him when he’s about to go to the bedroom.
”Nick. We need to talk.”
“What about?”
”Nick, don’t play fucking stupid. Why haven’t you told them yet? It’s been 5 years.”
”I…haven’t gotten around to it, yet.”
”….Nick.”
”Maya.”
”You’ve had better bluffs in court. Have you seen how lovey-dovey they are over dinner? If that’s how bad it is in front of us, imagine what it’s like behind closed doors .”
‘ Love me harder, Polly-‘ .. ‘Oh I will.’
Phoenix cringes.
“I wouldn’t say lovey dovey..”
”I was convinced they were going to start making out in the middle of dinner. I could feel them rubbing their legs against each other under the table-”
”Maya, stop it! ”
”They could be out there right now hopelessly in love. You have to tell them, it isn’t right-“
”Who am I to stop them? They’re in love.” He growls, refusing to meet her eyes.
”Love is not incest . What if they want to have a kid? What if they get in contact with their mother? You know they have those cheap family tree test things now. Need I remind you, a lawyer, that it’s illegal?”
”It’s only illegal if they’re aware of it. If I tell Trucy I’ll break her little heart… and Apollo will never talk to us again.”
”Well those were things you should’ve thought about before it got this bad. If you don’t tell them by the time I go back to Kurain. I will.”
Those words weigh heavy in Phoenix’s heart and mind over the next few weeks. He can barely relax, it’s like he has something itching on his skin. All he needs to do is move his hand and scratch. But he’s muzzled and tied. Trucy wishes him good morning and kisses him on the cheek. They have breakfast, and then she sits on the couch right near the door like an eager puppy waiting for Master to come home. When there are footsteps padding outside the door, she perks up as they reach the door, and when they fade away she droops. Tail between her legs. He can’t even enjoy his time with Maya because when they’re in the same room with Apollo and Trucy she aggressively nods toward the duo. Or gives him a disapproving look. He stops looking her in the eyes.
It’s the day before Maya is supposed to leave and suddenly, every action between his daughter and Apollo Justice is raw bleach into his brain. Every smile every laugh every gasp every touch. It’s like they’re taunting him on purpose, and he finally hits his breaking point when Apollo walks in with a bundle of pink flowers. Even Maya looks shocked.
The same type of flowers he gave Trucy five fucking years ago.
He nods toward Maya and ushers them out soon after. Maya can only make out the whisper, ‘ Need to speak with both of you, now .’
There's an eerie silence for what feels like a lifetime when it’s only a few minutes. And to Maya’s surprise, it’s Trucy’s voice that rings out first. And it’s full of a growl and anger that Maya has never heard from Trucy in her life. She hears shouting, and slamming, and then
The rest is a blur.
Apollo and Trucy don’t come back inside, the clearest memory she has is Nick walking in. He looks at the flowers, so bright and pink compared to everything else that it’s the first thing you look at. And he sobs .
She doesn’t know what happens after that. She has to go back to Kurain.
But she does know when she visits months later there’s an absence of Apollo, Athena, and Trucy.
And thus, the life of the entire office. Is gone.